Chapter 236: Ch 236: Grandma Kim Bokja.......... XD
"Jisan Village, huh."
After confirming the location of the Happy Ending Sect’s underground
bunker, the three of us returned first to Ho Yoowon’s quarters.
The back of my head still throbbed from the shock of the discovery.
By coincidence, all three of us here were present at Jisan Village’s holiday
festival last time.
Though, well. One of us had only experienced it while parasitizing someone
else’s body and had been exorcised at the end by the Tiger General.
"So that cult village was tied to this Church of the Luminous Unknown’s
Happy Ending Sect or whatever?"
The assistant manager’s mutter was half right.
It seems they were indirectly linked to another branch of the Church of the
Luminous Unknown.
The Mimicry Sect, I believe?
"Ah, right. You drew the golden stick and got taken back then, right Roe?
Did you find that out then? Good work."
Thank you.
Please, let’s just go with that.
"But why are they here now? You said this is a different sect."
Exactly.
’They were sealed up and taken away by the Disaster Management Bureau
too.’
What’s even left for them to be doing this?
"Hmm. So there’s some other reason?"
Naturally, my thoughts drifted back to why Assistant Manager Eun Haje
had appeared in Jisan Village in the first place.
Could it be because of the well?
I remember Director Ho sought it out. Maybe it’s a place with some special
significance.
"Ah. Right. That well."
And if Ho Yoowon had looked for it...
’Then this ties back to Sekwang Special Metropolitan City, doesn’t it?’
Meeting both our eyes, Ho Yoowon nodded easily.
"That’s right. I’d heard that well was connected to Sekwang Special
Metropolitan City...."
Of course.
Question : Source
"As I’ve said, it’s my turn to ask questions now, so Roe Deer-nim, it’s
unfortunately not your turn."
Wow. Seriously.
But even without your answer, there are ways to guess.
’Must be someone from the Disaster Management Bureau.’
How else would Ho Yoowon know that information on an annihilation-
sanctioned Disaster and Sekwang Special Metropolitan City is locked in
their secret archives?
’He’s got some contact there, clearly.’
Whatever feelings Ho Yoowon holds toward the Bureau, that much is
separate.
And still, his focus is only one thing.
A certain annihilation-sanctioned Disaster.
"If the Happy Ending Sect has an interest in Sekwang Special Metropolitan
City, then a future where they dig up information about it through that well
would make sense, wouldn’t it?"
But Assistant Manager Eun Haje frowned.
"...Tsk."
Something must be bothering her.
"I’m sure the Disaster Management Bureau went in back then and smashed
their heads open, didn’t they...?"
At the mention of the bureau, Director Ho’s smile only deepened, but
neither of us paid him mind.
"Those government folks. Don’t they always follow up with cleanup?"
Of course they do.
"Then why didn’t they notice a cult lair down here?"
That...
It might be because this underground bunker moved in after the cleanup
was done.
Think about it.
The bureau’s Site Cleanup Unit and Fabrication Team would have finished
and left.
’They would have processed the villagers too.’
And there’s proof.
That view I saw through the glass just earlier.
– There’s still a lot that’s suspicious about this Jisan Village... so from here,
they’ll begin a full-scale investigation. They’ll search for people. The well,
too.
There, up on the surface.
The village was empty.
Not a single soul.
Yet the odd thing about it is...
’They said they’d be doing a full-scale search soon.’
But the village looks unchanged, frozen as it was on the festival day.
It seems like the kind of situation where agents would be dispatched for
regular maintenance, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening. It’s strange.
"Yeah. Feels... off."
"Maybe they decided it wasn’t worth searching anymore?"
Ho Yoowon’s calm voice flowed without pause.
"That government agency always ranks priorities. They’d rather put
manpower into saving people they consider more valuable than revisit a
case they’ve already closed."
Hmm.
’Feels like a cynical interpretation.’
"Well... sure. Local civil servants being overworked isn’t new."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s eyes went dull as she halfheartedly
acknowledged the boss’s words.
