The instant Hong Yeon's fist swept across the wooden mask, the mask shattered and its fragments scattered in every direction.
Flung backward by the impact, the Pond Snail thought.
'A relief.'
To them, Hong Yeon's existence was a variable in itself.
They had held her here longer than expected, so the variable had roughly been removed.
What remained was to await the Young Master's return.
"How dare you touch my comrade!!!"
Contrary to the rage-filled shout, a deep smile hung at the corner of Gap-o's mouth.
Instead of going to save the Pond Snail, he threw himself toward the collapsed Dae-ho.
"Stop right there!"
Hong Yeon, who had been charging in to finish the Pond Snail, hastily changed direction.
And—
CRASH—!
Hong Yeon's fist buried itself in the wall, and Gap-o fell back with the skirts of his ceremonial robe flying.
It was a hair's breadth.
"Oh my, how frightening!"
Despite the words, Gap-o's smile didn't thin in the slightest, and Hong Yeon swiftly recovered her fist and charged again.
BOOM!
With the sound of the janggu, the space her fist was heading for twisted slightly.
At which she bent the fist's course at a speed no human could manage.
CRASH—!
Her fist shatters another innocent wall.
"Where did a vicious bitch like that come from?"
Gap-o kept falling back, and Hong Yeon kept after him.
But their chase didn't last long.
Because from Hong Yeon's position, she couldn't pursue Gap-o alone and leave Dae-ho lying unconscious.
And besides.
Hong Yeon, who had been chasing Gap-o, returned to Dae-ho's side.
Snickering, Gap-o let the hand holding the janggu stick drop limp.
He tapped his own temple with the stick.
"Squirt, seems you've got a better read on the situation than I thought."
At Gap-o's sneer, Hong Yeon looked toward the far end of the corridor.
A man in a security uniform walking out of the corridor's darkness.
A faded navy guard's cap, and beneath it hair of an equally faded ash gray.
The gray pupils of the security guard, who has emerged from the darkness, fix on Hong Yeon.
A gaze without the slightest trace of life.
Rather than avoid that gaze, Hong Yeon clenched her fist.
"Sang-do, it's been a while!"
At Gap-o's greeting, the man in the security uniform bowed his head.
But that was all.
Gap-o mutters a little, as though hurt by the guard's response.
Even in the midst of that, Hong Yeon assessed the situation coldly.
With Dae-ho unconscious, it was three against one.
She was outnumbered, but she was confident she wouldn't lose.
Except that, having to protect Dae-ho, she could only defend.
She was confident about holding out, but the problem was the observation subject who had vanished into the emergency stairwell, Do-yul.
'About thirty minutes since the subject disappeared from sight.'
The golden window had already passed.
She had to assume he'd already been drawn into a Ghost Story.
'In that case the manual says to move in quickly, though.'
"I can hear you racking your brain all the way over here."
At Gap-o's sneer, Hong Yeon raised her head.
"Pond Snail, it was ten minutes to begin with, wasn't it?"
'.......'
"Ten minutes went by ages ago, I'd say......."
As if responding to his words, the mask fragments scattered everywhere begin to gather.
And before long the mask returns to its whole form.
'Let us withdraw now.'
"What? Withdraw on whose say-so? If you're going, go alone. I've got some rampaging of my own to do."
'Do not make this bigger.'
"Ha! Anyone listening would think I was the troublemaker."
He didn't let it show, but Gap-o was not happy with the situation.
Setting aside that monster of a squirt, who knew where she'd crawled out from, there was that damn little brother sprawled behind her.
Withdraw and leave him lying there like that?
The right corner of Gap-o's mouth twists upward.
'Can't have that.'
In any case, that Dae-ho had always been a deficient sort, ever since they were children.
A mountain of a body, and yet so timid, and so sluggish in everything he did.
On top of that, no eye for people.
From childhood he had followed Gap-o around so devotedly.
'Foolish bastard.'
Does he think an older brother would naturally love his younger brother?
And strictly speaking, they don't even share blood.
But don't they say life is like the old frontiersman's horse?
Thanks to that, unlike the other brothers, he had kept his life until now.
But the more Gap-o thinks about it, the angrier he gets.
'That damn bastard, joining the Formless Special Division.'
Now that he's grown up a bit, the dimwit has started getting above himself.
When he thinks of leaving a creature like that behind, his feet simply won't move.
And besides.
'If he's going to die by someone else's hand, better the hand of the brother he loved so much, isn't it?'
So he made up his mind.
To kill that infuriating little brother now.
Strength enters the hand holding the drumstick.
'I'm not supposed to do this, but.......'
