Chapter 671 – Room 301, The Cursed Room – ‘Origin of the Species’ (15)
—
– Yu Songee
—
The Administration Bureau claims the entire world as its domain, hoarding more human and material resources than any other business or government out there.
Material resources, of course, include headquarters around the globe, branches, and a variety of secret bases!
Among these, the secret bases are said to be entirely different facilities from the headquarters or branches.
“The headquarters or branches can be likened to official administrative agencies of a country. They’re confidential facilities on the outside, but… those in the know have an idea of their locations.”
“Like high-ranking politicians or the chairman of the Dae Yang Group?”
“Exactly. At that level, they could at least guess where their country’s Administration Bureau branch is. Branches handle a lot of work, so they have many staff on hand.”
“So, it’s not like we can sneak in to meet the higher-ups?”
“Absolutely impossible. That’s why we’re looking for secret bases.”
This is why we haven’t gone to the Korean branch of the Administration Bureau.
Sneaking in to meet the branch chief in Korea would be incredibly difficult.
Would it have been possible if Kain was here?
Well, it doesn’t matter because he’s not!
“So, what’s a secret base like?”
“When I say ‘secret base,’ I’m using a blanket term. Each facility has different purposes. Some are for research, some for sealing chaotic entities, and some for other secretive purposes.”
“If we go there, can we meet the higher-ups right away?”
“I don’t know about meeting the higher-ups, but we could ignore the staff and go straight for the agents. To be precise, if we invade, agents would show up.”
While discussing this, we wrapped up our exploration of the fifth candidate site.
1. Search for suspected secret base locations using a smartphone map app.
2. Go check the candidate sites in person.
3. If wrong, back to step one!
We spent half a day going through those steps. It felt like we set out early in the morning, but the sun was already high in the sky.
Ahri muttered with a slightly tired expression.
“This one isn’t it either.”
“Are we really stuck searching like this?”
“If you have a better method, speak up.”
“…”
“Let’s go. The next candidate is in Gwanak-gu.”
—
The seventh building was quite old, and there was even a traditional Korean restaurant on the first floor.
As soon as I saw it, I thought, “This can’t be it.”
“Let’s go. There’s no way a secret base would have a restaurant on the first floor.”
Instead of answering me, Ahri walked into the restaurant and began surveying the surroundings.
“…”
This marked the sixth time we aimlessly entered a building to check things out. It was pretty frustrating since I had no clue how Ahri determined whether it was a secret base or not.
I asked her a couple of times, and she kindly provided explanations, but…
It turned out there wasn’t a clear standard to begin with.
Her hundreds of years of experience as an agent was her guideline.
You could say it was big data in a good light, or her instincts in a bad light.
There was no way I could replicate that based on the few things I heard.
This time, I was just hoping that her instincts would be right.
“Hey, students! Aren’t you going to order?”
“Just checking the menu.”
I was about to shake my head in rejection when Ahri’s eyes went wide for the first time.
“That painting!”
“Huh?”
“Do you see that ink wash painting?”
In a high-end traditional Korean restaurant right in the middle of Seoul, there were several impressive paintings on display, and one of them was what Ahri pointed out.
“Doesn’t the placement look odd?”
“Uh…”
“It’s in a spot where customers can’t see it properly. If you’re not vigilant like I am, you wouldn’t even know it was there.”
Now that I thought about it, it made sense.
If it’s an expensive painting made to set the mood, it should be displayed where customers can enjoy it, right?
Also, upon inspecting it closely, the content of the painting was suspicious.
There was no proper background, only a creepy-looking house standing alone.
More importantly!
“…”
I informed Ahri about the surrounding situation using the power of diverse perspectives.
From the moment her attention was drawn to the painting, the restaurant staff had been eyeing us suspiciously!
Isn’t that clear evidence?
Just when I was bracing myself to kick up a row in the restaurant alongside Ahri, she suddenly wore a panicked expression and acted flustered.
“Over there, push aside the staff on the right—”
“I’ll go first.”
“What?”
What is she talking about all of a sudden?
Just as I turned back in shock, Ahri vanished outside my field of view in an instant!
“…!”
Is she out of her mind?
What am I supposed to do if she just disappears without a trace?
