I looked at Agent Haegum.
The hand gripping the hilt of her death-sign sword was so tense it had turned stark white.
Like she was trying to process the shock of what I’d just said.
I could understand.
I still hadn’t properly processed it either.
That the Disaster Management Bureau had chosen to sacrifice all the citizens of Se-gwang Special City as human offerings instead of rescuing them....
I looked down at my hands.
Mine didn’t have much color in them either.
"...Why did you think that?"
"I found a record."
"Can you tell me exactly what kind of record it was?"
So I did.
Rather than explaining YuKwae Research Laboratory, I focused on the fact that it was a recorded testimony from a citizen who had been inside Se-gwang Special City at the time.
"......."
"...Agent. Could this also be... a kind of selection work?"
Selection work.
Choosing a scapegoat through the Scale of Malice.
-To efficiently save the innocent majority, we pick out the small minority to die.
Yeah.
The reason I’d instinctively felt, like being struck in the head, that this was probably the truth the moment I saw the record—was because the flow was similar.
"To stop an Extermination-Class supernatural disaster where nothing works and the death toll increases exponentially, using people who are going to die anyway."
Even if you rescue the people of Se-gwang Special City, if you can’t control the Extermination-Class disaster, everyone dies together.
So instead, you “use them usefully” to prevent the supernatural disaster from spreading any further.
[Reasonable. In hard times when resources are scarce, don’t you need judgments like this?]
[Like locking an entire family infected with plague in a 14th-century city inside their home and letting them starve to death.]
[At least the epidemic wouldn’t spread!]
I lifted my head.
Agent Haegum met my eyes.
Her eyes were dark.
"It’s possible. We’re not a volunteer group—we’re civil servants, and if an order comes down from above, we’re obligated to carry it out. Especially in a national crisis like an Extermination-Class disaster."
"......."
"But, Agent Podo."
Agent Haegum spoke quietly.
"Do you really think Bureau agents would make that choice?"
"......!!"
"Based on what you’ve personally experienced—what do you think?"
That....
.......
"No."
I remembered Team Leader Hong and the members of Team Azure Dragon, squeezing out every last method to save the kids at Se-gwang High.
I remembered my own teammates, who couldn’t bring themselves to refuse when someone said we should check if we could rescue the kids for one more day because we couldn’t leave them behind at Sparkling Dragon Palace.
And countless more—I remembered the countless agents who vanished into a single line in the dark exploration record....
"I don’t think they would’ve made that choice."
But.
"Still, you don’t know what a collective decision can be."
Isn’t it a separate issue from the atmosphere among the members?
Like how the agents at the Scales Court were forced to select who to rescue, even as they suffered endlessly.
Agent Haegum let out a sigh.
"Right. Still, I’m on the side that thinks the Bureau’s upper ranks wouldn’t have gone that far, either...."
"......."
"You don’t know how many agents pushed back when the Scale of Malice was first introduced."
I did know.
And it was even more ominous precisely because it went through anyway.
But listening to Agent Haegum, my composure returned and I calmed down.
Am I too steeped in the dark exploration record?
In a ghost-story world, a government agency sacrificing a million citizens as offerings feels... too plausible....
.......
Wait.
A citywide ritualistic anomaly
Government?
A massive human-sacrifice rite??
At this rate we die. We have to get out no matter wha
Government.
"What if..."
I swallowed.
"...What if it wasn’t the Disaster Management Bureau’s decision, but a higher agency’s decision?"
"......!"
It was a guess that I’d misunderstood the subject.
Thinking about it, it was obvious, too.
In a national crisis, the odds that only the Disaster Management Bureau made the call are lower.
But Agent Haegum gave a cold, bitter smile.
"I’m saying it again—so do you think the agents would’ve followed that?"
"...!"
"Those bastards break orders and throw themselves into disasters to save one more person. Like hell they’d follow that."
"Is it difficult to carry out a ritual like that without agents?"
