Ch.89Adrift (2)

Dan the driver watched as the familiar scenery began to disappear.

The streets he often passed through.

Signs with alphabet letters and cars visible in the distance.

The familiar iron door that had been at the entrance just moments ago.

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

As if everything had been a mirage.

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

“Shit.”

Dan the driver had lived his entire life in an ordinary world.

This was the first anomalous phenomenon he had ever witnessed.

“God. Shit.”

“Dan. Come help me.”

While Dan was lost in confusion, Robin had already stepped into the elevator.

Pulling hard on the limp researcher’s body.

White lab coat, short black hair. Tall with a slender build and quite willowy.

“Cough, cough!”

The researcher coughed with her eyes tightly shut.

Dan immediately moved to help.

“I’ll stand on the left, you support her from the other side.”

“…Okay.”

Moving a single woman wasn’t particularly difficult.

Not only Dan, but Robin was by no means lacking in strength either.

“That’s good. Let’s lay her down here.”

“In a place like this?”

“We can’t go outside anyway.”

Thud.

Robin laid the woman down on the landing.

Rattle rattle rattle!

“What the hell. Why won’t this open?”

Bang bang bang!

“Open up!!!”

While noise continued behind them, Robin calmly checked the woman’s condition.

She was breathing.

But survival couldn’t be guaranteed.

Her pupils were dilated, possibly from drug administration.

Plus a significant amount of blood loss.

It wouldn’t be strange if she died within the next few minutes.

“I’m sorry.”

Robin reached out and pinched the inside of the collapsed woman’s forearm hard.

Flinch-!

A rather intense reaction returned.

Evidence that she was still conscious.

“Riko. Can you talk now?”

The woman whose name was called trembled her eyelids.

A faint voice flowed between her lips.

“Ugh… ugh…”

“Tell me briefly what happened with that professor guy. I’ll let you rest for the remaining time.”

As if trying to force herself up, Riko gathered her hands on the floor.

Then thud, her strength gave out and she collapsed.

Robin extended a finger and this time strongly twisted near the researcher’s nipple.

Flinch-!

“Ah, ugh!”

“If you’re going to die, it’s better to speak before dying.”

“No… I don’t want to die…”

“We’ll try our best to prevent that. So, you need to tell us what you know, even briefly.”

Speaking in a calm voice, Robin sat down at the researcher’s head.

Professor. A clue to track the bastard. Not a single word could be missed.

“Professor? What are you doing!”

“Dan. Stop saying stupid things and be quiet.”

Of all things, it had to be professor.

The driver’s form of address would need to be corrected.

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

Now she could open her eyes and converse to some extent.

“H-how did this happen…”

Riko completed her sentence with difficulty in a voice that seemed about to break.

“Surely… no one was supposed to come…”

Robin laughed incredulously.

“Who said that? The professor?”

“…Yes.”

The professor’s future vision works by “looking down from above.”

Once a future is observed, it becomes fixed and unchangeable, but there are always exceptions.

“Do you think I would be swayed by such tricks?”

Riko’s eyes briefly grew round.

“Then. You are.”

“Just tell me what you know. Quickly.”

“The professor is trying to release the ‘Fifth Apostle.’ I was disposed of for doubting that. And,”

“And?”

The words didn’t continue.

Riko closed her eyes again, having lost consciousness.

“Sigh…”

“Excuse me, Professor? What did you just say? Is that lady going to be okay?”

“Dan. Weren’t you listening?”

“No. I was listening, but…”

It didn’t take Robin long to realize her mistake.

“It was Japanese.”

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

Robin let out another deep sigh.

“She’s passed the worst for now. She’s just exhausted, so she’ll be fine if we give her some fluids.”

“Then why were you doing that earlier? It must have been an urgent situation. Why keep pressing someone who was dying…”

“I had no choice. She might have died with the information to herself. Then nothing would work.”

Speaking in a dry voice, Robin stood up.

“Let’s move. We don’t have much time.”

“Huh.”

Dan let out a short laugh.

It was an empty chuckle that came out when something was absurd.

“Professor, you keep forgetting, but I was suddenly dragged here! Think from my perspective. Suddenly a volcano erupts, and the professor I just met today insists we need to drive away immediately. We barely escape alive and then you point a gun at me. And now? We’re trapped in a fucking apartment I’ve never seen before! Until just now, you were practically strangling a researcher I’ve never seen before. Does this make any sense? Who would just accept this situation? Huh?”

Extremely agitated, Dan jumped up and down in the apartment corridor.

Among everyone present, Dan was the only one excited.

“Dan.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“I understand everything, but please stop calling me professor.”

“That doesn’t seem like the most important thing right now.”

