Chapter 6
“What? You found a survivor of Walpurgis?”
The junior’s sudden outburst left Detective Ma Beom-il of Seoul’s Violent Crimes Investigation Division 2 dumbfounded. He knew perfectly well that Ma was busy with this case, yet he still had the nerve to joke around... Ma was about to smack him on the head.
“The NIS just detected the designation of a device being used illegally. What was it called again? MEIMEI-2X?”
The moment the name of a capsule device came out of his junior’s mouth, Detective Ma’s gaze suddenly turned fierce.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. The data was officially provided by Riot, so it’s reliable. They’re sending us the serial number and ICEI number soon, so we should at least be able to track its location.”
“Riot? Isn’t that a game company? Myeongseok... Hey, if you have a brain, try using it for once.”
In the end, Ma Beom-il rolled up a magazine and bonked his junior on the head.
“It’s probably just some deadbeat bastard who got caught playing on an illegal capsule he picked up somewhere. Even at best, it’s probably a low-level Walpurgis operative.”
“Then you’re not going, Detective Ma? We’ve got the car waiting.”
“Go yourselves. I’m busy enough with this.”
“Come on, it could really be a victim. According to the informant, someone trapped inside a capsule has been unable to speak and sending out SOS signals for years...”
“What? Why didn’t you say that sooner?”
The fact that they couldn’t speak was the decisive point.
A capsule with its language module deliberately destroyed.
Detective Ma Beom-il had never gotten over failing to rescue even a single proper survivor during the UN-led operation to wipe out Walpurgis’s Korean branch seven years ago.
There must have been many hostages.
But everyone he had found had either been dead or was still trapped somewhere, perhaps until they were reduced to bones.
He suspected that Walpurgis was the reason so many people had gone missing in Korea, a country whose public safety was second to none.
After Walpurgis was eradicated in Korea, they said the annual number of missing children had plummeted exponentially the following year.
Still, the claim that someone trapped inside a capsule for seven years was still alive did sound somewhat far-fetched.
“We need to get there faster.”
“If I go any faster, we’ll get a ticket. I told you to leave it to the self-driving system. You’re so impatient.”
The ambulance arrived at the scene almost at the same time as they did.
“It really is out in the middle of nowhere.”
There was no need to deploy an antiterrorism unit as they had before. They had judged that there was no way any operatives would be hiding in such a remote place. It was a reasonable decision, too.
He had been thinking that it was no wonder they had failed to find the capsule after it was dumped in a place like this.
The area on the outskirts had once been designated for redevelopment, only for that decision to be abruptly revoked. By now, not a single sign of human presence could be found there.
A shabby country house more than a hundred years old stood alone.
“Is this really the place?”
“That’s strange... The navigation system definitely says it’s here...”
The paramedics waited for his instructions.
“Why are we standing around talking? Let’s go. You all come with us. We’ve come this far, so we can’t turn back now. Myeongseok, turn on the flashlight.”
“Sheesh, it’s ridiculous that they won’t let us use Light magic over something as cheap as taxes, so we’re still carrying flashlights around...”
“I said lead the way!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Two detectives entered the cramped house first, followed by six paramedics.
It was one in the morning. Perhaps because the house was so cramped, the hoot of an owl echoed through the hallway.
“The house is tiny, so why is the layout so complicated?”
“It feels like something’s about to jump out at us.”
“Aren’t you well past the age of being scared of things like that?”
“These days, people are scarier than ghosts.”
They searched the living room, kitchen, and master bedroom in turn.
Since the house was so small, they soon found two enormous capsules filling the tiny room at the very back.
“Good grief... They really are here... It looks like there’s someone inside. Damn, I just ate jjajangmyeon, and it’s all going to come back up.”
“Stop talking nonsense and help them. This won’t open by hand. They really did a number on it.”
The enormous iron crowbar they had brought for just such an occasion, also known as a pry bar, was driven between the capsules with the strength of three adult men.
A series of creaking and breaking sounds rang out. Because of the pressure difference between the inside and outside, air hissed through the gap.
“This won’t do. [1st-Circle Emergency Cast: Light].”
“Boss, emergency casting is expensive.”
“It’s my money anyway.”
The room was brightly illuminated. The haggard faces of the paramedics, which had been difficult to make out, and even Myeongseok’s somewhat dazed expression came clearly into view.
