episode_0084

There was nothing to see beyond the transparent glass wall.

All that is left is a world that has turned completely black.

I was flustered and reached out my hand, but I couldn’t reach it.

A hand blocked by a cold glass wall.

I turned my head and looked at Victor.

He just looked through the glass wall as if nothing was wrong.

“Rain… Victor. Is everything okay?”

Victor didn’t answer my questions.

This time I looked at Raymond.

He met my gaze and simply nodded silently.

I’m out of breath.

The moment I realized that Shine wasn’t here, I felt extremely anxious.

She is definitely in this room.

It was an undeniable fact.

But the pitch-black darkness that spread out before my eyes made me forget even that fact and made my body tremble.

“Jeff. It’s okay.”

As my hands were shaking, Rain came over and hugged me.

Just like I did to her before.

Rain’s soft and warm embrace was like shine.

I slowly took a deep breath and hugged Rain.

My face, dimly reflected on the blackened glass wall, was a mess, as if I was about to burst into tears.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yeah. Shine won’t have any problems.”

I nodded.

Even though Rain only showed me her ugly side, she never lied to me.

With Rain’s hands gently stroking my back, I began to calm down.

My breathing calms down and my hands stop shaking.

Rain, who saw me like that, took a step away from me and grabbed my hand.

“Rain.”

“Yeah.”

“What is Shine looking at?”

“Well, I don’t know because I can’t check it from outside.”

Time passes anxiously.

As the minutes passed and the seconds passed, the number of times she checked her watch increased, but Shine still couldn’t get out.

“4 minutes have passed.”

Victor’s voice made my body tremble.

Victor said.

You have to get out of this room within 5 minutes.

But Shine still couldn’t come out.

“Shine… .”

From his weakly opened mouth, only her name flowed out.

The hand holding the glass wall was drained of blood and turned white.

As my hand on the glass wall began to slide weakly, a sudden change occurred.

The room that had been dark began to stir.

No, the room didn’t move.

The darkness that had been covering the entire room began to move.

As I opened my eyes wide at the movement, the darkness began to diminish in an instant.

In the middle of the room where the darkness had disappeared and the room had turned pure white, a white girl was standing.

Shine.

She was staring into space with her eyes darkened.

I can see her moving her mouth as if she is talking to someone.

“Shine!”

As I pressed against the glass wall and called her name, Shine responded.

He shifted his gaze from staring into space and looked in the direction where I was.

I can’t breathe.

The eyes were pitch black and so dark that not a single ray of light could pass through.

Swallow dry saliva.

Her gaze was somehow misaligned.

That’s how it felt.

But that only lasts for a very short time.

The moment she blinked, Shine had returned to her usual appearance.

She rubbed her eyes and began to walk slowly toward the door.

After Shine arrived at the door, Raymond, who had been standing guard at the door, opened the door.

Click – the door opens with a small sound.

Shine walked slowly out the door.

“Jeff.”

“Shine!”

As soon as Shine came out, she looked for me first.

I ran straight to her and hugged her.

The moment I was held in Shine’s soft and warm embrace, a familiar scent wafted out.

“I’m back.”

I hugged her tighter and tighter.

Shine coughed and twisted her body as if she was uncomfortable, but I didn’t let her go.

Just the fact that I couldn’t see Shine for a short period of 4 minutes stressed me out tremendously.

I was relying heavily on Shine.

He buried his face in her neck and took a deep breath of her scent.

“Jeff. Ticklish.”

At Shine’s words, mixed with a small laugh, I took a step back from her.

“It’s quite a fun place.”

Shine looked at Victor and spoke.

“What did you see inside?”

“Do you really have to say this?”

“If you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to.”

“Um… .”

Shine blinked as she looked around.

“I saw a huge tower.”

“Top?”

“Yeah. I was up there.”

“What else?”

Shine answered Victor’s question with a laugh.

Victor nodded at Shine’s intention not to answer any further.

“Step 1 test is passed.”

“Wow~”

Shine smiled playfully, spreading her arms high.

I was a little confused when I saw Shine’s appearance.

The atmosphere had changed considerably.

“Sha… . Shine?”

“Huh?”

The way Shine looked at me and the emotions contained in it were no different than before.

I swallowed dry saliva and shook my head.

“It’s nothing… .”

No one found Shine strange.

Little by little, something strange about Shine had changed, to a degree that was difficult to explain in words.

I moved carefully and approached Rain’s side.

“Rain… .”

“Yeah.”

I lowered my voice and asked Lane.

Rain also lowered his voice like me.

“Does the mood of a person change when they come out of here?”

“No?”

“Ugh… .”

“Why. Do you think Shine has changed?”

I bit my lip at Rain’s question.

So, something is… .

I opened my mouth at the sight of Shine.

An appropriate expression came to mind.

“It looks like you’re wearing a mask… .”

I am sensitive to Shine’s emotions.

That means, he knows Shine’s expression and mood when she’s happy and when she’s angry.

But now, even though Shine wasn’t particularly happy, she had a smile on her face.

“Mask…?”

“Jeff.”

While Rain and I were quietly chatting, Shine’s voice was suddenly heard.

I raised my head in surprise.

