Ch.140Professor, Conclusion (3)

The space is collapsing.

The Foundation’s new researcher barely managed to grab onto the pole of a medical tray just before falling.

The experiment had failed.

For whatever reason, the attempt to strengthen the restraints on the Fifth Apostle had failed.

Their efforts had produced exactly the opposite result.

Everything trembled in terror.

Even the soulless walls and floors.

Failure at the Foundation means someone’s death.

No matter how many, someone would certainly die.

Yet not a single scream came from the laboratory. Only objects made noise.

The two senior researchers who had been directing the experiment calmly conversed.

“The experiment results are as follows. The chains binding the Fifth Apostle have completely come undone.”

“What is the current location of the Fifth?”

“Unable to determine.”

In this place, only these two had human voices.

Soon they too fell silent. No one dared speak as they stared at the newly created devastation.

“This can’t be happening…”

The rookie finally muttered and began to run.

“I’ve only been here for three months.”

The rookie continued muttering.

It seemed impossible to endure otherwise.

“And now I have to die here?”

Everyone had gone mad.

Fellow researchers stood silently, just staring at it.

All with expressions no different than usual.

“They’re all insane.”

The rookie rushed out into the corridor.

Memories surfaced of when she was a young girl, lost and wandering in an unfamiliar space.

Why would memories from over ten years ago come to mind now?

Only the sound of her footsteps and the space trembling could be heard.

After running until she was out of breath, she finally reached the office door.

[Office]

The door was firmly closed as always.

That was precisely the problem in a situation like this.

The person who had initiated and directed this entire experiment was irresponsibly hiding behind this door.

“Professor.”

The rookie unconsciously called his name.

One of the Foundation’s leaders.

A member of the “Council” that had the most influence on the Foundation’s direction.

A human who had simply solved countless difficult problems and cleanly handled innumerable crises to save humanity.

Like other Council members, his real name was kept secret.

Instead, he was known as the “Professor.”

The rookie needed him.

Right now.

She grabbed the doorknob and turned it roughly.

Contrary to expectations, the door opened smoothly without a sound.

“Good. I’m almost there.”

An elegant hat rack with a coat hanging on it. A velvet hat. Paper boats floating in the nearby air.

The “Professor” sat at the desk in the back of the room.

The rookie stopped walking. Instead, she stood there and began shouting.

“The experiment failed. The Fifth will soon be released. No. It’s probably already free by now. You know that, don’t you!”

The situation was deteriorating rapidly.

The rookie spoke almost like she was screaming.

“This is no time to be here!”

Even as she spoke, she continued to taste metal in her mouth.

That taste felt like it would never leave.

“Lethe. Come here.”

The Professor quietly gestured toward the rookie.

“Calm down and listen to me. Everything is going very well.”

Lethe. The rookie who was called by name couldn’t help but be considerably surprised.

The excitement that had ignited in the extreme situation seemed to subside in an instant at his few words.

The Professor continued.

“It won’t make intuitive sense. I didn’t understand at first either.”

“What… is this… all about…”

The distance between the rookie and the “Professor” gradually closed.

One step.

One step.

At the moment when the distance between them became sufficiently close,

the rookie’s eyes fell on a document.

It was a paper document that had been sitting on the Professor’s desk all along.

“Why… on earth…”

The rookie couldn’t take her eyes off the document.

Just as her seniors had stared at what had been completely unleashed.

“So I wrote and distributed a very simple reference document for all researchers and staff. In your case, it seems to have been omitted.”

The Professor’s words were now barely audible to the rookie.

Instead, the letters, symbols, and mysteriously feeling images from the document continued to flow into her mind.

“Lethe. You’ve only been here for three months, but you’re excellent. I believe with the abilities you’ve shown, you’ll be able to understand the contents of the document.”

– The purpose of the experiment is to restore and strengthen the chains binding the Fifth Apostle // False

– The purpose of the experiment is to liberate the Fifth Apostle.

– Annihilate all of humanity.

The rookie was able to read a few more lines.

***

Seven devours stories and makes them disappear.

Seven has no form and is an anomalous entity close to a concept.

