It’s chilly.
A dagger flies through my chest and pierces it.
The King of Rights – Andrea’s gaze felt like it was physically piercing my heart.
“…Do I really have to?”
But don’t worry.
I definitely have a clear reason.
I shrugged my shoulders as confidently as I could.
Hiding my trembling hands in my pockets, I pretended to be composed.
“Well, it can’t be helped. This isn’t exactly a safe place, we need to evacuate the kids first.”
As I answered Andrea, the pressure of her gaze intensified.
An incredible force!
I couldn’t help but admire the sheer awe of it. With skills like Andrea’s, it seemed she could even imbue her gaze with a physical force.
Andrea’s brow slightly furrowed.
She lightly grasped the ‘Special Colossus Machine Arm’ she wore like a glove.
i- Kwi-zz…
In Andrea’s hand was a full-face helmet worn by the security employee.
The helmet crumpled to the size of a tennis ball within seconds due to immense pressure.
If a human head was inside, it would have been a cruel scene, like squeezing juice from fruit, but fortunately, the helmet was empty.
“…M-monster…!”
“Shhh, be quiet…!”
“…Mister? I feel strange.”
Even so, the fact remained that Andrea’s frightening presence terrified the children.
All 209 kids were engulfed in fear at Andrea’s terrifying image.
It wasn’t strange.
Seeing the security employees smashed against the wall like Egyptians in ancient murals made me want to join the kids.
However,
An adult always has responsibilities.
I stood against Andrea as if facing a demon.
i-‘…Return to darkness!! You shall not pass!’
Alongside me, the Great Wizard in my heart also shouted.
Although it felt like I might drop to the Moria underground floor with my ankles caught, I didn’t feel the need to point that out.
Andrea tossed the helmet that had turned into a tennis ball casually.
Due to its substantial weight, the helmet-ball didn’t bounce and just rolled on the ground.
Andrea stomped her feet in dissatisfaction, murmuring in a sulky voice.
“…Or we could just move the kids in batches.”
Be brave, Lee Siwoon.
I shook my head firmly.
“I don’t know what’s down there, so that might be a little difficult. And looking around, there are many kids who are injured or tired.”
It was better to evacuate them to the surface as quickly as possible and have them taken care of.
Andrea let out a small sigh.
“…So you’re saying I have to take the kids to the surface, right?”
“Exactly.”
I entrusted Andrea, Maya, and Julia with safely guiding the children.
While there might be numbers called by the chairman or Natasha outside, I wanted to choose the safest and most trustworthy method.
Andrea puffed her cheeks indignantly, pouting just slightly. It was the kind of cuteness that could headline her fan cafe site.
“…Can’t the two of them just go without me? I already took care of all the staff we encountered on the way, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous…”
Andrea crossed her arms.
The combat gloves she wore were very large. Because of that, Andrea’s hands naturally extended outward.
Two giant breasts gently made their presence known between her arms.
…What the?
Is she a demon with red horns and capable of mental attacks?
Before I knew it, I almost responded with, ‘Uh… maybe?’ If not for Catherine’s (physical) help, I surely would have.
After getting hit in the back of the head and regaining my senses, I shook my head a few times.
Pointing to Maya and Julia, who were playing down one end of the hallway, I whispered to Andrea.
“…Should we leave it to them?”
Andrea’s red eyes followed my finger towards Maya and Julia.
There they were, a ‘former Chrome Psycho’ and a ‘current fugitive,’ playing innocently in an atmosphere that didn’t quite fit.
I continued speaking while looking at the two.
“Those two?”
“…”
Andrea couldn’t respond to my question.
It seemed like even a ‘current demon’ didn’t find it convincing.
41. A Lie-Like Truth (8)
The kids’ reactions were, of course, not good.
“…C-Can’t we just go back to where we originally were?”
“Gyeomjok is an individualist!”
“Trust leads to betrayal… noted.”
They looked like they were suffering from Stockholm syndrome, but I knew their reaction was purely due to their fear of ‘Andrea.’
I understood.
If I were in the kids’ shoes, I wouldn’t want to follow someone who could squash security personnel like clay either.
However, we couldn’t stay like this.
It was one thing if there were only one or two of us, but there were nearly 200 of them.
Most of them were huddled around Catherine, and if we weren’t careful, someone could get hurt.
The kids screamed as if they were staging a protest.
They looked like they had just been told that ‘pineapple pizza’ and ‘mint chocolate’ were not food. If that sounds like a strange example, then it’s a misunderstanding.
I hoped Catherine would help calm them down, but Gyeomjok’s influence had already diminished to the level of my stocks.
Just then.
i- Boom…!
A dull sound echoed throughout the hallway.
It was a sound made by Andrea with just one finger.
Cracks connected from the ceiling to the floor across the white walls.
Andrea murmured briefly.
“Silence.”
Whether she used sound amplification cyberware or not, her low but clear voice simultaneously halted all 209 kids.
““……””
Everyone went eerily silent like a paper crane.
Seeing the kids, Andrea smiled with a satisfied expression.
“Good.”
As she said that, Andrea’s gaze lingered on me for a brief moment.
“…You should be prepared for a costly price.”
I felt like I could hear a wolf growling somewhere.
What is this, elves? A warrior of the plains.
