Ch.19Mechanical Device

Yoon dropped a stack of documents on the desk with a thud.

“Here. This is all the information we have. I’ve summarized it for easy reading, so if there’s anything you don’t understand, check the files in the back.”

Rustle.

I reached out and grabbed the summary from the middle of the table. On the white A4 paper, a title was written in neat handwriting.

“Dabin, read this. The rest of you should also look through the materials to refresh your memories on anything you might have forgotten.”

“We already know all this. What a hassle.”

“Is breathing a hassle too? Just die then.”

Heo Yoon and Seok Hyunmin were at odds again. Daju muttered dejectedly.

“Stop… fighting…”

“Anyway. This is really important. Dabin and Daju just confirmed that the 11th floor is blocked. We won’t be able to get supplies easily anymore.”

“What should we do? Guess we’ll starve to death.”

“Yes. I really hope that happens to you. We need to check if we can get supplies from other floors. Since this needs to be resolved as quickly as possible, let’s move right away even if we’re tired.”

Yoon was eloquently leading the discussion.

Meanwhile, I checked the contents of the documents. This was information that people trapped here had accumulated over years of exploration.

Flip.

As I turned the page, I could see descriptions of each floor.

Relatively safe areas like the 7th or 11th floors had detailed explanations. But for most floors, more than half the content simply stated “unknown.” Some floors had completely blank entries.

“So we need to find new areas?”

It was Yoon Daju.

“That’s right. There are almost no existing areas where we can get supplies. And they’re extremely dangerous too.”

“Um… what about the department store?”

This time it was me.

“Department store?”

“Yes. This area here.”

I pointed to the information in the documents. It was the place I had gone with Park Sungjin to retrieve the server.

“That won’t work. We couldn’t take anything out from there.”

“Oh.”

“The things we could bring from there were the Reality Anchor, power equipment, and internet network. But we’ve already taken all three, so there’s no reason to go back.”

“So we have no choice but to go to unknown places.”

“…Yeah.”

Unlike Daju who already seemed excited, everyone else’s expressions were heavy.

“So. Here’s what I’m thinking.”

Yoon slowly counted.

“Right now there are six people here including the mister. So let’s split into three teams and explore simultaneously.”

“But my brother is injured.”

“Who? Oh, Dabin?”

“Right! That’s true! What should we do? Do you want to just stay home?”

It was a bit surprising that Daju was worried about me, but I didn’t want to just sit around at a time like this.

“I’m fine. The swelling has gone down a lot. I just can’t use my hand, so I can always run away if necessary.”

“Alright. Then we’ll split into two teams. Is that okay?”

“Three teams would be fine too.”

“No.”

“…Okay.”

Yoon, who had made a firm decision, smacked Seok Hyunmin who was lying down beside her.

“Hey. Hyunmin. You go with Dabin.”

“Me?”

“You need to help with the heavy lifting!”

“The mister is there too.”

“He’s new here. You have more experience, so help him out.”

That leaves Heo Yoon and Choi Serim.

“Pack your things and go ahead. We’ll follow later with the mister.”

This time, the three of us set out to explore and find a “food source” to feed everyone.

* * *

Swoosh.

The elevator doors opened.

[13A1]

“Let’s go.”

“Oh, that’s right!”

“What?”

“This is the first time I’m going around with you, mister. I’ve always been alone or with other misters.”

“I’m not a mister.”

“Huh? Getting defensive about it means you are one. Caught you, didn’t I?”

“Hah…”

Seok Hyunmin sighed and left the elevator.

“Brother! Let’s hurry too.”

“Sure.”

Outside was a dim navy blue. Red digital lights blurred in the distance.

…It matches what was attached to the elevator.

Is there another elevator that leads to a strange world? Or maybe there’s a giant mirror in the middle of this floor, and if we make one wrong move, we could be dragged into a mirror world. All kinds of thoughts made me anxious, but Yoon Daju alone was excited. She really seems crazy.

“Oh? There’s something over there!”

“Hey. Stay together. Don’t run off alone.”

I quickly moved out of the elevator.

At first glance, this place is exactly like the 7th floor—a normal apartment. The difference is that the lights are completely out. And nothing is visible beyond the railing. Originally, there would be noisy cars passing on the road, and church crosses scattered everywhere. Now it’s completely silent.

Yoon Daju was examining stains on the railing with interest. Seok Hyunmin was leaning against it, holding a cigarette.

“You might have seen this in the documents earlier.”

“…Yes.”

He started speaking without any warning, startling me for a moment.

“There’s some information about this floor. That’s why I suggested we explore here first.”

“Yes.”

“First, there’s some kind of unknown device here.”

Seok Hyunmin gestured toward the area beyond the railing.

Tap. Cigarette ash fell into the night air.

Below that, in a space of unfathomable depth, there was something.

Light extending from the distance scattered into multiple strands as it hit the air. The outer void was so clean, without a speck of dust, that you could count each thin line. Red lines. Ominous.