Seven appears as the greatest obstacle in stories it hunts.

Tragic situations.

Irresolvable conflicts.

Powerful enemies.

Inescapable fate.

And when the protagonist is defeated, Seven devours the story and makes it disappear.

[Draft report written by Dr. Chen]

***

There was nothing in the “Professor’s” research lab.

Not a trace of human presence, as if no one had ever been there.

What’s going on?

Why is no one here?

I stopped the confused people.

“Wait. Let me check if there’s anything here.”

It’s not that there’s no one here; they might be hiding for an ambush.

They might have used an anomalous entity in the process. Things that make people invisible or erase their presence completely.

Someone in the “Professor’s” position could use such things without much difficulty.

“…”

But what if there really is nothing?

I considered all possibilities, but nothing stood out.

“There’s nothing here. I’ll check as we go inside.”

“Dabin. Are you sure there’s really nothing?”

Robin asks again, seemingly confused.

“Yes. For now.”

Slowly, I moved toward the inner part of the lab.

“Robin. If you see anything suspicious, don’t touch it and let me know. I’ll check it.”

“Got it.”

“Same goes for everyone else.”

“Yes, oppa.”

“Okay.”

Daju and Serim are right beside me.

“Dabin. Does this mean they all evacuated?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

I bent down to examine the floor.

The white floor is spotless. There’s not even a trace of footprints.

“But if they evacuated on their own, they couldn’t have disappeared without leaving any trace.”

There’s no sign of heavy items being moved or data being shredded.

It just looks like a newly built building.

“Then maybe they relocated the lab.”

Serim makes a sharp observation.

“They knew we were coming, so they set up a fake lab here and moved elsewhere.”

“Wouldn’t there still be traces left?”

“Ah. Then maybe they didn’t physically evacuate but changed some coordinates or something? They’re the Foundation’s leadership, right? That should be possible for them.”

“I guess so.”

That’s a credible suggestion.

“What do you think about what Serim said, Robin?”

“It’s not completely implausible. Since the ‘Professor’ can see the future, he might have anticipated everything.”

“But he shouldn’t be able to see the future at this point, right?”

Robin shakes her head.

“The way the ‘Professor’ sees the future might be different from how you see it, Dabin. I don’t know exactly how it works either, but just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean the ‘Professor’ can’t see the future.”

“So Serim is right after all?”

“I don’t know either. We’ll have to check more to find out.”

At that moment.

“Noona! There’s something over there!”

Jung Haewon found something.

“What is it?”

“It looks like a cassette tape.”

Heo Yoon and Seok Hyunmin crane their necks toward where he’s pointing.

“Yes, it’s a cassette tape.”

I bent down to carefully examine the tape.

It’s a black cassette tape. The film isn’t tangled anywhere, and the surface is clean as if it were new.

As I bent down further to examine it more closely,

Yoon Daju’s urgent scream came from behind.

“Oppa!!!”

I quickly backed away.

Drip.

A drop of blood falls, leaving a mark on the floor.

That’s not much for being startled?

The next moment.

Pitter-patter.

Blood drops like red rain.

From where the cassette tape is to the far side of the lab.

Thanks to backing away after hearing Daju, fortunately I avoided the disaster of blood drops falling on my head.

Just a splash of blood from the puddle hit my face.

“…That startled me.”

I raised my hand to wipe away the blood drop.

“Are you all okay too?”

“Yes.”

“I’m fine too.”

Yoon Daju and Jung Haewon, who were nearby, seem fine as well.

What concerns me is the information obtained from the bloodstains.

It’s all blood drawn from someone’s body.

And just now.

“Noona. Can you support me?”

“Sure, Dabin.”

With Serim’s support, I examined the bloodstains on the floor more carefully.

As I used the Librarian’s insight, familiar dizziness surged.

“Ugh…”

“Are you okay?”

“Just a little more and I’ll be fine.”

What was spilled on the floor was the researchers’ blood.

All the researchers who were here until just now are dead.

And the one who commanded the researchers was…

The Professor.

I found that name.

Then is that cassette tape a clue to finding the ‘Professor’?

I closed my eyes tightly and opened them again while catching my breath.

