episode_0051

Knock, knock.

In the corner of the warehouse, Choi Se-rim tapped on her laptop.

I watched the scene in silence, then walked over to the side and squatted down.

What was written on the screen was not a novel.

Rather, it was closer to a memo.

Who was thinking what and what plans were made.

Information about numerous people was written on the laptop, as if some intelligence agency was monitoring people of interest.

– Foundation SWAT Team: Plans to enter the apartment according to the Foundation’s orders.

– Tall man (it’s dark so it’s hard to see): Where is it?

– Person wearing something that looks like a protective suit: It’s been too long since I was trapped here. stuffy. I want to live. I want to go out.

– Da-ju Yoon: Ah, I want to fuck Da-bin oppa.

oh my god.

Daju Yoon That’s a bit shocking.

Serim Choi calls me in a quiet voice.

“Dabin.”

Talk.

As soon as I put a period next to a name I had never seen before, the sound of typing stopped.

Serim Choi is looking at me again.

“Remember how I said I could read other people’s thoughts?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been like that since I was young. I keep reading other people’s thoughts.”

“Then you should write it down in your notebook.”

Choi Se-rim nods with a bitter expression.

“Yes.”

“Do you have any important information?”

“Yes.”

Nodding to my question, Serim Choi puts the laptop aside.

“You can’t just read the thoughts of people around you. Sometimes, thoughts of people far away also enter my head. Whether you want to kill someone or ask for someone to live. Well, something like that.”

“… … It must be difficult.”

“Yes.”

Choi Se-rim looked like she was about to cry again.

“It was so hard. It was even more so because the place was here. Do you know what’s scarier?”

I just listened in silence.

“It is difficult to distinguish whether what is going around in your head is someone else’s thoughts or your own. That’s why I use a laptop. If you feel like it’s someone else’s idea, write it down quickly. Otherwise… … I have a scary thought. Am I being overwritten by someone else? Are you really going crazy?”

I didn’t know what to say, so I nodded instead.

Choi Se-rim laughed helplessly.

“But I don’t think it’s any use. You have this ability. Maybe because I’ve had the ability to read other people’s thoughts since I was born. Could it be that I was already covered up by someone else? So I go back and forth often. I’m not good at talking to people… … . Isn’t that what it is? I always had a blank expression. Inside, I was happy, then angry, then sad… … . I did it to hide it, to hide it.”

What she’s confessing is a kind of concern that I can’t understand.

To begin with, I don’t really feel like I can read other people’s thoughts. If the location wasn’t this apartment, I wouldn’t have believed it.

but.

We can see how Choi Se-rim feels.

After finishing the thought in my head – I opened my mouth.

“But sister, can you speak informally to me?”

“?”

“It’s because the time here is strangely distorted, but I’m actually older, Serim.”

“No… … . is it… … ?”

Choi Se-rim shrinks her body and opens her eyes wide.

“I feel sorry for manipulating my thoughts… . So what should I do? You have to call me oppa… … What?”

I smiled and shook my head.

“Whose idea is this?”

“Uh, huh?”

It’s cute how embarrassed he is and can’t even get the words out properly.

I stood up and held out my hand to Choi Se-rim.

“I will remember that I usually feel this way, so I don’t think you need to worry too much.”

“This feeling… It’s not… … .”

While muttering in a faint voice, Serim Choi gently places her finger on my hand and avoids eye contact.

“Now I’ll go back to talking about purpose.”

Back to the point. I tried to speak calmly, then sat down again.

I didn’t have anywhere to go, but I woke up for no reason.

anyway.

“You said earlier that you can read the thoughts of people far away, right? Then there must be someone who knows something key. I think I know it’s about apartments.”

Now for the really important part.

“What did you find out that made you do it alone?”

The Foundation’s research facility located inside an apartment full of anomalies.

If you take just one step from here, hell unfolds straight ahead.

On the other hand, the surroundings are so peaceful that you can go outside if you want. You will think that nothing is happening around you.

One of the members of the Foundation’s leadership and council.

The ‘Professor’ was lost in thought.

Once you’re here, you can’t go out.

We have established a means to contact the Foundation outside, but we still cannot leave here.

Information is a strange thing.

In the normal world, light and electromagnetic waves are just phenomena that flow along the surface of space and time.

It can be a medium to convey information, but it cannot be considered information itself.

Information can be reached without problems once it is connected.

future events.

So many possibilities that haven’t happened yet.

Even every breath of every entity living at the same time.

It’s all contained in the same place.

The professor closed his eyes and used his abilities to see into the future.

The same thing happened with ‘something’ that spoke to me from the future.

The fifth of the seven chained beings.

It is the worst disaster that appears in all religions and prophetic books.

With just one slight movement, heaven and earth turn upside down, and good people become corrupted. Diseases are rampant and complaints spread.

And, at the same time, it is salvation.

Salvation of all mankind. Isn’t that the Foundation’s goal?

“So, all future disasters are due to a person called the professor. That’s what I’m saying. ”

I summarized the facts I heard from Choi Se-rim.

