Chapter 675 – Room 301, The Cursed Room – ‘Origin of the Species’ (19)
—
– Lee Eunsol
—
“Find out the secrets hidden in the chairman’s head right now!”
For a moment, I was speechless at the words coming through the receiver, and a flurry of thoughts flashed through my mind.
Why is Grandpa suddenly giving orders without considering the situation?
It’s because he’s thinking about turning back time!
Why is he suddenly trying to reverse time?
Considering that mysterious loud noise that just echoed across the world, the answer becomes clear.
Songee and Ahri must have gotten into some kind of ridiculous accident.
The game is over, and now we’re in a situation where we have no choice but to turn back time!
Having understood this, I replied.
“You mean you’re planning to use the One More Chance, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Okay. I get that I shouldn’t think about what’s behind me and just gather information. But you know that if you turn back your memories, I’ll forget mine, right? How do we solve this problem—”
Should Grandpa even have a chat before using the One More Chance?
It was obvious that a disaster was imminent, and there wouldn’t be time for that—
“Eunsol! It looks like Songee is already dead! Kain or Sanghyun will be watching you anyway!”
“Ah, understood.”
So that’s how it is!
If our allies outside are already monitoring me, then I don’t need to worry about passing on my memories.
Even if I forget, Kain or Sanghyun will tell me all about it afterwards.
*
— SLAM!
As I burst into the chairman’s office, my father, examining documents, widened his eyes.
“Eunsol? If you’re reacting to the strange noise from outside—”
“I’m sorry.”
Suddenly, a dazzling light filled the office as the dream sequence began.
And on my right hand, the Flute of Rest appeared.
Soon, my father muttered darkly.
“That… that’s the magical tool that extracted my memory last time, right?”
“I need more information.”
“If you forcibly extract my memories, dangerous things could happen, you know?”
“There are moments when risks must be taken. It’s the same in management, isn’t it?”
My father’s next words took me by surprise.
“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t taken any risks in management.”
“Huh?”
“I only got involved in businesses that were guaranteed to succeed.”
“…”
I totally forgot. My father was an imperfect regressor, wasn’t he?
He wasn’t someone who took risks in business.
As I was momentarily at a loss for words, my father smiled wryly.
“How could I stop you? I just hope you’ve thought it through.”
He didn’t seem inclined to stop me at all.
— WHOOSH…!
I began to play the flute slowly.
And then….
“Guh!”
The security measures that a mysterious agent had performed on my father’s head twelve years ago dissipated like bubbles in front of the Flute of Rest.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
Soon, I transformed into a butterfly and dove into the past of the chairman of the Daeyang Group.
The memory began from the end of the scene I had seen earlier.
“Silence. Forget. Obey. I will give you three chances.”
*
– Lee Seokhwan
I half-lost my mind as I returned to my home in Seoul.
My wife looked horrified at my clothes soaked in cold sweat and blood, but I didn’t even have the strength to explain myself.
My best option was to calm down my wife, who was about to call the police.
Then, I huddled in bed all night, trembling and endlessly praying to an unknown entity…
The next day, and the day after that, and even the day after that.
One day, two days, three days — a week passed, and the Administration Bureau hadn’t contacted me at all.
Is this even reasonable?
We conducted an incomprehensible chaos experiment, a major incident occurred with mass casualties, and yet there was no reaction whatsoever?
Shouldn’t they at least have summoned me to investigate that day’s events?
Perhaps it’s a situation where even normal measures are impossible?
Thinking that way sent a chill of fear down my spine.
I had complaints about the Administration Bureau pushing countless trivial tasks onto me, and I was angry at that secrecy-ridden organization that didn’t tell me a thing…
But now, I truly felt it.
I had been emotionally depending on the Administration Bureau all this time!
Those guys are no good, but I still believed they were an organization to protect the world!
…
In the end, unable to suppress my anxiety, I took the initiative to reach out.
Since I had been loyal to the Bureau for over ten years, I had contacts to call, and I knew a lot of the staff, so it was possible.
I decided to meet with Agent K — a simple reason, Kim was his last name, hence the K.
He was a cheerful-looking young man in his twenties who seemed likable, but like all agents, his outward appearance belied his true age.
