Chapter 36

“Do-un!”

“Uh…….”

The hospital room door opened violently, and Manager Kwon Mu-seop appeared.

For some reason, Kwon Mu-seop had even run over panting. He came straight toward the hospital bed where I was sitting, and I froze with the same posture I had been using to scoop up porridge.

“Are you all right? Are you conscious?”

“Yes, as you can see…….”

“Thank goodness. Thank goodness, truly…….”

When I answered while swallowing porridge, Manager Kwon Mu-seop let out a long, long breath.

Anyone watching would think you were my real older brother.

Puzzled, I stared at Kwon Mu-seop as he stroked down his chest like someone whose life had been shortened by 10 years.

I had lost consciousness while escaping from the 「Sports Complex Where Corpses Run」.

Still, I must have been rescued somehow, because when I woke up, I was in the Bureau’s Medical Center.

That was exactly how much I understood about the situation right now.

But what was this?

This strangely serious atmosphere.

I was the only patient in the hospital room right now, but there were 5 other people.

First, Ms. Baek Sa-ra, who had been here before I woke up.

Kim U-in, who came over immediately when he heard I had regained consciousness.

Cha Si-eon and Kwak Jae-gyeom, who ran in afterward.

And Manager Kwon Mu-seop, who had just arrived.

Team Leader Cha and Jae-gyeom were one thing, but was it not a little excessive for even Manager Kwon Mu-seop to come?

When I stared blankly with that thought, Manager Kwon Mu-seop dry-washed his face and asked me,

“You have no idea how worried I was because I thought something had gone wrong with you……. Why on earth did you do that? Do you remember that?”

“Pardon?”

“We need to feed him first, so talk about it later.”

At that moment, Kim U-in cut in and tugged Kwon Mu-seop’s shoulder.

Kwon Mu-seop looked back at Kim U-in for a moment, then silently stepped aside.

Seriously, what is this?

Why on earth did I do that? What did I do?

“If you want to hear the story, hurry up and finish eating. No, not hurry. Slowly finish all of it.”

Kim U-in also said this to me when my hand stopped.

So I finished scooping up the white rice porridge, which was almost like water and yet strangely hard to swallow.

When I emptied the bowl of porridge, Kim U-in finally opened his mouth.

“Yesterday, Team Leader Cha Si-eon wrote an incident report.”

“An incident report?”

“Because he made an unreasonable attempt inside a Special Zone, and as a result, Mr. Do-un fell unconscious.”

“Pardon? No, that was…….”

Startled, I turned toward Cha Si-eon.

Cha Si-eon looked solid, the same as always.

Right, he was not exactly the kind of person to grow dispirited over a single incident report.

But separate from that, I wondered whether it was right to shift responsibility onto him.

If the “unreasonable attempt” Kim U-in mentioned was our final escape method, I had been the one to suggest it.

As if noticing my thought, Kim U-in added,

“Even if Mr. Do-un proposed it, Team Leader Cha was the one who authorized it. The person in charge took responsibility.”

When he put it like that, I had nothing to say.

“What happened to the others?”

“The citizens came out safely, and everyone is fine. Mr. Do-un is the only one like this right now.”

Kim U-in sucked on his candy with a displeased tsk-tsk.

If the citizens were fine, that meant Team Leader Cha really had written an incident report because of me.

Why? Was I such a glass-fragile, precious existence?

Not really.

If they were going to make Cha Si-eon write an incident report, they should have made him write one starting from the 「Warehouse Club」.

My physical condition had been far more wrecked back then.

I could not understand this sudden overprotection at all.

So I turned toward Manager Kwon Mu-seop.

If Cha Si-eon had written an incident report, he would have submitted it to that man.

When our eyes met, Manager Kwon Mu-seop let out another long sigh.

Then he said this.

“Do-un, you regained consciousness just now after 3 days.”

“3 days?”

“And for those 3 days, you were perfectly awake.”

“……Pardon?”

It was a perfect malformed sentence.

How could a person who had been perfectly awake for 3 days regain consciousness after 3 days?

My confusion deepened at the words that did not make sense at all.

So I examined the complexions of the people surrounding me, and only then did I finally see it.

Cha Si-eon’s face, somehow gaunt and pale.

---

“You’re saying I was like this……?”

At my question, Cha Si-eon nodded.

So, still in shock, I checked the video again.

-Mr. Do-un, can you hear my voice?

Nod.

-What happened inside?

Shake, shake.

-You don’t know?

Shake, shake.

-You know, but you can’t speak?

Nod.

-Why can’t you speak? Can you tell me the reason?

Shake, shake.

In the video, I was sitting in a chair with my head lowered deeply.

What came from outside the screen was Kim U-in’s voice.

I was responding to his questions only by moving my head.

It was a situation I did not remember at all, not even the slightest bit.

Ah, so that was why the atmosphere was like that……?

Because the kid was conscious, but his mental state was completely shattered.

And he had even been like that for 3 days.

That was more than enough reason to write an incident report!

As I silently recoiled in shock, Cha Si-eon, who was sitting across from me, asked,

“Mr. Seo Do-un, you said your last memory was being released into empty air from the 「Sports Complex」, correct?”

“Yes…….”

“At that time, Jae-gyeom and the other Missing Persons stayed in empty air for about 7 seconds before returning to reality. By contrast, Mr. Seo Do-un was seized by an entity presumed to be the 「Referee Who Weighs」, and returned after staying in other spaces for 144 seconds.”

“Other spaces?”

