Ch.22Planetary X Reincarnation

“You just need to press any button, right?”

Daju, who was the first to enter the elevator, examines the buttons.

“No. We should only choose floors we haven’t been to.”

“How many floors haven’t we been to? Even if I press randomly, it’ll probably be a floor we’ve never seen.”

That’s true. Specific combinations of numbers. Alphabetical buttons that appear sometimes. The combinations are almost infinite. There are definitely many more than the 14 floors currently visible.

“Then can I press one?”

“Sure.”

“Really?”

“From what I can tell, you have the best luck here. It’s all about luck, so we should leave it to the luckiest person.”

“When you put it that way, it feels like pressure. Anyway, I’ll press now.”

Daju starts pressing random buttons.

“Press more slowly! We need to keep track of them!”

“So far it’s 13! 4! 2!”

So then. Is it possible to find an exit among infinite floors? No matter how I look at it, the chances of dying before that seem high.

“Now the alphabets are appearing.”

The elevator lights flicker briefly, then the wall rotates to reveal a new control panel.

[ARRAY]

[Set coordinates here.Z]

[Set floor level here. 0-]

[Set worldline here. 0-14]

[Requests or queries without proper authorization may be rejected.]

“Huh?”

This. Was it always this clear?

I’m sure when I first came here, just looking at it briefly made me feel like I was going to die from dizziness.

I focused on the sentences floating in the air.

[Note: Inputs will be combined according to specific rules regardless of order.]

Just a little more.

[■■■■ cannot affect higher ■■■■…………..]

Should I try more?

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

Another wave of maddening dizziness. I squeezed my eyes shut.

I couldn’t even read this far before. This must depend on one’s condition, right?

Since we’re about to explore now, it might be better to look at this again later.

“13-4-2-GK0! This is a floor we haven’t been to, right?”

Seok Hyunmin silently nods and glances this way.

“Hold on tight.”

Clunk!

And with the rumbling sound I’m gradually getting used to, the elevator plummeted.

[13-4-2-GK0]

The elevator slowly reduces speed. The doors will open soon.

“Let’s go out as soon as the doors open. One person needs to stay inside and keep pressing the button. You understand, right?”

“Yes.”

“If something happens, press the close button at the right moment. We’ll run for our lives.”

“We did that before when we saw the monster, right?”

I nodded silently at Daju’s words.

“So we need one person to stay behind… Lim Dabin? One of your hands is injured and can’t be used properly. And you don’t have much experience, so wait in the elevator for now.”

“My hand is injured too.”

“Then Yoon Daju, will you stay?”

“No. I want you to worry about me too.”

“That must hurt. Dabin. For now, keep pressing the open button. If there’s an emergency, we’ll signal you right away, so be ready to press the close button.”

“Okay.”

I’m not thrilled about just staying in the elevator, but it can’t be helped. Someone has to hold the elevator anyway.

Unlike previous explorations, this is a floor we’ve never been to. That means we don’t know what might happen inside.

“We’ll be going then.”

“Be careful.”

Alone in the space.

[■■■■ cannot affect higher ■■■■…………..]

I’d like to examine that more closely, but right now I need to focus all my attention outside.

While pressing the open button, I tried to look as far outside as possible.

Stone dust. Dirt.

The desolate landscape resembles the surface of some planet I saw in an old space magazine.

Gray terrain with scattered rocks. Deep craters visible in the distance. Are those called craters?

The two people walking outside seem to float like astronauts.

“Wow! This is so cool!”

“Keep it down.”

[Origin]

[Creation]

[Conception]

Brief words flashed through my mind, but they were too fast.

I couldn’t even write them down, let alone remember them. Just the feeling that I saw something remains.

Is something wrong with me?

Suddenly I became a woman. They say “transformation” is common in the apartment, but apparently cases like mine where only gender changes while staying sane are rare. Most people lose their minds or turn into horrible monsters.

Anomalous observation. That’s another thing that makes me unusual. According to Seok Hyunmin, I’m the most talented among all the people he’s seen. Usually women aren’t good at observation, but I’m an exception.

“……”

I looked in the mirror briefly.

Still looking like a clueless high school girl. I should be used to it by now, but every time I look, there’s a ticklish feeling in the corner of my heart. I don’t know if it’s embarrassment, or awkwardness from the memory of being a man.

To think I was a man. If I had dressed like a woman back then, would I have believed it myself? Fortunately, my black hoodie and sweatpants are quite masculine fashion.

I glanced away.

The two must have gone quite far, as there’s no one outside now.

The silence is frightening.

A place with dry air, swirling dust, and nothing but dead rocks around. If there really is a creator, they wouldn’t have left a space like this.