But.
'Accidents happen all the time, don't they?'
To twist an order and break it.
To step just barely over a set line.
That was Gap-o's favorite act of all.
Because even with hellfire burning beneath the tightrope, he was the sort whose eyes kept drifting downward.
"Squirt."
At Gap-o's call, Hong Yeon's eyes take aim at him.
"You need to get to the Do-yul kid, don't you?"
Hong Yeon doesn't answer.
Snickering at that, Gap-o went on.
"I'll clear the way for you, so hand over that useless thing behind you."
If the Pond Snail had had hands, it would have put one to its forehead at the sight of Gap-o now.
Even so, it had no intention of stopping him.
In the first place, he wasn't a being it could have stopped even if it wanted to.
"The Team Leader is not useless."
Gap-o burst out laughing at her answer.
"Hahaha, Team Leader? When did our Dae-ho become a team leader? If the brat made team leader he could have at least called his brother......."
"Brother?"
A cracked voice from behind Hong Yeon.
A huge man bracing on her shoulder, rising unsteadily.
"What a load of dog-sh*t."
"Oh, little brother's awake?"
Ignoring Gap-o's sneer, Dae-ho takes something from inside his coat.
What's gripped in his hand is a blue talisman.
"You take the one behind him."
The moment Hong Yeon set herself again at Dae-ho's order.
BOOM.
The janggu's sound splitting the corridor.
"All right, shall we play a little, little brother? It's been a while."
"Talking sh*t."
The instant Dae-ho pressed the talisman to his chest, the sound of bells rang out above his head.
***
When she came to, she heard the sound of conversation by her head.
At first it droned, and then it gradually sharpened.
"...... isn't moving."
A young man's voice.
"Maybe it's because we're outside the pool?"
A woman's voice following it.
And 'pool.'
The moment she heard that word, Ryu Do-ha remembered everything.
That the owners of the two voices in conversation were that Crow bastard and Jang Seo-yun, and even the ballpoint pen that had exploded right in front of her eyes.
'Damn it.'
She'd been fooled by his dopey face and taken in by a cheap trick.
What was more humiliating was that she'd gone and passed out.
'Lucky I came in alone.'
If another colleague had been here, how much would they have mocked her?
Haa.
After a short inward sigh, she quietly tries moving her arms and legs; fortunately they move freely.
That Crow bastard must not have had any restraining tools on him.
'Even so, he should at least have tied my hands and feet.'
It was a hopelessly sloppy response, but she decided not to think about it further.
Because the sloppier the opponent, the more pathetic it makes her for having been taken in.
"Then that means we have to go back to the pool......."
The Crow bastard suddenly breaks off mid-sentence.
And then silence.
She can feel his gaze.
'Has he noticed I'm awake?'
It was still unknown what abilities he had, what other tools he might be carrying.
Ryu Do-ha drained her whole body of strength as best she could and kept up the appearance of being unconscious.
There's no way he could have noticed she'd come around yet.
Thinking, 'Now is the time to act, thoroughly.'
But.
"Are you awake?"
His voice, plainly directed at her.
'Is he testing me?'
She entertained the doubt for a moment, but.
"Miss Do-ha? You're awake, aren't you?"
'I don't know what method he used, but he's noticed that I've come around!'
Rather than answer Do-yul, Do-ha worked her mind fast.
The only tool she'd identified so far was one exploding ballpoint pen.
And given that it had exploded after a delay, it probably doesn't simply have an exploding ability.
Besides, since he'd come in with nothing on him, unlike her, he doesn't seem to be hiding other tools, though.......
In that case.
She's confident she won't lose.
In that split second, her judgment complete, she retreated at lightning speed and opened up distance.
Do-yul and Seo-yun watch her do it.
Seeing that the two of them looked fairly close, it took Do-ha barely over half a second to judge Seo-yun a target for subjugation as well.
She even decided which tool to use to subdue them both, then reached for the bag at her waist.......
'What?!'
The bag is gone.
This is a bit of a problem.......
"Are you all right?"
That wicked Crow bastard, asking with a worried face.
Anyone watching would think he was actually worried about me.
I will not be fooled by that face again.
"Don't come closer!"
At Do-ha's shout, Do-yul stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? You're really asking because you don't know?"
That Crow bastard putting on that dopey expression again.
The moment she sees that face, heat rushes through her.
"You lunatic!"
***
Why is she suddenly like this?
Honestly, this really isn't fair.
After everything I went through because of her!
The skin came off my feet carrying her on my back inside that kiln!
And she stayed unconscious the whole time we were being chased by that staff member......!
