Chapter 98

“The core of the 「Hotel」 was destroyed, and all personnel in that zone were released. The Research Division is judging this situation as a standard Special Zone reset process.”

“…….”

“The ring Agent Yeon Ga-ram was wearing was also destroyed before it came into contact with the core. So the operation failed, and the ring was lost as well.”

It felt like splashing out of reality and into a dream.

At the same time, the stomach pain that had been tormenting me disappeared as if it had been a lie.

In a strange sense of emptiness, I asked back blankly.

“Why? Was there some kind of mistake…….”

“We do not know. Whether there was a problem with the environment at the time, or whether it was because the person who touched the core was different, there is nothing we can conclude at present.”

“…….”

“And the core of 「Ant Hill」 was also destroyed.”

“What?”

At Cha Si-eon’s sudden words, I asked back in surprise.

This was certainly not good news.

But for some reason, I felt as if I could breathe.

Because it sounded like the core I had secured would eventually break too, with only a time difference.

However, Cha Si-eon immediately shattered my shallow hope.

“The moment the Research Division touched the core of 「Ant Hill」 to analyze it, the core evaporated. This too is being judged as a standard Special Zone reset process.”

“Hah…….”

Without realizing it, I let out a hollow laugh.

“Haha.”

It felt like desperately trying not to get wet in the rain, only to splash straight into a puddle.

The worst thing I had assumed had become reality, so there was no longer any need to fret over it.

Ah, this must be why I was tense.

Because I was afraid a result like this would really come out.

“So the experiment result came out as No. 2…….”

I murmured in empty realization.

The Research Division had established 2 hypotheses regarding the conditions for stopping Special Zones.

1. Contact between the core and a piece of 「Big Cat」.

2. Contact among the core, a piece of 「Big Cat」, and Seo Do-un.

I had naturally chosen No. 1, and I was beautifully wrong.

No, thinking back on it, rather than choosing, I had believed.

Please let it be No. 1.

Only then could I remain “the discoverer of the Special Zone closure method.”

If it was No. 2, I became “a medium for Special Zone closure.”

Ah, phrasing it like this makes me even dizzier.

What on earth is this?

The core of the 「Hotel」 that Yeon Ga-ram of Control Team 4 touched while wearing the black ring evaporated.

The core of 「Ant Hill」 that the researchers touched to investigate also evaporated.

But I secured another core at 「National Museum of Korea」.

……What is this, really?

“My contamination value is normal, right?”

“That is correct.”

“Then why is this happening?”

“I understand your confusion.”

What would Team Leader Cha know…….

At that soulless consolation, I too looked at Cha Si-eon with a desolate feeling.

But just as he had shut the hospital room door without the slightest restraint earlier, Cha Si-eon lightly ignored my gaze and said,

“The investigation is ongoing, so let us wait for the results.”

“I have waited until now, and nothing has come out…….”

“Analysis Team 5 contacted us anyway.”

“Acting Team Leader Oh?”

“They say they interpreted the sound recorded on Mr. Seo Do-un’s smartwatch during the escape from 「Sports Complex Where Corpses Run」.”

“Really?”

At the unexpected news, I widened my eyes.

When I escaped from 「Sports Complex Where Corpses Run」.

I had no memory of it at all, but at that time, I had been dragged around to other Special Zones for 144 seconds.

And an incomprehensible noise had been recorded on my smartwatch.

And now, that recording had finally been interpreted.

“Can I see the interpreted contents now?”

I brightened at the thought of filling in the blank in my memory.

But Cha Si-eon returned another unexpected answer.

“The contents have not yet been documented.”

“……?”

“Do you also remember that Acting Team Leader Oh played that recording for a certain contaminated person?”

“Yes, I remember.”

A contaminated person who could read the letters of Special Zones and cooperated with the Bureau.

At that time, Oh Tae-o had said this about that contaminated person.

“The moment they heard the recording, they screamed.”

“They were so frightened that I had no choice but to turn the recording off partway through.”

“They will not answer when I ask why, but I am continuing to persuade them…….”

“That contaminated person was extremely afraid after hearing the recording…….”

“That is correct. However, Acting Team Leader Oh eventually persuaded them, and that contaminated person interpreted the contents.”

That was truly welcome news.

I had fallen into the 「Sports Complex」 at the end of March, so this was good news I was hearing after a full 2 and a half months.

“So when can I receive the interpretation?”

“There is a condition.”

“What do you mean, a condition?”

“That contaminated person requested a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Seo Do-un.”

“With me……?”

“They say they will also tell the interpreted contents only after meeting Mr. Seo Do-un directly.”

I truly could not understand.

Why everyone kept doing this to me.

---

The contaminated people in my memory.

Orange, who had grown several arms.

The teddy bear that pulled tentacles out from inside the costume head.

And the 「Imitation Rice」 addicts who used their heads like ropes.

I had no good memories whatsoever…….

Still, if it was a contaminated person who cooperated with the Bureau, it would be a little different, right?

Hoping that was true, I went to Oh Tae-o’s laboratory on the day I was discharged.

“Welcome…….”

Oh Tae-o welcomed us today too, with a hollow face as if he had stayed up all night.

Oh Tae-o suddenly shuffled toward me.

Then he grabbed my shoulders.

“……Why are you doing this?”

“The feeling is not very different…….”

“……?”

Acting Team Leader Oh, could it be that you already see me as a “Special Zone closure medium”?

Oh Tae-o’s touch creeped me out in many ways.

But Oh Tae-o continued fiddling with my shoulders as he stood.

“Acting Team Leader Oh Tae-o.”

