From Agent Choi, who stood below the tracks, came a story told in a level tone, as if he were merely explaining something.
A shocking truth.
"The Segwang Metropolitan City Re-sealing Ritual is already underway."
...!
"A ritual this massive takes at least three days. It's already started."
My head grew cold as I understood.
There was no way the obliteration of an entire metropolis could happen in a short amount of time…
Especially not when a 300-day countdown had been given.
It was no surprise that it had already begun and was in full swing.
"Of course, the method is different from a typical gut[1] or rite, but the sentiment of 'giving it your all' is similar. Everything works out better when you put in the effort."
"..."
"It's a matter of timing, to align perfectly with the moment the seal breaks two days from now. Professional agents, who have already completed their seven-day Anban Gut [2]and purification, are already holding their Divine Blades.[3]"
Agent Choi described it as if he could see it.
"The magic weapon to be used in the ritual is a myeongdo." Think of it as a brass mirror. They'll carve incantations on the Sun-and-Moon Blade to symbolize Segwang Metropolitan City, cover it with the fresh blood symbolizing the sacrifice, and flip it upside down on the floor of the jeon-an…."
From somewhere, I thought I could hear the sound of gongs, of voices shouting at the top of their lungs, of drums, of bells ringing like mad….
And Agent Choi was looking at me.
"My plan was to switch the sacrificial blood that would be poured on the myeongdo."
My hair stood on end.
"…Don't tell me, with your own blood?"
"That's right."
"Are you out of your m…."
"Keep listening."
Agent Choi cut me off, continuing to speak nonchalantly.
"That would change the direction of the sacrifice. They probably prepared the blood of a spiritually powerful animal whose fortune was aligned to symbolize the citizens of Segwang Metropolitan City… but now, that killing curse will come for me."
"..."
"Of course, that alone isn't enough. So, from the moment the seal breaks, I'll perform a separate ritual. Hmm, in the words of kids these days, you could say I'll be drawing aggro."
"How were you planning to substitute for the citizens of a metropolis all by yourself?"
"It's simple. I just have to match the numbers."
"..."
A sense of foreboding hung in the air.
"What's needed is the moment a life is severed, so… this is a sacrifice where cutting a life short is what's important. So I…."
"You're saying you'll die that many times?"
"..."
"You're going to die over and over again, as many times as there are people?"
"That's right."
Agent Choi said it calmly.
'Wait a minute.'
What kind of number was that, exactly?
'Hundreds of thousands of people are dying every day, so he's going to repeat that alone, every day….'
The number was so astronomical that it brought on a cosmic horror.
The hair on the crown of my head stood on end.
"Of course, the ritual wouldn't be completed just because anyone did it. I have my own credentials, which is why I'm even attempting something like this."
"A-are you crazy?"
Is he insane?
Is 'insane' even the right word for this situation?
"No. It's actually bearable. I won't have any memory each time I die, so I won't go mad."
Agent Choi said with a sigh.
"Of course, it's not like I intend to endure this state forever, or become some kind of living totem of suffering. I… I was planning on leaving hints, just like Team Leader Hong did at Saegwang High School."
"…!"
"Then you guys would come and save me someday. Right? Bronze and Grapes."
"..."
"Not a reckless attempt like this one, but after more research. It would be a bit different with Bronzie around."
The faint smile that had spread across Agent Choi's face changed back to a weary impassiveness.
And his gaze shifted to the corpse that lay between us.
To be precise, the corpse of Agent Bronze.
"…Agent."
"Don't worry. How many times do you think I've seen a colleague's corpse on a dispatch? …I know he's sleeping soundly outside, too."
But Agent Choi looked at the motionless Agent Bronze as if he were a son or a younger brother who had died in battle, then reached out, stroked his hair, and quietly lowered his hand.
"…Seeing as the body hasn't disappeared yet, he probably hasn't woken up outside. …The ritual on the surface of Segwang Metropolitan City must be holding him."
"..."
"When the seal holding the citizens is released, Bronzie will get out, too."
He said it as if making a vow.
Then, he glanced briefly toward the tunnel exit, which probably looked like nothing to him, before looking back at me.
"Shall we continue our talk, then? You were also curious about what I did to get you out of Daydream's Underground."
"..."
"It's simple. It's a kind of secured loan."
Agent Choi rubbed the back of his neck, then lowered his hand.
