Ch.34Groups to Watch Out For

# That Evening

I decided to take a shower since I couldn’t shake off this uneasy feeling.

First, the tap water.

I went to the sink and turned on the faucet.

Just as the announcement said, the water outage was over and it was flowing normally.

Hot water was gushing out fine too.

Next was the water quality issue.

Well, it looked clean enough to the eye, but I still couldn’t feel completely at ease. I had just burned whatever was responsible for purifying the water tank. They wouldn’t have dropped it in the water tank for no reason, right?

I concentrated harder.

This was the process of searching for any hidden anomalies in the water.

“……”

■

Anomalies, anomaly observation. I’d only heard these unfamiliar terms a few days ago.

Yet they’ve already become second nature to me, proving that humans truly are creatures of adaptation.

■

■

“Haa. Haa…”

It’s hard to explain what anomaly observation feels like. It’s not just looking at something—you have to widen your eyes and focus all your nerves, thinking only about that object. If you do it for too long, your head starts throbbing. Your eyes get dry and somehow you feel short of breath.

I kept concentrating, but there were no particular words visible. Just some noise in the background.

Maybe that hair clump had been dropped in the water tank for years, removing all the harmful elements from the tap water.

Even if there was something else going on, I couldn’t give up on this.

Shhhhhh-

A warm shower.

When my mind is cluttered, standing under warm water helps my thoughts flow properly.

First, I quickly washed my body while trying to keep my hair as dry as possible.

Since I was extremely tired, I planned to just quickly wash the top of my head at the end.

My muscles, stiff from running for my life, loosened pleasantly.

Slowly, I recalled what I had seen beneath the black surface of the water tank.

The memories were hazy, like trying to recall the contents of a dream.

First scene.

The clearest memory was of refugees lined up in the apartment corridor. The background was definitely this apartment. So was this something that happened in the past? Why did so many people flock to this apartment? Considering they were all in poor physical condition, something major must have happened outside. Where did all those people go?

Next, some woman came forward claiming to be an executive of some association, announcing she would become the new leadership. This memory is fuzzy, so I can’t recall the details.

Second scene.

A group of people sitting on the parking lot floor, discussing what to do with someone named “Claire.” “Claire” had lost her original form and melted down, transforming into something like a clump of hair. And… I definitely heard the name Choi Serim. The feeling when that name was called still lingers. A warm, nostalgic feeling in my chest.

More memories are surfacing.

This scene was shown from “Claire’s” perspective. More precisely, a fragment of her memory.

That’s how I knew the names of other people. Tasha, who was sobbing. A man named Choi Won. As for the blonde man leading the survivors? She didn’t seem to know his name.

The third scene remains the most vivid in my memory.

People throwing the hair clump—transformed Claire—into the water tank.

The reason was Claire’s “purification ability.” They hoped that Claire, who had lost her mind, would continue to purify the water in the tank.

“Phew.”

So does this mean there are people with supernatural powers?

This apartment has always been a strange place, so it’s possible, but the people in the memory seemed to have had special powers from the beginning. Then some crisis hit, and they all took refuge in the apartment.

Does that mean there are real magicians in reality?

Living in hiding, like in novels.

In the past, I would have dismissed such thoughts as delusions, but too much has changed since being trapped in this apartment.

Above all, I feel it every time I become aware of my body.

After roughly washing my body and drying my hair, I threw myself naked onto the bed.

With a thud loud enough to hear. I know this damages the blanket and mattress, but… there’s truly nothing as comfortable as this.

Rolling around under the covers.

With stress reduced and my head clearer, I took out my smartphone as planned.

– Me: I have something to ask

– Not answering

– Busy

“What?”

I was trying to ask for some information, but got a firm rejection. Anyone could see it was sulking. But can an AI even sulk? Well, there’s a lot I don’t know about this thing to call it an AI. From the beginning, it said it was trapped in the Foundation’s network, and when I asked what it was, even it didn’t seem to know.

But I can’t give up now.

– Me: What are you doing?

