Chapter 31: Audience
The illusory mist suddenly began to take form, solid objects gradually emerging from within it. Eventually, a long hallway materialized, with his apartment door appearing a few paces from him.
Dan Woo turned and saw a man and three teenagers standing before his front door.
Before he could do anything, the mist suddenly dissipated before emerging once again. In fact, it spilled forth from him, encompassing all four people. Each one of them instantly lost consciousness, collapsing into a deep sleep.
Cha Ha Rin, who had also regained a bit of sentience, was similarly covered by the gray fog before losing herself to its embrace.
As this happened, bunches of mist coagulated around the door, drowning the entire area in grayness as a knock echoed across the long hall.
Dan Woo frowned in confusion.
The mist was emanating from himself, yet the knock was somehow coming from the other side of his own door.
He looked at it, studying it for a moment before walking over and placing a hand on the knob, ready to open it. As he tapped in the keypad code and it was successfully entered...
...he suddenly found himself back inside his room with the four doors.
He realized he was currently touching the door to the west.
As he turned the knob to open it, he felt the mask of Cha Hwa Rim peel away from his face. At the same time, a paper doll quickly materialized, pasted itself onto his solar plexus before sinking into it.
The moment the door opened, a vast grand hall unfolded before him.
Towering pillars stretched endlessly into the distance, adorned with beautiful ornaments and intricate designs far more magnificent than anything he had ever seen. Yet beneath all of that grandeur churned a swirling sea of mist, the ground only barely formed, reflecting clouds beneath his feet and giving one the feeling of standing inside a castle suspended in the sky.
Even the roof seemed to be woven from clouds and stars of red, blue, and purple, while the colossal pillars stretched endlessly both below and above, disappearing into infinity.
Dan Woo now found himself seated upon a grand throne with distinct western influences. Rays of sunlight spread beneath and behind it, the surrounding clouds creating a halo-like effect.
To his left stood a girl carrying a silver spear, her skin glowing like the moon as a blue star twinkled across her form. It was the teenage girl from earlier.
To his right stood the boy carrying a golden sword, his skin radiant like the sky itself as a red star shimmered across him.
Both of them bore inscrutable marks upon their foreheads—a silver one upon the girl with the spear and a golden one upon the boy with the sword.
"You may enter."
A powerful, majestic voice echoed throughout the entirety of the hall.
The boy struck the base of his golden sword against the floor.
Boom.
A wave of energy rippled across the entire space as the grand doors at the far end of the hall slowly opened, revealing the figures of a young man and a teenage girl.
Sang Hun Lee and Choi Ae Ran stepped inside, immediately feeling like ants before the sheer grandeur of everything around them.
At the end of the hall sat two figures, each reflecting boundless light, while the vast chamber itself was divided into two halves—
Night.
And day.
The female figure was dressed in moonlight and blue stars, her side of the hall cloaked beneath a darker sky. Opposite her, the male figure was dressed in a golden sun, his robes sparkling with crimson stars.
Then there was the ethereal figure towering over everything.
The unfamiliar shapes and incomprehensible forms seemed to tire both their eyes and minds, forcing the two to lower their gazes almost immediately.
Dan Woo was confused as to what was happening, but he remained silent, simply watching to see how everything unfolded.
"Thank you, Anomaly 0-23, for accepting our audience."
The man spoke to the radiant figure before him, barely daring to glance at it. The overwhelming light and incomprehensible forms proved too much for him.
"My name is Sang Hun Lee, and this is Choi Ae Ran. We are both agents of the Bureau of Anomaly Affairs, Korean Branch."
"I see."
Dan Woo answered unconsciously.
The instant those words left his mouth, an overwhelming pressure reverberated throughout the entire hall, shaking the pillars suspended between the clouds.
Sang Hun Lee and Choi Ae Ran felt a higher-order Meaning sink deep into them, almost eroding their own Meaning and diluting their spirituality.
As the foreign Meaning intruded, their bodies began to convulse. They struggled to maintain their lowered gazes, staring only toward the endless sea of clouds beneath them.
Yet merely preserving their sanity through the erosion and unbearable pain was impossible.
Seeing this, Dan Woo immediately felt something was terribly wrong.
His mind instinctively drifted back to Actualization.
It seemed that, once again, he was Actualizing unconsciously.
Yet within the body he now inhabited, it felt far less like something he had to consciously perform. It was almost intuitive.
As natural as breathing.
He tried once more to stop the Actualization, drawing back all the concepts leaking from him.
Slowly, the brilliant golden radiance began to recede.
