Field Team 2 Office, Tower Disaster Control Headquarters.
With the Tower’s blessing being extended day after day and now the appearance of a Special Entity on top of it, the entire Republic of Korea was in a festive mood. This place alone was the exception.
In a manner of speaking, they were guests who had not been invited to the party.
While everyone else was busy raising glasses in celebration, these people were busy drinking coffee that had long since gone cold.
Because of a single unidentified Awakened known as VVIP, all of Field Team 2 had spent night after night with their eyes wide open.
CRASH!
“Team Leader!”
Field Team 2 agent Im Hyeon-woo burst in panting, as though he meant to break down the door.
Lee Do-hyeon, the exhausted Leader of Field Team 2, greeted him.
“Hey, hey. Easy there. You’ll break the door. Are you going to pay for it?”
“I apologize. But this is… No, please take a look! I found it!”
“What? VVIP? If you found him, I guess you can break the door down.”
“No, sir. It is not that, but… I found one. A clue.”
Im Hyeon-woo took a tablet from his bag and placed it on the desk.
The screen displayed a post from an anonymous community.
[└Anonymous10: …My friend visited the swamp too, and they said the ground was so soft that it was impossible to make any progress without something like specially made magic boots. May I ask how the Bounty Lord crossed it?]
“Magic boots?”
Lee Do-hyeon furrowed his brow.
What was supposed to be so remarkable about this clue?
“Team Leader, do you not find something strange about this comment?”
“What about it?”
Im Hyeon-woo continued his explanation, his eyes gleaming.
“Anyone can see that this is an impersonator’s post, one too ridiculous to even qualify as a joke. Normally, people would ignore a post like this or leave a comment saying, ‘It’s an impersonator,’ and move on. But this person’s question is strange.”
“…Is it?”
Lee Do-hyeon narrowed his eyes and examined the original post and the other comments.
‘This comment does have a slightly different feel to it.’
“Go on.”
“This is not a simple question. It is a form of disinformation intended to weed out the impersonator—a trap question. They used a nonexistent item called ‘magic boots’ as bait to test the other person’s reaction.”
“So this person is an insider? What’s your evidence?”
“The suffocating frustration of knowing the truth but being unable to say it openly! Meanwhile, a fraud is pretending to be a hero, leaving a thousand fires raging inside them! Every bit of that emotion is infused into this comment.”
“Hmm. Keep going.”
“They could simply ignore it, yet they went so far as to set this clever trap and humiliate the impersonator. They must be one of VVIP’s key associates. It probably is not VVIP himself… he seems to want to remain hidden. I believe there is a very high chance this person was one of his companions.”
Lee Do-hyeon nodded and smiled.
There was something chilling about that smile.
“Ohh, is that so? Everyone else is busy working the field and meeting survivors, but you somehow found the time to look for something like this? Impressive.”
Elated by his accomplishment, Im Hyeon-woo failed to notice that subtle warning and continued his explanation with excitement.
“I told you last time, did I not? People might hold it in for now, but when someone alone knows an important secret, they eventually have to cry out, ‘The king has donkey ears~’”
Lee Do-hyeon’s expression immediately turned cold.
“Im Hyeon-woo, can’t you read the situation?”
“……Yes, sir?”
The reaction was completely unexpected.
Only then did Im Hyeon-woo realize something had gone wrong and freeze. In front of him, Lee Do-hyeon tapped the tablet twice with his finger, openly displaying his displeasure.
“A thousand fires? Frustration? Are we psychological analysts? Bring me something viable. How many fabricated internet stories start with ‘my friend~’? Huh? If you have time to waste on something like this, you should spend it in the field meeting even one more survivor. Why did you come back just to report this?”
Flustered by the stinging reprimand, Im Hyeon-woo began to ramble.
“A-At the very least, could we not verify whether the person who left this comment is truly connected to VVIP or, even if they are not, whether they have some point of contact with a survivor…?”
“It’s an anonymous community, so even locating them won’t be easy, and you want us to send a formal cooperation request over this? Dozens of posts like this will appear every day. You want to investigate all of them? Huh?”
“I apologize… Team Leader. I believe I was shortsighted.”