I was already worried about what price the famous singer wanted.
Breaking this silence, Maya spoke up.
“…Can’t we go with you?”
“……”
Maya held her clothing lightly, her voice pleading as she looked at me. Next to her, Julia’s blue eyes glistened as she looked up at me.
I had a hard time diverting my gaze from that, recalling the ‘Puss in Boots’ image I had seen in Net Space.
I wondered if I needed to explain to them just like I had to Andrea, but Andrea walked over to them with resolute steps.
“Be quiet, you two.”
Like a mother cat carrying her kittens, Andrea grabbed the two by the nape and dragged them along.
“…Aah! Andrea, let go of me!”
“Underground date…”
Maya and Julia left, each leaving behind words like a last testament as they disappeared down the hall.
With Andrea’s fierce gaze, the 209 kids lined up dutifully behind her.
It was a sight worthy of an orchestral performance.
As Andrea, Maya, and Julia, along with the 209 kids disappeared, the surroundings quickly became silent.
I scratched my head in a gesture of relief.
“…Then let’s go find the guardian that Teddy mentioned. That little one also talked about hearing a voice─.”
“…A ghost?”
“Yeah, a ghost. …Wait, huh?”
I felt something strange upon hearing the pure voice of a child.
Turning my gaze that way.
There was the girl who first shouted ‘ghost’ hanging onto Catherine’s shoulder.
What’s this?
I looked at Catherine, or rather, our eternal Gyeomjok, with eyes asking for an explanation.
Catherine muttered as if feeling guilty.
“…Well, one is fine, right? And I felt like she was about to cry.”
“……”
Gyeomjok…
Catherine couldn’t bring herself to ignore the pleading look of the child. I mean, she was okay with sending off 208 kids, but couldn’t handle leaving the last one behind.
I turned to Eve.
“Now all the other kids should be with Andrea, right?”
At my question, Eve tucked her head down slightly.
“Yes. Currently, the number of ‘kids’ following ‘Andrea’ is 208.”
“…Just in case, help with hacking if there’s anything you can do.”
“Of course.”
I looked at the defiant child.
I seriously contemplated whether I should follow Andrea and leave the child in her care.
The child still seemed to be figuring out the situation, her round eyes sparkling as she looked at me.
“You mean we’re going to see a ghost?! Right?!”
“No, I’m more debating whether to take you back to Andrea.”
“…She seemed a little scary.”
Scary or not, that didn’t matter.
And being scary was unavoidable.
I was occasionally scared too.
……
Anyway,
I shook my head while looking at the child.
This won’t do.
If we go deeper, there’s bound to be another fight.
No matter how tough our Gyeomjok and Eve…, even Eunsok are, who knows what variables there might be?
“I guess I have to go back to Andrea.”
Upon hearing my words, the little one answered in a panic.
“Um, uh…!”
I could see her little head spinning desperately.
She seemed about ten, but her attitude was quite mature. Seeing that made me feel a bit bitter about the pain she must have endured.
Still, that’s that and this is this.
I prepared to tell the child ‘No, you can’t. Go back.’ no matter what she said.
“I know where the data from the worst person here is!”
I was about to shake my head.
After all, Eve could just ‘click’ to know that too… Wait a minute.
Reading my thoughts, Eve quickly replied.
“The security system here closely resembles that of the City Security Department. Security cameras are only installed in the facility hallway, and after hacking the database, there were not many relevant data left uncovered.”
…Hmm.
Ultimately, it was just a matter of time.
After all, I could use Eve’s Lone Spider (Drone) unit to find out quickly.
Should I take the little one along to save time? Or just send her back and struggle a bit more?
I pondered over the two choices.
““……””
…But,
I understood why the little one was looking at me with sparkling eyes. …Why was Catherine looking at me with those same eyes beside her?
She seemed to love children more than I thought.
…Well, I just needed to be a little more careful.
I nodded quietly while looking at Gyeomjok, Eunsok, and our true-original Gyeomjok.
*
“…I almost missed seeing this.”
The place the little one directed me to was where we initially rescued the kids.
There was a desk placed within the opening of the glass wall.
When I opened a locked drawer, there was an electronic tablet inside.
Eve checked the tablet.
“It’s a product whose connection line was removed physically. It is presumed that it can only be accessed while offline.”
Also, the power was off.
Nodding at Eve’s words, I manipulated the tablet to turn on the power.
I had to bypass the iris, fingerprint, pattern, password, and random number generator to turn it on.
For reference, that was solved with a ‘click’ from the machine deity next to me.
【Neon City, Mana Research Institute Record Log】
The author was listed only as ‘Research Institute Director.’
In a way, it seemed to confirm what the little one had said about the worst person being right.
“I hope there’s no virus or anything.”
“The detection results are clean. As for the content, I recommend reading it yourself.”
Shortly, Eve answered me after checking through everything on the tablet.
What could the contents be?
I began reading the first line of the powered-up tablet.
[Oh God, please forgive us.]
…Hmm.
Every time I see a bad person, I think this.
Why do they beg forgiveness from God when they have wronged people?
I shook my head and continued reading.
*
Deep in the Mana Research Institute.
As the flames akin to molten lava sparked in a nearby incinerator, someone prepared to awaken from a long slumber with a deep breath.
