By Zephyria 
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“Jin Mu-hae.”
Joo-oh approached with heavy footsteps and grabbed his arm.
He called nothing but his name, but for some reason, Mu-hae felt as if he could read the emotions contained within it.
The tremor in his eyes was clearly surprise. And an understanding and acceptance of something.
Even though Mu-hae often mocked him in his head for being a fool, Joo-oh was uncannily aware of the burden of the task Mu-hae carried.
“The person Olga is looking for…”
“Must be me.”
He answered nonchalantly, then felt a slight surprise at his own words.
Right. The person Olga was looking for was the individual closest to the center of the Return flight. Or a being possessing similar knowledge and information.
The only flesh and blood left behind by General Jin and the successor of the Return flight—Jin Mu-hae himself.
As Mu-hae quietly gazed at the records unfolding before him, he noticed a change in the system that had been switched to guest mode.
This was an emergency protocol prepared for his father and the remaining core members. Functions that had remained undiscovered despite searching this hideout so thoroughly.
A room that looked like an ordinary resting space but actually had a hidden exit, or the current password for that door, which was designated randomly every time.
Unfinished or unorganized data and research logs, four or five contact numbers that it was uncertain could still be connected, and various records.
The moment he confirmed everything, the hideout, which had begun to feel familiar, suddenly transformed into an alien space.
As Mu-hae examined the granted permissions one by one, he let out an unconscious groan.
A pile of files left haphazardly, as if the list had been left half-organized. In the middle of it was something like a conversation log.
Yeoubi: I can’t even deal with contacting Solar City.
Totnamu: Why don’t you develop some patience? I heard the situation over there isn’t great either.
Yeoubi: It’s fine for you to just sit and wait for a reply.
Yeoubi: But I’m the one who has to wait and receive it via a detour. I’ve been stuck here for five days.
Totnamu: That’s why I drop by whenever I have a chance to rot with you. I’m almost there. Do you need anything?
Yeoubi: Pie.
Totnamu: Sure.
Noru: I’ve heard some news as well.
Noru: I found out about the situation through a contact from West Wind.
Yeoubi: Finally showing up, that one.
Noru: They asked me to tell you that it’s difficult to access the system right now because they are in Seogyeong City. Security clearance in Solar City has been raised, making it impossible for researchers above a certain level to have any external contact. As was the case last time, the judgment is that this measure will last longer, and while a formal notice will be sent soon, to explain briefly in advance: it seems they’ve achieved decent results based on the information we sent. However, there is conflict regarding the direction.
Yeoubi: That really was brief.
……
……
Totnamu: “Noru”
Noru: Confirmed.
Totnamu: According to the report received, the effect of the substance on the human body is negligible or can be considered non-existent.
Totnamu: Additionally, it has a significant effect on mutated organisms. Changes in animals are currently minimal.
Totnamu: However, since follow-up investigation is impossible, it is difficult to be certain about variables that may arise during long-term exposure.
Totnamu: For further details, refer to the record uploaded a moment ago.
Yeoubi: Confirmed.
West Wind: Confirmed. Will contact.
……
……
West Wind: Sending in advance. After a close review, it seems difficult to accept new proposals as the first half of the year is already overwhelmed with ongoing agendas.
Noru: It seems they’re checking us again.
West Wind: Probably because a weakness has emerged. It’s a good situation for the Councilors to tear into.
Yeoubi: Well, I didn’t expect much anyway.
Yeoubi: I should have pushed that guy into the fountain during the year-end event, pretending it was a mistake.
West Wind: Thanks to that, an opportunity did arise, but for some reason, I have a bad feeling. I don’t plan on leaving central for the time being.
Totnamu: Good work. Thanks to you, we at least get some news.
West Wind: Don’t mention it.
Surprisingly, it was a portion of conversation records from several days that showed no signs of being damaged or deleted.
It was a conversation where the core important information had been exchanged separately, leaving only the shell, but the content wasn’t what mattered.
‘Four people…’
There were four speakers left in the hideout’s records. That fact shook Mu-hae’s heart violently.
Was this left intentionally? Or was it something that whoever cleaned up this space failed to access?
They called each other by code names, so he couldn’t confirm their real names, but he could vaguely identify the targets just from the stories they exchanged.