“I know.”

Robin stood up and checked the surroundings.

The elevator doors were already firmly closed. The elevator behind them had already gone to another floor.

Rustle.

Robin supported the collapsed researcher to sit up.

“Let’s move first. I’ll explain slowly as we go.”

“Where to? We don’t even know where we are! No, you probably know everything! Since you’ve invited me to some world of magicians!”

“Obviously somewhere better than here. I don’t know anything about this place either.”

“Hah…”

While sighing, Dan was faithful to his role.

He quickly came over to help support the researcher.

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

“If I do? What happens? Are you going to curse me to become a pig?”

“It might actually be better if you turned into a pig.”

The apartment they had just entered.

The darkness of the endless corridor.

Looking at it, Robin said quietly.

“It’s a proverb found commonly across the world. If you call the name of an evil spirit, the evil spirit appears.”

“Are you saying there’s an evil spirit named Professor?”

“Yes.”

Robin swept her blonde hair behind one shoulder.

Volcanic ash, from who knows when, stuck to her fingers.

“From now on, we’re going to catch that guy.”

***

In a narrative layer, each person’s actions leave a line.

Lines intertwine according to fate.

Me and the people around me in the apartment.

And the “helper” from the Foundation.

Lines that briefly came close have grown distant again.

Swoosh-

I thought we would finally meet this time.

But the elevator that opened again was empty.

There is only one ending where this world doesn’t perish.

To see the ending, the final scene must be recreated.

A “helper” is absolutely necessary for that place.

Why couldn’t we meet?

“Oppa, why do you look like that?”

The perceptive Daju pokes my side and asks.

“Nothing? It’s nothing!”

“Come on.”

“Ah, stop tickling me!”

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

Whenever I’m with her, I can’t think serious thoughts.

Her personality is so innocent it crosses the line.

“Let’s go to this floor first.”

“Isn’t it dangerous there? It’s a place we’ve never actually been to.”

Heo Yoon and Seok Hyunmin are busy talking.

The AI guy is spacing out again, and Choi Serim is quietly watching him.

Yoon Daju is looking around for something interesting.

I’m lost in thought.

“Hey. Haewon.”

“Yes?”

I called out suddenly and got an immediate response.

“Do you play games?”

“Yes. I reached Master in League of Legends.”

Jung Haewon answers proudly, straightening his shoulders.

“Almost a pro gamer. Have you met Faker?”

“Of course not. These days, most Masters are just amateurs. All the pros are at another level, so I can’t meet them.”

At least we’re talking about games, but the conversation has drifted a bit.

“Then do you know other games besides League? Like Pokémon or Steam games.”

“Of course I do. I’ve seen some on internet broadcasts, and I’ve tried all sorts of things.

But why?”

“I feel like I’m stuck in a game story.”

“Hmm… Come to think of it, you said you had some ability, right? The Librarian’s authority. Does that make the world like a game?”

“Something like that.”

Jung Haewon looks at me with an envious expression.

This isn’t something to be envious about.

He thinks like the middle schooler he is.

“Anyway. I’m playing a game for the first time and the story is stuck. What should I do first?”

“You need to get stronger, right? Level up, earn money, or farm items.”

“It’s not something that can be solved by fighting someone.”

“Then the path must be blocked.”

“Yes. That’s more like it.”

“Give me a moment. Let me think.”

After some thought, Jung Haewon’s explanation was like this:

These days games offer various multiple endings, but older games weren’t like that.

If you didn’t follow the predetermined order, you couldn’t progress at all.

“Like in Pokémon, to get to the next stage, you need to pass through a certain path, but someone is blocking the way. Like Snorlax, Psyduck, or Koffing. These will only move aside if you bring a specific item. Or a tree might be blocking the path, and you can only remove it with the Cut technique. But to learn Cut, you have to defeat a gym leader. It continues like that.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Simply put, to progress the story, there’s an event you need to see first.

Meeting a certain character, finding a certain item, or maybe visiting somewhere at least once.”

“Hmm. I understand this.”

I explained about the ending I was seeing.

Jung Haewon nods with a very interested expression.

“If the story is about meeting this ‘helper,’ there must be an event you need to find first.”

“Then what could that be?”

“I don’t know either.”

“Ah. I thought so.”

“Pardon?”

“Just kidding. Thanks for telling me.”

It’s a bit cringy to say this, but I should express gratitude when I’m grateful.

After the conversation with Jung Haewon.

I organized my thoughts while watching the constantly changing elevator floor numbers.

So to meet the helper, there’s an event I need to see first?

Then it’s probably related to the apartment.

If I focus on the current exploration, something should become visible.

That was my conclusion.