MIT 84

The path of tracing the Return flight’s footsteps is filled with unfamiliar mysteries.

It would be a lie to say that the constant stream of incidents and accidents wasn’t bothersome, but Jin Mu-hae thought that this veiled task injected tension and vitality into his repetitive life.

In that sense, interacting with Gu-reum was just like a Return flight. In the moments of irregular contact, Mu-hae always paid a certain price and gained something new.

Even while eagerly awaiting her contact, he felt vaguely similar about finding Gu-reum herself somewhat unsettling.

—Solar City, huh. Well, you’re finally getting there.

The voice mixed with electronic sounds held interest. The sound wave graph fluctuated and made a small exclamation, as if hearing the name after a long time.

People living in the Comfort zone were reluctant to mention the story of the destroyed city in public. Unlike accidents or deaths in battle, the demise of Solar City, humanity’s last bastion, felt like everyone’s future, like aging, that would come someday.

If anxiety spread due to uncontrollable disasters, the city’s order would be disrupted. This is probably why Solar City only circulated as a ghost story.

Jin Mu-hae silently stared at the graph drawing long waves up and down, waiting for the next words.

—To be honest, I don’t even know what kind of exchange the Return flight had with that place. It seems that’s entirely under General Jin’s jurisdiction.

“I’m sure you have some idea.”

—That’s true. But it’s not my job to convey the higher-ups’ speculations.

“Then?”

Mu-hae frowned and asked. The story he wanted to hear most had fallen through, but there was still much to extract.

—Since I’m getting on in years, I know a little about Solar City.

Gu-reum answered with a sigh. He paused slightly from time to time, as if recalling past stories.

—Do you know the commonalities of prosperous cities?

“Well, a large land area, a large population, the ability to self-supply daily necessities. And—”

—Being as far away from the Crystal Zone as possible. In this day and age, there’s no other condition like it.

The modulated mechanical voice added the last condition impassively. Although he didn’t mention the subject, it was clearly the story of Solar City.

—I doubt there will ever be a golden age for humanity trapped in the Dome, but if I had to pick the closest thing, it would be the heyday of Solar City. It was that prosperous. Enough that rumors of the place reached even in this isolated world.

“I know that much.”

—But one dawn, a distress signal came from there. When the cities that were in contact sent people to investigate, Solar City had already collapsed and was in ruins.

“Even if it took a long time, it wouldn’t have taken more than a day. Unless it was by land.”

—While identifying the whereabouts of ‘important figures’ in the wreckage, we learned that the signal had been sent a few days earlier. By the time the surrounding cities received the message, Solar City’s fate was already sealed.

“…….”

—An unusually large Crystal Zone suddenly formed nearby. High-ranking Aberrants flooded in, and the Blue Energy storage facility was severely damaged by external impact.

The atmosphere sank with the chilling story. Mu-hae glanced at Joo-oh, whose cheeks were bulging with candy, and then shifted his gaze back to the panel on the wall.

—It’s not a definite story. But that’s the assumption. A terrible explosion occurred, the entire city burned down, and all facilities stopped. It’s thought that most of the residents died before the Dome was destroyed, which is rather fortunate. Because the explosion didn’t just happen once.

“It collapsed without any chance to react.”

—Yes, in an instant. Central is practically a pile of charcoal, so there’s no data left. The further away from the center, the higher the chances of survival…

“Even if there were survivors, there was no information worth salvaging.”

—Most of the people who had left Solar City around that time didn’t know what was going on inside. The families of the top executives had applied for mass travel to other cities, but all of them were about half a year after the accident.

In short, Solar City suspected that some kind of accident would occur, but it happened sooner than expected. It was almost the same speculation as the contents of the recording file he had heard in Takra. Jin Mu-hae nodded with a stiff face.

“That’s good. Right.”

“What?”

“They tried to save only themselves in secret, haha.”

Joo-oh laughed, crunching and swallowing the remaining candy in his mouth. The atmosphere sank even more heavily with his unnecessarily bright voice.

“Don’t say weird things and stay still.”

His cheeks puffed out a little at the warning, but fortunately, he obediently shut his mouth.

This chilling remark was probably due to common sense. Even if the survival rate was higher the further away from the center, considering the completely destroyed city, it wouldn’t have been that significant of a number.

He probably hadn’t thought that far. Joo-oh was often perceived as one-dimensional because his likes and dislikes were clear.

—Hmm. Anyway, if you want to know more about Solar City, it’s good for me too. I had something I wanted to entrust to you someday.

Gu-reum cleared his throat and changed the subject. It seemed like the real deal was about to come out.

