Ch.94Memory Hunter

“Why are you only telling me this now?”

In the heat of the moment, I was confronting the AI.

“If you were recording everything, we could have reviewed the footage to find what went wrong. We could have solved the problem faster, saved energy, and also…”

My words trailed off as I noticed everyone behind me.

Tired faces everywhere.

Though severe injuries had healed, bruises and scratches still marked their bodies.

Daju’s condition was especially concerning.

She could move, but her injuries were visible at a glance.

“Daju wouldn’t have gotten hurt like that. Right?”

Silence filled the cramped elevator.

I was the only one raising my voice while everyone else hesitated to step in.

But the AI remained completely oblivious to the atmosphere.

“Dabin. Are you angry?”

“What?”

I almost laughed from disbelief.

“You really…”

There seemed little point in continuing.

This AI.

No matter what I say, its expression remains blank, almost emotionless.

Is there any use in getting angry?

“…Forget it.”

Just moments ago I genuinely wanted to hit it, but now I don’t even feel angry anymore.

“Next time, tell me if you know something like this. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Sigh…”

The previously blank-faced AI added:

“But you never asked before. So I didn’t know.”

“Hey. What did you just say?”

My blood boiled instantly.

I whipped my head back toward the AI.

It hastily continued:

“I’ll do better from now on, Dabin.”

For the first time, I could read a genuine expression on its face.

Like a child who’d done something wrong, it hung its head low, occasionally glancing up to gauge my reaction.

“I’m sorry.”

Somehow, it looked incredibly pitiful.

It wasn’t like this when it was in my phone.

Physical bodies have a strong influence, but can personality change this much?

I do understand.

I know the whole process of how it became like this.

The AI needed a physical body to exist outside the phone.

The silver-haired, red-eyed body happened to be suitable. To reduce the burden, I made the body as small as possible.

Its immaturity probably stems from that.

I know all this.

I understand, but my thoughts are becoming complicated.

Since I created the AI, am I like its parent?

That seems a bit ambiguous.

Still, I suppose I have some responsibility to look after it.

What really concerns me is this:

Personality being heavily influenced by the physical body.

While this applies to the AI, it could also apply to me.

Suddenly becoming female.

With the strange feelings I experienced earlier… my mind feels dizzy with it all.

“…”

While I was lost in thought, the others seemed to think I was still holding back my anger.

Starting with Heo Yoon, then Yoon Daju and Seok Hyunmin.

They each tried to defuse the situation.

“Dabin. Let’s stop now, okay?”

“Oppa, I’m fine now.”

“It’s not like it did this on purpose. AI, just make sure to tell us anything that might help us survive from now on.”

This makes me feel like a mother scolding her child.

It’s awkward.

I just want to escape this situation.

“Right, don’t do that again. I was being sensitive too, so that’s partly why I got angry. Even if we’d seen the footage earlier, we probably couldn’t have prevented people from getting hurt. It wasn’t really your fault, so…”

Why is this so difficult?

The AI is just listening quietly, and everyone else is staring at me.

“So, I’m s-sor…”

“You crazy fool! You’re the one who messed up first!”

“No.”

I pushed Daju aside and finished my sentence.

“I’m sorry.”

“Dabin…”

The AI just stared at me.

It felt awkward to just turn away, so I added one more thing.

“I’ll give you a name later.”

“I’d like that.”

“Noona, do you hear something?”

Jung Haewon pointed at the ceiling.

The thunderous noise came the very next moment.

Wooooooong-

Like the sound of giant fan blades spinning.

That’s when I remembered what I’d forgotten.

“Wait. Has no one pressed an elevator button yet?”

“No.”

Heo Yoon, who had been smiling contentedly, looked at me nervously.

“…Was that wrong?”

“Press one now! Any button!”

THUMP THUMP THUMP!

CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER-

A black shadow fell across the ceiling amid the violent noise.

“Was that thing there before?”

Beep-

I collapsed to the floor.

Unknown voices buzzed in my ears.

“Dabin? Dabin!”

“$%^*&%$^?”

“$#^&.”

“She suddenly collapsed!”

Overwhelming terror pressed down on me, making it impossible to support my body.

Monster.

Crawling through elevator shafts.

Hunting passengers trapped in narrow boxes.

Nesting in the deep abyss, drinking the falling corpses.

Wrapped in fear and oblivion.

It’s coming.

“Ahhh…”

My own voice sounds unfamiliar.

Fear.

Panic.

Surreal paranoia and madness.

They were inside me.

When the 7th floor collapsed, my anomaly resistance weakened momentarily.

The fear that seeped through that gap couldn’t be removed no matter what.

Why couldn’t I remember anything until now?

Why couldn’t I prepare?

Had I ever told anyone about this?

My memories are hazy now.

Did I really ever see it?

A sticky, chilling fear clings to the blurry silhouette.

If so, I’m destined to become its prey.

Perhaps I did nothing.

Just sitting still, unable to devise any countermeasures, waiting only for death.

Despite gritting my teeth, a scream escaped.

“AAAAAAHHH!!!”

My only protection from the maddening noise was my hands covering my ears.

Thud, thud, thud

Beeeeeeeep-

Rhythmic dull sounds mixed with sharp auditory hallucinations.

