"Jisan Village, huh."
Having confirmed the location of the Happy Ending Sect's underground shelter, the three of us returned to Ho Yuwon's quarters.
My head is buzzing from the unexpected situation.
Coincidentally, all three of us present had attended Jisan Village's festival during the holiday last time.
Although, well one of us had only experienced it by parasitizing another's body and was ultimately defeated by the Tiger General.
"So that cult village was tied to the Church of the Luminous Unknown’s Happy Ending sect, or something?"
The Assistant Manager's mumbling was half correct.
>It seems they were indirectly connected to other branch of the Church of the Luminous Unknown.
>I think it was something like The Mimicry Sect.
"Ah, right. You pulled out the golden stick and got captured, didn't you Roe? Did you find that out then? Good job."
>Thank you.
For now, let's leave it at that.
"But why did they come here? They're from different sects, aren't they?"
That's what I'm saying.
'They were even sealed up and taken away by the Disaster Management Bureau.'
What's left that they'd do this for?
"Hmm. Is there another reason?"
Naturally, I began to recall the reason Assistant Manager Eun Haje had appeared in Jisan Village in the first place.
>Perhaps it's because of that well?
>I remember Director Ho was looking for it, so I thought it must have been a special place."
"Ah. Right. That well."
And if Ho Yuwon had looked for it…
'Then it’s related to Sekwang Metropolitan City, isn’t it?'
Ho Yuwon, meeting our eyes, nodded easily.
"That's right. I heard that well was connected to Sekwang Metropolitan City…"
So that's how it was.
>Question: Source
"As I said, it's my turn to ask questions, so Roe Deer-nim, It's unfortunately not your turn."
Wow, really.
But there are ways to guess even if you don't say anything.
'It must be someone from the Disaster Management Bureau.'
How else would Ho Yuwon know that information about an annihilation-sanctioned Disaster, Sekwang Metropolitan City is in the Disaster Management Bureau's secret archives?
‘He’s got some connections there, clearly.’'
Regardless of Ho Yuwon's feelings towards the Disaster Management Bureau.
And Ho Yuwon's interest remains solely on one thing.
A certain annihilation-sanctioned Disaster.
"If the Happy Ending Sect is interested in Sekwang Metropolitan City, it's natural that they would soon find information through that well. Right?"
But Assistant Manager Eun Haje frowned.
"...Tsk."
Something seems to be bothering her.
"I'm sure the Disaster Management Bureau was dispatched then and smashed their heads open, didn’t they…?"
Director Ho's smile deepened as soon as the Disaster Management Bureau was mentioned, but neither of us paid it any mind.
"Those government folks, don’t they follow-up with cleanup?"
Of course, they do.
-“This Jisan Village… still has many suspicious corners. They'll likely start a thorough search now. Looking for people, too. And the well, too.”
"But why didn't they notice this cult hideout down here?"
That's…
>Perhaps this underground bunker was moved after the cleanup was completed.
Let's recall.
The Disaster Management Bureau's site cleanup team, the Jujak Team, would have come and finished the cleanup before leaving.
'They must have handled the villagers too.'
There's proof of that.
The ground I saw through the glass earlier.
There was no one in the village.
Not a single person.
However, what's strange is…
'They said they were going to conduct a full-scale search soon.'
For that to be the case, the village looks exactly the same as it was on the festival day.
>It seems like the kind of situation where agents would be dispatched for regular maintenance, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening. It’s strange.
"Yeah. Feels…off."
"Perhaps they thought it wasn't worth searching anymore?"
Ho Yuwon's gentle voice poured out without pause.
"That government agency always ranks priorities. Instead of revisiting a case they’ve already closed they’d rather put manpower into saving people they consider more valuable.”
Hmm.
'That sounds like a malicious interpretation.'
"Well… yes. Local civil servants being overworked isn't a new problem."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje casually dismissed her superior's words with a watchful eye.
And back to the main point.
