By Zephyria “Stick close behind me.”
The Rainwater Tunnel was longer than he’d expected. Only after walking for quite a while did the passage slowly begin to widen.
Despite wearing a gas mask, a foul odor wormed its way in. There must be a sewage pipe nearby. Mu-hae increased the brightness of his flashlight and glanced back at Joo-oh.
He was usually sensitive to such things, so he was worried that he might have trouble enduring the stench.
But he seemed to be completely oblivious. Then again, this was the same guy who hadn’t even gagged when they’d found that rotting corpse.
“See that fork in the road over there?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re going in there. Don’t get lost, and keep up.”
“Okay.”
They entered the sewage area in earnest. Area was just a fancy word for riding a pipe connected to the sewage tunnel.
It was still pitch-black and dark, and there wasn’t much water, so there wasn’t a dramatic difference from the path they’d already taken.
However, the stench was more acrid, and the color of the pipes had turned black. Even Joo-oh, who ate food regardless of time or place, might fast here, he thought nonsensically.
“Jin Mu-hae. Over there.”
Joo-oh, who had come close to his side, nudged Mu-hae’s arm. At the place he was pointing, the end of a round sewage pipe could be seen.
Beyond it, a gaping black cavity was surely the main sewage pipe. Mu-hae nodded and checked the device he had turned on inside his coat.
This device, which he had received from Gu-reum, was disrupting the underground surveillance system. It wouldn’t work for long, so once they entered the target area, he had to focus on finding the thing Gu-reum had mentioned.
He didn’t know what it was for or what it looked like, but he figured it would be obvious at a glance, so there hadn’t been any special explanation.
Mu-hae was slowly getting used to Gu-reum’s unfriendly requests, no, instructions disguised as requests.
“Come up here and walk.”
“Aww. The water’s fun, though.”
After entering the wide sewage tunnel, a walkable path finally appeared, but Joo-oh didn’t seem to want to step onto the solid ground at all. He seemed to be enjoying splashing in the water.
Afraid that the dirty water might splash on him, Mu-hae pulled him up onto the concrete floor with a stern expression.
Damn it. It was definitely welcome that he didn’t complain about anything even in a place like this, but he wasn’t sure if getting used to the dirty environment was a good thing.
At this rate, wasn’t he turning a man with no memories into a slum mercenary like someone else he knew? The person in question seemed to be enjoying it, so he let it go, but the unpleasant aftertaste didn’t disappear.
‘Either way, I’m going to keep using him.’
Come to think of it, Joo-oh had been the one to insist on tagging along in the first place. It might be better for him to only have lost his memories than to have no memories, no home, and no money.
After finishing his self-justification, Mu-hae turned his gaze and saw Joo-oh smiling brightly as he looked at the wall.
Had he found something again? Just in case, he quickly looked at the same spot and saw, to his dismay, two bugs with dozens of legs mating in a disgusting manner.
“Don’t look at that kind of thing and do your job.”
“Hmph.”
What an unpleasant place. Jin Mu-hae dragged the stopped Joo-oh along and hurried his pace.
The search continued. The sewage tunnel had numbers assigned to each path, so from then on, it was possible to get a rough idea of how far they had traveled.
‘Already 600 meters…….’
If they moved a little further, they would pass the residential area, so they had to find something noticeable before that.
Mu-hae glanced at his Watch and rubbed his neck in frustration.
Oblivious to his feelings, Joo-oh hummed a tune next to him. If it weren’t for the dark and smelly situation, he would have thought they were here on a trip.
“Jin Mu-hae.”
Joo-oh, who had finished a tune that was quite well-composed for an original song, grabbed Mu-hae’s arm and stuck close.
Judging by his expression, he seemed to have something he was curious about. Mu-hae raised his eyebrows slightly, as if to say, tell me.
“Why doesn’t Jin Mu-hae mate?”
“Cough.”
He almost choked and coughed briefly. Mu-hae looked at Joo-oh with a face that said he must have misheard.
Did he understand what ‘mating’ meant when he asked? Or was Joo-oh using his unique sense of language to create a word that only he knew?
After much deliberation, he tried to ignore it, but Joo-oh sent him a puzzled look. His pouty lips seemed to be asking why he wasn’t answering.
In the end, Mu-hae stopped walking and put his foot down.
“Don’t say that kind of thing outside either.”
“What about at home?”
“Just don’t say it, okay?”
He couldn’t bring himself to give the familiar retort of asking if he even knew what he was saying. He couldn’t handle what he would say with that mouth if he did.
Until recently, he had been groping him and relieving his desires. When he recalled his pretty face panting and clinging to him, Jin Mu-hae felt a pang in his stomach and a shiver down his spine.
“You always tell me not to.”
There was a reason for that, wasn’t there? Don’t cling to me. Don’t come into my bed. Don’t sit between my legs. Mu-hae had been steadily warning him in his own way.
It was the other party who had stubbornly ignored all of that and clung to him. Mu-hae frowned slightly, muttering excuses to himself that he didn’t know who he was making them to.
“Ooh.”
Regardless, Joo-oh looked around with a carefree face and even let out an exclamation.
His eyes were sparkling, so he seemed to have really found something this time. Please don’t let it be mating bugs…….
Fortunately, his eyes were directed towards the black flowing sewage.
“Look at that. It’s a fish.”
