A space presumed to be a conference room.
It appeared that they were conducting a video conference.
Though the scene seemed somewhat noble at first glance, the conversation that could be overheard was not very dignified.
“So, I warned you it would be dangerous, didn’t I!”
“You kept your mouth shut back then, but you’re speaking up now?”
“I know all about you dabbling in circulation. Don’t pretend to be clean.”
“…What?”
Han Seori, who was listening to the conversation, pressed her temples hard, again and again.
She judged that this wouldn’t be resolved within her control and quickly contacted another place to call the relevant people.
It was good that they responded to her call. In fact, considering the circumstances, they could hardly have refused. The places where they were located weren’t likely to have avoided the repercussions either.
‘They don’t look like they get along well under normal circumstances, but…’
Do they really have to fight even now?
Han Seori felt her body growing lethargic along with her irritation, so she pinched her thigh.
A deep, creeping feeling of not wanting to work rose from within her.
…Could this emotion really be due to the Singularity?
Han Seori wiped away the small doubt brewing in her mind and slowly spoke up.
“Hmm… Can’t we discuss these matters later? The priority right now seems to be… damage control.”
“…That’s probably right.”
“Damn, we made fools of ourselves.”
…This is why they fragmented the Laboratory and the Branch Offices, isn’t it?
Still, we should be grateful that the arguments didn’t continue further.
Han Seori shook her head inwardly and shared the information she had gathered with them.
According to her findings within the scope that she could ascertain…
The cause seemed to be the retort pouches from Soylent purple co., which were currently being distributed.
All those who exhibited similar symptoms to hers had, without exception, consumed the retort pouches from Soylent purple co.
A bit of lethargy.
A sensation resembling Monday blues.
If the symptoms had been as mild on others as they were on Han Seori, it might have been unnecessary to call everyone together like this.
But… things were starting to escalate in a way that seemed far from ordinary.
‘…I think I warned people not to eat it if they could help it.’
Han Seori recalled Kim Cheon-soo, who had been taken to isolation not long ago.
Judging from the retort pouch found in his house, it seemed like he hadn’t paid much attention to her warning.
Or perhaps… he had been unable to discard what he had already stocked.
‘Hnnn…’
At any rate, those who consumed large quantities of the retort pouches, like Kim Cheon-soo, seemed to crave the pouches like addicts experiencing withdrawal.
What was peculiar was that even though they usually seemed apathetic about everything and laid around, they would lose control and dash towards the pouches the moment they smelled them.
In essence, it seemed that this induced a sense of profound lethargy so dreadful that it could almost be described as a nightmare for humans, but when more of it was consumed, it turned the person into someone like Kim Cheon-soo.
Since there was no one who seemed worse off than Kim Cheon-soo so far, it was unclear what would happen if it progressed further.
However, quite a few people at this Laboratory had already complained about feeling lethargic. While the number was significant, fortunately, the ratio of those who had reached similar states as Kim Cheon-soo was not too high.
Given everyone’s different situations, and considering their relatively modest salaries, it was loosely assumed that the low number of cases could be attributed to the lesser consumption of the product.
‘I don’t know for sure, but…’
Not everyone’s personal lives were known thoroughly, so the information was dubious at best.
In such a situation, gathering external data was also restricted.
Ultimately, it came down to sending people out, but the problem was that everyone who should have been doing this work was complaining about feeling lethargic, so how could it possibly function properly?
Anyway.
The gist was that those who consumed smaller quantities experienced only intense lethargy, while those who consumed more saw their symptoms worsen.
“…It seemed strange that everyone suddenly started complaining about being tired. Now I understand.”
“Is there a way to resolve this?”
“This complicates things.”
Han Seori inwardly smirked while hearing seemingly normal voices.
Ultimately, it sounded like they had benefited yet hadn’t personally tried the retort pouches.
This was in stark contrast with Yoo Gang-jik, who ate these pouches for meals, being isolated after always being stuck here unable to leave.
‘…I think I understand why people who get drawn into Call of Twilight started appearing.’
It seems plausible.
Though I’m aware they make excuses.
Han Seori cleared her mind of the thoughts and continued.
“First off… those with mild symptoms regain their senses even with slight physical contact. Just stopping the sales would be somewhat effective.”