"In any case, it would be good if we could investigate the village above a bit more. There are limits to what we can do from here…"
Ah.
"Director, are there any other guys you can mobilize from outside? Someone to look into this place for us."
…I do.
I mean, about that.
'Actually...'
I thought of the Paper Boat, sleeping quietly beneath the tattoo.
And the guy, a native of Jisan Village, who had left it behind.
Baek Saheon had just endured a thoroughly shitty day.
'What the hell kind of Darkness is this.'
It was a crazy boarding school ghost story. One of his team members had the skin on their face ripped off and died, and he himself had nearly died running and dodging.
‘Got split off, bolted, almost ended up dead too.’
Of course, he didn't care that his teammate died. He was just pissed off that it was only a D-rank after all that trouble.
'...Well, it doesn't matter now.'
His wish to completely escape that cursed village seemed to have come true.
Yet, why he was still working at this company… he didn't know.
Or why he hadn't buried or cremated his sister’s skull, either.
'Fuck.'
Right now, he was just happy that he could finally go home and lie on the company dorm sofa.
But at that very moment, he realized new text had appeared on the paper boat.
~Hello, Mr. Civilian.
~Have you been well?
"...!!"
Baek Saheon almost fell off the sofa.
'What the.'
Last time the other guy had left only a quick thank you and disappeared, so he’d written a curse telling them not to just eat and run. And now, suddenly, he was contacting him.
And then…
~No item yet, but I have found information on the current state of Jisan Village.
"...!!"
Baek Saheon gripped the paper with both hands.
The letters updating…
~Currently, there is a cult facility beneath Jisan Village.
What?
~How did you know that?
~I am currently infiltrating the cult.
"Are you insane?"
Could it be that the ‘Darkness’ this agent had been in all this time was actually this cult?
'Then of course he wouldn't be able to get any items!'
It's nearly impossible to keep something personal hidden in a cult. At least, based on Baek Saheon's own experience.
'...Is that guy a total idiot?'
Why walk into such a place on purpose?
Baek Saheon wrote that directly onto the Paper Boat.
And the reply he received was this:
~Someone requested for help.
"…What a damn sucker."
But somehow, he couldn't bring himself to laugh.
It was probably because he had directly experienced and remembered that this agent was someone who truly kept his promises, back then in Jisan Village.
"..."
Baek Saheon stared at the paper.
The agent was requesting something.
~We found a spot in this facility where we can see outside.
~Could you please look at my drawing and explain where in Jisan Village this view is located?
The moment he was about to write 'With what nerve—', another line appeared.
~If there is any information I discover about Jisan Village through this operation, I will share it with you.
~As you are a directly involved party.
One more sentence was added at the end of the writing.
~I apologize for not being able to provide an item to compensate you.
...
Ha… Fuck, really!!
Baek Saheon ran his hands through his hair and finally scribbled a reply.
~Fine, show me the drawing first.
'Oh.'
Baek Saheon agreed to share the Jisan Village information.
Just like last time, it was surprisingly smooth. It seemed the story of the ‘agent infiltrating a cult’ worked better than I expected…
‘Telling him about that Jisan Village info was the key.'
Or, well, judging by how he nitpicked about everything, it seemed like he was just using me as an emotional dumping ground.
In any case, I was able to memorize the simple village map Baek Saheon had sketched with a pencil.
[Hooh, Mr. Roe Deer, your ordinary former roommate actually has some drawing skills.]
Yeah.
The map, which clearly marked the well, the pine trees, the Hanok where we were held, and the site of the village guardian shrine, was clear and easy to read.
And the current location of this Authoriy Zone, from where we saw the outside…
'…Beneath the well.'
-“If there's an entrance, it's likely around here.”
In other words, the Jisan Village well is right over where this underground bunker’s exit should be.
It felt strange.
[Indeed, it is quite an interesting situation. I wonder if the twins who disappear during lunch break are checking the well through the entrance? Or are they heading to another facility hidden deeper within the underground bunker!]
