episode_0491

When they said it was a control room, what I imagined was a room filled with dozens of monitors and mechanical devices that looked extremely expensive.

Isn’t that something that often appears in movies about the future?

I had imagined something like that when Helena explained that the control room was the alpha and omega of the terminal.

Who did that?

It is said that reality always exceeds imagination.

As I said, the scene inside the control room when I entered was completely different from what I had imagined.

Dozens of large and small monitors filling the wall?

There was no such thing.

Aside from the monitor, the structure of the room was very unique from the beginning.

Usually, when we think of a room, what we imagine is an angular space that is close to a square or rectangle.

The control room here was round in shape overall.

Should I say that it has a structure that reminds me of something like a particle accelerator?

And in the middle of that round room–

‘···heart?’

A large lump of disgustingly pulsating flesh was stuck in place.

I noticed it as soon as I saw it.

The object Helena was talking about must be inside that lump of flesh.

Perhaps they were preparing for the possibility of an unknown takeover?

No, even if that part is true… that…

‘It looks like it’s alive…?’

It was pulsating at regular intervals as if it were a heart. Even so, the incontinence drawn in the center of the flesh reminded anyone of the shape of an eyelid.

When Hayoung saw that, the same image came to mind, and I could feel Hayoung standing next to me slowly starting to get swallowed up by tension.

After feeling nervous like that for a moment, Ha-young released her hand until there was a clicking sound and began to walk towards the lump of flesh occupying the middle of the room.

“We don’t have much time… Let’s destroy it before it does something weird.”

I carefully pulled out my sword and stood next to Hayoung.

Until then, the lump of flesh had not shown any particular reaction.

It’s been pounding and pulsating since we first entered this room.

No, so what is that lump of flesh?

Could it be something like a summoned beast controlled by warlocks?

‘If you think about it…’

The girl who suddenly appeared through the smokescreen and blocked our path didn’t seem human…

More than anything else, it was the presence that gave off.

What kind of vibe does an average person give off?

It didn’t vary from person to person, it was almost the same.

Although the martial arts people are a bit unique… in the end, they are all the same in that they cannot escape from the form of pulsating at a certain beat.

In comparison, what was the vibe emanating from the girl I saw earlier?

It resembled that of a monster rather than a person.

So… in reality, aren’t there people who open the gate and jump out?

A common misconception that people have is that they think that monsters are not much different from the creatures we know.

In fact, this is justified because if you disassemble the corpses of monsters, they also have digestive organs and organs such as the heart.

‘So originally I thought it was like that too…’

However, after gaining the power of martial arts through the link management app, I learned that I could observe the inside of the other person’s body without having to look at it directly.

The digestive organs and other things that exist in the bodies of monsters are nothing more than imitations.

To be precise… should I say that it is a well-decorated model that is close to the original?

There is an organ that can be called the heart, and when the heart is attacked during a fight, it reacts as if the heart has been pierced, but when it is alive and moving, the heart does not beat.

The moment I learned that fact thanks to the power of martial arts, I felt an indescribable chill running down my spine.

Honestly, from my point of view, it was worth it… because I felt a kind of obsession and malice in the way they so persistently imitated Earth’s creatures.

Nothing has yet been properly revealed as to why gates and monsters occur or how they came about.

Everyone just… saw traces of ‘civilization’ that were occasionally observed inside the gate, and assumed that perhaps another dimension existed and something went wrong there, so that dimension and our dimension became connected. I’m just doing it.

‘But in fact, if even what we thought were traces of civilization existing in another dimension were imitated for some purpose like monsters…’

What on earth did the person who planned such a thing hope for?

I couldn’t tell, and that made it even creepier.

In fact, that was the reason why I tried to share the newly discovered facts with Rahee, Ari, and Juyeon several times, but eventually gave up.

‘I originally planned to keep it to myself until I found out more, but…’

Now that I’m a US citizen, I might be able to find out more if I talk to them.

The United States was already the subject of all kinds of conspiracy theories even before the emergence of Gate, so maybe they know something more.

Anyway, in the end, what I wanted to say was that the girl who appeared in front of us earlier looked human except for the bottom of her right forearm, but the appearance she gave off was not that of a human.

And… considering that Tang Cheongpung suffered unexpectedly great damage from the flashbang he set off with the purpose of disrupting his vision… the girl’s identity is probably…

“···Devil.”

Yeah, maybe that’s the one.

It must have been at that moment when I muttered that thought without realizing it.

“Huh? What?”

Perhaps reacting to my voice, Hayoung, who was walking ahead of me, looked towards me and at the same time, the crack that had been drawn in the shape of a parabola on the piece of flesh we were targeting opened up with a disgusting and bizarre sound.

What was revealed along with that was the ‘eye’, where the part that should have been white originally had been painted black.

Eyes that shine brightly in gold.

The moment it moved and stared at me and Hayoung, my feet moved before anything else.

Puck!

A movement that can only be described as instinct.

Thanks to that, the moment Hayoung was pushed to the side and fell after being kicked by my foot… a light flashed.

Almost at the same time, a flash of light passed by where Hayoung was standing just moments ago.

To tell you the conclusion?

My choice was right.

If I hadn’t reflexively kicked Hayoung, she would have turned into a stone by now instead of a person.

Earlier, that girl summoned something that looked like a zombie, but now it’s a petrifying ray…?

Fortunately, we were able to avoid the development of ‘If you don’t know, you should be right!’, but that didn’t mean we could feel at ease.

The speed of the light ray that I had just witnessed was such that even if I knew it was coming and moved ahead of time, it would have been dangerous.

“It looks like they don’t intend to take it easy…”

“But since there is only one eye, if one person catches the eye and the other one attacks in that gap…”

It must have been at the moment when Ha-young expressed her opinion about a solution.

What the heck! Knock! Oh my!

The lump of flesh seemed to shake violently, and new eyes began to appear one by one next to the large eye in the center.

My gaze automatically turned towards Hayoung.

“What, what…!”

“Someone said… that words become seeds.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t create snow without it!”

That’s true, but… no, so there are a few of them.

If I do this wrong, I might have to film an episode of Mission: Impossible…

What if we assume that they simultaneously shoot out the same petrifying rays as we saw earlier?

The whole place will be covered with beams of light.

‘hmm? wait for a sec.’

A ray of light?

“If it’s light, wouldn’t it be enough to reflect it with something like a mirror? It’s like asking why it’s called Medusa, and it’s also like that in related myths.”

“···!!”

The problem is that it doesn’t work out as expected… Even considering that risk, it was worth trying at least once.

It’s better than continuing to dodge and dodge, but eventually getting tired and being hit by a beam of light.

“But where are you going to get a mirror?”

That’s a problem too…

I put all kinds of things in my inventory whenever I had the chance, just in case, but I don’t remember putting the mirror in there.

“Wouldn’t it be safer to throw something like a flashbang to temporarily blind one’s eyes and then use the opportunity to deal with it? Because mirrors may not work…”

“I was going to say that anyway.”

“···.”

“···No, really.”

“···Giraeyo.”

“Is it real?”

Look at their eyes?

He has no faith in his master, no faith.