episode_0345

One sacrifice grants eternal life to all humanity.

Is that the right thing to do?

(From today, your name will be Galaxy.)

I remember that warm voice.

Not the gentle warmth of clouds, but the stifling warmth of pressing your face into a pillow after collapsing onto a bed.

There was a shabby but cozy orphanage, and children running around laughing.

(Welcome to Hanbit Orphanage.) (No. Chairs are for humans to sit on.)

A warm and cozy orphanage…

Yet, there was no place for Galaxy there.

Was it because she was worthless?

(You are a worthless human.) (No matter how hard you try, you’ll never change anything.)

All this time, she had lived forgetting.

She remembered attending the orphanage, but not what happened there.

Why had she forgotten?

Painful memories are better forgotten, but surely there were good ones too.

Galaxy didn’t know.

(Let me forget. So that Galaxy-nim can be happy.) (『…….』) (In this orphanage… there were no good memories for Galaxy-nim anyway.)

All she remembered was escaping from the burning orphanage—engulfed in flames from an inexplicable fire—with a girl around her age.

Flicker… Flicker…

Like a broken lightbulb flickering, Galaxy often felt that her memories were badly fragmented.

‘Hmm… What did I even do at the orphanage…?’

But now, she felt like she could remember.

Every time she swallowed the ‘pills’ handed to her by the [Black Person], as if taking medicine restored her health… Along with the vengeful tales of the grotesque, things she couldn’t recall gradually surfaced.

“…Ah. I remember.”

And then it came back to her.

What happened at the orphanage.

(So, we’ll give you purpose, Galaxy. You just have to endure the pain.)

A heavy-eyed morning after waking.

The first thing ‘Galaxy’ did after regaining her senses was prepare meals for the orphanage children.

……. …….

Thump. Thump.

On the way to the [Facility], they descended a secret passage hidden in the ruined barn of a collapsed villa.

“Watch your step.” “Okay.” “No guards at all. Doesn’t that seem suspicious?” “Yeaaah.”

The dusty staircase was narrow.

About as wide as an ordinary escalator—maybe even narrower.

Walking straight was manageable, but if Galaxy turned sideways, her chest—larger than her head—would press against the wall.

“…….”

Kim Hayang, with a face as wicked as a genuine kidnapper, pushed Galaxy forward.

She felt uneasy—there wasn’t a single guard at the [Facility]’s entrance, and though there were footprints going down, none led out.

This wasn’t normal.

Was it a trap?

“This won’t do. I’ll go first. Galaxy, stay behind me.” “No, I should go first. Thanks to my skill, I heal quickly even if I get hurt.”

Galaxy refused with a smile, declaring herself the bullet shield just in case.

“Stubborn.”

But Kim Hayang didn’t want to endanger her daughter’s savior.

With slight force, she moved past Galaxy.

Squish—

But the slight shift in Galaxy’s posture blocked the gap, and Kim Hayang, wedged between the wall and the squishy Galaxy, gritted her teeth.

“……Very stubborn.”

Frustrating.

Step. Step.

In the end, they descended single file.

Galaxy. Kim Hayang. And Kim Sarang, holding Jjongie in her arms.

At night, wearing security caps and fluorescent vests, following the smiling Galaxy were the world’s most sinister-looking kidnappers.

Step. Step.

Four sets of footsteps descended the stairs.

Thunk. Thunk.

The black suitcase Galaxy dragged bounced noisily down the steps.

“…It’s quiet…”

Click.

Kim Hayang, waving her flashlight around, shone it into her own eyes.

No particular reaction.

“……Hoh.”

Kim Sarang, trailing at the back, mimicked her mother curiously, shining the light into her own eyes.

“GACK…!”

Hearing the scream behind her, Galaxy pressed a hand to her forehead as they reached the underground.

A massive iron door stood before them.

The [Facility]’s entrance? Beside it was a terminal for card keys, passwords, and fingerprint recognition.

‘We made it, but how do we open this…?’

A moment of thought.

Galaxy turned around.

She saw the mother-daughter duo clicking their flashlight like children.

And Jjongie the sheepdog yawning comfortably, as if this were routine.

‘Did I make a mistake bringing these animals along…?’

Galaxy turned back to stand before the iron door.

‘If I ask Mother Kim Hayang to cut it open… that’d feel too much like we’re here to fight. I still have a lot to ask the potion lab people.’

The peaceful way to open a locked door.

Surprisingly simple.

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1. If someone knocks on your front door: – Check outside through the intercom first. – If you see a woman in a red dress standing there, – Immediately hold salt in your mouth and enter the bathroom. – The front door will open on its own. After roughly 10 minutes, ‘it’ will have ■■■■ ■■■ everywhere and leave quietly. – The above must be completed within 3 minutes.

