Chapter 77: Our kid might be a genius, don’t you think? |
“Mr. Cheonsu, wake up!”
“Ugh… Mom, five more minutes…”
“I’m not your mom, so wake up now! There’s a response!”
Han Seori felt slightly annoyed as she shook Kim Cheonsu’s shoulder.
Only then did Kim Cheonsu’s drowsy consciousness clear up.
Realizing what he had just mumbled, he squeezed his eyes shut.
Calling someone you like “Mom.”
Isn’t that the worst?
“If you fall back asleep, we can’t go in!”
Though he wanted to dwell on that thought, now wasn’t the time, so Kim Cheonsu slapped his cheeks and hurriedly exited the vehicle.
Han Seori sighed and followed after him.
*Crunch, crunch.*
The two ran across the snow, all traces of slime girl’s passage already erased.
White steam rose from their mouths like smoke from chimneys.
Leaving new tracks on the snowy field, the two soon arrived at the entrance 7496-KR had entered.
Without hesitation, the two opened the door and marveled slightly at the light streaming into what should have been a dark passageway.
They were skeptical that the problem had really been solved, but seeing the lights on… It seemed she had done more than just solve the problem.
“As expected… It turned out as predicted. At this level, she’s really… far better than any average agent, right?”
“Honestly, I can’t believe it, but… I agree.”
From the moment the slime girl normalized the closed research center, she had already surpassed any comparable level.
It proved that anomaly-related problems could be solved by an anomaly.
‘I thought this when she solved other problems, too.’
Her intelligence might be higher than we thought.
…Or her learning ability is exceptionally outstanding.
Han Seori ruminated on the actions of 7496-KR, the slime girl, that she had seen so far.
Finally arriving at the research center entrance, Han Seori…
…thought the latter was more likely.
It may sound a bit odd to say this, but initially… she didn’t seem all that intelligent.
Rather than intelligent, she was more like a frightened child.
Perhaps she couldn’t act properly because she was being overly cautious…?
Anyway.
Since it was something that happened long ago, Han Seori stopped her train of thought and looked at the research center’s door.
The entrance, illuminated by light, gave off quite an eerie atmosphere.
It was because it had become contaminated from lack of maintenance.
Perhaps due to that eerie atmosphere?
Feeling a strange nervousness, Han Seori quickly approached the panel and unlocked it.
With a slight noise, the lock disengaged, and the tightly sealed door slowly parted sideways.
Eventually, on the other side…
“Oh…”
“…What the heck is this?”
They saw the two entities split from 7496-KR sitting demurely next to disassembled fans.
No, the entity that had entered the doll was sitting demurely, while the miniature version of 7496-KR… was just sprawled on the floor.
Like a person exhausted from work who collapsed at a factory.
Actually, it wasn’t such a rare sight.
It was a scene they saw every day.
What left them speechless was…
The scene of quite a large number of fans disassembled and neatly lined up.
The disassembled fans are arranged as if waiting to be assembled on a factory line.
Han Seori looked around, feeling an odd sensation.
The only entities near the fans are those two.
Which means…
‘…Did those two disassemble the fans?’
Since she didn’t see it with her own eyes, it was hard to imagine.
However.
If that was really the case.
…They presumed that the two entities also had quite remarkable learning abilities, even if not as much as 7496-KR.
By the way.
‘Why are the fans disassembled?’
Could this be the cause of the phenomenon that was occurring in the research center?
The moment Han Seori’s thoughts deepened…
Detecting escape of anomaly within the facility, detecting escape of anomaly within the facility. Confirmation of unregistered entity administrator and...
“Huh?”
“What?”
The two, who had been spacing out, heard the broadcast and burst into hollow laughter.
Despite being neglected for so long, the facility seemed to be in fairly good condition.
“Let’s go to the control room for now. The anomaly seems to have settled down, so let’s check on those things later.”
“Understood.”
The two headed towards the control room, listening to the regularly playing warning.
The location of the control room was usually similar in any research center, so there was no worry of getting lost.
However.
What made the two anxious was…
Detecting control room occupied by the anomaly. Changing from manual to automatic procedure. Initiating facility lockdown protocol. Prompt evacuation is advised for personnel remaining in the facility.
“…Huh?”
“Wh-Why is it suddenly doing that?”
“…If it’s not a malfunction, 7496-KR must have done something in the control room. She’s quite curious… Maybe she couldn’t resist the flashing panels?”
