After emerging from the cave, Kim Cheon-soo felt an overwhelming sense of heaviness in his body.
He paused briefly to identify the cause and concluded that the bag strapped to his back was too heavy.
In that case.
Why not just set it down and go?
As he idly contemplated this, his fingers began to loosen the straps of the bag, when suddenly Kim Cheon-soo blinked.
What am I thinking?
Leaving this here… It’s practically the same as signing my own death warrant, isn’t it?
To wander around in an unknown place without any preparation whatsoever…
Just as he was about to continue this train of thought–
“Over here. Here.”
A voice that carried a hint of joy reached his ears–Han Seori’s voice.
That’s right.
I was following Dr. Han’s voice.
I don’t have time for this; I need to hurry and follow that voice.
I hope Dr. Han is waiting for me there.
With a呆滞expression, Kim Cheon-soo began dragging his sliding bag and took a step forward toward the voice.
Traces resembling someone being dragged along were left behind as he walked slowly.
The blowing snowstorm tried to erase those tracks, but due to the incredible weight of the bag, it would take a considerable amount of time for the marks to completely disappear.
Despite the snowstorm fiercely trying to erase the traces, Kim Cheon-soo continued moving forward without regard.
Snow gently piled up on his body but failed to divert his attention.
Crack… Thud.
At last, the pile of snow he couldn’t bear any longer collapsed, and his ears and nose, which had turned red, began to slowly shift to a bluish hue.
And yet,
Kim Cheon-soo moved forward without sensing the cold, dragging the bag that scraped against the ground.
“We’re almost there.”
In the depths of his mind, blindly advancing,
An unexpected thought suddenly arose.
“Dr. Han… would really be out in this weather… in such a place?”
A strong feeling of unease washed over him.
At first, he thought she had come to help him, but upon reflection, it seemed strange.
His personal feelings for her–
Regardless of their sudden quasi-partnership, it didn’t make sense that she would risk herself to save him… for reasons of public duty.
Though she had appeared oddly soft with respect to KR-7496, she was fundamentally far from being overly warm or tender.
Eh?
Is this voice really Dr. Han’s?
As a small sense of dissonance arose, life returned to his previously glazed-over eyes.
The sudden, piercing cold biting into his skin made Kim Cheon-soo curl up his body.
“Ugh!”
At last, pain visited him.
A feeling as if his ears and nose were freezing.
From dragging the bag, his arms felt stiff.
Regaining his senses, he hurriedly searched the bag for something to keep him warm.
The fierce wind mercilessly obliterated his options, and as his body gradually stiffened, he noticed something tucked-away in case of emergencies–a hand warmer.
It would be like urinating on frostbitten feet, but it was certainly better than having nothing.
Ripping open the packaging, Kim Cheon-soo vigorously rubbed the hand warmer, hoping it would quickly warm his body.
At the same time, he kept an eye on his surroundings.
He thought it would be more effective to return to the previous cave than relying on this hand warmer.
However, all he could see around him was a world covered in pristine white.
Thus, his only option was…
“I guess I should return to that cave earlier.”
If I follow the faint trail that remains, I might be able to get back.
Although whether that would help me escape this situation was uncertain.
“But I’m not the kind of person who does nothing.”
She’ll surely find a way if I wait here…
Initially, it was suspicious walking out here in the first place–
“We only need to go a little further… Why don’t you come?”
Just as he was contemplating, the whispers began again.
Realizing now how unnatural this voice was, Kim Cheon-soo shouted.
“I don’t know what you are, but get lost!”
If it wasn’t Han Seori teasing him from afar as it seemed, then this voice had moved far beyond just being suspicious.
He wildly flailed his arms to resist the voice.
For how long Kim Cheon-soo had struggled, attempting to retrace his steps while cursing fiercely, remained unclear in the vast white space where time was impossible to gauge.
But eventually,
He moved forward with another vacant gaze.
The dragging bag, the torn-up hand warmer that now spilled black and red, gritty shavings…
As he continued moving forward with a daze,
“Welcome. Really… you’ve arrived.”
A strange voice, difficult to discern as belonging to anyone, echoed around him.
*
At this point, maybe I should take off my clothing?
