Chapter 234: Resignation 2
The larger newspapers and broadcasting companies gathered in the conference room. Foreign correspondents were also present at Guardians. The Administrative Department worked busily to prepare the room, and Junhyuk saw his former coworkers on dispatch.
"Mr. Jang!"
"Long time no see!"
They had needed more people than the Administrative Department could provide, so they dispatched ST Capsule's Strategy Department. Somin hadn't seen him in a long time.
"How are you? I heard Guardians HQ was attacked several times."
"It wasn't that dangerous."
Somin looked at him and smiled.
"Can you tell me what they are revealing today?"
"No. I can't do that."
"Even to me?"
Junhyuk shrugged.
"How about me?" Mr. Jang whispered in his ear.
"No," Junhyuk said curtly and looked forward. "Just wait. You'll find out."
Mr. Jang and Somin started jokingly accusing him of having changed, but he merely shook his head. They had all eaten lunch early and headed there immediately, so the preparations were over quickly.
At 2:00 p.m., Junhyuk stepped forward, and people focused on him.
"Today, Guardians will make a very important announcement. The announcement will be made by Eunseo Kim our CEO," he said.
His only role was to introduce Eunseo. It would be the last time he would face the public for her. Once he stepped back, Eunseo moved forward on her wheelchair. Everyone's attention turned to her as she spoke through her microphone.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Eunseo Kim, Guardians' CEO."
Even after she said that, the room remained quiet. The reporters were anticipating something big from her. Eunseo fixed her glasses and looked at the reporters, and they all stared back at her in silence.
"Today, I am here to announce that our Regeneration Project is a success."
She had called it the Regeneration Project, but it had been kept a secret, so no one knew about it.
"What's the Regeneration Project?" a reporter shouted.
Eunseo continued, "From now one, patients who couldn't be treated will be able to receive medical attention."
"Can you cure cancer?"
Eunseo shook her head and raised her hand, and everyone was silent again.
"Before I became CEO, you found out about my accident on a mountain," she continued as the reporters nodded. "I became a paraplegic, but I wanted a cure. I wasn't satisfied with life on a wheelchair."
The reporters looked at her while thinking that there was no other way. To live, one had to adjust, but she was talking about something else altogether.
With their eyes on her, she said, "I'll show you the result of the Regeneration Project."
She finished speaking and got up from the wheelchair. The reporters didn't say anything, so she walked across the podium and said, "Due to the results of the Regeneration Project, R-01 can even reconstitute a damaged nerve system."
A reporter carefully raised his hand and said, "Perhaps you've been faking your condition?"
"Where did you come from?" Eunseo asked.
"I'm from the Daily Newspaper."
"Please, leave."
"What?!"
She looked straight at him said, "You can't talk about my past struggles like that. Leave."
""But…"
Eunseo gave a signal with her hand, and some security personnel came up to the reporter and took him outside.
She looked at the others and said, "If you want proof of my previous condition, check with the hospital." Then, she walked over to her wheelchair, leaned against it and said, "A person who'd been a paraplegic for twenty years is now walking again thanks to the R-01 treatment."
Eunseo raised her hand, and Junhyuk turned on the video they had prepared. The reporters were astounded with what they saw on the screen. A person with previously atrophied muscle was moving again and doing interviews.
She turned to face the crowd.
"Amputees are getting new limbs due to the compounds ability to use the body's cell to generate new legs and arms."
She showed them a different video that left the reporters speechless. A person missing an arm was providing the medical team with a cell culture, which was mixed with the regenerative compound. Later, the person had surgery to attach the new arm. He used his new hand to eat and play on the video.
Eunseo looked at reporters and continued, "The Regeneration Project is just starting, but it's a revolution to medicine."
She extended her hands to the side, pointing at a direction.
"ST Capsule's president, Doyeol Kim, is here. He has been spearheading the Regeneration Project."
Doyeol stepped forward, and the photographers got busy taking his picture.
The ramifications of the Regeneration Project were incalculable to the world of medicine. People who had had nerve damage would be able to walk again with the R-01 treatment.
"I will only take three questions," Eunseo said.
Hearing that, the reporters became unhappy, but raised their hands all the same. Eunseo pointed at one.
"I'm Dowoon Anh, from MBS."
"Ask your question."
"The R-01 treatment is revolutionary, but won't it compete with ST Capsule and Robotics' collaboration, the Iron Project?"
Eunseo looked at Doyeol, and he nodded, so she looked at the reporters and answered, "It's true that both projects will be competing against one another. However, the Regeneration Project will actually cost the patients' money. The Iron Project is subsidized by its use in combating monsters."
"Does that mean that the R-01 treatment is very expensive?"
"Yes, to begin with. The cost will go down in the future, however."
Eunseo pointed to another reporter.
"Minsoo Choi, from Korea Daily."
Eunseo nodded, and he asked, "I want to know more about the timing of this announcement. Why are you revealing it at this particular time?"
Eunseo fixed her glasses, and Junhyuk could tell that she hadn't liked the question. He felt sympathy for the reporter as she stared him down hard.
Even before she became a novice, she had more health than most people, which also meant that her soul was bigger than the most. After becoming a novice, her soul had gotten even bigger.
Minsoo kept waiting and Eunseo said, "We debated a lot with ST Capsule on the matter, on when would be the best time. This is a message of hope for people, so we thought of now more than ever."
"Is it because Guardians HQ is continuously attacked by monsters?"
JUnhyuk was shocked by Minsoo's courage, but he also sympathized him. Eunseo focused solely on the reporter.
"I can't deny that fact, but the monsters are attacking us directly, and we can come up with countermeasures for that." She paused for a second and continued, "We hadn't seen monsters before, so their appearance is a first time occurrence. We are only protecting fifty countries now, but that number will soon increase, and we will do our very best."
Junhyuk felt relieved by Eunseo's answer, and she pointed to another reporter. He was from the United States.
"I'm Elt, from NBC."
Eunseo nodded, and he smiled.
"Your announcement is certainly surprising, but it was not what I was expecting."
She stared at him, and he continued, "I was expecting that you would be announcing the decomposition liquid that will be distributed worldwide."
"Your question has nothing to do with our announcement," she said and continued, "but I will answer it. By researching the monsters' hides, we've made a decomposition liquid that will help us deal with monsters more effectively. If each nation's military is equipped with it, they'll be more effective as well."
The reporters were going wild with the new announcement, but Eunseo stared at Elt and said, "You asked a dangerous question."
They all raised their hands, but Eunseo signaled with hers for them to calm down. When the room was still again, she continued, "Concerning the decomposition liquid, you'll be getting materials detailing it."
She was done, and Junhyuk stepped forward.
"I've already sent the materials to your emails. Feel free to check it."
The reporters all pulled up their emails and scattered, speeding to be the first to break the news. Junhyuk thought there was a small war being fought in the conference room.
He looked at Eunseo. She was very charismatic. At that moment, she was talking to Doyeol, who smiled at Junhyuk.
"Long time no see."
"You look healthy."
Doyeol shrugged and answered, "No reason for a failing health. Guardians has been under attack, and you've been in danger. I'll deposit more money in your retirement fund."
"What about the other employees?"
"Sure. All Guardians employees need and will get more money."
Junhyuk smiled bitterly, and Doyeol said, "Can we talk for a moment?"
"Certainly."
He looked at Eunseo and took him away from her.
"There's been nothing from the Dimensional Battlefield. What happened?"
Junhyuk answered calmly, "Due to the flow of the battles, I can't always get mana or bloodstones."
"Yeah?" Doyeol asked him straight. "Perhaps, you've found another party to sell them to?"