Chapter 573 – The Bureau is an Elephant (3)
—
– Cha Jinchul
After the back seat quieted down, I reflected on Jang Seojin’s sentimental words.
“Isn’t it touching? Indeed, we humans are the most precious beings in the world?”
Humans are precious.
Humans are special.
This has been echoed by many sages and various religious groups throughout history.
Once inside, it seemed the Bureau agreed with this sentiment.
However, their interpretation of why humans are precious and special was somewhat different.
Then, I heard Jang Seojin’s voice from the back again.
“Big agent over there.”
“…?”
“Agent who’s driving.”
“Yeah?”
“Why’s it so bumpy? My butt is hurting too much to handle.”
At that, Kim Ji-ho next to me chuckled.
“Oh, I’ll apologize for that. This guy drives like a total novice.”
In disbelief, I added my own two cents.
“Must be your lousy house!”
“Suddenly?”
“Open your eyes and look outside. This isn’t some remote village in Gangwon Province; why’s the road around a chaebol’s house so messed up?”
I’d wanted to say that since I heard Kim Ji-ho make a remark about my driving skills.
Why were there so many rocks littering the road?
At that moment, Jang Seojin replied nonchalantly.
“That’s my artwork.”
“What?”
“Is there a law stating that sculptures must only be in galleries? Some kids want to see the world, while others want to walk the roads…”
“…”
That sounded exactly like something a deranged artist would say, so I had no comeback.
Instead, Kim Ji-ho questioned incredulously.
“What kind of ‘artwork’ is that? It just looks like someone randomly tossed rocks on the side of the road!”
“It’s a rough draft. You never know when a masterpiece might come out of it.”
“A masterpiece?”
“Probably around here?”
Just then –
— KABOOM!
A gigantic rocky hand burst through the ground by the road!
“Whoa!”
“What the hell is that?!”
The moment I registered the incoming hand, my vision went dark.
The rocky hand had consumed the entire car in an instant!
Time slowed down.
Instinctively, I activated my powerful strength, ‘Moment.’
What should I do?
“…”
The car was being crushed in real-time.
To use ‘Fragment of the Outer World’ required me to be the only one here.
“Kim Ji-ho! Get out! Get out now!”
Instead of wasting time asking “why?” or “I’ll help you!”, Kim Ji-ho quickly grabbed Jang Seojin and twisted his body through the gaps of the fingers to escape.
At that moment, the situation was sealed.
The rocky hand, exposed to the cosmic waves, instantly lost its life and crumbled.
Then, I saw a crucial secret contained within the debris of the rocky hand that belonged to Jang Seojin.
“…”
My heart grew heavy, not because it was an unimaginable secret, but because it was an ‘expected secret.’
The Bureau must also have some inkling about this secret.
*
As I shoved off the debris of the once-living rocky hand and tried to get outside, someone rushed in.
“Get back inside!”
“Kim Ji-ho, what are you doing—”
“Look outside!”
The deafening noise and tremors from the rocky hand had drowned out what was happening outside.
Now I could see seven bodyguards armed with assault rifles.
They were shouting something at the chairman along with Jang Seojin beside him.
This was absurd.
— Bang! Bang!
Did they really intend to kill us? They were now shooting at us through the cracks of the rocky hand!
“…”
I understood the situation.
Since the Bureau had sent agents knowing about Jang Seojin’s existence, there’s no way some Korean chaebol could resist.
However, the chairman, anxious about his precious youngest son, had come up with a strategy after much deliberation.
“Taeseong Group has offered up their precious youngest son to the Bureau. Then, an unidentified chaotic entity suddenly attacks, killing both the agents and Jang Seojin. Not our responsibility. Something like this?”
“Sounds about right. Are they going to kill us and bury us?”
“… Isn’t that a bit too flimsy?”
Is Chairman Jang Mincheol a kindergarten kid?
Even in the Joseon Dynasty, if a secret inspector suddenly died while working, the governor would have been the first to lose his head!
“What? Making a chaebol chairman lose their mind is true paternal love, I guess? Guess that shows how much he loves his son.”
— Bang! Bang!
Bullets were flying in one after another.
Yet no one in the place was flustered.
We were agents, after all.
We were equipped with bulletproof and anti-blade outfits along with a grenade launcher prepared for the rocky hands!
Considering our powers, this was hardly a serious crisis.
Yet the reason we remained here was—
“What’s the cleanup plan?”
“Usually, what do you do?”
“Ah, would we let someone who aimed a gun at the agents live? This is a serious obstruction of official duties.”
“… Let’s kill the bodyguards.”
“And the chairman?”
“If they want to use Jang Seojin, then…”
“Right, right. Let’s cut the chairman some slack since he has a son.”