The shifting manifestations of day and night faded.
The overwhelming grandeur surrounding the two teenagers dressed in sun, moon, and stars gradually diminished.
The magnificent hall itself became less radiant, until all that remained were gray mist pillars, drifting fog, and distant stars of red, blue, and purple twinkling within the endless expanse.
Choi Ae Ran and Sang Hun Lee felt the receding tide almost immediately.
The crushing pressure that had felt as though it were burning them alive from the inside out, forcing their bodies to convulse and writhe beneath its intrusion, dramatically faded.
Soon after, their sanity returned.
The grand figures had now completely disappeared.
The two teenagers had returned to their original forms, while Dan Woo’s own body was now cloaked in drifting fog speckled with red and blue starlight.
Looking around at the strange surroundings, Dan Woo willed the fog to move.
At his command, the mist gathered together and transformed into a long dining table.
The vast hall shrank into a smaller room, adopting an almost family-like atmosphere.
Dan Woo took the seat at the head of the table.
Without a word, the two teenagers followed, taking their places to his left and right.
Sang Hun Lee, who was still reeling from what he had just experienced, quickly got to his feet. He first checked on Choi Ae Ran to make sure she was alright. Apart from a bit of disorientation, she appeared to be fine.
Only then did he turn toward Dan Woo, who was now seated at the head of the dining table.
"Thank you, Anomaly 0-23, for granting us an audience. We come in peace and hope to understand your needs and your reasons for being here."
Sang Hun spoke in a respectful tone, waiting patiently for an answer.
Dan Woo, however, was busy picking up a plate for himself.
He wasn’t sure if the food created by the fog was actually real, but he felt awfully hungry after the long night he had endured. Besides, perhaps he could get some information from these two agents.
After all...
...he still wanted to join the Bureau of Anomaly Affairs.
"Come and eat."
A warm, inviting tone escaped Dan Woo as he gestured toward the empty seats.
At his invitation, the chairs quietly pulled themselves out, offering the two a place to sit.
Choi Ae Ran’s expression cycled through several emotions before she suddenly stood and turned toward Dan Woo.
"Thank you very much for the invitation... and the knowledge."
She spoke with a fanatical, almost reverential tone before giving Dan Woo a deep bow.
Only then did she turn toward the table and take the seat that had just offered itself. The chair gently tucked itself back in as she began to munch on the food before her.
Sang Hun Lee was left staring in disbelief.
He couldn’t understand what was happening, nor how his subordinate could be so brazen.
Even so, he maintained his reverential posture before asking once more,
"Are you searching for a champion?"
Again, his question was answered by nothing but the sounds of chewing.
All around the table, everyone dug into the welcoming spread of Korean dishes—grilled meats, fried chicken, trotters, and an assortment of pickled vegetables.
They ate together with such harmony and familiarity...
...as though they were one big, happy family.
"Come and join us. We will talk after the meal."
Dan Woo spoke once again, prompting Sang Hun to slowly make his way toward the table.
He looked around as the two teenagers feasted to their hearts’ content, showing barely any reservation before this unfathomable being.
A bowl of rice, along with meats and vegetables, automatically placed themselves before Sang Hun Lee.
Everything looked appetizing.
But to Sang Hun Lee...
...something didn’t feel right.
Even so, his hands unconsciously reached for the chopsticks as the warm, tantalizing blend of aromas permeated his senses, compelling him to pick up a piece of meat.
He was unsure whether he should eat it.
Dealing with anomalies was always a volatile experience.
Even partaking in one of their meals could have devastating consequences.
Yet when he turned to look at Choi Ae Ran, she was happily feasting away without the slightest hesitation.
Taking a slow breath, Sang Hun picked up a piece of meat and dipped it into the sauce before finally bringing it to his mouth.
Before doing so, however, he layered it over and over again with his Concept, washing it with every fragment of Meaning he could muster.
Even though he was certain all of his actions could very well be seen as rude.
The moment the meat touched his tongue, something permeated throughout his entire body.
A tremendous wave of sadness, despair, and anguish soared through him as a forgotten memory surfaced within his mind.
Then...
Just as suddenly...
It was calmed and washed away.
Leaving behind only an overwhelming sense of relief.
But that relief only heightened his vigilance.
Slowly, he raised his head and looked toward the figure seated at the head of the table.
"Are you... the Sanctifier and Redeemer?"
Sang Hun suddenly asked, his expression turning incredibly complex.
The fear and awe that had previously filled his eyes had now given way to something else entirely.