“Is this the right place?”
[It’s certain. It suddenly appeared near here.]
At the confident female voice, the man leaning against the tree furrowed his brow uncomfortably.
“But nothing’s happening, right? Not even a nose is showing. No people, nothing.”
[…Could it be that your acting is a bit clumsy? They might be hearing everything you’re saying right now.]
As the male heard the female’s voice in his head, he involuntarily flinched.
If what she implied were true, then the entire responsibility for this situation would lie solely with him.
The voice he was hearing was akin to telepathy facilitated by the Singularity.
By “akin,” it referred to the limitation of how the Singularity transmitted sound.
Even though the recipient could be far away, it was possible to transmit the voice in secret, but for that, one had to speak out loud first.
Thus, in the end, because it was the man who couldn’t help but speak out loud, there was no excuse.
But he had his reasons.
Time had passed since he’d come here after hearing the news of the evidence being found.
It was confirmed that someone had exited from nearby, so it was certain that what they were looking for was in this vicinity.
But nothing had been discovered.
They had disguised search crew members as passing travelers several times to inspect the surrounding area, carefully avoiding suspicion. They split the team into smaller groups to avoid attracting attention.
However, with the limited number of people available, the search progressed slowly. There was much to check and too few people to deploy.
Still, everyone acknowledged that this was the best they could do at the moment.
While their target had been seen leaving from a certain location, there were other ‘agents’ not far away, so making a commotion was out of the question.
Anyway,
With their limited numbers, they had frantically scouted the area.
Given the story of figures emerging from the ground, thanks to the existence of the Singularity, the tale didn’t sound far-fetched. The group approached the supposed spot of emergence, pretending that they’d come across it accidentally, jabbing at the ground with a cane.
There were many such desperate attempts, but none bore fruit.
If they had indeed emerged from the ground, some trace should have been left behind. But strangely, not only were there no traces, the cane couldn’t even penetrate the soil.
There was no other explanation but the Singularity’s interference, leaving them with no clues whatsoever.
It was predictable that those who had left the target location would return.
After all, Han Seori and the others were heading in a direction they already knew.
Before then, they had to uncover the target location — presumed to be the Laboratory.
It seemed increasingly impossible.
They couldn’t launch a large-scale search, nor could they deploy the Singularity.
Even if they could determine their exact location, that was the problem in itself—they didn’t even know where to begin.
It was akin to hitting a wall before the journey had truly started.
In that situation, their last gambit was feigning distress and pretending to be stranded.
After all, no matter how covert the organization, as long as they claimed to serve humanity, they couldn’t ignore someone in dire need, or even someone in peril of death.
With this logic, contact was almost guaranteed, and thus the gambit had been set.
But again, it went nowhere.
Had the bait been taken, some sort of response should’ve been evident by now.
They couldn’t reveal the location of the Laboratory, so they had to send someone disguised as a Local or traveler—but so far, there was no news.
Frustration mounting, the man couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.
It was partly resignation and partly irritation at the female voice critiquing him.
Eventually,
As the man sealed his lips and once more immersed himself in his act, the woman’s voice reverberated in his mind.
[Isn’t this too late… It almost feels like we’ve been exposed. Tsk.]
This was genuinely frustrating.
He could feel his insides boiling.
He figured it would be wise to wait a bit more, but if no reaction came, he would have to follow the woman’s advice and retreat.
Then, fully expecting to be exposed, he planned on making a scene.
If the situation were clear-cut, why not push forward?
After all, considering recent events…
“Cough…”
In the middle of grumbling in his thoughts, the silhouette of a human figure began to appear in the distance.
“Cough… They’re here.”
[Are they really coming? Why so late? Someone really injured would’ve died by now.]
That’s precisely what the man thought as well.
He felt a mix of relief and anticipation while fingering the weapon hidden in his coat.
If the figures weren’t emerging from the ground, there must certainly be a pathway they’d walked from.
The fact that there were two, rather than one, was slightly concerning, but for guiding the way, wouldn’t one person suffice?
Even for emergencies, holding one hostage would be enough.
Please, don’t accuse him of being cruel.
For the greater good, sacrifice was inevitable.
The man leaned against the tree, feigning labored breathing while keeping a close eye on the approaching silhouettes.
