Chapter 51

“I’m sorry.”

Baek Sa-ra suddenly apologized.

“Because I made a mistake.”

“A mistake?”

I thought about what mistake Baek Sa-ra had made, then realized.

Did she mean approaching because she had not known Kim Hae-seong’s smartphone would explode?

“At the end, I should have reacted more cautiously.”

My thought was right.

Baek Sa-ra considered this situation, where we were being chased by 「Alpha」 and 「Delta」, to be her own mistake.

But was that not closer to an accident than a mistake?

“That phone call earlier. Was it someone you knew?”

“I’m not sure. But probably, yes.”

At my question, Baek Sa-ra answered quietly.

Earlier, the man beyond the phone had exposed Baek Sa-ra’s past and provoked her.

But it seemed Baek Sa-ra did not even know who he was.

So she seemed frustrated and troubled.

Looking at Baek Sa-ra’s grave face, I remembered something Jae-gyeom had said before.

“Sister Sa-ra is also a little lenient to Page juniors.”

Page (P.A.G.).

The official name was the Special Management Bureau-Affiliated Temporary Protection Facility for Rescued Minors.

Before the Bureau underwent its major reorganization, in other words, until 2 years ago, it was a kind of shelter operated by the Bureau.

During the period when Special Zones were expanding like mad, they said far more people were pulled into Special Zones than now.

There were even frequent cases where entire families were dragged in.

And when the Bureau found them, in most cases, the parents were already dead and only the children had survived alone.

Whether that was because of the parents’ sacrifice and devotion, or because of the adaptability particular to children, no one could know.

Either way, or perhaps both, a significant number of orphans were produced in Special Zones.

But the Bureau could not send the children rescued alone back into society.

There may have been humanitarian aspects too, but it seemed the bigger reason was that if those children went outside, information about Special Zones might become known to the outside world.

So the Bureau began operating Page.

Page’s operational purpose was for the children to return to society with their mouths firmly shut.

Most children looked forward to returning to everyday life while receiving education and treatment in line with that principle.

But among them, there were also children who chose an unexpected path.

They decided to face the Special Zones again, the very things that had turned their young lives upside down.

The Bureau welcomed their decision too.

Because those children, who had tasted hell early and survived in that extreme situation, were already no different from fully formed talent.

So the Bureau created a separate Page special track and actively appointed the children.

Among agents from that protective facility, there were three people I knew alone.

Baek Sa-ra, Kwak Jae-gyeom, and Ha Yu-ju.

When I first heard Jae-gyeom or Yu-ju’s age, I had wondered how someone still so young had entered a place like this.

But their roots had been here to begin with.

Thinking of this context, the call from earlier was probably connected to Baek Sa-ra’s coldest memory.

And Baek Sa-ra seemed to think that briefly losing reason then was her losing move now.

“Don’t blame yourself too much.”

Taking Baek Sa-ra’s situation into account, I began carefully.

“You had to confirm Kim Hae-seong’s condition anyway. There’s no guarantee it would have been fine if you hadn’t approached then. Besides, the other side deliberately set it up. What could you have done?”

Baek Sa-ra looked at me for a moment.

Then she moved her gaze to my neck and furrowed her brow.

“Mr. Otter, you really are a strange person.”

Suddenly me?

I wondered what that meant, then rebutted without finding an answer.

“Ms. Baek Sa-ra is much more…….”

To be strange meant that one’s traits were uncommon.

From that point of view, Seo Do-un rather belonged to the ordinary side.

Baek Sa-ra, on the other hand?

An uncommon appearance and an uncommon occupation.

Uncommon combat strength and uncommon brutality.

She even had a truly uncommon unique ability: making even men menstruate.

No matter who looked at it, aren’t you the stranger one?

I sincerely thought so, and perhaps because she sensed my sincerity, Baek Sa-ra answered back, a little flustered.

“Mr. Otter is much stranger than me. Really, incredibly strange.”

This was the first time in my life.

Being denounced as such a strange bastard.

I thought I had lived fairly sensibly, so why?

When I looked at her in confusion, Baek Sa-ra avoided my eyes as she had once before.

Then she murmured softly,

“Or maybe I’m just confused.”

“What are you confused about?”

“That we’re the same people.”

“……?”

“That Mr. Otter and I are the same people, and Kim Hae-seong, Orange, and Black are the same people too, so now I don’t really know what a person is.”

What kind of riddle is this?

When I looked at her, Baek Sa-ra let out a drained sigh.

Then she murmured in a voice that had grown lower.

“I saw all kinds of people in Special Zones. I saw how far humans can go, and what kinds of things they can do. To be honest, I’m not clean either.”

Was she saying this as an agent of the Bureau?

Or was she talking about what she had seen and experienced as a Missing Person in a Special Zone?

Was it just my imagination that it sounded somehow like the latter?

“But I learned that couldn’t be helped. That the situation was the worst, and there was no order, so everyone went mad trying to survive. On top of that, people originally value one drop of their own blood more than someone else’s life, and feel that pain more.”

“Do you think so too, Ms. Baek Sa-ra?”

“Yes.”

Baek Sa-ra answered without hesitation.

“I think it’s true. Because that situation really couldn’t be helped. No one was in their right mind. There were people who adapted unusually fast too. It only took an instant for others to be swept into it as well.”

Baek Sa-ra’s voice, as she considered the old events, was peaceful.