“It’s down there. When we first came, we went down with ropes, but that wasn’t really necessary.”

“What?”

I couldn’t gauge the size of the space beyond the railing.

“Follow me.”

Whoosh.

Seok Hyunmin swung his leg over the railing, and then his figure disappeared.

“Don’t be scared, just fall.”

“Uh…”

Am I being hypnotized right now?

Fall down there?

Squeeze.

A familiar sensation pressed on my shoulder.

“Brother. Are you scared?”

“Yeah.”

Daju burst out laughing.

“Since when did you become so honest? You used to pretend to be so cool!”

“When did I ever.”

“Hmm. When you caught the monster on the 11th floor? Oh, and when you told me to jump in the elevator.”

Did I do that?

“Brother, remember what I told you before?”

“What.”

“I said don’t overthink things.”

Daju tapped my shoulder again and sat on the railing.

“Here. Come up.”

“Hah…”

I grabbed Daju’s hand and climbed onto the railing.

Now I’m all the way up but…

“Hey! What are you doing!”

Why… why do you keep pulling me!

“Wait wait wait. Daju. Listen to me. I’m not mentally prep—”

“Let’s go!”

“—aaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Whoosh—

The wind brushed past my ears.

My eyes closed automatically, and the semicircular canals in my ears rang alarm bells.

I started to accelerate.

“Aaaaaaaaaah!”

“Wow. So scary.”

“Yoon… Daju… you… crazy… girl…!”

Is time relative?

After what felt like an eternity to me—objectively probably less than 10 seconds of falling—I tumbled onto the floor.

“Brother. We’ve arrived.”

“…”

“You didn’t faint, did you?”

“No.”

I exhaled a stale breath.

This place with its cool, musty smell was an underground parking garage. In the distance, I could see Seok Hyunmin’s back.

“This way.”

“Let’s go!”

Is that device the one emitting the red light?

■■$#@#■!#■■ ■■@$■!@#■■ ■■!@!@$%■■■

I sprinted without a moment to catch my breath.

“You’re here?”

Seok Hyunmin was leaning against the machine with his hand on it.

“This is the device.”

It was large enough to fill one side of the parking area. It was crudely assembled with metal plates, with steel nuts embedded here and there. From gears smaller than a pinky nail to ones as large as car tires—inside, gears of all sizes meshed and rotated, though their axes and angles seemed quite unstable. It felt like one small part might fly out at any moment if something went wrong.

“When we came before, we couldn’t figure out what kind of device it was, so we just went back. I stopped them from experimenting with their lives at stake.”

Seok Hyunmin shrugged as if making an excuse.

“Back then, the 11th floor was fine, right? We didn’t really need anything, but they still wanted to risk their lives. They were all crazy… crazy bastards.”

“Now we have to try it.”

“That’s right.”

Nodding, Seok Hyunmin approached me.

“I heard from Serim that you can observe anomalies.”

“Yes.”

“How good are you?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Okay. I understand. I’ll examine the device first, and if you two find anything unusual, come tell me right away.”

‘Anomaly observation.’ Whenever this topic comes up, Daju gets a sulky face.

“Hey mister. Why don’t you ask me?”

“You’ve never been able to observe since before. You said you couldn’t even see what was right in front of you.”

“So you don’t expect anything from me?”

“Nope.”

“That’s mean.”

“No, it’s not.”

Seok Hyunmin disappeared behind the machine.

“Yoon Daju. Take out your flashlight and keep checking if there’s anything around. Strange things might jump out.”

While the two were having their battle of nerves, I took out my smartphone from my pocket.

– Oh

– You came

– Me: What? How did you know?

– It’s a secret

The only way to communicate with this person was by typing messages. Normally, they shouldn’t know whether I turned on my smartphone or not.

I’m curious, but now’s not the time to ask about that.

– Me: Do you know what that machine is?

Click.

– Me:

– ?

– Where are you?

– Me: The floor name is 13A1

– Don’t know

– No search results

So it’s not even in the Foundation’s network.

With no choice, I put my smartphone away and carefully examined the machine.

It really is huge.

A machine this size probably doesn’t just roast peanuts or something. It must have some amazing function proportional to its size. But I can’t figure out what it is. Now I understand why the people who came before wanted to experiment with their lives at stake.

To see a massive steel contraption like something from an arcade operating right before my eyes—

“Heh.”

It’s pure romance.

Reminds me of Metal Slug.

■■$#@#■!#■■ ■■@$■!@#■■ ■■!@!@$%■■■

Just as I was about to look away, letters flowed into my mind.

I still don’t know exactly what “anomaly observation” is, but this is the feeling when I do it. It’s a strange sensation anyway.

“…”

The letters are all jumbled right now, but if I concentrate, I should be able to see them properly.

I opened my eyes wide and stared at the metal mass in front of me.

“Oh.”

The broken letters regained their original form, and something began to appear.