Chapter 339

I stopped breathing as I watched it.

Deputy Eun Haje’s people trying CPR.

“R-reporter....”

His body shaking.

In the end, maybe deciding there was no hope, they held him and sobbed, looking around in a daze—then headed up toward the concourse....

“Agent.”

“.......”

“Is that... someone you have to rescue?”

Without thinking, I nodded.

“Then I’ll follow you!”

High school student Ryu Jaegwan, who’d been about to board the train, twisted around and started heading away from the train toward the concourse.

Wait—

The screen doors are closing....

I turned my head.

Behind me, the train doors were closing.

Through the window, I saw Hoyuwon’s face flash past—an unreadable expression as he looked at me.

The train departed.

WoooOOOng—

“.......”

He left.

I drew a ragged breath, then moved after Ryu Jaegwan, who was already sprinting up the stairs.

Dodging evacuees sitting on the steps, sobbing or muttering, I climbed up—and saw figures clutching a body, not knowing what to do.

They were so panicked they didn’t even notice they were being followed, even with Ryu Jaegwan openly chasing them.

“Excuse me.”

I spoke to them directly. They jolted and turned to me.

“Yes??”

Seeing eyes mixed with wariness and shock, I chose my words.

The form of address—

—Reporter!

“Is the person you’re holding... Reporter Eun Haje?”

“...!”

The color drained from their tear-soaked faces, shifting.

“You know our reporter?”

“Yes. And I was working with him until recently, but....”

I trailed off.

High school student Ryu Jaegwan stood beside me, and I heard him draw in a small, short breath as he looked at “Reporter Eun Haje’s” condition.

He noticed.

That it was a corpse.

I didn’t need to dress anything up. With a pale, bloodless face, I stared at Deputy Eun Haje and said,

“Why did this happen? What on earth happened?”

Then, as if they couldn’t hold it back anymore, testimony burst out of them in a flood.

“We—we... we were going to City Hall.”

“...!”

“Yeah! They said terror happened at City Hall, so we went straight out to cover it, but... on the way, right in front of us, lanes just stopped.”

They said the cars ahead all stopped on the road like they’d been possessed.

Horn blares, people getting out and asking what was going on—

“We had a bad feeling, sure! They said terror, right? I mean, we were going thinking maybe it was just a mistaken alert, but... once that happened, it felt real.”

“.......”

“...Reporter Eun said to zoom the camera and just shoot City Hall once. If nothing showed up, we’d make a U-turn. Said you only live once, anyway.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“So we got out of the car while filming, and... and we got out....”

“...Were people marching?”

“...!! Yes! You saw it?!”

“Fuck, like zombies....”

They spoke like they were forcing the words out, hands trembling on their pale faces.

I took a deep breath.

Then as I looked away, I spotted a camera bag hanging at someone’s waist.

“You said you filmed it—do you still have it? ...I feel like I should tell the family, when I meet them.”

“Ah, ah... yes!”

One of them turned on the camera and showed me.

A shaking image.

—Hey, just run!

...Deputy Eun Haje’s voice.

And the road, caught as it receded.

Disaster alert sounds ringing everywhere, silhouettes of passersby whipping past.

—What’s wrong with them??

—They’re looking at the alert and... huh? Huhhh?

“The alert was ringing, and the people who saw it... you could see them joining the march. Like they were possessed....”

—...Guys. Turn off your phones.

“It felt wrong, so Reporter Eun told us to turn them all off....”

“Did you all turn them off?”

“Yes. We ran, holding the camera backward like this, trying to film what was happening behind us. But... hic....”

Their eyes twisted, and tears spilled again.

“Someone—someone trying to run away in their car... suddenly swerved hard onto the sidewalk.”

“...!!”

I watched the screen.

—Huh? Huhhh!?

—Ah!! Aaaaaaaaagh!! Ah!

—Go!

A roar.

The camera jolted, and something flashed past—someone’s body, struck by the car, folding and slamming into the ground.

“Reporter Eun shoved us out of the way. And then he—he got hit.”

