episode_0066

A seat that doesn’t shake.

The scenery outside the window flows by smoothly.

The once clean appearance of the city begins to change the moment you pass through the large iron gate.

An abandoned city that has fallen behind due to rapid development.

Smoke rising everywhere and homeless people lying around on the streets.

People with wary expressions hide in the alleys at the sight of unfamiliar cars.

“Here… .”

“It’s District 18.”

As I stared blankly out the window and muttered, Amy answered.

This is where full-blown slums are formed.

It was a city I had been to once.

“Why are you here?”

“Because you can’t go the normal way.”

Can’t go the normal way?

I looked out the window intently.

However, there is a limit to the information that can be obtained from a child’s perspective.

I carefully watched Amy’s expression and raised my power.

A thin, widely spreading blue current.

A very small amount of current, too weak to affect the machine, spread out from me.

It imitates the application technique used by lightning type power users that we encountered at the New Year’s event in the past.

Of course, I couldn’t spread my abilities that widely, but I could get a lot more information than I could see with my eyes.

The city was blocked off all over.

An unidentified vehicle standing as if blocking the road.

The people standing guard in front of it were not ordinary people either.

Ability people. People with different wavelengths.

There were certainly rare creatures in this 18th district.

Like walking a tightrope.

The limousine we were riding in dug through the alleyways.

The net of capable people is closing in precariously.

But we never met even once.

It’s a strange feeling.

I blinked and looked at the bodyguard holding the steering wheel of the car.

A woman with long black hair.

She was driving with her eyes closed, wearing small glasses.

“Hide.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the car stopped.

The limousine, which had been gliding silently, stops by the side of a deserted road.

And it was right after that.

A procession of countless cars passing in front of the limousine.

They didn’t even glance at us, as if they couldn’t see us.

This is an ability I’ve never seen before.

As I look at her with curious eyes, the woman’s closed eyes open.

The clear blue eyes reflected in the rearview mirror looked at me and smiled slightly.

“Jeff.”

It was a moment when I was blankly staring into her eyes.

Shine frowned as if she didn’t like something and grabbed my arm.

A body that collapses as if it is staggering.

I was held in Shine’s arms.

Since I wasn’t feeling too bad, I stayed still in Shine’s arms for a while.

The stopped limousine starts moving again.

It moves without making any noise, just like a snake.

The vehicle passes a large checkpoint.

A huge iron gate dividing the city’s districts.

Long, high walls rob the underdeveloped areas of their light.

From high to low.

From an ordinary city to a developed city, and then back to a backward city again.

It was not an ordinary road.

I had a strong feeling that I was going around in circles.

It felt like a meaningless game of tag.

They couldn’t find us, and we couldn’t move forward.

I keep going around the city in circles, waiting for the road to open up.

Does that mean we can move forward?

When I looked at Amy with a worried expression, she smiled silently and patted my head.

Rain looked completely different than usual.

A chick with a focused face holding a small tablet PC.

Rain, who was gently stroking her bright yellow hair, changes the arrangement of the car floating on the screen.

A minimap that appears to show the entire city in miniature.

Rain, who had been watching above, begins to draw a line with his finger.

“How about here?”

Rain muttering to the air.

But, as if he wasn’t getting the answer he wanted, he frowned and drew the line again.

The long line was leaving the city of District 7 where we were now.

“Where is this?”

Rejected again.

Lane chewed his lip and frowned.

A feeling of frustration that cannot be resolved.

That kind of atmosphere permeated the inside of the car.

I looked out the window.

The roads are neatly organized, as befitting a city in District 7.

A clean street where you can’t find even a single piece of trash.

That was the image of District 7 that I knew.

But what about now?

The store is dark.

Broken light fixture.

Black smoke rising from all over.

As if to indicate that a fire had broken out, the entire building was covered in black ash.

I swallowed dry saliva.

As long as you have a sense, you should know where this place is.

The structure of the city revealed by the widely spreading electric current.

Structures that are deeply engraved in the mind come into view.

A helicopter that was deeply embedded in a collapsed building was being pulled out by a crane.

Knock knock – move your fingers when you feel anxious.

Little fingers knocking on the cold window.

“Amy.”

“Why?”

“… . It’s nothing.”

I was mumbling, but in the end I said nothing.

Something charred black as if burned was carried out on a stretcher.

I turned my head away as I was looking at that sight.

The limousine began to move slowly.

A speed that is faster than a person walking, but slower than a person running.

But it’s progressing steadily.

And at that moment, I was able to discover the thing I had forgotten.

The appearance of an alley that passed by in a flash.

It was only for a moment, but I was able to find it clearly.

I’m talking about a familiar-looking bag that’s been left in the corner of an alley.

“Ouch!”

I shouted urgently and jumped up from my seat.

My sudden action draws the attention of everyone in the vehicle.

“Jeff?”

“Bag! My bag is over there!”

I yelled at Amy.

It was a chance to retrieve the forgotten bag.

If you think about the contents of that bag, they were not things you could ever give up.

“Bag?”

“Yes! Amy! Stop for a second!”

I pointed out the window and poked the window with my finger.

It’s over there!

Extend your fingers as if emphasizing something.

Amy looked at me as if she was in trouble.

She looked around and sighed deeply.