"If I fail to offer a suitable gift within a few years to… hmm, the 'certain someone' who found you for me, a few parts of me will disappear."
This is insane….
"It's a bit tough to find a gift that would satisfy them. If I can't, I'll have to try and guide it to my organs. Then I might end up living with a Goblin Fire, or I could become like one of the elders."
"..."
"There, that's everything."
I looked at him, feeling as if I'd been doused with cold water.
"Anything else you're curious about? If so, say it now."
Having nonchalantly spewed out a story that made my brain tingle, Agent Choi looked at me without a change in expression.
"The reason I didn't tell you all this until now is because hearing it would only make you worry, and there's nothing to be learned from it."
"..."
"Right? It's not like you're going to learn gut like me."
His usual banter barely managed to mix into his voice.
I stared at him intently.
"Don't lie to me."
"..."
"Isn't it more that you just didn't want to deal with my worrying or opposition? Because you have no intention of regretting or changing your decision anyway."
"…If you insist on putting it that way, then yes."
"Does Agent Haegeum know about this decision? Did she agree?"
"It doesn't matter if she agrees or not. I'm the only one among us who can interfere with the Sealing Ritual."
Agent Choi's voice grew rough.
"This is a method I'm fairly confident I can pull off."
"..."
"But you decided to just do as you please, trust Lee Kangheon's note on your own, and said you were going to haul the Potion Maker to City Hall."
"Because persuasion wouldn't work."
"That goes for you, too."
"No, it's different."
I clenched my teeth.
"You don't believe a word I say, so there's no way for persuasion to work."
"Right. Because simply trusting someone contaminated by a Supernatural Disaster is a suicidal act!"
"..."
"We could both end up in danger. Do you have any idea how many agents have gone missing after following another missing agent? You…."
Agent Choi caught his breath.
"…Right. You said you were from another world."
"..."
"You know what? It's not like I didn't try to believe you."
Agent Choi's voice lowered.
"It hasn't been just a day or two since you disappeared, Grapes-ie. It's been 293 days. You could build a road in that time. Do you really think I wouldn't have even tried to check if what you were saying was true?"
…!!
"…You checked?"
"Of course."
Agent Choi gave a bitter smile, which then faded.
"The Ritual Site I prepared isn't just for peeking at the Sealing Ritual. …I picked a day with good weather and had my fortune told. To see if what you said was the truth."
I sucked in a breath.
Tension constricted my body.
"I chose the sentence carefully, too. I crammed in everything I could and followed the proper format…."
"Could it be, 'His bones and flesh were not born in this place, and is he a lost child wandering this world?'"
Agent Choi looked at me.
"An answer came down. Instantly."
"..."
"When I interpreted it, it was a very short and simple expression."
"No."
"..."
"It sounds like that when put into words, but it was actually a negation of every description I presented."
Agent Choi raised his hand as if he wanted to hold a cigarette, then lowered it and clasped it again.
"Grapes-ie."
"..."
"A few days ago, I… I was frustrated and impatient, and I chose my words poorly, didn't I? I went too far."
I looked into his blue pupils, which shimmered as if faded by the sun.
He looked exhausted.
"But, that's how little time and leeway I have right now. And… I want you to know that I'm not lying."
"..."
"You're from here. You were born here, and you're not lost on your way home."
A bitter smile reappeared on his lips.
"Not that saying this will convince you."
"..."
A strange feeling washed over me.
'Was that it?'
So that's why… he was so assertive.
Relief, emptiness, frustration, and a surge of resentment mixed together, kneaded into a strange dough, and scattered in my head.
And then, clarity.
"I understand."
My mouth spoke calmly.
A faint glint of hope flickered in Agent Choi's pupils, but it was overshadowed by a greater wariness.
Right. I knew it.
That makes sense.
"You're right. I've been influenced by too many ghost stories in a short amount of time and have only recently come to my senses. My obsession with home is clearly excessive."
I looked at the handcuffs.
"Maybe I'm something like one of the long-term missing persons from a Supernatural Disaster. Someone who's been suffering from fear and panic for so long that they can't tell right from wrong."
However.
"But even those people have a home to return to."
"..."
"It's the same for me, Agent."
I looked at him again and smiled.
"You chose the wrong sentence to ask when you had your fortune told."
"…!"
"I'm a case that doesn't fall under that example. If I had to put it one way, I was invited into this body. I'm not a lost child, I'm a guest."
"…A guest?"
