“Ahhh….”
The woman lying sprawled in the snow twitched slightly, emitting a small sound.
After raising her head once more, her face was noticeably red from the accumulated layer of snow.
She thought she might die if she remained like this, and so she slowly began to move her increasingly numb body.
Swish… Swish.
As she dragged herself across the floor, large worm-like tracks appeared in the pristine white snow.
Having left a long trail behind her, the woman finally arrived beneath a rather large tree and, grabbing onto it, managed to pull herself up with great difficulty.
Leaning against the tree, the woman exhaled a stream of white mist as she lamented.
“What happened to me…?”
Once the mist dissipated, a surprisingly youthful face appeared. She looked more like a girl than a woman.
Despite the traces of hardship and cold visible on her face, she still looked fairly attractive.
While flailing her legs through the snow trying to summon some kind of angel to rescue her, the woman recalled the reason for her being here.
“…Did I push things too far?”
Her reasons for coming to such a place, one where even money wouldn’t tempt anyone to visit, were simple.
She wanted to meet something that kept appearing in her dreams, a strangely shaped, blue-colored girl.
The last time she had seen the blue figure, it had a stainless steel bowl on its head, which made her grin, even in her difficult situation.
Truthfully, the woman had no certainty that coming here would allow her to see that blue something.
Still, she had aimlessly followed the residual traces of the dream, and before she knew it, she had arrived here.
“…Am I under too much stress?”
The woman sighed, her lips turning purple.
She remembered something even older.
They were not particularly pleasant memories.
Memories of writing resumes and going to interviews, only to taste the bitterest of rejections.
Would getting a job somehow have changed things for her?
If she had obtained a job, perhaps she wouldn’t have made it this far.
Maybe what she wanted wasn’t to see the blue something but to take a break.
Or maybe…
“Ah, never mind.”
The woman shook her head.
Instead of indulging in these ominous thoughts, she decided to think more positively.
Yes, she just needed a break.
It’s time to end this journey and return to daily life.
Forget the blue. It’s definitely just stress-induced strange dreams.
…But just what was this impulse?
Shivering from the cold, the woman fumbled in her coat and pulled out her smartphone.
It was cracked and looked dangerously fragile.
When she touched the screen to check her current location…
“What is this? Why isn’t it working?”
Her smartphone, already strained to its limits, seemed to have given up in the cold.
With a bitter feeling, the woman placed the dying device, that had previously informed her of interview results, back into her coat.
…What should I do?
Has something terrible really happened to me?
The woman turned her head around, leaning on the tree to take in her surroundings.
Moments ago, blinded by blind determination, she hadn’t noticed the beautiful scenery around her.
The white, pure snow showed no signs of dirt, except for the worm-like trail left by her movements.
…Therefore,
There wasn’t even the slightest clue as to where she was.
“…Is there such a place in our country?”
Although it was an ironic question for her to ask since she was already here, her memory was truly foggy.
“…This is really bad.”
Having lost her original purpose, the woman felt the vitality draining from her body.
Just like someone who had only the goal of revenge in their heart but lost their target.
“Ah, this might be… kind of cool.”
Perhaps due to the cold and pain, her mind wasn’t right anymore.
…Nonetheless, she seemed to be burning her final spark of life for sure.
As she curled her body up, she noticed her vision blurring.
She’s dying.
That feeling whispered close to her ears.
She should move…
But she’s so sleepy.
If I just take a nap, I’ll be able to move afterward, right? They say sleep is good medicine.
Ah, if I fall asleep… maybe I’ll see that blue thing again.
The one thing that consoled her amidst her pain… what was it called?
Her growing cold body.
Her increasingly blurred vision.
The woman, feeling her mind getting foggy, slowly sank into the darkness.
Just then.
“Hey! If you fall asleep now, you’ll die!”
“…?”
Drawn by the voice slapping her ears, the woman blinked wearily.
Before her appeared a man approaching her.
His face looked quite stern and manly.
Maybe… a bit handsome too?
‘Is he a guide sent to take me to the afterlife?’
“Snap out of it!”
The man approached and pulled out numerous hot packs from his bag, offering a large bundle of them to her.
“Hot packs…?”
“Put them inside your clothes.”
While handling the hot packs, the woman mumbled to herself, following his instructions and putting the packs inside her clothes.
“Are you not a guide to the afterlife…?”
“What nonsense is that?”
“Ah, forget it.”
