Ch.90Anabada Movement

# The First Priority in Exploration

The most important thing in exploration is first:

Where will you go?

To be more specific,

What area will you explore?

How much do you know about the place in advance?

Can you predict the dangers?

This can be explained in more detail.

The next important thing is the purpose of the exploration.

The current objective is to find a safe new place to stay.

It’s to establish a base to return to while continuing exploration.

It doesn’t have to be like Floor 7.

It just needs to be a place where we can unpack and stay, even if we can’t completely relax.

“How about this place?”

Seok Hyunmin pointed to a spot in the notebook.

“1-7-5-T. It’s a place we discovered when we were looking for supplies last time.”

Heo Yoon read the contents of the notebook.

“A huge building. Waste items like plastic bottles and glass bottles are piled up. Some were usable so I took them, and these items didn’t have any dangerous properties.”

“What do you think, noona?”

“Isn’t there too little information?”

“But all the other floors are exactly the same.”

Seok Hyunmin fidgets with his glasses as he speaks.

Despite exploring for such a long time, the survivors have discovered extremely little information.

This floor might be a restaurant.

This is a library, but if you open the wrong book, you’ll die.

That’s about all they know.

It’s evidence of how dangerous this apartment building is.

“…Alright. What do you all think?”

“Let’s go check it out first.”

“Yes. I think we should go see it first.”

Jung Haewon and Yoon Daju are perfectly in sync.

Both are straightforward and simple. They tend to act before thinking.

After asking everyone’s opinion, Heo Yoon looks in my direction.

“I think it’s fine too.”

“Okay. I’ll press the button now.”

Heo Yoon sighs as she presses the button.

Floor 1, Floor 7, Floor 5. After pressing them in order, the number pad flips over to reveal an alphabet keyboard.

Finally, she enters the letter T.

Clunk!

The elevator starts moving.

It’s a time when everyone becomes tense.

Seok Hyunmin speaks up.

“Lim Dabin. Are you okay with your panic? I heard from Daju that it’s something like claustrophobia.”

“Yes. I think I’m fine when I’m with other people.”

“…”

“You don’t need to worry that much.”

I slightly turned my gaze to the side.

As always, Choi Serim was looking in my direction.

“I’ll be with Serim noona anyway. Right?”

Choi Serim looks surprised, then answers in a small voice.

“…Yes.”

“Good. Then keep looking after each other.”

Both me and Choi Serim. We can’t be alone.

For me, it’s to prevent panic attacks.

For Choi Serim, it’s to maintain her sense of self.

If she stays alone for too long, Choi Serim forgets her identity. Because she reads others’ thoughts regardless of her own will.

She needs someone to guide her occasionally about who she is.

“Oppa. What about me?”

Yoon Daju suddenly cuts in.

“You can come with us or not. Whatever.”

“That’s so mean, seriously.”

Clunk!

The elevator interior shakes again.

Heo Yoon looks up at the number panel attached to the ceiling.

“We’ll arrive soon. Everyone stay alert and move carefully.”

“Yes!”

“Who wants to stay in the elevator?”

While others explore, at least one person needs to stay with the elevator.

We need an escape route in case of emergency.

Heo Yoon examines everyone’s faces.

“Dabin can’t be alone, so not her. Serim needs to look after Dabin, so not her either. I’m going outside. Choose from the rest.”

Since it’s a safe role to stay alone, no one volunteers readily.

“Noona.”

“Obviously not you, idiot.”

Heo Yoon pushes the back of Seok Hyunmin’s head.

That leaves Jung Haewon and Yoon Daju. And the AI who’s been spacing out until now.

The one who hasn’t said a word suddenly speaks up.

“I want. To follow Dabin. Dabin maman.”

“Oh? Then it’s either Daju or Haewon.”

“Well, then.”

While Jung Haewon hesitates, Yoon Daju quickly jumps in.

“Jung Haewon is decided!!!”

“Huh?”

“Right. Haewon, you stay and hold the elevator.”

Heo Yoon makes the final decision.

“Haewon hasn’t been here long. He doesn’t have much experience.”

