Chapter 18: Escape Method
It seemed the threat to kill us was genuine, as the interior of the Cube began to shake.
Yu Daon was the first to react, straightening up and pointing a finger towards the exit.
"Over there!"
Debris rained down insanely, and as Jang Chae-yeon swept her hand through the air to block it, the stones crumbled and fell to the floor.
-Rumble!
The Cube's exit threatened to collapse, and Yu Daon dashed into the gap, using her back to brace against the debris.
A sound that shouldn't come from a human body emanated from her, but she paid it no mind, turning her head to look at us. Jang Chae-yeon soon swung her hand again, pushing the rubble away.
"Are you okay?"
"For now! Just move forward first!"
Yu Daon urgently pushed ahead while shouting.
Once we were out of the Cube, what lay before our eyes was a collapsing city.
Buildings were crumbling down with thunderous roars, as if falling into a bottomless pit, and from its depths, an ominous black light flowed out.
Where should we go?
Cross over the collapsing buildings? That would be insane.
Neither I, nor Yu Daon and Jang Chae-yeon, were the kind of superhumans you see in movies.
If we tried to cross and got buried under debris even once, it would mean instant death.
-Thud...
Behind us, the Cube's entrance collapsed, and Yu Daon and Jang Chae-yeon also looked around in panic.
They must be thinking the same thing as me.
Was there something I missed?
The Cube's problem, something I might have overlooked.
A loud roar echoed as if time was running out.
I desperately scanned my surroundings.
Soon, the Cube's description, which I had grown sick of seeing, appeared before my eyes.
[Name : Cube]
[Age : Manufactured Year XXXXXXXXXXX]
[Specialty : Reality Alteration & Absorption]
[Talent : X]
[Background : The Cube, created in a distant place, possesses the functions of reality alteration and absorption. Whether reality is altered through absorption, or absorption occurs through alteration, the sequence has not yet been determined. What the Cube has currently absorbed is a city.]
[Weakness : //////////////////]
The weakness was still not visible.
Thinking alone at a time like this was pointless.
I quickly looked at Yu Daon and Jang Chae-yeon and shouted.
"Absorption leading to alteration, alteration leading to absorption! What the Cube has absorbed now is a city! What's the way out of here?!"
"What nonsense are you spouting!"
"Huh?!"
Jang Chae-yeon and Yu Daon reacted in turn. Both wore expressions of confusion.
"Hurry!"
-Rumble...
The sound of something collapsing grew louder.
"...I don't know...!" said Jang Chae-yeon, shaking her head with a frustrated expression.
"It's not a vacuum cleaner, what's it absorbing and doing with it?!" cried Yu Daon, grabbing her own head with both hands and screaming, "Aaaah-!"
Wait, a vacuum cleaner?
[What the Cube has currently absorbed is a city.]
"What do you do when a vacuum cleaner is full?!"
"Are you crazy, Mr. Jae-heon?!"
"Hurry!"
"What are you asking! You throw away the trash bag!"
Yu Daon shouted her answer, and instantly an absurd hypothesis popped into my head.
The Cube alters reality by absorbing it.
This city is absorbed, causing reality to be altered.
Conversely, the city is absorbed because reality is altered.
Then, when emptying what has been absorbed in this way, how is it disposed of?
Just dumped into a void of nothingness?
Even if that's the case, wouldn't it need some kind of 'packaging' to dump it into the void?
When we empty a vacuum cleaner, we don't just dump the contents on the floor; we empty them into a trash bag, tie it up, and throw it away.
What if this current act is a process to dispose of the trash all at once?
In that process, how can I survive?
"A hole!"
"Huh?!"
I looked at the sinking buildings.
"We need to puncture a hole in the trash bag and get out!"
"What kind of talk is that?!"
"We have to sink together, then get out!"
Yu Daon's face was filled with horror.
"Do you have any basis for that?"
"No! But I can't think of any better idea!"
Please, someone come up with a better idea than me.
"Huh, Chan! ...Okay!"
But it seemed there was no such person.
Yu Daon clicked her tongue, then rolled up her sleeves with a fierce smile.
"...Trust me."
And Jang Chae-yeon muttered softly, standing still and looking at me.
"So, we just wait to sink like this?"
"That's right."
I pulled a pistol from my pocket.
[Critical : 1]
"I'll shoot and share the vision. Chae-yeon, you tear that spot apart with all your might."
"Got it. Even if it kills me, I'll do it."
"Don't die."
Jang Chae-yeon nodded calmly.
"What should I do?"