“.......”

“There was so much blood....”

I looked at Deputy Eun Haje again.

Maybe they tried to stop the bleeding—his waist was bound with something—but the abdominal wounds were too horrific to look at.

It looked like his insides had been crushed, shock taking him.

...Deputy.

I kept breathing, trying to calm down.

“Um... you must’ve been close to him....”

“.......”

I nodded slowly.

Beside me, I saw the group, like they wanted to forget—mindlessly replaying the footage they’d shot—and high school student Ryu Jaegwan watching it....

And then—

“That’s....”

“Huh? What... wait.”

A baffled voice.

“What’s at City Hall?”

...!

I snapped my gaze back to the camera.

“What? Look.”

“No, here—on the building—what is that.”

The paused frame, silhouettes smeared like the frantic accident it captured, still showed it clearly.

Se-gwang City Hall in the upper-left corner of the screen, caught by the camera’s wild motion.

“...A balloon?”

Near the very top of the City Hall building, beside the window, something had bulged outward.

A pale, rounded shape.

An iridescent, rainbow-like sheen shimmered strangely around it.

“Like it got ghosted.”

“No, color aside—what is that... could it be the bio-chemical terror material? In a balloon form?”

Plausible speculation piled up.

But it didn’t look like a balloon to me.

Rather—

A cocoon.

Or—

...An egg.

It looked like something was using the building as a nest, growing....

...What the hell is growing?

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the image as I stared—

“Agent.”

A hand clamped my shoulder. I turned to see Ryu Jaegwan’s face—blue-white with fear.

And I realized.

“Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm....”

Everyone watching the footage was humming softly.

Gooseflesh rippled across my whole body.

Damn it.

“Thank you. I’ve seen enough.”

I moved quickly, like wiping the camera clean, and covered the screen.

The humming stopped.

“...Ah.”

“N-no. It’s nothing.”

Only then did the group respond properly, as if coming back to themselves.

...They didn’t seem to feel anything wrong.

Do you know what’s worse?

When Ryu Jaegwan grabbed my shoulder, I was humming too....

Even though I ate the berries the Counseling Teacher gave me.

And it still affected me.

...No matter how I look at it, the Counseling Teacher... probably won’t even make it to the point of attempting to end it.

But the train had already left, and I chose Deputy Eun Haje’s body.

I felt like I was bathing in cold sweat.

“...So that’s how the reporter ended up like this.”

“Yes.......”

While they were distracted by the body, I swallowed and quickly touched the camera screen, deleting the video.

They might check later and curse me out, but at least they’d be in a state where they could curse me out.

“Um... do you know where the reporter’s family lives? The remains....”

“.......”

They couldn’t finish the sentence.

“If you’re okay with it, I’ll take the reporter’s remains and deliver them to his family.”

“...!!”

“Why....”

As calmly as I could, I said it—

While looking down at Deputy Eun Haje’s unfamiliar remains.

“Because I know where his family is. And you all look injured already.... Protect yourselves.”

“Ah....”

Their expressions changed.

After showing the footage to a stranger, crying, spilling everything they’d been through, it looked like reason finally returned.

Carrying a body was brutally difficult, but it was also hard to decide to abandon it here.

And now someone had appeared, offering to take it.

I saw them glance at my clothes again, belatedly.

Since I said I’d worked with Deputy Eun Haje, they likely assumed I was in a similar line of work; relief flickered across their faces.

“Th-thank you.”

“Please... take good care of him....”

In the end, they bowed again and again, grabbed their camera, and started moving on together.

I heard voices saying the broadcasting station won’t work, they should go home.

And just like that, Deputy Eun Haje’s body was left here.

“.......”

“.......”

I looked at high school student Ryu Jaegwan.

“...I’m sorry.”

“Yes?”

“I didn’t even check properly. I gave up on the train and ran over here, and I ruined your plan.”

What are you talking about.

“And from the start... because time was wasted rescuing me, this happened—”

“No.”

I grabbed Ryu Jaegwan by the head.

