It was a strange thing.
Those who seemed ready to pounce on me at any moment were living in a civilized society until recently. They were neighbors I might have passed by once or twice on the street.
Considering that most of the people in the purification tank are poor, it is understandable that they have a venomous appearance. They have lived rough lives to begin with. However, considering their circumstances, I cannot help but think that it is excessive.
'No matter how you look at it, they're a group of criminals.'
If you fill up the four weeks like that, will you return to the city and go back to your daily life? Do the noblemen with families hold their wives and children with bloody hands?
Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
'It's a bit tricky right now, though.'
There is no way to know whether they actually committed a crime or not. Circumstances are just circumstances. You can't be sure of anything until you directly collide with them.
A standoff ensued for a while.
A car, a young woman, neat clothes. The number of people is almost three times more. It is a condition that is worth being greedy. Naturally, Kim Lee-hyun was also aware of this.
Then a young man walked out from the crowd.
"Just a minute, sir. You're scaring me so much."
Even though his lower face is covered by a mask, his kind-hearted impression stands out. In subculture, his eyes are often described as squinty eyes.
In other words, it means that the outside and the inside look different.
I couldn't help but look at them with a crooked eye. If you get to know them, they might be innocent people who have never hurt anyone in their entire lives, but it's better to be careful so that you don't suffer any losses.
Kim Lee-hyun opened his mouth, taking in the atmosphere.
"Are you the people who were dispatched to the purification plant?"
"Yes. I'm sorry about that. It seemed like I was threatening you, but please understand. Just because we're in the same situation doesn't mean we can all get along."
The young man answered with a smile.
"It would be nice if everyone shared the results equally, no matter which group achieved the best results, but that's not the case. It would be difficult if the districts overlapped. That's why I asked you to stop."
Swinging a baseball bat around like that is a very novel thing to do.
"But it seems like your position is different from ours."
The gaze that scanned up and down was blatant. It looked back and forth between Chelsea and Leone as well as Kim Yi-hyun. It seemed that they did not seem to be from the same purification tank.
'Well, it might seem strange since there are only three of them.'
I answered with a mixture of lies and truth.
"My name is Pablo from Colossus Company."
"Colossus Company…?"
"Originally, we were a small security company that worked underground, but then we got a job in Metro City, so we changed our line of work. We now run errands for various clients."
Behind the young man, I could sense the crew members getting nervous. They seemed to be concerned about the word security company. It meant that they were trained better than civilians.
"…Did you come all the way here on a request? What's going on?"
"Aren't there many citizens who went missing while out on cleanup missions? So there are quite a few people who ask us to search for their missing family members. Since the police aren't moving, there's nothing we can do."
"You are doing something dangerous."
"Similar requests have been increasing rapidly. And they are demanding high salaries."
The young man snickered at the mention of money. It was a kind but fake smile.
"I asked at base camp and they said the target of the quest disappeared around here. I also heard there's been a lot of trouble around here lately. I thought I should at least pretend to investigate."
"Oh, I didn't know it was such a scary place."
"I don't know either. I came here to find out."
Kim Yi-hyeon looked around at the crowd. Some were holding weapons, while others were bare-handed. After the young man stepped forward, it seemed like they had no intention of attacking right away, but that was it.
The eyes are still sparkling with greed, and the body is tense.
Only two of them reacted differently. They looked like sheep in a pack of wolves, cowering. Some were used to the current situation, while others were unfamiliar.
'I guess there's something there.'
After recognizing the differences between the two groups, we decided on a policy.
"Can I stop by for a moment?"
I need to know what kind of kids these are.
* * *
The name of the young man who was assumed to be the leader of this suspicious group was Biya. Biya personally guided Kim Ihyeon and his group to the apartment they were occupying.
The 12-story high corridor-style apartment building was shabby from the outside. It had been about 30 years since Cilicia was reorganized as a city-state. At the shortest estimate, it had been hit by the ravages of time without any repairs for 30 years.
Old buildings, untrustworthy strangers.
The atmosphere is truly gloomy.
"Have you opened all the doors?"
The front doors lining the hallway all had their locks broken. They would slide open and close as you pushed them, and they would be pulled back as you pulled them. It was as if they were just covered up.
"It wasn't us who did it. We came here and saw this. Thanks to this, we are using it comfortably."
It didn't seem like a lie. It was called Area E, and it was a place where septic tanks had been coming and going frequently. The explanation that someone who had stayed there before had left the apartment open sounded natural.
"It's open up to the third floor. You can use any room you choose. But it's a bit messy because of how the people before me used it. Rooms 204, 301, and 302 are the better ones."
"I'll have to take a look. Thank you."
"It's not that big of a deal, is it?"
Villa left, telling her to ask him anything she was curious about. As soon as his gaze disappeared, Chelsea sighed and grumbled.
"He seems kind, but he's actually a cheap person."
"I thought so too."
"Really? Which part?"
"Huh? Hmm. Is there a point in specifying where to use it? And it seems strangely calm. I think their encounter with us was an unexpected event for them as well."
Kim Hyun-ah and Chelsea looked at Leone, exclaiming, "Oh."
