episode_0079

dawn.

I don’t know what he was thinking, but Seok Hyun-min knocked on the door of the house where I was living.

It seems that he was mindlessly walking up and down the hallway when he saw the light on.

Knock knock.

I quietly stared at the door.

I don’t feel anything strange. It is not something pretending to be Seok Hyun-min, nor is Seok Hyeon-min in a state of being possessed by something.

This is really the Seok Hyeon-min I know.

After checking again, I opened the door.

Knocking on someone’s door in the early morning was considered a strange occurrence even here.

“What’s going on?”

“Let’s go smoke a cigarette.”

While adjusting his glasses, Seok Hyeon-min spoke casually.

As if that were natural.

“I don’t smoke.”

“Really? Even when I was a man?”

“Yes.”

“… … .”

Seok Hyun-min licks his appetite as if he is quite disappointed.

“Haewon is a minor. I don’t think women smoke in the early morning.”

“So you found me?”

“Yes.”

I thought about it for a while.

“I can’t sleep anyway. Just go with me, then.”

I got up from my seat.

Back in the hallway. It was early in the morning, but the air was hot. No. It feels very subtle rather than hot.

The air in the hallway was enveloped in a cool shell, but deeper inside it retained the heat of midday.

The moment I went out. It’s cool for a moment. But when I walk outside, I also get hotter.

Seok Hyeon-min walked along the railing and stopped at the end of the hallway.

The red light from the elevator button is spreading in all directions.

“To be honest, I followed you because you treated me like a man. They say women don’t smoke.”

“Yes.”

“Still like that?”

“Yes?”

“… … No.”

Seok Hyun-min just smoked a cigarette in silence.

Breathe in, and after a while, exhale. Every time that happens, smoke disperses into the night sky.

It took about seven breaths before he opened his mouth again.

“At first, I thought I would get out of here even if I died. But people adapted.”

“… … yes. That’s right.”

“After being trapped here for a long time, I keep thinking that it will be okay if I just be careful. That’s why I’m a bit worried these days. It seems like you are really accomplishing something. Actually, you know how to get out of here, right?”

“Yes. Roughly speaking.”

“Okay. But I don’t know if I can risk my life again, I.”

A bitter voice dissipated along with the smoke.

“What I said earlier. Dabin, you don’t adapt. no. I’m not saying this, I just don’t know how to express it. Are you strong-willed?”

Saying that, Seok Hyun-min turned his eyes to the empty space in the night sky again.

The ash that has sucked out the pleasure crumbles onto the cigarette pack.

one.

two.

Even if you wait for a long time, the fire does not go out.

Then, by the time there was only one mast left.

“But Dabin.”

Seok Hyeon-min quietly stares at a certain point.

“Was that picture there originally?”

“Where?”

“Over there. There’s an elevator over there, on the outside wall.”

The place Seok Hyeon-min was pointing to was the exterior wall of the building outside the railing. It was a place where you had to tilt your head as hard as possible to see it.

I see something on the white apartment wall.

☾

That… … .

“It looks like graffiti.”

“Yes. I don’t see anything special about you either.”

“Yes.”

It is an ordinary picture the size of the palm of one’s hand, with no surreal characteristics or danger.

“But was there originally a picture in that spot?”

“No. There was none.”

Seok Hyun-min extends his arm outside the railing and carefully measures the distance.

“I think it was probably drawn with a pen. To leave a trace there, you have to hang on to the railing and stretch your arms all the way out.”

“Someone like Daju didn’t do it as a joke, right?”

“Uh, is that so? I don’t know.”

“I’ll ask you tomorrow.”

“Phew… … . Yes. Smoking makes me sleepy.”

Seok Hyun-min stretches out while looking at the night sky.

A ash-covered cigarette pack is thrown under the railing.

The cigarette pack floated in the air outside the apartment for a long time.

Tuk.

I came back and fell inside the railing.

Patter-

Cigarette ash scatters over Seok Hyeon-min’s head.

“Ah. That’s right, fuck.”

***

I can’t sleep. After tossing and turning for a while, the day dawned.

A time when everyone is asleep and no one is around.

I got up alone and looked outside the railing.

It looks clearer than when it was dark.

The graffiti remains in place.

