episode_0089

Driver Dan watched the familiar scenery disappear.

A street I often pass by.

Signs with the alphabet written on them and cars seen in the distance.

A familiar iron door that had been in the entrance hall just a moment ago.

The reality he thought was solid was melting away right before his eyes.

As if everything was a mirage.

Instead, unfamiliar letters and awkward interior design filled the place.

“Fuck.”

Dan is a driver who has lived in an ordinary world his entire life.

It was the first anomalous phenomenon he had ever witnessed.

“God. Fuck.”

“Dan. Come and help me.”

While Dan was confused, Robin had already stepped into the elevator.

While pulling the researcher’s limp body with all his might.

Wearing a white lab coat and short-cut black hair. He is tall, slim, and quite slender.

“Cough, Cluck!”

The researcher coughed with his eyes tightly closed.

Dan immediately took steps.

“I will stand on the left, and you support me on the other side.”

“… … Yes.”

I was able to easily move one woman.

Neither Dan nor Robin were lacking in strength.

“That’s it. Let me lay it here.”

“A place like this?”

“You won’t be able to go outside anyway.”

Tuk.

Robin laid the woman down on the landing.

Rattle rattle rattle!

“What is it? Why doesn’t this open?”

Thump thump thump!

“Open!!!”

While there was a noise behind him, Robin calmly checked the woman’s condition.

I am breathing.

But survival cannot be guaranteed.

The pupils are dilated, possibly due to the effect of drug administration.

Plus, there was a significant amount of bleeding.

It wouldn’t be that surprising if he died within the next few minutes.

“I’m sorry.”

Robin reached out and strongly pinched the inside of the fallen woman’s forearm.

flinch-!

A pretty strong reaction comes back.

This is evidence that he is still conscious.

“Rico. Can we talk now?”

The woman whose name was called fluttered her eyelids.

A faint voice flowed from between her lips.

“U. Ugh… … .”

“Professor, tell me briefly what happened with that author and the main point. I’ll let you rest the rest of the time.”

Riko puts her hands on the floor as if trying to force herself to stand up.

Then, suddenly, I lose my strength and fall down.

Robin extended his fingers, this time twisting them hard around the researcher’s nipples.

flinch-!

“Ah, ugh!”

“If you want to die, it would be better to talk and die.”

“I don’t like it… … . I don’t want to die… … .”

“We will do our best to prevent that from happening. So, you need to tell me at least briefly what you know.”

Speaking in a calm voice, Robin sat down by the researcher’s bedside.

professor. This is a clue to track him down. You must not miss even a single word.

“Professor? What are you doing now!”

“Dan. Don’t be stupid and stay quiet.”

After all, he is a professor.

The driver’s title needs to be changed.

Fortunately, as time passed, the researcher regained some strength.

Now I can open my eyes and talk.

“Uh, what happened… … .”

Rico struggles to complete the sentence with a voice that seems to break.

“Obviously… … . I said no one would come… … .”

Robin laughed as if it were absurd.

“Who says that? Professor?”

“… … Yes.”

The professor’s future poetry operates in a ‘looking down from above’ method.

The future, once observed, is fixed and unchanging, but there are always exceptions.

“Do you think I would be swayed by a prank like that?”

Rico’s eyes widened for a moment.

“Then. You.”

“So tell me what you know. Quickly.”

“The professor is trying to release ‘The Fifth Apostle’. I suspected that and was dealt with. And,”

“And?”

The conversation did not continue any longer.

Rico closed his eyes, losing consciousness again.

“Phew… … .”

“Hey, professor? What did you say earlier? Is that lady safe?”

“Dan. Weren’t you listening to everything?”

“No. I was listening, but that was.”

It didn’t take long for Robin to realize his mistake.

“It was Japanese.”

“Yes. I know the accent, but I can’t understand it.”

Robin sighed heavily again.

“For now, I have overcome a big hurdle. I’m just exhausted right now, so all I need to do is replenish water.”

“Then why did you do that earlier? It must have been an urgent situation. Why do you keep questioning a dying person? … . ”

“I had no choice. Because I could have died with the information to myself. Then nothing happens.”

Speaking in a dry voice, Robin stood up.

“Let’s move for now. I don’t have much time.”

“Huh.”

Dan let out a short laugh.

It was an empty laugh that comes out when something is not right.

“The professor seems to keep forgetting, but I was suddenly dragged here! Think about it from my perspective. Suddenly, the volcano erupted, and the professor I met for the first time today told me that I had to drive out right away. I barely escaped alive, but they even pointed a gun at me. And now? You’re stuck in a fucking apartment you’ve never seen before! The professor was sitting on top of a researcher he had never seen before and was almost strangling him. Does this make sense? Who knows in this situation? I see? I guess I’ll just move on. Yes?”

Dan was so excited that he ran up and down the apartment hallway.

While everyone was quiet, Dan was the only one who was excited.

“Dan.”

“Yes. Professor.”

“I understand, but please don’t just call me professor.”

“I guess that’s not important right now.”

“I know.”