Pepper also had a baffled reaction.
– Beep!
Wait a minute, did she just say Pepper?
“… Pepper.”
– Beep! Beep!?
“I’m going first.”
—
Suddenly, I felt a ‘jolt!’ and arrived at a mysterious, chilly place filled with air.
After all the bizarre experiences I’ve had in this hotel, stepping into a painting was something I struggled to adapt to.
As I moved forward with unease, I spotted Ahri standing still up ahead.
“Hey!”
“Came quickly.”
“Why did you move alone?”
“I thought it would take too long if we stuck together.”
“What?”
Not long after, Ahri shushed me, her mouth moving silently.
‘There’s an agent here right now. That’s why we came in so quickly.’
‘…’
‘How’d you get past the staff so fast?’
‘Pepper’s causing a commotion outside.’
‘…’
After a brief silence, I suddenly heard a clanging sound from somewhere.
– Click!
I slowly turned around to find a cold metal barrel aimed at me and Ahri.
“…”
In that moment, I felt a bit flustered.
This person’s appearance was far from what I had anticipated.
Glinting black eyes, ghostly white skin, and hair that swayed like a living snake.
That all just seemed like the resemblance of an evil spirit, but the person looked no older than a teenage boy.
Of course, knowing Ahri and Miro, outward appearance didn’t mean much for an agent.
The tension in the air intensified as our glares crossed.
The person pointing the gun seemed to silently demand a question.
‘Who are you, and how did you get in here?’
Then, Ahri raised her hands, signaling she meant no harm, and began sharing her pre-rehearsed lie.
“As you must have guessed, I’m an agent.”
“…”
“The girl behind me is my trainee. As you can see, she’s also crossed over from the end, and I plan to report her to the headquarters soon to qualify her as an agent.”
Ahri burst into the secret base, knowing there was an agent there, no less!
Initially, I panicked, thinking, “What if they attack without a word?”
But…
“Are you going to keep pointing that gun?”
“It looks like you both came from the end, but…”
In the exchange, I found my answer to the question of why they hadn’t shot us immediately.
Agents can recognize other agents; precisely speaking, they can identify ‘returners.’
Returners are essentially high-tier beings of the soul.
Didn’t Ahri show such skills against Kain’s great-grandfather or Grandpa Mooksung?
Naturally, they don’t have exact skills, from what I’ve heard.
Their power hasn’t been honed into a precise psychic ability; more like a gut feeling developed over a long experience as an agent.
Rather than being certain, it’s more like “That person seems like an agent? Maybe?”
The same goes for the other side.
“Hmmm… not sure. But more than anything, if you’re as cute as you are—”
“Thanks.”
At Ahri’s cheeky response, the other person flinched, but didn’t lower their gun.
“—I can’t forget a face like yours. No matter how hard I rummage through my memory, I’ve never seen anyone like you before.”
“That’s fair enough. Lately, I’ve been kind of living recklessly through a few loops.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve been wandering the world, hidden under a false identity. Get it? This job can be quite a hassle, you know?”
“…”
“It’s like taking an extended vacation.”
This, too, was a lie carefully prepped after the meeting back outside.
Officially, there’s no concept of retirement for agents. But think about what agents really are.
They awaken suddenly in unknown places and times, rediscovering their memories from the past.
Throughout their vast lives, they’ve accumulated countless experiences and usually possess mysterious powers.
Thus, even the Administration Bureau struggles to keep tight control over individual agents.
This means there are indeed agents who take it upon themselves to go on these self-imposed long vacations.
Take Grandpa Mooksung as a prime example!
Soon enough, Ahri began to gradually unveil some information related to the Administration Bureau that only agents would know.
While it’s true that the information Ahri possesses and the one about Room 301 differs significantly, there was still a lot of information that matched.
Thanks to that, the other person’s expression grew increasingly confused, and before long, the gun muzzle lowered slightly.
“… So, you awakened about two years ago?”
“That’s right.”
“Are you planning to wrap up your vacation and return to headquarters?”
“Exactly.”
Naturally, the other person began calling Ahri ‘senpai’ out of respect.
Seeing the boy scratching his head caused a slight sense of relief at that precise moment!
– Click!