Cha Si-eon, who had ended up standing as well, called Oh Tae-o.

Then Oh Tae-o glanced at Cha Si-eon, clicked his tongue quietly, and stepped back.

These people are still the same…….

I, Cha Si-eon, and Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had come with us, sat across from Acting Team Leader Oh at the table.

“You have been informed of the situation……?”

Oh Tae-o pushed up his glasses and began.

“Today, we are going to hear the interpretation of that recording directly…… Do you have any questions……?”

“You said that contaminated person was afraid when they first heard the recording, right?”

“Yes, that is right…….”

“But what suddenly changed? Are they all right now?”

“It was not sudden. I filtered it and played it for them…… When I layered several filters over it, they seemed less afraid…….”

What a relief.

Acting Team Leader Oh was a person who worked hard.

“But why are they insisting on delivering the interpretation directly to me?”

“I do not know the reason. They just said they want to…….”

But there is still something sloppy about him after all.

“Is it a situation where I can meet them directly?”

“Yes. Ryu Dan-a is, ah. Contaminated Person No. 71 is not dangerous at all…….”

At least that was a relief.

As I felt relieved, Oh Tae-o added,

“Instead, they are sensitive and play a lot of pranks…… So you need to be careful not to offend them…….”

What does it mean to be sensitive but also play a lot of pranks?

Are they like a spoiled rich-family delinquent from a movie?

“And there is a dress code.”

“A dress code?”

“They said it is almost their birthday, so they will only meet us if we come wearing suits…….”

I opened my mouth in surprise.

When I was flustered, Oh Tae-o murmured with a proud face.

“Do not worry. I prepared the clothes…….”

Oh Tae-o was somehow proud.

I did not dare judge whether he was a sloppy person or a meticulous person.

---

“What are you doing?”

“I think this is the best I can do.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom spoke confidently after turning the necktie into an otgoreum.

I sighed and held out my hand.

Then Jae-gyeom shyly untied his otgoreum and handed it to me.

If you cannot do it, just say you cannot, you brat.

I roughly shook out the wrinkled necktie and wrapped it around my neck.

Then, while I looked in the mirror and adjusted the length, Jae-gyeom whispered beside me.

“Hyung, did you hear anything about Contaminated Person No. 71 we are meeting today?”

“No.”

“This contaminated person was arrested by the neighboring team last year. In 「Maze House of Red Bars」.”

“Then you know roughly what kind of person they are?”

“Just their criminal history.”

Criminal history.

Come to think of it, they had said they could not arrest someone unconditionally just because they were a contaminated person.

While making the necktie knot, I asked without much thought,

“Why was this person brought in?”

“They say they caught other missing persons in the Special Zone and used them as slaves. There were more than 20 victims.”

Freeze—

I stopped the hand pulling the necktie.

That is what the contaminated people in 「National Museum of Korea」 did.

The one we are going to meet now is also that kind of monster?

“But they are not exactly a very threatening type, apparently. After being caught and brought here, they have lived fairly quietly too. Though it seems they did go through a few case officers in the beginning.”

When I looked at Jae-gyeom through the mirror, Jae-gyeom added that.

Thanks to that, the image in my head became even more complicated.

A contaminated person who cooperated with the Bureau, was frightened by the recording sound, was sensitive but played a lot of pranks, used other people as slaves, yet was not particularly dangerous.

What kind of character is that?

I slipped the tied necktie over my head and handed it back to Jae-gyeom.

Then, after straightening my clothes, I took Jae-gyeom, who was absorbed in taking selfies, and went outside.

Outside, Cha Si-eon and Oh Tae-o were waiting.

But for some reason, Cha Si-eon was still in his service uniform.

“Team Leader, are you not coming with us?”

“I am.”

Cha Si-eon answered Jae-gyeom’s question briefly.

Then why did he not change?

Were there no suits that fit that body?

Not understanding why, I looked at Oh Tae-o.

Oh Tae-o was wearing a suit like us, but he was staring fixedly at Cha Si-eon from under his glasses.

Mm, judging by that reaction, Cha Si-eon simply did not wear one.

“Then follow me…….”

Oh Tae-o took the lead in a much colder atmosphere.

We went from underground to further underground.

After descending like that for a long while, we came to an area with a solid metal door.

In front of it, Oh Tae-o said,

“They may play some pranks. But they are pranks, nothing more, so if you endure them briefly, it will be fine. Then they will stop on their own…….”

I would appreciate it if he explained specifically what kind of pranks…….

But before I had time to ask, Oh Tae-o pressed his fingerprint to the metal door.

Beep— clack—!

The door opened with a mechanical sound.

Inside the door was pitch-dark.

It was when we stepped inside, following Oh Tae-o.

There was a sweet smell.

Something like the scent of flowers.

The moment I smelled that fragrance, the dark room suddenly lit up red.

Startled, I raised my head and saw red bars.

And beyond the gaps, a woman with long hair and the hem of a red garment hanging down.

……She was a beautiful woman.

Like a painting of plum blossoms spreading over hanji.

Deep and vivid, and at the same time, fleetingly precarious.

A woman.

At that captivating sight, my breath caught.

As the hem of her clothing slipped down, the woman’s white shoulder was revealed.

I thought I had to look away, but for some reason, I could not move.

As if I were bewitched by something, I could not take my eyes off her.

At that moment, Cha Si-eon strode past me.

Then he kicked and broke the red bars standing in front of the woman.

CRUNCH—!

“Kyaaak!”

When the wooden bars shattered, the woman standing there gracefully screamed.

But Cha Si-eon paid no mind and snatched the woman up.

Then he roughly tore off the woman’s clothes.