episode_0121

40. In the Hidden Mask. (2)

As the meeting ended and I was about to return to the room with Hyunseok, two hands grabbed my arms.

On the left, Yeonseo was holding me, and on the right, Ji-ah was holding me. And when my older brother approached Hyun-seok, he said he was borrowing it and took Hyun-seok away.

” Oh, brother… ”

I shed tears at the sight of Hyunseok patting my head and leaving, saying he would see me tomorrow while I was being held captive by two people. My real older brother, Jisung, who was next to me, was looking at me with a displeased expression.

‘I wanted to be with you today… too.’

The two people who dragged me into the room while I was sullenly lying down threw me onto the sofa and left me lying still.

” Hey, you don’t like being apart for even a little while? ”

” I hate it. I really… ”

” Haa, seriously, sis, let’s talk first. I’ll prepare a midnight snack. ”

Yeonseo poked my puffy cheek with a ‘poke! ‘ as if she was speechless and headed to the kitchen to start boiling ramen, while Ji-ah sat by my bedside and stroked my head.

” Sorry, but I have a lot to ask right now. ”

” Well, if that’s the reason… ”

I slowly feel myself relax as her hands slowly stroke my hair.

Because the time I spend with my sister like this is precious.

My sister’s hand was caressing my cheek as she smiled as I moved my body little by little and placed my head on her thigh and looked up at her.

” Really, it’s really soft, just like Yeonseo said. ”

” Ugh, stop touching me… So what was it you wanted to ask? ”

” First, shall we talk while eating ramen? ”

I got up from the sofa with my sister and looked at the table. Yeonseo was already putting out some ramen that looked like it was almost done boiling.

The sight was quite strange.

Yeonseo, who has never been seen cooking ‘herself’ until now.

” Why did you cook? ”

In response to my question, Yeonseo touched her tied hair and turned her head away as if embarrassed.

” My sister said… I can cook, but my boyfriend would like it too… ”

” Oh~ So that’s why~ ”

” Ugh, that’s enough! Just eat quickly! ”

It was just simple ramen, but it was the first ramen I had in a long time, and Yeonseo seemed to have worked hard on it, so it tasted good.

While we were eating ramen and chatting with each other, the bowl was empty before we knew it. After cleaning it up, my sister started telling her story.

*****

” So what are you trying to say? ”

In response to my question, my sister touched her tablet-type device, connected it to the holographic output device attached to the table, and began displaying various data and screens.

On that screen, there was information that Yeonseo and I knew, as well as information we were seeing for the first time.

” First, before we go exploring tomorrow, here’s some information I want to tell you… Do you want to see this? ”

When I ‘tap, tap’ the device, a log with a timeline appears on the screen.

” Is this… the time and content of the conversation with the reconnaissance team? ”

Yeonseo, who was slowly moving the screen from top to bottom, asked,

” That’s right, this is a summary of the information exchanged with the person dispatched from our situation room. And this… is the conversation that took place before the demonic attack. ”

” Let’s see… ‘We are departing on the sudden order of the reconnaissance team leader. ‘ If you’re the team leader… is that the person who got the signal this time? ”

When I mentioned Choi Young-wol, my sister looked at me, nodded, and continued talking.

” Maybe, I said it… We weren’t originally supposed to be leaving at this time. But, Choi Young-wol suddenly sent me a message saying she got some kind of signal and left.

But compared to the time our people sent just now… they sent it after we had already departed. It’s a bit concerning.

And other than that, I got messages from other people on the team asking for help, but by then… the recon team was already at ”

Let’s look at the time my sister showed me. It was after I talked to Uncle Doosik on the phone.

Perhaps the reconnaissance team was ambushed after the old man finished talking to me.

” Sister, I contacted Mr. Doosik at this time. He said he had already been attacked once before. So he said he was going to take some time to reorganize in a nearby building. ”

As I said that, I looked for a map and marked the location. My sister looked at it and looked around with other materials.

” This… is strange. This place… shouldn’t be like this…? ”

When I looked at Yeonseo at her sister’s strange reaction, she shrugged her shoulders and said she didn’t know and just waited for her sister to open her mouth.

” Ji… No, I’ll just call you Charlotte. Is this really the right place? ”

” Huh? Yeah. The old man said he had a seat there. ”

The place I was pointing to was the place where there used to be a department store built under the name of a famous brand. It was not too far from the Blue House settlement.

” Then… you should have asked someone to send you there before you settled down there. But why didn’t you contact them? It’s not that far…

More than that, it’s definitely the place that Oppa and Hyunseok went to after the Demon’s attack to check the surroundings. They said they didn’t find anything. ”

At those words, I looked at the map again and could understand.

‘ Certainly, it’s not that far away. Rather… the place where Hyunseok’s team was when the demons attacked was further away. ‘

” Haa, let’s go back to this place tomorrow. And… what else was there to ask? ”

I felt quite proud as I watched my sister quickly manipulate the device and look through the data.