“Absolutely not. So let’s not think like that. Understood?”

“.......”

I forced myself to add, almost like a joke.

“Then it becomes my fault for the one I couldn’t save.”

“Th—!”

“You don’t think so, right? I feel the same about you. So in a disaster, let’s not blame individuals who are doing what they can.”

“......Yes.”

Ryu Jaegwan nodded, and his expression eased a little.

But looking at the dead, the high schooler’s face went pale again.

To be honest, I want to wail too.

...What if he’s really gone?

I don’t know the mechanism, I don’t know how this is even working—so fear swells.

If—

...If he’s truly dead.

...Is this how it ends?

It doesn’t feel real.

In the clamoring concourse, Ryu Jaegwan and I stood frozen, staring down at the remains....

A way to save him.

Even if I put him into the tattoo and carry him around, a corpse is still a corpse.

If I die right now, would I wake up again in the morning of Se-gwang Special City’s disaster day, May 4?

But what if I’m some foreign body that only appears this time and vanishes on the next May 4?

Or what if my memories disappear completely?

...Then it’s over.

Cold sweat streamed down.

Isn’t there another way?

I kept staring at Deputy Eun Haje’s body. Near his chest was something that looked like an ID badge.

A broadcasting station ID.

...A broadcasting station.

Blood Broadcasting Station....

Ohu Station.

Delusion Home Shopping.

And what moved into that home shopping’s place—

...The Flower Golden Resort pop-up.

.......

......!

Brown.

I swallowed.

Are the subway-station urban legends I experienced in Se-gwang Special City... the same space as this?

[Hm. Someone might say a calf and chateaubriand are the same thing, too. Isn’t everything just the difference of environment and conditions?]

It was a chilling metaphor, but I understood the ambiguity.

In the end, it depends on the viewer.

And in an urban legend, that kind of standard can form an important rule....

Then.

It’s worth trying.

“Student Jaegwan.”

Together with Ryu Jaegwan, I moved Deputy Eun Haje’s body into a corner.

Then I started using my hands.

“What... are you doing?”

“...You could call it emergency treatment.”

My hands were firm, but my head was a mess.

Isn’t this wrong?

But if the alternative is truly dying, isn’t this better? If the day really repeats anyway....

Questions and fear circled endlessly in my head, but my hands kept moving—desperate.

And a little later.

The dead Reporter Eun Haje opened his eyes.

“...!!”

“Hoo....”

Like waking from a deep sleep, he sat up, and high school student Ryu Jaegwan stared blankly at the sight.

At the reporter moving as if revived.

He furrowed his brow and looked at me with wary suspicion.

“And who the hell are you?”

Perfectly normal.

...Behind my back, I shoved the “Flower Golden Resort Employment Contract” deeper into my tattoo again.

It worked.

***

“So you’re telling me I just revived? Not three days, not three hours—thirty minutes?”

“...You simply came to your senses from a suspended state.”

“Then why doesn’t this hurt?”

“Adrenaline.”

“Well, that’s... a scientific explanation, sure.”

Deputy Eun Haje—no, “the reporter”—scowled, looking like he wanted a cigarette, eyes moving between me and Ryu Jaegwan.

He looked natural—human.

So Ryu Jaegwan kept flicking his gaze between me and Deputy Eun Haje with a confused expression like he had no idea what was happening.

And I was remembering the sloppy contract I’d written....

Day Labor Contract

Right.

To the “Delusion Home Shopping day-labor contract” I had for Deputy Eun Haje, I added a line.

Work as a Flower Golden Resort employee.

This employee is transferred under Flower Golden Resort.

Just before, I’d thought of the “Heo Un” employees in the pop-up store.

Especially Mr. Jang Heo Un, who died.

...When I summoned him into Se-gwang Special City’s subway station, he suddenly came to his senses.

As if the contaminated, urban-legend version of him—only the resort-employee persona left—had never existed.

And this station is Ohu Station, where that pop-up store is.

The location where the “Pleasant Theme Park” space I leased exists.

