Chapter 169

Episode 169. The Beginning of the End (1)

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[※ Anyone who reads this document will die within a day. Only those free from death may proceed. We have warned you. ※]

[Administrator Council Meeting.]

[Participants:]

[1st Administrator, Veritas.]

[9th Administrator, Patreus.]

[10th Administrator, Pixel.]

[12th Administrator, Acacia.]

[Acacia: You’re aware of the recent East Asia Director’s meeting, right?]

[Patreus: Yeah. Didn’t seem like much was discussed.]

[Acacia: As you can see, Project Blue Rose was a huge success. But—]

[Veritas: But?]

[Patreus: But?]

[Acacia: But the results of Project Blue Rose— Wait, are you two together? The audio’s overlapping.]

[Veritas: We are.]

[Pixel: Seems so.]

[Acacia: Anyway. It’s time to retrieve the results of Project Blue Rose. Even if the rest were failures, Blue Rose-13 is a masterpiece.]

[Patreus: Retrieve? How do you plan to do that?]

[Acacia: You can’t get pearls without opening oysters. We’ll secure Director Kim. By force if necessary.]

[Veritas: I won’t stop you. But killing Blue Rose-0 was already a stretch. I hope you don’t cause any major issues.]

[Acacia: It’s fine. We’ll handle it delicately, like plucking bamboo shoots.]

[Veritas: I’m not sure plucking bamboo shoots counts as delicate work.]

[Patreus: You idiot. Out of the 13 Blue Roses Acasia created, 12 were failures, and even Admiral Furani of the East Asia Fleet died. Stop messing around and stay put.]

[Veritas: Just try it. Some other Administrators seem to be on Acasia’s side. Like Administrator Pixel, or those other personality-disordered folks.]

[Acasia: It won’t be difficult.]

[Veritas: Isn’t this just our arrogance, thinking we can control everything? Sometimes it seems like we can, but…]

[Patreus: That’s just an illusion.]

[Veritas: Acasia. Our power isn’t infinite. Half the world is still controlled by groups outside the Foundation.]

[Acasia: Those are just hostile groups and governments necessary for our rule or maintaining the system we’ve built. Meaningless.]

[Patreus: Anyway, I won’t cooperate. Do as you please, Acasia. I’m not sure if you’ll succeed.]

[Pixel: Retrieving one humanoid supernatural phenomenon isn’t a big deal. Need help, Acasia?]

[Acasia: That would be great. I’ll capture Director Kim and bring them to headquarters. Subdue them if possible, kill them if not.]

[Veritas: Alright… Handle the Blue Rose hunt yourselves, but let me know if cleanup gets messy. This meeting is adjourned.]

[Acasia: Adjourned.]

****

“Dr. Kim. Let’s hang out later.”

Nanami was looking at me.

“Sure. Any plans?”

“Not really? We’ll figure it out while wandering the city. Or we could just spend money recklessly to cheer up.”

I nodded and looked at the distant mountains. My mind was still a mess.

Nanami leaned against the Director’s Office cat tower.

“What’s wrong? Something on your mind?”

“I was thinking about the Director’s meeting. Have you ever seen one, Nanami?”

Nanami shook her head.

“It’s an old story. Most high-level meetings are just formalities. Just a ‘let’s help each other if something big happens’ kind of thing.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course, if someone’s trying to push something for their country or city, it’s different.”

I guess so.

But since it was my first meeting, all I got were vague questions about how I felt about intervening in major issues. There was almost no political bargaining.

“Anyway, you looked down, so I thought we should go out. What do you like, Dr. Kim? Didn’t you say you play games or something?”

“Let’s go out later. Just clock out at 5.”

For now, let’s focus on the immediate problem.

We can just grab some food or something.

And at 5 PM.

Quitting time.

Nanami was waiting, dressed in casual clothes for the first time in a while. A plain hoodie and shorts.

Even a white hat. The hoodie gave off a “missing pants” vibe, but the shorts were white too.

If not for her yellow hair, she might’ve looked like an ordinary college student. The hat hid her hair well.

