[The flowers have fallen, and all things have begun to hasten their steps. The number of those walking this place grows by the day, and the commotion piles up in twice their number.]
During a brief blackout, all manner of changes had taken place in Guhinhoe.
At a glance, the most obvious one was that every piece of equipment had become far more high-end.
Most likely, people who had seen Yeongji's glass window and Yi Sang's mirror had begun sponsoring them one after another.
Somehow, the role I was playing had turned into something like an investor who'd struck gold buying at the bottom.
From Seosan's point of view, that was pretty great, but... among the members of Guhinhoe, there were those who did not particularly welcome the growing number of sponsors.
For example, people like Camellia, who saw Guhinhoe as nothing more than a group for amusement.
"This isn't some neighborhood market square, so why is it so noisy? ...Nine was the perfect number."
Mm. It really was noisy. So much had changed from the past, when the place had felt quiet and comfortable.
There were also several machines I had no idea how to use or operate. How did those things even work?
...Ah, wait. There was someone on the bus who couldn't resist touching anything interesting.
"Wow... there are so many fascinating things! Can I touch the inventions here a little... eekekekek, Saramago-kun... stop pulling my ears! It hurts!"
Ugh. Because of this person, I couldn't let my guard down carelessly.
After lightly subduing Don Quixote, who was about to run wild in excitement, by tugging her ear, I confirmed that the next line was mine and spoke quietly.
"Haha... I did come by after a long time, but you're all so busy. I guess I came for nothing."
"There's no need to feel too sorry, Seosan. Even if you hadn't come, not much would have changed."
"Thanks for saying that, Yi Sang. It's not exactly comforting, though... Ah, right. I actually came because I had something to say."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"I'm probably going to be busy for a while, so I came to say I might not be able to keep in touch."
"...I see. Then put your worries aside. Even if you step away for a time, there will be no trouble in Guhinhoe..."
"That wasn't really what I meant. Well, whatever. If you took it in a good way, that's enough."
Even amid the noisy situation caused by all sorts of overlapping matters, the daily routines of Guhinhoe's members continued faithfully. Development, Nangsulhoe, development, Nangsulhoe.
How much time had passed in that state?
In the endless flow of daily life, Camellia narrowed her eyes as if something displeased her.
"Yeongji still didn't come to this Nangsulhoe either."
"She said she received an official invitation from a Wing. This is the second time already, I think."
Dongrang answered Camellia's question.
An invitation from a Wing, huh. That made sense. Someone who had officially unveiled a technology like the glass window wouldn't have much free time.
"Do you know which Wing it was?"
"No one seems to know that."
The performance of each person's assigned role. Faust and Gregor exchanged the question and answer.
So no one knew which Wing it was... Hmm. No, that couldn't be right. For some reason, I felt like I could guess which Wing it was. Even without separating out the memories from long ago.
Still, even after Dongrang's rather considerate answer, Camellia's expression remained sulky.
Was she still dissatisfied even after hearing that Yeongji had gone to a Wing by invitation? Dongrang seemed to find that puzzling, and asked her another question.
"Why are you so displeased? You were the one who stubbornly refused Yeongji-hyung's offer to go together, Camellia."
"....."
"There's no need to cling so tightly to the number nine. What if it becomes eight, or what if it becomes five?"
Even after Dongrang finished speaking, Camellia gave no answer. She only kept staring at Dongrang with a sulky look.
After a short silence in that state, Rodion—more precisely, the role Rodion was playing—slid in cautiously and spoke to Dongrang.
"You know, Dongrang... how long are you planning to keep playing that animal hospital game? I heard you were part of the group Yeongji-nim belongs to, so I even cleared my schedule to come here, and all I see are things that look like children's toys."
"Oh, Nulin. It's been a while. I'm glad to see a hometown comrade again here. You came to T Corp after us, but it seems you adapted faster than we did.
But... calling them children's toys is a little hurtful. If you knew that animals feel pain just like people do, you wouldn't say something like that so carelessly."
"Well, if they ever repay your kindness by bringing you money or something~ then I'll take it back."
As Rodion's words began to cross the line, Dongrang's eyes cooled, and Camellia's gaze turned fierce.
Oh... that looked like she was ready to kill someone. Not literally, probably.
She'd likely just give him a piece of her mind, right?
I made that prediction, and it was lightly correct.
"Nulin, do you think this place is some vulgar auction house where technology is bought and sold? Just a few months ago, you wouldn't even spare it a glance, saying what kind of Nangsulhoe was this in this era... and now you're hovering around trying to snatch up whatever scraps you can get?"
"Camellia..."
"I'm not defending you. I just can't stand that bastard."
Camellia, who had been grumbling at Dongrang in a prickly, tsundere sort of way, suddenly turned her gaze toward him.
"But... why are you so devoted to treating animals? They're not even people. What are you planning to live on later?"
"You're awfully naggy. Well, maybe I'll open a chicken shop?"
"What?"
At Camellia's question, Dongrang's eyes, which had been growing darker all along, suddenly sparkled like a child's.
...So he could make that kind of expression too.
"Listen. First, you make a whole lot of chicken wings... then you cut the wings off in a way that doesn't let them feel any pain. One pair of wings is enough for flying. Then the people get to eat meat, and the chickens don't lose anything."
"Honestly..."
Leaving behind Camellia's exasperated sigh, Yi Sang smiled and asked Dongrang a question.
"What is the chicken's name?"
"Let's see, how about Plump Chicken?"
"Dongrang, never, ever go naming things anywhere. Understood?"
...That was supposed to be a name?
"Why, isn't it good?"
"What the... hey."
Even after that, Camellia and Dongrang kept bickering.