“Haha… What a funny joke…”
It’s not a joke, though.
Han Seori felt slightly embarrassed, but there was no time to dwell on feelings.
If the lockdown protocol had started, there would have been no point in eliminating the anomaly.
“Let’s hurry. Whatever the reason, the protocol has definitely started.”
“…Yes.”
From then, the two began to run.
Proceeding without hindrance, the two were able to arrive at the control room.
Once again, Han Seori operated the panel to open the door leading to the control room.
As they had guessed, it was indeed the control room, so Han Seori hurriedly entered and canceled the lockdown protocol.
Terminating protocol.
Han Seori, thinking she could catch her breath, felt puzzled.
7496-KR, who she thought would be in the control room, was nowhere to be seen.
While wondering, she remembered the device attached to 7496-KR’s neck.
Now that they have entered the research center, it should be able to connect remotely again.
So… checking the location of the now-online necklace, Han Seori’s eyes…
…saw 7496-KR’s lower body dangling from the vent.
For some reason, 7496-KR, hanging from the vent, was motionless.
Looking at that unusually resilient figure, Han Seori suddenly came to her senses and kicked Kim Cheonsu out of the control room.
Kim Cheonsu seemed somewhat indignant, but Han Seori felt that she had to do it for some reason.
Having sent Kim Cheonsu out, Han Seori approached the vent, feeling puzzled.
She had no idea why 7496-KR wasn’t moving.
“Hmm… She’s not dead… Why is she doing that? Ah… Trying to escape? As expected…”
Han Seori, having thought that far, couldn’t help but admire her.
Fully understanding what the stiff voice was saying, and trying to find another way to escape instead of the unopenable door.
As expected.
My hunch was right.
Han Seori smiled delightedly and looked at 7496-KR, dangling from the vent.
Watching that unusually glistening figure, Han Seori called out to the still unmoving 7496-KR.
“It’s safe now, so you can come down…!”
7496-KR, which had been motionless, finally wriggled its body.
Instead of falling right away as expected, 7496-KR crawled into the vent.
Then, pushing out the whale jelly that was inside…
It began looking at Han Seori from inside the vent.
Seeing the floating jelly whale, Han Seori scratched her cheek, still looking at 7496-KR who refused to come out.
‘…Why is she doing that? Is there still some threat remaining?’
Han Seori, her expression turning serious, approached the central control panel and displayed the research center’s management status on the screen.
Having checked the status by operating the panel, Han Seori became even more lost.
Despite thoroughly searching every nook and cranny, nothing particularly threatening could be seen.
The fans blankly lined up at the entrance, which made her feel a bit creeped out, but that was it.
“Hmm…”
Unable to find the cause, Han Seori rummaged through the control room drawers and found a screwdriver.
Then, she moved a stepping stool to get closer to the vent.
There, she saw 7496-KR sitting scrunched up inside the vent.
For some reason, 7496-KR’s jelly was bubbling.
Suspecting something was amiss, Han Seori quickly unscrewed the vent and opened it, reaching out towards 7496-KR.
She was worried it might refuse, but 7496-KR obediently grabbed onto Han Seori’s hand and came out.
Eventually, 7496-KR was pulled outside…
…covered its face with its soft hands as if wanting to hide its sight for some reason.
But it didn’t seem to work well, as it flapped its legs in annoyance.
Han Seori felt puzzled as to why 7496-KR was doing this, but…
Since that motion was quite cute, she decided to just leave it be.
It wasn’t an alarming behavior after all.
So after 7496-KR flapped around for a while…
She only stopped flapping once the other entities arrived at the control room.
…Nothing happened just now.
Take a deep breath and count to three. One… Two… Three.
How could I possibly forget what just happened, dammit?
Anyway.
Thanks to Han Seori and Kim Cheonsu stopping whatever protocol that was, the noisy broadcast was no longer heard.
Right after that.
Han Seori and Kim Cheonsu, as if they really intended to reuse this place, took me to the control room panel.
Then…
Registration of exception entities complete.
They registered me and my slimes as exception entities.
Honestly, I had no idea what it meant… So, I had no thoughts in my head.
Just… accepting it as is.
…It may be better to say I couldn’t think that far due to other thoughts.
So, I didn’t think much of it.
But my daily life, after the exception entity registration was completed…
…was quite different from what I had imagined.