“Ugh… !”

“Now it’s Jeff’s turn.”

I swallowed and nodded at Shine’s words.

Now that Shine’s turn was over, it was my turn.

What on earth is the tower that Shine saw?

Who was she talking to inside?

“Shine.”

“Yeah.”

“Who were you talking to earlier…?”

At my question, Shine stopped laughing.

“Did you see…?”

“Uh… . Yeah. It just seemed like Shine was talking to someone. ”

I answered, avoiding Shine’s gaze.

She didn’t open her mouth for a long time.

I felt a little disappointed.

I looked at Shine, then turned around and walked towards the room.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Before opening the door, Shine’s small voice was heard from behind.

I turned and met her gaze.

Shine was smiling.

It was the kind of smile he always showed me, not a mask or anything.

Just as I am sensitive to Shine’s emotions, she is also sensitive to mine.

I nodded slightly and stepped into the room.

I walked to the middle of the room, just like Shine had done.

A view looking out from inside a glass wall.

It felt somehow familiar.

I waved at Shine who was looking at me.

And the moment I blinked.

I had arrived in another space.

Cold air.

The wind that passed by my cheek was extremely cold.

I took a deep breath.

The stale air stings my lungs.

It was a somewhat familiar feeling.

I looked around in confusion.

A broken and collapsed glass wall.

Broken machinery visible beyond.

It felt somehow familiar.

The floor was strewn with broken glass.

I moved cautiously and approached the half-collapsed door.

The geography was familiar.

The half-collapsed door was definitely the one I had passed through earlier.

I squeezed my way through the crack in the broken door and got out.

Outside the door was, as expected, the training ground.

The place where Victor, Shine, and Raymond had been standing was empty.

“Shine… ?”

Shine…?

My voice echoes and reflects in an empty space.

But no one answered my call.

I approached the broken machine.

A thick layer of unidentified black liquid was scattered around, sticky and hanging down.

The device that Rain had been using to practice dodging balls with was so broken that it was no longer functioning.

I could tell this wasn’t real.

All my senses were blurred.

I reached out and swept my hand over the mechanism.

It’s out of reach.

My hand passed through the machine.

I started to inspect the training grounds, which had become a mess.

There was not a single working machine, and not a trace of the many people.

But I wasn’t flustered.

Because I knew that what I was seeing wasn’t real.

I was thinking like that.

I started hearing sounds.

The sound that began to approach from afar was clearly the sound of footsteps.

Bang bang bang bang bang.

The sound of footsteps echoing through the empty hallway was coming straight towards me.

I looked at the entrance to the training grounds.

The tightly closed training ground door opened and a tall woman appeared.

She was wearing a black coat and had long white hair.

She looked at me, took a cigarette out of her pocket, and lit it.

The long, outstretched legs begin to move.

Thump- thump-

The sound of footsteps is heard again.

She came to me.

A blue light flashes and disappears above the cigarette in his mouth.

“It’s too fast… .”

The atmosphere of the woman smoking a cigarette was very cold.

A tired-looking face and slumped shoulders.

White smoke rises from the cigarette in his mouth.

The woman who came closer looked to be about the same height as Amy.

I could tell because I always walked next to Amy.

It was clear that it was the first time I was seeing him, but for some reason he didn’t seem unfamiliar.

The woman handed me the cigarette she had in her mouth.

White smoke blurs the view.

When I was embarrassed and did nothing, she put a cigarette in my mouth.

A strong, musty scent wafts through the air.

The area around my lips felt tingly.

“Coolook!”

The moment he spat out the cigarette in his mouth and coughed, the woman in front of him suddenly disappeared.

I looked around blankly with my mouth open.

But her figure was nowhere to be found.

I grabbed the cigarette that had fallen on the floor.

The sensation of the cigarette faintly glowing with blue light was so vivid.

Jeff-

Jeff-!

At that moment, I could hear a faint voice.

Shine.

It was Shine’s voice.

“Jeff!”

“Ah… . Huh?”

I blinked blankly.

Shine was standing in front of me and holding both my hands.

“What did you see inside?”

“Inside…?”

I looked back at Shine’s words.

It was outside the door.

Beyond the wide open door, a white space was visible.

“Uh… .”

I wonder when he left the room.

My memory was hazy.

What on earth did I see?

It felt like the bitter and gritty scent was still lingering in my mouth.

“I don’t know.”

“Really…?

I really don’t know.

What she saw inside, what she meant by what she said.

I couldn’t get a feel for any of it.

“Just… . He told me I was going too fast.”

“Thanks Jeff.”

Shine smiled brightly at my answer and shook both my hands.

What on earth are you thankful for?

“Jeff! Shine! Congratulations!”

Then, Rain suddenly appeared and dug into Shine’s gap.

She opened her arms and hugged us both at once, before Shine and I could even react.

“Both passed!”

I nodded at Victor at Rain’s words.

He nodded silently.

“Did I pass…?”

“Yeah! Jeff was a little early. He came out after about 3 minutes? ”

I had no idea how much time had passed.

The moment I came to my senses, I was outside the room.

Seeing Rain happy made me feel good too.

I laughed along with the rain.