Someone needs to fill that.

I keep pressing the open button with my good hand, while using my injured hand to grab the zipper of my hoodie.

“Ouch.”

A dull pain shoots up my finger, but I manage to pull the zipper down.

They say if your chest outline shows when wearing thick clothes, it’s quite large.

Even though I was originally a man, having this body means I should bear someone’s child according to common sense.

If not, all space will be filled with emptiness.

Right?

“Haah…”

I lean against the mirror as if collapsing, while continuing to press the open button with one hand.

Slowly lowering the zipper, I move my gaze downward.

It’s just a natural thing for the universe, but why does it excite me? My breathing becomes rough without me realizing.

“Hoooo…”

Taking a deep breath, I threw off my outer clothing.

Completely exposed shoulders with awkwardly worn underwear. The chest line… it’s really attractive. If I were a man…

“Huh?”

My heart sinks.

Wait.

What was I doing just now?

■■■■■

Looking up, I see something writhing in the distant space.

It seems like I might see something if I concentrate, but the more I try, the more “it” increases the distance and becomes blurry.

■

■

■■

■

The letters suddenly begin to writhe violently.

I feel intense curiosity, but the feeling of uneasiness is stronger. The fear that I might collapse the moment I understand it by looking more closely. It’s a sensation I’ve never felt before in my life.

My briefly heated body cools rapidly, leaving a distinct but inexplicable anxiety.

What was that?

Are the two outside okay?

■ ■

■Regret■■ ■

■■■ ■Anger■

■ ■

***

In a wasteland where artificial structures seem impossible, satellite debris has piled up to form a tower.

Gold-plated metal sheets.

Solar panels that once provided power.

Wheels and mining claws that allowed exploration robots to move.

Supporting each other, they form one massive structure.

It doesn’t seem like a building you can enter. Is it some kind of religious symbol?

Seok Hyunmin slowly looked up at the steel structure.

“What is that? It looks like the Eiffel Tower.”

“Be quiet. Let me think.”

Along the contours of the round tower, white spacesuits are seated in a spiral formation.

Some are buried in debris and dust with only shoulders or heads visible. Others are preserved intact in a sitting position.

But all maintain the same cross-legged posture. Through the helmets designed to block ultraviolet rays, the appearance of withered skeletons can be seen.

Is this what nirvana is like?

Cutting ties with the earth and surrendering the flesh to meaningless emptiness?

“Wow! Sans!”

“……”

Seok Hyunmin took out a plastic bottle tied with string from his bag.

“Yoon Daju. Don’t go forward, stay still.”

Exploration itself is crazy, but carelessly stepping into such a space is even crazier.

The first principle of exploration is to ensure maximum safety before moving.

If you put a living creature in a bottle and throw it into a suspicious place, you can definitely determine at least two things:

How the “anomaly” of that space affects matter.

Similarly, what effect it has on living organisms.

Even if there are no problems, safety cannot be guaranteed.

It’s impossible to know if there’s any effect on the human mind. Perhaps “something” inside might ignore animals and only target humans. Like the AIDS virus.

Inside the current bottle is a cockroach that was caught last time.

Thud.

Eventually the plastic bottle flew far and landed on the satellite debris with a thud.

“Wait 3 minutes.”

If the time is too short, the risk cannot be adequately assessed.

But if it’s too long, it’s dangerous. We’d be standing defenseless during that time.

After the set time passes.

Seok Hyunmin pulls back the string connected to the plastic bottle.

“Done.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing. It’s fine. Looks like we can go further inside.”

“Oh, really?”

The cockroach in the plastic bottle is moving vigorously, almost disgustingly so. The bottle’s shape is also unchanged except for scratches from when it was thrown.

This should be safe enough, right?

Yoon Daju brightens at the thought of going to a new place, then falls into thought.

It would be interesting to go there, but…

‘Has this guy ever been like this before?’

The Seok Hyunmin that Yoon Daju knows was always cautious, almost excessively so. That was because of past trauma. But this time, he keeps giving the impression of being excited.

“Mister.”

“What?”

“You’re not going to run away this time?”

“What?”

“This seems much more uncertain than last time. It doesn’t seem related to supplies either.”

“When did I ever run away? I just didn’t go to places we didn’t need to visit. I’ve even tested it this time. If you don’t want to go, head back first.”

“No, that’s not it… you just seem a bit strange.”

Yoon Daju pretends to have a playful expression while trailing off.

He should have noticed by now. Seok Hyunmin displays a confident smile.

“I have a feeling this time.”

Pointing to the top of the tower.

“There’s something up there.”