By Zephyria Nam Woo-jin crossed his arms, as if telling Eui-jae to explain the situation. Eui-jae mumbled an explanation. Immediately after Honeybee and Yoon Ga-eul left, Lee Sa-young refused to go, pushing his hand away. Feeling resentful, he borrowed Student Ga-eul’s power to briefly see Lee Sa-young. Lee Sa-young didn’t recognize him until the last moment, when he briefly saw him. Student Ga-eul said that Lee Sa-young seemed to be closely related to that Dungeon and couldn’t leave…
“In other words.”
This time, Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo, who was making a butterfly out of tangerine peels, spoke.
“You mean the Guild Master is there, so we can see the information in this notebook? Without it, we can’t guarantee how long it will take to develop the vaccine. So we can’t just bring him back… Is that right?”
“Exactly.”
“And because you visited briefly… um, the Guild Master got excited? Went crazy? Anyway, you marked the evidence like this.”
“He went crazy!”
“Yes, anyway. Um… then…”
Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo rubbed his chin and muttered.
“Can’t we just wait? He’s our Guild Master, but in the current situation, vaccine development is the most important thing.”
He glanced at Eui-jae, gauging his reaction.
“Um, should I put it more subtly? Let’s keep the Guild Master locked up for the sake of the world.”
“What’s the point of reading my face after you’ve already said it! And you weren’t even subtle.”
Nam Woo-jin smacked Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo’s head with the chart, making a sharp sound. Regardless, Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo diligently peeled his tangerine. Eui-jae shrugged.
“No. That’s right.”
He felt like this moment would come someday. A moment to weigh the world and Lee Sa-young side by side. If it had been before, Eui-jae would have chosen the path of saving the world without hesitation. And even if he was trapped, he wouldn’t have felt wronged and would have endured it. It would be better for him to be trapped than for someone else to be trapped.
But, now.
Lee Sa-young desperately picking out Preservation Stones. Lee Sa-young struggling inside the glass tube. Lee Sa-young waiting for an immeasurable amount of time, without certainty, to keep his promise. Lee Sa-young, who falls apart when he’s not around…
“…….”
Cha Eui-jae couldn’t abandon Lee Sa-young. He couldn’t let go of his only one, the boy who was the only one who waited for him, the child who endured by breaking himself, with his own hands, it was too…
“…That’s right, but.”
Eui-jae muttered quietly.
“I want to find another way.”
“Well, I expected you to say that. I’d be in trouble if there’s no one to pay my salary. This is a gift.”
Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo said nonchalantly, handing over the tangerine peel. It was in the shape of a dragon. …A dragon? He made a dragon out of tangerine peels? Whether Eui-jae looked at him with a puzzled face or not, Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo picked up the next tangerine.
“I also need to process my work-related injury, so we have to bring the Guild Master back.”
“No one asked for my opinion?”
Nam Woo-jin tilted his head. Oops. Eui-jae glanced at Nam Woo-jin. He was the original owner of the notebook. Besides, he was also a researcher developing vaccines on the front lines for the people. Nam Woo-jin crossed his arms and sighed.
“Well, I’m not going to object. I don’t like the idea of taking someone’s sacrifice for granted.”
“…….”
“Having the notebook would be convenient, of course. We can reduce failures by looking at the records of the past world. But in the end, I have to complete it.”
Nam Woo-jin tapped Eui-jae’s head with the chart. It didn’t hurt at all.
“Do as you please. But…”
The moment he raised his head, Eui-jae faced Nam Woo-jin’s face, distorted like a goblin. Where did the mature appearance from just now go? He pointed at Eui-jae’s face and shouted.
“Tell that damn Lee Sa-young clearly. If he does this kind of thing again, I’m going to smear Kraken ink all over his smooth face! Ink terrorism like this on a perfectly good page, does that make any sense! There are so many other blank pages, but he stubbornly does it here!”
“…….”
“Aren’t you going to answer!”
“Yes, yes…”
“Hmph.”
Nam Woo-jin turned away. Eui-jae hurriedly grabbed him.
“Th, there!”
“What is it.”
“If you don’t mind, can you give me the notebook….”
Nam Woo-jin threw the notebook and dragged his Crox towards the door.
“Give it to my assistant after you’re done with it.”
“Thank you.”
Click, thud. The sliding door of the hospital room closed. Eui-jae sighed, holding the notebook. Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo munched on a tangerine and patted Eui-jae’s shoulder.
“He’s been particularly angry lately. Please bear with him.”
“…….”
