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Chapter 161

Episode 161. Rice Talks Back (1)

****

“Rice, you. Talk back?”

It’s a fact we often forget. It’s not just common sense that becomes the target of nonsense. Even within the world of nonsense, there are layers, and there is a certain degree of reason.

“Both of us are oppressed, aren’t we? Aren’t we in a position where the world has been taken away from us by the Foundation’s guns and swords? There’s no reason for us to fight each other.”

“No. What are you talking about? I came here to eat you. Are you stupid?”

“……”

“Draw your weapon, Librarian.”

The black figure stepped out of the darkness. Click, click. The Librarian flinched at the sound of shoes. The black figure opened its mouth.

Black hair. Black eyes, black clothes, black coat, black socks, black shoes. Its face was deathly pale.

It opened its mouth for a moment. A split purple tongue. All the teeth visible for a moment were sharp.

“No weapon?”

“Shut up, monster.”

The Librarian pulled out a staff and spun it once. The yellow light emanating from the head of the staff drew a circle in the air as if painting with a brush.

The monster charged forward.

It ran along the wall as if melting into the shadows, and a tentacle that sprang from the darkness pierced the circular magic circle. The Librarian gritted his teeth.

“Master of the Infinite Library, eternal god of knowledge. Grant me, humble as I am, the power to protect your followers……”

The tentacle pushed the magic circle away. The hastily constructed magic circle of the Librarian broke after a few exchanges.

“Primordial Flash!”

Pop. White beams of light shot out in all directions, and the monster gritted its teeth.

“Come to think of it, Librarian. You’re right that we have no reason to fight. Hand over the Anomaly to me. Then, I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

The tentacle grabbed the Librarian’s staff, and the Librarian spun the staff again to shake off the black tentacle.

The monster glared at the Librarian. The Returnee backed away to the other end of the alley, but at the end of the alley, he collided with a black tentacle. The escape route had been blocked for a long time.

“I smell blood. Did you get hurt on the way?”

The Librarian gripped the staff like a spear and swung the glowing head like a weapon. The force at the end of the staff distorted the surroundings-

“Die!”

The monster took a step back, and the black tentacle lunged at the Librarian again. The Librarian took out a marker from his pocket and threw it to the Returnee.

“Draw! Draw a dog on the ground!”

A dog? Why draw a dog? The Returnee drew a dog on the ground as instructed. The Librarian continued to fiercely battle the monster.

A dog jumped out of the picture drawn with the red marker. The newly created puppy bit the monster’s arm. The monster threw the puppy away.

“Ouch.”

The monster melted back into the shadows. The monster danced into the shadows cast by the light of the staff, aiming for the opponent’s back.

Whack!

The monster slapped the back of the Librarian’s head. The Librarian turned around sharply. If the opponent hides in the shadows, just don’t give them the chance.

The Librarian held the staff upside down.

The pointed end of the staff faced forward, the glowing head faced backward. A white ring encircled the Librarian.

“What, you’re stronger than I thought.”

“Chains of Light!”

White chains filled the alley. Black tentacles tangled with the white chains. The monster smiled bitterly.

“This. It seems like you’ve won.”

The tentacles blocking the alley disappeared. The Librarian and the Returnee leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.

The sticky darkness that had covered the surroundings also disappeared with the tentacles. Only the bright light from the Librarian’s staff remained.

****

No strength left, no cards left. It seemed like most of the pursuit had been shaken off. The Returnee and the Librarian walked towards the library.

The Returnee frowned.

“No. I didn’t plan to do anything today. I was just going to order some chicken, sleep a bit, and maybe buy some stocks tomorrow……”

“There is no power without a price. Even I find it difficult to maintain survival if I don’t use my abilities to their fullest.”

“What. What is this situation?”

Tap tap. The Librarian tapped his mask.

“The power you possess. The ability to know the future, isn’t that what everyone in the world desires? That’s why everyone is trying to secure you.”

“Is that all?”

“What’s chasing us is the Foundation. Those who want to lock magic in test tubes and use that power to rule the world. What we met in the alley was a monster.”

“A monster?”

“I don’t know either. Sharp teeth, freely wielding black tentacles, saying it will eat people. If it’s not a monster, what is it?”

