Geocaching (7)

"I see, so a double room has one big bed, while a twin room has two. I can't understand why they adopted such a complicated system."

"I agree."

The result of a complicated system.

That meant this situation was already decided the moment we booked a double room.

Why is there such a difference between double and twin?

Do I really have to sleep in the same bed as the beautiful Jaldi? Am I supposed to lie here, counting long-haired Mr. Spangdals in my head while we sleep together like this?

The fate forced upon me feels far too cruel. The vampire angel Ghanak would surely agree.

"No choice, huh, Team Leader. How about rock-paper-scissors, and the loser sleeps on the floor?"

So I made a reasonable suggestion.

"Hmm, it is a little awkward, but since it's a double bed, it doesn't matter. It might interfere with our work, so you'd better rest properly. Lie down. If I'd cared about that sort of thing from the start, I would've booked separate rooms."

That was true too.

Come to think of it.

We're on an operation, so there's no need to nitpick over this and that.

"Understood. I'll definitely think of it as a reasonable combat sleep, Team Leader."

Combat sleep means sleeping strategically to recover your condition quickly. Despite the sound of it, it doesn't mean rampaging wildly on the bed.

"Yeah. Go to sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Have a good night."

"...What is that? That strange tone and greeting?"

"Ah, in the army, everyone talks like this. There are set greetings like 'Hang in there,' 'Enjoy your meal,' and so on. The tone is also pretty much unified to this style."

I deliberately used military-style greetings to loosen the mood, and it worked perfectly.

"I haven't served, so I wouldn't know, but that does seem a little unusual."

"Heh heh heh, actually there's no group more unusual than the military."

"Right... anyway, just in case, keep this secret. Don't tell anyone later. It could cause unnecessary misunderstandings."

"Of course."

Those sorts of misunderstandings would be troublesome.

"..."

But seriously, sleeping in the same space as a superior made me think of the military.

Of course, a military barracks only has men, and there weren't even proper beds—just old storage racks and worn-out bunks. This place is a complete contrast to that.

I closed my eyes.

...

I could hear Jaldi breathing beside me.

At least he isn't snoring.

I can't imagine Jaldi snoring.

I thought as I counted long-haired Mr. Spangdals in my head.

The conversation I had with Jaldi today... left a very strong impression on me.

* * *

I said I was doing combat sleep, but I didn't exactly sleep soundly. How could I fall asleep properly while sharing a bed with someone like Jaldi?

I felt exhausted.

We got up early, quickly finished our deployment prep, and checked out. We weren't here to sightsee, so there was no time to dawdle.

I got into the passenger seat right away.

"..."

As I was about to properly start the day, yesterday's thoughts continued.

There are similarities between our Bureau and the fake Bureau.

It was a structure that had to be that way from the very beginning.

I had thought the fake Bureau was a ghost story born from public perception. Black-suited agents who suddenly appear and drag away people who learned secrets... that kind of ghost story has existed since old times.

But this incident changed my mind.

This isn't just a parallel world.

Out of all those countless parallel worlds, to think that only the Bureau was replaced? There has to be something here. Besides, those fake Bureau bastards cross the barrier between parallel worlds far too easily.

These two worlds are certainly deeply connected.

Like a mirror.

Then... is this world where the fake Bureau exists ultimately some kind of ghost story derived from our world?

Personally, I hoped this hypothesis was correct.

If not...

Then conversely, it would mean our side is the 'fake Bureau ghost story' derived from the Bureau.

ㅡclick.

Jaldi got into the driver's seat.

"Were you waiting?"

"Yeah."

"I thought a bit about what you said yesterday."

"Go on."

"If our Bureau invaded this world and tried to root out the fake Bureau, I'd welcome it. Of course something like that should be done."

Everyone would agree with that.

"But a nuclear bomb? Even after sleeping on it and thinking again, it makes no sense. Besides, this is a parallel world, isn't it? And not just any parallel world, but a very strange one. Look. The cards still work, and even the IDs we used to sign up online still work."

That's one of the things that surprised me when I got here.