Seok Hyunmin adds a comment.

“And Haewon is the youngest among us.”

“Huh? Was he?”

“He’s still in high school.”

“Why didn’t I know that?”

Heo Yoon smoothly passes the buck.

Jung Haewon could only laugh helplessly.

“No, noona…”

“But I’m actually the youngest.”

The AI suddenly interrupted.

“Huh?”

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

It’s embarrassing just watching.

I pulled its hand and took it to the corner of the elevator.

“Just stay quiet.”

“I’ve been quiet the whole time and just said one thing now.”

I feel suffocated and can’t help but sigh.

When it was in the phone, we could at least communicate.

Is this also an effect of gaining a physical body?

It just blinks at me blankly.

“Fine. You’re right about everything.”

Screech-

As the noise sounded, Seok Hyunmin turned his head toward the door.

A sensation of heaviness. It’s the feeling when the elevator stops.

“Alright. We’ve arrived.”

“Grab your bags! Everyone except Haewon, let’s go out together!”

When Heo Yoon shouted loudly, everyone picked up their bags.

Daju lifts the bag she had put down on the elevator floor.

Choi Serim adjusts her hiking backpack next to her.

“Let’s go, Dabin.”

[Floor 1-7-5$%^!!. The door is opening.]

With a broken-sounding guidance voice, the elevator door slides open.

Step. Step.

Pebbles crunch under our feet.

Seok Hyunmin and Heo Yoon walk side by side slightly ahead like a married couple, with Yoon Daju a bit behind.

Choi Serim and the AI are beside me.

Only after walking quite far out did I look around.

The surroundings are an open space covered with pebbles.

Piles of junk are stacked everywhere.

It looks like thousands of hills lined up.

Water bottles.

Plastic waste.

Mountains of garbage.

Looking closely, they’re not just mountains of garbage.

Paint cans and rusty wires.

Broken glass bottles intertwined to create a single form.

Choi Serim spoke in a quiet voice.

“Dabin. Is it okay to look at those?”

“Yes. They’re not dangerous objects.”

Even checking for anomalous properties, there’s nothing unusual.

Only after confirming safety did Choi Serim and I share our impressions.

“Does that look like a flame?”

“It also looks like a flower bud.”

Step. Step.

The ground is covered with pebbles.

“I think I saw something like this in an art book before. Like sculptures made from recycled materials.”

“Yeah.”

Even if not part of the curriculum, everyone probably took an interest in it at least once when young.

Recycling.

Not professional recycling, but making toys from discarded plastic bottles or drying paper cartons to make pencil cases.

“Trash is material with great potential for art.”

The AI speaks up out of nowhere again.

Fortunately, this time Choi Serim responded.

“Huh? Who said that?”

“Pablo Picasso. He turned a bicycle seat upside down to create the shape of a bull’s head.”

“I see.”

The AI strokes its silver hair primly.

Perhaps because of its silver hair and red eyes, it stands out even when making random comments.

“I can’t see the elevator anymore.”

“Huh?”

A chilling premonition flashes through my mind.

“Have we already come that far?”

I quickly turned around to check the distance.

It doesn’t seem like we’ve walked that long.

The elevator is no longer visible.

In its place stands a new iron structure.

Triangles, squares, and pentagons.

It’s an artwork made of geometric shapes.

The ominous feeling gradually became clearer.

Choi Serim and the AI are beside me.

Seok Hyunmin and Heo Yoon are also intact not far away.

“Wait.”

“Where’s Daju?”

“Huh? She was just here a moment ago.”

Fortunately, we found Daju not far away.

As if she had discovered something, Daju was crouching on the ground with her head down.

I called her name as I walked toward her.

“Hey, Yoon Daju. What are you doing there?”

Even though I came right behind her, Daju doesn’t lift her head.

“What—”

When I bent down to look, Daju’s eyes were completely vacant.

Her short hair hanging down like curtains.

Yoon Daju keeps muttering something.

Mumble mumble mumble…

Mumble mumble mumble…

While doing so, she pulls at her hair.

The force is so strong that clumps of hair fall out with bits of flesh.

