Ch.148Communication Symbol Cards (2)

The noise continues to reach my ears.

Just listening to it seems to drain my energy.

Phrases that amplify the negative aspects of the human mind to their maximum.

This “sound” being broadcast by the Foundation is part of a plan to exterminate humanity.

The Foundation, which had been managing anomalous entities and memes to protect humanity.

At some point, this same Foundation completely turned against us and now seeks to exterminate humanity.

This makes them all the more dangerous.

The Foundation knows exactly how anomalies work, and they’re using that knowledge for the clear purpose of “human extermination.”

I wiped away tears that had formed in my eyes without me realizing.

If it affects me this much, it must be incredibly dangerous for others.

Especially for Heo Yoon.

Heo Yoon lost Dr. Chen, who was like family to her.

She watched countless survivors die, and even now, as we’re about to escape the apartment, she feels emptiness when thinking about them.

She must already be mentally unstable.

If external factors are added to this… I can’t guarantee her safety.

As I continue covering Heo Yoon’s ears, Daju asks in confusion.

“What’s going on? What’s happening?”

“Cover your ears for now. Everyone else too. Quickly!”

The first priority is blocking this “sound.”

Right now, the signal is weak enough that covering our ears helps, but the signal will grow stronger.

Covering our ears is just a temporary measure.

We need to move away from the danger immediately.

“No, we need to get into a nearby building first.”

First, a building with thick concrete walls.

This will reduce the amount of brainwashing signals coming from outside.

“Preferably somewhere with a radio or device that can make loud noises.”

Beyond that, we need to mix in other sounds.

This will significantly reduce the brainwashing effect.

“And also…”

“What? What did you say?”

Jung Haewon asks with his ears tightly covered.

Daju shouts in frustration.

“You told us to cover our ears!”

I realized my mistake, but I still couldn’t remove my hands from my ears.

Even brief exposure to that noise could endanger everyone’s safety.

Heo Yoon wasn’t the only one mentally vulnerable here.

“Ah… ugh…”

“Hey, Lim Yebin! Cover your ears!”

“Dabin… I’m so scared… so scared…”

Yebin starts sobbing in the corner.

She seems to have fallen into complete panic and can’t even think to cover her ears.

“Keep your ears covered! Don’t remove your hands no matter what!”

After firmly instructing Heo Yoon and the others, I rushed over to Yebin.

“Dabin, can’t we just stay here? I don’t want to go outside. I want to stay here.”

“Why?”

“I’m too scared to go outside. We don’t know what might happen. And I don’t even have a place in reality anyway…”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Yebin is crying profusely.

“You’re like this because of the sound outside. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“No, I’m just a hindrance. I can’t even search anymore. I’ve lost my role as the library manager. And…”

I grabbed Yebin’s hands firmly and lifted them up.

Then I applied pressure to make sure she kept her ears covered herself.

“There’s nothing wrong with you, so stay like this.”

Why did she cover her ears so late…

Yebin wasn’t the only one in serious condition.

I’ve been checking on everyone’s condition.

They’re all slumped over, and some are even crying.

Surprisingly, Daju seemed to be in the worst state.

She always appeared bright to the point of seeming crazy, but she must have been struggling inside.

Yoon Daju is someone who does strange things to forget her pain, even if just for a moment.

She’s sitting with her face buried between her knees, crying silently.

While feeling sympathy for her—

‘Grind.’

—my teeth clench involuntarily.

The Foundation’s plan to exterminate humanity hasn’t even properly begun yet.

Are they already using such vicious methods?

The noise continues.

Strictly speaking, this isn’t just sound.

It’s information with anomalous properties.

In other words, a meme.

Once a message is transmitted, the meme crosses the air in the form of waves.

Without special variables, memes continue to take the form of waves and can be transmitted for kilometers.

Memes only change their form under specific conditions.

When they detect an intelligent being nearby.

When a meme detects an intelligent being, it changes its form.

From waves to sound.

And the sound penetrates deep into the mind of the intelligent being.

Spoiled milk

Bluish-green man

Endlessly, melting away

The sound keeps coming.

I have strong resistance so I can endure to some extent, but others can’t.

I covered Yebin’s ears more firmly.

If only we had earplugs or something.

Then I remembered I had packed study room earplugs in my bag.

Orange sponge earplugs with rounded conical tips.

I had brought them specifically to counter anomalies transmitted through sound like this.

I quickly found the earplugs in my bag and distributed them to everyone.

After confirming everyone had inserted their earplugs, I finally put mine in as well.

“Phew…”

As the noise cuts off, I feel some of my drained energy returning.

My depressed mood also improves slightly.

Now I need to think.

What should we do next?

How can we survive in this situation?

I think.

The earplugs are a decent protective measure, but they won’t last long either.

Sobbing sounds can still be heard here and there.

Yebin is still crying.

Daju’s condition hasn’t improved much despite the earplugs, and she remains slumped on the floor.

This means we’re not completely safe even now.

The earplugs can’t fully block the effects of the “sound.”

We need to find another solution, but I can’t do this alone.

It’s frustrating.

I considered having everyone remove their earplugs briefly to talk, but that’s too dangerous.

A way to communicate while keeping our ears covered. That would be…

“Senior Serim.”

Senior Serim’s ability.

She can interfere with other people’s thoughts.

She can both inject her thoughts into others and read their thoughts.

With her help, we could communicate without using our ears.

Just as I was about to look for her…

“Hehehehe.”

