039 – Inoi and the Little Stationery Store #3
Nymphs are said to love singing.
“The Song of the Ditch Water” is particularly favored by the nymphs.
It was a song they sang to call upon the Squirrel Beast Kkungkkungi long ago.
“This Inoi thinks that there must be more nymph sisters somewhere…! I really want to meet the nymph sisters soon…!”
Inoi seemed very happy as she thought of another nymph’s existence. And the strange vitality made me feel as if a lady from a moving company was really living somewhere.
“Is it possible for a person to survive in that rift for so long? I was trapped for just half a day and fell ill.”
Lee Jin-A’s older sister, Lee Sun-A, seemed unable to believe that her mother, who had been missing in the rift for ten years, was still alive.
Indeed, the rift was an overly harsh ecosystem for an ordinary person to survive in.
The dense magical power of the rift is poison to ordinary people.
At that moment, what came to my mind was Yu Ara’s story.
The essence of an Awakened is inherited.
Because of that, Yu Ara had previously exchanged talks about marrying Lee Joon-Hun in a political marriage to have the next generation of Awakened.
“There is a high probability that Jin-A’s aptitude for magical power has been passed down from her mother. Originally, the awakening due to magical power has a limit between the ages of 15 to 25. Still, if her constitution is similar to her daughter’s—.”
Even if she couldn’t become an Awakened, wouldn’t she be able to adapt to the magical power of the rift to survive? I couldn’t assert whether this was possible or impossible.
However, the sound of the nymph’s song.
And the dreams of the president.
I thought that this must be the evidence.
“There is a high probability that my wife is still alive.”
“Is that really true!?”
The president of the moving company grabbed my arm tightly.
His eyes, which had just returned from a tiring day, began to light up with vitality.
“Please help me find my wife!”
How long had it been since someone clung to me with such desperation? It used to happen frequently in the past.
Thinking of those times, I nodded.
“I will do my best.”
Now there was one problem.
The door of the rift that the lady fell into had closed by itself after a day.
There were rifts that closed automatically without destroying the Rift Core.
The problem was that it was entirely uncertain when and where that closed rift would reopen.
It might never open again.
What on earth causes rifts to open and why do they exist?
It was still a mystery that humanity had yet to uncover.
I became even more curious about how to reach the rift where the lady might be.
What exactly is a rift?
The question that Inoi had wondered about when she first came to this world filled my mind.
Of course, I had no way of knowing the answer.
But I had an idea of who might know.
“Seo Ye-rim, are you busy?”
I stepped outside for a moment and called Seo Ye-rim.
I intended to ask her about the rift.
“By any chance, do you know what a rift is? To be precise, do you know how rifts are formed and why they exist?”
Seo Ye-rim was an S Rank Awakened.
And the daughter of a large corporation.
There was a high probability that she had more information than others.
—I don’t know either.
But Seo Ye-rim said she didn’t know.
It felt natural—because Seo Ye-rim seemed to prefer physical activity over thinking.
She is the field type.
“Then maybe Yu Ara knows?”
—Yu Ara? If I don’t know, then she probably knows even less! Don’t hang up! I’ll contact my dad. We have an advisor in the 5th Industrial Department who knows about these things—.
That was the last I heard from Seo Ye-rim as she abruptly ended the call.
About five minutes passed, perhaps?
—Here it is. This is the paper that the doctor wrote about the rift, right? It’s just been published. I sent you the text file to your email, so read it when you can. You owe me one for this!
Click.
With that, Seo Ye-rim hung up.
I quickly rummaged through my phone and opened the text file.
And I felt my eyes widen in surprise.
“It’s all in English.”
It was a paper written in English.
Now that I looked closely, the author’s name was “A. N. Gate.” A foreigner, huh.
“Dr. Gate.”
The name has “Gate” in it.
Didn’t they say that rifts are called “Gates” in foreign countries?
What a fitting name for an expert on rifts.
The problem was that I wasn’t very good at English. I could manage light communication with foreigners, but interpreting such a specialized paper was beyond my ability.
Should I call Seo Ye-rim again—just as I thought that, my hand abruptly stopped.
Because I felt that Seo Ye-rim would record all this help as a “debt.”
“An English thesis….”
At that moment, Yu Ara’s face came to mind.
I saw in some drama that all medical doctors write and read their papers in English. So Yu Ara should be able to do it too.
Besides, she had also written a paper about mitochondria before.
Would it be okay to send the paper Seo Ye-rim gave me to Yu Ara?
When I asked Seo Ye-rim, I got a reply: “It’s a paper just registered in the US yesterday anyway.”
I felt reassured and sent the text file to Yu Ara.
“Ari: Senior, what is this?”
I got a response in less than ten seconds.
I called Yu Ara.
“Did you just receive the paper? It’s said to be written by a renowned expert in the 5th industry, but it’s filled with difficult English terminology, so it’s hard to interpret.”
—Is that so? Then let me take a look for a moment. Please wait about 10 minutes.
Ten minutes.
It was enough time.
I added one more word before Yu Ara ended the call.
“Please make a note of any parts that mention why rifts occur. And also note anything about how rifts form.”
But after saying it, I felt a bit apologetic.
It feels like I’m asking unilaterally.
“If everything goes well, I’ll treat you to a meal. Thinking about it, I’ve only been receiving from you lately. I’ll buy you beef, so please help me out.”
—Okay!
Ari didn’t refuse, which was nice.
Ten minutes later.
Yu Ara called me.
