SBTGC 08

Chapter 08

I steadied my dizzying vision and looked around. It was a space with nothing but white walls. Seeing the tape on the windows, it seemed to be an empty building.

“I’ll go take care of things, so wait here.”

The man who knelt on one knee in front of me said. I was about to nod, but stopped and stared at the door across from me.

……That door looks a bit battered.

“Is it normally like that?”

When I pointed at the door with my finger, the man also turned to look in that direction. Then he let out a short sigh, “Ah.”

He soon answered in his characteristic resigned tone.

“I’ll deal with it later.”

It seemed he hadn’t known he would break it either.

“Wait until I come back. Don’t even think about going anywhere.”

After emphasizing that to me, he got up from his spot and went out the door. Because the man had roughly thrown it open, the door didn’t close properly.

I was left alone in the white space and curled up my body. At first, I was too flustered to know what was what, but being alone like this, my eyes gradually began to burn.

*I just came out because I wanted to eat a scone, so why is this happening to me…*

CRASH!

An unidentified roar came from beyond the door. Startled, I flinched and curled up my body.

What was happening outside? There had been three snake-heads following us. Was it okay to send that man alone?

I considered calling the police, but soon gave up. That fight would only be visible to me anyway, so wouldn’t reporting it be useless?

I buried my head in my knees and rubbed my heated eyes. The roaring continued behind me.

CRAAASH!

I want to go home. I want to go home.

BANG!

I miss Mom and Dad. Let me go out.

CRASH!

Please just let me go home…

How long had I been waiting like that?

“……”

By the time my legs started to feel a little tingly, I lifted my face from my knees.

I perked up my ears and listened for any other presence around me. Unlike before, no sound came from outside anymore.

……Is it all over?

But why isn’t the man coming back?

Growing restless, I turned my body and stared through the narrow gap in the door. Other than the wide space, white pillars, and stairs leading down, I could see nothing.

“What.”

Where did he go? Upstairs?

Just as I leaned my face toward the gap to get a better look…

Someone’s face popped out from the door gap.

“AAAAAH!”

Crazy!

I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed. Even so, driven by the will to survive, I tried to push the door that wouldn’t even close properly.

Don’t come! I said don’t come!

“Ms. Myeong Se-na.”

“Don’t come! You bas… I said don’t come! I’ll kill you if you come!”

“Ms. Myeong Se-na. It’s me.”

“Ugh… Huh, don’t come… …Huh?”

Only after saying that did I come to my senses. I peered closely through the door gap.

The person standing outside the door was someone I was seeing for the first time. But just from the voice I heard, I could tell he was the man with the skull mask.

Carefully grabbing the handle, I opened the door for him. As I took a few steps back, his figure, the one I had been waiting for, gradually revealed itself through the opening door.

An unfamiliar face, wearing nothing.

Gloominess that resembled winter. Cold eyes situated below his exposed forehead. Sunken eyelids and cheeks. A jaw as angular as his posture. Distinct features with clear shadows. A sharp impression as if made only of straight lines.

That was my proper first impression of the man.

“S-skull……”

“…Yes, skull. Are you okay now?”

He asked with an expression as emotionless as his tone.

Only then did I grasp the situation and nod. Even so, I anxiously glanced beyond the open door.

“Ah, what about those people from earlier?”

“They’re gone now.”

Wow. That’s a relief. Really a relief…

Just as I was about to let out a sigh of relief without realizing it.

Whoosh, his cool face came right up to my nose.

Without any warning.

“You’re crying again.”

“Huh?”

“Your eyes are red.”

He said, looking at me from a dangerously close distance. Only after hearing that could I recognize my moistened eyes.

*I didn’t know, but I was crying.*

……By the way, isn’t this too close?

“We-well, it’s because I’m relieved. I was a bit startled…”

I averted my gaze and took a step back. The man straightened his bowed head without taking his eyes off me.

