episode_0368

The meal began in a quiet atmosphere.

Rain smiled happily and started eating this and that, munching on everything.

He watches the scene with his chin resting on the table and smiles slightly.

How would I have eaten it if it was Shine?

Although meal times with my family are precious, whenever I have some free time, I sigh at the thought of myself naturally thinking of Shine.

A formal conversation takes place over the meal.

From how you’ve been to stories about your grandfather.

No one opened their mouth about Shine and the Resistance.

I emptied the wine glass in front of me and stood up.

“I’ll just go.”

“Jeff.”

He didn’t even sit down when Amy called him.

Even at times like this, Shine can show up.

I couldn’t ignore that probability.

“Jeff.”

At that moment, my grandfather took the photo out of his arms and placed it on the table.

picture.

It’s just a small picture.

But the moment I saw the person in the photo, my heart started pounding.

The heart that was thought to have stopped starts beating again.

Boom! Boom!

Seven years have passed since Shine disappeared.

A lot has changed in the meantime, but my heart hasn’t moved even one step forward from where it was then.

“This, this is…”

“Sit down.”

At my grandfather’s words, I barely nodded and sat down.

I looked at my grandfather for a long time, very nervous.

Rain, who was enjoying a hearty meal, also opened his eyes wide and opened his mouth, as if he had discovered the photo.

“Jeff, let me ask you one thing.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Have you been to District 15 in the past month?”

I recalled what my grandfather had said.

But soon he shakes his head.

Although I’ve been out and about looking for traces of Shine often, I haven’t been anywhere near District 15 for the past month.

“Seo, no way…”

“Then that means you weren’t caught.”

Grandfather continued speaking calmly.

If it wasn’t me, then it meant that my twin sister, the one and only one in the world who looked like me, was in the picture.

Her buttocks are shaking as if she’s about to jump out of bed at any moment.

I couldn’t stand it.

This is a trace of Shine that has not been found even once in the past 7 years.

I wanted to run to District 15 right now and turn it upside down.

“Calm down. People are already moving.”

When I heard my grandfather’s calm words, I couldn’t hold it in any longer and jumped up.

“Now, now, can you calm down? It’s been 7 years. 7 years.”

A whole 7 years.

It may seem short, but it was such a long time for me.

As time, which had stopped, began to flow, everything around me began to become clearer.

My grandfather continued speaking in a calm voice, as if he had anticipated my reaction.

“Not yet, it hasn’t been confirmed yet that it’s Shine.”

At those words, I snatched up the photo placed on the table.

It was a blurry, crappy photo, but I could clearly see it.

My instincts, the traces of shine imprinted on my body were speaking.

“This is my sister…”

As the voice came out trembling, the gaze became hazy.

I handed the photo to Amy, who was sitting next to me.

“Okay, okay, look. Can you tell, Mom? This is my sister.”

“Yeah. I think it’s Shine too.”

“Then!”

The moment I spoke out loud, I caught my breath under Rain’s gaze.

I was so, so excited.

Raising your voice in front of your grandfather and your mother.

“Hoo-”

You have to be a good kid.

I wonder if Shine recognizes me.

It was so scary to see it growing bigger and bigger.

So, it must maintain its character as it was before.

When I meet Shine again, I have to be able to greet her as a good kid, as a good younger sibling.

***

Immediately after the meal, I started moving straight away with Rain.

Amy decided to take a look around District 14 just in case.

“It’s been a while since I’ve moved this late.”

Rain, who had exited the gate, looked around and said.

Certainly, it was rare for him to be active this late in the seven years since he had lost contact with the Resistance.

After I took the photo out of my pocket, I immediately activated the current field.

The wide-spreading electric field covers the entire 15th district.

There is only one place I need to find.

This is where Shine’s photo was taken.

As you step out of the gate, a blue lightning bolt spreads out.

The coordinates of dozens or hundreds of cameras are transmitted to your head.

Camera shooting points that quickly pass before your eyes.

How many seconds passed like that?

I was able to find the exact same place where Shine was taken.

A small alley between shops.

I immediately start heading there.

“Rain.”

“Huh?”

“Be careful because it’s zone 15.”

“Yeah, I know.”

District 15.

This is where slums really start to form.

Since it was a place where the law did not apply, it was very likely to get involved in one controversy or another.

Just like right now.

It’s been a while since I left the gate, and eyes are flying in from all directions.

A gaze exploring me and Rain.

Since the clothes they were wearing were different from those of the people here, it was natural that attention would be drawn to them.

But I don’t care.

I start walking quickly with Rain.

The exploration continues for a long time.

I could sense that they were confused by my walking without hesitation.

As I was walking down the street and turning the corner, someone came towards me as if he was going to fall down.

“What-!”

A look of great confusion and floundering.