The other person unexpectedly drew out another gun from their sleeve at lightning speed, aiming it at Ahri’s head, posing a firm question.
“Answer with yes or no. Are you an agent?”
“Yes.”
As soon as Ahri responded, the other person pulled the trigger without hesitation.
— Tick!
Instead of ‘Bang!’, it was a ‘Tick!’.
The trigger was pulled, but the bullet didn’t fire.
“…”
After a brief moment of silence, the boy finally broke into a grin and holstered the gun once more.
“My apologies.”
“…”
“Haha! You do seem like an agent; just wanted to check. It’s best to err on the side of caution, right?”
“Yeah.”
So, that gun was some kind of magical tool to judge falsehood?
If Ahri had lied, the bullet would’ve gone off and blown her brains out?
Truly, agents have all sorts of bizarre stuff flying around!
In any case, we’d dodged the bullet.
Ahri really is an agent; just not from Room 301.
“Call me C. But tell me, senpai, why did you come to a place like this instead of reporting back to the Korean Bureau?”
“I planned to, but I just felt something was off.”
And this is where the real stuff begins.
“What was off?”
In the next moment, Ahri summoned a non-transparent polyhedron and set up an obscuring barrier around us.
C looked mildly startled, but soon appeared calm, as if he realized Ahri wasn’t going to attack him.
“What’s this for?”
“Just checking if there are any ominous eyes around.”
“…”
“Honestly, I’ll be upfront with you. Some employees at headquarters are acting strangely.”
“…”
“A lot of employees seem to have been bewitched or infected by an unknown chaos entity. I can’t ascertain how far the corruption has spread. What do you think?”
“Phew…”
C sighed as he pondered.
“It’s gotten this bad at headquarters. Senpai, you’ve stumbled upon traces of the ‘Is’ species.”
“… Explain more.”
“An alien species with abilities for possession, body theft, and remote control. There have been clashes between the Is species and the Administration Bureau in recent years.”
“…”
“We’re working steadily to defend and root out the infiltrating enemies, but it’s tough. Because of that, headquarters’ activities have been significantly stunted over the past few years.”
“Well, sounds like security is holding strong.”
“That’s the interesting part. Employees infected by the Is clan still handle the chaos entities unrelated to them quite normally.”
“…”
“It may sound strange, but their demeanor is like—”
“Let’s not stir up too much trouble. Unnecessary civilian casualties are a hassle. If the Bureau meets their demands, they’d retreat without a fight. That kind of vibe, huh?”
“… Wow. You’ve already pieced that together? Exactly right. It doesn’t seem like they want to stir up any massive issues.”
Listening in, I was impressed by Ahri’s oratory skills.
As we added flesh to the information gained from the post-apocalyptic world, it made C trust Ahri more firmly.
From my perspective, it would be weird to still doubt her at this point.
In a calm tone, Ahri asked, “C, can you contact anyone higher up?”
“I can. Shall I call the ‘Pioneer’?”
“… Please do.”
At the mention of the term ‘Pioneer’, Ahri had a fleeting moment of shock.
It seemed, in this context, that the upper echelon of the Administration Bureau was referred to as Pioneers.
In reality, they might be dubbed ‘The Silent Ones’, but names can change.
“Don’t you have any further information?”
“… It’s information I’ve picked up along the way.”
“That’s just what I need. Lay it on me.”
C mumbled, exuding a somewhat uncertain aura.
“About 500 years ago, the Bureau discovered an unknown ruin underground in what is now Gangwon Province.”
Gangwon Province.
That was a place mentioned in Eunsol’s Telegram message.
“A ruin?”
“They say it was a site infused with immense chaotic power. It’s said that extraordinary miracles could be achieved there.”
“What kind of miracles?”
“Sorry, I can’t get into that.”
“Tell me what you know.”
“They weren’t able to utilize it when discovered. But oddly enough, around 30 years ago? 35 years ago? It seems they began to be able to use it.”
“…”
“At that time, a massive project related to the ruin commenced.”
“What was that?”
C’s next words were rather surprising.
It wasn’t an unknown term but something quite familiar.
I just didn’t expect it to pop up now.
“‘Project—Origin of the Species’. Ever heard of it?”
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