263 – Dungeon and Nymph: Nymph’s Journey #6
“The Room You Can’t Leave Unless You Do Something.”
The characters on the wall were still ambiguous in meaning.
It seemed to hint that we could only leave this room by doing something.
Like a poorly written prank by someone, the information about ‘what we should do’ was as black as ink and obscured.
Ari spoke.
“It seems there are no hints on the floor or ceiling. It looks like we have to do something to leave this room… What on earth should we do?”
I understood that we needed to take action, but as you know, ‘action’ is quite broad.
We jumped or tried sit-ups in the small room, engaging in various forms of activity.
But there were no signs of the firmly closed door opening.
Hmm…
Ari stretched her neck.
“Squirrel in the mountains – baby squirrel -.”
Ari sang a cheerful tune filled with innocence. Perhaps this room is ‘a room you can’t leave unless you sing.’
Of course, the door remained firmly closed.
After finishing her refreshing song, Ari let out a small sigh.
“I guess it doesn’t work.”
We were truly in a state of confusion.
I could sense that Ari’s breathing was becoming more ragged, as if we were wandering through thick fog.
“Maybe we have to stay trapped here for the rest of our lives. Since we have plenty of time, I think we should try everything we can do, even holding hands!”
Ari seemed to panic slightly, wanting to escape this place.
It must be frightening to think we would be trapped here forever.
Anyone would panic.
I thought to myself that I needed to gather my strength to save Ari.
Sniff, sniff…
I detected a smell of ink in the air.
On a whim, I touched the wall here and there, and spotted a corner of the wall that had crumbled down, near the floor.
There was a very slight crack in the wall.
Feeling the smell of ink coming from that cracked section, I hit it lightly with my tightly clenched fist.
Crack…
There was a sound of the wall slightly breaking, and a small hole appeared.
Inside that hole was a piece of paper.
“Oh!”
I unfolded the rectangular paper and read the writing on it.
“It says ‘Confession.’ Confession. This seems to be a hint! It looks like this room is one you can’t leave unless you confess!”
I was very excited to have found a hint closely tied to our escape! I felt a thrilling sense of achievement.
After I handed the paper to Ari, she muttered softly.
“Oh… confession…”
She seemed a bit calmer, but perhaps because of my mood, she also appeared slightly disappointed. Maybe she wanted to find the hint herself, but I had discovered it first.
Anyway.
Ari spoke.
“So, what are we supposed to confess?”
“Well…”
Confession.
I thought to speak out, taking a chance.
“I often add a spoonful of ketchup when I cook ramen. Though one spoon doesn’t make a huge difference, it gives the soup a slight umami flavor.”
When I told people I added ketchup to my ramen, they would often react with, “What kind of flavor does that even have?”
They seem to think it would taste like tomatoes in the ramen.
But I can assure you that adding just a spoonful of ketchup doesn’t make the soup taste like tomatoes. However, it does make the aftertaste of the broth feel a bit refreshing and enhances its umami.
Anyway.
It was somewhat an embarrassing confession.
Ari murmured to herself, “You add ketchup to ramen.”
I wondered if this would make the door open or not as I looked at the door, but there was no movement.
“What the heck. It’s not opening.”
“It seems so.”
“Maybe if I confess alone, it won’t mean anything. If you have something to confess, you should say it now.”
“Confess? M-my…!? W-what? I don’t have anything like that…!”
Ari looked immensely flustered, her expression visible even through her cool-looking cybernetic mask.
After all, many women have things they’d rather keep secret.
My younger sister Haildo had made a ‘Princess Haildo’s Secret Diary’ in elementary school and would get mad saying, “You can’t look at it!” if anyone tried to sneak a peek.
Though the content of that diary was trivial things like “Today I ate grapes. Grapes are so delicious. Tomorrow I should eat strawberries” or “I want to be the Queen of Blades. Hehe.”
For someone, that could be a precious secret.
“It’s embarrassing to confess a secret….”
Quivering, Ari began to tremble a little, making her look somewhat pitiful.
In fact, now that I think about it, Ari’s very existence in this form is a huge secret.
I suddenly grew curious.
“How did you become a Patriot team member?”
“…How did I?”
“Yes, you seem skilled and intelligent. I thought you could have done fine in any other job. Did you have a sense of mission or something?”
I was quite curious about how my junior Ari ended up as an operative.
During my own time spent as a perennial D-rank, I had lived in seclusion, and I was curious about what others did with their lives.
In that sense, a minute or so passed in silence between us.
As I pondered whether I should be the one to break the awkward silence first, Ari spoke.
“Promise me you won’t laugh when you hear this?”
“Of course.”
What could possibly be funny?
While I was deeply calculating what it could be, Ari spoke calmly.