My blood ran cold.

Senior Serim was laughing with her head down.

The earplugs should block the sound, but her laughter was still audible.

“Hehe, hehehe. Hehe.”

Her convulsive laughter grew worse over time.

She keeps laughing as if she might stop breathing at any moment.

Her head is tilted back, and her eyes are bloodshot.

Senior Serim starts muttering frantically like someone who’s lost her mind.

“No. No. No. No. No. No. No.”

“Senior…?”

“This shouldn’t happen. Ahah. Hahah. Ahahaha.”

Senior Serim is wearing her earplugs properly.

Then why?

Something drips from the corner of her mouth.

Blood.

“Senior!”

She even slams her head hard against the railing by the stairs.

I can’t hear the sound.

But I can see the railing shaking violently.

It’s as if I’m hearing auditory hallucinations of sounds that shouldn’t be audible.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

I held onto her with all my strength.

My strength alone isn’t enough.

I looked around at the others, but everyone was just crying and slumped over.

No one seemed able to help.

“Senior. Stop it.”

“Hehehehe. Hee. Hee…”

“Please stop!!!”

Thousands of question marks overlap in my mind.

Why suddenly?

She was fine until just now.

What happened?

Something white flashed before my eyes.

And then.

Senior Serim collapsed right in front of me.

“…?”

It was Robin.

Though I couldn’t hear her voice because of the earplugs, I understood.

She had knocked Senior Serim unconscious.

“Thank you.”

I conveyed my meaning through lip movements.

Robin crossed her arms and nodded briefly.

“What should we do now?”

“…”

Robin just shrugged. No answer came back.

Come to think of it, lip reading doesn’t mean much either.

Robin and I can’t communicate verbally anymore.

English and Korean.

We use different languages, and the apartment that used to translate for us is now almost gone.

She probably just understood my thanks through context.

I slumped against the wall.

Senior Serim went crazy because she had the same thought I did.

‘Use her thought interference ability to communicate with everyone.’

She tried to read other people’s thoughts, which made her more vulnerable to the effects of the “sound.”

No.

Maybe it was my fault.

Maybe she read my thoughts when I had that idea.

What should I do now?

Part of me feels scared.

It’s already this bad.

How can I survive?

Depressing thoughts creep in.

Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad to go with the professor’s suggested ending.

For all of us to die together.

Maybe I made the wrong choice and am causing everyone pain.

So perhaps…

“No.”

I shook my head while talking to myself.

“Absolutely not.”

I was already being influenced by the “sound.”

At times like this, I need to strengthen my resolve.

I clenched my fist tightly, then released it when my skin turned white.

Doubts may arise.

Thoughts of impossibility may surface.

It’s even easier to waver amid numerous variables that interfere with the mind.

Even so, I won’t give up this path.

The ending I chose is different from the professor’s.

With the thought that I needed to do something, I stood up.

Thud.

Something falls to the floor.

Like spilled milk, a white bundle spreads across the floor.

White papers spread across the dotted concrete floor, with pictographic symbols drawn on them.

Communication symbol cards made by Robin.

They must have fallen out of my pocket.

I flipped through the cards one by one.

Robin’s quickly drawn pictographic symbols catch my eye.

There’s no language, just pictures, but they’re designed so anyone can quickly understand their meaning.

I can do this with these.

I slipped my fingers between several cards to mark them.

Then, facing everyone, I showed the first card.

[Sound]

The next card has an eerie picture on it.

As anyone can tell, it means danger.

[Dangerous]

By continuing to flip through the cards, I was able to create several sentences.

[Sound is dangerous]

[Leave this place and move to another building.]

[Need a machine that makes sound.]

[Move to a building with a sound-making machine.]

Of course, not everyone understood.

Those severely affected by the “sound” just stared at me blankly, showing no other reaction.

Daju. Yebin. Heo Yoon. And Senior Serim.

I couldn’t expect much help from them.

But I could get help from the others.

Riko. Dan. Jung Haewon. Robin.

People without serious trauma or with strong mental fortitude.

Still, three of the four are foreigners.

Simply writing words wouldn’t help us communicate now.

Since I don’t speak English or Japanese, picture cards are our only option.

Using lip movements and gestures along with the cards, the four seemed to understand roughly.

Robin picked up some cards too.

As she flipped through several cards in order, I could understand her general meaning.

[We can’t move right now.]

[Wait a little, and when others get better, then we’ll move.]

This time I didn’t need to use cards.

I shook my head firmly.

[No.]

If we wait longer, the situation will only get worse.

Plus, my leg is injured. Walking isn’t easy.

Robin flips through the cards again.

[Then what other method?]

I took out a pen from my bag.

The solution is very simple.

It can be solved with just one word.

But since I couldn’t find that word among the cards, I had to draw a new picture.

[Car]

Robin’s expression changed.

[Can you drive?]

Robin reached out for my pen.

She needed to draw a new picture too.

And shortly after.

The new picture Robin drew showed a man wearing a fur hat with a black eye patch.

The unmistakable image of a thief.

[I can.]

[By stealing one.]

[I’ll go get it.]

Robin nudged Dan’s side, then left the apartment with him.

She had a gun in her hand.

How much time passed?

A pair of headlights shone before my eyes.

Honk-!!!

The sound of a horn penetrating through the earplugs.

“Wow…”

I was almost moved to tears by the reassuring sight.

Looking up at the entrance, a sturdy gray van had arrived.