Robin stood up and checked his surroundings.

The elevator door was already closed tightly. The elevator behind it had already left for another floor.

Rustling.

Robin helped the fallen researcher upright.

“First, let’s move. I will explain it slowly as I go.”

“Where? You don’t even know where this is! No. The professor probably knows everything! Because you invited me to the world of wizards!”

“Of course, we want to go to a better place than here. I don’t know anything about this either.”

“Ha… … .”

Even though he sighed, Dan remained faithful to his role.

He quickly came to the side and helped support the researcher.

“And, as I said before, call me Robin. If you keep calling me professor,”

“What if I called you? Well, what happens? Are you planning to curse me to become a pig?”

“It might be better to become a pig.”

The first apartment I entered.

The darkness of the endless hallway.

Looking at that place, Robin spoke quietly.

“This is a proverb commonly found around the world. If you call the name of an evil spirit, the evil spirit appears on the spot.”

“Are you saying that there is an evil spirit whose name is Professor?”

“Yes.”

Robin swept his blonde hair behind one shoulder.

Volcanic ash, of unknown origin, stuck to her fingers.

“I’m going to catch that guy from now on.”

***

In one narrative layer, each character’s actions leave a mark.

Good and good are intertwined through fate.

Me and the people around me in the apartment.

And, a ‘helper’ from the foundation.

The line that had gotten closer for a moment then moved further away again.

Slurp-

I thought we would meet each other this time.

When the elevator opened again, it was empty.

There is only one ending where this world does not perish.

To see the ending, you need to relive the last scene.

A ‘helper’ is definitely needed in that position.

Why didn’t we meet?

“Oppa, why does your expression look like that?”

Daju, who is quick-witted, pokes my side and asks.

“No? It’s nothing?”

“A.”

“Oh, don’t tickle me!”

I hid in the corner of the elevator to avoid Daju.

As long as I’m with him, I can’t think seriously.

Because my personality is so innocent that it crosses the line.

“Let’s go to this floor first.”

“Isn’t it a bit dangerous there? In reality, it’s a place I’ve never been to.”

Heo Yoon and Seok Hyeon-min are busy having a conversation.

The AI guy is silently blanking out again this time, and Choi Se-rim just looks at him.

Daju Yoon is looking around to see if there is anything interesting.

I was alone with my thoughts.

“Hey. Haewon.”

“Yes?”

A sudden thought occurred to me, so I called and got an answer right away.

“Do you play games?”

“Yes. I even took a picture of that Roll Master.”

Jeong Hae-won proudly straightens her shoulders and answers.

“You’re almost a professional gamer. Have you met Faker too?”

“Of course we couldn’t meet. These days, almost all masters are amateurs. I can’t meet the pros because they are all at another level.”

First of all, the story about the game is correct, but the conversation briefly leaked to another place.

“Then do you know other games besides LoL? Something like Pokemon or Steam games.”

“Of course I know. I’ve seen it on internet broadcasts, and I’ve tried it all.

But why?”

“I was playing the game because I felt like the story was somehow blocked. That’s how I feel.”

“Um… … . Now that I think about it, what kind of abilities did my sister have? Librarian’s authority. If you look at it that way, does the world become like a game?”

“Similar.”

Jeong Hae-won looks at me with a truly envious look on his face.

This is not good.

I was hesitant because I thought it might not be a meal.

“Anyway. I’m playing a game for the first time and I’m stuck on the story. So what should we do first?”

“You need to increase your strength, right? Raise your level or make money. Farming items.”

“It’s not like you can break through by fighting with someone.”

“Then the road must be blocked.”

“Yes. That would be better.”

“Wait a minute. I’ll think about it.”

After thinking about it for a while, Jeong Hae-won’s story was like this.

These days, games offer a variety of multiple endings, but older games didn’t.

If you don’t follow the set order, the game won’t proceed at all.

“So it’s the same when playing Pokemon. To get to the next level, you have to pass a certain road, but someone is blocking the road. Just try to sleep. Something like Gorapadeok. Kgojimo or something. These only get out of the way if you bring a specific item. Or there is a tree blocking the road, and you can remove it by learning the skill of cutting grass. However, you can also learn grass cutting by beating the gym leader. Well, it continues like this.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“To put it simply, there is an event that you must see first in order to proceed with the story.

Whether you meet a certain person or find a certain item. You might have to visit somewhere at least once.”

“Mmm. I know what this is.”

I explained the ending I was seeing.

Jeong Hae-won nods with an expression of great interest.

“If the story is about meeting a person called a helper, there will be an event you need to find before that.”

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t know either.”

“Ah, I knew so.”

“Yes?”

“It’s just a joke. Thank you for letting me know.”

It’s a bit cringy to say this, but it’s still right to say thank you.

After Q&A with Jeong Hae-won.

I gathered my thoughts by looking at the elevator number board that was changing every moment.

Is there an event I need to see first to meet the helper?

If so, I think it’s probably related to the apartment.

If you focus on the current exploration, you will see something.

That’s how I concluded it.