Chapter 124

1 hour earlier.

At the café, Kim Ji-an said,

“Discussions are underway among the upper level regarding Lee Sol’s disposition.”

It was a single sentence, but several questions fell from it.

So I asked them back in order.

“What do you mean by the upper level?”

“The higher-level department that manages the Bureau. The place that decides the Bureau’s policy line.”

She was talking about the government ministry that received reports on the Bureau’s performance, the one Manager Kwon Mu-seop was sometimes called to.

“What does disposing of Lee Sol mean?”

“It means they can no longer quarantine her in the Bureau, so they should find another method.”

“Another method?”

At my repeated questions, Kim Ji-an nodded heavily.

“There are 2 forms of treatment for contaminated people. Being quarantined in the Bureau, or staying in a Special Zone. Except for an extremely small number whose safety has been secured, they cannot return to society.”

It was not an incomprehensible story.

Because I too knew the danger of contaminated people.

However, being isolated from society for life simply because one was contaminated, being deprived of one’s existing life and future, was something far too harsh for an individual.

“Why are such discussions underway? Can they not just protect her as they do now?”

Like Ryu Dan-a.

Or like when Page had existed, and rescued minors were protected.

The me from 1 hour ago had known nothing about Lee Sol’s condition.

So I asked with the point misplaced, and perhaps noticing my misunderstanding, Kim Ji-an explained again.

“Sol’s danger level is gradually rising. To the point that it is difficult for the Bureau to keep protecting her. So discussions have already been going back and forth for a while, but with a new problem arising this time, it seems a conclusion has been reached.”

“A new problem?”

“Agent Cha Si-eon arbitrarily entered 「Railway Station」 last week.”

“……?”

“The people above took that seriously. So their judgment leaned toward the side that they can no longer leave things as they are.”

“Are they perhaps judging that to be because of Lee Sol?”

“Yes. Agent Cha Si-eon, no, Team Leader Cha said he followed all the prohibited items related to the blinded agent. Then the only thing they can suspect now is Lee Sol…… And since she has been pointed out as a factor in arbitrary entry into 「Railway Station」, the judgment is that they can no longer leave her alone.”

So the discussions that had already existed had become more hardline because of that?

And that conclusion was to drive out a child who was only 15 years old into a Special Zone?

Of course, it was not something I could not understand at all.

Because Bureau-related people being dragged into 「Railway Station」 was the same as dying.

“Even so, sending a child into a Special Zone alone means telling her to die.”

“…….”

“Is there perhaps any place on the Special Zone side where she could stay?”

I asked because I was truly curious.

Type 2 Special Zones, which were said to be at least passable for humans.

I wondered whether there might be a shelter for contaminated people there.

At my words, Kim Ji-an looked at me.

For some reason, her eyes looked sad, and I grew rather flustered. Kim Ji-an lowered her gaze and answered.

“There will be no sending Lee Sol into a Special Zone.”

“Then is there another alternative?”

“No, rather than an alternative, they are discussing a response. She is dangerous even while quarantined in the Bureau, and if they send her into a Special Zone, she will become even more dangerous. The people above will absolutely not choose to place a new dangerous entity in a Special Zone.”

“…….”

“So what is being discussed now is Lee Sol’s humane death…….”

Only then did I understand.

Kim Ji-an’s desperation in coming to find me.

And the Bureau’s system turning outside my field of vision.

Kim Ji-an said more things to me while I was speechless.

But I could not hear them well.

My head was already full with what I had heard, and there was no room to put anything more inside.

“Earlier.”

After a long while, I opened my mouth amid confusion.

“You said placing a new dangerous entity.”

“Yes.”

“Are you saying the true identity of dangerous entities is contaminated people?”

“Not all entities in Special Zones are like that.”

“…….”

“But among some entities, there are those that were originally people.”

I was only now receiving this simple confirmation.

And outside the Bureau, from a resigned employee.

It felt as if I had been trapped inside a narrow fence and had stepped out.

As if I had not even known I was trapped, and only realized it after happening to cross over that fence.

Feeling a strange fatigue that was neither liberation nor betrayal, I asked Kim Ji-an again.

“Then is Lee Sol’s father in 「Railway Station」 right now too?”

“Nothing has been confirmed yet.”

At my question, Kim Ji-an answered in an even more subdued voice.

Then she added this.

“But everyone is assuming it. That he probably is.”

---

And now.

Before the contaminated-person detention facility where Contaminated Person No. 146 was imprisoned, I was helplessly sympathizing.

With what Kim Ji-an had said earlier.

Yes, everyone was probably assuming it.

Looking at Lee Sol’s state, they were probably fully certain where that child’s father was imprisoned.

But they could not bring themselves to say it aloud.

Prudently, and cowardly.

Thanks to that, I had been able to live well.

I, who followed Lee Seop’s precedent, had been able to remain completely unaware of the situation of that father and daughter, who might be my own future.

So I had been able to play at the sea without much thought and meet an author.

If I were to be grateful, it was something to be grateful for.

Though in reality, I was not grateful in the slightest.

I barely tore my eyes away from Lee Sol, who slept miserably.

Then I turned to the side.

