Chapter 155

“Lord Otter……?”

Baek Sa-ra stared at me with round eyes.

Then she hurriedly shifted her gaze toward Cha Si-eon.

That gaze returned to me within a few seconds, and before long, turned back toward Cha Si-eon again.

Baek Sa-ra kept looking back and forth between me and Cha Si-eon like that.

Her gaze seemed to ask, “Where did you get this?” so Cha Si-eon answered.

“It is Seo Do-un himself.”

“Really?”

Baek Sa-ra was even more surprised and fixed her gaze on me.

“Are you really Lord Otter?”

Baek Sa-ra tried to reach her hand toward me, then pulled it back.

It was because suspicious saliva was on her gloves.

So instead of her hand, Baek Sa-ra brought her face closer to me and asked.

Her attitude was purely one of surprise, but without realizing it, I flinched.

Baek Sa-ra’s gaze as she peered at me was too long.

For some reason, I could not look Baek Sa-ra in the eye.

So I avoided her gaze and answered.

“Yes…….”

“How did this happen?”

“I don’t really know either…….”

“What? I can’t hear you well.”

“…….”

“Lord Otter, please look this way when you speak.”

Looking appropriately at the person one is speaking with is basic conversational etiquette.

So Baek Sa-ra’s request was extremely common sense.

But right now, I was 8 years old.

“Lord Otter, are you uncomfortable somewhere?”

When I could not lift my head, Baek Sa-ra became seemingly serious.

Baek Sa-ra approached closer as if to check my condition, and I was driven further and further into a corner.

That was when it happened.

Cha Si-eon’s hand inserted itself between my face and Baek Sa-ra’s.

With his black glove fairly blocking both my and Baek Sa-ra’s fields of vision, Cha Si-eon said,

“Do not torment him.”

“Torment him?”

“You are tormenting him right now.”

At Cha Si-eon’s words, Baek Sa-ra looked dumbfounded.

But right now, Cha Si-eon was right.

I secretly caught my breath behind Cha Si-eon’s glove.

Then, amid my embarrassment, I painfully realized the confused psychology of an 8-year-old.

To the 8-year-old Seo Do-un, an uncle with long hair did not matter at all.

But a young older sister was a suffocatingly uncomfortable existence, and because of that, I could not look straight at Baek Sa-ra either.

I found this state of myself quite difficult.

However, my original self was undeniably an adult, so I gathered the fragments of reason and spoke.

“It is a temporary phenomenon. I will return to normal before leaving this place.”

I said that to reassure her and appeal that I was in a sound state.

But it seemed to have the opposite effect.

Cha Si-eon lowered the hand that had been blocking the space in front of me.

Then Baek Sa-ra appeared again, and for some reason, Baek Sa-ra was covering her own mouth with all her might.

---

Pattern 16. 「Funeral Procession」

Overview: A procession of mourners dressed in funeral clothes, carrying a portrait of the deceased and a coffin.

Their scale varies from at least a dozen people to as many as 1,000 people.

All those participating in the procession have the same face as the portrait of the deceased. They are the dead, and they are conducting their own funeral.

Therefore, they have no interest in you, but take care not to mix into their procession.

The moment you mix into that procession, you will follow them.

Difficulty: Medium

Response Method: The safest way not to mix into the procession is to climb onto the bridge arch.

There is also the method of hanging outside the bridge railing, but the 「Funeral Procession」 continues for as short as 10 minutes and as long as 3 hours. You may have to endure for up to 3 hours, so choose the method your stamina permits.

Note: If the portrait of the deceased in the 「Funeral Procession」 is a face you know, you cannot survive. Humbly accept death. And be reassured. We will not separately hold you accountable for your sin.

---

“Lord Otter, are you not scared?”

“I’m all right…….”

At Baek Sa-ra’s gentle question, I answered awkwardly.

Honestly, why would I not be scared?

Right now, I had climbed all the way to the top of the bridge arch.

Sitting on a steel structure 7 or 8m high with no safety equipment made my guts tremble.

On top of that, an eerie procession was continuing on the road beneath my feet.

Hundreds of people dressed in black were passing over the bridge while holding white flowers.

Black suits, black dresses, black traditional overcoats, black jackets and skirts, and other clothes suitable for a funeral were mixed together.

But all their faces were identical, the face of a man in his 80s.

It was the face from the portrait earlier, and that face was even now pouring endlessly from beyond the fog.

It was a nightmare-like sight.

If it had been a face I knew, I did not think I would even be able to watch from fear.

“You can close your eyes if you are scared.”

When I sighed while looking at my feet, Baek Sa-ra said,

“I will hold you so you do not fall.”

“…….”

“Would you like chocolate?”

“Yes…….”

Though I felt awkward at Baek Sa-ra’s kindness, I was an 8-year-old who could not refuse sweets.

Half resigned, I chewed on the chocolate.

At that moment, Cha Si-eon was exchanging signals with the other agents at a spot a little away from us.

-Encountered Pattern 16. Passing through.

-No. 12, wait in place.

The scale of the 「Funeral Procession」 passing beneath us right now was considerable.