Anyway. I joined Nanami.

“Oh, Dr. Kim’s here.”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

We were ready. I checked the time again. It was just past 5.

I didn’t bring any weapons, but a helicopter would be tailing us the whole time we were in the city. Necessary security measures, they said.

“Thought about what to eat?”

“The helicopter’s louder than I thought. Over there.”

The helicopter noise was distracting, so we decided to park and grab whatever food was nearby.

Similar protocol to when I went out with Hasti. I’m not sure if Nanami and I really need escorts, but they insisted on following protocol.

Or maybe they’re escorting the general public from us? Thinking about it, that might be it.

If someone annoyed or startled Nanami, it could turn into a massacre. Maybe the Foundation’s trying to prevent that.

Not a pleasant thought.

I stretched my legs and sat down. Nanami stared at me with a blank expression. Her eyes seemed to say there was something interesting.

“It’s been a while since we went out.”

“Thinking about it, you don’t leave Foundation facilities much, do you? Too busy.”

“Not so much busy. I just don’t have many good memories of the outside. No reason to waste my time unless someone’s going with me.”

I nodded slowly. I hope nothing happens while we’re gone.

“We should go out more. Even to cliché tourist spots or ridiculously expensive places.”

The city wasn’t visible from here, but Nanami looked out the window anyway.

“Should we go for a helicopter ride?”

“That sounds good.”

From there, we’d definitely get a view of the city. It’d be noisy, though… I wonder if they sell quiet helicopters.

Nanami was sipping on a non-alcoholic mojito. Should I order something too?

****

Meanwhile. Seoul Branch Precognition Department Research Building.

Director Kwon let out a sigh.

‘Next month’s fortune for Facility 82.’

The tarot cards drawn by the Head of the Precognition Department were as follows: Death, The Devil, The Tower. All upright.

No need to interpret. They clearly signify upheaval, corruption, and destruction.

The branch’s future looked grim.

A few hours ago, Supernatural Phenomenon O-3255, Cassandra’s Grandfather Clock, stopped working. It’s best to assume a disaster is coming.

What kind of disaster? Still unknown.

But the clock was fine even before the Yulje-myeon incident. This is likely something even worse. What could it be?

The terrified precognition staff were using every means possible to divine the future.

Other divinations were similar. Whether flipping coins or reading chicken entrails, almost no good omens appeared.

Overtime was guaranteed today. Unless we all die from the impending disaster. In which case, we need to figure out what’s coming.

“We’re in trouble. Where’s the Director?”

“How would I know?”

“Send a message.”

“What should I say?”

Director Kwon stared at his phone.

“Send it now. All divinations point to war. Everything’s heading toward destruction.”

“Ah. When should I say?”

“How should I know? Tomorrow? A week? A month?”

“I’ll send it right away.”

“Send it to the Director’s Office too, no, send it everywhere. Divinations like this aren’t common.”

The precognition staff nodded.

“Call everyone in the Precognition Department, even those who went home. Keep divining until we figure out what’s going on.”

The Precognition Department was like a combat unit in times like this. The response was swift and airtight. We can’t repeat the shame of Yulje-myeon.

The Director might even draw their sword.

Last time, they tore up resignation letters and called people back, causing chaos. If we miss another major incident, we might really die.

“Is everything moving now?”

The Head of the Precognition Department looked around the research building. People were busy, but…

“Four tarot teams, six chicken entrail teams, eight coin teams. We’re also using supernatural phenomena like mirrors to gather as much information as possible.”

“Call the mages too. And the Research Department Head.”

“Will they come if we call?”

The Research Department Head will come. The mages are a bit more eccentric… but they’ll come, right?

If we keep increasing the information like this, we might just end up with useless confusion. Of course, mages aren’t the type to come just because they’re called. But at least Dr. Chae has a good personality.

If it’s life or death, they’ll come.

“Director. Is it really that serious?”

“It’s serious.”

If the Director were here, the sirens would be blaring. Director Kwon sighed. What kind of incident could cause this?

“First, find the Director. Let’s start with the Director.”