Above all, West Wind. That dreadfully familiar existence appeared countless times in the records.
For someone whose conversation history had even been erased, didn’t he seem like a fairly normal person?
Well, not that he had imagined a traitor to be some incredibly unique and evil entity.
“West Wind.”
“Yes. West Wind.”
Joo-oh’s red eyes were fixed as if glued to the screen. Seeing them shake slightly every time the screen scrolled, it seemed he had read the not-so-short record as quickly as Mu-hae.
“It wasn’t left intentionally.”
He muttered with a possessed expression. Mu-hae nodded without realizing it.
It was a guess, but it seemed the conversation history of these people was structured to be automatically saved in the hideout’s system. They would periodically check and filter them, leaving only important information or specific dates, but they had left this space forever before they could process this.
West Wind: “Noru”
West Wind: “Noru”
West Wind: “Noru”
……
……
A very strange and complex emotion welled up. Mu-hae stood frozen like a pillar, staring blankly at the fragments of the past Return flight.
Unfortunately, the conversations featuring West Wind gradually decreased toward the end, and in the final part, there were no remarks at all.
Most of it was communication between Yeoubi and Totnamu. Only occasionally did Noru appear upon being called.
“Jin Seong-jo… Noru.”
“Probably.”
Answering the muttering Joo-oh, Mu-hae barely managed to turn his gaze away. He pressed the back of his hand several times against his stinging eyes, which he hadn’t blinked for a while.
He felt dazed, as if he had been struck across the arm.
“It hurts. Let go.”
No, it actually did hurt. Joo-oh had unconsciously tightened his grip because he was thinking so hard.
The arm that had been lightly held at first was now squeezed so tight it felt like it might twist. It was a truly spiteful act, as if it weren’t his own body.
“Get a grip.”
“Uh. Yeah.”
“Why on earth are you spacing out?”
“…Because it’s my first time seeing this.”
Because Joo-oh’s expression was different from usual, Mu-hae couldn’t roughly shake him off. Joo-oh let out a sharp breath and took a step back.
The shock of the sight before him was still vivid, but ridiculously, the reason that had momentarily flown away slowly returned.
What… what did he gain? Right. A few secrets about the hideout. Half-written research logs. And conversations between the Return flight members.
For information found simply for Olga’s request, it was quite a windfall.
After examining the data that couldn’t be exported even to his Link Watch one by one, Mu-hae finally checked the time.
It didn’t feel like he had stayed long, but an hour had passed in the meantime. Click. Mu-hae forcibly turned off the screen and moved away from the dead black wall.
Beep—.
When he held his Link Watch against the handkerchief he didn’t remember picking up, the signal sounded again.
Flash, a small hologram pattern appeared. A dot graphic of a sailboat navigating the sea.
“Found it.”
“Let’s go.”
He had completed Olga’s request. Mu-hae stuffed the piece of cloth into his coat and strode out of the hideout.
* * *
Life in Goryeo City is calm, quiet, and sometimes boring.
However, it is never peaceful. Because the past tracks recorded in detail in the city’s data always followed in his footsteps.
Olga Belova recalled the face of her lover, which had grown faint over the long passage of time.
The black glasses he wore. The hair behind his ears that often bent where the glasses’ arms pressed.
A voice that might sound cold at first glance but was actually low and tender, or the gaze that occasionally looked at her blankly.
Searching for his belongings for over twenty years was closer to a kind of obsession than remaining love.
After losing everything, she had neither a purpose nor a goal in life.
Then, the moment she heard his voice, which she had almost forgotten, she realized she was still sinking under his influence.
‘It’s too late.’
It was a relationship where she had once considered parting. He wasn’t a lover who could be proud before everyone.
But once she realized that the goal he sought to achieve amidst arguments and animosity was her, resting within the great city, a clear path finally appeared after many years.
Her lover wanted peace for the city. He wanted to protect the safety of people like her.
Although Olga had left the past behind, she could embrace the unfulfilled wish of someone as much as she wanted.
“Ms. Belova.”
A large shadow fell over the table even before the appointment time.
Olga stopped fiddling with her bracelet and slowly raised her head.
A mercenary with a strikingly clear and cool impression. A unique man who understood the language of Solar City appeared before her.
202 – Became a Monstrous Body in a Dead Game