Han Seori recalled the incident where she had taken the Jelly Girl from the quarantine room (while she was unconscious) and had her slap others until they came to their senses.
…She soon realized that this wasn’t necessarily required, but “it wasn’t my fault that I acted so desperately.”
As she slightly felt embarrassed, a light voice reached her ears, and with a sigh, she replied.
“Is it surprisingly simple to solve?”
“…For mild cases, yes. For severe ones, it doesn’t work.”
“In that case….”
During someone’s murmuring of trouble,
“Please wait a moment.”
Han Seori gestured to the person who had walked in after opening the door. As only urgent matters were to be brought up, she was slightly on edge.
After hearing the person’s report, Han Seori couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh.
It was an ominous report that unknown figures were heading toward the product factory.
While it was somewhat reassuring to know what would ultimately happen to those addicted to the retort pouches,
‘…If we don’t resolve this quickly, will it even be possible to contain it?’
With a serious expression, Han Seori shared the news. Upon hearing it, the rigid voices of the others came through.
“This is a headache. I’ll deploy the personnel as much as I can.”
“Ultimately, we need to eliminate ‘it’ entirely, don’t we? This product might have been released because we couldn’t find a way to eliminate the Singularity in the first place.”
“…That’s right.”
Until recently, Han Seori might have just sighed deeply as well.
The reason behind the insane plan to commercialize the Singularity was that they couldn’t find a way to eliminate the growing Singularity.
However,
‘…If it’s 7496 – KR, it might be possible.’
The growing Chunk of Meat is still unknown, but the retort pouch itself isn’t that large, so…
If we can somehow put it inside 7496 – KR, we might find a way to handle it.
If we delay further, it might become beyond containable.
Han Seori immediately verbalized her thought, and the agreement came quickly, given there were no other options.
I was sleeping cozily under the blanket when Han Seori, who was drenched in sweat, dragged me out of the room.
And then… similarly to Han Seori earlier, I went around slapping the faces of people who had lost their senses.
Since Han Seori instructed me to do so, I followed, but I wondered what the point was.
Still, maybe because all I usually did was play with my toys or sleep, it was…
Frankly… kind of… fun.
While Han Seori was gleefully slapping others as if she didn’t notice I’d been handed off to someone else,
I saw her approaching me with a solemn face.
She embraced me and quickly walked somewhere while looking down at me.
Not long after, Han Seori and I got onto the same vehicle we used when we went to the “labyrinth” last time. Unlike before, we weren’t confined to a glass container, signaling the urgency of the matter.
The moment we boarded, the vehicle took off immediately, and Han Seori sighed as she tied the same necklace around my neck.
After some time,
She showed me something familiar while speaking.
“Follow the arrow from the start this time. And…”
Han Seori gently patted my head and pointed to something on the screen while continuing her instruction.
“Devour this.”
Saying that, she grabbed some random items around and slid them into my stomach.
Focusing on the screen, I saw something familiar.
Recalling my memory, it was something I’d seen before.
It was the strange retort pouch that had ejected a red Chunk of Meat from underground.
It wasn’t a memory I wanted to revisit, so my body seemed to be reacting with bubbling Jelly. Seeing the Jelly bubble, Han Seori’s expression became somewhat… desperate.
“…Do you understand? Can you do it?”
Han Seori, saying that, looked at me with an expression I had never seen before.
Desperation, restlessness, a bit of fear, expectation, hope…
It was an incredibly complex expression that couldn’t be defined with a single word. I just blankly stared at her face, unable to nod.
Thinking I hadn’t understood, Han Seori repeated the same words.
Finally, snapping out of it, I nodded wordlessly (since I can’t speak anyway).
This seemed to brighten her face a little.
…Still,
What could have happened to make her this way? Could it be related to the people I slapped earlier?
Now that I think about it… wasn’t something off about the ordinary people today?
Piecing together the experiences of today, I roughly figured it out.
Apparently… they must have eaten something really nasty and got sick.
Uh… but now you’re asking me to eat it?
Then… what about me?
Creeeak!
While I was staring at Han Seori who was only sighing deeply, the car came to an abrupt stop.
When we got out, there was some commotion coming from a distance.
Although it quickly disappeared because there seemed to be an entrance leading somewhere nearby.
Anyway,
We took the elevator,
and descended to the place where I was originally kidnapped.
I didn’t exactly miss the place.
