MIT 65

Mumble. Rustle.

Rustle, rustle, gulp.

There are a few things that Mu-hae couldn’t help but notice, even without turning his gaze.

Hidden by Joo-oh’s extraordinary abilities, Jin Mu-hae was also the possessor of quite sensitive senses.

The guy sitting next to him kept glancing over while munching on something crunchy, so his mind, which was initially focused solely on the Return flight, kept drifting towards him.

‘Annoying.’

He was already busy speculating about what might be at their destination. Now he had to mix in useless thoughts.

From the question of whether eating that stuff until it reeked, even with all the stimulating syrup, wouldn’t kill you, to the astonishment that he could keep eating all day long and still have room for more.

The suspicion that his stomach was flat even after he ate a whole loaf of cheap bread last time. The resentment that a human could have such poor fuel efficiency.

—Ding-dong♪ The vehicle has nearly arrived at your destination. Thank you for choosing safe and fast Jangryong Transportation today…

In the end, when the taxi stopped, Mu-hae had no choice but to step out without any mental preparation.

Joo-oh, who stuffed the plastic scraps into his pocket, followed behind with a naively bright expression.

“Oh. A forest.”

For the sake of the production parts, no, the mental health of the citizens, the residential area parks generally took on the appearance of lush and verdant nature.

Vivid green vegetation without any withered or contaminated parts. Jin Mu-hae felt a faint jealousy as he looked at the park, which displayed only the most pleasing aspects, unlike the rough and harsh external environment.

Those who were born and raised here would not be nervous about the dense blades of grass. They would never have felt the threat of something popping out from behind and stabbing them in the neck.

Mu-hae, who was used to accepting the given absurdities as they were, sometimes felt a little twisted inside like this.

“Jin Mu-hae. Should we go this way?”

“Don’t go ahead, stay by my side.”

In contrast, Joo-oh seemed to have no thoughts at all. Unless all the grass and trees in this park had meat hanging from them, he wouldn’t envy the citizens of Jaegang District.

Mu-hae grabbed Joo-oh’s arm, which was trying to dart off in all directions, and walked across the park.

A nearby artificial pond sparkled, reflecting the light of the sky.

“It’s over there. Right?”

Large and small buildings began to appear outside the park’s side path. A row of shops lined the path leading to the apartment complex.

Joo-oh’s fingertip pointed to a shabby commercial building. That’s right. The address Gu-reum gave him was on the third floor of that building.

“We’re going to the restaurant.”

“Okay.”

“And we’re going to stop by the bathroom before that.”

Mu-hae gestured towards the building entrance. He was telling him the excuse to go inside.

Whirr, the red eyes that turned to face him were smiling clearly. He didn’t answer, but he understood. As if the spaced-out, grinning demeanor he’d shown all along was a lie.

“I like going to the bathroom with Jin Mu-hae.”

“You don’t need to say things like that.”

Joo-oh hugged the arm holding him tightly. Whether he was happy or nervous, his heart was pounding softly.

Mu-hae glanced down at his wrist and dragged him into the building. His Link Watch wouldn’t be tracked since it was rooted, but Joo-oh’s wasn’t. He needed to tamper with his Watch soon, too.

The interior had a strange structure for a commercial building. Unlike the open exterior, the inside had a private atmosphere with a hallway that seemed to be used only by the resident merchants.

But even up to the second floor, he thought he could faintly hear people’s voices here and there.

As soon as they stepped onto the third floor, all signs of people disappeared.

‘…….’

The air he felt was completely different from the lower floors. What kind of business was located here that even foot traffic had ceased?

His steps, which had been walking down the hallway without windows, stopped in front of door number 3-07. A small lock was attached to the firmly closed iron door of their destination.

Gu-reum wouldn’t have given him this address without any countermeasures. Mu-hae looked around and held his Watch over the square recognition pad.

Diring-!

“……!”

Even though he had roughly expected it, he flinched at the sound of the door opening.

Swish—as the door opened upwards like a shutter, the dusty interior, which seemed to have been left unattended for a long time, was revealed.

Mu-hae stepped into the long, narrow space of about eight pyeong. The scene, with only an electronic board hanging over the desk as if it had been used as an office before, felt awkward.

Squeak—clunk.

“Ugh.”

The door closed behind Joo-oh, who had stuck close and entered. Click, when he pressed the switch, the ceiling lights turned on brightly, making it seem as if it had never been empty.

“There are no windows.”

As Joo-oh said, there wasn’t even a small window in the room facing inward. Only the whirring of machinery could be heard from the hole in the wall for ventilation.

Ordinary if ordinary, suspicious if suspicious. Mu-hae detached the clinging Joo-oh and carefully examined the surroundings.