As if she had already moved far enough away from them.

But there were things in the world that became visible only once one stood far away.

“But the price those people paid later also couldn’t be helped. It was a situation where going mad and running wild was easy, and those people must have been desperate to survive, but even so, you can’t just leave a beast that’s already tasted blood alone.”

A price. A beast that had tasted blood.

I was curious what kind of story there was, but I did not ask.

I simply let Baek Sa-ra keep talking.

“So there is no right or wrong here. Everyone simply, unavoidably, does what they each must do. Because if you’re looked down on, you die. If you show an opening, you die. If you don’t kill, you die.”

I felt as if I had heard this before.

It had been right after we came out of the 「Hospital That Hunts Humans」.

Back then too, Baek Sa-ra had spoken with this kind of logic.

That this was not a place where one did the right thing, but the necessary thing.

My thoughts were a little different, but I tried to respect Baek Sa-ra’s unchanged belief.

But Baek Sa-ra added this first.

“……That’s what I thought, but these days I’m a little confused. Because of you, Mr. Otter.”

“Why is that because of me…….”

“Because of you, Mr. Otter, I don’t really know what a person is, or how far personhood goes.”

“……?”

“When there’s a person like this, I wonder what exactly that kind of person is. And when I think that this person too ultimately has that kind of nature, I truly can’t tell what anything is anymore, but I also don’t know where I should ask about it.”

Baek Sa-ra’s voice was quiet.

A quiet full of ripples, like a windblown field.

I considered that sight, then, after a long while, began speaking.

“Ms. Baek Sa-ra.”

“Yes?”

“Water boils too if you put it over fire.”

“……Pardon?”

“What you mean is that when the situation becomes the worst, humans reveal their lowest selves, right?”

Nod—

“But that’s the same for animals too. When the environment is bad, there are animals that commit mass suicide, and there are many animals that kill their own young.”

“So does that mean it’s natural?”

“No, I think it’s horrible.”

Baek Sa-ra’s head tilted to the side.

As if she did not quite understand what I was saying.

So I slowly elaborated.

“It would be better if such things did not happen whenever possible, and in that sense, it’s actually fortunate. Whether people or beasts, it means they go mad and run wild when the situation is at its worst, so conversely, if the situation is all right, they can live normally and well.”

“Would it be that simple?”

“If it were simple, no one would be struggling, would they?”

“Then…….”

“Even if it isn’t simple, since there is an answer, you can at least try to move in that direction.”

Baek Sa-ra stared at me blankly.

She seemed confused, as if she understood my words and yet did not.

“So you don’t need to look at a river or the sea and think, ‘That must actually be hot too.’ If you don’t like boiling water, you can turn off the fire.”

When I added that one sentence, Baek Sa-ra’s gaze slowly fell.

“I guess editors are good at speaking too…….”

Baek Sa-ra murmured with her head lowered.

Of course, editors had to be good at speaking too.

But what I had just said was not actually mine, so I awkwardly admitted to plagiarizing.

“Actually, this is from a book.”

“A book?”

“It’s a book by Author Na Bit called 「Do Dead Bones Dream?」. Have you heard of it? It was a bestseller the year before last.”

“No…….”

“Ah…… Then shall I lend it to you? I’ll lend it to you. Actually, I edited it, and it’s a really good book. It’s a short story collection, so it’s easy to read in parts without feeling burdened. It’s science fiction, but it has an emotional atmosphere and the sentences are delicate, so female readers like…….”

As I spoke happily, I noticed Baek Sa-ra’s eyes had grown round.

Ah, was that too much?

Just as I hurriedly restrained the light in my eyes.

THUD—!

Along with a loud sound from outside, I felt a vibration.

CRASH—! RATATATAT—!

A roar followed, then gunshots.

Had Response Team 3 arrived?

Baek Sa-ra and I listened to the sounds tensely.

After a long while like that.

“Mr. Otter.”

Baek Sa-ra called me, then said this.

“Please lend it to me.”

“Pardon?”

“The book you mentioned earlier. I’d like to read it.”

Author, the sales pitch succeeded!

Just as my face lit up.

-Sa-ra!

Kwon Mu-seop’s voice came from the watch.

-「Delta」 is heading your way!

This way?

Even if it comes, we have the door locked right now…….

It was then.

CRASH—!

As if mocking my complacency, the door exploded.

The impact sent us flying as well, and my eardrums, exposed to the roar, lost function and produced a ringing sound.

BEEEE—!

At that moment, something broke through the thick dust and attacked.

It was 「Delta」, which had come to finish eating me.

“Krgh……!”

「Delta」 thrust its teeth toward me again.

Damn it, why?

Why did I suddenly become the priority?

Without knowing why, I desperately blocked 「Delta」’s face.

But as expected, I could not withstand it by strength.

Just as 「Delta」’s canine teeth were about to touch the nape of my neck again.

CRASH—!

「Delta」’s neck bent, and it flew sideways.

What came into view next was a fluttering skirt.

And Baek Sa-ra, still perhaps because her head was ringing, tapping the side of her head.

“Mr. Otter.”

After shaking her head once, Baek Sa-ra looked at me and said,

“This time, not just if I can. I will definitely save you.”

With a strangely relieved face, and a pretty smile, she added this.

“As repayment for lending me the book.”

In Baek Sa-ra’s hand, which wished to borrow a book, a knife flashed.

It was an extremely contrasting and ironic sight.