“If you get angry at the Doctor, I’m the one who loses out. He treats with emotion.”
Eui-jae smelled the sweet and sour tangerine scent and reopened the notebook. The page after the ‘ink terrorism’ page was blank. It seemed like he hadn’t written much yet. He looked at the very last page. Something small was written on the corner of the paper.
[I’ll be waiting]
“…….”
You stupid idiot. Eui-jae sighed softly and rubbed the corner.
At that moment, Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo wiped his hands with a wet wipe and said.
“Then, shall we draw up a plan to rescue the Guild Master?”
It was a word that heralded the return of the most methodical man, the devil of planning, Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo.
A dark monitor room filled with monitors. Ga-young stood alone in the monitor room, intently staring at something. Click, click, click…. Pressing the play button, stopping, pressing, stopping. She replayed the screen again. It was CCTV footage of the bed Ga-eul was lying on. Ga-eul, who was lying still, disappeared from the bed in an instant.
Ga-young, who paused at the moment of disappearance, lowered her head and groaned. Ga-eul disappeared really quickly. Without any devices or traces left behind.
Bang!
Ga-young slammed the machine with her fist and gritted her teeth.
“The Wave Guild’s shadow Awakened is still recovering…. Mackerel is also on a break. Who the hell took her?”
“…….”
“If she disappeared like that, she’ll reappear somewhere…. Did you find any traces there?”
A soldier with his entire face covered in a black mask shook his head.
“There’s no news at all.”
“What about her house? Her school? Her friends? Her relatives?”
“We’ve searched everywhere, but she’s not there. It seems like she’s really disappeared.”
“Really? No lies? There’s no way a person can disappear without a trace like this―”
“Sister Ga-young!”
The monitor room door burst open. It was a priest wearing a white gown. He quickly approached and whispered.
“The Seer wants to see you….”
“Fucking hell, does that crazy brat have no tact?!”
Ga-young exploded in anger and pushed the priest away. The priest, who fell on his butt, looked up at Ga-young with a bewildered face.
“S, Sister?”
“Get lost!”
“…Please go.”
The soldier grabbed the priest’s hand, helped him up, and led him out of the monitor room. Ga-young turned her gaze back to the monitor.
“Where did she go, really…!”
Ga-young anxiously began to bite her thumb. The outside is dangerous. It’s even more dangerous for a young student to wander around alone. What if she’s attacked by a Monster and gets hurt? What if she can’t get treatment? What if she has to watch another life fade away before her eyes again?
Crunch, crunch…. She started biting past her fingernails and into her flesh. Before long, bright red blood flowed down. Only then did she take her thumb away. At the same time, a small exclamation burst out.
“Ah.”
Dazed eyes stared at the screen. At the moment when a girl disappeared without a trace.
“…Ah, ah, ah…. That’s right…. She’s an Awakened, isn’t she? That’s right….”
A light returned to her dazed eyes.
“…She won’t die from not getting treatment.”
Eyes that gleamed eerily narrowed slightly. A small smile leaked from her red lips. Soon, Ga-young grabbed her stomach and started laughing.
“Heu… heuheu, ahahahaha!”
“…Ms. Ga-young?”
“Ah…. Look at my mind. I haven’t been in my right mind lately, me too….”
Ga-young giggled and staggered away. And she grabbed the soldier’s shoulder tightly.
“Can you contact my friend? I haven’t heard from her lately…. She should be bringing me information periodically, shouldn’t she?”
“That’s right.”
“Contact her and tell her to bring me everything about what Nam Woo-jin is doing, how his recent research is progressing, new drug combinations, everything. Unless she wants to see her child turn into a monster.”
“I understand.”
“Ah, and…”
The eyes behind her glasses gleamed ominously. The corners of Ga-young’s lips turned up.
“The Awakened Management Bureau, other Guilds…. Anywhere is fine. Ask all the informants I’ve planted in the Management Bureau if they’ve had a young female high school student visit or if they’ve seen one.”
“Yes.”
“Good, good…. You’re good at your job.”
Ga-young hummed an unknown song and left the monitor room. The soldier, left alone, carefully closed the monitor room door. And, he approached the monitor.
“…….”
The soldier, who was staring blankly at the monitor, grabbed his black mask and took it off. Tousled sky-blue hair stuck out in all directions due to static electricity. Gray eyes scanned the monitors as if they were interesting. His eyes began to move busily between the monitors.
“Ah~ I heard an interesting story….”
The corners of the young man, Gyu-Gyu’s, lips turned up.