I told Ho Yuwon everything I had experienced on the surface of Segwang Metropolitan City, honestly and without omission.
About the repeating May 4th.
About what had happened, and what kind of being the Counselor I met was.
About what that man had gone through.
"..."
Amidst the pouring story, Ho Yuwon sat silently on the sofa, listening to it all….
At first, he seemed confused, as if he didn't quite understand why he had accepted my handshake, or why he was even sitting on the sofa, but as the story progressed, that confusion was pushed away and vanished.
As if swept away completely, overwhelmed by the flood of truth he had so desperately longed for.
[But will that Plague truly trust my friend's words so readily? Perhaps suspicion will grow, leading to a cunning judgment.]
[Or, what about the possibility that it might instead interfere with Mr. Roe Deer's plan?]
…I didn't know.
But this felt right.
Ho Yuwon was responsible for the things he had committed as an executive of Daydream, but by the same token, he deserved to hear about what had happened in Segwang Metropolitan City.
He deserved to know properly about everything he had done, and everything that had been done to him.
"…And so, I came out to the world with you."
"..."
A thick silence flowed into the space where the truth had been spilled.
"Sir?"
"I see."
Ho Yuwon's lips slowly parted.
"So it was Director Cheong…"
"..."
"So all this time, I've been living with the main culprit who put me in this state."
"Sir."
"It must have been quite amusing, don't you think? Watching the one who was deceived be deceived once again."
But his voice was not boiling with anger.
Rather… it sounded hollow and dry.
"But I'm not angry. …Unlike when I think of the Disaster Management Bureau, there is no surging resentment."
"..."
"Why is that?"
A numb voice is heard.
"Perhaps I'm not the Counselor you met. Seeing as I can't feel the emotions that man should rightfully feel…."
"..."
"…All that's left in me is an overwhelming resentment and sorrow toward the Disaster Management Bureau."
His voice echoes emptily through the counseling room.
"Why…?"
"..."
"Perhaps I am… something that cannot even be called his alter ego. A small remnant he cast off to see you on your way."
Ho Yuwon's voice slowly continues.
"But because of the traces of the intense emotions that Counselor felt at the time, I was mistaken. …That I was that Counselor."
The counseling room trembles.
"But I was nothing…."
The space grew faint, and the being before my eyes began to distort.
In the shock that flickered and dizzied, as if the sleep I had held back would pour out at any moment and all of this would disappear into the darkness….
I looked at him.
"But you're the one who saved me."
"…!"
"And you use the same name."
I can hear his breath.
"Ho Yuwon. …The character 'Ho' for guardian, 'Yu' for clear, and 'Won' for aid."
I realized something.
"That… is the name I told the Counselor on May 4th."
Ah.
I see.
The order was reversed.
"I… gave your name to the Counselor."
"…!"
"So… you are not a small remnant, you clearly exist here. You gave yourself a name."
"..."
"And you are here, having inherited that name."
The things that were disappearing stopped.
Ho Yuwon lifted his head.
…I saw on his face an indescribable smile.
I couldn't tell if he was crying or laughing.
"…Then my name was, in fact, given to me by you in the first place, Soleum."
"Are you okay?"
"Of course…. It's a wonderful… name."
"..."
That was a relief.
Looking at the counseling room and the Counselor, who had regained their sense of reality, I began to speak again.
"And… for your emotions not to change on a dime just because you suddenly learned the truth seems, on the contrary, quite normal."
"..."
"You said it yourself, didn't you? That emotions have no logic."
It would have been stranger if, with no memory, you had just listened to my words and suddenly, without a second thought, felt a surge of anger toward Director Cheong.
So….
"From now on, isn't it your own task to decide which direction to steer them in?"
Ho Yuwon stared at me blankly.
I spoke with emphasis.
"Sir, I want to end the Segwang Metropolitan City disaster and free the people of May 4th. The civilians."
After some thought, I added.
"And so, based on the Dream Essence Liquid obtained from there… I want to find a way to return home. …These are the reasons I'm acting."
"..."
"Wouldn't it be similar for you, sir?"
"What do you-"
"Before, you admitted that what you were looking for in Segwang Metropolitan City was yourself."
"…I did."
"Yes. You said that was the reason you were so persistently trying to enter the sealed Segwang Metropolitan City."
"..."
"But… I think there might have been another, more fundamental reason from the very beginning."
Not something pieced together from his own deductions, but a root motive.
Something he couldn't remember, but that definitely existed.
The reason he so frantically searched for Segwang Metropolitan City.
The lingering emotion.
-There's a place I must go to end this disaster. There's something I need to find.
Perhaps… what Ho Yuwon was looking for hadn't changed since then.
