Chapter 83: Seeds |
Han Seori and Kim Cheonsu moved their bodies, that felt like they were going to freeze, listening to the sound coming from a considerable distance.
The faces of the two didn’t look very good for various reasons.
The cold, which could only be called severe, made their bodies sluggish.
And on top of that.
‘…I never thought I’d receive help in this way.’
Han Seori recalled the appearance of 7496-KR from a little while ago.
Entrusting them with the derivative entities with a solemn look (but still cute).
The gesture telling them to go to the control room.
Seeing that, Han Seori felt very complicated emotions.
But… receiving help from 7496-KR in this way was something she hadn’t anticipated, so it was surreal.
Of course, if they hadn’t been attacked like this, 7496-KR would have been deployed eventually, but…
That and the current situation… felt very different.
So much so that she felt a bit of self-loathing for having such thoughts.
At that, Han Seori shook her head violently.
She used 7496-KR in this way was to reduce human casualties… and to prevent 7496-KR from falling into the hands of dangerous individuals.
It was something that couldn’t be helped.
That’s definitely how it should have been.
Han Seori felt a strange sensation as she felt the wriggling of the doll nestled in her arms and the tiny slime girl stuck to her back.
That strange sensation was directed at 7496-KR, who was gesturing for her and Kim Cheonsu to go to the control room.
‘…Is it really okay to do this?’
Han Seori felt a peculiar guilt.
Even though it’s to reduce human sacrifices, is it really okay to do this?
7496-KR is risking her life… to protect us?
‘I’m not agreeing with the ideas of those Twilight-whatever…’
It was absurd to say she was agreeing since those bastards were using anomalies the same way anyway.
She knew she shouldn’t be having these thoughts.
It was one of the most important rules.
The Red Rule. It is about how those enthralled by anomalies don’t have good endings.
Han Seori realized anew.
It was a rule based on human interests, after all.
The thought that it was natural immediately rushed in, but that tiny seed seemed to be planted deep inside her heart.
Without her knowing.
No one knew how that seed would grow.
It seemed most likely that it would just rot away and disappear.
But perhaps.
It could become a sapling that blooms different thoughts.
Soon, the seed of that thought was buried without a trace.
More importantly for her right now.
It was important not to waste the time 7496-KR had bought.
Han Seori and Kim Cheonsu, moving their stiffening bodies, soon reached the control room, opened the door, and went inside.
Thanks to 7496-KR, the condition of the control room was very good.
Han Seori quickly approached the control panel to activate the facility. She moved her hands swiftly, but…
Perhaps because something so huge had moved, it was impossible to operate the facility immediately.
Han Seori, operating the panel, sighed.
Frozen breath poured out from her pretty mouth.
“We’ll need to check the manipulators.”
“Are there many issues?”
Kim Cheonsu made a dizzy expression and trembled. It was unclear whether his trembling was due to the cold or because they couldn’t operate it right away.
Feeling similar emotions, Han Seori put red dots on the tiny screen and spoke.
“No… we were lucky. There’s not as much to restore as I thought.”
“Can we call this lucky?”
“…Stop saying that and move quickly if you’ve checked. Turn on the transmitter and communication device. If you don’t intend to waste the time 7496-KR has bought for us.”
“Yes.”
Kim Cheonsu took out the things he had carefully kept in his arms and turned them on one by one.
Meanwhile, Jungsik, who had been wobbling above his head, floated up lightly.
Kim Cheonsu licked his lips, feeling the coolness on his head.
‘…It was warmer than I thought.’
However, since it was a miracle that it had stayed still all this time, Kim Cheonsu felt regret but didn’t reach out to Jungsik.
He didn’t want to purposely touch it and get hit by a headbutt.
Then.
Daesik (Alice), who had come down from Han Seori’s arms, scurried over to Kim Cheonsu.
Daesik, who had approached his feet, tapped Kim Cheonsu’s leg.
He lowered his head at the sensation on his leg while putting on the communication equipment, and Daesik raised his arms up high.
“…?”
Making a face that he didn’t understand, he felt a dumbfounded feeling and lifted Daesik.
Soon, Daesik, who had landed on Kim Cheonsu’s shoulder, climbed up his face and lay his stomach on top of Kim Cheonsu’s head.