Realizing suddenly how absurd this was, she flushed, her face turning red as she buried it in her knees.
She reprimanded herself for her foolishness.
What kind of glory did I think I’d achieve by coming here?
She barely remembered how she’d even arrived here in the first place, so it was hard to criticize herself clearly.
This is all because of job-seeking stress.
“I want to win the lottery….”
“…What nonsense is this now?”
The man, Kim Cheon-soo, who was retrieving items from his bag for her, looked at her with bafflement.
Having caught his eyes, the woman blushed again and hid her face in her knees.
“…So, you came all the way here because you wanted to see something from your dream?”
As Kim Cheon-soo asked with a stunned look, the woman scratched her head and said with embarrassment:
“Ahaha… probably. To be honest, I don’t even remember how I got here.”
“…You don’t remember?”
“Yes. Well, I have some vague awareness of moving, but… like being possessed by something?”
“Hmm.”
The woman, delighted that Kim Cheon-soo was seriously listening to her, excitedly went on to tell various stories.
Kim Cheon-soo, observing Yang Ha-na, as she was, found his mind growing more and more complex.
Surprisingly, the woman who had been on the brink of death moments ago seemed to be regaining her wits, which was unexpected.
Moreover, she wasn’t what Han Seori and he had assumed their opponent to be, making him feel perplexed.
Although believing all of Yang Ha-na’s story seemed absurd, if he were to believe it, she appeared to be more of a victim.
‘What were 7496 – KR thinking…?’
To bring a person to this place?
He couldn’t confirm for sure, but it seemed plausible.
Perhaps her mind, weakened by stress, was swayed by that strange impulse.
Kim Cheon-soo nodded inwardly as he listened to Yang Ha-na, empathizing with the stress she must have experienced.
After all, until he barely made it to where he was now, he himself had been in a position much like hers.
…Setting aside the empathy for the intricate story aside,
He was at a loss as to how to handle her.
Actually, it would have been easier if she had blatantly shown ill intentions.
Being problematic was her seemingly harmless civilian demeanor.
The means available at the lab currently being run by Han Seori and Kim Cheon-soo were not exactly peaceful.
Still, it wasn’t possible to just let her go.
It was uncertain what problems might arise if they sent this woman, who couldn’t even remember how she got here, out without proper measures.
After pondering various complicated issues, he decided this was not a problem he could resolve on his own.
“Still, I’ve never seen a place like this. I didn’t even know such a place existed in our country.”
“…I see.”
Even as he listened to her story, it didn’t feel terrible.
Her endless positivity reminded him of the sun, making him realize the beauty of youth.
‘…No, I’m young too.’
Humming lightly, Kim Cheon-soo stood up.
“Uh… where are you going?”
“…I, uh, need to take care of some business for a moment.”
“Ah! Alright, come back safely! Oh, but I heard that being outside in this place will make you freeze –”
“Does your throat hurt? Here, drink this while you wait a moment.”
After pulling out a water flask to stop her incessant talking, Kim Cheon-soo turned and walked off to a place out of her sight and hearing distance.
It looked like he was really going to take care of business.
…Technically speaking, it was business.
Having confirmed there was no one around, Kim Cheon-soo initiated a communication device and spoke into it.
“Dr. Han, are you listening?”
[…Yes. It’s gotten a bit complicated, hasn’t it?]
“That’s what I’ve been saying.”
When Kim Cheon-soo sighed, a puff of white mist escaped his lips. When the sigh froze in mid-air and dispersed,
Han Seori laughed lightly.
“So, did you enjoy talking to the young one?”
“…What nonsense are you saying? And I’m not that old.”
[They say pouting makes you look like an uncle.]
“…”
[I’m just messing with you.]
With the laughter gone, Han Seori seemed to think for a moment before making a judgment.
The methods for dealing with this civilian, presumably not someone they could simply let go, were not many.
So her decision seemed inevitable.
“Are you really going to do that?”
[It can’t be helped. Just bear with it for a bit.]
“…Alright.”
After ending the communication, Kim Cheon-soo turned and looked at the direction Yang Ha-na was sitting.
Their eyes met; she waved at him with a smile, so Kim Cheon-soo let out a faint sigh and waved back slightly.
…Is this really alright?
Kim Cheon-soo slowly moved toward Yang Ha-na with a rigid expression.
Though doubts lingered in his mind,
Since he had no choice,
He put Han Seori’s words into action.
