Chapter 53

Episode 53. The Ruins of the Garden (1)

***

I glanced once more at the Seed Vault inside the Garden facility. Silver packets of seeds lined the shelves, neatly arranged.

Fortunately, there was no creepy AI voice to be heard.

Nikolai Vavilov.

A Soviet scientist who dedicated his life to researching plants to combat famine. He achieved great things, but his life was far from smooth.

He spent his life collecting seeds from around the world… but during the Siege of Leningrad, his colleagues starved to death in the Seed Vault, holding edible seeds in their hands.

Vavilov himself was tortured to death by Soviet authorities who deemed genetics anti-communist.

Vavilov might have become a scientist more famous than Darwin. If only the Soviet authorities hadn’t tried to erase his name and scientific legacy with absurd political logic.

Not that it’s particularly important. I just wondered how senior scientists would have reacted if they saw this Seed Vault, which contains not only seeds from our world but also seeds from other dimensions.

The Recovery Department Head looked at me.

“Aren’t we leaving?”

“We should. I just wanted to check the Seed Vault one more time. Are you ready?”

The Recovery Team 1 Leader showed me a heavy bag instead of answering. Looks like they’re all set. Let’s go then.

***

Here we are, in front of the bunker’s courtyard. I was walking toward the forest with the exploration team.

By now, the Research Department Head is probably wandering inside the bunker, hunting geckos with that ridiculous Soviet-made laser gun.

Thinking about that made me feel a bit better.

Wandering aimlessly through the Garden’s forest is a bit dangerous. We might not even find anything meaningful. So, we decided not to enter the forest directly but to observe it from the outside first.

“Is the drone operational?”

The Recovery Team 1 Leader shook his head.

“Maybe. But just in case, I requested reinforcements from Facility 82. By tomorrow, we should be able to scout the area with hawks.”

Hawks?

The Foundation is truly a strange place. Just when you think there’s nothing left to surprise you, something new and bizarre always pops up.

“Ah.”

So they even raise hawks for situations like this.

Anyway, back to the main point. Aside from the path we came from, there were no clear roads around. Just areas where the trees were slightly less dense.

“Do you have any specific plans?”

“The terrain is a bit fluid, but… we do have a map we found in the bunker. We’ll move through the forest, collect samples, and eventually head to these ruins.”

“Understood.”

“Anything unusual along the route?”

“Nothing at all. Unfortunately, all I see are dense plants in the forest.”

A bit disappointing. It was a hassle just to launch the drone, and now it’s not showing us anything useful. In the end, technology alone can’t do everything.

Nothing beats human effort.

“Do we have any heavy equipment we can mobilize?”

“No.”

I sighed. Well, dragging an armored vehicle through the forest would be a pain anyway.

“Any unusual spots around?”

The Recovery Team 1 Leader asked me. Unusual spots? Everything here is unusual. But even within the Garden, there are some particularly strange places.

“Hmm, the map mentions ruins… I couldn’t check what they are since I blew up the server room.”

“I see.”

“We’ll head to the ruins first.”

***

Preparations were complete. We packed our gear and entered the strangely colored forest on foot.

The soldiers of Recovery Team 1 were carrying semi-automatic shotguns. Probably anti-creature weapons. The large caliber makes them good for special ammunition.

Though the range is a bit lacking.

I was loaded with gear, carrying the Foundation-made FR-105 rifle I’ve been using since last time. It’s a bit hard for me to handle other rifles with this body.

The Garden isn’t that dangerous of a place. Nothing should go wrong. What’s important now is uncovering the secrets of this space.

“There’s a lot of vegetation around.”

I connected my tactical headset to the radio.

[We’ll clear the vegetation as we move.]

The soldiers pulled out machetes and began cutting through the thick vegetation along the way. I didn’t bring a machete, though.

Actually, my idea was to use a flamethrower to burn a path through the forest.

But. The oxygen levels inside the Garden are unusually high, so we couldn’t risk starting a fire without a clear way to extinguish it.

So, we’re stuck cutting through manually.