It seemed we would be stuck here for at least dozens of minutes, or as long as 1 or 2 hours.

On the other hand, the other agents were moving steadily.

-Nos. 6 and 7 rendezvoused.

-Nos. 8, 9, and 10 rendezvoused.

-Nos. 2 and 3 rendezvoused.

-Nos. 4 and 5 rendezvoused.

-No. 11 waiting.

-No. 12 waiting.

A status report with no missing personnel returned.

As expected of old-timers.

I had thought it was a crisis when the field suddenly changed and everyone was scattered, but they were calmly organizing the situation.

After grasping the situation, Cha Si-eon returned to our side.

“Mr. Seo Do-un, what were you trying to say earlier?”

He was asking about the story I had spoken so hard to explain earlier but had failed to convey because of my inaccurate pronunciation.

At that, I spoke again, seriously and clearly.

“Even if we reach the front of 「Railway Station」, we will probably need several attempts to match the time period.”

“Eight maps?”

“……Several attempts. Repeated attempts.”

At Cha Si-eon’s question, I explained again.

At the same time, Baek Sa-ra, who was beside me, covered her mouth, and I briefly wanted to die.

“Continue.”

“……In a nascent-phase Special Zone, opening and closing doors causes movement across time periods. So returning to the 「Railway Station」 waiting hall at the point when we were there will certainly not be easy.”

But because the subject was what it was, Cha Si-eon and Baek Sa-ra immediately became serious.

“So 「Great Bridge」 is not the main thing.”

Baek Sa-ra muttered.

“Because they are being outgunned, they are trying to play hide-and-seek…….”

We had expected there would be interference with the 「Railway Station」 suppression operation.

And naturally, that interference was supposed to be the intrusion of mercenary entities.

But as Baek Sa-ra said, it seemed the 「Big Cat」 side had judged there was no chance of victory even if they came out.

In truth, that was the case.

Not only us, but Response Teams 1 and 2 were waiting as well, so if they came out, they would only be hunted down immediately.

So it seemed they had used a nascent-phase Special Zone to perform the stunt of flipping space.

Since it was a phenomenon none of us had seen before, everyone had been flustered.

But the Bureau’s elites quickly adapted to abnormalities.

Moreover, 「Great Bridge」 was an area whose exploration had already been completed, so it was not a particularly threatening space to them.

In the end, this too was nothing but stalling for time.

So I had wondered what their scheme was, but did they really intend only to interfere with us by playing hide-and-seek?

If so, was the strategy not too sloppy?

It was true that 「Big Cat」 was not an especially clever entity.

It was also true that the current situation was fairly troublesome, but since there did not seem to be any decisive blow, I felt suspicious.

With that uneasy feeling, I continued speaking.

“And Yongsan Station is a place that was bombed. We also have to consider what will happen if, when we open a door, the time period that appears is when it was being bombed.”

“Yongsan Station at the time of the bombing and Yongsan Station now differ starting from their exterior appearances. It should be possible to open the door and identify it from outside.”

“But it is a bombing. Is there no possibility that its effects will come outside the door?”

At my question, Cha Si-eon also began to think deeply.

Yongsan Station was literally a place that had been reduced to ruins.

If we were caught up in that, whether old-timer or veteran, it would be the end.

If it were an ordinary incident, it would be entirely possible to peek through the crack in the door and close it again.

Because time would be divided by the threshold.

But could we control a massive incident like a bombing simply by closing the door?

We could not carelessly be certain.

After thinking for a while, Cha Si-eon asked me,

“Has there been any word from 「Crow」’s side?”

“……Do we seem like we are on speaking terms?”

At my answer, Cha Si-eon thought deeply again.

“It seems we must also consider a long-term engagement. With the food each person has, we should be able to last three days.”

Perhaps because of his experience of nearly dying while isolated on 「Island」, Cha Si-eon had brought supplies this time too.

So there was no need to worry under the pressure of time like before.

“The issue of reentering 「Railway Station」 should be discussed after we find the entrance.”

“There is no problem with a long-term engagement either, but if we are too late, 「Siren」 may recover again.”

At Baek Sa-ra’s words, Cha Si-eon nodded.

“Besides, if we are too late, we may be classified as fallen in the line of duty.”

Baek Sa-ra added that as if it were not a very big deal.

And at those words, I screamed without realizing it.

“Ah……!”

When I suddenly shouted, Baek Sa-ra was startled.

“What is wrong?”

“The will…… What is its disclosure scope?”

Baek Sa-ra blinked at me a couple of times.

Then, though she seemed puzzled by my reaction, she answered.

“The command staff sees it first, then it is delivered to the people mentioned in the will.”

“Ah……!”

I screamed again.

This cannot be.

The will I wrote at dawn.

That will, which I wrote as shamefully as possible according to Cha Si-eon’s advice, begins with, “To everyone at the Bureau.”

Horrified, I looked back at Cha Si-eon.

Just then, Cha Si-eon was looking at me too, so our eyes met immediately.

Cha Si-eon was covering his mouth with his hand.

I still could not tell what that meant.

However, one thing was certain.

There was no time.

For the sake of my social life, I had to escape from here as quickly as possible.