It might help me check my surroundings better.
But memories of recently meeting people surfaced, so I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Even though it sounds like something a person with exhibitionist tendencies would say, I genuinely have no such sexual preferences or hobbies.
This is nothing more than efficiency.
It’s frustrating to have my vision obscured, and it’s impractical to thoroughly check my surroundings like this, right?
If I’d removed this tight hoodie earlier, I might have already found Kim Cheon-soo.
Anyway,
This awkward, toddling gait through the snow feels strangely odd.
Even though there’s quite a bit of snow piled up, the way I move lightly makes me feel almost like some grand presence?
It’s like the feeling of being a master from a wuxia novel.
…Of course, this is just due to my oddly light frame, but still.
Where exactly do the things I eat get stored?
It’s a question that’s intrigued me for some time but never resolved, so I focused on walking as the jelly within me bubbled.
Still before me stretched the marks of something being dragged.
The faster I moved, the clearer the marks became.
And,
The knowledge pouch sticking out from my hood seemed to be pointing that way too.
At this point, there’s no doubt.
Kim Cheon-soo has not simply become lost; he’s fallen victim to the sudden emergence of the Singularity.
“Hmm… this is troubling.”
Han Seori’s worried voice confirmed it.
The ones who chased after me earlier should be thankful–to me, no, to Han Seori.
Otherwise, they might’ve met the same fate as Kim Cheon-soo.
…Well, it’s not that Kim Cheon-soo is necessarily in a dire situation right now; I just meant it that way.
I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.
I’ve even grown somewhat fond of him.
And,
Daesik has seemed to get rather close with Kim Cheon-soo recently.
If Kim Cheon-soo ends up in trouble, Daesik will surely be saddened.
So,
I hope nothing happens to him.
With that wish, I continued moving forward.
Then, in the snowy expanse that had only shown dragging marks,
an evidently different trace appeared.
“Hmm?”
As Han Seori’s voice accompanied me, I quietly approached the marks. The dragging ones seemed to have disappeared, replaced by traces of something being swung around.
It appears that Kim Cheon-soo wasn’t carried here…
but rather dragged something while making his way here.
Or, if he had been captured and dragged here before regaining consciousness at this point.
Further ahead, a black object lay on the snow.
As I absentmindedly reached for it and brought it near,
it tasted like shavings that consumed metal.
What is this?
“Judging by the occasional red traces… it seems a hand warmer might have burst.”
…Wow.
Is Han Seori seeing the same thing as me?
Anyway,
The presence of these traces gives hope that Kim Cheon-soo is still alive.
With the dark stains and the dragging traces reappearing, I walked enthusiastically.
Thinking about how long it’s been since I’ve moved this earnestly,
it’s a blessing that Jelly doesn’t easily feel fatigue.
Due to the accumulations somewhere in this body or just the nature of this body itself, it’s quite helpful.
…If this energy runs out, will I freeze into a block of icy jelly?
Such terrifying musings crossed my mind, but as it wasn’t something imminent, I intentionally ignored them.
For how long I continued walking,
the end of the dragging marks finally appeared,
revealing a much larger cave than the one I had encountered earlier.
It felt like the mouth of some monster.
But the dragging traces led to there,
and with the knowledge pouch pointing in the direction,
there was no option but to proceed.
“Be careful; there’s no telling what might be there.”
Responding casually to Han Seori’s concerns, I promptly entered the cave.
It was surprisingly clean–
or rather, the cave was narrower than expected on the inside.
The reason was unclear because–
as soon as I entered, I saw Kim Cheon-soo shuffling ahead.
Not sure if he had just entered or the cave was simply short,
the sight of him made my jelly bubble with joy.
As I approached eagerly,
something strange caught my eye.
“Is that… what?”
Standing in front of Kim Cheon-soo, who walked like someone under a spell,
was a grotesque monster.
And from the monster’s mouth,
an odd voice emanated:
“Just a little more walking and then we will meet.”
“Is that… me?”
While the thought crossed my mind, there was no time to dwell on it.
Because,
Kim Cheon-soo was leaning his head
toward an abnormally large and menacing mouth filled with teeth.