“I… wanted a more stable job because my circumstances weren’t good back then. So, when I heard that high-ranking civil servants were being hired, I volunteered. At that time, there was a movement to turn Awakened individuals into government employees.”
“Oh. Right. They were trying to increase the number of government-affiliated Awakened individuals. I was even offered a position, but I declined. I remember that.”
“Back then, there was a section to write down the job you wanted. Air Defense. Communication. Field Operations. Tanks. Aviation, and so on… The competition for office jobs was intense at the time. I wanted to go for an office job.”
“An office job? Why?”
“Well, working on the field was a bit exhausting…”
Indeed.
I could recall that Ari was afraid of facing demons. It seems she indeed wanted to quit her job as an Awakened and take a break.
Perhaps retiring at B-rank was a genuine retirement after all.
“At that time, I discovered the ‘Human Intelligence’ position. Human Intelligence. Even if I didn’t know much, I thought it was a job where you’d sit in front of a computer, akin to a human resources employee. Coincidentally, the competition was low, so I applied…”
Human Intelligence (HUMan INTelligence).
The term commonly referred to intelligence agents or operatives. Ari had thought it was a human resources role!
So that’s how she became an operative!
It was a confusing name for someone unaware.
“Haha! Hahaha!”
It was funny.
These days, I saw Ari as always sharp and capable, so I never thought she’d make such a huge mistake that would derail her career.
Originally, the old Ari was quite clumsy about things.
Soon Ari snapped back in an almost indignant manner.
“Don’t… don’t laugh! You promised you wouldn’t!”
Right.
I instantly stopped laughing.
Then Ari grumbled with a bit of a pout.
“You might say that now, but do you know how serious it was back then? I thought it was a job done in front of a computer, but suddenly I was directed to the National Intelligence Command…”
Ari, once a promising B-rank Awakened, said that since then she had undergone high-level training to become a powerful intelligence agent.
Apparently, the work suited her better than expected, and she ended up quickly rising through the ranks.
“It’s impressive that you became S-rank by fighting other Awakened and villains rather than just against demons. The Awakened named Jinriyeon that I recently met was captured by you, right?”
“That’s right. My teammates and I dug a pit and lay in wait for over a week, then rushed in to catch them. Thinking back on it, it was quite a hassle.”
The individuals confined on the 51st floor of the Great Prison were highly classified and had never even been reported in the news. Most of the prisoners stuck on the 50th floor were like that too.
I felt both proud and respected that Ari had fought against those highly confidential individuals, maintaining public order.
“That’s incredible. Diligently doing your duties in a place where no one knows. The reason people can enjoy their peaceful lives now is all thanks to people like you.”
# #
“I’m embarrassed!”
Yu Ara felt like she could die from blushing.
Her heart raced like a patient with arrhythmia, and her pulse and blood pressure were in turmoil.
The reason Ari became an intelligence agent was due to a silly mistake, a truth she had never told anyone.
“You must absolutely keep this a secret from others. That I mistook the Human Intelligence division…”
“Of course.”
Seeing Haildo nod, Ari felt a slight sense of relief.
There was a somewhat warm feeling in sharing their secret together.
“It’s okay if nobody knows about my struggles. As long as I can watch over my senior from afar… and if I could be a help to my senior…”
Though Yu Ara had unknowingly become an intelligence agent, she found certain aspects of the job quite pleasant. Meanwhile, Haildo had been stuck in D-rank for a long time, digging into his own hole.
Like a squirrel digging a burrow to survive the severe winter.
Rejecting engagement with acquaintances.
Hiding herself from society.
But Yu Ara could observe and keep an eye on Haildo in all his various states. Thanks to the many privileges that came with being an intelligence agent.
Haildo’s IP.
Haildo’s posts.
Even how many times Haildo added ketchup to his ramen, Yu Ara knew it all!
“Back then, my senior’s life was filled with hardships, but I believed one day he would emerge into the world again like someone welcoming a warm spring day.”
Hehe…
As Ari smiled inwardly, the door suddenly unlocked with a click.
The next room appeared.
“Haildo, the next room has appeared. What do we have to do here?”
Ari felt a certain thrill, holding hands and opening up their hearts, making it feel like a date.
It would have been even better without this ‘mask.’
If it had been a date between non-plague doctors, Yu Ara and Haildo, it would have been even better. But Yu Ara decided to compromise.
“I’m the little mermaid. A mermaid who has been discovered and the big muscular guy… ends up a tragedy. I’m okay like this. I’m… just being with my senior right now feels like a dream.”
Feeling a little flutter of happiness, Ari gazed upon the new room and the new room’s rules.
“A room you can’t leave unless it’s an odd number.”