“As far as we have identified, they were the 「Great Bridge Sunk in Fog」, 「Island Where Blood Falls」, 「Gold Cave of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara」, and 「Columbarium Where White Flowers Bloom」.”

What Cha Si-eon had just listed were all names of Special Zones.

The 「Great Bridge Sunk in Fog」 and 「Island Where Blood Falls」 were Type 1.

The 「Gold Cave of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara」 was a Type 3 I had never been to.

The 「Columbarium Where White Flowers Bloom」 was a Type 4 Special Zone the Bureau had observed only once.

What the four had in common was that their exploration rates and return-alive rates were low, in the single digits.

In other words, they were places of death where almost no internal observation had been carried out.

And I had gone there?

On top of that, I could not really understand what Cha Si-eon had just said either.

“You mean you think I was dragged into one of those four places, right?”

“No. Mr. Seo Do-un was dragged into all four.”

What does that mean? You said it was only 144 seconds.

I hit four Special Zones and came back in that short time?

Then did that enormous hand carry me around here and there?

“Do you remember anything about what happened then?”

“Nothing at all.”

“What do you think your condition was like at that time?”

What kind of question is that?

When I stared at him without understanding, Cha Si-eon spoke again.

“A guess is fine. Please explain your own condition.”

“……I was probably unconscious. Since I don’t remember anything. I think I passed out when that hand grabbed me.”

I had no idea what was going on, but I answered for now.

Then Cha Si-eon touched the tablet placed in front of me and said,

“This is the sound recorded through your smartwatch when Mr. Seo Do-un went missing.”

Chk— chijijijik—

Jjijik— jjijijik— tzzztzzztzzt—

Kkijidit— kkijididik—

An unpleasant sound leaked out of the device.

Static from a radio tuned to the wrong frequency.

The noise of an old wooden building twisting.

The cry of a dying young animal.

It sounded as if noises like that were chatting among themselves.

Chijijijik— chijijit—

Kkiiiii—! kkikkikkikkidididit—!

Aaaaaaagh—!

The sound suddenly grew intense.

And then came a scream full of pain.

What is this? Is that scream something I let out?

Chills ran over me, and I looked at Cha Si-eon.

Cha Si-eon raised his index finger in front of his mouth, as if telling me to listen silently.

After a little while.

A language I could understand flowed from the tablet.

-How did this happen……?

The hairs all over my body seemed to stand on end.

-Why until now ……couldn’t …….

-……what exactly is ……?

-……four times…… Does that mean I already ……?

A voice that sounded as if it might collapse at any moment.

A voice that endured that and continued with difficulty.

This was none other than my voice.

-Why me, of all people?

I was asking someone in a desperate tone I had never even heard from myself.

What on earth was this situation?

I said something like this?

To me, stunned, Cha Si-eon asked,

“Do you remember who you were conversing with at this time?”

“Not at all…… I don’t remember anything.”

“Then what about the wound on your left arm?”

Left arm?

I rolled up the sleeve of the loose patient gown.

……What is this now?

A palm-sized bandage was stuck to the inside of my forearm.

The moment I realized that, the skin of my forearm belatedly throbbed with pain.

Feeling a sharp pain, I tore off the bandage.

Then the red, messy wound on my forearm was revealed.

It was absolutely not a wound made by chance.

Because that wound could be read.

That dark-red trace, already dried over with scabs, clearly drew the shape of the English letter B.

“It is a wound Mr. Seo Do-un made by tearing with his fingernails.”

I had no strength left to be more surprised, so I looked at Cha Si-eon with a gloomy face.

“I did?”

“Yes. Skin tissue and blood traces were confirmed under the nail of Mr. Seo Do-un’s right index finger.”

Right, judging from the direction, it did look like the direction in which I had torn it myself.

“Do you remember or associate anything?”

“I don’t know.”

“At that time, Mr. Seo Do-un must have known he would lose his memory.”

“I suppose so. Judging by the mark I left on my arm.”

I spoke in disbelief, as if talking about someone else.

This is truly absurd.

The fact that I carved something like this into my arm must mean I wanted to notice something when I came to.

But what do I do?

It only hurts, and I have no idea what it means.

What exactly did you expect me to interpret from this, past me…….

As I sighed repeatedly, Cha Si-eon closed the tablet and said,

“If nothing comes to mind immediately, that is fine. We will have you recall it slowly, and you should rest for today.”

I rubbed my tired eyes and nodded.

Then I remembered what I had heard earlier and said to Cha Si-eon,

“I heard you wrote an incident report.”

“It was a formal procedure. You have regained consciousness now, so it is fine.”

“What happened to Ms. Ha Yu-ju and Jang Han-bin?”

“Ha Yu-ju completed surgery after 2 days and is currently recovering. Jang Han-bin’s contamination level was confirmed normal, and he returned home on the day he was rescued.”

“That’s good.”

I let out a relieved sigh.

Then I asked Cha Si-eon in return,

“May I meet Jang Han-bin?”

I had promised to buy that cold high schooler food.

My head was still complicated, but a promise was a promise.

I wanted to be an adult who took responsibility for what he said, but I was not sure whether regulations would allow it.

“It is something you promised, so you may meet him.”

An unexpectedly willing answer came back.

“However, you have another schedule all day tomorrow.”

“Another schedule?”

“You will meet Analysis Team 5 regarding this incident.”

Analysis Team 5?

Right, there had been a team like that.

The workplace written on my appointment contract.

Analysis Team 5, where in practice, it was not that I worked there; they worked on me.

I came to meet that team one month and one week after signing the appointment contract.