"If we're lucky enough to survive, Daon, please retrieve the Cube. It doesn't seem like it will be retrieved quietly."
"Okay."
Yu Daon nodded.
-Rumble...
The floor began to collapse.
"Phew..."
My heart felt like it would leap out from the tension.
If my idea was wrong, we were headed straight for the afterlife.
No, I might even be grateful just to be on the path to the afterlife.
I took several trembling breaths.
I looked at the other two.
Yu Daon was stretching her body, and Jang Chae-yeon was blankly watching the falling floor.
It seemed I was the only one nervous here.
"...It's coming," Jang Chae-yeon muttered softly.
The floor began to collapse rapidly.
Soon, with a sensation of endless weightlessness, the three of us fell into the endless darkness.
My mental preparation was complete.
I drew the pistol I was holding and widened my eyes.
[Critical 1 -> 0]
Once again, the world slowed down, and a small red light shone in my eyes from the depths below.
-Bang!
As if entranced, I fired the pistol and prepared for the next action without delay.
[Coordinate Tear – 2 uses remaining]
This time, the world changed like graph paper.
I looked at the spot I had shot.
Sure enough, only that area was crumpled like wrinkled paper.
I quickly pointed my finger there. Jang Chae-yeon took a deep breath, widened her eyes to look at the spot, then thrust out her fist and clenched it tightly.
Blood trickled from her nose.
-Pop!
With a sound like a balloon popping, my body began to be rapidly sucked towards the source of the sound.
I looked at Jang Chae-yeon.
While bleeding from her nose, she nodded at me.
I looked at Yu Daon.
As if telling me to trust her, she gave a thumbs-up and fell downwards.
Jang Chae-yeon fell after her, and I fell last, as if being sucked in.
-Thud!
"Ugh!"
I landed back-first on the floor, and the impact knocked the wind out of me.
Coughing several times, I raised my upper body, and fresh air, different from before, filled my lungs.
I looked around.
The hotel that had collapsed earlier, and the familiar surroundings.
It seemed we had managed to escape.
But that wasn't all.
Sure enough, at the edge of my vision, I saw the Cube hovering in the air, glowing with a sinister color.
At that moment, someone brushed past me.
It was Yu Daon.
With agile movements, she dodged the falling rocks and ran, eventually leaping towards the Cube shining in the air.
Instantly, the Cube glowed strangely, emitting a beam of light that pierced Yu Daon's forehead.
Without even a scream, Yu Daon tumbled forward in mid-air.
The Cube spun round and round in the air, as if mocking me.
"Happy now?"
But I just sat there, doing nothing.
-Twitch
Soon, Yu Daon twitched a few times, got back up, stretched out her arm, and grabbed the Cube.
The Cube twitched several times in her grasp as if surprised, but Yu Daon ignored it, gripping the Cube with both hands.
-Pop!
After twitching several times, the Cube exploded in her hands, and thick smoke billowed up.
"Ms. Daon!"
Suppressing a rising cough, I ran towards her, but seeing Yu Daon walking out of the smoke unscathed, I slumped back to the floor in relief.
"This thing explodes, huh?"
She was holding the Cube with a hand blackened with soot. The Cube vibrated a few times in her hand, then quieted down.
As if time was reversing, her hand returned to normal.
"...Aigoo."
Seeing that, I collapsed flat on the floor.
"Are you okay?"
"My eyes hurt."
"My hands hurt. Since it just exploded."
"You are joking, right?"
"My nose is bleeding too."
Yu Daon looked down at me, and soon Jang Chae-yeon also walked over and started looking down at me with her.
"...Can't we just rest for a bit?"
In conclusion, we were once again meticulously escorted back to the Management Bureau.
*
"You really don't want to work in the Isolation Team, do you? If you tempt me like this, even I might get confused."
"Please stop talking nonsense. Who was it that abbreviated the Human & Isolation Object Incident & Accident Response Team to HR Team in the first place?"
"What a shame."
The man with sunglasses, whom I'd met last time, sighed and repeatedly tossed and caught the Cube in his hand.
From my perspective, that's a bomb, but from his, it must be a toy.
"Before we talk about the Cube..." The man interlaced his fingers and looked at me.
"The Management Bureau is awarding compensation in recognition of resolving this incident."
A bag was placed in front of me.
"Ah. I said I'm not accepting anything from the Management Bureau anymore."
"Just open it."
In the end, I opened the bag, saw the bundles of bills inside, and could only bow my head deeply.
"I only did what had to be done."
I am loyal. Management Bureau.
I love you. Management Bureau.
We are together forever. Management Bureau.