episode_0157

“… Didn’t you say we were going to meet here? ”

A corner of an alley filled with orange fog.

Jin Ye-seo looked around with a questioning look in her eyes.

“You didn’t come to the wrong place, did you?”

“A13… That’s right. I’m sure.”

Lee Hyeon muttered as he looked at the sign rattling in the wind.

The chief of security had boasted that he would mobilize all police officers to hunt down the traitors, but there wasn’t a single ant in sight.

“It’s already been a long time since our appointment… ”

“Are you saying you pulled it out because you were scared?”

“No way… No matter what, the person called the branch chief of the security bureau… ”

Hyun Lee muttered in a cold voice as if he didn’t like it.

When Jin Ye-seo heard that, she felt her spine tingle and her lower abdomen start to hurt without her knowing it.

“… Ugh.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Jin Ye-seo tried hard not to show it and answered calmly.

“What should we do now? Should we cancel the infiltration plan?”

“… No. That won’t do. I just caught the tail. I can’t miss this opportunity. ”

After thinking for a moment, Lee Hyeon opened his mouth again.

“In the first place, the only magician in this security bureau was the branch manager himself. The rest were regular police officers. I asked them to cooperate so that I could weed out the rascals, so there shouldn’t be a big problem.”

The clock in the square chimed loudly, indicating two o’clock in the morning.

Lee Hyeon, who heard him, said.

“Let’s go.”

“… Yeah.”

The two of them headed to the sewage treatment plant again, feeling their way through the map.

An orange fog, with streetlights scattered about, making it impossible to see even an inch ahead. The noise of an industrial city with the clanking of machines. Even the wind howling like an animal.

As I was wandering through the alleys, I felt like I had suddenly fallen into a maze.

“… No matter what, how can there not be a single person… It’s really creepy… ”

Jin Ye-seo spoke in a voice that was unnecessarily grumbling.

“I think I’m almost there. If I just get out of this alley, it’s straight ahead… ”

Lee Hyeon said while looking at the map.

And Jin Ye-seo’s doubts were only resolved when they were about to leave the alley.

“Wait a minute.”

“What a surprise… ”

Hyun Lee, who discovered something, stopped walking and waved at Jin Ye-seo.

Jin Ye-seo, who was startled for no reason, rebuked Lee Hyeon.

“Gap, why are you suddenly like that?”

“… Look over there.”

Jin Ye-seo turned her head, following Lee Hyeon’s fingers. Then she stared into the fog with her eyes squinted.

She opened her eyes wide as she soon discovered something.

“Huh… ?”

A most bizarre sight unfolded before them.

A line of people was walking in the fog. There were so many of them that I couldn’t even see the end of the line.

Their steps were unsteady and their eyes were unfocused. They didn’t even talk to each other, but just lined up like ants heading somewhere.

Lee Hyun looked at the procession in silence. He was extremely embarrassed because it was something he had never experienced before.

Meanwhile.

He could spot a familiar face in the long line of people biting each other.

The old man at the tavern they stopped at the first day.

He too was walking with unfocused eyes like everyone else.

“That person… ”

Jin Ye-seo also seemed to have found a familiar face. She was one of the women who had been hurling harsh insults at Lee Hyeon while protecting Jin Ye-seo, who was acting like a newlywed.

“Hey, what are you doing… Wait… !”

When Lee Hyeon suddenly started walking briskly, Jin Ye-seo hurriedly followed him.

He grabbed a person walking in line and turned his shoulder.

“Hey.”

“… ”

But there was no answer. His cloudy eyes did not even look at Lee Hyun. No one in line paid any attention to the commotion.

In the end, Lee Hyun had no choice but to let him go. The man took another unsteady step and disappeared into the fog.

“… Tsk.”

Lee Hyeon clicked his tongue lightly as he watched the disappearing shadow.

“What the hell is going on… ”

Jin Ye-seo, who was following Lee Hyeon, muttered.

She sat lost in thought, watching the eerie procession pass by.

And then, as if remembering something, he quickly turned his head towards Lee Hyeon.

“Hey. By the way, the direction those people are going…!”

“… Yeah.”

Lee Hyeon nodded in agreement with Jin Ye-seo’s words.

The direction in which people were heading was exactly where the sewage treatment plant they were targeting was.

“… I guess I’ll have to mix in and follow the line.”

“Are you okay?”

“There’s definitely something going on in this city. I can’t just turn around and leave after seeing this.”

Lee Hyeon muttered while looking at the never-ending line.

Then he turned his head and suddenly looked at Jin Ye-seo.

“Before that… ”

“?”

Jin Ye-seo tilted her head, wondering what was going on, but he closed the distance without saying anything.

And he stared intently at Jin Ye-seo’s face.

“Why, why?”

“It would be better to just cover your face. Something like a hood.”

And then he started talking out of the blue.

Jin Ye-seo glared at the man who had made her nervous by needlessly holding on to his weight.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“It’s so noticeable.”

“What the… My stomach is perfect.”

Jin Ye-seo retorted with a proud voice. It was now quite common for her to go out with her face covered in graphite and her hair disheveled.

“The bridge of the nose is too high. The eyelashes are too long and thick. Overall, they look too classy to be poor.”

But the man immediately shook his head.

“It might be okay if you’re just walking around the streets, but it’s not really suitable for sneaking around somewhere.”