A little distance away from me stood Cha Si-eon.

And Cha Si-eon was already looking at me.

As if waiting for me to say something.

It was an incomprehensible attitude.

Waiting for another person to speak while he himself did not speak.

That was unfair.

So I swallowed my words too.

Choosing silence like that, I left the place.

---

The next morning.

I was called by Manager Kwon Mu-seop.

The man with the face of a good-natured man sat me down in front of him and did not speak for a while.

I was the same, and silence flowed as it was.

At the end of a long and short silence, the first one to open his mouth was Kwon Mu-seop.

“I thought you would ask various things.”

Kwon Mu-seop murmured as if flustered.

I nodded once, as if to say, I see.

Kwon Mu-seop swallowed a breath as if his mouth were bitter.

Then he added in a low voice.

“I am sorry for hiding it until now. It is not as if you are entirely unrelated either.”

“It is all right. It is not a judgment I cannot understand, and even if I had known, nothing would have changed.”

“…….”

“Still, going forward, I would like you to consider the issue of trust as well. We have had a similar conversation before, have we not?”

I conveyed my thoughts without being rude.

Kwon Mu-seop also silently nodded.

This was all I had to say now.

Regarding Lee Sol, I thought these people did not need to watch my mood.

When it came to contamination or responses to it, these people were experts, and I was still a layperson.

Responding to that problem and taking responsibility for it was Cha Si-eon’s or Kwon Mu-seop’s work, not something for me to interfere in.

Moreover, to me, Lee Sol was almost a stranger.

Lee Sol might be grateful to me, but there was no reason I had to regard Lee Sol as someone special.

Strictly speaking, she might be “our Sol” to you people, but to me, she was merely a middle schooler whose name I knew and whom I had once saved.

Nothing more, nothing less.

So there was no need to watch my mood as if they had committed a sin.

“You do not need to worry about anything else. Please go easy on Acting Team Leader Oh Tae-o too, if possible.”

I spoke in the same tone as usual.

But Kwon Mu-seop’s face did not look relieved.

Should I even soothe him and say that it really was fine?

As I merely sat there, Kwon Mu-seop spoke in a complicated voice.

“I said it before too, but there truly are many things I am grateful to you for, Do-un.”

I am sure there are.

“So I really do hope things go well for you.”

These words were surely sincere too.

I knew it too.

That Kwon Mu-seop cared about his own people.

That when he called them his people and treasured them, it was not an act.

And that I was roughly included there too.

So I asked Kwon Mu-seop,

“I heard the discussion regarding Lee Sol is almost over.”

“…….”

“Which side are you on, Manager?”

Kwon Mu-seop did not answer.

That was the answer.

So I had to make an effort for a moment not to smile bitterly.

Lee Sol was dangerous, and she was becoming increasingly dangerous.

That was why Cha Si-eon had almost died.

If the variable called me had not fortunately worked, he would probably have died.

Leaving this danger unattended was also abandoning a manager’s role.

So Kwon Mu-seop’s choice was not wrong.

From his position, this was the correct answer, and as of now, there was no other method.

Of course, one could imagine it.

That if 「Railway Station」 were stopped by following the precedent of 「Ant Hill」, perhaps something might happen.

But this was nothing more than inference.

Even so, if they were to push ahead, Cha Si-eon would have to carry out an operation with convicts while risking their lives.

Let us say that, by luck, they avoided the siren sound several times with that.

As far as I knew, the location of 「Railway Station」’s core had not yet been found.

There was a high probability it was inside the body of the main dangerous entity, as with 「National Museum of Korea」.

But this too was only inference.

Even if they were to act with faith regardless, now they had to consider the durability of 「Giant Siren」, the main dangerous entity there.

「False God」 had been truly hard.

Then what about 「Giant Siren」?

Of course, there was also the possibility that, by luck, it would be soft and squishy.

Though this too was only inference.

It was all nothing but inference, close to a delusion obtained by running a hope circuit, but even if they were lucky enough to confirm the core’s location, what would they do next?

The siren would continue sounding, so should they trust luck once more and deploy me?

If there were a person in charge who allowed such insane behavior, even I would not follow that person.

In that respect, Kwon Mu-seop was fortunately a rational person responsible.

So his goodness was also extremely rational.

Kwon Mu-seop would sincerely wish for things to go well for me, but if I became a monster, he would make a rational judgment then too.

As he was doing now with Lee Sol.

But this could not be helped.

So I bowed my head to Kwon Mu-seop in farewell.

Then I rose from my seat.

---

I crossed the corridor and told myself.

This cannot be helped.

What cannot be helped must be accepted.

If I cannot change the situation, I must change myself.

Let us think of it as fortunate instead.

I came to my senses before becoming needlessly attached.

I confirmed the nature of this group and my own position.

So let us accept it in a good direction.

……What bullshit.

I abruptly stopped walking across the corridor.

“Whew…….”

Waiting for another person to speak while one does not speak oneself is unfair.

So I had merely tried to be fair.

But let us think about it differently.

Is it truly fair for an editor to exchange words in the same way as these language-immature people?

There was no need to think about it for long.

I turned back around and headed toward Manager Kwon Mu-seop’s room.