But there was an ambiguous point here.
How many agents have been affected by ‘Skinwalker K-B’?
Did all of those monitoring the hotel get hit? Or just some of them?
That was really ambiguous.
For now, it’s certain that the agent who invaded here is affected. But what about the other unseen agents? Have they also become the same kind of entities that were disposed of by the ‘Code-S Protocol’?
I couldn’t tell.
Until I caught them and conducted a thorough investigation, it was a question I couldn’t answer.
The ‘agent’ detected by the equipment… No. Judging by the ‘supernatural something pretending to be an agent’ they sent, it was clear that the entity named Skinwalker had noticed their surveillance and acted hostile against it.
But, I wonder.
Would such a being really think the agents wouldn’t catch on?
Did they really make no preparations at all for getting caught?
Unless they were a real idiot, there’s no way they would have done that. It’s just too certain that they wouldn’t engage in such foolishness unless they were overly confident in their abilities and looked down on others—
But that’s where the problem arises.
To avoid falling for the tricks of the Skinwalker, time and effort must be invested… But no matter how I see it, that seems to be precisely what the Skinwalker wants. Being dragged around by the Skinwalker, moving according to their intentions… If that happens, controlling or monitoring the Skinwalker would become difficult.
But can we just ignore it?
That’s impossible.
These agents are extremely valuable assets.
Of course, they know that they could die at any moment due to the nature of their job, and the organization knows that well, too. They can be used like chess pieces, and might just as easily receive orders to die if necessary.
But that’s only something that can be done when it’s truly essential.
You can’t just harvest agents like a country that was once dripping red—like some Asian nation where one can just expend them like it’s nothing.
Talented individuals are a precious resource.
Especially if it’s been confirmed that they have no connections with other nations after a detailed investigation and that they have demonstrated loyalty beyond sufficient levels.
To simply discard such individuals as ‘possibly affected by the Skinwalker’? It’s not like we’re in a spy movie set during a full-fledged war; if you did that, you’d have to brace for losing your neck.
So.
“I guess we have to search the hotel. And the surrounding area, too.”
*
As technology advances, equipment gets smaller.
The first hard disk, RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) 305, weighed a massive ton and was huge in size, yet it only had a storage capacity of 5MB.
But what about now?
The storage devices commonly used today are palm-sized and boast capacities of dozens of terabytes (Terabytes) as a base standard. Some expensive ones are even finger-sized but have storage capacities similar to palm-sized devices, yet they operate at vastly superior speeds.
As time goes by, those sizes will undoubtedly shrink even further.
Size will decrease, and the capacity we can handle will increase.
This is the advancement of technology.
However, conversely, if technology isn’t sufficiently advanced, it can only be large.
The same goes for equipment designed to detect supernatural beings.
The machine, created in America, which sucked in talents from around the world like a black hole, shook the world upon its debut. It made it easy to detect evil ghosts, supernatural entities that threatened people, and prevented malevolent spirits and evil entities from slaughtering people indiscriminately.
Of course, some might say this: Ghosts, which cannot be verified through the senses, have a low probability of harming people. Malevolent spirits and evil entities, which can be clearly felt through the senses, aren’t that common, so is it right to claim that this machine has ‘world-shaking’ value?
But you have to consider that just because they’re common or not doesn’t necessarily translate to fear.
Just because ferocious beasts frequently roam deep in the jungle doesn’t mean city dwellers feel fear.
Just because a massive fire is raging on the other continent, turning mountains and fields to ashes, doesn’t mean those on the opposite continent feel frightened.
But if a few insane killer terrorists, who may not be numerous, spread across the globe and continuously cut people’s heads off without hesitation, people worldwide would scream to kill the hell out of those damn terrorists.
If you think about it, statistically speaking, the chances of your head being chopped off by a terrorist are likely lower than the chances of being in a plane crash.
That’s what fear is.
Fear stems from a sense of crisis felt on one’s own skin rather than probabilities and such.
Just as the pain from a thorn under one’s fingernail feels bigger than the pain from another’s death, fear is the same.
This is the nature of humans and the law of the world.
In that aspect, ghosts are indeed sufficient to be a source of fear for people.
It seems they exist, but unless you’re someone with spiritual abilities, you can’t really sense them. Not only can you not see them, but you can’t hear or smell them either. You might feel chills or dread depending on the power or malice of the ghost, but that alone does not give certainty to their existence.
Using equipment that employs energy resonance, magnetic fields, or noise can provide rough measurements, but you can’t be completely sure, and some of that equipment is dubious at best.
Can’t we just use magical means?
Things related to magic do have effects, but since they can’t be mass-produced, it’s unrealistic for many to benefit from them. There are few shamans, true divine objects and talismans are expensive, and fakes abound.
Using magic directly? Considering that magic demands a ‘cost,’ that’s just madness, and it’s completely out of the question.
Yet, they say this invisible entity, which ordinary folks can’t feel properly, has malevolent intentions toward people. Furthermore, once this ghost evolves into a malevolent spirit or evil entity, it supposedly moves with outright hostility toward people and wreaks horrific havoc.
Moreover, these ghosts aren’t something that can only be seen in hell or found in undeveloped nature like wild beasts—they’re supposed to exist with a higher probability in cities where people gather.
Naturally, they can’t help but be threatening.
But people’s adaptability is truly remarkable.
People have managed to recognize the existence of these ghosts while remarkably adapting to coexistence.
This claim might be obvious.
Just a hundred years ago, it was common for people to be mauled to death by tigers or wolves while entering the forest. Yet, even in those circumstances, people adapted well to that ‘dangerous environment,’ living their lives without feeling particularly uncomfortable.
They grouped together to keep ferocious beasts at bay and some criminals even made their homes in those dangerous places to prey on others!
In that sense, it’s not surprising that people live on normally, despite being aware of the spirits’ presence. If we consider that since the dawn of humanity, ‘threatening entities’ have been overflowing across the earth, it might even be deemed perfectly normal.
However, just because they’ve adapted doesn’t mean they lack the desire to escape from those threats.
It’s not like living together like crocodiles and birds, helping each other out. One side harbors explicit hostility and likes to cause chaos. Naturally, the side that finds itself in the role of a victim has a robust desire to escape from that threat.
Thus, the birth of equipment to detect these supernatural beings can only be cheered by people.
It transforms the ‘unmanageable, intangible threats’ into areas of ‘manageable risks.’
This can be called a marvel created by science.
But this feat has yet to eliminate the threat posed by ghosts entirely.
The performance of this ‘equipment for detecting supernatural beings’ in sensing ghosts is merely an evolved level of the equipment that had come out previously—so-called ghost hunter equipment. Of course, while it’s still quite impressive, it clearly falls short of what some call ‘world-shaking’ standards.
Of course, once the technology advances, increasing precision and miniaturization, we can certainly harbor hope that it will be practical—but that’s just where it is.
So this groundbreaking equipment found itself slumbering again somewhere deep within people’s minds, promising a brighter future.
However, there were those who actively showed interest in this ‘not so practical or efficient-looking prototype.’ They could vaguely sense the potential synergy that tying this equipment to military technology would yield and surmise the possibilities it might offer in defense and public safety.
Thus, this ‘equipment for detecting supernatural beings’ was modified for military and espionage use—becoming something that, while still not usable, was at least in a state that it could be used in the field.
But as mentioned earlier, if technology isn’t sufficiently developed, the size of the equipment is inescapably bound to be large.
Naturally, this ‘equipment for detecting supernatural beings’ was no exception.
Specifically, it had to be transported using large trucks frequently employed in the US.
