Deepening Doubts
It was almost an instinctive hunch. Though I couldn't see or hear, the shapes of surrounding objects and space naturally came into focus. It was a sensation I'd never felt once in my entire life, an alien feeling no human should ever experience. I'd heard that animals with degenerated eyesight perceive their surroundings through other senses. This wasn't exactly the same, but it felt like something similar. One thing was certain: compared to the powder used during the last detailed examination, this current sensation was far clearer and much easier to control. It was clearly the effect of the passive skill I'd just acquired.
Though a slight headache lingered from the unfamiliar sense, I quickly adapted and slowly surveyed the space around me once more. The branched layout of the rooms and the arrangement of structures in my memory matched perfectly with the woman's room I'd seen before. Moreover, the flowerpots filling every corner of the room drove the point home. This had to be the only room in this underground research facility growing so many flowers.
Srrrk…
After confirming no one was inside, I began manipulating the connected body fragment. I released the transformation on the blood-state portion, let it climb up the glass tube, and escaped through the tiny gap in the lid. Once out of the tube, I used transformation again to confirm the exact nature of this place. My form shifted into an eye shape, and the darkness obscuring my vision vanished all at once.
The interior that appeared was exactly as I'd expected. It looked almost like a junkyard, with miscellaneous clutter piled everywhere. Leftover food, scattered clothes, and women's underwear—presumably belonging to the room's owner—mixed among them. The messy backdrop strangely harmonized with the flowerpots placed throughout. The sight was dizzying, something you rarely saw. Though the structure's positions differed slightly, there was no doubt. This room was definitely the one where I'd first met her and exchanged a brief conversation.
I'd heard she spent most of her time underground, but this was excessive. Even my old studio apartment, where I'd barely cleaned, hadn't been this bad. The question of whether this was truly a place where someone lived rose from deep within me. I knew not all women were neat, but this was beyond human limits. The interior looked like a teacher might pop out from somewhere at any moment, evoking not just shock but a strange admiration.
I'd seen it once before, but the overwhelming scene still hadn't grown familiar. I quickly composed myself and began assessing the situation. The lights were off and there were no signs of life nearby, so that creepy woman must have stepped out. Instead, a massive screen still glowing in the darkness illuminated the room. Thanks to the light from it, I could roughly gauge my own position.
A desk right in front of the screen. Given the screen's size, the desk was impressively large as well. However, I couldn't fully appreciate its scale. As expected, the desk's surface was a battlefield, just like everywhere else. Countless documents filled with unreadable text and experimental equipment cluttered it. I could even spot the glass tube that had contained this body fragment, though it was buried among other items, making details hard to discern.
The equipment looked expensive and polished, but the surroundings were the typical habitat of a hikikomori. I sighed inwardly and rolled my eyes around. Since this was also her living space, curiosity stirred about whether there might be something useful to find. Whether by coincidence or not, something eye-catching didn't take long to discover.
It was none other than the screen still emitting the only light in the room. I'd missed it earlier because my attention had been captured by the overwhelming interior, but the image floating on the screen now was enough to draw my interest. Two women's silhouettes stood side by side as if being compared in a 3D hologram. One of them was undeniably me. Though the hologram didn't fully render facial features, guessing wasn't difficult. My face was clearly displayed in a small image floating beside the head.
Beneath the photo, newly created personal information was listed. Starting with the newly assigned name, gender, physique, and other details—it was quite detailed. The most noticeable part was the Awakener ability section. Written in a small box was self-regeneration, an ability unfamiliar even to me. I'd seen abilities that healed others, but self-healing was rare. This was probably the result of her intention to hide my abilities as much as possible.
Aside from that, what caught my eye was that the name was listed as “Kwon” Seo-ah. …Something felt off. I distinctly remembered giving my original surname, “Kim,” yet why was it written as Kwon? It might have been a simple mistake, but an inexplicable unease pierced my mind. It felt like I was missing something important… but I couldn't quite grasp what.
