By Zephyria 336
The Director of the Awakened Management Bureau, Ham Seok-jeong, sat in the middle of a monitor room filled with screens. Min-gi Seo, who was standing next to her, created a chair with his shadow and offered it to Eui-jae. To the untrained eye, he looked like a Hunter belonging to the Bureau of Rift Management. Eui-jae whispered softly.
“Why is Min-gi Seo here?”
The answer came from right next to him.
“Team Leader Han is commanding on-site. So, I’ve got this guy here as a secretary. He can’t fight anyway.”
“How can you say such a disappointing thing? I am also skilled in combat, Director.”
“Who’s going to heal you if your wounds open up while fighting?”
“The Doctor will take responsibility and heal me, I presume.”
“A feeble guy who faints will heal you, sure.”
“Faints?”
In that instant, the image of Nam Woo-jin, withered like a mummy, flashed through his mind. As he shook his head to dispel the ominous imagination, Min-gi Seo pushed up his sunglasses and replied.
“There’s no major problem with his health. However, I heard he fainted while healing Hunters. It seems all the injured Hunters went to the Seowon Guild. Well, there’s no helping it since the Elixir supply isn’t smooth.”
“A healer being absent in this situation is a major blow. Tell them to minimize the cases the Doctor heals directly.”
“Understood.”
Min-gi Seo quickly took out a tablet and made a note. Like someone who had worked by her side for a long time. Considering how much he complained, they worked together quite well. Eui-jae looked at the videos appearing on the screen. Most of them were CCTV footage from the streets. Hunters repairing broken roads, transporting the injured, and evacuating civilians… Familiar faces were mixed in between. Regulars at the Hanover Soup Restaurant.
Everyone was moving busily.
The Director opened her mouth.
“I heard about Matthew. Team Leader Han reported it on his own while you were coming here.”
Ham Seok-jeong let out a snort.
“I don’t know if it’s a form of self-reflection or self-preservation.”
“……”
“I didn’t call you here because of that, so relax. You are a perfect third party.”
Honeybee had suddenly disappeared somewhere while Eui-jae was replying to the text. Did she go to find Matthew, or did she go to collect her emotions? There was no way to know.
In fact, from the moment Matthew disappeared before his eyes, Eui-jae had been contemplating. If he hadn’t been trapped in the West Sea Rift, could Matthew have forgiven himself?
Could he have had a chance to atone?
Ham Seok-jeong’s cold voice cut off his thoughts.
“If you have any useless sentiments, throw them away. There’s no time for that, and it’s not necessary.”
“…Yes.”
Ham Seok-jeong paused as if choosing her words, then cleared her throat and opened her mouth.
“Now that Hong Ye-seong’s contact has been cut off, I thought you and Yoon Ga-eul would know the most about Doomsday, so I called you. We need to prepare for what’s next.”
Next.
Eui-jae looked at the white ash piled on the road beyond the screen. A Black Hole turns into a Whitehole. Just observing it caused enormous damage to the world. Now that he had opened his eyes once, there was no guarantee that this wouldn’t happen again next time. The remaining time was like living with an invisible time bomb above their heads.
The bomb will explode someday.
“Thirty minutes, it’s a long time if it’s long, and a short time if it’s short. What’s certain is that enormous damage occurred in just thirty minutes. Most of the connections with overseas have also been cut off. So, I can’t help but think this.”
Ham Seok-jeong tapped the handle of her cane with her finger.
“If there’s one time, there will be two times. If the next one comes and lasts for an hour, two hours, or longer? Won’t we face destruction without being able to do anything?”
“……”
“So, I thought. Let’s avoid that situation at all costs.”
If so.
“Most problems are solved by eliminating the cause. It’s the simplest and most difficult method.”
“It’s also J’s specialty.”
Min-gi Seo chimed in. It wasn’t very helpful.
The screen in front showed the Black Hole in the sky.
“Now, then.”
Ham Seok-jeong pointed the end of her cane at the screen as if she had been waiting for it.
“Can we eliminate that?”
Dismantle it before it explodes.
Ham Seok-jeong stared at Eui-jae with sharp eyes.