I roughly wiped my tears, then became aware of the quiet outside. The legs no longer running, the breath no longer labored, his slightly disheveled attire compared to before…

It was sudden, but anyway, it seemed true that I had received help.

I lowered my gaze and expressed my feelings. At least in a situation like this, I felt I had to say this.

“…Thank you for your help.”

“……”

With that, a slightly awkward silence flowed.

Even though he must have clearly heard my words, the man said nothing. He didn’t even move.

*I didn’t say anything strange. Well, is he just going to let it slide?*

“Ms. Myeong Se-na.”

Just as I was thinking that, the man’s voice called me.

I raised my gaze, which had been kept lowered, and looked up at him. As if possessed by something.

The man was looking at me with the same posture and gaze as before.

“Then… shall we have a talk now?”

And at the corner of his mouth as he asked that, it seemed like a faint smile flickered for a moment.

When I came outside, the sun was setting.

The café, which I arrived at later than planned, was quiet. The scent of freshly baked scones and coffee harmoniously mingled, and a gentle piano melody played in the peaceful atmosphere.

If things had gone as planned, I would have been enjoying this atmosphere and peacefully eating scones.

But right now… I was sitting across from the man in the most secluded corner.

On our table were the Americano and the chocolate parfait generously sprinkled with syrup that we had ordered earlier.

I didn’t order scones. I wasn’t in the mood to eat anything. The Americano was mine, and the chocolate parfait was the man’s.

Yes.

In the end, I decided to talk. No matter how much I thought about it, there seemed to be no other way out than to talk to that man.

The man in the skull mask. Though questionable, he was the only one who could explain this unrealistically terrifying situation. Even though he was scary and I wanted to avoid him, this was a reality I couldn’t deny.

Of course, whether to trust him or not was still undecided.

“Ms. Myeong Se-na.”

Startled.

I flinched and looked ahead. And immediately met eyes with the man across from me. If I hadn’t met him like this, I surely wouldn’t have been able to look away from his appearance, which was staring at me.

Is it because I recognized him by the skull mask…? Now that he has facial features, it feels strangely awkward.

“Sorry for the late introduction.”

Then, the man opened his mouth and took out a business card from his pocket.

“I’m Genzer, from the Seoul Field Investigation Division of the Rachazert Management Headquarters.”

At the same time, he held it out in front of me with his gloved hand. I glanced back and forth between the man and the card, mulling over what he had just said.

Rachazert. The place I could no longer dismiss as just a nightmare.

I already knew what kind of place that city was. They said it was a city where souls lived back then. But I didn’t know there was a separate organization that managed it.

Was this person working there?

With a subtle feeling, I checked the man’s business card. Next to the cursive ‘RCZT’ written vertically, small letters were printed.

[Genzer, Division Chief, Seoul Field Investigation Division, Rachazert Management Headquarters]

When I only heard it verbally, I thought it was ‘Kwon Je-reu,’ but it’s ‘Genzer.’ But was there a ‘Geon’ surname in Korea?

“The Rachazert Management Headquarters is the organization responsible for the city of Rachazert, which you visited before. Our main task is to prepare for situations that occur or may occur there.”

So, they do exactly what the organization’s name suggests. Fiddling with the business card, my eyes suddenly caught the word ‘Seoul.’

“Being based in Seoul… does that mean there are other regions as well?”

“There are a total of eight headquarters nationwide, including Seoul. All are managed by the state.”

*Huh. It’s that big?*

“Th-then, is it something like being a civil servant?”

“Something like that.”

Genzer answered immediately.

“However, since much of our work is classified, it’s officially categorized as a secret agency.”

If so, it made sense why I had lived without knowing that name until now. For such reasons, it couldn’t be exposed to the outside, so it would be stranger to know about it.

I couldn’t verify the truth of his words, but strangely, I felt a peculiar trust in him because of Genzer.

How should I put it. He was still an enigmatic person, but for some reason, I didn’t think this person would lie.

That was the case even when we first met, after all.