The IDs log in just fine.

And all the cards we have can still be used to pay.

Only our Bureau doesn't exist.

Everything except that feels like it's been copied.

That means this isn't just a parallel world; it's a world that's closely linked to ours.

"That means, simply put, if we detonated a nuclear bomb here, there's a high chance a similar result would happen in our world, wouldn't there?"

Jaldi, who had been listening quietly, nodded.

"That's likely."

"Right?"

"Clearly, this place is deeply connected to our world. Seeing that the cards work, your hypothesis is very likely correct."

So nukes are out.

"In the end, everything is a matter of verification. Our agents are beings who devote themselves to that verification. Rash actions invite trouble. The nuclear bomb I mentioned is just one possible method; think of it that way."

"Yes."

"Whatever it is, it's verification. The link between this place and our world, and the identity of the people on this side. We need to verify those things."

If it's confirmed that the people on this side are real humans, then they're people our Bureau must protect.

"But how are we supposed to verify that?"

"Well... I suppose there are several methods."

What?

"But even that only works once we find a way back."

I tilted my head, and Jaldi explained.

"First, make something happen in this world, then go back and see whether the same thing happens in our world."

"Ah! Then we'd be able to tell how connected the two worlds are!"

"Exactly. If they're connected, nukes aren't even a consideration."

It's good that they're not even a consideration, but...

In fact, that just means that if they're not connected, it would be perfectly usable.

As I was about to say that.

"Of course, even if they aren't connected, we wouldn't casually use something that extreme. Like I said, whether the people in this world are real people or not is important too. If they're people, we protect them. That's our duty."

"Right."

"But if they're anomalous entities, then mercy doesn't have any place in it."

"That's true."

That was true.

Still... these are people so vividly real.

If they really are anomalous entities, then does that mean they're human-like anomalies? If that's the case, distinguishing real from fake is close to meaningless.

Whatever happens, I'll keep thinking about this problem.

And at the decisive moment, I'll make a choice.

"But whatever we do, I think we need to find a way to go back and forth first."

"That's actually the biggest problem."

"Exactly."

"The fake Bureau guys seem to know something, so tailing them wouldn't be a bad idea."

"Good idea."

The fake Bureau shows up where strange phenomena occur. Then, if we tail those guys, we might be able to figure out the method.

More than that.

I want to know about Jinseop.

That bastard is in the fake Bureau and living in this world for what reason? If I could have a sincere conversation with Jinseop, a lot of questions would be answered.

How do I get the chance?

We did share souls during the Giant Apocalypse, but that was a story from that world, not this round.

Jinseop and I are complete strangers to each other. In fact, you could call us a rather extreme version of Romeo and Juliet, belonging to opposing organizations.

I thought about how to make contact with Jinseop.

* * *

What we did first was simple.

We parked the car and set up surveillance around the fake Bureau building.

We didn't have any clues, and we didn't have headquarters' support. Since we were isolated in another world, we had to start with the most basic things.

I guess this means I'll be spending quite a long time alone in the car with Jaldi.

"By the way, Team Leader? You seem to snack more than you'd expect."

"Grong, don't you keep buying them all the time? If they're there, I eat them."

I have to say, since the rest stop, he's been eating really well.

"Let's say that's true. For now, we can see those fake guys coming and going, but choosing who to tail is a bit of a problem."

"No rush. We can observe carefully and carry it out gradually."

"Gradually, huh? Everyone's probably going to worry."

"That's a little troublesome. Still, in the end, all that matters is getting back."

They must be worrying a lot by now.

Especially Mr. Spangdal.

"Whatever the case, check the ones among them who look like they're going out on operations."

"Yes."

The ones going out on operations would be the key.

Because those would be the ones trying to invade our world.

If we can get clues about dimensional travel, maybe we'll find them there.

"We really came here for a treasure hunt, and now we've been through all sorts of things."

"I'm keeping that in mind too. Geocaching might be the trigger. I'll check it next time."

"Yes."

For now, the fake Bureau is more important.

