By Zephyria 232
“I want to co-cooperate with the Awakened Management Bureau.”
“……”
“To stop Doomsday.”
Eui-jae narrowed his eyes and examined Ivan’s face. The eyes behind the glasses sparkled innocently. It looked and sounded like the unadulterated truth. However, a small snort was heard from the side. Min-gi Seo retorted with a straight face.
“That’s absurd.”
“……”
“What about the Hunters locked up there? You’ve been capturing not only civilians but also Hunters to use as test subjects, and now you’re asking for cooperation? How shameless do you intend to be? If Jung-bin Hunter were here, he would have turned this place upside down.”
“Ah? Aha… There seems to be a mi-misunderstanding.”
“And what about the drugs? Do you think we don’t know that you’re the ones spreading the drugs among the Hunters?”
“Ah… There’s a lot to explain. First of all…”
Ivan glanced at Song Jo-heon, who was kneeling on the floor, and smiled.
“The Hunters… most of them, uh, volunteered.”
“This guy’s talking nonsense again. Should I take care of him?”
“Re-really. They all volunteered for the experiments because they wanted to raise their ranks… Yes, at least the ones here.”
“……”
“The civilians are the same. They all… came in of their own vo-volition. They wanted power…”
A shadow flickered in Ivan’s eyes.
“Because they lost too much.”
“……”
Song Jo-heon’s body trembled slightly. The inside story was obvious. They made a deal with Song Jo-heon, and Song Jo-heon supplied the Hunters. The only Hunter who rose from A-rank to S-rank, presenting himself as the embodiment of human triumph. As he said, it was an area Eui-jae couldn’t understand. So Eui-jae didn’t bother to pretend to know. Ivan clasped his hands together in front of his chest as if in prayer.
“And the, the drugs… You call the new medicine we developed a drug.”
“……”
Ivan busily pulled something out of his coat pocket. It was a small vial half-filled with white powder. He held it up to the ceiling light. It seemed to have a faint blue tint.
“Anything in excess becomes Poison, doesn’t it? This is the same. Do you know what this medicine does?”
“No.”
“It’s a du-dulcifier. It’s made from Monster materials… If you take a moderate amount to dull the senses of sensitive Hunters… Even people who can’t sleep can sleep comfortably.”
“……”
“But if you can’t control yourself and overdose… Si-side effects appear. Unfortunately.”
Side effects. The people with thorns sprouting all over their bodies and the cloudy eyes of the brown bear with thorns sprouting all over its body flickered in his mind. Eui-jae’s fist clenched.
“J, didn’t you… have nights when you couldn’t sleep?”
He always did.
“What if you could get through those nights wi-without any pain? If you could sleep comfortably without any dreams, without any worries, just like before Awakening?”
It was a sweet story, a dreamlike story. Those who were chosen by the System and Awakened can never go back. They have to live with extremely sensitive bodies. Learning every little thing. But, if they could go back to the way they were, even for a very short time. If they could sleep peacefully without thinking of the dead.
‘Ah…’
Eui-jae covered the mouth of his mask.
‘This is annoying…’
What a sweet temptation. Peaceful sleep. It was something Eui-jae had once desperately wanted. Ivan lowered his eyes sadly. He wiggled his fingers.
“I understand that you do-don’t trust us. But wouldn’t it be foolish to le-let go of a hand you can grab because of trivial emotions? Because we know no-nothing about each other…”
“……”
“We can cooperate. We must. In the face of the hu-huge disaster called Doomsday.”
Min-gi Seo whispered in Eui-jae’s ear. Actually, it was more like he was saying it loud enough for them to hear.
“Did you think it sounded plausible? It’s obvious they’re asking for cooperation because they brought it on themselves, but they don’t think they can handle it with their own strength, customer.”
“……”
Min-gi Seo said in a cold voice.
“If you were going to ask for cooperation, you shouldn’t have made Song Jo-heon Hunter kneel like that. He’s a valuable asset on our side.”
“Is that so? But isn’t he a be-betrayer?”
“That’s our problem to deal with. You don’t need to punish him instead. You don’t have the right to.”
“I can’t say anything if you think so. But… I’m sure it will be a great help.”
“What kind of help?”
“Well… for example.”
Ivan raised his index finger and pointed to the ceiling.