It was so touching to see such a young child grow up and become such a wonderful young lady.

While I was looking at my sister with proud eyes, Yeonseo was also looking at the materials like her sister, and soon after, my sister and Yeonseo opened their mouths.

” Right! About the management… ” / ” The management that came to Mokdong settlement… ”

The two looked at each other with wide eyes, as if surprised that the topic of ‘management’ had been broached by each other.

‘ Management… Clearly, what the two of you were trying to talk about… was it because of the incident that happened in Mokdong…! ‘

Yeonseo gave in, saying she could tell her sister first, and her sister nodded at Yeonseo’s concession and showed the materials to me and Yeonseo.

” Sorry, I should have checked quickly about what happened in Mokdong, but your brother’s condition… you know…? ”

” Yeah, it’s okay. We already took care of it anyway. More importantly, is this… the management people who came to Mokdong? ”

” That’s right, we suddenly received a request to send someone from the management department, so we gathered a group of people who could go quickly and sent them… and we’ve lost contact since then.

But then, Dohee from Mokdong, Seonyudo, and Nodeul Island contacted me with stories about you guys. So I thought I should ask you about this, and now I remember. ”

My sister took a deep breath and asked us, what on earth happened?

” Is it okay if I tell you? ”

When I asked Yeonseo, she motioned for me to do whatever I wanted, so I told my sister everything we found out.

When they arrived at Mokdong, they were attacked by outlaws. People were turned into demons by an unknown group in the Mokdong settlement. And…

” When we left Mokdong Settlement, Mr. Hancheol said that the management person who came before we left took ‘Han Jin-oh’ and we haven’t heard from him since.

So on the way to Seonyudo, I was able to find the place where they were. After checking there, it was clear that the management people… were taken advantage of by someone they knew. ”

My sister listened to my story calmly and then asked if there was anything else unusual.

” Now that I think about it… It seems like you’re using ‘multiple abilities’. I don’t know if that’s your natural power, or if you gained it from something like that ‘suspicious pill’.

And… um… ah! Now that I think about it, everyone there was ‘Choi Young-wol’, that guy said ‘his subordinates’. ”

” Okay, wait a minute! ”

As she said that, my sister looked at the information of the people who had gone on a mission at that time and snapped her fingers.

” Sure… they were people I’d worked with a few times. Hmm, I guess so. ”

” Do you think you figured something out? ”

” Yeah, thanks… I’ll have to check it out in more detail… but I don’t have time for that right now, so I think this will do. Thanks. ”

” I’m glad it helped. ”

After that, my sister, Yeonseo, and the three of us checked the data and shared the information we knew.

What happened in the settlement. A suspicious group that suddenly appeared and objects imbued with the spirit of evil spirits.

Time passed quickly and I was beginning to feel sleepy, so I decided to finish here and go to sleep, deciding to investigate further later.

Even though I’m sleepy, I still have that unpleasant feeling that I’m missing something… something, but I’ll figure it out next time I check.

For now, I just hope that I can get some clues to find Mr. Doosik.

*****

Inside a building, a man wearing a robe was looking at a woman in front of him.

The skin of a fairly young-looking woman is so pale that it feels like pure white… skin.

It was as if he was already dead. However, the black energy flowing out of his body made it impossible to feel it.

As he aimed the tower-shaped staff he was holding at the woman, a black energy began to flow from the staff and enter the woman’s body, and the man wearing the robe simply looked at her.

Not long after that, a man wearing a mask came in.

” Are things going as well as you want? ‘Pastor. ‘ ”

A robed man approaches the masked man and grabs his neck at those words.

” I told you not to call me that again. ”

” Oh, oh, I got it. ‘Reverend. ‘ ”

After saying that, the robed man released his hand and turned around again. The masked man asked him.

” What about our god? The vessel I originally thought of seems to have already gone across the water. ”

” Huh. Anyway, the best way to deal with that ‘vessel of God’ was to crack it and break it rather than use it. It’s fine if it’s usable, but it doesn’t matter if it’s not.

The seeds I planted previously seem to have disappeared, but I have created a hint using my ability to buy some time, so there is no need to worry.

By the way… did you lock up ‘that guy’ well? ”

” Of course. That’s a really funny story. I didn’t know you’d tell me to keep him alive.

He made that man’s ‘daughter’ into a ‘vessel of God’ like this. ”

” This is all our god. ‘Thanatos’ will. He must be there for Him to ‘awaken’… ”

The masked man laughed as if he was dumbfounded by the sight.

” Then, I’ll go back. I made the signal ring again on purpose, so now you’ll start moving too. ”

A man wearing a mask who broke the ‘black crystal’ he created with his hands and disappeared.

The man in the robe, who had been watching where he was, silently turned his head and looked at the woman in front of him.

” All of this… for a new world… ”

He just watched the sight of it gradually becoming wrapped in black energy and taking the shape of a gochi, speaking calmly.