"But Team Leader, why exactly are these fake guys invading our world? They also show up often where strange phenomena occur."

"I wonder that too. During operations, we often ran into fake Bureau bastards quite frequently."

The two organizations are at war.

That means there are a lot of clashes.

"Up until now, I'd thought like this."

Jaldi leaned back against the seat.

"These ghost-story agents tend to think they came out to do a job. Just look at the vampire incident. Those guys believed they had been given the mission to eliminate the vampires and burn every civilian who might have been infected. And all for humanity's sake."

"Right."

Just like the nurses in a ghost-story hospital think they're nursing patients, these ghost-story agents also have the premise that they're carrying out a mission like that.

Roughly that kind of meaning.

"I thought this was just a setting of the ghost-story phenomenon. But seeing that they have a main base in this parallel world, I concluded we can't dismiss them as merely a ghost-story phenomenon. They clearly have a command structure, and they were actually carrying out missions."

My own thoughts were similar.

"So they're an actual organization in another world, not a ghost-story phenomenon."

"Yeah. The fact that those guys go out of their way to invade our world... there are a few things we can think of."

What is it?

"Grong. Among the things you mentioned, there was the story about people accidentally crossing into parallel worlds without realizing it."

"Yes."

"If the anomalies in our world could cross over to this world as well, then?"

The anomalies cross over?

"Could they go over first and eliminate them before they arrive? One could think that, couldn't one?"

"Ah! Definitely! It's better to fight in someone else's world than in your own!"

"Exactly. Well, we'd still need to judge that after more firmly checking the connection between the two worlds, but for now, that's one possibility."

So they might be trying to cross over first and deal with the anomalies before their own world gets harmed by them.

This hypothesis is quite convincing.

It feels like we're getting close to the fake Bureau's true nature.

Anyway.

While monitoring them, I kept thinking about methods. Then an idea flashed through my head.

"Right, Team Leader. What if we use something related to anomalous phenomena?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, let's try using an anomalous phenomenon."

Here's my idea.

"Maybe not just our world, but this world too could have anomalous phenomena."

"That could be."

"Then, well, if we cause an anomalous phenomenon, the fake guys might come running?"

"Oh?"

"Or isn't there an anomalous space the Bureau is monitoring? You'd know its locations, Team Leader. How about we go to one of those places?"

Take Cheongak Mary Hospital, for example.

If we can enter that place in this parallel world too, that would prove the same ghost story affects both worlds.

Then maybe we could also return to our world through the hospital?

"In other words, we use the anomaly to go back to the original world. If we use a place where the escape method has already been clarified, wouldn't it be possible?"

"Very sharp."

Did I hit the nail on the head?

"It's a risky but workable suggestion. Definitely fine."

"Heh heh heh, I'm a bit sharp, aren't I?"

"But unfortunately... to go to a place like that, we would still have to pass through a Bureau building."

"What?"

"Our Bureau judges that when a place where such anomalous spaces occur is fixed, it builds a secret building there and manages it. Those are the places we toured yesterday."

"Ah, so that was what those places were?!"

"Yeah. They blocked the entry space itself with a building."

So the Bureau actually does clever stuff like that!

"Still."

What was left?

"Cheongak Mary Hospital. That place wasn't something we could fully control, so we didn't put up a building there. No. We couldn't."

"Th-then you mean?"

Wait a second.

This has a bad feeling.

"If there's a place we can go to right away, yeah, that would be the one."

Jaldi's gaze changed.

"Cheongak Mary Hospital?!"

"Coincidentally, you escaped from there splendidly under the guise of a patient, didn't you?"

"I did, but Team Leader?!"

This atmosphere is seriously weird!

"Going there once wouldn't be a bad idea."

"Wait a minute!"

We're going there?!

No!

Just as I was about to shout something.

"Ah, those guys. They're moving."

I saw the fake Bureau agents all getting into a very familiar black van.

That van.

It looks like the same model as the van I saw when I blasted a Gwanster Call at Cheongak Mary Hospital.

No way.

It can't be, right?