– Game

– Me: Is there a game running on the phone? All games need internet connection, which shouldn’t work

– Making one

– Bored

– Think you know why I’m bored

I do feel a bit sorry. If I were trapped in a cyber world with nothing to do, I’d probably be like that too. But that’s separate from my situation. I’ve been busy too. I’ve been running around risking my life, so I couldn’t possibly think about how some unknown program might feel.

Still, I need information and can’t get it elsewhere. So I should apologize and try to make amends. I have urgent questions after all.

Ugh… I’m not good at apologizing like this, it’s cringeworthy…

After thinking for a moment, I just chose an appropriate emoticon and sent it.

– Me: 😅

– Not accepting that kind of thing, need a sincere apology

“……”

Geez. Pretty demanding for a cyber ghost.

– Me: I’m sorry

– Me: I’ve been really busy lately

– Me: I didn’t forget about you, but I almost died these past few days

– Me: I’m sorry

– 😒

– What do you want to ask

– Don’t have much time, so hurry

Fortunately, that seemed to work.

No matter how bored it was, being free is better than being trapped in the Foundation’s server. Is that it? Either way, it’s good for me.

– Me: Do you know anything about people with special abilities?

– Me: Like associations of people who use supernatural powers

– Wait

A moment later, a text file appeared in the chat.

[Groups of Interest.txt]

– This is all I could find, the rest seems deleted

– Don’t know why it was deleted

– Going back to my game now, bye

– Me: 👍

After giving a thumbs up, it was time to check the file.

I opened the text file while lying on the bed.

[Groups of Interest.txt]

– Global Occult Coalition: Magicians, psychics, traditional and indigenous shamans from various regions. Composed of numerous allied organizations, though recently trending toward centralization and mergers. / Purpose: peaceful coexistence with the paranormal world. / Has cooperation experience with the Foundation. Relationship ranges from friendly to passively hostile.

– The Librarians of ■■■■■: Based in ■■■■■, main purpose is the collapse of the para■ world and establishment of a new order / Aims to liberate neutral, non-hostile anomalous entities and destroy hostile anomalous entities / ■■■■■■■■■■■[Damaged]■■■■■/ Has led numerous incidents including terrorism and anomalous entity breaches. / Actively hostile relationship

– ■■■■■■[Damaged]■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

It’s more like notes than a proper document, and even those are damaged in places.

Except for the first few lines, almost everything is erased and unreadable.

Swipe, swipe.

I kept scrolling down with my finger.

More broken characters and [Damaged] markings continued.

Doesn’t seem like there’s anything else useful.

“Huh?”

[Unknown]: ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ‘■■’■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■ unspecified group.

■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■

Appears to have succeeded in research ■■■ing ■■■ to ■■■■ or other non-anomalous entities

Has theories about ■■■, but shows no movement to infringe upon ■■■ ■■■■

No further observation cases since initial contact. Suspected that the other party noticed the observation of ‘■■’ and blocked it

The last paragraph is somewhat intact, but I still can’t make proper sense of it.

I wish I could remove all these black boxes and read the sentences clearly, but that’s frustratingly impossible.

I wonder if concentrating hard would help?

“Ugh.”

Not a chance.

The document was censored or damaged after it was created. Unless you’re a computer expert, there’s no way to restore this.

Still, I’ve learned a few things.

First, among the mentioned “Groups of Interest,” I found one that matches the memory I saw in the water tank.

Global Occult Coalition.

Given that its members each have supernatural powers, it’s probably these people.

This would explain Claire’s “purification ability” and the organization the woman in the first memory belonged to. KOO, was it? She mentioned some unfamiliar organization name. Since the Occult Coalition is composed of numerous allied organizations, this roughly fits too.

“……”

I’ve been thinking about something.

If the girl I saw in the past memories is indeed Choi Serim, it means that she is also a member of this Occult Coalition.

In that case.

Choi Serim’s ability to persuade others appears in a different light.

What I thought was just atmosphere or charisma might actually be a special ability?

Could Choi Serim’s ability be something that influences people’s minds?

Was I actually being brainwashed when I was going “unnie heung…”?

Just as questions were piling up one after another.

Knock knock knock!

“Dabin.”

Choi Serim’s voice came from outside the door.

“Yoon unnie says we should all have dinner together. Want to join?”