[Congratulations, friend! You’ve got a new goal.]
I stowed the Dream Cultivator back into my tattooed inventory.
Now that I knew this cultivator could make the potion that sends me home, there was no way I could leave it sitting in this burned-out office.
My heart kept pounding.
If I bring the Se-gwang Special City ghost story to a conclusion, I can go home.
That sentence wouldn’t leave my head.
Only—
“Podo.”
“.......”
“Are you going to use that to wish to go home?”
I looked back.
Agent Choi was watching me.
They caught on.
They’d already read the documents in the Dream Cultivation Room, and they’d seen the button I assembled.
They would already be certain I’d figured out how to produce the original potion for the wish-voucher.
They’d gone conspicuously quiet for a while—and then said,
“Isn’t there another way?”
“There could be.”
Doesn’t seem like it.
Above all, with the most certain method right in front of me, saying we should look for something else was an indirect way of expressing they wanted to stop me.
So I had to answer gently, too.
As if open.
[Excellent!]
“For now, I’m going to carry out Director Ho’s project and learn more about Se-gwang Special City.”
“...Yeah?”
“Yes. Like I said, if we’re going to secure Daydream’s potion machine, the most accurate path is through Director Ho.”
If I suddenly asked Ho Yuwon for Daydream’s potion machine, he would definitely try to find out why.
Because the request had nothing to do with exploration.
And the moment he learns my situation, he’ll try to use that, too.
Whether Director Ho wants the Se-gwang Special City ghost story concluded is unknown.
But if I find what Ho Yuwon wants inside Se-gwang Special City and try to trade for the Daydream potion machine?
That will absolutely go through.
And—
If, as the note Lee Kangheon left said, we install the Daydream potion machine here and the Se-gwang Special City ghost story concludes.
“.......”
My head tingled. I wanted to do it at once on that possibility alone.
But you only know once you’ve actually installed it.
“The cultivator itself had no issues being installed last time, so it should be fine to try installing it once.”
No—even aside from that, because I couldn’t fully trust Lee Kangheon’s note, I’d continue the exploration of Se-gwang Special City.
To gather information for the conclusion.
Also, there are few places with solution efficiency as good as here.
Even just clearing an escape from a subway station extracts a grade close to A.
Which means there’s decent profit simply from concluding the subway stations one by one.
Wait—come to think of it, I must have gotten a fair amount of solution from burning Noon Station to a conclusion, too.
I hurriedly rummaged in my tattooed inventory.
The collector....
...There!
I saw the collector gleaming with brilliant gold.
Is that A-grade?
Then between a hundred and two hundred thousand....
If I add what was already there to the solution I extracted when I concluded the Se-gwang High ghost story, it might really come to four or five hundred thousand.
Not bad.
It fills pretty well. Right. I only have to repeat what I’ve done so far nine more times and—
.......
Hold on.
Wouldn’t it work if I just keep killing myself here?
Among the Se-gwang Special City subway stations, there are a lot of especially dangerous places. If I keep dying in those places and just exit to the outside, the dream-solution collector should fill.
Isn’t that a “clear,” too?
Then that’s fine. I’ll just keep going back in.
Then....
[Efficient, friend! But theory and practice often diverge, don’t they? Consider this carefully....]
Ah.
...Right. The concentration of dream-solution would likely drop below standard.
If you come out without properly experiencing the darkness, all you’ll get is low-grade solution.
There’s a reason Daydream doesn’t shove the same people into the same ghost story day after day, and instead manages a cycle with spacing.
Thanks, Brown.
[Oh, that’s only natural for a Good Child of a friend!]
Staring at the collector sloshing with A-grade solution, I steeled myself again.
So—first I’ll pour in the dream-solution I’ve gathered....
“You’re going to try using that?”
“Pardon? Not now—later....”
“Then until then, I can hold onto the Dream Cultivator, right?”
“No.”
“.......”
Damn.
That was too quick.
I deliberately put on a baffled face and looked at them.
“I have storage space, that’s why I took it. Agent, how exactly are you planning to carry it...?”