“Huff… Whew… I found it.”

Serim, Daju, Robin…

Everyone is waiting for my next words.

“This is indeed the Professor’s research lab.”

I tried to walk forward but almost fell.

Serim quickly caught me and held me up.

“Thanks, noona.”

“Be careful, Dabin.”

“Yes. And that cassette tape.”

Leaning on Serim’s body, I raised my hand to point to the end of the corridor.

“We should be able to check the contents of the tape over there.”

“Over there? Where?”

“The office. There’s a cassette player there.”

The office.

Probably where the Professor stays.

From their reactions, everyone seems to have realized that.

“So we need to go to the office? Any other danger factors?”

Heo Yoon comes over to help support me.

“I’m not sure. Not yet.”

Serim on one side. Heo Yoon on the other.

Thanks to their support, I was barely able to stand without falling.

“Let’s rest a bit.”

When Heo Yoon suggests this to Robin, Robin nods.

“Let’s do that. Dabin looks exhausted.”

Then Heo Yoon asks me in a kind voice.

“Do you want to sit down and rest?”

“I’m okay. Just a bit dizzy… I’ll be fine soon.”

“That’s good then.”

As I catch my breath, my breathing quickly returns to normal.

Just a few lines. Even finding this much information put a heavy burden on my body.

It means that what’s ahead is that dangerous.

A little later.

I stepped forward first.

“Let’s go now. To the office.”

I held the cassette tape in my hand.

Thin blood ran down my palm, but I didn’t mind.

It felt rather cool.

What really worries me is the Professor’s intention.

Could the Professor be targeting me?

In another worldline, I completely fell into corruption and ended up killing all the other characters.

That might have been according to the Professor’s intention.

If so, the information in this tape would play a decisive role.

Before I knew it, my steps had reached right in front of the office.

“Daju.”

“Yes, oppa.”

“If I start acting strange, destroy the cassette right away. Got it?”

“You of all people, oppa?”

“Yes. What’s in here will probably target me.”

“Then can’t we just have you not check it?”

“No. We need to check as much as we can.”

Daju tilts her head but then answers clearly.

“Okay. I’ll destroy it right away.”

“Yes. Do that as soon as I tell you to. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Then I grabbed the doorknob and twisted it down.

The door opens smoothly without making any noise.

“Then I’ll go in right away.”

An elegant room with no one in it.

Paper boats float in the air, and an expensive coat hangs on the hat rack.

And on a sofa in the corner of the room sits a cassette player that doesn’t match the surroundings at all.

“…”

One deep breath.

I inserted the cassette and pressed the play button.

The first thing that played was a conversation between two men.

“How did the experiment turn out?”

“We successfully created the chains. Whether they’re suitable for binding the Fifth still needs to be confirmed.”

“Let’s proceed to the next experiment right away.”

…

“The experiment results are as follows. The chains binding the Fifth Apostle have completely come undone.”

“What is the current location of the Fifth?”

“Unable to determine.”

***

– The purpose of the experiment is to restore and strengthen the chains binding the Fifth Apostle

– The above statement is false./////

– The purpose of the experiment is to liberate the Fifth Apostle.

– Annihilate all of humanity.

The rookie was able to read a few more lines.

– The Foundation will annihilate all of humanity.

We will not be defeated.

The Foundation’s new researcher Lethe soon returned to her position.

Her face seemed full of motivation.

The Professor was left alone.

The elderly gentleman recalled the ending once more.

There is nothing left in the world.

Neither the Foundation, nor humanity, nor any intelligent life form remains.

In other words, there is no subject to be defeated.

“Then why?”

The Professor, lost in thought, raised his head.

The rookie researcher from earlier had not yet left.

“Why must we not be defeated? Why do we have to go this far?”

“Lethe. Read the document again.”

The Professor replied briefly and placed the paper in her hands.

“It will help you understand the current situation.”

Splash.

Blood sprayed-

***

-and a scream rang out.

There was no sense of pain or despair.

It was a woman’s voice that seemed reluctant, forced.

A voice like someone terrible at acting trying to portray pain.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Aagh.”

“Ah.”

I continued to listen to the tape.