"Yeah. That’s the problem."
Agent Haegum stared at her death-sign sword, then slid it back onto her belt.
"Something like a sealing ritual needs specialized personnel, even within the Bureau. If everyone rose up and refused, they wouldn’t have been able to proceed."
"......."
"If something like this really happened, and they wiped all the agents’ memories... then someone definitely cooperated in it."
Cooperated.
"...You mean Bureau upper ranks who aren’t agents?"
"Yeah."
.......
Like I’d been punched, I muttered.
"Then they must’ve deceived the agents and carried it out."
"Right."
Agent Haegum answered carefully.
"A sealing ritual is fundamentally an offering rite. You offer a sacrifice and petition some spirit or mysterious existence... the more dangerous the request is—the more it goes against the natural order and flow—the greater the price you need."
Agent Haegum opened her mouth as if to give an example, but in the end she didn’t and changed direction.
"At that stage, you can deceive the agents performing it."
"In what way?"
"You tell them some plausible story about what the offering is, and say it’s just a sealing ritual to bind an Extermination-Class disaster... or you could’ve put a gag on them."
If you’re going to erase memories anyway, you can use all kinds of conveniently immoral methods.
"Then that means there were people among the Bureau’s upper ranks who actively cooperated in this, using the agents."
"Right."
"Do you have any idea what faction it could be?"
"......."
Agent Haegum, who had been studying me, stepped closer with a serious expression.
Thwack!
"...?!"
S-She smacked me on the head!
"You’ve picked up a bad habit from Agent Choi! Why don’t you just shout that you’re going to do something dangerous—do you think I’d answer that?"
Aaaagh!
"S-sorry."
Barely freed, I rubbed my throbbing head and said,
"But if I know, I can respond, can’t I!"
"Respond how—are you going back?"
"No, it’s not that...."
I hesitated a little, then said it.
This felt like the right timing to reveal it.
"I mean... to end the Extermination-Class supernatural disaster."
"......!"
"Agent. I’m going to end the special city’s disaster."
"......."
"So if there’s anything that could help in that process, I want to know it."
Agent Haegum didn’t call me a crazy bastard.
She didn’t curse me with her eyes, either—she just looked me over and let out a long sigh.
"Like team leader, like team member... that’s Team Hyeonmu 1 for you."
I gave a half-baked smile.
But the moment I remembered Team Leader Hong, bound in contamination at Se-gwang High, the smile vanished.
Team Leader Hong in the hospital didn’t remember....
"Agent Choi looked like they’d infiltrated and even combed through records, but if they’re not making a fuss, that means they wiped every trace even from classified records."
"......."
They’d managed this secret that thoroughly. Burying a million people and cleaning up so obsessively and neatly—it was truly chilling....
...Wait.
I turned my head urgently.
"Agent."
"Hm?"
"Then if they realize we found out, isn’t it possible they’ll respond somehow?"
"......!!"
I stood.
"Isn’t there a chance they placed a gag—something that lets them notice if you even mention it anywhere related?"
Agent Haegum’s complexion changed too.
"There is."
Damn it!
I stood too, my face drained.
And of all places, we’re in a Disaster Management Bureau container.
I messed up.
I reflexively rose while staring at the entrance, and Agent Haegum jumped up and wrapped herself and me in will-o’-the-wisp fire, like she was in a hurry.
In that moment, the container door opened.
"......!"
...But there was no one outside.
An empty street.
No sign of anyone.
But it was more horrifying because we couldn’t see anything.
The door definitely opened.
"......."
"......."
We stayed frozen for a long time, then—still wrapped in will-o’-the-wisp fire—carefully walked out of the container.
As if on purpose, Agent Haegum circled around the container several times, keeping it at the center.
Step, step.
The rigid sound of our quiet footsteps echoed off the ground.
There was nothing behind us.
Who killed the young lady
The kite-string hanging from a branch beyond the wall
Strangled the young lady’s neck
We kept walking.