And yet, for some reason... I couldn't shake the feeling that Dongrang's smile was somehow bitter.
[At that time, I think I heard a faint sound.]
[The sound of a crack. Even knowing what result a single tiny crack could bring, I had let it pass by because...]
[I thought that if I merely looked at it askance and let it seep in, that would be enough, and that was complacency...]
[Only now do I realize it.]
"You know, Camellia? Your words didn't really comfort me either. If anything, Nulin's words gave me a much greater realization. No matter how hard I try, if it's a technology that can't be used right away... in the end, no one will even look at it..."
For a moment, Dongrang's voice seemed to slip in between Yi Sang's monologue.
Time drifts on without end.
*
Consciousness sinks.
Since nothing like this happened when Yi Sang's inner world was shown in this self-awareness depth... perhaps it was trying to reflect that memory of tears again.
When my vision opened, my eyes were looking at an unfamiliar place.
This is...
"It's a beautiful but somewhat sad story, isn't it?"
A fairy tale book?
"If every story were only happy, the sky might no longer need stars. It is loneliness and darkness that give birth to stars. That was also why you loved my story."
The voice—judging by the circumstances, its identity was probably Stephanette. She was dead now, but in life she had been K Corp's representative.
Setting that aside, a fairy tale book... I think I can sort of picture the feeling.
"I'll tell you about a greater world. In return, cry for me. For my sake, and for the rest as well."
Right. The story of tears.
...But is that it?
After the short story ended, consciousness once again surged upward in an instant.
...I think I felt something similar just one mission ago.
*
Yes, yes. As everyone knows, the next viewpoint is Guhinhoe! This self-awareness depth is ruled by Guhinhoe!
...What the hell is this supposed to be.
Ahem. Guhinhoe, once more brought into view, was showing a landscape quite different from before.
Mostly... in a bad direction.
The season was autumn.
First of all, the most noticeable thing was the faded fire contained in a huge bowl-like vessel.
If I remember correctly, that was one of the forms of the Concept Incinerator.
Why was that in the laboratory? It made me uneasy for no reason.
"Isn't that a Concept Incinerator? Why is an incinerator here..."
At Ishmael's voice—or perhaps words spoken by the role she was playing—Otis, fully immersed in her own role, began laying out her reasoning one by one.
"A notice was issued stating that if a private gathering of five or more people is held for the purpose of inventing technology without business registration, formal permission from T Corp must be obtained. The same applies to technology. Any technology not approved by T Corp's Technology Bureau will be confiscated. And whether it is registered with the Bureau or taken away... in the end, it will be used in a way none of us want.
So before that happens, we destroy it with our own hands."
"No, now? Could this be because of our Guhinhoe meetings... no, because of the glass window...?"
Otis, perhaps displeased with the situation, Dongrang said with a slightly furrowed expression.
"Wait, wait. The idea that we have to make technology in hiding is the trap, isn't it? For all we know, T Corp might even grant permission."
"A foolish question. Have you forgotten the purpose for which Guhinhoe was formed? We gathered for pure inquiry. Not to become a mule for some insignificant Wing. We left our homeland behind, and now you want us to hand over our knowledge for the sake of T Corp? At this point?"
"Let's look at it more broadly. Don't you think what we're handing over isn't T Corp, but the City? Technology only gains value once it's used for others. Until then, it's just a toy."
Dongrang said that, then lifted the liquid containing his healing technology and smiled with confidence.
"With this healing technology I made, I could save at least a few hundred people in this City. And yet should I throw it away just to protect this hollow illusion called Guhinhoe?"
"Dongrang, if you're not planning to save every person in this City, then stop with the half-baked attempts. If I had thought such a thing could save everyone with just this kind of technology, I would have given everything long ago. But... would that change anything? It would still be rotten, still a mess."
Camellia said that, then quietly looked at Dongrang's healing technology.
...Was that really such a rotten technology? Even if it couldn't surpass K Corp's ampoules, which held the overwhelming top spot, if it used a different method of healing or competed on a cheaper price, it didn't seem like it would be useless.
"....."
Dongrang swallowed a quiet groan without saying anything.
Was that acceptance, or resentment... At this point, it had become something impossible to tell.
"Yeah, I was wrong. What a pointless thing this all is."
Before long, Dongrang muttered that, then tossed the paper containing the method for making his healing technology and the liquid itself straight into the incinerator.
Crackle, crackle...
"Wow... the incinerator... really burns well. Was the person who made this also a researcher who cared only for pure inquiry like us?"
As he burned his own technology, Dongrang wore a smile that twisted his mouth wide upward.
An unmistakable mad laugh. A look that was clearly not sane.
Normally, someone would have tried to stop him, but... no one here, not even Yi Sang, seemed to have any intention of stopping him...
Slowly... slowly... everyone just watched as Dongrang burned all of his technology to ash.
"Dongrang... are you truly all right?"
"Ah, look at this, Yi Sang. I happened to get something interesting in the back alleys."
And then Dongrang took out a liquid... wait, a K Corp ampoule? He got an unused one from the back alleys? As if that made any sense...
"It's apparently something being produced these days by another Wing called K Corp. They say it's a swarm of tiny nanorobots so small they look like liquid. If you inject this... no matter how crushed, injured, broken, torn open, butchered, or cut to pieces you are... you'll regenerate right away. Amazing, isn't it? And once you reach a certain point, you won't feel any pain at all. Hahahaha."
Dongrang laughed like a madman, then at some point abruptly stopped laughing, his face falling into gloom.
"So getting hurt was fine after all. I didn't need to struggle alone to heal something, or feel heartbroken over it. I was really stupid, weren't I?"
"...Dongrang."
The story gradually drifts toward catastrophe.