☾

It is a shape created by scratching with a sharp tool, not written with a pen or marker.

What does it mean?

crescent?

I looked closely again, but this time I couldn’t find anything.

It’s just an ordinary picture.

It has no meaning and has no anomalous abilities. It is a type of shape that anyone can draw with just a simple touch.

“What are you doing?”

I looked back.

The girl was standing in the sunlight, which was not yet enough.

A weak and emotionless voice.

Long white hair, red eyes, white skin that looks somewhat painful, a dull expression, and short stature. (Still, he’s about the same height as me)

A.I.

This is the one I got out of my cell phone.

I introduced him to everyone yesterday, but I haven’t been able to name him yet.

This was because everyone had different opinions.

‘AI’ is a name derived directly from AI.

‘Sophia’ is just a name that came to mind.

If you think about it, I thought she was my child, so I gave her ‘Lim Da-hye’, etc.

Especially Jeong Hae-won.

Jeong Hae-won insisted that even if she died, she should be called Seol A-yeon.

He said he didn’t really have a favorite name.

So I decided to just call it this.

“Hey.”

“Yes.”

The guy answers with an expressionless expression.

“There’s some strange graffiti over there. Can you please confirm?”

“If you ask me properly.”

“Do it.”

I spoke firmly and the command was activated.

The guy who was stretching had no choice but to move and stick his head out over the railing.

“I don’t know. I search but nothing comes up.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

The graffiti is still there.

☾☾

What is it?

“Wait a minute.”

I called the guy over.

“Didn’t you say that you know most things? It used to live on an internet server.”

“Yes. But why.”

“Come here.”

He walks shakily and comes back in front of me.

Walking is awkward for some reason, as if I don’t know how to do it properly.

More than anything,

“The buttons on your clothes are weird.”

“Uh. That’s right.”

It hasn’t been long since he had a body.

My personality has also changed quickly these days. I think I used to have a much more playful and noisy personality.

This guy is questionable as to how long ago he was born.

Maybe that’s why I’m not doing anything right.

If you look at it closely, it is the information itself that remained on the Internet server.

Most everything will be in your head.

Even if you are seeing information for the first time, you can search and find it on your own if you concentrate a little.

This is where the funny thing about this guy comes from.

They pretend to know everything, but in reality they are not very good at it.

“Stay still.”

The situation is the same now.

What he is wearing is a white long-sleeved shirt.

I’m not sure if I wore it properly, but the buttons are all out of place.

I reached down and unbuttoned each button.

And put it back in the correct position.

“Wow.”

A guy of pure admiration.

He always has a sarcastic expression on his face, but he has a cute side at times like this.

“I told you so. Theory and practice are bound to be different?”

“But since you take care of me like this, I feel like a mother. Dabin Maman.”

“What?”

For a moment, my face gets hot.

“Where did you learn that saying?”

“Daju Yoon told me. Should I call her Daju unni?”

“Ha… … .”

I took a bite and tapped his shoulder.

“That’s it. Now go.”

“Dabin will you stay here?”

“No. I should go and sleep. I’ll go in a little while later.”

“… … .”

“Aren’t you going?”

“Then, I’ll stay a little longer and then go.”

The AI followed me and leaned against the railing.

“Okay. Do whatever you want.”

Being still like this doesn’t feel bad at all.

It’s not really like Maman… … . still.

“Huh?”

“Why are you like that?”

As I looked into the hallway, I found a very familiar shape.

☾

The same shape as the one painted on the exterior wall. But this time the place is different.

The graffiti was written on the floor in the middle of the hallway.

“That. It’s graffiti on the outside wall of the apartment.”

“Yes. I think so.”

“Did you move your seat?”

As I said, it makes absolutely no sense.

That’s just an ordinary picture. There’s no way that could be possible.

Feeling dubious, I looked at the exterior wall of the apartment again.

The graffiti remains the same as before. It stays where it is.

☾

He also checked the wall and repeated the results.

“It remains on the wall too.”

“Yes. Then it will continue to increase.”

“Wouldn’t it have been on the floor from the beginning?”

“Definitely not. I checked.”

What on earth?

What?

After thinking about it for a while, I spoke to him.

“If you find the same graffiti later, remember it and tell me. Got it?”