“Hey, I’ve got muscle and grit~”
Agent Choi joked with a smile, but their eyes were cool.
“How about we put that Dream Cultivator back where it was.”
“.......”
“Anyway, Podo, you’re saying you plan to keep exploring this subway.”
“Yes.”
“I see. Heave-ho.”
Agent Choi stood, then gave me a small smile.
“Let’s go.”
“.......”
“I want to meet the remaining people here, too.”
That—
“Let’s see, you said Jaegwan’s at some place called the Train Shelter?”
“......Yes.”
Guilt burned cold around my heart and my head cooled.
“I’ll guide you.”
We left the charred corridor of the YuKwae Research Laboratory and headed for the platform.
***
A little later.
Train G1572 showed at the platform, and when I waved, the door of Car 7 opened a beat late.
“Noru... ah.”
“Good to see you, Agent Park Ha.”
Ko Yeongeun’s eyes wavered when she saw Agent Choi, and she greeted them with an expression somewhere between delight and awkwardness.
And—
“Agent.”
“Bronze.”
The dead came into Car 7.
The senior agent of Team Hyeonmu 1, staring at his junior trapped dead within an annihilation-grade disaster, was silent for a time, then grinned and said,
“You look radiant, Bronze.”
“Yes.”
The Bronze Agent smiled faintly.
Because he was on the train, the dead didn’t show the pallor of the dead.
Just like in life.
“I’m doing well.”
“...Good.”
In Agent Choi’s eyes, as they looked at the Bronze Agent, a feeling passed that was similar to what I’d just felt.
Guilt.
But they seemed to press that down hard, and soon resumed in an even tone with the Bronze Agent.
Then, patting the other’s back, they spoke as if casually implying something.
“How’s your assignment going to be from here....”
“What are you worrying about that for. This ace senior right here will—”
It was clearly a talk of how to handle the gap left by the Bronze Agent.
And—
“...Anything you want me to pass along to anyone?”
As if taking a last will in case of unforeseen events.
Ah.
My toes felt like they were curling.
Impatience.
I need to do something fast.
I should have guided Agent Choi to the Train Shelter and then boarded anything to the next station right awa—
“Nervous?”
“...!”
Deputy Eun Haje, who had been watching the two agents’ conversation like me, turned to me.
“Noru. Still, I’m seeing you sooner than I thought. You really ran off like a roe deer.”
“Deputy.”
“What was so urgent you left only a note....”
Then she paused at my face.
“Why do you look like that.”
“Pardon?”
“You’re too pale. Someone might think you’re the corpse, not me.”
She threw out a joke that sounded scary.
“I’m fine. I just—made a number of discoveries.”
“.......”
Lowering her voice, Deputy Eun tugged me toward a corner and asked in a small voice,
“That Dream Cultivator or whatever—because of that?”
I nodded slowly.
“More precisely, we need our company’s potion-manufacturing machine.”
“...That’s so out of the blue.”
I didn’t explain further.
Right now, it must be hard enough for Deputy Eun to accept that she’s dead and trapped here—and to adapt to this shelter.
Leaving that note had likely only added to her burden.
And just then, the two agents finished and came over.
The moment I saw the Bronze Agent, I blurted in haste,
“I—I’m sorry, Agent. When I went out, I should’ve asked for anything that might help, but I was in a rush....”
“It’s all right.”
The Bronze Agent shook his head.
“What’s needed, I’ve already told Agent Choi. ...Don’t carry too much of a burden.”
“......Yes.”
It was getting harder and harder to just stand still on this train.
Thankfully, it didn’t last long.
This stop is Morning—Morning Station....
The train had made a loop and returned to its destination.
I moved to the door at once.
“I’ll get off here.”
“Already?”
“Yes. If you need anything, tell me. I’ll go fetch it.”
“Hm....”
Deputy Eun stared at me for a moment, then turned silently back to the Bronze Agent and Ko Yeongeun.
It felt like my eyes met Ko Yeongeun’s, but I bowed my head quietly and waited to disembark.
The doors are opening.
And I stepped onto Morning Station.