“And, that’s because the professor released something called the fifth god.”

“Yes.”

“My sister was looking for information at the library to prevent that. That’s all I understand.”

From earlier, Choi Se-rim held my hand tightly and wouldn’t let go.

“That’s why we need Dabin. Because the power to endure is very strong. Even the most dangerous information can be viewed without any problems.”

“I am a bit like a water purifier filter.”

“It’s a bit of an analogy, but it’s true.”

This is what Choi Se-rim said.

– Not long ago, I visited a library that contained all the information in the world.

– You can find information to prevent future disasters at the library.

– However, the information itself was a memetic killer. The moment information is understood, it causes fatal damage to the reader’s body and mind.

– However, I have excellent resistance to that, so I can read and understand information without any problems.

– Then Choi Se-rim can read my thoughts and safely obtain information.

Even if you organize it as neatly as possible, it will be five lines long.

I think I heard too much at once. I don’t often feel confused.

Rather, my mind became clearer.

I feel like all the questions I’ve been curious about have been answered all at once.

“I’ll sum it up in one word. My sister and I have to save the world together. Is this right?”

“It’s a bit cringy, but it’s also true.”

“Anyway, it’s interesting.”

“What?”

“The flow of time. My sister came into the apartment because of a disaster in the future, and that disaster was caused by what a person called the professor is currently doing in the apartment. Don’t you think the causal relationship is going round and round?”

Like a snake biting its own tail and spinning around.

Cause and effect are all mixed up.

“And there is one more thing.”

“Yes. Tell me.”

“Why on earth does the professor want to release the fifth machine into the world? They say the goal is the protection of humanity.”

“Dabin is smart.”

Choi Se-rim smiles and gently raises her hand.

Just as he was about to pat my head, he stopped.

“Why?”

“Uh, no, just… … .”

“Because of what you said earlier? Of course it was a joke.”

I tilted my head towards Choi Se-rim.

“Just do it.”

Now, Choi Se-rim’s abilities no longer work, but that’s just it.

Just having Choi Se-rim pat my head makes me feel at ease.

Ssuk suk.

“That’s what I was trying to find out at the library. Why on earth did they release something like that into the world, saying they were protecting humanity? also. Were the opinions of that professor the same as the opinions of the entire foundation?”

“Do you have any guesses?”

“… … Not at all.”

Feeling a warm hand touch my head, I adjusted my posture and sat down.

“Sister.”

“Huh?”

“Can I lie on your lap?”

“What, give me a lap pillow?”

“Yes, sister.”

Se-rim Choi says, “Okay,” and allows me to kneel.

I carefully placed my head on Serim’s thighs.

Warm and soft texture,

Two hemispherical shadows half cover the warehouse lights.

There are some good things about being a woman.

ah. good night… … .

***

A member of the Foundation’s Council. Robin sat at his office desk, clasping his hands together tightly.

For the rarest of times, I didn’t have a good feeling.

Although he does not have the ability to accurately predict the future like a professor, to Robin this was the clearest indicator than anything else.

Something is going wrong.

Even when the anomalous phenomenon created by CREEP-1002 hit the house.

Even when believers of the new religion ‘Five Children’ came and committed unspeakable horrors to the only daughter.

And it was the same when, as the foundation’s leadership, he had to plunge his daughter into eternal hell with his own hands.

The feeling of being stabbed in the back with a needle continued like now.

So where? What went wrong?

The arrow of doubt pointed towards the professor.

Beep-

With a familiar sound, the laptop that only she could use at the Foundation powered on.

Robin sat down at the desk and completed the authentication.

[Council -#8 Robin]

[Permission confirmed.]

After a while. The video starts playing.

It is a record of the council meeting he hosted.

The people who participated are as follows.

Host: #8 Robin

– #4 Professor

– #16 Ale

– #29 Rememberer

– #72 Colonel

Eventually, exactly as in memory, the meeting begins.

“Council members. Hello.”

After Robin’s own greeting, #16. Ale speaks.

“Robin. First, please explain once again the reason for hosting the meeting.”

Robin did not miss any records and engraved them in his memory.

The meaningless lines flowed, and the professor appeared.

“It’s just an investigation.”

One more time.

Robin turned back the video and glared at the professor’s face.

“… … ”

again.

“It’s just a survey.”

again.

Stop the screen and look at the professor.

The feeling is subtly different.

It was a very subtle difference, but Robin was able to find it.

She called somewhere.

“Now #4. I would like to know the professor’s location.”

“Yes? If you were a professor, you would be in your apartment right now. Aren’t the experiment reports continuing to come in?”

“Were there any traces of manipulation in the report?”

“There was nothing at all.”

Robin turned off the phone.

A strong conviction settled in her mind.

‘The professor is deceiving the foundation.’

Well then, everything from now on will be simple.

Robin accessed the Foundation’s database again.

It took literally seconds to get permission.

[CREEP-201 /Traceer experiment approved.]

[Responsible Person: Council #8 Robin]

[Experimenter: Council #8 Robin]

That’s because it was he who held the authority.