“Yes.”

If you cannot know with insight, you have no choice but to use another method.

The way information was originally collected from this apartment.

First, let’s find out as many facts as possible.

There was still plenty of time left before morning dawned.

Until then, I plan to walk around with him and look around.

“There’s one over there. Under the door.”

Then he found one.

Graffiti identical in size and shape was engraved on the corner of the door.

“When did it come about? Was it there before?”

“No. I don’t know Who would be looking at every corner of the door?”

Although that is true.

I can’t help but think that’s something new.

If graffiti had already been engraved in so many places, we would have noticed it a long time ago.

Graffiti continued to be discovered.

From the tag on the back of a t-shirt that was in my closet at home.

Underneath the steel skeletal pillars of warehouse shelves.

I put my finger on my forehead and organized the information.

“It only appears in places you would normally pass by without paying attention.”

“Is that a characteristic of graffiti?”

“No. The graffiti itself has no characteristics.”

No matter how much I think about it, I don’t know.

Is there something transparent, so they are scribbling on it?

Or maybe the graffiti will just come out on its own… … . Is there one?

I do not know. There doesn’t seem to be any anomalous involvement.

“I think we should think about it together later when people wake up.”

I was about to wrap it up and move on, but the guy spoke in an emotionless voice.

“Perhaps this. Doesn’t it happen in the human body too?”

“… … Huh?”

After a while.

I got naked in the bathroom and checked every part of my body.

Even though I’m alone, I feel a little embarrassed.

I keep getting noticed.

For things like arms and legs, you could check them with your own eyes, but for other parts, you had to bring a mirror to check them.

‘thank god.’

First of all, there is nothing that stands out.

What’s left now is the inside of the body?

I put my finger inside my cheek and turned it over in front of the mirror.

It is drawn.

☾

It is drawn.

A small picture in the shape of a fingernail is clearly drawn, as if paint was applied over the flesh.

Why?

You can’t draw this without getting caught.

Because it’s my body.

So how does this get here?

I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

About this apartment. Even more so because I thought I learned a little about the anomaly.

There is nothing special about the picture. This is graffiti that we commonly see around us.

However, it arose naturally within the body.

There is nothing unusual around.

A frighteningly perfect reality. Except for that graffiti, everything is common sense.

That graffiti.

I attempted to observe an anomaly.

I felt a familiar feeling of dizziness, but nothing. I can’t see anything.

It’s just a picture. It’s just a mirror. It’s just me. It’s just a toothbrush in the bathroom.

It’s all just ordinary things.

So how on earth is the current phenomenon happening?

The picture appeared spontaneously. This is something that can happen in reality, without any anomalies?

I checked the objects in front of me again.

This is the scene of an ordinary bathroom.

Water comes out of the sink. The toilet cover is cleanly wiped.

There is plenty of toilet paper.

Just a mirror. Just plastic. Just a toilet cover.

Just swear real tiles. Just strengthened oil ri . Just take a shower. Just shampoo.

Just soap. Just hair rock . Just a moth fly and the eggs it laid.

Unpleasant residue accumulated around the water chat hole. Smooth copper-plated doorknob. Just a plastic tick . Just a toilet cover. Just toilet paper. Just swear real tiles. Just strengthened oil ri . Just take a shower. Just shampoo. Just soap. Just hair rock . Just a moth fly and the eggs it laid. Unpleasant waste accumulated around the water tap hole. Scale stains stuck in the faucet. An ordinary light bulb. The room where the mirror is fixed. .The sound of water leaking from the shower. A water room wool that can be found anywhere. A hanging picture ja . A glass cover that prevents water from entering the light and outlet. Metal hue gripper. Smooth copper-plated doorknob. Just plastic tick . Just a toilet cover. Just toilet paper. Just swear real tiles. Just strengthened oil ri . Just take a shower. Just shampoo. Just soap. Just hair rock . Just a moth fly and the eggs it laid. Unpleasant waste accumulated around the water tap hole. Scale stains stuck in the faucet. An ordinary light bulb. The room where the mirror is fixed. .The sound of water leaking from the shower. A water room wool that can be found anywhere. A hanging picture ja . A glass cover that prevents water from entering the light and outlet. A metal hue g hanger.