And back to the point.
"Anyway, it’d be nice if we could probe more about the village above, but
there’s only so much we can do from inside here..."
Ah.
"Director, do you have anyone outside you could mobilize? Someone who
could look into this place for us."
...I do.
I mean, about that.
’Actually....’
I pictured the paper boat sleeping quietly under my tattoo.
And the guy who left me with it, a native of Jisan Village.
* * *
Baek Saheon was having a truly garbage day.
’What the hell kind of Darkness is this.’
It had been some insane boarding school ghost story. One teammate’s face
skin got ripped clean off and died, and he himself had nearly died running
and dodging.
’Got split off, bolted, almost ended up dead too.’
Not that he cared about the teammate dying. It was just infuriating that after
all that hell it was barely rated D-class.
’...Whatever, not my problem anymore.’
His wish to escape that cursed village for good seemed to have been granted
already.
Why he was still working for this company, he didn’t know.
Why he’d never buried or cremated his sister’s skull, either.
’Fuck.’
Right now, he just liked that he was finally off shift and could collapse on
the company dorm couch.
But at that very moment, he realized new writing had appeared on the paper
boat.
Hello, Mr. Civilian.
Have you been well?
"...!!"
Baek Saheon nearly rolled right off the couch.
’What the.’
Last time the other guy had left only a quick thank-you and vanished, so
he’d scrawled a curse back telling them not to just eat and run. Now
suddenly, a message.
And then...
No item yet, but
I have found information
on the current state of Jisan Village.
"...!!"
Baek Saheon grabbed the paper with both hands.
The letters updated...
There is a cult facility
beneath the village.
What?
How did you
find that out?
I am currently
infiltrating the cult.
"Are you insane?"
Could it be that the ’Darkness’ this agent was staying inside all this time
was actually this cult?
’Then of course he couldn’t get any items!’
In a cult, keeping something personal hidden is nearly impossible. At least
from Baek Saheon’s own experience.
’...Is this guy a total idiot?’
Why walk into something like that on purpose.
He wrote exactly that onto the boat.
The reply came back.
Someone asked for help.
"...What a damn sucker."
Yet somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to sneer.
Because he’d personally seen, back in Jisan Village, that this agent was
someone who actually kept promises.
"..."
Baek Saheon stared at the paper.
The agent was requesting something.
We found a spot in this facility
where we can see outside.
Could you look at my drawing
and explain where in Jisan Village
this view is located?
Baek Saheon was about to write ’With what nerve—’ when another line
appeared.
If I learn anything about Jisan Village
during this operation, I’ll share it with you.
You’re directly involved, after all.
And at the end.
I apologize about not being able to compensate you with an item.
...
Ha... fuck. Seriously!!
Baek Saheon tore at his hair, but in the end he scribbled back.
Fine. Show me the drawing first.
* * *
’Oh.’
Baek Saheon agreed to share Jisan Village intel.
Surprisingly smooth again, just like last time. Apparently the ’agent
infiltrating a cult’ story was playing well...
’Guess giving him that initial Jisan Village info was the hook.’
Or maybe... seeing how easily he snapped and vented, maybe he just
needed an emotional garbage bin.
Anyway, now I had Baek Saheon’s simple hand-sketched map of the village
memorized.
[Hooh, Mr. Roe Deer, your ordinary ex-roommate actually has some
drawing skills.]
Yeah.
The map was clear and easy to read. The well, the pine tree, the hanok
where we’d been held, even the spot with the village guardian shrine were
marked nicely.
And where we’d just looked out from in this Authority Zone was...
’...Under the well.’
Meaning, the Jisan Village well sits right over where this underground
bunker’s exit should be.
A strange feeling.
[Indeed, rather intriguing. So, are the twins who vanish every lunchtime
slipping out to check the well via the entrance? Or heading deeper into
some other hidden facility?]