There was nothing behind us.
Who killed the young lady
A single tooth of the fine-toothed comb the maid held
Sharpened this way and that, then stabbed in
We kept walking.
There was nothing behind us.
Who killed the young lady...
"......."
"......."
It vanished.
I felt it—the nothingness was gone.
"...Good. Now you can go."
"......."
"We didn’t get caught because we didn’t mention the exact name. From now on, don’t ever talk about that using nouns in the real world."
Meaning: don’t say “Se-gwang Special City” and “human sacrifice” together.
"Yes."
I nodded immediately.
My throat was soaked in cold sweat.
Agent Haegum, wearing a similar expression, seemed to think for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh.
"This won’t do. I think I need to go into that disaster too."
Huh?
"I have to see what the situation is like. And... right. Our team has three days off."
Agent Haegum pulled out her phone, checked the shift app, then turned to me and snorted a laugh.
"Tell Agent Choi to stay out for a while. I’ll have them cover shifts while I’m gone."
Ah.
***
"...So you’re saying another agent is joining the project."
Yeah.
Back in the Fox Counseling Room, facing Ho Yuwon, I told him Agent Haegum was joining.
...Even now, remembering the process makes my heart go cold.
Good thing I was careful.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason I came in here.
"Ho Yuwon."
"Mr. Noru. It looks like you still have something to say."
Probably because of the added agent, Ho Yuwon looked like his mood was twisted as I reported the results of this exploration.
"I found it."
"...Pardon?"
"I found you."
"......!"
Ho Yuwon’s movement stopped dead without even a twitch.
I took out what I’d brought back from my inventory.
The PET bottle of ash and... the agent uniform.
"Here."
Ho Yuwon reached out and grabbed it.
The moment he saw the fox patch on the uniform, Ho Yuwon’s face went blank.
"It left it behind as it disappeared. ...It did introduce itself as only a projection, too, but."
"......."
Ho Yuwon seemed to come back to himself and pulled his gaze off the uniform.
Then I poured the sandy powder I’d brought in the bottle onto the table. When dull silvery powder piled up on the tabletop, Ho Yuwon placed his hand over it....
But nothing happened.
Ho Yuwon pulled his hand back.
"Right. It seems that was another part of me, subordinate to a different darkness."
It went back into the bottle.
"Not the real one—only a remaining afterimage.... Still, I guess my situation outside is better, isn’t it? Even the afterimage being trapped there, haha...."
"......."
"The real one is probably near the subway station, too. You’ll just have to keep looking for it."
Ho Yuwon turned to me with eyes flashing with excitement, impatience, and anticipation.
But that near-manic attitude somehow faded away the moment he asked the next question.
"Mr. Noru."
Ho Yuwon hesitated, then asked.
"...What was that projection like?"
Ah.
"Did it seem intact? If it seemed intact, what kind of existence did it look like? What did it pursue...."
"Not sure."
I answered honestly.
"It seemed like a good counselor."
"......."
"......."
"Haha...."
Ho Yuwon handed the bottle back to me.
"Ah, that has no meaning. It’s just rusted silver powder."
Thud.
I caught it.
Rusted silver powder.
Then maybe it had flaked off the “Scale of Malice” inside the Scales Court.
Since the court itself was the scale turned into a ghost story, something like Ho Yuwon’s lingering thoughts must have remained there.
"......."
I put the bottle away again.
It felt wrong to throw it away, so I was thinking I’d scatter it somewhere sunny.
Or maybe press it into a solid form.
Anyway, Ho Yuwon stared at the uniform in his hands as if he was trying to feel something from it—and then he held even that out to me.
"Take it. It might help you find its whereabouts."
I nodded.
And I looked at him again, belatedly.
"What is it, Mr. Noru?"
"......No."
It would be better not to mention the circumstances suggesting the citizens of Se-gwang Special City had been sacrificed wholesale.