"Wow. You have a good eye for people."
"Look at this, I told you he's talented. He's a genius. He's a genius."
"That's right. Would a guy like me live in sorrow?"
"No, no, um…."
When I teased him, Leone's ears turned slightly red. He's a guy who's fun to tease in many ways.
"It's a joke, anyway."
Kim Yi-hyeon glanced down the hallway railing. A member of the purification team was looking up at the apartment from below. Even though their eyes met, the man did not look away.
Just then, Biya came out of the building and started to lead the man somewhere. The two looked back several times and spied on him until he disappeared from sight.
It seemed like he had no intention of hiding his dark feelings.
"I feel like something might happen if I leave it alone."
"I agree. It would be more amazing if he did nothing like that."
Leone swallowed dryly, anticipating a clash.
"…Is it really necessary to fall into a trap on purpose?"
"Why? Should we hit first?"
"Isn't that safer?"
Kim Lee-hyun smiled brightly at her enthusiastic appearance despite being very nervous.
'Was I like this in the past?'
Even though their personalities were completely different, it felt like I was seeing my past self. The early days when I fell into Polaris. Since I had no time to relax, I reacted sensitively to even the slightest danger like Leone.
Certainly, things have changed a lot since then.
"This is comfortable. There's no room for gossip."
"Is that so?"
"The one who hits first will know that he was wrong, even if he gets beaten up badly."
Even if you attack them out of the blue and interrogate them forcibly, they will only think about it.
If you turn it around, you might get a more honest answer.
This is what is called psychological self-defense.
"Let's wait for now."
* * *
I chose room 301 out of the three places Villa recommended.
It was the cleanest for no complicated reason. There were spiderwebs here and there and some of the windows were broken, but it was in relatively good condition.
We didn't have any sensitive conversations. Someone might be listening in from the next door with their ear against the wall. We could just muffle the sound, but there was no urgent matter to discuss.
We kill a lot of time by chatting.
Thud, thud thud.
There was a knock on the front door.
Kim Yi-hyeon exchanged glances with the two and got up from the worn-out chair. When he made [Ivory] and handed it over to Chelsea, she accepted it naturally, as if flowing water.
"Be careful. You never know."
"That's right."
I approached the door, holding the [Glitch Knife] so as not to be seen. Even the chain had been removed, so there was no security measure whatsoever, but there was no sign of anyone trying to open it and come in on their own.
I pushed the door open slightly and a woman's face appeared through the gap.
"Ah, uh, uh…."
She was one of the two people I had noticed earlier. A woman who hesitated even in the midst of the tense atmosphere. Her face was even paler, as if she had seen a ghost.
"Hey, help me."
He paces restlessly around the hallway, as if he is being chased.
"What's going on?"
"Everyone here is weird. They're not normal."
"What part is strange?"
"Don't you know? They're definitely after you too…!"
He whispers so quietly that no one can hear him.
"They forcibly blocked a passing car and surrounded it to pressure it. How could a sane person do that? It felt like this from the moment we set off."
This seemed quite plausible. Kim Yi-hyeon also thought it was strange. He looked like a vagabond for a citizen who had temporarily fallen out of civilized society.
"Can you elaborate?"
"Well, it was like we knew each other but were pretending not to know each other."
"We've known each other since the beginning, so it's like we're in the same group?"
"Yes, yes! That's right. And...."
The woman spoke with her neck craned.
"I keep hearing strange noises upstairs. I'm trying to figure out what's going on, but I'm so scared…."
"Please follow me."
"Please, please help me just this once…."
Kim Yi-hyeon nodded after a brief moment of thought. The woman's face brightened. Her expression became mysterious because she had come out into the hallway alone instead of taking her companions with her, but it only lasted for a moment.
"This way."
I climbed the stairs to the top of the floor.
4th, 5th, 6th floor. Upon reaching the 7th floor, I discovered that some of what the woman had said was true. A strange moan, as if she was suppressing her screams, was flowing through the hallway.
"Oh, maybe it's here."
The source of the sound was room 702. The door was slightly open. Kim I-hyeon instructed the woman to step back and went inside.
Two things were discovered in the living room.
An old-fashioned cassette that looks like it might have been used in the 90s.
A young man falls while tied up with rope.
The man was one of two people who had their eyes on him, just like the woman.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
I heard a muttering voice behind me.
Boooow!
A bat swung right next to me. Two burly men were hiding behind the wall of the living room. The metal bat came at me with such force that a single hit could score a goal.
In the past, surprise attacks that would have caused no reaction now seemed slow.
Boom!
"Ugh!"
He twisted his body to dodge and struck the stomach. The man fell down and grabbed the bat out of the air. The other one looked visibly flustered as his comrade fell down in an instant.
"Okay, wait a minute…."
He hit the man in the face with the knob at the end of the bat handle. Blood from his burst nose spurted out everywhere. Kim I-hyeon frowned at the messy sight.
"Why doesn't it go beyond expectations?"
"You, kuluck! You little punk…!"
"But you guys, I think you made a mistake."
-Taang!
Just then, a gunshot erupted from downstairs.
"You have to look at the person and then tell them."