—I skimmed through it, and it’s about 20 pages long. There are many interesting contents. I translated the portions you requested and sent them to you.
I wondered if that could really be achieved in ten minutes, but she truly had done it.
Ari was smarter than I had expected.
No wonder she is a doctor.
Doctors are certainly amazing.
They save injured people and so on.
I looked at the translations that Yu Ara sent me.
Even though there were many difficult and unfamiliar words, the parts Yu Ara highlighted had more clear meanings than I had anticipated.
“There is a causation in everything. Rifts are not sudden phenomena and there are logical, scientific ways to explain them.”
“Up until now, the mainstream theory on the generation process and principles of rifts has been the ‘Random Theory.’ However, the author has discovered an algorithm that can generate rifts where desired through collaboration with Telos Corporation.”
An algorithm that generates rifts where desired?
Is something like that possible?
I had no idea that the world was moving so rapidly.
And this astonishing phenomenon was a boon for me.
An algorithm that generates rifts where desired.
I wondered what that could be, and as I read further into the paper, there were intriguing stories.
“Rifts are drawn by intense causation. The causation referred to here can be a powerful Awakened, an object, or a place.”
The idea that rifts are drawn by causation.
Although the words were complicated, could it not be interpreted to mean that one can artificially draw a rift and open its entrance?
If that statement were true, it might be possible to open the rift where Lee Jin-A’s mother might be trapped.
# # #
“Did Dr. Newgate write such a paper? It seems that it hasn’t yet drawn attention domestically? Incredible. To forcibly open a rift, I wonder how much that experiment cost?”
Clank.
Kang Cheol-Min, equipped with mechanical arms, expressed his surprise in a dark room where there were no windows.
Then Lee Joon-Hun, who was listening to the conversation, replied.
“It sounds astronomically expensive. We at Osa also collaborated with Elves for experiments. If we could open rifts and close them after putting garbage or industrial waste inside, that would solve environmental issues, right?”
“Really? Do corporations have better technology than we understand? So, Ari, what do you think? Do you think it will be feasible with our current technology?”
“There is no base at all. There’s no budget.”
Yu Ara shook her head calmly.
At that moment, Lee Joon-Hun quickly interjected.
“I can provide all the money and materials! I just need to sneak out the documents from Osa Group after I join. Our data will likely be better than Telos! After all, we are the number one corporation, the leading company in the 5th industry! Osa!”
Having formerly been an S Rank Awakened, Lee Joon-Hun felt pleased to have a role within the group.
Then, Kang Cheol-Min, manipulating his steel arm, patted Lee Joon-Hun’s back playfully.
“Wow, codename ‘Prince.’ Are you glad to have a chance to be active in the organization? Well, it seems that we should be the ones controlling the rift control technology. It’s too dangerous to handle at a mere corporate level.”
Kang Cheol-Min recalled the worst disasters that could arise from the advancement of technology.
During the early outbreak of rifts.
How many people went missing and lost their lives?
As a former first-generation student, he knew the horror of it all better than anyone.
“And also….”
Now, his eyes slowly read the paper that was written in English.
One of the causations for rifts to occur.
A strong Awakened with powerful magical power.
“Strong Awakened cause strong rifts to occur. Prince. That’s why there should be three S Rank Awakeneds in Korea. It’s the reason why countries intentionally control the number of S Rank Awakeneds.”
As the level of Awakened increases, the risk of the rift occurrence also begins to rise.
When an S Rank Awakened was born, the T Rank rift that occurred was a huge disaster.
‘What if an Awakened exceeding S Rank appears in the world… what kind of event would that bring about?’
Kang Cheol-Min chuckled at such an imagination.
There could never be an Awakened that surpasses S Rank in this world.
Of course, it was also because they moved before any signs appeared.
# # #
“I hear there’s a way to open rifts, but it seems it requires a lot of money.”
I spoke frankly to Lee Jin-A’s family.
Money.
At that talk, the president’s expression shifted in various ways.
“So there is a way!? We can just earn the money!”
We can earn it.
In my opinion, that must surely be a staggering sum.
Machines and devices of the 5th industry.
Surely, it would be extremely expensive.
Would this be an amount that an ordinary person would see in a lifetime?
“Money….”
Lee Jin-A also clicked her tongue and frowned.
Seeing her expression, I felt an ominous sense that they might soon extort money from someone.
At that moment, Inoi trembled.
“This Inoi says that she has a lot of money…! This Inoi says she has picked up many coins under the bed and in the yard…! There are plenty in the coin purse that grandma gave me…!”
Jangle.
Inoi took out a red coin purse from her tracksuit pocket and opened it.
There were indeed lots of coins inside, and the amount was quite substantial.
When did Inoi save up this money?
“This Inoi, when meeting the nymph sisters, has been diligently saving to buy that ‘land’ and build a house…! You can use this money as much as you want…!”
With that, Inoi proudly puffed out her chest.
There was a reason why Inoi was remarkably admirable for saving up money.
The reason—
The word “causation” suddenly crossed my mind.
“It was said that there is a reason for rifts to open. The rift did not come to us. We drew the rift to us.”
Ten years ago.
At that time in our village streets.
The people wandering in front of the stationery store.
What if we could recreate the situation as closely as possible to how it was back then?
“President, you have contact with everyone who used to live in the neighborhood, right? Even those who moved elsewhere, you must have helped them move, right?”
“That’s true, but suddenly why?”
“Even if we don’t have money, we should do our best as far as we can. Please reach out so that everyone can meet in front of the greatest stationery store soon.”