At the sight of her brushing past me as if she was going to bump into me, my body immediately moved.

The legs are pointed forward, to match the slightly twisted body.

Immediately after that, kick the other leg.

In a natural movement like flowing water, the body of the man who was falling towards me quickly spun around and crashed to the ground.

“Kkw!”

I stop in my tracks as I see him groaning on the floor.

“Huh? What, what is it?”

Rain was startled by the sight of the fallen man and began to look around cautiously.

“Are there still pickpockets left?”

I tilted my head and opened my mouth.

In the vague memory of Uncle Jeff, my body moved on its own.

This guy’s purpose also comes to mind naturally.

“Oh, pickpocket? This guy is a bad guy!”

Rain became very angry at my words and started trampling the fallen man.

Thud thud thud – At that movement, the gazes of the people around become strange.

I looked around and thought.

It’s been quite some time, but nothing has changed.

Anyway, it’s a good thing.

I grabbed the back of the neck of the man who was squirming on the floor.

The sight of him slumped over and his eyes tightly shut seemed to indicate a premonition of the pain that was to come.

“Mister.”

“Yes, yes?”

“I have something to ask you.”

As far as Uncle Jeff could remember, the fact that he could pickpocket so openly near the gate meant that he belonged to a gang that controlled this place.

Well then, you must know a lot.

I took the photo out of my pocket and held it up to the man’s face.

“Have you ever seen someone like this?”

“Uh, um…”

He groaned thoughtfully at my words.

How much time has passed like that?

He looked at me carefully and then opened his mouth carefully.

“That, that picture quality is too blurry…”

“Ah. Can’t you see it well?”

To be sure, the only thing that could be seen in the photo was Shine’s back.

How could anyone find someone with the back view of a woman with long white hair?

I nodded and leaned my face forward.

“Then what about people who look exactly like me?”

“Yes…?”

“Haven’t you seen it?”

He observed the situation and nodded slowly.

I knew this would happen.

But you can’t get full from the first drink.

I let go of the hand that was holding the man and turned my body.

The body, which has quickly turned around, swings strong power with the outstretched legs as the axis.

The other side of Chuk Sam’s leg stretches out and he hits the man floating in the air with a strong punch in the stomach.

puck!

The man who was kicked was sent flying and landed in a pile of trash on the other side of the road.

The trash bag bursts, scattering messy trash everywhere.

The man who was stuck in the trash pile soon jumped up from his seat, screamed, and ran down the alley.

I watched the scene quietly.

“Jeff. Is it okay to leave it like that? Don’t turn it over to the police?”

“Hmm. The police don’t work here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

I looked around as I answered Rain’s words.

If you show us this much, we won’t get caught up in unnecessary arguments.

“Then shall we go?”

I held Rain’s hand and started walking again.

As we headed deeper into the city, a stench began to emanate, incomparable to that around the gate.

The lower zone is more lively in the evening than during the day, and more lively in the morning than at night.

The smell of rotting corpses and the thick smell of blood. The smell of sweat mixed with strong perfume assaults the nose.

If you had brought Chuchu here, the furry creature would have run away in terror.

Lane frowned and pinched his nose.

“Ugh…”

It seems that the smell was unbearable.

“It’ll be okay once you get used to it.”

“Is Jeff okay?”

It wasn’t like it was nothing.

The smell makes my head spin and I feel dizzy.

After walking for a while like that, I stopped and looked around.

Except for people sprawled on the street, high on drugs, no one else was to be found.

Rain was grumbling repeatedly while holding his nose.

But she also seemed to notice this situation and looked at me.

“Jeff, aren’t you going?”

“It seems like guests have arrived.”

The moment he turned around while saying that, a sharp light passed by my cheek.

A silent throwing weapon.

Something that flies and sticks to the wall sparkles.

It seemed like he had no intention of killing me and Rain.

The moment I turned my body completely, a blue stream of water rose up from under my feet.

Rain used his power.

Pavababak-!

The stream of water that Rain summoned completely blocked the silver needles that were flying towards Rain and me.

Tiny needles are stuck just in front of the water stream and fall slowly downward.

“You don’t seem to be a guest?”

As Rain muttered in a small voice, the people who had been hiding began to reveal themselves.

I glanced at the man standing behind them.

It was the pickpocket who had been kicked by me earlier.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

It saved me the trouble of having to go there in person.

I raised my hands and drew up my power.

Phagecic-!

The blue lightning appeared and growled fiercely.

There was no need to adjust the abilities here.

That was to be expected, since it was not an area where the police worked.

Kwarrung!

The moment you snap your fingers, a dragon sprouts from the ground and soars into the sky.

There wasn’t even a scream.

Those who were swallowed by the brain dragon fell to the ground without even knowing what had hit them.