“Yes, Hyeon-woo. Please, help me out here… The Headquarters Director is already in a foul mood, and we need to show some kind of progress. If I submit something like this as a report, it won’t end with me getting chewed out on everyone’s behalf. That isn’t what you want, is it? Right?”
After thoroughly scolding him, Lee Do-hyeon finished in a coaxing tone and patted Im Hyeon-woo on the shoulder.
Im Hyeon-woo repeatedly apologized and returned to his seat, his face filled with disappointment.
“Haa….”
Lee Do-hyeon rose from his seat with a frustrated sigh.
“I’m going to smoke a cigarette. Everyone get your heads straight and do your jobs properly.”
“Yes, sir.”
Leaving his team members behind, Lee Do-hyeon headed outside and roughly loosened his tie in frustration.
“Haa….”
A sigh escaped him of its own accord.
VVIP.
It had already been several days since the entire Headquarters had been turned upside down because of that one unidentified Awakened.
They scoured the field sites, personally met with every survivor they could find, and even combed through the dregs of internet communities that posted nothing but useless garbage all day.
Yet after all that work, every report that reached his desk was another misstep, just like Im Hyeon-woo’s deduction.
‘The king has donkey ears, my ass….’
Of all the countless communities, Im Hyeon-woo had not even brought him a post from a community restricted to verified Awakened. He had brought one from an anonymous community. It was absurd.
Instead of heading to the smoking area, Lee Do-hyeon went to his car in the underground parking lot.
Once inside, he put a cigarette between his lips and clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. It’s hard working with these stupid bastards.”
Im Hyeon-woo.
He was a fairly diligent man.
He was good at legwork and had tenacity.
But at every critical moment, he fixated on something bizarre and made a fuss like this.
‘That’s why, even with all his years of experience, he’s still running around the field.’
After checking his surroundings, Lee Do-hyeon opened the glove compartment and took out a lighter.
However, the lighter was not the only thing he pulled out.
An old-model phone came with it.
It was not Lee Do-hyeon’s publicly known phone.
He soon composed and sent a message somewhere using the suspicious phone.
[New lead secured. Information monopoly maintained. Previous offer voided due to change in target value. Auction starting bid: 2 million dollars. Exclusive delivery to the final winning bidder.]
It was hardly a lead for now, but what did that matter?
After all, the work he did was the work of tracking down VVIP.
Lee Do-hyeon believed a lead would emerge before long.
‘And the asking price keeps climbing in the meantime… Excellent.’
That concluded his business.
Lee Do-hyeon pushed the phone deep into its original hiding place and lit his cigarette.
“Hooo….”
Cigarette smoke dispersed through the air.
One corner of the mouth from which it had emerged curled upward in a twisted smile.
‘I can’t keep doing this for much longer. Then again, maybe that won’t matter.’
This would be the last time.
***
The creature that had broken out of the egg looked nothing like a newborn.
It appeared to be at least a month or two old.
‘Did it grow that much inside the egg…?’
It made no sense, but I could not judge a winged cat born from an egg by the bounds of the common knowledge I possessed.
“Well, I suppose that can happen.”
Lately, so many things had happened that made me question whether common sense had any meaning to begin with.
My shadow moving of its own accord, or Imprinting the ‘Covert Movement’ Skill in the middle of Seoul without any trouble after being told I would lose my abilities outside the Tower.
‘…Where is all this heading?’
It felt as though my Awakened registration was slipping farther and farther away.
In any case, the cat in question had taken to following me from the moment it was born.
Indeed, it was nestled snugly in my arms even now.
I had not picked it up. It had burrowed into my arms and made itself comfortable the moment it emerged from the egg.
‘They say creatures take the first thing they see after hatching for their mother. Is that why? No, was that birds…?’
I did not know. Did it really matter?
A small and adorable ball of black fur.
The warmth the tiny creature gave me as it nestled in my arms felt entirely unfamiliar, yet strangely pleasant.
It made me feel somewhat at peace.
I carefully stroked its back.
The creature purred as if it enjoyed the touch.
“Oh… it’s singing its purr song.”
It did not seem to dislike it, so I kept petting the creature and spoke to it.
“But what are you? Since you came from the Tower… Item information?”
[Requirements unmet. Detailed information unavailable due to insufficient Affinity with the target.]
Affinity? Look at it playing hard to get just because it was a living creature rather than an inanimate object. As if it had not come from the Tower anyway.