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Knock knock knock…

“…One… two…”

Like the [Red Woman] who always entered after knocking, Galaxy lightly rapped the massive iron door and began counting.

“Ten… eleven…”

The [Red Woman] opens the door after 3 minutes and steps inside. That’s the rule of the [Black Book].

Soon, the smell of blood seeped from Galaxy’s voice—prompting the flashlight-wielding mother-daughter to watch her cautiously.

‘Thirty-one… thirty-two… thirty-three…’ “…One. Two. Three.” ‘Thirty-four… thirty-five… thirty-one… thirty-d…… No, Sarang-ah. Be quiet, you’re confusing me.’ “Counting together would make it twice as fast.” ‘That’s not how it works.’ “The legend…”

CREAK—

But at that moment, before Galaxy finished counting to three, the iron door opened from the inside.

…….

Squeak…

The door began sliding open smoothly, as if weightless.

She hadn’t expected someone to come out and welcome them.

‘Finally, I can talk face-to-face with the potion lab bastards.’

Galaxy furrowed her brows at the light spilling through the door’s gap.

What deep ties.

Disguising as a blood donation center to steal people’s blood, kidnapping folks whenever bored…

But all of that ends today.

It will end.

Squeak…

Galaxy, hugging her massive chest, waited for whoever was opening the door from inside.

‘…….”

And then,

As the door opened wider, the light spilling through the gap expanded its angle, and in the bright haze, someone peeked out.

“…Galaxy…!”

A familiar voice.

So warm, so kind…

One she’d heard before, like pressing her face into a pillow after collapsing onto a bed… that stifling warmth.

Gasp.

And then Galaxy,

Stared in horror at the someone who had opened the iron door.

…….

“You finally… came back…!”

A woman clad in a black nun’s habit.

Her smile never faltered, her face bore no wrinkles—no trace of time’s passage.

Judging by appearance alone, she seemed in her mid-twenties.

Her expression was that of a mother reunited with her lost child.

Bubble…

The sound of frothing.

Coming from the ‘Director’’s chest—but hidden by the pitch-black habit, it was unclear what it was.

“…Director.”

Galaxy muttered without realizing.

The director of Hanbit Orphanage.

The one who opened the [Facility]’s iron door was the ill-fated relationship Galaxy had forgotten.

(Galaxy-nim…)

And, on the day the orphanage burned down, someone stabbed through the heart by Ban Harin’s blade.

Had she not died?

Or had she become a grotesque?

A gaze filled with resentment bore into Galaxy.

SLAM!

Galaxy tried to shut the iron door with all her might.

Because that approaching face terrified her.

But the ‘Director’’s foot blocked the gap.

SLAM! SLAM!

Between the stuck door, the ‘Director’’s smiling face peered through.

‘Reminds me of when I first met the [Red Woman]…’

Was it the day she ran out of salt?

She remembered pushing the bathroom door with all her strength to keep ‘her’ from entering.

The [Red Woman] squeezing through the bathroom door. The ‘Director’ forcing her way past the [Facility]’s iron door.

……Truly, the [Red Woman] was prettier.

Comparing them made it clear.

‘……Ah… seriously, full of grudges…’ “Hm?” ‘Never mind. Let’s talk at home.’

An auditory hallucination?

Unclear.

“Galaxy…” “I’m not Galaxy.” “Really?” “Have you lived your whole life being deceived?” “…True, you weren’t this trashy with a cow-like body before.” “Trashy.”

The ‘Director’ tried poking her head through the widening gap.

Galaxy pushed back with all her strength.

She had a strong gut feeling— she must not let ‘that’ out.

“Galaxy dear. What exactly are you doing? Didn’t you come to enter our [Facility]?” “I’m busy, so shut up.” “The legend…”

Laughter from the door’s gap.

An unshakable gaze fixed on Galaxy.

A creeping chill, like insects crawling over skin, ran down Galaxy’s chest—larger than her head.

“Galaxy… I really, really missed you.”

The ‘Director’ spoke with a joyous expression.

A voice dripping with worry clung stickily to Galaxy’s skin.

SLAM! SLAM!

Galaxy tried to shut the iron door silently.

But the ‘Director’’s shoe, blocking the gap, prevented it.

SLAM! SLAM!

Galaxy, with a stiffened smile, forced the door shut— like a panicked child.

She was flustered.

She hadn’t expected that face to pop out.

She needed time to think. Should I just pull out the wire saw? Or negotiate?

‘Just… a little time to think…’

WHAM!! CRASH—!

At that moment, Guild Leader Kim Hayang, standing behind Galaxy, kicked the iron door with all her might.

SCRREEE—!

A spinning kick dragging one foot along the floor in a half-circle.

CRUNCH!!

With a grotesque sound, the door slammed shut.