“Let’s head out.”
“No, you stay here and watch.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve already shown a lot today, so let’s see your skills as ‘senpai’!”
*
It didn’t take long to figure out the external situation.
Using the remains of the crushed rocky hand as a barricade, I darted here and there.
With almost supernatural shooting skills, I obliterated the heads of the seven bodyguards!
Kim Ji-ho fought like a 007 agent from a movie, without any exaggeration.
At first, the chairman was confidently roaring, but as his bodyguards fell, his complexion turned pale and eventually to panic.
In stark contrast, Kim Ji-ho’s expression was full of confidence.
“Ah~ our chairman, why do you always make things so troublesome?”
“…?”
“Jang Seojin, you’re unbelievable too. Did you really think we’d die from some rocky toys?”
“I’m in awe. Both of you are truly skilled fighters. Is this the baseline for being an agent?”
His remark felt overly pompous, causing Kim Ji-ho to narrow his eyes slightly.
Honestly, it felt too cocky, didn’t it?
“… Looks like you’re a bit too relaxed.”
“Why should I be scared? I have plenty of other sculptures, and I don’t think I’m going to die in the worst-case scenario!”
As he said, the ground shook violently, and grotesque behemoths began to rise from all directions.
Suddenly, I recalled the massive boulders scattered throughout the residence of Chairman Jang Mincheol.
Was that all part of sculptures too?
More importantly, the number of sculptures far outstrips the Bureau’s predictions.
It seems the awakening of his abilities came earlier than expected.
What did that mean?
I whispered to Kim Ji-ho in a voice only he could hear.
“… I saw the inside when I crushed that rocky hand—”
“I know. You know.”
“…?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just give that arrogant kid a proper lesson and we’re done.”
It seems this is one side of the Bureau, the elephant that makes sacrifices for the greater good.
Perhaps it’s the murkiest bottom after all.
“…?”
Suddenly, I felt a slight tremor in Kim Ji-ho’s voice, making me ponder.
Could it be that not only the Bureau is an elephant but also Kim Ji-ho himself might be an elephant?
If so, this must also be a moment of contemplation for him.
*
– Kim Ari
After an interminable wait, I finally arrived at a mammoth structure whose nature was still a mystery.
It resembled a colossal research facility packed with gray walls, something I would’ve never imagined existed beneath the Australian desert.
Walking down the corridor with my companion, I recalled the shocking experience from just before.
The identity of the massive sphere I sensed from the elevator was none other than the ‘Moon.’
“…”
Long ago, I told Han Kain that there’s no Moon in reality, right?
I inadvertently told a lie.
But in this case, I have an excuse.
Who would’ve thought the Moon would be underground on Earth!?
Does it even make physical sense for the Moon to be underground?
Of course, in this world, such common knowledge holds no meaning.
“…”
The Moon was a Moon, yet it was not.
The secret that even the Bureau could no longer replicate was the ‘Seal’ of the Moon.
And I already knew the principles behind sealing the Moon.
“I’ve seen something similar.”
“Hmm?”
“The structure that seals the Moon. I saw something like that in the hotel.”
“Oh… If the secrets of the world were revealed, would that have been in the later part of the second floor?”
“Right.”
Since we both understood the hotel, it made our conversation smoother.
“Which room was it? 204? 205?”
“206.”
Nodding along, the other person casually revealed the astonishing fact I had just realized.
“It seems in the 206 room you experienced, the Bureau suppressed demons with the spiritual mass of all humanity.”
“… Similar.”
The Moon must be sealed.
Only one power can seal such a ridiculous ‘abomination’: the collective spiritual mass of humanity.
“Congratulations. Today, you’ve uncovered something incredible. However, know that this is just the beginning.”
“…?”
As we strolled down the corridor, a gigantic door appeared.
“Behind there are other Silent Ones. People who will accompany you through eternity.”
“Not really keen on that.”
“We’re not exactly in this together because we want to either.”
“…?”
“Before that, I want to ask you just one thing.”
“Yeah?”
Suddenly a question?
The hooded man pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket.
“Can you see this?”
“Just looks like a blank piece of paper.”
“Right now, yes.”
“What was it originally?”
“Originally, it was a photo. It was until about two months ago.”
“…?”
That coincided with the timing when the hotel party returned to reality.
“How strange. It turned into a blank sheet right when you returned?”
“… I don’t know.”
“There was originally a person in this photo.”
One person.
“Who? I originally knew but now I don’t.”
“Oh…”
“That person is humanity’s betrayer. I’ve killed him countless times in the repeated loop.”
Such a bizarre story.
It was truly strange.
As the plot thickens, I, the author, feel a whirlwind of emotions.
Thank you always to the readers who have helped bring this work this far.
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