"Weren't you… trying to find a way to end the disaster in Segwang Metropolitan City?"
And so, wasn't he trying to figure out a way to rescue the civilians there?
All this long time.
"..."
"And sir. Either way, the goal hasn't changed."
I spoke with emphasis.
"Whether as the Ho Yuwon who is searching for himself, …or as the Counselor of Segwang Metropolitan City. Won't you cooperate in ending this disaster, starting now?"
"..."
"Just as you wanted."
Ho Yuwon's eyes tremble.
I waited.
Soon, he lifted his head very slowly… looked at me, and nodded.
And he says.
"…Thank you."
"Yes."
That was enough.
* * *
"…So, you're saying you gained Director Ho's full cooperation last night?"
"That's what happened."
Agent Haegeum, you look like you have a great deal to say and find this utterly unbelievable….
I looked at Agent Haegeum, whom I had contacted again in an empty house in the countryside of Gangwon Province.
She sighs and looks at me as if she's about to lose her mind.
"…Seeing as he let you go safely, I suppose that's a relief, but did you believe him? Choi is about to come rushing over, foaming at the mouth, as soon as his tracking ritual is over."
Ugh.
"That's why I got a written pledge."
"A written… pledge?"
"Yes."
I took out the Fox Counseling Room doorplate and showed her the back.
I, Ho Yuwon, pledge to fully cooperate with Kim Soleum in ending the supernatural disaster.
And at the bottom was a fox's paw print stamp.
"..."
"I also have a separate, mutually binding work contract with him, so the effect should be certain. As you know, a pledge made by a supernatural being on its name has meaning in and of itself…."
"What in the world kind of reckless thing did you do!?"
Aaaack.
I didn't dodge Agent Haegeum's hand and took a few hits.
My back hurt….
But since I didn't earn more of a beating by making an Agent Choi-style comment like 'But it turned out well, didn't it?', Agent Haegeum soon stopped her hand and asked with a sigh.
"What happened to Young-eun?"
"She re-entered the subway station through a safe method from there."
-I'll take care of this.
She meant she would check the status of the Potion Maker I had entrusted to the Researchers.
'Even though Ho Yuwon pledged his full cooperation, it's honestly difficult to completely trust the project's new members.'
Having Ms. Go Young-eun do it was something to be grateful for, purely from a work-efficiency standpoint.
Of course, to be precise, my own attempt to enter with her was also cut short by Yeongeun.
-Mr. Roe Deer, you just went missing there and woke up yesterday. We don't know what will happen if you go back in.
-It would be best if you went in after it's been verified that you won't go missing again, at the very least.
But there was no time for verification.
Besides, I wanted to emphasize that I had to go in within a week to attempt the resolution anyway, but my rebuttal was not accepted.
And so, Yeongeun entered the Long-Term Inpatient Room.
Along with the Security Chief.
-Well then… let's go.
-R-Right….
…Although she accepted the snacks, which the Security Chief seemed to have packed for her, with a very awkward posture, the atmosphere wasn't all that bad.
Rather, it had the nuance of her having received some advice.
And I had come back to Gangwon Province to inform the agents of our progress.
'I can't afford to waste time.'
Things with Ho Yuwon had gone well, giving me a little breathing room, but this was not a situation where I could afford to relax.
The countdown to hell's arrival had begun.
'I can't forget.'
Steeling my anxious heart, I said.
"So, as soon as the Potion Maker's status is checked, I plan to try the resolution method we found."
"About that."
I heard Agent Haegeum's sigh.
"That resolution method you're planning to try is overly vague and suspicious to begin with."
"..."
"Do you even understand the principle behind it?"
-Then somehow smuggle out the dream incubator that Daydream Inc. copied and try installing it in the remaining Cheerful Research Institute facility
"..."
"I see you don't."
That was true.
"But I have an idea where."
"…!"
The repeating May 4th.
I can analyze this hint based on what I experienced on that Day of Disaster.
-Director Cheong placed a small music box inside the incubator tank.
'This disaster happened in the first place because the dream incubator to be used in the experiment was tampered with.'
And that tampering was Director Cheong's doing.
If that's the case.
Wouldn't Director Cheong have considered a similar possibility?
That someday, someone might pull a stunt similar to hers.
[Indeed!]
So, it was highly probable that the smuggled dream incubator, the Daydream version, had… some kind of special safety device prepared for that.
Since she had turned an incubator into a bomb once, a countermeasure to prevent others from doing the same.
Or….
A resolution method for after it had already blown.
[An interesting line of reasoning.]
And there is, in fact, only one remaining facility of the Cheerful Research Institute, one place that didn't burn down.
