Joshen opened his eyes.
The dim stone ceiling of the pyramid room stared back at him, unchanged from the night before. The warm light of the small lamp still burned quietly on the table beside the bed, casting long shadows across the rough walls.
For a moment, neither he nor the other voice inside the body spoke.
Then Joshen exhaled.
"Alright," he said slowly, stretching the unfamiliar fingers in front of his face. "Let's address the obvious problem."
Inside the same body, Jake responded instantly.
"Yeah. The fact that you're currently using my arms?"
Joshen flexed the fingers again, examining them with curiosity.
"I have to admit," he muttered, "your hands are weird."
"Oh wow," Jake replied dryly. "Thanks. That's exactly the first thing I wanted to hear after waking up in a shared-body nightmare."
Joshen sat up on the bed.
"Well excuse me. I didn't ask to wake up in your body."
"And I didn't ask to have a roommate inside my skull."
They sat there for a moment, the absurdity of the situation hanging heavily in the quiet room.
Finally, Joshen rubbed his temples.
"Alright, jokes aside… we need answers."
Jake agreed immediately.
"Yeah. Starting with the biggest question."
Joshen nodded.
"How could Han Seok hear you yesterday?"
Before Jake could respond, the door to the room opened.
Han Seok stepped inside as calmly as ever, his posture relaxed, his sharp eyes observing the two of them—or rather, the single body they now shared.
He looked at Joshen.
Then nodded once.
"So it happened."
Joshen pointed at himself.
"Yeah, no kidding. Mind explaining why I woke up inside his body?"
Han Seok remained unfazed.
"I suspected something like this might occur."
Jake groaned internally.
"Oh great. Another guy who knows everything but explains nothing."
Joshen crossed his arms.
"Also, second question. How can you hear him?"
Han Seok looked directly at Joshen, though his gaze drifted slightly to the side—as if acknowledging someone invisible standing beside him.
"Don't worry about it too much," he said calmly.
Joshen's eyebrows lifted.
"That's not very reassuring."
"You both will understand soon enough."
Jake immediately complained.
"I hate when people say that."
Han Seok ignored the comment.
Instead, he turned toward the hallway.
"There's somewhere we need to go."
Joshen frowned.
"Go? Where?"
Han Seok didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he lifted his hand.
He placed his thumb briefly inside his mouth.
Then—
Snap.
The sound echoed sharply through the hallway.
And suddenly—
They appeared.
A group of figures stood just outside the room.
Men.
Women.
Different heights.
Different builds.
Their bodies flickered slightly, like unstable images projected onto reality itself.
Joshen's eyes widened.
"Wait—"
He stepped closer.
"It's them."
Han Seok glanced back.
"You've seen them before?"
Joshen pointed toward the flickering figures.
"Outside the pyramid. Near the desert. A whole group appeared just like this."
As if reacting to his words, the figures twitched.
Then—
They vanished.
Gone.
Exactly as they had before.
Joshen stared at the empty space.
"See? They just disappear!"
Han Seok shrugged slightly.
"Oh. That's normal."
Joshen slowly turned back toward him.
"…Normal?"
"They're malfunctioning."
Jake spoke instantly.
"Malfunctioning what?"
Han Seok leaned casually against the stone wall.
"They are hybrid cyborgs."
Joshen blinked.
"…Cyborgs?"
Han Seok nodded.
"The greatest hybrid cyborgs ever created."
He gestured toward the empty hallway.
"No other being in existence has ever managed to achieve that level of technological perfection."
Jake felt something stir in his memory.
A strange familiarity.
Then Han Seok spoke the name.
"They were built by Sun Morbious."
Jake froze.
The name struck him like a distant echo from a forgotten dream.
"…Sun Morbious…"
Joshen immediately noticed the reaction.
"You know that name?"
Jake hesitated.
"I… think I've heard it before."
Han Seok seemed unsurprised.
"That wouldn't be unusual."
Joshen frowned.
"So these cyborgs just appear and disappear randomly?"
"More or less."
Han Seok sighed lightly.
"Ever since Sun Morbious left, they've had… bugs."
Jake immediately latched onto the word.
"Left?"
Han Seok didn't elaborate.
"For now, they'll do."
Joshen crossed his arms.
"Do for what exactly?"
Han Seok pushed himself off the wall.
"For transportation."
Joshen blinked again.
"Transportation?"
Han Seok began walking down the hallway.
"We have somewhere important to go."
Joshen followed him.
"Alright, but where exactly are we going?"
Han Seok continued walking for several steps before answering.
"There is only one left in the entire universe."
Jake muttered inside the shared mind.
"That sentence already sounds suspicious."
Joshen raised his voice slightly.
"One what?"
Han Seok stopped.
He turned around slowly.
For the first time since they had met, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"The factory."
Joshen frowned.
"What factory?"
Han Seok's eyes glinted slightly in the dim pyramid light.
"The one and only."
He paused, letting the silence stretch for a moment.
Then he spoke.
"The Black Paper Factory."
Joshen stopped walking completely.
Jake spoke slowly inside the shared body.
"…Factory?"
Joshen stared at Han Seok.
"Wait. Are you saying Black Paper… is manufactured?"
Han Seok tilted his head slightly.
His faint smile remained.
"Where did you think it came from?"
Joshen opened his mouth.
But no answer came.
Han Seok turned and continued walking deeper into the pyramid corridor.
"Come," he said.
"We have a long journey ahead of us."