The Returnee thought a bit more. The monster that appeared in the alley, and the mysterious soldiers who chased the Returnee. What is the truth?

“They’re bad guys, right? They let the Slenderman we saw earlier live, but they chase us with helicopters. Why is that?”

“What is it?”

“In the end, the monster that eats people in the back alleys is not a threat to their world order, so they leave it alone. But a power like yours is a threat to the world they rule.”

The Librarian vented his frustration.

It might indeed be so. From the Returnee’s perspective, who knows nothing about the world behind the scenes, it was difficult to make a hasty judgment.

But the Librarian’s logic was sufficiently logical.

“Uh, I hear a helicopter sound-”

The Librarian grabbed the Returnee’s wrist and started running again, but it was already too late.

The sound of tires without exhaust.

It was so quiet that they didn’t notice until the last moment. In an instant, several Foundation soldiers surrounded the two.

In an instant, multiple gun barrels were aimed at them.

“Ah, damn it.”

“Hands up slowly.”

Before they could even catch their breath, the barrels of rifles with bayonets attached were aimed at them.

Ah, the library is right in front of us. Salvation was less than a kilometer away. But they couldn’t hold out and were caught.

The Librarian muttered a small curse.

****

But at least we succeeded in capturing the Returnee.

I let out a sigh of relief.

Today, we have once again isolated a person with an extremely dangerous supernatural ability from society.

Civilian casualties were also minimal.

I looked down at the Returnee kneeling in front of my gun barrel. A seemingly ordinary person. He was still wearing the same clothes he was dragged out of his house in, a T-shirt and shorts.

“Hello.”

“What the……”

The Returnee looked up at me incredulously.

“We are the Foundation. It’s unfortunate that we had to meet like this, but if you cooperate with our work, no harm will come to you.”

“No, what are you talking about? Being kidnapped, chased, and shot at isn’t harm?”

“We didn’t kidnap you. The one who kidnapped you was that masked mage, who wanted to secure you for reasons unknown.”

The Returnee sighed.

No, that’s right.

“Did you hear an explanation from the masked one? Was it a convincing reason? Why the Librarians want to secure you. You don’t know what they do with the people they take, do you?”

My prisoner thought deeply.

Why is it necessary? I don’t know either.

The Anomalous Artists turn people into puppets, the Machine God’s followers turn them into cyborg monsters, the Obsidian is self-explanatory, and the Bankers sell them as slaves or use them as materials.

But these are not groups that pretend to be good. They will use any means necessary to survive, and that’s why they’re alive.

The Librarians claim that they kidnap supernatural ability users to help them.

But those who claim to be good on the outside are usually the most suspicious. They are not a group to be trusted. There is no such thing.

“I met Slenderman. The black monster.”

“What…… they’re all the same.”

“Huh?”

“Just looks a bit different from the Librarian, but the conclusion of trying to drag you into a dark place is the same, isn’t it? Just give us the information, and we’ll chase Slenderman and prepare countermeasures later.”

The Returnee looked into the distance.

****

[Returnee Pursuit. News Record Collection.]

[Author: Director Han]

[Due to current KakaoTalk server issues, some users may experience connection problems, and large files such as photos and videos may not be sent.]

[This morning, a bear appeared in the Bukhansan Forest and wandered into the city. Fire and police authorities used helicopters and other means to chase the bear for several hours before capturing it.]

[Tonight, some areas of Seoul experienced streetlight outages for one to two hours due to power grid and streetlight inspections. We sincerely apologize to any citizens who were inconvenienced by the outages.]

****

[Returnee Pursuit. Command Center.]

[Author: Support Department Head]

[It was the Librarian after all. They were heading towards the library. After the operation, we sent agents to search the library, but found nothing significant.]

[Only a few mimics disguised as homeless people and library patrons were found nearby.]

[By the way, White-1 escaped. Field agents reported that he just disappeared. I beg the Director’s forgiveness.]


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I Became a Mad Scientist for the Foundation

I Became a Mad Scientist for the Foundation

미친 재단의 과학자가 되었다
Status: Completed Released: 2024
I am the chief researcher of the Foundation. If I don’t work well, I die.

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