“Daju…?”

The others, noticing something strange, gathered around.

“What’s going on? What happened!”

“Why is Daju like that?”

Only after everyone gathered on the open space did Yoon Daju lift her head.

“Ta-da!”

Daju proudly holds up something.

“Even useless things can be recycled to make new items like this!”

“In the case of this sweater, I used hair!”

A black sweater flutters.

Chunks of blood and scalp pieces are stuck all over it, and the sleek texture characteristic of hair is still present.

But the shape of the sweater is precisely formed.

“It’s weak to moisture, but it’s still recycled.”

“Hair? It grows back anyway.”

Hair already missing here and there.

Daju’s head has ugly bald patches all over.

Did she make it by pulling out her own hair?

But no matter how I look at it, there’s not enough hair. Where did she get it from?

When this thought hit me, my breath caught.

For a moment, I couldn’t think at all.

And it was the same for everyone else.

“D-Daju. You need to come to your senses… Huh?”

Heo Yoon is so shocked she can barely speak.

In front of her, Daju showcased another “recycled item.”

“Oh, this?”

“It’s a decoration made of teeth. You don’t use all your teeth when chewing anyway, so it’s good to recycle them, right?”

It was just a few seconds.

The time we lost sight of Daju was almost instantaneous.

But somehow she had pulled out her own teeth, and blood was streaming from her mouth.

“Ahaueur.”

Though she can barely speak properly because of the flowing blood and saliva, Daju continues to talk.

“What a waste.”

“What a waste.”

“What a waste.”

“What should I use this for? It came out of my body, what should I use it for?”

Suddenly jumping up and running toward the garbage heap, Daju.

“Hey…”

Before we could catch her, Daju was rummaging through the waste.

Plop. Plop.

She must have cut herself somewhere, as there was a wound on Daju’s white hand.

Blood gushes from the wound that opened like fish gills.

But Yoon Daju doesn’t stop.

“What a waste.”

“What a waste.”

“What a waste.”

I chased after Daju with all my might.

Though I’m not particularly fast at running, I was the first to catch up to her.

“Hey. Yoon Daju!!!”

I gripped Daju’s shoulders with all my strength and shook her.

Tears welled up in my eyes without me realizing.

“Snap out of it, you crazy girl!!!”

Back in the elevator.

Was she upset because I treated her coldly?

It was just the usual joking around. Did that hurt her?

Suddenly, past incidents kept flashing through my mind.

Please, I just prayed for Daju to come to her senses, to be safe.

“Yoon Daju, snap out of it. What a waste.”

“What a waste.”

“What a waste.snap out of it.what a waste.”

“What a waste.need to snap out of it.”

“Look at me. Look at me, slowly.”

I abruptly stopped talking.

Yoon Daju is still rambling incoherently.

“Slowly.”

“What a waste.”

“What a waste.look at me.what a waste.”

“What a waste.I’m looking at you.”

Daju wasn’t trying to hold onto her sanity.

She was just randomly repeating what I said.

“Found it.”

Daju found something among the waste.

As if she had found a precious gem, she pulls out a plastic bottle covered in dust.

She quickly opens the cap and brings the bottle’s mouth to her lips.

Drip-

The blood that had been flowing continuously mixes with sticky saliva and collects in the bottle.

“I’m going to recycle this too. It’s too wasteful to just throw away.”

“…”

She must have been affected by a memetic kill agent.

First, I need to assess the situation with “insight” and calmly find a solution.

And my bag contains a book that can neutralize memetic kill agents.

It’s one of the useful books we brought from the library last time.

So.

Let’s stay calm first.

Wiping away my tears, I opened my bag.

It’s not like we have no options.

We’ve prepared for this, so we can get through this safely too.

I took off my bag and put it on the ground.

The book is in the front pocket of the bag.

I’ve arranged it so I can take it out quickly in case of emergency.

Zip-

Just as I was about to open the zipper and look inside.

“…”

I realized that the others who were following hadn’t arrived.

A feeling like all the blood in my body suddenly froze.

I turned my head, which barely moved, to check behind me.