[But this fact... Oh, if everything goes by your plan, Mr. Roe Deer, we’ll
know soon enough!]
Right.
Once I’d shown I could use an ’item’ to communicate and gather intel, Ho
Yoowon and Assistant Manager Eun Haje took on another job.
Carefully track where those twins disappeared to at lunchtime.
To figure out what exactly this underground bunker was preparing.
– If there’s an entrance, it’s probably around here. – We’ve got to tail them, of course.
Sticking close to the convert grandma would draw some eyes, but it would
also make strange movements look less suspicious.
Since they’d already shown me that ’performance’ last night.
’Even if we’re caught, Ho Yoowon doesn’t seem like the type to go down
easy.’
Besides... how should I put it, the so-called executives of this Happy
Ending Sect, well. I’d seen that they were supposedly strong in theory, but
somehow there’s no real psychological tension about them.
’It all just feels shallow. Fragmentary, so to speak...’
Still, the mystery of the place and the oddity of the situation were enough to
make the air feel strange.
So I sat quietly, matching the village landmarks to the underground
bunker’s angles and layout, calculating against the map, and waited for the
other two to return.
And, by the time the lunch period was nearly over—
"Found it."
Ho Yoowon and Assistant Manager Eun Haje had come back with
something.
Still in her grandma disguise, Assistant Manager Eun Haje caught her
breath, then urgently knelt and started sketching on the floor with her finger.
She was drawing the bunker’s interior.
– I’ve said this all along, if we don’t first understand what’s going on here,
we can’t handle sudden incidents or dig up specific intel.
"If we see it this way, this side is north. The connected east is the dining
hall, east-west is the converts’ living quarters."
And then... smack dab in the center.
"Here’s that big hemispherical chamber where they’ve crammed all the
coffins. The place they call a ritual hall but really it’s for corpse disposal."
Symbolic.
And...
"There’s a passage behind the coffins."
Her finger slid downwards.
South.
"That’s where the twins are going."
...
"So? Anything to cross-check with whatever ’informant’ you contacted?"
There is.
I mentally overlaid Baek Saheon’s map on top of Eun Haje’s rough
sketch...
And that’s when I realized.
The place the twins went.
It’s right under the Jisan Village guardian shrine.
And what had been under the shrine?
’The Centipede Sage.’
Of course, the centipede was dead and even its liquor had been sealed by
Agent Bronze’s bullets. Nothing should be left there now.
Only the empty space where the shrine once stood. And yet...
What are they trying to do down there?
"Hm. That’s not a good sign."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje frowned at my explanation.
"Then how about one more check?" Ho Yoowon suggested.
Hm?
"Just a quick peek inside. We wait till the twins come back out, then slip
in."
Ho Yoowon smiled faintly, turning to Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
"Ms. Falcon. If you refuse, I might get sad thinking you don’t trust me..."
"...Fine. Just don’t ditch me if it goes bad."
With an unamused face, Assistant Manager Eun Haje looked back at me.
"Alright. We’ll check inside and look through the converts’ area too, so stay
put and wait."
Hm.
"Don’t worry. If anything smells off, we’ll pull back fast."
Then maybe I should go instead this time?
Isn’t it risky to have the same people go twice? Maybe I...
"Mm, Roe..."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje patted my shoulder.
"You know you’re dragging around that black smoke right now, yeah?"
Ah.
"Sorry, but with that plus the yellow flicker you’ve got going, you’ve got a
full dramatic entrance effect. You’re basically a walking billboard."
...
Right...
"Just stay here. Instead, could you try to pin down the exact location of the
bunker’s exit while we’re gone?"
I nodded quietly.
"Okay. Then see you at dinner time."
And with that, they went out to search again...
"Let us gather and pray for happiness."
Time passed, and soon the appointed dinner hour arrived.
But.
"..."
"Grandma Kim Bokja... didn’t come?"
Neither Assistant Manager Eun Haje nor Ho Yoowon showed up to the
evening meal.