“All right, we can take our time learning what you are. We’re going to be together for a long time anyway.”
I had already decided to raise it.
I could not let a winged cat go crawling all over the neighborhood, but more importantly, it followed me like this. I had to take responsibility.
“Let’s see… I need to give you a name… Another difficult problem.”
The painful memory of naming Nocturne came to mind.
White Rice Cake for something white, Blackie for something black.
That was the full extent of my naming sense.
Nocturne had been a high point that even I had not expected.
‘Blackie… It was a terrible sword name, but wouldn’t it be fine for a black cat? No, it wouldn’t just be fine. It’s perfect, isn’t it?’
I whispered to the creature in my arms.
“Kitty, how about Blackie for your name?”
It had been gazing up at me from my arms, but it suddenly whipped its head away.
Was it my imagination?
For some reason, its purring stopped as well.
“Hmm, so you don’t like that one. Then… Pepper?”
Another rejection.
“Coal! Nero! Siru!”
I continued trying black-cat names I felt as though I had heard somewhere before, but it was no use.
No matter how many times I called, it refused to meet my eyes again.
“You little bastard. You’re pickier than I thought. Those are all great names. Fine, if you hate them, what can I do? I’ll have to think harder.”
I chuckled and began stroking it again when its pitch-black fur suddenly caught my eye.
It was a black as deep as the night, reflecting not a single speck of light.
I thought of Nocturne.
“You’re pitch-black, just like Nocturne… Nocturne… Nocturne… night…?”
At that moment, its ears perked up.
“…!”
It was the first reaction it had shown since I started trying names.
I drew the word out a little longer.
“Bami?”
“Mew!”
The creature, which had not reacted to any of the other names, answered as if by magic.
It even turned its head and looked up at me.
“Bam-i… Bam-i… Bami. Do you like that name?”
“Mew!”
It answered briefly and rubbed its head against the back of my hand.
It certainly seemed to like this one.
“All right, then. From now on, your name is Bami.”
Once the name had been decided, a practical problem came to mind.
“I need to feed you something. Let’s see… Formula? Cat food? Or… do cats have something like baby food?”
Come to think of it, I knew nothing about cats.
Except that I should not give them regular milk.
“Well, I can buy one of each and feed you whichever one you’ll eat.”
I carefully lowered Bami from my arms.
“There’s a 24-hour pet supply store just up the street. I’ll be right back.”
I gently patted its head once and headed toward the front door.
Just as I opened the door to leave, I heard a pitiful cry behind me.
“MREEEOW─.”
When I turned around, Bami had already followed me and was crying at my feet.
I gently nudged it back inside with my foot and carefully closed the door.
“MREEEOW─.”
The cry grew louder.
With no other choice, I opened the door and went back inside.
Then, as if it had never cried, it abruptly fell silent and rubbed its body against my leg.
‘Damn it…! It’s cute.’
I soothed it for a while. Once it seemed all right, I carefully set it down, dashed to the front door, and closed it.
The crying immediately began again.
“MREEEOW─.”
“Haa… You were like this even when you were an egg. You really don’t intend to leave my side, do you? Fine, fine. Let’s go together.”
Had it somehow understood me?
It came pattering excitedly toward my feet—pitter, patter, patter.
I bent down and lifted it with both hands, intending to carry it outside.
Bami suddenly licked my hand.
“…Hmm?”
I assumed it was hungry and sucking on my fingers like a baby, so I tried to stop it, but something felt strange.
“What is this…?”
When I looked closely, it was not licking my hand.
It was licking the shadow between my fingers.
No, licking was not the right word.
It was eating it.
It ate with great relish, even making NOM, NOM, NOM sounds.
“…?”
At first, I wondered if I had seen it wrong, but no matter how closely I looked, it was definitely eating the shadow between my fingers.
As I watched something like black cotton candy slip neatly into its mouth, there was no denying it.
“Huh. This is another first.”
It was a completely different sight from when my shadow had moved on its own and swallowed Endless Hunger.
“I suppose there’s no way a winged cat born from an egg would eat ordinary cat food.”
What on earth had I been thinking?
I chuckled and gently stroked the head of the creature, which was busy with its meal.
“That saves me the food bill.”