But separately, the immense anger and resentment this man carried came at me now with a more vivid background than before.
As much as the shock I’d taken.
...Whew.
"I’m going."
I left the Fox Counseling Room.
Then I went to find Agent Haegum again, who was waiting.
"So how do we enter? I want to go in right to the middle so we can gather as much information as possible."
"Just a moment."
First, let’s look at the current situation.
The researchers are servicing the Potion Machine....
Until then, I needed to gather more information.
The remaining stations where I haven’t visited YuKwae Research Laboratory offices yet... about three stations, I think.
Dusk Station is impossible to enter, so pass. Of the remaining two, it’d be nice to see at least one... but to do that, I’d have to end the subway-station ghost story.
Not easy.
But in that moment, someone’s words from Hanbit Library came back to me.
-Agent Haegum... you mean?
-Yeah. She knows how to throw a decisive move, and she’s got guts. And above all... she’s lucky.
.......
"Agent."
"Hm?"
"Do you happen to know your way around gambling?"
***
"So. Agent Haegum is now......."
"She went to Body Casino."
Thud.
Bronze Agent grabbed his head.
He was already dead, so he shouldn’t be able to feel a headache, but since we were on the train in his living appearance, he seemed to be feeling it in full force....
-A separate supernatural phenomenon manifested at each subway station, right.
-What do you think would happen if we ended them all?
But Agent Haegum showed clear interest, and in the end, she even pulled two people into the project and left.
"Who is it?"
I averted my eyes.
"Deputy Nabi from the elite team, and my colleague, Chief Pony...."
"......."
That’s right.
Deputy Jinnasol and Chief Kang Ihak were attached.
At the fact that such utterly Daydream-like Daydream employees were accompanying Agent Haegum, Bronze Agent looked like he’d lost not just his headache, but even the ability to speak....
"Why...."
"...It was Agent Haegum’s request."
-One bastard with no blood or tears, and one bastard who looks like he’s about to go insane when he sees money—give me one of each.
-What?
-If it’s that company, it’ll be easy to find them.
-What?
Remembering that day when the conversation almost ended with me only saying “What?”, I deeply understood Bronze Agent’s horror....
I was really scared too.
"...Anyway, I understand."
Bronze Agent, who had been holding back a sigh, seemed to calm down, and turned to me.
"So Agent Podo... what are you visiting this train for?"
It was simple.
There might be something else hidden on this train.
With the circumstances of human sacrifice, I had even more thoughts.
The fact that the self-proclaimed Lee Kangheon hid a note here, and that this was a shelter Team Azure Dragon agents had built and stayed in until near the end—it would have something of civilization to uncover.
Deputy Eun Haje and Bronze Agent were here first, so it’s easier to infiltrate now.
I’d strip this train bare if I had to, and find it quickly.
Of course, saying something like “The government sacrificed a million citizens!” to Bronze Agent right now felt like insanity....
So I just smiled.
"I’m going to settle down on this train."
"...Pardon?"
"I’m sick of visiting stations. I want to rest a bit."
"Pardon?"
"Please take care of me."
Bronze Agent looked a bit dazed. I felt a little bad, but this seemed like the best option. Whew.
-Of course. You must have had so many worries before you decided, sir.
That was true.
But since I’d decided, I should work hard...??!
"...?!"
-You must have been startled. Are you okay? Ah, if you check your inner pocket, I’m there.
Pocket?
I shoved my hand into the inside pocket of my jacket.
Inside, a small silver coin glinted.
A YuKwae Coin.
A silver coin I’d minted from the rusted silver powder I’d brought in the PET bottle.
I didn’t like leaving it as loose powder in the bottle, so I sent it to the theme park through my inventory tattoo and had it pressed into the shape of a YuKwae Coin.
[Show business, my god.]
From inside it, the voice of “Juror No. 1” echoed.
[Let’s throw it away, friend!]