“I’d like you to tell me as objectively as possible. If it’s impossible, we’ll have to find another way.”
A faint memory comes to mind. The first world, the first failure. In a world where he lost everyone, J faced Doomsday alone. And ran away. By turning back time. Even he, with his great power, could not eliminate Doomsday alone.
However.
Strength entered his right hand. His body, his Soul, remembered. The moment he thrust a spear into his nemesis, his enemy. The thrilling moment when he made two eyes into one. The exhilaration when he heard its roar.
That thing is still only showing one eye. That means that Eui-jae has not recovered the one eye he injured.
His strike was effective, and it is effective. Even now.
But how?
How could he face Doomsday one-on-one?
Even if he searched through his hazy memories, even if he tried to remember, he couldn’t find an answer to that. In times like these, he had to give up quickly and find another answer. Someone who would know how to face Doomsday.
Eui-jae slowly opened his mouth.
“It’s possible, maybe. But my memory isn’t clear.”
“Hmm?”
“I think I need to meet someone who can help me. Is Hong Ye-seong still missing?”
Ham Seok-jeong nodded.
“That’s right. We’re still searching, but the Shield itself has disappeared, so there’s not much to gain.”
“What about Cluck? Wouldn’t Cluck know?”
“Of course, we tried. But it cries whenever it sees something similar to pottery, so we isolated it. It even cries when it sees itself reflected in a mirror or water. And its voice is so loud.”
Min-gi Seo shook his head. Ham Seok-jeong also had a look of exhaustion. She sighed softly and leaned back in her chair.
“I thought I’d seen it all, but I never thought I’d see a pottery chicken get depressed.”
“Thanks to that, we’re all depressed too. We’re sad, and we get goosebumps whenever we hear the chicken’s cry.”
The atmosphere drooped. It seemed they had been thoroughly tormented by Cluck. Eui-jae quickly excluded Hong Ye-seong from the list. Excluding him, there was only one person.
“I want to meet Student Ga-eul.”
I want to meet Student Ga-eul. He had only said one word, but Min-gi Seo snapped his fingers as if he had been waiting for it, and immediately the shadow beneath his feet rose up and swallowed Eui-jae. He felt like he was being sucked somewhere, and in a moment, Eui-jae arrived in a space that was black on all sides. He shook his head to shake off the dizziness. Then, pink pajama pants came into Eui-jae’s view.
“Huh? J?”
It was Yoon Ga-eul, dressed in comfortable pajamas. She widened her eyes and quickly approached.
“What brings you here? Were you imprisoned by Min-gi Seo?”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, is that not it? I heard this place is used as a temporary prison.”
“Where is this?”
Eui-jae looked around. Ga-eul smiled sheepishly.
“It’s inside Min-gi Seo’s shadow. He’s become my safety officer. Originally, I was in a safe house, but when Min-gi Seo does external activities, I decided to come in here and move with him. He said I might get kidnapped if he doesn’t watch me?”
“…In a place like this?”
Even in the midst of the all-black space, there were things that popped out in black. Judging from the shape, they seemed to be chairs and tables. Ga-eul replied awkwardly.
“It’s more livable than you think… It’s okay for a short time. If I stay for a long time, Min-gi Seo can’t handle it and spits me out. He says his stomach feels bloated when he puts something in the shadow Shield.”
Then something white was seen at his feet. It was more noticeable because it was a white object that appeared in an all-black space. A round, smooth body, it was Cluck. Cluck circled around Eui-jae’s feet and cried sadly.
“Cluck…”
“Cluck, no!”
Ga-eul snatched Cluck and hugged it in her arms. Cluck buried its face in Ga-eul’s neck and cried sadly once again.
“Cluck, cluck…”
“It’s been like this ever since it appeared alone. They say it’s like depression.”
A pottery chicken with depression?
There were many things he wanted to say, but he swallowed his words. Ga-eul tilted her head.
“But what brings you here? You came to see me, right?”
“Ah, that’s right. There’s something I want to ask you.”
Eui-jae looked straight into Ga-eul’s eyes.
“Show me the Fragment. For as long as possible.”