He couldn’t see anything particularly strange on the walls or ceiling. Tick tick. The wall he tapped with his fingernail made a solid sound.

“This doesn’t turn on.”

Turning around at the sound of something being tapped, he saw Joo-oh had already climbed onto the desk and was touching the electronic board.

Mu-hae clicked his tongue softly and put his hand under his arm. He intended to lift him up and push him aside.

But Joo-oh, thinking he was going to hug him, grabbed onto him tightly.

He was so strong that even though he quickly removed the hand he was holding, he clung to Mu-hae’s body like a cicada on an old tree.

Huuuum. A satisfied breath echoed in his ear.

“Let go.”

“I’m happy that Jin Mu-hae is hugging me.”

“I never hugged you, so get down.”

“Tsk.”

Joo-oh even made a clicking sound with his tongue impudently. He must have learned it from someone.

Sliding down Mu-hae’s body, he plopped down on the floor and muttered something.

“I can hug you. But Jin Mu-hae doesn’t hug me.”

It was a story not worth listening to. Mu-hae turned his head as if he hadn’t heard.

Pick-.

Jin Mu-hae found the code attached to the electronic board and touched the connection.

He thought he heard a small sound of electricity flowing, and then, blink, a smiley face appeared on the black screen.

Looking closely, it was indeed an ASCII code made up of white letters. A keyword that was just a meaningless string of characters when scanned with other devices, but could only be decoded with Mu-hae’s Link Watch.

There was no need to waste any more time.

Beep- Too-!

Pabababak!

Hologram Windows popped up in front of Mu-hae’s eyes in a flurry. As always, it was a record related to the Return flight.

Unlike the last time when he wandered around Sakdal late at night and ended up in a strange place, this information was easier to find than he thought.

Now all he had to do was go back and check the newly obtained information…

—I hope you like it.

Gu-reum’s altered voice intruded into his mind. Mu-hae had been pondering for days about the incomprehensible remark that he would be here often.

Was there something more to find out? If he left like this, it would be difficult to come back, so it was better to search as much as possible before turning back.

At that moment, Joo-oh, who had dusted off his pants, approached him as if he had been waiting.

He pointed to the Hologram Window that he hadn’t quite managed to hide and poked Mu-hae’s arm.

“That moves.”

The palm-sized window located in the lower right corner. In the very center, something like a cursor was blinking.

It was a signal to enter something. He hadn’t heard that there was a password or anything, but it was a difficult situation.

Moreover, when he touched the button on the edge of the window, a microphone-shaped icon faintly appeared.

It meant that he had to guess the answer with his voice, without even a common keypad.

“I’m hungry.”

I’m hungry_

Jiiing-!

Joo-oh’s nonsense was entered. Mu-hae narrowed his eyes and turned to look at him, pressing down on the Watch that was vibrating as if it was wrong.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Even if you picked up stones instead of chocolate, you would have filled your daily calorie intake by now. Don’t disturb me and stay still.”

“Hmph. No, tsk.”

He was so distractingly annoying. Judging by the way he was whining for food, was it already time to feed Joo-oh dinner?

But before they came in, the sky was bright without any red. It was still far from sunset, so it wasn’t time for him to be fussy yet.

Mu-hae, who was rambling about thoughts that had gone off track, suddenly recalled a conversation he had with someone.

‘There’s a direct receipt delivery for Mr. Shin Dae-soo.’

‘Where is it from?’

‘From where the sun sets.’

The day he first learned about the Index conditions of the document in a formal residential area like Taeul District, like now.

At that time, Jin Mu-hae recited the phrase he had heard from Teacher Jung to the man from the Kingfisher. The proper search began then.

His heart started to beat faster and faster. That feeling, as if he was facing a huge destiny, came again.

“Where the sun sets…….”

Mu-hae cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

“……From.”

Where the sun sets_

From where the sun sets_

Uuuung-!

A different, softer vibration than before resonated on Mu-hae’s wrist.

At the same time, the small window disappeared completely, and all the Hologram Windows turned off at once.

Zarururu…… There was a very small sound of gears turning somewhere.

“Jin Mu-hae. The floor is moving.”

Joo-oh, who had noticed the small movement first, whispered. Then, the floor in the inner corner gradually pushed out, and a slowly gaping hole appeared.

Mu-hae took a deep breath and approached it. There was a long, narrow staircase leading down. It was a precarious gap, barely enough for one adult to pass through.

“This…….”

“This is the third floor. Are we in the wall now?”

A room in the shape of a long rectangle. A space with a structure that was surrounded on all sides without a single window.

As Joo-oh said, the bottom of this room seemed to be disguised as a wall or pillar. When Mu-hae approached the stairs, light entered the hole that had been only dark black.

Round lights were brightly shining on every path they were about to take.