Wren was a secret member of the IRO. Only certain people knew him. He did the dirty work for the organization because he liked it. Playing with other people's memories was fun.
IRO was basically a good organization. They became humanity's desperate hope after the world changed drastically. Even though the founders came from political backgrounds, all its members agreed not to mix politics into the organization.
IROs had not done anything dirty since people depended on them. However, everything changed after Wren's arrival. He was the cause of dirty things in the IRO.
Virgil, the first president of the IRO, found that the <Memory Manipulation> would be helpful for the organization. That was what made him recruit Wren, a kidnapper.
The two met when Virgil investigated Maido, a person who could become a strong hunter because of seeing future power. At that time, Virgil talked about Maido with Renate.
"Maido is in a bad state. He joins a guild official to help his brothers. However, something happens to his brothers during a raid. It makes him depressed and stays in a mental hospital."
Virgil listened to Renate's explanation while reading documents on the computer. After learning about Maido's power, he intended to invite him to become an IRO member.
Unfortunately, Maido lost his mind because his younger brothers were kidnapped. What was even more terrible was the police found his brothers' heads without bodies. The incident made him crazy and unable to continue his career as a hunter.
"We have to get Maido healed somehow," Virgil finally said something after a long silence. "I think we should catch the kidnapper so Maido can take revenge. What do you think?"
"I'm not sure. But my people have caught the kidnapper. Would you like to see him, Sir?"
Virgil smiled with satisfaction that Renate was working as fast as he expected. Then, he stood up from his chair and asked Renate to take him to the kidnapper. They left the room to go to the basement.
It was a place to interrogate people who bothered the IRO. The police were not responsible for the matter. They grant the IRO the privilege of taking care of those with one condition; The IRO could not kill anyone because it violated human rights.
"So he's the kidnapper?" Virgil stopped in front of a man tied to a chair.
The man was wearing a torn shirt with scars all over his body. He appeared to fight back when the IRO caught him. Nevertheless, his efforts were unsuccessful since he ended up in this basement.
"His name is Wren. He kidnaps children and sells them to an evil organization," Renate explained as she grabbed Wren's hair.
Wren seemed to be trying hard to stay conscious. The IRO people were truly merciless. His gaze had even become blurred due to their attacks.
If only Tyrone had not been involved, Wren could have run away. Tyrone's barrier made him unable to use his power. Somehow he got up with <Memory Manipulation> power when the first gate explosion incident happened.
He thought he would not get any powers since he was a criminal. From the time he experienced awakening until now, he had never told anyone about his power.
That was his big secret. Wren used his power to commit crimes. He could manipulate their memories if he locked eyes with someone within sixty seconds.
However, the use of his powers was limited. The stronger the person he wanted to influence, the less chance he had of manipulating their memories. He could only manipulate one memory if the person was powerful.
Wren avoided looking for trouble with strong people. He did not know the IRO was on Maido's side. Another condition for activating his power was completing quests, such as defeating A-Class monsters.
The quests given would be even more difficult if Wren wanted to influence strong people. Moreover, the time available to complete quests was limited. He would die if he could not finish it in time.
Meanwhile, Virgil said nothing because he was dumbfounded about something. Unlike other awakeners, he had a simple trigger. He only needed to stare at people, and his <Peeking> power would activate.
"I really didn't expect this," Virgil muttered as he stared at his system screen.
[Your skill has been effective!]
[Target name: Wren
Occupation: Kidnapper
Power: <Manipulate Memory> (B)
The past: Wren becomes a criminal due to environmental influences. He is used to violence because his father was a gangster...]
Virgil ignored other information because what caught his attention was Wren's power. He came to the basement to interrogate the kidnapper, but he was the one who got the jackpot.
"You have an interesting power," he suddenly spoke, causing Wren to gasp in surprise.
How could that old man know about that? Wren understood the IRO had a lot of power right now. However, he was sure they could not figure out his power.
Wren suddenly remembered something. He had heard the IRO president had the <Peeking> ability. He believed it was Virgil Grant who had spoken to him earlier. He did not notice because his vision was blurry.
"How about you quit being a kidnapper and join the IRO?"
The unexpected offer surprised not only Wren but Renate as well.
"S-Sir, what are you saying? The organization's reputation will be ruined if you recruit a criminal," Renate explained haltingly, still shocked.
"Don't worry," said Virgil, grinning as he gripped Wren's shoulders. "I'll make him a secret member. The public doesn't need to know about this."
Renate did not know why Virgil asked Wren to join the organization. However, she soon found out because Maido was completely healed of his mental illness. Maido also acknowledged two boys had appeared out of nowhere as his younger brothers.
The police handling the kidnapping case did not announce anything. With this, Renate discovered Wren had the power to influence other people's memories. She had not told anyone that since she was loyal to Virgil.
Initially, Wren enjoyed his position as a secret member. Everything changed when he felt disgusted with Virgil's attitude. He felt like the old man's slave but could do nothing because Virgil was stronger.
The situation changed when Tyrone and Hector came to him. They stretched out their hands and said, "Be treacherous. We will give you freedom if you help us."
The deal had been made. Wren agreed to help Tyrone, and Hector removed Virgil from the presidency. They planned very carefully, making Virgil step down from the position naturally. Once they did, Tyrone was made president by vote.
Meanwhile, Renate threw away her allegiance to Virgil as he was no longer of any use to her. She was an opportunist. Because of that, she switched sides with Tyrone's group.
Wren stopped thinking about his past when he saw Renate asleep in the chair. The woman had a weak physique compared to other IRO members. However, she had a power that made Tyrone accept her.
Kidnapping people into dreams. It was Renate power. She was the one who made the IRO members disappear from the conference hall. Her trigger was falling asleep. She could bring anyone who had physical contact with her into dreams.
Renate could also control whether people would enter good or bad dreams. If she woke up, those people would return to the real world, more precisely, to their beds.
"Ah, damn it. I would have taken her power if I had the copy skill," Wren muttered as he continued walking towards the kitchen.
He chose to live with Maido because the IRO always sent Maido to various places. The best bodyguards also always accompanied Maido. It made Wren feel safe. After helping Tyrone become president, Virgil tried to kill him for revenge.
Wren could avoid Virgil for being Maido's servant. He did not mind his job because he could still do what he liked. Tyrone would not mind if he wanted to play with the bodyguards' memories.
"Let me see if those guys have done their job," he spoke as he made some green tea.
A moment later, Wren took his cell phone out of his trouser pocket. The first thing he did was read messages from the group chat. It was a group of hunters tasked with guarding Emrick.
[Efren of the Phantom Guild: I confirmed it, Sir. The mysterious man does have the power of time. I could feel the difference in the speed of time when he killed Sir Emrick.]
Wren put his cell phone back away after reading the message. Before the conference, Tyrone had hatched a plan to sacrifice Emrick to know the mysterious man's power.
Emrick's death was not in vain, as it turned out. The mysterious man really had the power to control time. Nothing had ever troubled the IRO as much as he did now.
The man gave them a clue through his hatred for IRO. Tyrone assumed two things. First, IRO once oppressed the man, so he came to take revenge. Second, he went back in time for revenge.
Wren needed to figure out which was correct. However, one certain thing was that the mysterious man had come to destroy IRO.
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