Daesik then flapped, signaling to go quickly.
*Chuckle*
Seeing that, Han Seori laughed, and Kim Cheonsu felt his face getting hot. He tried to put Daesik down, but Han Seori stopped him.
“It might be of help, you know? Disassembling the fans also… seemed to be Entity 1 and 2 doing.”
“Ugh… I understand.”
The moment that made them feel warmth for a brief time despite the urgent situation quickly disappeared, so the two returned to serious expressions.
Soon, Kim Cheonsu left the control room to restore the facility.
Han Seori continued to operate the panel to assist him.
Behind her, who was doing so, there was one gaze staring intently.
It was Sosik, whom Han Seori had forgotten to remove.
Sosik, receiving the light from the screen and panel.
Quietly made his skin sparkle.
I made up my mind to face it, but the sense of being at a loss didn’t change.
*Kugugugugu*
I can clearly feel it approaching me, but… that’s about it.
Suddenly, the ground shook and began to crack as if a cookie was crumbling.
With a *poof!* sound, the ground split open, and sharp fragments flew in all directions.
Once again, a huge hole was created in the ground.
Narrowly avoiding it, I tasted the fragments that had entered my body and ruminated on the anomaly appearance that I had caught a glimpse of in that fleeting moment.
First, the ‘beginning’ part of the thing that popped out from the ground… seemed to fit the description of a vacuum cleaner rather than a snake.
…Of course, vacuum cleaners don’t have sharp things that look like they’ll tear anything apart.
Other than that, the rest was similar to a snake.
Moving parts seemed to be divided into segments.
Except that it was all made of a material like hard steel.
Then, the thought occurred to me that if I hung onto the separated segments, I might be able to ride on that thing.
But.
…What’s the point of riding it?
Honestly, even if I hang on, won’t my body just get shredded?
I don’t think so.
Looking at my regenerating body these days, it feels like it might endure that, too, but why should I purposely hang on to it if there’s no reason?
Hmm.
If I hang on to it, I might see a breakthrough.
…Like when I went into the whale’s mouth.
Then, to find a way to enter its insides, hanging onto its body seems to be the best method.
Of course, if I wait where it pops out, I’ll naturally go inside its body, but.
Thinking about my body that had been cut off… that didn’t seem like a very good idea.
Ignoring the path that looks relatively safe and jumping off a cliff… isn’t that the idea of a crazy person?
…If there’s no way, even after hanging onto its body, I’ll have to jump into its mouth, but I don’t want to do that right now.
No matter how much I regenerate, the feeling of my body being cut off isn’t very pleasant.
Anyway.
As if understanding my thoughts.
*Kugugugugu…*
I could feel its presence approaching me.
Now that I think about it…
It seems to be targeting me… but why is it targeting me?
What did I do wrong?
I was just guessing about the whale… but didn’t it have some intended aim, even if it was unreasonable?
It may sound like nonsense, but.
Since the dead thing won’t answer me, this is now the official theory.
Then why is that steel snake targeting me?
Since it’s a machine… I don’t think it particularly wants me to kill it.
Right?
Too human-centric… ah, I’m not human anymore.
Anyway, it might be too anthropocentric of a thought.
That thing is also probably an anomaly… it won’t be an ordinary machine, will it?
In the first place, if such a machine had been developed… it would be more frightening that we knew nothing about it.
So, it must be an anomaly.
…Then say something.
It’s so frustrating, really.
This must be how Han Seori and Kim Cheonsu felt about me.
I understood why they tried so desperately to teach me writing.
*Kwa-kwa-kwa!*
While I sympathize with the two, I feel the vibration getting stronger.
Thinking about it, it seemed there was no need to make a new hole, so I wobbled near the hole it had punctured.
It was a really huge hole.
It was so ridiculously large that I would have to stretch out a lot to reach the other side.
What could be inside that absurdly huge snake?
A curiosity that I hadn’t felt before sprouted vigorously.
This must all be thanks to changing my mindset.
Moments later, with fragments pouring down slightly to the side of the punctured ceiling, it appeared.
I quickly liquefied my body and evaded it while eating the fragments.
Then I reached out to the wriggling steel and stuck tightly to its body.
My first impression of being stuck to something big and hard was.
…Will this facility be intact after this is over?
It was an ominous thought.
