Excessive expectations and hope could sometimes make life even harder.
Right after receiving the note, I had eagerly wondered whether it contained information related to Yoo Soyoung. But when I realized that dwelling on it would do me no good, I calmly let the time pass.
Then the night I had been waiting for finally arrived.
The current time was 8:45 PM.
According to the regulations, going out on a weekday was forbidden in itself, but there were exceptions everywhere.
*“Hello, Assistant. I would like to visit Cheon Seoyoon in the hospital. Ah, I’m fine.”*
After handling it easily with one phone call, I left the dormitory.
Taehak at night felt different from the bustling daytime.
The streets were quiet, but the fluorescent lights shining throughout the buildings seemed to signify that someone’s day had not yet ended.
“Everyone is living so busily.”
Feeling a strange sense of kinship as I walked, I arrived at the Portal Station.
**BEEP----**
**Cadet Park Hayul authentication complete.**
**Special Leave approved.**
When I held up my phone, the entrance’s unmanned system sounded its approval chime.
After climbing the stairs, I saw several doors.
“They said Gangnam.”
After checking the sign, I headed to the far right.
There was less than an hour until ten o’clock, so I hurried......
BANG—
But before I could even grab the doorknob, the door opened.
I nearly collided with the person rushing out, but barely managed to stop.
“You......”
“You......”
Since we were at least somewhat acquainted, no harsh words were exchanged.
“Excuse me. Should the person coming out not go first?”
“That is why I was standing still.”
“That is why we almost collided. In a situation like this, you should have moved completely aside.”
“What are you talking about? How was I supposed to know someone would come out?”
“No....... Ha, forget it.”
However, I could not avoid a pointless argument.
The person I had run into by chance was Joo Arin.
She was already a prickly person, and today she seemed to be in an especially poor mood.
Because of Joo Seola......?
I already knew that she stopped by without fail whenever she went out.
“But it seems you are going somewhere. You are not fully recovered yet......”
Joo Arin, who had been fussing over her coat, asked me with an unexpectedly curious look.
What should I say?
I had used a hospital visit as an excuse, but I was not actually going to visit anyone, so I hesitated.
Then Joo Arin’s gaze landed on my right hand, which held the note.
I casually hid it behind my back and improvised an excuse.
“Nothing much. I am going to stop by my family home and get some fresh air.”
“......I see. Rumors really are not to be trusted.”
“Rumors?”
“Yes. I heard you hardly leave the dormitory.”
Was there such a rumor?
Well, if it had been the old Park Hayul, he would have done exactly that.
“I overheard it against my will, so please do not misunderstand.”
“Ah, I will not misunderstand.”
“Then that is good. ......But now that it has come up, may I ask you something?”
“What?”
“That bracelet...... It is an armament, right?”
A bracelet?
How had she figured that out?
There did not seem to be any reason to hide it, so I quickly admitted it.
“It is not anything impressive, but it is an armament.”
“Who do you take me for, an idiot......”
“What?”
“It is nothing. Well, if that counts as an ability, it counts as an ability. Anyway, if our group assignment receives a good grade this time, it will be thanks to you.”
“......?”
“Thank...... you. I will be going now.”
With those words, Joo Arin coolly walked away.
What was with her?
It was a very Joo Arin-like expression of gratitude.
But that was not what mattered, so I hurried toward the Portal.
***
The current time was 9:55 PM.
I arrived near the address on the note without being late.
WOOOOOSH~
The atmosphere was unsettling.
Only a few streetlights illuminated the road, and even they seemed broken as they flickered without pause.
The ground was also littered with every kind of garbage.
“Is this really Gangnam?”
I had not expected flashy neon signs and crowded streets, but I had not imagined it would be this desolate.
When I picked up and read a flyer blowing in the wind, I felt as though I roughly understood the situation.
**Designated Damage Recovery Zone. Relocation-loan inquiries welcome. 010-1234-5678**
This place was similar to a Nest, but a different concept: a Gate.
It was a place where fierce battles had unfolded against Magical Beasts pouring out through spatial rifts.