'…The rooftop.'
Then everything falls into place.
-Install the Daydream Potion Maker in the place of the dream incubator on the rooftop.
This sentence is completed.
And I… think this is worth a try.
If it doesn't work, it's the end anyway.
So I told Agent Haegeum honestly.
"And even if we don't try, isn't it hell anyway?"
At that moment, a tired, dry voice was heard.
"I agree with that."
"Agent Choi."
…!
I saw the agent who had appeared behind me.
He was smiling out of habit, but his eyes were dark and sunken.
Still, when our eyes met, they sparkled slightly with pleasure.
Like before.
And he gives a bitter smile.
"It's a bit better when Grapes causes trouble while he's awake."
"..."
"…Agent Choi, were there any other changes to the lockdown?"
"No. It's the same. …The countdown has started. And there are no other movements from the Management Bureau's side."
Agent Choi, who had skillfully gathered his Executioner's Sword and bell, said nonchalantly as he sat on the old linoleum floor.
"Bronzie… still shows no signs of waking up either."
"..."
"…But he's definitely alive in there, right? …In the form of a high school student."
"Yes."
I spoke with emphasis once more.
As if making a promise to myself.
"Manager Lee Jaheon definitely had his memories. He's the most competent member of the Field Investigation Team I've seen, and in terms of character… he's a good person. Since he's protecting him… he'll be safe, even if he can't get out."
"…Right."
Agent Choi, who had been silent, soon brightened his voice and said energetically.
"Alright, then we'll have to give it our all until the resolution. For real."
"…Yes."
"..."
Agent Haegeum seemed lost in thought as she looked at the two of us, but in the end, she remained quietly silent.
Agent Choi fills the void with a grin.
"For now, eat and get some more rest. Grapes-ie. Resolution comes from stamina, you know?"
"..."
"Hm?"
"I understand…."
While eating with the agents, I recalled the conversation I had with Ho Yuwon.
About the other thing that had been bothering me.
The whereabouts of Ho Yuwon's Fox Bead.
Recalling the Counselor's assertion that 'it will be helpful for the resolution,' I couldn't not look for it.
-Given the flow of events, it's highly likely that Director Cheong took your Fox Bead, sir.
-Have you ever felt anything strange around Director Cheong? A sense of familiarity, for instance.
But….
-Never.
Ho Yuwon's answer was firm.
-Even if there were, I can't guarantee I'd be able to notice it keenly. I don't even remember what that Fox Bead is.
-…However, as you said, I might feel a sense of familiarity.
Whew.
I'm on edge.
'…I want to search Director Cheong's residence.'
But just the thought of it makes my survival instinct cause the hair on my head to stand on end. The ingrained fear overrides my aversion and anger, leaping out first.
…It's scary.
Like a ghost story.
'Ha.'
-If it's something you must look into, it would be best to leave it to me.
-…You must be careful.
Director Cheong already knew I had escaped from Segwang Metropolitan City.
She would guess that what she had done had already been relayed to Director Ho through me….
'She's definitely preparing something.'
A situation that makes me break out in a cold sweat just to touch.
But I can't not investigate.
-Of course. I have to be careful.
'I need to find another way, too.'
…For now, while waiting for contact from Ms. Go Young-eun and the Security Chief, I began to look into Director Cheong's background.
A few hours later.
"Mr. Roe Deer, I've confirmed it."
I meet a pale-faced Ms. Go Young-eun again inside the Fox Counseling Room.
"Are all the Researchers okay?"
"…They're living about as well as the people in the Train Shelter. The machine is fine, too. They really did repair it. But…."
I hadn't expected these words.
"The Researchers said they found something strange inside the machine while repairing it."
"Pardon?"
"I took a picture just in case. One moment."
Tensely, I watched as Yeongeun took a smartphone from her pocket and showed me an image.
The object, photographed against the backdrop of an old, enormous machine, was….
A black music box.
"..."
Wait,
Wait a minute.
"It's strange, right? The symbol that was on the tape in the Body Casino is here, too. The Conch Shell."
A cold sweat runs down my temple.
On the surface of the music box, unfamiliar golden letters are engraved.
Characters unknown to man.
"…Mr. Roe Deer?"
I stared at the image, frozen.
Although I couldn't read them, they were familiar letters… letters I had read once before with Braun's help.
[Oh, it's 'Angel's Sigh'!]
That was….
-Director Cheong placed a small music box inside the incubator tank.
The cause of the Segwang Special City Disaster Day.
"..."
"M-Mr. Roe Deer?"
"Ms. Goral."
"I'm going to meet the Researchers right now."
D-5 until the Day of Disaster.