“Agent, it’s been a while.”
“Haha! Was it six years since we last saw each other? I owe you a ton from that time.”
“No, it’s me who should always be thankful to you.”
K was unusually polite for an agent.
He might look down on regular folks in his heart, but at least his outward demeanor had no sharp edges.
As we exchanged pleasantries, I closely observed his attitude.
K was behaving as if nothing had happened.
As soon as we sat at a square table, he demanded to get to the point.
“Chairman, since we’re both busy, let’s skip to the chase. What’s the sudden reason for calling me? If you have a request, it’s best to contact the headquarters instead.”
“…”
“Or do you have a personal favor to ask of me?”
“…”
“Haha! It’s not like we don’t know each other, so just tell me. Is your little boy acting strange? Are you afraid I’ll report it to the Bureau and have him punished, so you want me to smooth things over?”
“I guess you get a lot of those requests?”
“Not really.”
K didn’t seem to comprehend why I had called him, making things even weirder.
Wasn’t it odd that he seemed completely clueless about what happened in Gangwon-do?
“… Agent, I recently received orders from the headquarters to purchase 13,000 pyeong of land in Gangwon Province, XX-gun, XX-myeon.”
“Oh really? If the buying cost is too high and you’re having management issues…”
“No, that’s not it.”
Even after explicitly mentioning Gangwon Province, his attitude suggested he still didn’t understand what I was saying.
In the end, I stated it directly.
“Agent, do you really not know? Or are you pretending not to know?”
“What?”
“That… that day! Wasn’t there a massive massacre in Gangwon-do?”
“…”
“I saw it with my own eyes. I remember it vividly. That unknown monster that was trapped in a glass case escaped, didn’t it? That monster killed not just the researchers on site, but also Agent T…”
Just as I was about to explain while sweating profusely—
— TING!
K smiled broadly.
“Agent, huh?”
“You’re quite the slowpoke.”
“W-what do you mean?”
“Is this how you’ll survive in such a tough world?”
The moment I realized his tone, his demeanor, and his presence had completely changed!
— CLATTER!
Startled, I leapt up and pressed myself against the wall.
This tone, this attitude, this presence!
In an instant, my breath stopped, and cold sweat began to drip down.
“Y-you are…!”
A young man, grinning, started walking towards me.
He was K, yet he was no longer K.
He was someone who had swallowed K whole!
“Didn’t I tell you just a week ago? Silence, forget, obey.”
“Hah! Hah!”
“You seem to have a severe case of forgetfulness.”
Just like back in Gangwon-do, this time too, he didn’t seem like he’d harm me at all.
He only smiled and merely folded down one of three fingers he had raised.
“I give you three chances, and one has already disappeared.”
“Guh…!”
With that final word, the figure vanished with light steps.
…
When I stepped onto the street with half my mind gone, a nonsensical world greeted me.
Ten people frozen like dolls right in front of my car.
The moment they saw me, they suddenly opened their mouths wide and started jamming their hands down their throats to pull out their own tongues!
It was as if they were warning me not to speak carelessly again!
“Guh!”
As I sat on the ground, horrified by that disgusting sight, I realized something even more terrifying.
“…”
It’s broad daylight now, and this is the middle of Seoul.
Of course, it would be filled with ordinary citizens going about their daily lives.
Yet, no one seemed shocked.
Ten poor souls, under the control of a devil, were pulling out their tongues in broad daylight, yet people just walked by as if nothing happened!
It’s the same. It’s all the same!
It’s as if everyone except me has sworn, “Nothing’s happening,” and “The world is peaceful!”
*
“What a repulsive scene this is.”
“Did he manage to control the minds of thousands around us? If he’s a prisoner, that might be possible… impressive.”
“What exactly is so impressive? If it’s control, you can—”
“Controlling so many at once is difficult, and more importantly, carrying out a mass slaughter in broad daylight while making it look like nothing is wrong is impossible.”
“It makes sense why the chairman is fed up.”
“Also, I get the feeling that they’re not directly trying to kill the chairman or interfere with him despite putting on this annoying show.”
‘…’
“There must be a reason the king of Is can’t directly touch the chairman.”
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.