He was gauging who to eliminate and who to intimidate.
In his sight,
An almost innocent-looking young woman and another woman walking beside her with an emotionless face came into view.
The man immediately decided to neutralize the emotionless woman.
It seemed far easier to manipulate her companion, whose face was full of worry.
…And the emotionless woman felt dangerously off. He had a nagging feeling that if he didn’t strike first, he might end up being the one taken down.
Clomp.
Clomp.
[How’s it going?]
The man didn’t respond.
He carefully regulated his breathing, minimizing his breaths to avoid mistakes.
Eliminate the threatening figure with the weapon concealed in his coat, take advantage of the more exploitable one, infiltrate the Laboratory.
Securing what they came for.
Eventually,
The two women entered the man’s range.
Looking at their faces within effective range, the man reaffirmed that he would proceed with his initial plan.
Bang!
Firing the trigger.
A rather loud sound accompanied by white smoke emerged.
“W-What is that sound…?”
A voice filled with bewilderment trembled.
Terrified by the ominous noise, she turned her gaze to where it originated. The woman had never fired a gun, nor had she ever truly heard gunshots.
As she gazed at the source of the sound, her eyes landed on the man leaning against the tree.
He looked entirely normal, far from the wounded individual he’d been pretending to be.
He held in his hand a black object emitting smoke.
“…Huh?”
Yang Ha-na suddenly realized the sound she had heard was gunfire.
T-t-this… Is that… a gun?
Her body stiffened at the sight of this simultaneously realistic and surreal scene.
Her mind was overwhelmed by the sudden events.
Still, something felt off.
That person seems to have some ulterior motive…
Why does his face look like that?
Whose side is this gun supposed to be on?
“Ahh, no!”
It finally dawned on Yang Ha-na what had transpired. Her face went pale as she turned toward her companion.
That was when she understood.
Seeing the horrifying sight,
Standing beside her was Guche.
Or rather, it would no longer be appropriate to call it a sphere.
Guche, feeling uneasy about Yang Ha-na going out alone and wanting to join her for ‘research’ purposes, had prepared an artificial human body.
The strange mechanical body merged with the sphere was clearly robotic, unmistakably so.
But Guche had a plan.
Given the difficulty of mimicking human skin with the resources currently in the laboratory, the best alternative was to use a human-shaped figure.
Though not actual human skin, and more of an optical deception,
It was like wearing a highly precise image onto the body.
It was passable unless touched, making Yang Ha-na jump in fright when she accidentally touched its cold surface.
Still,
Yang Ha-na and the newly manifested Guche were struck by the bullet.
In a body unaccustomed to its new form, Guche’s reaction was delayed.
As a result,
A bullet struck near Guche’s face, revealing the mechanical internals beneath the disguise.
The grotesque sight of the partially damaged robotic form with a ruined head section left an unsettling impression.
The man, who had aimed to eliminate Guche first, froze in reaction to the unexpected scene.
And,
That brief pause would prove fatal.
At the very moment Yang Ha-na turned to check on Guche,
Guche moved.
Realizing his mistake too late, the man fired several bullets, but the sphere had no intentions of being hit again.
Blocking them with the sturdiest part of its body, Guche launched an immediate counterattack.
Or rather, retaliation.
Returning the projectiles exactly as they had been sent.
Boosh!
Instead of a dull sound, a grotesque noise of flesh tearing and rupturing filled the air.
The man’s body fell to the ground, just as Yang Ha-na processed the events, her mouth opening wide.
“Uuuuh… Uuhh… Waaah!”
Gulp!
…An unpleasant sound followed.
Guche simply gazed at the fallen man and a stunned Yang Ha-na with an emotionless expression.
It wasn’t clear why Yang Ha-na was reacting that way.
Guche had approached with good intentions only to be attacked and responded accordingly.
This must surely fit the definition of self-defense as humans described it.
Why is she reacting this way then?
Guche couldn’t understand Yang Ha-na’s reaction.
However,
For some reason, Guche felt an inner disturbance within its storage system.
It was unclear why.
Neither Guche nor the fallen man made any sound.
In any case, it seemed best to return to the Laboratory promptly.
Given the developments, things were bound to get worse if they lingered any longer.