“What does that mean… huh.”

Lee Hyun looked at her as if he didn’t want to argue. Then he noticed the hood on her neck and pulled it over his head. Then he pressed down on her crown to hide her face.

“Let’s go.”

“Hey, hey… Wait a minute… ”

Jin Ye-seo, who had been feeling dazed, suddenly came to her senses and followed behind him.

The bridge of the nose is like this, the eyelashes are like this, the pupils are like this.

It was a phrase I had heard so many times that I was sick of it. And it was also a phrase I hated to the point of being sick of it. It was a phrase that people who were not even in a hurry would say when they were nagging.

Of course, all those guys were handed over to the student council and given the appropriate punishment.

however…

‘Why… don’t you feel bad…?’

“… ?”

Jin Ye-seo tilted her head.

***

The sewage treatment plant the chief was referring to was located in an old industrial area on the outskirts.

An endless stream of people streamed in through the open rusty gate. What made it even more eerie was that there was not a single sound of movement or conversation.

And the fog that covered the city so thickly completely hid such a suspicious exodus.

I passed by a broken septic tank that had long since stopped working, with green filth floating around in it. Then I continued walking along the old stairs leading down to the basement.

Soon, a sewer without a single light appeared before my eyes. A foul stench stung my nose, and the sound of water dripping from somewhere was too distracting.

“Heehee… ”

Jin Ye-seo, who had been very nervous, suddenly became tense. This was because the antennae and six legs that were clearly those of an insect brushed past her.

‘Tea, I’d rather deal with the demons…’

Jin Ye-seo swallowed her tears as she experienced the unpleasant stimulation for the first time in her life.

They had already come down several flights of stairs.

Soon, a wide space surrounded by black cloth on all sides suddenly appears in front of them.

In the center was a high platform that looked like an altar, and dim lights flickered on all sides. The stench and bloody smell were even more intense.

Hyun Lee, who had discovered something, looked into the silence.

There were piles of skeletons here and there that looked clearly like human bones.

The shape, which looked like a pile of remains left behind by a predatory beast devouring its prey, further stimulated the imagination of the negative side.

What was most surprising was the size of the crowd.

There were probably over a thousand people sitting in their seats without moving an inch.

“… That’s ridiculous.”

Jin Ye-seo muttered as she saw him.

“At this point, it seems like almost all of the people living in the first city have come.”

Lee Hyeon and Jin Ye-seo took their places among the crowd.

People remained silent, neither praying nor conversing.

“… That must be it. With those suspicious decorations… This is definitely their base.”

Jin Ye-seo turned her eyes and looked around.

“The entire city was completely engulfed. How could this happen… ”

“But this… looks too tame to be a fanatic… ”

-Dang~Dang~Dang~

Lee Hyeon was about to ask Jin Ye-seo a question.

The faint sound of the square bell, as if connected to somewhere outside, brushes their ears.

-Stop.

-Crunch…Crunch…

A moment of silence came.

And then I hear a noise.

Soon after, a woman appears from between the black curtains that have been drawn.

Lee Hyun could recognize her right away.

A suspicious-looking woman with a veil over her head. She covers her entire body with colorless clothes to avoid sunlight.

The woman was accompanied by several attendants dressed similarly to her.

She stepped up to the center of the space set up like an altar.

Jin Ye-seo, who saw that sight, whispered to Lee Hyeon in a small voice.

‘Hey. Is that girl…’

‘That’s right. That’s the person I met.’

Lee Hyun said, staring at the woman who had climbed up onto the stage and the attendants lined up in a row.

‘I guess it wasn’t some kind of middleman. I think that woman was the ringleader.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘We have to catch him. If that doesn’t work, kill him.’

‘What? Look at this scale…! This isn’t something we can solve on our own…!’

Jin Ye-seo looked at Lee Hyeon with an urgent gaze.

‘A city next to the capital has been completely devoured. This is a level 1 alert situation. This is as serious as the Jinling incident! We need to call in the military experts immediately!’

‘I can’t get out now. It’s too obvious.’

They were continuing their conversation.

Suddenly, those sitting in their seats all join their hands together, as if they were faithful servants praying.

Lee Hyeon and Jin Ye-seo also imitated them and made similar gestures.

Even in the midst of all this, Lee Hyeon turned his eyes and looked around.

I could feel the airflow, faintly but clearly. Looking back at the path I had taken, it was a path that went up a gentle slope rather than down.

That means, this place right now is not too far from the ground.

If a situation arises, it is not entirely impossible to send out a Jinyeseo to ask for help while you are dealing with your enemies.

‘Hey, hey… that girl…!’

That’s when Lee Hyeon was organizing his thoughts.

Jin Ye-seo, who was sitting right next to him, called out to him urgently.

‘I told you earlier. The woman I met yesterday…’

‘No, that’s not it…!’

Jin Ye-seo’s intense voice was filled with shock.

‘That woman, that’s him…!’

‘who?’

‘Sister’s house…! The poorhouse we stopped by before coming to this city… The nun who was supposed to be dead…!’

‘…what?’

Lee Hyeon turned his gaze after hearing Jin Ye-seo’s words.

The only old photograph left in the burnt rubble. In the photograph, a young nun was smiling brightly with the orphans.

Before I knew it, the veil had been lifted, and the real her was smiling exactly like in the photo.

“… Today is a very happy harvest day.”