"This sounds just as much like a pseudo religion, doesn't it? In any case, there's one thing that's certain."
His pupils wavered.
I spoke gently.
"Whether you believe me or not, you can't stop my choice. My choice is my own, and I will do what I believe is right."
"Th—"
"Just as you've already done, Agent."
Right?
"The reason you're being honest with me now is because you've already finished all the preparations for the Re-sealing Ritual, so I can't interfere."
"…!"
"I'm not angry."
I wasn't angry anymore.
I felt I had heard too much, too honestly, from the exhausted Agent Choi to be angry….
Even without the handcuffs, I didn't think I would have screamed my head off, grabbed him by the collar, and asked if he was crazy.
A calm judgment settled in.
"In your eyes, that must seem like the most certain answer. Someone, including me, could die by mistake, and you can't just choose another method for fun or because you feel like it."
"..."
"My method seems like an unverified gamble, my idea of going home seems distorted, and in many ways."
"…Still."
Agent Choi's voice came out slightly cracked.
"Still, I'm always ready to listen to you. About home, or about anything."
"..."
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
"…Thank you."
I knew.
He was passionate, firm in his judgment, chose self-sacrifice over fear, had a thirst for inquiry, and wasn't easily persuaded by things that weren't rational.
…He was a good person.
All the traits of an early Management Bureau agent.
He had always been that kind of person….
"But your judgment probably won't change."
The more I spoke, the more certain I became.
"Yes. We cannot convince each other."
Not for now, that is.
"Grapes-ie."
"But…."
I took a breath and gave a bitter smile.
"I still think we can cooperate."
"..."
"I think you're an amazing person, Agent. And until now… hmm. I can't say I've never lied. I was originally a spy, after all."
"..."
"I know I've said a lot of things that can't be verified. So I won't ask for your trust right now."
Agent Choi's eyes trembled slightly.
"I was just wondering if we could make a promise."
I made a pinky-promise gesture with my uncuffed hand.
"I'd like for us to cooperate so we can each attempt what we want in this Segwang Metropolitan City affair. Without interfering with the process, and by helping each other in earnest."
"..."
"If even one of us succeeds, it's a good thing for the citizens. And if we don't cooperate, the probability of each attempt failing will only increase."
I deliberately stared him down.
"Even if it all looks like a suicide mission because you can't trust me, you can at least increase the survival rate, can't you?"
"You…."
"I'm kidding. But I am asking for your cooperation."
"..."
Looking at Agent Choi, whose head was bowed, I spoke bitterly.
"If you won't, then there's nothing to be done. I'll just have to try without any cooperation."
....
"You cheap bastard."
"Sounds like you're introducing yourself, Agent."
[Hahaha!]
I heard Braun's laughter, but Agent Choi was only letting out quiet breaths.
Then, a low voice emerged from beneath them.
"What do you want?"
"Let's write a contract. And you, Agent, can swear an oath to a supernatural being using your equipment."
"And you?"
"I'll stake my supernatural identity."
And so, I wrote on a piece of paper.
The two who vow below this paper must cooperate to achieve each other's goals and cannot interfere with one another.
This can be terminated by mutual agreement.
I first wrote beneath it.
GOLDEN
"Sign it."
"..."
Agent Choi met my eyes, did some sort of calculation… and finally, clenching his jaw, he stamped the hilt of his Executioner's Sword onto the paper.
A strange stain was left on it in place of a name.
As the 'Mascot of the Flower Golden Resort,' I could sense that the signature was valid.
[Excellent, my friend!]
'…Thanks.'
I feel like some octopus witch getting a signature from the Little Mermaid.
But I did it.
'Hoo.'
I felt like a mental wreck, but…
I tried to ignore Agent Choi, who had gone completely silent after signing, as if in regret….
At that moment.
"Do you… have to do this?"
....
"…Yes."
I looked at the silhouettes that were still beyond the exit, and at the corpses on the tracks, and collected my breath.
"I'll start explaining now."
"..."
"How I'm going to install the Potion Maker."
And so, the next day.
I stepped out alone through the tunnel exit onto the surface of Segwang Metropolitan City.
It was the day right before the seal was to be released.
[1] 'gut' (pronounced 'goot') : traditional shamanism ritual (Ty kirinkirinki)
[2] anbangut : basically the pre-gut gut, it's what you do to get ready for the main ritual
[3] originally “Shinkal” kirikirinki: shinkal: divine swords used for shamanic ritual