Chapter 288: Logical
I stare at the semi-transparent window before my eyes, lost in thought.
There aren't many conditions under which this semi-transparent window appears.
Either the subject is human, an isolated object, or possesses something equivalent.
Therefore, what I'm seeing right now must be similar to an isolated object, or it would be correct to think of it as one.
"Shall we go down?"
"Just a moment."
I extend a hand to stop Yu Daon, who was about to step onto the stairs, and sink back into thought.
There are too many things that don't add up.
Even if Gil Tae-seong used that monster Ahn Sang-hyun to break through...
-Aaah...!
A horrific scream continues to assault my ears.
Is that really Ahn Sang-hyun?
The voice sounded different from what you'd expect if he were the one captured and screaming. On the contrary, it seemed more plausible that he had gone inside and was fighting something.
"But these stairs don't look like they've been used in a long time."
Yu Daon mutters while looking down the staircase.
"They're covered in too much dust."
"She's right."
Song A-rin sticks her head out to inspect the stairs, and Eileen furrows her brow slightly.
"It was behind a wall to begin with. Why does something like this even exist?"
"Kang-byeon is something even the Management Bureau hasn't fully figured out. Every time we went, we had to risk our lives."
Jang Chae-yeon answers calmly upon hearing her complaint.
And yet, she entrusted it to us.
"Because Kang-byeon is too anomalous."
"...This feels less like an anomaly and more like looking at the Management Bureau's underground isolation room..."
Eileen trails off and looks at me.
"What should we do?"
"..."
-Aaah...!
The sound continues to echo, and I stood at a crossroads.
Though it's called a crossroads, frankly, what I had to do was already decided.
"Let's go."
"Hey, are you sure that's right? Shouldn't we go and call for backup-"
"You said it was anomalous. If we give up now and can't find it later, it'll be meaningless."
We have to end it here.
I felt a strange sense of duty.
A premonition that if I didn't end it here, it would undoubtedly return as an even greater threat later.
It's already targeting me like this; how desperate would it be later if it couldn't devour me?
The image of Yu Daon having become a complete form flashes through my mind for a moment, and I look at her. She tilts her head.
"Huh? Why, Jae-heon?"
"In this fight, Daon, please stay out of it."
"...What?"
"But don't just wait here. We don't know what kind of isolated objects might attack."
At my words, Yu Daon looks at me with a bewildered expression, and the others also stare at me with confused faces.
"Why...?"
"..."
If I were to fail and die, their next target was predetermined.
Yu Daon.
Then that hypothetical future Yu Daon and I saw would now become certain.
In other words, the end of the world.
Even if I die, I must prevent that.
Perhaps there is a version of me who failed.
Ah, that's right.
I can just look at the records left by the me who failed.
I take the manual out from my chest and open it, but it's just blank.
Nothing?
How can that be?
I flip through the manual again and again, but it doesn't show a single phrase.
It just opens to a different page, as if annoyed by me repeatedly trying to find the text.
[Manual for Office Workers]
[The Mindset Management Bureau Personnel Should Have]
1. Let's do our own work ourselves.
2. Even if the things in your hands feel like countless burdens, never give up and try doing them first.
Roughly translated, it means 'I don't know, so you handle it yourself.' Basically.
Yeah. So be it.
I let out a small sigh and close the manual.
"Anyway, that's what I think. If Daon were to get parasitized, it would be a disaster."
"She's been fine until now..."
"But you saw it too, Daon."
That future. That devastation.
"..."
Yu Daon, understanding the meaning of my words, closes her mouth. Jang Chae-yeon takes a step forward.
"Got it. Then I'll take the front."
"Yes. Chae-yeon and I will take the front."
"Alright."
"Then the rotten blonde, the black-haired one, and I will take the rear?"
"Let's do that."
"Yeah, let's do that. I don't even know anymore."
Song A-rin mutters in a resigned voice, and Jang Chae-yeon and I step onto the stairs.
The stairs were too narrow. Barely wide enough for one person to enter and walk.
I draw my gun and am the first to step onto the stairs.
-Creak...
The stairs, seemingly made of rotten wood, groan, and we all carefully descend.
-Creak... Creak...
The stairs continue to creak,
-Aaah...!
And the sound still echoes from far away.
"The stairs... are long."
As Jang Chae-yeon said.
The stairs were incredibly long.
It felt like we'd descended about five floors, but the end of the stairs was still not in sight, and most importantly, the sound hadn't gotten any closer.
"Hey... didn't we come in the wrong way? If we go back, won't we be trapped...?"
Song A-rin mutters in a worried voice, and Eileen shakes her head at her words.
"That's not it. The air is still flowing from above. The exit shouldn't be a problem, so just keep moving your leg- Aack! What the...! Why are you pulling my hair...!"