“…….” “You alright, Galaxy? You looked like you wanted it closed.”

Galaxy stared at the dented iron door from Kim Hayang’s kick.

The ‘Director’’s foot, crushed in the gap, stuck out limply.

Tremble…

Was it the trauma?

She clenched her trembling fist to hide the fear.

“Phew… Thanks.” “Address.” “Huh?… Oh, thank you, mom.” “Good.”

Perhaps it was because the terrifying presence was now bleeding, or maybe the reassuring presence behind her.

Thank goodness she hadn’t come alone.

Exhaling deeply, Galaxy forced up her stiffened lips.

“But, that thing…” “What is it, mommy dearest?” “That woman used to run an ‘orphanage’ that disappeared in the past.”

Scrape.

Kim Hayang set her foot back down after kicking the door.

Habitually, she rubbed one foot against the floor ‘friction’-style and massaged her stiff eyelids.

An acquaintance? She hadn’t hesitated to crush the ‘Director’’s foot.

Kim Hayang also seemed to have a deep grudge against the orphanage ‘Director’.

“Though her true nature was never fully uncovered, she was a criminal who conducted human experiments on children under the guise of an ‘Eternal Life Project’.” “Human experiments…” “The orphanage burned down four years ago—I thought she died then… Never imagined she’d belonged to a place like the [Facility]…” “No, she didn’t.” “Galaxy?”

Squeeeaak—.

A moment later, the dented iron door creaked open again.

“Galaxy… You came back…”

The ‘Director’’s head peeked through the gap.

With one foot now bloodied and wedged up to the calf, she stared at Galaxy with the same smile as before.

But this time, Galaxy remained composed, curving her lips as she faced the ‘Director’.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” “That Director… is dead. In the orphanage basement.”

She chose to think positively.

The forgotten ‘orphanage’ memories… Still, no clear recollections surfaced— but no matter how she thought about it, only the bad ones remained.

“Basement floor 7—on the day everything burned, the ‘Director’ was stabbed to death.” “……How would you know that, Galaxy?” “Because I saw it.”

The promotion test was over now—for the sake of a better Hunter life.

Let’s bury the bad memories here and move on.

That’s what she decided.

Grip.

She clutched the handle of the suitcase holding the [Black Book].

“Phew… Okay. Let’s go in.”

She’s already dead. This story’s already over.

Let’s finish this quickly and go home.

Galaxy returned the ‘Director’’s welcome with her usual smiling face.

“…Galaxy. We need to enter.” “Ah…… Okay. Let’s go in.”

Squeak.

Galaxy let go, and the door swung fully open.

A cold breeze brushed her cheeks, circulating the stagnant air.

“Come in. It’s dinner time.”

Galaxy smiled back at the beaming ‘Director’ and stepped forward.

‘I’ll smash that forehead with the corner of the [Black Book].’

She vowed to make them regret ever opening this door.

Step. Step.

Footsteps proceeding through the open iron door.

One sheepdog and four humans.

And so, steeling her resolve, Galaxy followed ‘that thing’ into the [Facility].

Squeak… CLANG—!

CLUNK—!

The heavy iron door shut its maw.

……. …….

There’s something like that.

A horror game where the protagonist, trapped in a space infested with monsters, searches for hidden clues to escape.

“The inside’s cleaner than I expected.” “Mommy dearest, that’s an ominous thing to say.”

The [Facility], where the potion lab poured their efforts, had become a grotesque den.

What they needed to find here:

Evidence to sever ties with the potion lab.

And a way to ‘cleanse’ the resentment-filled [Facility] without hesitation.

“Now, it’s dinnertime.”

The potion lab must have sent people here too—maybe waiting a bit longer would help.

Soon, guided by the ‘Director’, Galaxy arrived at the [Facility]’s employee cafeteria, where several people sat around the tables.

“There are people… Mostly corpses, though.” “Just like orphanage mealtime. Is that the setup?” “Ah, hello… I-I’m from the, uh, Pot-J-J-J… Prep Lab’s [Supply Team]… J-Just call me, uh… ‘Flatfish’… Th-That’s what everybody… calls me…”

Survivors of the [Facility]?

Somehow, they had survived by following the ‘rules’.

For now, Galaxy decided to sit and gather info.

……. …….

Creak…!

“Hurry! Hurry, bring it up! The ‘Primordial Serum’ is here!” “Calm down, Prep Lab Chief. By now, the [Facility] staff should be extracting the Serum’s blood.” “Would I let them touch something so precious without my permission?!”

Time passed.

As it always does, equally for all.

Gathering deep in the mountains, at the ruined villa.

“I need to see it myself. I can’t wait any longer, hurry—…… Huh?” “What’s wrong?” “Did something just move under the rubble?” “……Dad’s friend?”

9:00 PM.

The night was still long.