“No.”

“Huh?”

“It’s dangerous, Jeff. It’s not good to be talking like this right now.”

Amy put her finger to her lips and made a shushing sound.

“… . But, it’s a precious bag.”

I lowered my voice as Amy said.

Amy smiled at the words that came out vaguely.

“I’ll buy you more later, so bear with it.”

“But… .”

“Jeff. You have to listen to me to be a good boy.”

I nodded with a sad face.

The depressed feeling doesn’t go away.

As I buried myself in the soft sheets, Shine hugged me and whispered.

“Want to get it back?”

“What…?”

“Bag.”

Shine’s words flow out quietly.

I nodded slowly.

Shine, who was holding my body tightly, looked back and forth between Amy and Lane.

“Amy. Lane. Can’t you just go outside for a bit?”

“What…?”

The two people’s gazes gather.

Andㅡ.

Click-

The car door opened.

I blinked blankly.

A stopped limousine.

A wide open door.

“Let’s go Jeff.”

Shine grabbed my hand and walked out of the car.

A heterogeneous sensation.

But Amy doesn’t think it’s strange at all.

She just sat there in silence.

“Jeff, I need to find my bag.”

As I looked at Amy with confused eyes, Shine whispered while caressing my cheek.

I nodded.

Bag. That’s right.

I need to find my bag.

Precious bag… .

I don’t have time to do this.

I grabbed Shine’s hand and started running.

The fluttering hem of the skirt felt uncomfortable under my legs.

It was a fairly short distance, but I ran as fast as I could, so I started to get out of breath.

I looked back at Shine, gasping for breath.

She, too, was breathing heavily, just like me.

“This way!”

I turned into the alley I had passed earlier.

As befitting a city called District 7, the alleys were also clean.

But the surroundings were a bit dark due to the broken streetlights.

I took a slow walk down the alley, out of breath.

“Bag… !”

Fortunately, I was not mistaken.

The bag was covered in dirt, but it was in perfect condition without any damage.

This is a precious bag that Amy bought me.

I picked up my bag from the floor and hugged my precious bag with all my might.

“Did you find your bag?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go back.”

Shine smiled brightly and held out her hand to me.

I smiled back at her.

A hand extended secretly.

The small hands overlap each other.

Gentle fingers interlock.

Squeak-!

That was the moment.

A sudden sharp sound.

Vehicles that had been gliding across the road begin to stop all at once.

A strong, burning smell.

The car braked so hard that it left long black tire marks on the road.

I blinked, looking across the alley in confusion.

The cars that had just passed us earlier start to gather.

“It’s okay.”

I felt anxious and my hands started shaking.

Shine said as if tying the knot.

Her soft voice quickly calmed my anxiety.

As I looked at Shine with trembling eyes, she raised her hands behind her back.

“It’s okay, Jeff.”

Countless cars are lined up.

A large number of people pouring out of stopped vehicles.

There were so many that I couldn’t take them all in with my two eyes.

“It’ll be okay.”

Shine muttered quietly.

People pouring out of the vehicle turned their gaze toward us.

The way they approached us without saying a word, as if we were their target.

But at some point, they just stood there and did nothing.

“Did you see it?”

I just blinked blankly.

Shine, who was looking at me like that, let out a playful laugh.

“I’ll show you something more fun.”

Clap- clap-

Shine’s hand that was holding mine is released.

And then the little clapping started.

A familiar rhythm.

Shine started gymnastics.

I’m talking about height-building gymnastics.

And then something strange happened.

People who had stopped on the road started moving all at once.

People who start moving in the same posture as Shine.

One, two, one, two.

match!

Shine took her final pose with a loud clap.

But those who followed Shine did not take the final pose.

From the beginning again.

Shine begins to repeat the exercises she showed him.

“Let’s go Jeff.”

A small, beautiful hand extended once again.

Her little hand takes mine.

Walk slowly and exit the alley.

Even at that moment, people do not stop doing gymnastics.

I made eye contact with the person at the very front.

But despite that, he didn’t stop doing gymnastics.

Blanket eyes.

It was as if he wasn’t even thinking.

“Jeff. We have to hurry.”

Shine urged my slow movements.

Shine’s movement of grabbing hands.

She ran quickly towards the limousine Amy was riding in.

“Hurry up… ?”

“Gymnastics can’t be done for long.”

I looked back at Arisonghan Shine’s words.

The repetitive gymnastics showed no sign of ending.

We arrived at the limousine with the doors wide open and jumped right in.

I sat on the soft seat and stroked the bag in my arms.

“Jeff.”

“Huh… ?”

“I’m going back now. Don’t think anything strange.”

“What kind of…?”

“Jeff. The bag has been with you from the beginning.”

“From the beginning… ?”

“Yeah. I didn’t lose it.”

Shine looked around as if to make everyone listen.

“Jeff’s bag has never been lost.”

I nod to her words.

Shine, who was watching me like that, closed the limousine door with a satisfied smile.

thud-

There was a small noise.

and.

Time, which had stopped, began to flow.

I blinked blankly and fiddled with the bag in my arms.

“Huh…?”

“What? Why did it suddenly stop?”

Amy, who had been sitting quietly, looked around, rubbing the back of her neck as if something was strange.