Maybe that’s why it might work again—I tried raising Deputy Eun Haje as my “employee”....

And it really worked.

If it hadn’t worked properly and only the “resort employee” persona had revived, I was going to erase the line immediately.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem necessary.

Thank god....

But can I even call this thank god?

How is this possible? I don’t know the cause.

And is it right to... bring him back like this?

Should I have let him die here so I could save him later?

I don’t know.

No.

Living comes first.

Being able to talk like this matters!

Swallowing the anxiety and impatience surging up in my throat, I kept my face as composed as I could and stopped Deputy Eun Haje from moving too much.

“You can’t sit up too violently. It could cause serious problems with your wounds.”

“Wounds? Hm....”

Looking down at his abdomen, Deputy Eun Haje’s expression turned strange.

Because the traces of that horrific blood loss were still there, untouched.

To pull his gaze away, I changed the subject.

“I treated you and stopped the bleeding, and you shouldn’t be in danger. But the situation is urgent, so we need to move. You have to get out of this city—”

“Hm?”

Deputy Eun Haje laughed.

“No. Why would I follow you?”

“...!”

“And where’d our guys run off to, and why were two idiots and a kid standing over me? I’m curious.”

Before I could even make an excuse, the next sharp question landed right under my chin.

“And did we know each other?”

“...You probably don’t recognize me.”

“Then it’s one-sided. Your face is clearly the face of someone looking at a person you know.”

“...!”

“Haha. So it is. Well, so you were just staring at a collapsed person you know....”

He propped his chin on his hand.

“So why should I travel with someone I don’t know?”

“.......”

“Sure, I can see you’re not malicious just from your face, but... it’s a terror situation, and I got hit by a car.”

He flicked his hand.

“You don’t travel with suspicious people. Anyway, good luck.”

I realized it.

...He won’t be easy to persuade.

If I say I’m an agent, he’ll probably scoff.

This “reporter” was oddly more openly sharp than the deputy I knew—his confidence and self-certainty flashing.

I looked into two eyes that cut through even this noisy, desperate concourse.

Then—

“...What if I get you out of this madhouse?”

“Well.”

“What if I give you a scoop?”

His eyes changed.

Now it felt like we could finally speak.

“What kind of scoop?”

“It’s related to the terror.”

Quietly, I said,

“Reporter. Starting now, I’m going to uncover the cause and identity behind the terror.”

Reporter Eun Haje’s eyes gleamed, and he held out his hand.

“Deal.”

“.......”

“So you’re in the same line of work. Nice to meet you.”

I shook his hand.

...He doesn’t really believe me.

It’s purely an observer’s gaze.

Still, at least I got his permission to travel together.

Then, beside me, Ryu Jaegwan whispered.

“Um, agent. Then are we taking the subway to Se-gwang Station?”

But Reporter Eun Haje cut in.

“To Se-gwang Station? The subway’s still running?”

Well.

“It was running in only one direction.”

“...That’s weird. If it’s terror, trains usually switch to non-stop pass-through or stop service entirely. Didn’t control contact you?”

“There were station staff on that platform.”

“Hm. So they haven’t completely let go.”

Leaning to look around, Reporter Eun Haje grinned and rose fully to his feet.

“Either way, running it in some weird way means there’s something going on. Let’s go.”

“...!”

“You said Se-gwang Station. Didn’t you?”

I hesitated briefly.

...We’d already lost a lot of time. Now even moving outside the subway wasn’t something I could call safe.

I had to recalculate.

Then.

Moving inside the subway first, then leaving when a wave of the crowd passes, wouldn’t be a terrible idea.

The subway is relatively safe.

And if we go to Se-gwang Station and gather information, there aren’t many people as capable as Deputy Eun Haje in that direction.

“...All right. We’ll move to Se-gwang Station together.”

“Okay.”

Watching my former boss speak so briskly, I gave a faint smile.

Even now, he still felt reliable.

And so we boarded the subway one step late and headed for Se-gwang Station.

To track the Counseling Teacher’s traces.