Into the Storm – 3

[52m Advance, then turn left.]

The boy traversed the hidden passage, a route for the building’s staff to avoid the eyes of the higher-ups.

After the fall of humanity, his footsteps were the first to grace the empty corridor in a long time.

Tap, tap, tap. The sound of bare feet meeting the polished floor of the corridor was striking.

[120m Advance, then right door.]

A crude mechanical sound guided him. The ambiguous intonation, the voice thick with electronic noise, could almost be called familiar.

An early-stage chatbot. Similar to what he had heard in his original home.

The reason the boy, Kang In-ho, was running through this corridor dated back to a little earlier.

6:07 AM. The time he awoke from a light doze.

The piercing alarm was enough to drag him back to reality from the sea of sleep he was just dipping his toes into.

A foreign sound he had never heard in Aaru. The noise assaulted his ears and tormented his brain, causing him to jolt upright.

The irritating alarm was coming from nearby.

The source of the sound was under the bed. A small object emitting a loud noise and flashing caught his eye.

“What is this…”

He stopped himself from saying ‘what’s this?’ There was a suspicious object.

He reached out and picked up the object from under the bed. As soon as it was in his hand, the noise stopped as if it had never been there.

“What is it?”

It was a small, round object, the perfect size to fit in his ear.

Anticipating its likely use, Kang In-ho carefully inserted it into his ear without hesitation.

He tapped it with his index finger.

[Kang In-ho. You are in danger. You must follow instructions from now on.]

A voice thick with electronic noise warned.

The electronic voice urged him on. Ironically, the appeal in that artificial voice made him move.

Because the core of that voice, obscured by static, sounded like a voice he had heard somewhere before.

[Go to the bathroom.]

The electronic voice’s first instruction. He headed to the bathroom.

[Exit through the ventilation shaft.]

A large ventilation shaft next to the light fixture caught his eye. He stepped onto the sink and opened the cover.

Cough, cough. Dust fell, tickling his nose.

There were a few close calls where he almost fell, but he eventually managed to climb up.

[Follow the passage.]

As if someone was watching him, the electronic voice gave the next instruction.

He closed the cover and crawled along the passage.

After crawling for a few minutes, the electronic voice led him to the corridor.

After kicking a few times, an exit appeared, and he was able to get out into the corridor and stretch his cramped body.

“Where to next?”

Silence was the reply. He felt like the stepping stone he was crossing had been cut off.

As he looked around and took three steps, the electronic voice spoke again.

[Turn left and go straight.]

He breathed a sigh of relief at the renewed guidance and followed the instructions.

“Hello?”

He spoke to the electronic voice. But he heard nothing.

He continued to talk as he walked down the corridor, but the electronic voice did not respond.

[Advance 100m, then turn right.]

When he reached the end of the corridor, the electronic voice spoke again.

‘It doesn’t seem to be real-time communication. Is it receiving location information and reciting pre-determined content?’

Kang In-ho thought.

[Enter the third door on the right.]

Whether it knew his complicated thoughts or not, the guidance continued to do its job silently.

He moved mindlessly according to the instructions for several tens of minutes.

[120m Advance, then right door.]

It was when he heard the guidance and moved his body.

Whirr, clang. A firewall descended from a distance with a loud metallic sound.

And then whirr, another firewall began to descend not far away.

“W-what is it?”

Kang In-ho quickly opened the door and entered. When he opened the door, he saw another corridor.

[200m Advance, then turn right.]

The guidance and

Whirr!!

The sound of the firewall falling from above his head were heard simultaneously.

“Shit!”

With a curse he hadn’t uttered in a long time, he started running.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The sound of the firewall closing in from behind, as if slamming down on him.

If his feet slowed down even a little, he would be trapped in the passage.

He swung his arms back and forth, increasing his speed.

[50m straight… turn left… 10m straight… right door. Password 2213]

The guidance cycle became faster as he passed through the passage quickly.

Bang! He opened the door to another passage. But the firewall had already come down.

He turned around and opened the door again. A huge firewall blocked him again.

Thud, he clenched his fist and hit the firewall blocking his path.

He rubbed his hand at the hardness, and the boy sighed.

‘I wasn’t fully awake, so my judgment was bad.’

‘Where the hell is the destination?’

‘Is it my fault for trusting and acting rashly?’

‘Is this a trap set by Isis? Isis, you’ve finally revealed your true colors!’

He breathed heavily and caught his breath.

[Go straight.]

“I can’t go straight.”

He vented his anger at the guidance, but it didn’t seem to want to accept his emotions.

It just repeated the same words.

[Go straight.]

[Go straight.]

“It’s malfunctioning. I’m not not moving because I don’t want to, it’s because I can’t….”

[Go straight.]

[Go straight.]

.

.

.

.

.

[Go straight. 1m]

“What?”

At the ambiguous distance notification, he took a step in the direction he was supposed to go.

One step.

One step.

One step.

[Right. Dog hole.]

Below the wall, there was a passage that only one person could barely pass through.

The finishing was awkward, it didn’t seem to have been there from the beginning.

Clunk.

He put strength into his hand and opened the dog hole.

-Whoosh

A strong wind sound was heard. It was the sound of the outside.

Along with the wind, a hazy sand began to stir up the corridor.

Clatter, clatter, the door of the dog hole shook with wind pressure.

Isis said. A Sandstorm is coming.

Isis warned. It’s dangerous.

He hesitated. Unlike when he entered the ventilation shaft in the bathroom, fear came first.

Was it right to go out there, trusting only in the electronic voice of unknown origin coming from his ear?

[Kang In-ho.]

The electronic voice said to him as he hesitated.

[The dimensional navigation ship… shouldn’t you see it?]

The guidance ended, and he went outside through the dog hole.

He walked in on his own.

Into the storm.