That was why it had become desolate, like an abandoned city.
Thanks to that, I could spot my destination without having to search for it.
There was only one lit sign among the darkened buildings.
“......Jackpot?”
However, the sign becoming clearer as I approached was strangely out of place.
“...Pawnshop. Jackpot Pawnshop?”
What was this?
A pawnshop was a place where people left an item or borrowed money against it as collateral, was it not?
For a moment, I wondered whether the reward was an armament, but I decided not to jump to conclusions.
There were still questions left unanswered.
It was suspicious that, instead of simply giving it to me, someone had gone out of their way to give me an address and tell me to come.
“So......”
I gathered myself and decided to follow the plan I had made in advance.
First, I opened the shop and purchased an item.
[Mediocre Human-Skin Mask]
[Description: It is cheap, but the appearance is truly unimpressive. (Angular face, slanted eyes) The voice automatically changes to match the appearance. Effect lasts up to 6 hours.
[Price: 5 hours]
It was an item I had had my eye on since I bought the bracelet.
It was a small but useful precaution, I suppose.
At the very least, I could conceal my identity, so it would not hurt to be prepared.
Without hesitation, I put on the Human-Skin Mask.
When I looked in my phone’s mirror, I saw a sharp, high-strung man in his mid-thirties.
To check whether my voice had changed, I tried speaking as well.
“Ah, ah, oh......”
Instead of my mid-range voice, the sharp voice of an irritable man came out.
This was quite good.
I had become a completely different person, and for five hours, the value was not bad.
Once my preparations were complete, I entered the building.
Cobwebs hung overhead and garbage was strewn underfoot, but I forced my way up to the third floor.
There was a door where light leaked out.
Doing business in an environment like this.
My doubts refused to fade even as I pushed the door open.
SCRAPE.
The atmosphere inside the pawnshop was similar to the outside.
The only light came from a single fluorescent lamp hanging from the ceiling.
The gloominess was one thing, but a musty smell of mold stung my nose.
The lone leather sofa had worn out in places and was nearly trash.
If not for the pawnshop’s distinctive iron bars and the desk behind them, it would not have been unreasonable to call the place a ruin.
“Is anyone here?”
Pushing aside my uneasiness, I raised my voice and called out.
.
.
I waited patiently just in case, but there was no answer.
What was this place?
Just as I was about to call out again while suppressing the doubt slowly rising within me......
CLANK.
I sensed someone’s presence.
SCREEEECH.
With a rusty grinding sound, a door behind the desk opened halfway.
“You damned thugs! I told you I am leaving tomorrow. Could you not wait even that long......”
......Thugs?
“Oh my, so you are a customer. J-just wait a moment, please.”
The door, which had hastily closed again under my awkward gaze, reopened after its safety latch was removed.
“Ahem, the world has become so dangerous that I was terribly rude to a stranger......”
The employee was an old woman dressed in shabby clothes.
Her white hair was thick, and she was so short that she only reached my waist.
Her large eyes and moderately bent hooked nose gave her an air of both gloominess and stubbornness.
“So, what item have you come looking for?”
“Well......”
What should I say?
All I had received was a note with an address, so for a moment, I was at a loss for words.
Then the old woman, who had been waiting, asked first.
“Do you have a number? I mean a five-digit code.”
A code?
Something came to mind, so I unfolded the note.
**[Today, 9 PM. 435 Cheonsu 1-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul Special City, 11-905]**
The very last number: 11-905.
Wondering whether this was the code, I cautiously began.
“I think it is 11-905. Is that right?”
“Row 11, Number 905?”
“Yes.”
“Oh? You are the owner of the item in Row 11, Number 905?”
Did it have some kind of story?
The old woman’s big eyes suddenly narrowed.
“You cannot be the original owner, so it seems that it was transferred to you?”
“Is there a problem?”
It seemed that she was trying to probe me, so I quickly cut her off.
“No, it is not necessarily......”
“Then hand over the item like a pawnshop should. There must be more than one item here with a story behind it. Why would you go out of your way to find out?”