[But this fact… Oh, if everything goes according to your plan, Mr. Roe Deer, it will be revealed soon!]
That's right.
When I indicated my intention to communicate with someone via an item to obtain information, Ho Yuwon and Assistant Manager Eun Haje were assigned other tasks.
-“We’ve got to tail them, of course.”
Carefully track the whereabouts of the twins who disappeared during lunch break.
To understand what exactly is being prepared in this underground bunker.
-“As I keep saying, we fundamentally need to grasp what's happening here to deal with unexpected incidents or extract specific information.”
If I stick with a grandma, it would attract attention, but it would also make strange movements look less suspicious.
Especially after the ‘performance’ they’d shown me last night.
'Even if we get caught, I don't think Ho Yuwon will be easily defeated.'
Besides…how should I put it, the so-called executives of this Happy Ending Sect… Hmm. Well, I saw that they were supposedly powerful, but somehow there’s no psychological tension about them.
'It all just feels shallow, fragmented, so to speak...'
Still, the mystery of the place and absurdity of the situation was enough to make the air feel odd.
Thus, I calmly waited for the two, calculating the angles of the map and the underground bunker to match the locations of the facilities and village structures.
And, by the time lunchtime was almost over—
"I found it."
Ho Yuwon and Assistant Manager Eun Haje had returned with something they had discovered.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje, disguised as a grandma, caught her breath, then urgently knelt and began drawing a map on the floor with her finger.
She was drawing the interior of the underground bunker.
"Looking at it like this, this is north. The connected east is the dining hall, and the east and west are the living quarters for the initiates."
And… right in the center.
"There's a large hemispherical space where they've gathered the coffins. The place they call a ritual hall but it’s really for corpse disposal."
Symbolic.
And…
"Behind the coffins, there was a passage."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje's finger moved downwards.
South.
"That where the twins are heading."
...
"So? Is there anything to compare with the information your 'informant' gave you?"
There is.
In my mind, I overlaid Baek Saheon's map on top of the drawing Assistant Manager Eun Haje had made…
And that’s when I realized.
The location the twins went to.
It was directly below Jisan Village's guardian shrine.
And what was beneath the shrine?
'The Centipede Sage.'
Of course, that centipede was dead, and all its liquor had been sealed by Agent Bronze's bullets, so nothing remained there now.
Only the empty space where the shrine had been. But…
What on earth are they trying to do down there?
"Hmm. That’s not a good sign."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje frowned at my explanation.
"Then shall we check one more time?"
Ho Yuwon suggested.
Hm?
"Just a quick peek inside. We wait till the twins come out, then slip in."
Ho Yuwon smiled faintly and turned to Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
"Falcon-nim. If you refuse, I might get sad thinking you don't trust me…"
"…Fine. Just don't abandon me and run if things go south."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje, who answered with an unamused face, turned to me.
"Alright, we'll go check inside, and look through the initiates area too, so stay put and wait here."
Hmm.
"Don't worry. If things look strange, we'll pull back quickly."
>In that case, should I go this time?
Wouldn't it be too dangerous for the same people to go twice? Perhaps I should…
"Mm, Roe…"
Assistant Manager Eun Haje patted my shoulder.
"You know that you're currently… dragging black smoke with you, yeah?"
Ah.
"Sorry, but combined with those yellow flashing lights you’ve got going, it's like a real dramatic entrance effect. You're basically a walking billboard."
...
Right…
"Just stay here. And… instead, could you try to pinpoint the exact location of the bunker's exit while we’re gone?"
I nodded quietly.
"Okay, then I'll see you at dinner time."
And with that, they set out to search once more…
"Let us all gather and pray for happiness."
Eventually, time passed, and the promised dinner time arrived.
However.
"..."
"Grandma Kim Bokja… didn't come?"
Neither Assistant Manager Eun Haje nor Ho Yuwon showed up to the dinner table.
TL Notes: -
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