"You must be having a nervous breakdown. You've lost your memory, you need some rest. When we get back, use the money you've saved to buy a villa or something."
Eileen glares at Song A-rin, but Song A-rin just shrugs her shoulders and avoids Eileen's gaze.
Anyway, Eileen guaranteed that the way back wasn't closed.
The problem is when these stairs will end.
Only after descending roughly another five floors did the stairs finally show their end.
A grey floor greeted us, and a darkness devoid of any light also welcomed us.
We move forward, using our smartphone flashlights for illumination.
"...It doesn't seem like there's anything here."
Jang Chae-yeon mutters beside me.
She was right.
It was an extremely narrow basement.
A basement no larger than about thirty square meters.
The only things around were old toys that looked like they belonged to a child, and a bucket whose age was impossible to guess.
-Aaah...!
The wailing sound still echoed from afar.
"It's like a child's secret base."
Song A-rin, who came down last, mutters as she looks around.
"The bicycle is for a child, and I don't know what the bucket is for."
"..."
A bicycle, a bucket, and the semi-transparent window that appears before my eyes.
I read it again, but nothing had changed.
"What is this? It's like a basement you'd only see on TV from like... forty years ago."
Song A-rin mutters while looking around.
"What I imagined was a pseudo-hell, full of human corpses..."
"Are you disappointed?"
"Do you think I'm a psychopath like you, Black-Hair?"
I let their conversation flow through one ear as I sink into thought.
The origin... The origin...
Even calling it the origin is a difficult term.
Origin. Literally, the beginning of everything.
The origin of the butterfly...
Surely not?
Slowly, I approach the bucket and peer inside.
A few animal carcasses, and one larva squirming among them.
"..."
So this is the origin.
"This is..."
Yu Daon, who followed me, looks at the larva and mutters in a flustered voice.
"Chae-yeon, you said Kang-byeon creates anomalous phenomena, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then do all those anomalous phenomena cause accidents?"
"Not necessarily. Some anomalous phenomena just appear and disappear, while others encroach on an area."
"..."
"They're like earthquakes. Sometimes a strong earthquake comes, sometimes a weak one."
Jang Chae-yeon answers from afar.
As I thought.
Originally, this anomalous phenomenon should have quietly emerged into the world and vanished.
On a magnitude scale, it would be a 1, or even less.
An anomalous phenomenon so minor others wouldn't even notice it.
An anomalous phenomenon that should have disappeared.
But the story changes if a clueless child picks it up.
Because a child's innocence lies in not fearing even a monster.
And unfortunately, calamity cannot understand this.
So, the child probably ended up feeding it some animals, and soon became food itself.
No, if only the child had become food, that might have been one thing.
It likely went further than that, and the Management Bureau would have responded accordingly.
But why am I seeing this situation now?
I look at the semi-transparent window again.
[Name : Origin of the Butterfly]
[Age : X ]
[Specialty : X ]
[Talent : X ]
[Background : Every action has its reason.]
[Weakness : Give it the food it desires.]
"..."
Now I understand what it means.
This is a problem.
Otherwise, I can't comprehend why this basement was created beneath these stairs.
Because this is far too 'logical'.
It's on a different level from illogical anomalous phenomena.
But there's one problem with this reasoning.
I turn my head to look at the others.
Song A-rin, who is making a gagging sound while looking at the bucket; Eileen, who is lightly kicking the toys with her foot; Yu Daon, who is fidgeting with the wall; and Jang Chae-yeon next to me.
These four have no way of knowing that message.
A problem, by definition, should be something for people to solve.
Otherwise, it's not a problem but merely child's play, or a mystery.
Therefore, those four cannot make the same deduction as I can.
But I am different.
It's a leap in logic, but it's a problem that only I, who can see through these eyes, can solve.
I look at Jang Chae-yeon.
"Why did Kang-byeon come into existence, Chae-yeon?"
"I don't know."
To my question, Jang Chae-yeon answers calmly and shakes her head.
"..."
It's difficult.
I entered an anomalous phenomenon, only to be greeted by a logical question.
What awaits me if I answer this question?
Or is it just a meaningless death that awaits me?
As that thought concludes, the manual opens by itself.
[Manual for Office Workers]
[The Mindset Management Bureau Personnel Should Have]
1. Let's do our own work ourselves.
2. Even if the things in your hands feel like countless burdens, never give up and try doing them first.
3. You can do it.
"..."
Yeah. I can do it.
Feeling that I've taken a step closer to a significant truth, I decide to answer the question.
I reach out my hand and grab the squirming larva.
"...Jae-heon?"
Yu Daon looks at me with puzzled eyes,
-Crunch!
As I place the larva on my neck, I vividly feel the sensation of its teeth digging into my flesh.
"J-J-Jae-heon!"
Yu Daon's scream, and my vision rapidly darkens.
I have given it food. Now it's time to receive the answer.