The old woman, who had looked bewildered, slowly curled up the corner of her mouth.
“You are right. I briefly forgot my duty. Tsk, tsk.”
As she showed her yellow teeth and felt beneath the desk, the barred door separating us opened with a clank.
“Follow me, young man. I will guide you to where the item is.”
Her response was unsettling, but I followed her for the moment.
CLACK CLACK.
After walking through the narrow corridor on the left, I soon saw a wide chamber and cabinets filling it.
Had this not been a place on the verge of going out of business?
As I was surprised by the scale, larger than I expected, the old woman, who had weaved between the cabinets, stopped.
“Here it is.”
“Thank you.”
I dipped my head slightly and looked at the cabinet in question.
Number 11-905.
For now, there was nothing unusual about its exterior.
It was a metal cabinet like one might find in an ordinary office.
I reached out to check it quickly.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake. Where are you reaching so carelessly?”
It was then that the old woman grabbed my wrist.
Wondering what kind of trick she was trying to pull, I gave her an unfriendly glare......
The old woman, startled, loudly scolded me.
“What if the anti-theft magic activates? That precious item would explode right there.”
Anti-theft magic?
What was that supposed to be?
“Then how am I supposed to open it?”
“No, young man, have you been sleeping wrong lately? Why ask something so obvious? You open it with a key, of course.”
......A key?
All I had received was a single fluttering note.
“Tsk, tsk. You came here knowing nothing. I knew this would happen. Your circumstances seem unfortunate, so I will not ask any more questions. But without a key, you cannot open that cabinet.”
What the......
Thinking I might have been scammed, I clenched my fist until it creaked.
No.
I quickly changed my mind.
Of course, 4885 was a complete bastard who twisted the plot as it pleased, turned a perfectly healthy person terminally ill, and then......
Anyway, it was someone I could not even associate with, but it was at least clean when it came to rewards.
Then what was this?
I firmly shut my mouth and thought.
Soon, I came to one conclusion.
“There is something.”
A way to open it without a key......
That was why it had not been given to me, as though this were some kind of test.
“Let us go. The longer you stay, the more it will only upset you.”
“Wait a moment.”
I stopped the old woman, who was about to turn away.
“Young man, will a key that does not exist appear just because you are being stubborn? Do not waste your time like this......”
“Manifestation!”
The old woman’s following words became a decisive hint.
“Good heavens, you startled me.”
“Grandmother. Could you turn around for a moment?”
“That will not change......”
“It will only take a moment. If I fail again, I will just give up.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Hmph. You had better keep your word.”
The old woman frowned in displeasure, then turned her back.
I activated my Trait at once.
[Trait, Manifestation used.]
If there was no key, I would make one and open it.
I drew out a bundle of Manifestation Particles and pushed them into the keyhole.
SQUIRM SQUIRM—
The fact that I could not see them was not a problem.
It was my will that moved the particles, so I merely imagined molding them into the shape of the internal pins.
......But why was it so deep and complicated?
When far more particles were consumed than I had expected, I was slightly flustered.
But I did not stop and kept pushing them in.
The particles that had been entering endlessly soon began to slow, and at the moment even that stopped,
[Materializing.]
[Makeshift Key]
[Grade: E-]
[Material: Iron]
[Manifestation Accuracy: 99%]
It worked.
In the end, I had obtained the result I wanted.
Without hesitation, I turned the key.
CLICK.
With a pleasant sound, the closed cabinet door slowly slid open.
I had devised a solution by using a method only I could use.
“Oh?”
At some point, I felt the old woman’s gaze turn toward me.
It was quite peculiar, and I wondered how I should explain it......
“So it has come to this after all. ......Go on and open it.”
Unexpectedly, she did not press me for answers.
Instead, she seemed excited herself as she gulped down dry saliva.
“Then......”
I opened the half-open door the rest of the way.
If it was a clue related to Yoo Soyoung’s whereabouts, that would be good, but I promised myself I would not be disappointed even if it was an armament.
BANG—