My vision turned pitch black.

Eyes tightly shut.

Pressing my palms against my ears with all my strength until they hurt.

Then the next moment.

All sounds stopped.

A warm body temperature transferred to the cool skin on the back of my hand.

It was Choi Serim.

As I opened my tightly shut eyelids and met Serim’s eyes,

I felt the panic attack ending.

My respiratory system slowly released from the sensation of near-suffocation.

My racing pulse returned to normal.

Above all, the feeling of my mind going blank was gone.

An unbelievably dramatic change.

Ah.

Choi Serim can manipulate thoughts.

Did she use that to remove my fear?

But it didn’t feel like that at all.

If she had manipulated my thoughts, I would have noticed immediately.

Moreover, Serim had mentioned before

that my anomaly resistance had grown stronger, making it difficult for her to even read my thoughts, let alone manipulate them.

“It’s okay now.”

Choi Serim simply stayed by my side,

placing her hand over mine, speaking softly.

Only then did my blackened vision return.

The AI was crouched on my left, and Choi Serim on my right.

“What just happened?”

“Haewon pressed a button. The elevator is moving now.”

The AI answered instead of Serim.

Its tone was calm as usual.

Clunk. Clunk.

The shadow had been left far behind, and the elevator was moving quickly.

Was the situation that urgent?

Yoon Daju was holding a weapon.

“Are you feeling better, oppa?”

“Uh…”

“Yes. He seems stable now that someone’s staying with him.”

Serim answered for me.

She was also stroking my head.

Pat pat.

It’s not that it feels bad. It’s actually extremely comforting.

But it’s a bit awkward with others watching, especially in front of the younger ones.

“I’m fine now.”

I said that while gently pushing away her hand.

Now I need to look after the younger ones.

“Yoon Daju, are you okay?”

“Yes! I recovered earlier!”

“That’s a relief.”

“Why? Was I that serious?”

“You pulled out all your front teeth with your own hands. I was worried about how we’d find dentures for you here.”

It’s fortunate that I can joke about it now.

Earlier, I really thought we were in serious trouble.

“Gasp! I almost got into big trouble.”

“But who saved you when you were like that?”

Daju chuckled while brushing back her short hair.

“Ha. Are you trying to take credit now, oppa?”

“Of course. Do you know how expensive dental work is?”

“How much?”

“Hmm… 100 million won?”

“100 million?”

“I’ll collect it all when we get out of here.”

“Sure, whatever. When we get out, what’s 100 million? I could give you a billion.”

“Huh? Hey. Did you record that too?”

This time I was talking to the AI.

It answered expressionlessly.

“Yes.”

A billion won if we just get out of here. Another reason to escape?

It’s a useless joke, but we need this.

Otherwise, we might truly go insane in this place.

“Hey! Haewon!”

Seok Hyunmin shouted while clinging to the control panel.

Jung Haewon answered breathlessly from the opposite wall.

“Yes, hyung.”

“Do you remember which numbers you pressed?”

“4, 3, 1, and then B. I chose the floors written at the bottom of the notebook.”

While I was out of it, there seems to have been a struggle to press the buttons.

Something was pounding on the walls from the ceiling.

Heo Yoon was shouting that they needed to press a button quickly.

But they couldn’t press just any floor. The truly dangerous floors have threats appearing as soon as the doors open.

It seems they were successful, which is fortunate.

“Okay. Got it.”

Seok Hyunmin started flipping through the notebook to find information about our next destination.

“What? It’s not here. Haewon, what did you say earlier?”

“431B.”

“…It’s not here.”

“What? That can’t be right.”

Just as the atmosphere was about to turn awkward,

Heo Yoon nudged Hyunmin’s side and interrupted.

“Let me see that.”

“Ah, noona, why.”

Heo Yoon immediately pointed at the notebook.

“It’s right here, idiot.”

“Oh, you’re right!”

Seok Hyunmin tried to act cute in embarrassment, but Heo Yoon ignored it and examined the notebook’s contents.

“…Hyunmin.”

“What?”

“Don’t try to act cute. I really want to kill you.”

Clunk, clunk.

The elevator continued moving.

Seok Hyunmin leaned against the wall and called to Haewon.

“Hey, Haewon. Where did you say we were going?”

“Uh…?”

Jung Haewon suddenly looked blank.

“I can’t remember.”

“You don’t remember which buttons you pressed? Not at all?”

“Wait! I think the last one was B.”

“The letter B?”

“Or was it D? I think it might have been… Why can’t I remember?”

Is Haewon an idiot?

He just said it all earlier.

The strange thing was that even Heo Yoon looked confused.

It doesn’t matter though. I’ve already memorized it. The floor we were heading to is,

“The floor is…”

I can’t remember at all.

Clunk.

Clunk.

“Dabin.”

This time it was Choi Serim.

She asked with a worried look.

“Why did we get on the elevator?”

“What? Why are you suddenly like this too! That’s obviously.”

Obviously…

The words caught in my throat.

It was obvious, but why can’t I remember?

“I’m not sure.”

“So you can’t remember either, Dabin?”

“What?”

“Actually, for a while now, I’ve been having trouble remembering various things.”

Something was very wrong.