If this were a real-world location, we’d have more options. We could drop bombs to create a helicopter landing zone, deploy walking heavy equipment, or even call in fire trucks to control a large blaze.

But here, we don’t have those resources. For now, the ten of us have to explore on foot.

Of course, we could wait for reinforcements from Facility 82 or Headquarters… but as a scientist, I can’t accept that. We need to explore the Garden’s forest and the ruins.

I looked around again.

Flowers, birds, and butterflies. The vegetation wasn’t something you’d see in the real world. But it wasn’t completely unrecognizable either.

Radiation levels are normal. No other anomalies or supernatural space irregularities.

*Tap. Tap. Tap.*

However, the geckos from the bunker were clinging to the trees in the forest, dozens of them scurrying around. Their yellow eyes watched us.

[There’s a strange sound. Do you know what creature it is? Should we scare it off with gunfire?]

“It’s the sound of geckos.”

Large geckos sometimes make noises like that. Well… they shouldn’t be dangerous, right?

*Tap tap tap.*

*Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.*

The one or two geckos in the bunker were just wall decorations, but seeing dozens of them screeching and swarming around is quite intimidating.

Let’s keep moving.

We passed through the swarm of geckos and continued forward.

How much time had passed…

“Stop. I see some kind of structure. Let’s check it out before moving on.”

[Confirmed. Structure located.]

A stone tower came into view. It’s the kind of ordinary stone tower you’d easily find on a hiking trail. Not very large. But why it’s here, I have no idea.

Who built it, and why?

Wait.

The why is obvious. It’s symbolic or has some magical significance, and it probably marks a path. The question is who built it, and I have no clue.

It might not even be something made by humans.

Aren’t the Gardeners from the real world? Or are there Gardeners inside this space too?

Well. We’ll get some answers when we reach the ruins.

***

[We’ve arrived.]

I looked at the clearing filled with megaliths.

The forest is a dangerous place, but it also hides us. We can’t just waltz into an open clearing. As always, we have to assume there are enemies and move cautiously.

“Maintain vigilance. Confirm there are no enemies nearby, and aim to use the megaliths as cover as quickly as possible.”

[What kind of enemy are you expecting?]

“Gardeners, the people who built the stone towers, the people who built the megaliths—whoever they are. There’s plenty of reason to stay alert.”

First, let’s scan the ruins. It’s a structure made of massive granite megaliths. It doesn’t look particularly complex or intricate.

Overall, it’s a megalithic ruin similar to Stonehenge. Though there are far more stones here than at Stonehenge.

“Move between the megaliths.”

We left the forest, crossed the clearing, and ran toward the megaliths. It wasn’t far.

The soldiers secured the area around the megaliths one by one. Nothing unusual. Just some mice or geckos hiding in the cracks between the stones.

“Keep an eye on the surroundings. I’ll investigate the ruins a bit.”

Fortunately, there don’t seem to be any hostile entities nearby. Let’s start by recording everything with the camera.

Looking again, the megaliths are mostly made of sandstone rather than granite. At the center of the ruins, there’s an altar and traces of fire.

Someone must have performed a ritual here. The ashes are still here, so it likely happened within the last year.

The megaliths themselves aren’t special.

I couldn’t find any symbols of the Gardeners or anything like that. Judging by the condition of the stones, they’re probably no more than a few hundred years old.

[Director Kim. I see something.]

My body reacted before my mind. *Click.* I checked my rifle’s magazine and took cover behind a megalith.

“Explain. What did you see?”

[It’s the same Flower Human we saw in Yulje-myeon. I don’t know what it is. Should we eliminate it?]

Let’s think about this.

Killing humanoid supernatural entities is good, but our ammunition and firepower are limited, and we can’t easily retreat from this location.

“We can’t call for reinforcements here, so it’s best to avoid conflict. Keep your distance. Engage only if necessary.”

I stared at the Flower Humans.

“……”

“They’re not showing any hostile behavior. Keep watching, but don’t engage.”

The Recovery Department staff nodded, staying hidden.