There’s no way fish could live in a place like this. With a look that said it couldn’t be true, he turned to the polluted water, and a ripple appeared as if on cue.
Jin Mu-hae immediately stopped moving and stared intently at the spot. If his eyes weren’t deceiving him, there was definitely a wave different from the flow of the water.
Thump.
After waiting for about ten seconds, a similar phenomenon occurred in the same spot. Unlike Joo-oh’s judgment, there was something suspicious about it being the movement of a fish.
The water surged shallowly from below. Something was vibrating while sinking below.
He knew this would happen, so he had brought the necessary preparations. Mu-hae looked around once and rummaged through the pockets of his jumpsuit to take out a pair of long disposable gloves.
Putting his hands in the sewage discharged by others was a matter of safety before it was a matter of physiological disgust.
But.
Splash!
While he was putting on the tight gloves, Joo-oh strode towards the waterway. Before he knew it, he had plunged his bare hands into the water. It was something he had done before he could stop him.
“You!”
Mu-hae grabbed Joo-oh’s waist in shock. He lifted the damn guy up, pulled him away, and quickly threw him to one side of the floor.
Even if you were blind, the smell alone would tell you that the sewage was no good, but how could he even think of putting his hands in there, no matter how muddled his mind was?
“Haha. I’m not falling in.”
Joo-oh, who had rolled around on the floor, muffled a laugh behind his gas mask. As if he thought he was worried about him falling into the water, he made happy eyes and held out his hand, from which sewage was dripping.
Squirm!
In his hand was an object that looked like a large spider. The six black, hard legs briefly spread out and then contracted again.
“I found something cool.”
“Damn it.”
What Joo-oh had pulled out of the water was a moving camera. A search robot designed to move flexibly in various terrains.
For some reason, it had been roaming the underground of Jaegang District before sinking into the dirty water.
“Let me see.”
Mu-hae took the robot as if snatching it away with his gloved hand. The fist-sized thing wriggled and moved its legs again.
That movement must have been the ripple in the water from earlier. For a moment, he had been so nervous that Joo-oh had picked up some strange creature.
Letting out a soft sigh, Mu-hae carefully examined the robot’s appearance. A flat, round body with mechanical legs that had insect-like joints.
The side was slightly dented, so it seemed to have been physically impacted. This must be why the machine, which would normally have been waterproof, had been broken and sunk underwater.
As expected, there was an opening on the flat top of the robot. When he opened the lid, which made a creaking sound, he found a thumbnail-sized storage chip inside.
Anyone could tell that this was the thing Gu-reum had mentioned. It was a little strange that he almost missed it, but there was no other object as noticeable as the robot down here.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Mu-hae reluctantly put the water-soaked machine in his bag. He shoved the chip he took out of it into his pocket just in case, took out a disinfecting wipe, and scrubbed Joo-oh’s hands.
“If you even try to eat something with those hands…”
“Even though Jin Mu-hae is wiping them for me?”
“Does your appetite come back even after seeing that sewage? If you don’t want to get your stomach pumped, wash up and eat when we get back.”
Of course, he wouldn’t actually take him to Teacher Jung and ask him to wash his stomach. If he looked at him with eyes that said he was being dramatic again, even the easygoing Mu-hae would feel a little wronged.
Anyway, he had gotten the thing, so that was that. Mu-hae threw the dirty tissue into the water and went back the way he had come.
Joo-oh followed him closely, chattering annoyingly.
“Then what about Jin Mu-hae’s arm? Can I hold it?”
“…….”
“You’re wearing clothes there anyway. I don’t mind if Jin Mu-hae touches me without washing his hands.”
“Don’t say useless things.”
Even as he was annoyed, Jin Mu-hae subtly pulled one arm back. Only then did Joo-oh shut his mouth and grab his arm tightly.
It was fortunate that they could get out before sunrise. Jin Mu-hae adjusted his gas mask and walked quickly towards the relatively clean Rainwater Tunnel.
He put the robot in any bag and threw it next to the bathroom.
Jin Mu-hae had the storage chip he had stored separately read by the device in the hideout. Contrary to his worries that it might have been damaged, the data inside opened cleanly.
As the machine intended, they were all video files. The robot’s view as it passed through the narrow pipes was being played on the large panel without shaking.
The figures of someone occasionally flashed by. It was probably the careless aide Gu-reum had mentioned.
Then, in the eighth video, a familiar form of text filled the screen.
The conditional expression of the Index to search for his father’s records. The Return flight’s secret code. Mu-hae quickly touched his Link Watch.
Beep- Doo-!
A document that had not been revealed until now appeared before his eyes once again. While he was hurriedly skimming through it and collecting it, the next video began to play.
―Chzzzzz…….
Amidst the empty walls, a hissing sound could be heard.
He wondered if there was a problem with the file and the sound was distorted, but the screen moved jerkily and soon showed someone’s face.
Brightly dyed blue hair. A look full of ennui.
―Chzzzzzzz…… Chzzzz! Hahaha!
The man made a wind sound like a machine between his teeth and burst out laughing as if he was dying of laughter.
Then, bang! With a loud noise, the video shook wildly and turned gray.
The robot, kicked by the man’s foot, sank into the water with a gurgle, and the playback of the last file ended.
With the Hologram Window in between, Mu-hae’s face hardened coldly.