Clunk.
The capsule door finally gave way under the crowbar’s force and fell off.
But Myeongseok’s feet were even faster.
“Aaaah! A g-ghost!”
“What’s going to happen if you just stay still for once?”
Detective Ma Beom-il grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and slammed him face-first onto the floor. Meanwhile, the paramedics professionally examined the woman inside the capsule.
“She’s completely deceased. Her time of death is estimated to have been seven years ago.”
“But, man, this corpse hasn’t decomposed at all.”
“We don’t know the details either...”
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“What is it now, Myeongseok?”
“There... There’s a sound coming from this capsule!”
Myeongseok, who had been leaning against the other capsule, jumped again in fright after barely steadying his pounding heart. Perhaps it was his years of experience as a detective, but Beom-il immediately gave the paramedics an order.
“Leave that woman for now. Open this one first, quickly.”
The paramedics picked up the crowbar again without any objection.
The difference this time was that Detective Ma himself took the front and gripped the crowbar.
The capsule was forced open with less effort than before.
The Light spell’s duration was nearly over, but everyone’s attention was focused on the girl inside the second capsule.
“This is insane.”
Inside was a girl whose body was completely incompatible with the capsule’s intended physique,
a girl with an incredibly tiny frame and a pale complexion,
barely clinging to life.
* * *
My eyes open.
Seven years.
It took a full seven years.
Seven years before I could see the world into which I had been reincarnated.
Many people are urging me to hurry.
But I don’t care.
I have to see.
Mom.
I tried to sit up, but the world spun. No, was it my head that was spinning?
Two kind-looking men grabbed me under the arms and helped me stand. Thank you.
Mom, are you alive?
Seol-ah, whom I had been unable to see because of the capsule, came into view.
She looked truly peaceful.
Sure enough, Seol-ah had died six years ago.
But because of that faint hope, I had always forcibly administered half of the mana potions I consumed to Seol-ah.
Perhaps because of that, Seol-ah looked so full of vitality that it was hard to believe she had died six years ago. Of course, her eyes would never open again.
So this is how thin Seol-ah was.
She looked so different from her virtual-reality avatar.
How much suffering must she have endured?
I’m alive like this now.
It’s all thanks to you, Mom.
* * *
“How did it go? Did they find her?”
“It’s not something you need to worry about anymore. I have nothing more to say to you.”
“But!”
“And Semin, I heard from your mother that you’ve gotten hooked on games lately. I have no intention of interfering now that you’re an adult, but you should do everything in moderation.”
“...Yes.”
“I hear your exams are coming up soon, too. Unlike the other students, you’ve already completed your military service, so you’ll have to work twice as hard to catch up.”
“Yes.”
That was why Semin hadn’t really wanted to ask him for help in the first place. He stuck out his tongue at the back of his father, Chief Prosecutor Cheon Jeong-ho.
‘Does he think I went to the army to take a vacation? I went because the country told me to. He’d know that too if he’d served.’
What a suffocating family. Until he could live on his own, all he could do was endure it quietly.
[Kim Ye-eun: Any news?]
[Cheon Semin: Nothing at all. He doesn’t even intend to tell me anything.]
Semin’s instincts told him for certain that something had happened. The fact that NoName had switched to offline mode several hours ago was definitive proof.
“Sigh, what am I even doing? I should be studying.”
Though he said that to himself, all of Semin’s attention remained fixed on NoName.
In the end, Semin brought out his last resort.
[Detective Ma Beom-il – Connecting]
It was the person his father had kept talking to on the phone outside earlier. Semin had memorized the number and called him.
[Hello?]
[Oh, hello! Is this Detective Ma Beom-il?]
[Yes, that’s me. Who is this...?]
[Uh... I’m the son of Chief Prosecutor Cheon Jeong-ho. I’m also the original informant in this case.]
[Just a moment.]
After an unnatural pause, the voice returned.
[So why is the chief prosecutor’s son calling me?]
[I wanted to ask whether the rescue was completed safely...]
[It’s complicated. Hmm... It’s classified information that can’t be discussed over the phone, so if you’re really curious, come to Asan OO Hospital.]
[Yes, yes! May I leave right now?]
[Whatever is convenient for you.]