The platform was still modern and clean. I headed briskly toward the stairs....
“You’re going with me, Podo!”
“.......”
I felt the weight of Agent Choi’s arm slung around my shoulders.
[Hrm. Still a man whose show of chumminess is excessive.]
You got off.
Right—if Agent Choi had decided to accompany me, he’d be hard to stop.
And truthfully, for this station, I’d secretly thought having Agent Choi’s help would be good. So I should welcome it.
...In that case—
“Agent.”
“Mm?”
I spoke carefully.
“If, while we’re exploring, your collector fills with solution... would you—sell it to me?”
When I concluded the Se-gwang High ghost story, I’d gotten help with solution collection.
So this time, too....
“Nope.”
“.......”
“Podo. Even last time we said we’d split it fifty-fifty. Didn’t we?”
Ah.
“...Yes. We did.”
[Good grief. After all the help my friend has provided, what a cocky, cold remark!]
No.
A spurt of resentment shot up.
But I pushed it down. I wouldn’t be brazen.
I’ll bring it up properly later.
A good proposal and it would be fine.
I can do this. I can do this....
“Ah, right. I forgot. Civil servant.”
.......
......!!
“Take my collector first, Noru.”
I turned my head.
...Deputy Eun was standing there.
No—the Bronze Agent was behind her, too.
As the two set foot on the platform, the screen door closed behind them.
Beyond it, the train was leaving the station.
“.......”
I stared at the Bronze Agent and Deputy Eun, feeling like I’d been smacked on the back of the head.
“Why did you get off.”
“Agent Podo.”
“Get back on! Now!”
“No.”
“...!!”
I saw the life drain from their bodies as they stepped off the train—the pallid, blanched bodies of the dead.
But the two were composed.
Even Agent Choi.
...Had they already talked?
I clenched my teeth and glared at the two.
“We collected information in the shelter about what this station is.”
“.......”
“It’s a place well suited for an agent and a reporter to explore.”
“.......”
“Agent Podo.”
Damn.
I thought they wouldn’t know because I hadn’t shared the Wiki content.
I hadn’t expected them to pick that much up from a survivor who had physically visited this station.
“Do you know what was here?”
Morning Station (Scales Court)
The subway station where Se-gwang Special City’s district court was located.
“...They said there was a court.”
“Yes. But that isn’t all.”
.......
The Bronze Agent’s gaze lifted toward the stairs.
Scales Court
Beside the massive wooden signboard above, a silver scale emblem hung.
The small relief pattern inside the scale would be familiar to some.
Because it’s the same as the one inside the Silver Heart.
Disaster Management Bureau equipment.
The basement of this district court also housed a clandestine government agency.
“From the circumstances, it seems the Se-gwang City branch of the Disaster Management Bureau was here.”
That’s right.
This was the location of the Se-gwang Special City DMB branch that vanished whole.
On the day of the disaster, that government agency evacuated the greatest number of survivors into the underground.
Thereafter, the scattered government agents both rescued survivors throughout Se-gwang Special City and requested rescue from headquarters, but success cases were rare.
However, in that process, their desperate agonizing over whom to rescue remained in place even after they died.
So do you know what has been happening in this subway station, mutated into a ghost story?
Thus, in this Morning Station, that agonizing repeats without end.
In Scales Court, whether you are worthy of rescue will be determined with piercing clarity.
By a verified method.
Creak—
Above the stairs.
The door beneath the signboard opened, and Scales Court gleamed silver into view.
“Do you remember? That everyone at Horizon Lodge turned out to be vicious criminals.”
“.......”
“It seems the equipment used then remained at this branch as well.”
Your weight will be measured on the Scale of Malice.
The Scale of Malice.
The scale the Disaster Management Bureau used to requisition civilian casualties had seized this station.
“.......”
But—
It wouldn’t work the way the Bronze Agent imagined.
Because it had been warped and contaminated.
Originally, this equipment used sin as the weight for measurement; but influenced by the day of the disaster, it began to use something else as the weight.
I sucked in a breath.
What you love most is what goes up on the opposite pan of the scale.