Isn't this exactly the case of pulling a man out of the water and having him demand you hand over his bundle?
I was fuming inwardly when Jang Seo-yun tapped my shoulder from beside me.
"What?!"
"You've got nothing to complain about."
"What?"
"I said you've got nothing to complain about."
"......?"
"Why do you think Miss Do-ha was unconscious?"
'Why? She got knocked out picking up a pen by herself.......'
.......
Right, the pen.
She got knocked out picking up my pen, didn't she?
Thinking about it, it's a situation anyone could reasonably misread.
That damn woman said the same thing to me at the time.
Asking what I'd done to the pen.
Right, given the circumstances it's a fair misunderstanding, but.......
It isn't as if I have nothing to say for myself.
If she hadn't treated me like a criminal from the very start, none of this would have happened.
"Excuse me."
"I said don't come closer."
"All right. I won't come closer, so let's talk."
"Talk?"
"We don't have the time to be this leisurely anyway."
I said it and pointed at the back wall.
What's there is an electronic clock.
Except that right now it isn't performing the function of a clock at all.
What's on it is the red text 'Time Remaining,' and red numbers beneath it.
[ 01 : 00 : 00 ]
One hour. That was the time we had to hold out.
"That's right. First of all we need to get out of here together."
At Jang Seo-yun's words, Ryu Do-ha took her eyes off the clock.
"Get out together? When one of you is missing?"
"That woman......!"
Before I could answer, Jang Seo-yun cut in.
"She abandoned us and ran."
"Abandoned you and ran?"
Seeing that Ryu Do-ha wasn't lowering her guard in the slightest, Jang Seo-yun let out a small sigh.
"Think about it. Who do you have to thank for the fact that you're unharmed after being unconscious all this time?"
At her question, Ryu Do-ha's gaze turns to me.
"If Mr. Do-yul had meant to dispose of you, he wouldn't have needed to go out of his way to take the risk of carrying you around."
Jang Seo-yun.
My first impression was of someone frail, but even in a situation like this she's remarkably calm and rational.
Ryu Do-ha must have found her words fairly reasonable; she lowered the fists she'd been holding at face height a little.
"So what happened while I was unconscious?"
Jang Seo-yun stepped back, as if to say I should explain.
"So......."
I calmly explained what had happened after she lost consciousness.
That I'd gained some ability through the pen and had escaped the staff member thanks to it, how we'd come to this storage room, and lastly the problem now facing us.
About the timer that isn't counting down at all.
Hiding the Pond Snail's existence completely, of course.
After hearing my explanation, Ryu Do-ha sinks into thought for a moment.
The two fists she'd been holding up keep lowering.......
"All right, I understand what happened. I'll say thank you, at least."
Right, you should be thankful.
After all the hell I went through.......
"But you're really telling me you found that pen in a locker by chance and had no idea it had that effect?"
Here we go again.
That damned suspicion of hers.
"That's what I'm telling you."
"You've forgotten why I suspect you in the first place."
"......."
"That curse inside your body."
Right, I know about it too, this damn bug.
"Why exactly is that inside your body?"
That's the very thing I'm most aggrieved about!
Your own colleague fed it to me!
"I really feel wronged too! They grabbed an innocent man out of nowhere and fed him a bug......"
"No. However high-handed an organization we are, we aren't that far out of line."
"I'm telling you it's true! I only moved in because I heard my mother left me an officetel as an inheritance."
"An officetel?"
"Yes! And then out of nowhere this huge man grabbed hold of me."
At the words "huge man," Ryu Do-ha's expression changed sharply.
"Was that man's name Dae-ho, by any chance?"
So she really was that man's colleague.
"Yes, that's right."
"Then this place you moved into, All Green Cherville?"
All Green Cherville.
That was definitely the name posted at the officetel entrance, but.......
When I nodded, Ryu Do-ha's expression visibly darkened.
"You're lying."
"Lying?! The person it actually happened to is standing right here!"
"Which unit?"
"What?"
"I'm asking which unit you moved into."
"Unit 1208."
Now it's more than her expression darkening.
The very look in her eyes as she watches me has changed.
She looks at me with a face full of shock.
As if she's forgotten the whole standoff until now, she rushes at me and grabs both my arms.
"Unit 1208 belonged to your mother?"
When I nod, she clamps down on my arms.
For her build, her strength is enormous.
No, it isn't enormous for her build; it's absurdly, impossibly strong.
"You're really telling me you're that witch's son?"
Witch?
The blood is already cut off in both arms and they're going numb, and now my head is starting to hurt too.
That damn mother of mine.
What the hell are you?!