After pondering briefly, I neatly organized my thoughts. Since it didn't come to mind quickly, it probably wasn't a serious matter. Besides, with no telling when she might return, I needed to gather information quickly. Thus, after scanning all the sections containing my information, my gaze naturally shifted to the opposite side.
Another female silhouette, seemingly placed there as a comparison to me. Like mine, it had an image with personal details, so identifying her wasn't difficult. However, as I slowly examined the content, I noticed something strange. First, the face photo at the top had no major issues. A cheerful adult woman with short black hair smiling brightly. Her V-sign pose and lively laugh suggested a bright personality. Her face in the photo also felt strangely familiar, but the real problem was the name field right below it.
No matter how I looked, what was written there wasn't a normal name.
Inspection Complete… No matching elements found between registered entity “Kwon Seo-ah” and the test subject…
Inspection Result: “No Witch”
“No witch… Not a witch? What the hell does that mean?”
The sentence made me mutter reflexively without realizing it. Of course, people sometimes called the faceless woman who used magic in the dungeon a witch, but it didn't seem to carry that meaning here. Moreover, the term “Outsider Inspection Program” at the very top. I'd never heard of such an inspection before. Given the context, the woman in the photo was supposedly an outsider entity, yet no matter how closely I examined it, she looked like an ordinary woman. There was nothing about her that could be called an outsider.
I tried manipulating the screen in hopes of obtaining more information, but the limitations were clear. There simply wasn't enough of this body fragment here, and I didn't know how to operate the screen anyway. Realizing belatedly that there was no mouse-like device anywhere on the desk, I felt considerable disappointment. At the same time, I thought it might be better not to touch anything recklessly, since leaving traces that someone had used it could be dangerous.
After that, I scanned the desk again excluding the screen in search of information, but found no useful results. It was a disconcerting exploration that yielded quite a bit of new information, yet only increased my doubts in equal measure.
-----
After that covert search left behind several lingering questions, the long-awaited moment finally arrived a few hours later. It was time to meet the man who had left me here without showing his face even once. Though not as bad as the woman, my evaluation of him had also plummeted sharply over the past few days. No matter how busy he claimed to be, not showing his face even once until now was excessive. I was grateful that he'd created a new identity for me and relayed various news through the manager, but this was a separate matter.
Suppressing my complicated feelings, I left the now-familiar lodging with the manager who had previously introduced himself as “Park Yoo-han.” After walking a short distance, I boarded the long elevator just like when I'd first entered the underground, and traveled for quite a while. While conversing with him, with whom I'd grown somewhat familiar, the doors slid open to either side upon reaching the destination, gradually revealing the scenery beyond. Facing natural light instead of artificial illumination, I let out a short exclamation.
Warm sunlight streaming through the windows. It had been so long since I'd seen the sun that the feeling was extraordinary. Though I'd seen the outside world daily through my phone, it was incomparable to witnessing it directly. At the same time, the realization that I'd finally escaped the underground I'd grown so sick of sank in.
After stepping out of the elevator, I began walking along the corridor toward somewhere. Unlike when I'd moved underground before, several staff members were present throughout the hallway. Naturally standing out among them, I drew everyone's gazes at once.
“……”
The emotions contained in those lingering stares were mostly curiosity. Though the man walking beside me blocked some of those gazes to an extent, such attention was quite burdensome for someone unaccustomed to others' stares. Of course, the staff members wore melting expressions at the sight of a shy, adorable little girl, but only the person in question was suffering.
Eventually, the seemingly endless movement that only tormented the subject came to an end. A room with an especially large door compared to others. My senses, sharpened through special training, instinctively detected the strong presence emanating from beyond it. Soon, the man leading the way opened the door wide, revealing the interior to all.
The inside was so clean it could almost be called empty. And directly opposite the door stood a massive office desk of simple design. Having vaguely anticipated his location, I locked eyes directly with the man seated at the desk in that moment. Though it had been quite a while since I'd seen him, I hesitated slightly. It might be rude to think this right away, but… his face was as intimidating as ever. The problem was that this wasn't an angry expression. Knowing this from past experience, I swallowed and moistened my parched throat before stepping inside. From now on, the next few hours would determine my future.