—Did you know? The few survivors were incorporated into cities all over the world. A few have come to our Goryeo City too, and one of them is the lover of a key executive. Or, rather, was a lover.

“In that case…….”

—We’ve collected quite a bit of information from him, but I suspect there are still stories we haven’t heard. For example, what they were trying to do at the time of the disaster. If they predicted the accident, what preparations were they making.

Gu-reum stopped talking, and there was a moment of silence. Mu-hae silently stared at the wall, raising one eyebrow.

“How am I supposed to get information that you couldn’t get?”

—Of course, I’m not telling you to figure it out right away. Just listen to some past stories related to Solar City.

We-

I don’t expect you to figure out the secrets of Solar City either.

Only then did Mu-hae accept the deal with some agreement. He didn’t know what kind of past stories he wanted, but it wasn’t the first time Gu-reum had given vague instructions.

“Bye.”

Joo-oh waved at the panel that didn’t even have a video on it. Ping. At the same time, the screen flickered.

The Link Watch on his wrist buzzed, notifying him of a message received.

It contained the address of the Garam District and a brief profile of a specific person.

“Where are we going again?”

“Yeah. It’ll be easier to run around this time.”

It was a little unsettling that Joo-oh was included in the mission this time as well, but what could he do?

Mu-hae shoved his hands into his pockets and slowly got up from his seat. His radius of action was widening, and it seemed like he would end up stirring up the entire Goryeo City.

A package arrived at the address in Jaegang District. The sender was Goryeo Cheonggwa. He had never ordered expensive fruits and vegetables from anywhere, so it was clearly Gu-reum’s stuff.

Jin Mu-hae opened the tightly packed box and checked the supplies. There were a few bricks to increase the weight and two suits, including shirts.

The plain and unremarkable design, as if they were being distributed uniformly somewhere, was impressive.

“Oh. Jin Mu-hae doesn’t have the conceited tag.”

As he said, one of the suits had a slightly different fit, as if it had been custom-made. It wasn’t that he was biased towards Mu-hae, but rather that there was simply no size that fit.

When he tried it on, it fit his body perfectly. Mu-hae felt a little uncomfortable that Gu-reum knew his three sizes.

“You remembered everything I said, right.”

“Yeah. I’m good at acting.”

“Don’t cling to me to touch you when I’m busy. Or you’ll never be able to crawl into bed.”

“Hmph. Jin Mu-hae wouldn’t even know if I came when he was sleeping.”

After glaring at the guy who was talking back annoyingly, Mu-hae manipulated the Link Watch to bring up the Hologram Window.

As with cheap Watches, the emblem of Goryeo City was clearly engraved on the faintly projected document.

From the moment they put on these clothes, Jin Mu-hae and Joo-oh would become public officials of the Goryeo City Intelligence Department. The Intelligence Department is a department that manages secrets and controls public opinion for the smooth operation of the city.

It was only temporary, but they had a pretty impressive ID card. Feeling strangely moved, Mu-hae silently stared at the image that was a little over a hand span.

“If they ask where we’re from?”

“Don’t answer. Act important.”

“When I’m talking?”

“Don’t interrupt. If you have something to say, whisper it in my ear.”

Joo-oh rattled off the answers as he had been taught in advance. It was Joo-oh, who could cause an accident anytime, anywhere, but this was much more comfortable than having no manual at all.

“Try it on. Tell me if it’s weird.”

“Okay!”

“Change. Don’t just put the shirt on over it.”

“Okay!”

“Haa… Why are you taking off your underwear? Do you think there’s a set of underwear in here too?”

“It’s my first time wearing clothes like this. I made a little mistake.”

After a brief scuffle, Joo-oh put on the black suit. The waist was a little loose, but the shoulders fit well without any room to spare.

Perhaps because he had a good figure, he looked serious and weighty even with such a bright face when he was dressed in formal attire.

As long as he kept his mouth shut, no one would think of him as a crazy guy picked up from the outside.

Compared to that…….

“Jin Mu-hae is a little scary.”

Somehow, Mu-hae gave off a more dangerous impression than when he was wearing a leather jacket.

Instead of punching someone when he was upset, he looked like he would quietly drag the target somewhere and come back alone.

“But it’s okay because he’s handsome.”

Joo-oh chattered behind Mu-hae, who was hurriedly combing his hair. Mu-hae quietly clicked his tongue while staring at himself in the mirror.

Damn. His hair was getting a little long and he was going to cut it, but it seemed like he would have to leave it as it was for the time being. He had to cover his forehead a little to look less dangerous.