“Information like… what kind of disaster will come next.”
“……”
“You’ve se-seen the Monsters with huge mouths, right? They’re the beings that appear at the beginning of Doomsday. They’re eternally hungry. No matter how much they eat, their hunger is never satisfied… They’re gu-guys who keep trying to swallow something. So… what will come next? What about the next after that?”
Eui-jae exchanged glances with Min-gi Seo. The face behind the sunglasses was indifferent. Eui-jae felt the same way. They had Yoon Ga-eul, who had been looking into the Fragment of the Destroyed world for a long time. Ga-eul’s information, who had directly witnessed the destruction, would be more reliable than piecing together memories.
And Eui-jae also knew another informant. Lee Sa-young of the Destroyed world.
‘He absolutely didn’t want to tell me the details, but…’
If I shake him down, something might come out. Eui-jae pretended to be deep in thought, rubbing the chin of his mask, and asked. First, he had to dig up more information.
“What’s your purpose?”
“Purpose… purpose? Ah…”
Ivan smiled.
“To-to stop Doomsday with human power.”
“……”
“Hasn’t it failed twice already? It all happened because you left it all to the Awakened. So… what if we add human power to that?”
A strange heat flickered in Ivan’s eyes. He spread his arms wide.
At that moment, Eui-jae suddenly looked up. He seemed to smell something sweet. Was it the smell of medicine? It was strangely familiar. Where had he smelled it before…
‘Ah.’
There was only one thing with such a strong sweet smell. Lee Sa-young. Eui-jae was startled and looked around. Min-gi Seo and Ivan looked at him with puzzled faces.
“What’s wrong?”
“……”
Could it be? No way. But he couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine. Eui-jae opened his mouth to say something. The narrow room was dyed red. Soon, red warning lights began to flash and a siren sounded. An urgent voice rang out.
—Code Red, Code Red has occurred.
Ivan looked at Eui-jae and Min-gi Seo with a flustered face.
“Did you bring other users?”
“No? It’s just us?”
“Then what is this…”
—E-1 zone annihilated! E-1 zone annihilated!
Ivan took out something like a walkie-talkie and operated it. Soon, static flowed out, as if the communication was connected. Ivan asked urgently.
“Wh-what’s going on? Why is it annihilated…”
—Th, that’s…
A flustered voice answered.
—Lee Sa-young has appeared! Lee Sa-young has melted everything! We can’t approach because of the Poison. Guns don’t work either!
“……”
Damn it.
Eui-jae glanced at Min-gi Seo. Min-gi Seo nonchalantly pushed up his sunglasses.
“He really has no patience at times like this.”
The closed eyelids gently opened. He blinked a couple of times. He seemed to hear a commotion in the distance, but it disappeared with the sound of closing the window. A soft female voice was heard.
“Oh my, you’re awake?”
“……”
“How do you feel? Are you okay?”
Yoon Ga-eul nodded slowly. Her foggy head felt clear. The migraine that had been stabbing her head and the anxious heartbeat she felt every time she woke up were gone. That’s because…
‘I didn’t… have a dream.’
How long had it been since she felt so clear-headed? She blankly looked up at the ceiling and fiddled with the thin white blanket covering her. It was soft and felt good. The woman’s voice said.
“Hehe… You’re okay, right? It’s a dulcifier, and it’s supposed to be very effective for Awakened. I’m not an Awakened, so I don’t know, but… it’s supposed to help you sleep very comfortably.”
“Yes… It really does.”
Ga-eul answered blankly. She felt like her body was floating on clouds. That’s how good she felt. Was a dreamless sleep such a sweet thing? The sound of footsteps muffled by fluffy slippers approached the bedside. Ga-eul raised her head. It was a woman wearing round glasses and her hair pulled up with a large claw clip. She smiled and held out her hand. It was a hand with calluses in places and small burn marks.
“I’m Ga-young.”
“Ah…”
Ga-eul hurriedly reached out and grabbed her hand.
“I’m, I’m Yoon Ga-eul.”
“Ga-eul? Ah~ Our names are similar, aren’t they?”
“Yes…”
A soft touch brushed Ga-eul’s cheek and tucked the stray hair behind her ear. Ga-eul was startled and raised her head. Ga-young smiled kindly.
“Please take care of me in the future?”