Forewarned Terror -4-
Someone once said: What is the difference between an airship and an airplane? There is no need to look far. An airship rises by buoyancy, while an airplane rises by lift. An airplane that relies on lift needs a runway long enough to generate sufficient power before it can take to the sky. But an airship that uses buoyancy can ascend vertically even from a standstill.
Yet in reality, it was the airship that became obsolete, not the airplane. Why? Simply because an airship’s size is far too large. A large size means greater air resistance. Greater air resistance means the vehicle cannot freely increase its speed and is heavily affected by weather conditions. This ultimately leads to financial problems. A massive body creates enormous maintenance costs, and slow speed results in poor cost-effectiveness. Astronomical expenses are required just for management, yet the money it brings in is pitiful… Who would bother building an airship?
Conversely, however, if the money problem is solved, all those existing disadvantages are completely offset and turned into advantages. That is why, in Minos, an airship is something akin to an extravagant hobby for those who have money and time to burn. And those with money and time to burn are, for the most part, the Royal Roaders.
How wonderful it must be. Standing in a high place and looking down below, everything that touches your feet appears utterly insignificant. This must be why the Royal Roaders do not bother managing the criticism from the lower classes that floats around on the internet. In their eyes, those people look like ants. Tiny ants crawling at their feet.
“Huu…”
In front of the enormous airship, Chae Yuha crouched like a tiny ant and let out a sigh. It was a nerve-wracking moment. The hull of the airship towered so high that even when she tilted her head back as far as it would go, she couldn’t see the top of the body, let alone the ridge beneath it. Overwhelmed by its overwhelming size, Chae Yuha watched as a dozen or so people walked past her in a line. Every single one of them looked familiar; they were probably influencers sponsored by the Royal Roaders.
Among them were some who deliberately pretended not to know her or even bumped her shoulder as they passed. Chae Yuha simply thought, Are they idiots? and lightly followed them onto the airship.
“Welcome. You must be the guests invited by the Royal Roaders.”
“The other guests, including the Royal Roaders, are waiting for you in the inner hall.”
“Please spread your arms to the sides and pass through the scanner room in front of you.”
The moment she stepped onto the airship, the first to greet Chae Yuha were dozens of Vitaloids dressed impeccably in black suits. They welcomed her and the other invited guests with angular, formal movements, as if reenacting ancient court etiquette.
“Miss Chae Yuha, confirmed. We wish you a safe and comfortable journey from Unhwa Station, passing through Seolhwa Myeonggok, all the way to Royal Road.”
Chae Yuha swallowed a dry breath inwardly. She hadn’t even entered the hall yet, but a completely different landscape from the outside world was already unfolding. A path of red carpet, statues adorned with gold, pure white furniture, and brightly shining chandeliers. If she turned around, she could still see the purple neon signs and forest of buildings, but the interior of the airship was practically a royal palace or banquet hall.
With a heavy clunk, the door opened, and as she entered the hall, she saw a large number of people already gathered in clusters, exchanging pleasantries. The noise was so mixed that she couldn’t make out what they were saying, but from the clothes they wore, it was easy to guess they were engaged in high-class conversations far beyond the understanding of commoners.
“Where is the host?”
“Why are there so many people…”
Chae Yuha and the majority of the invited guests were left at a loss. According to the plan, she was supposed to meet her comrades who had already infiltrated in stealth mode at a guest room on the fourth floor. But she couldn’t find any guest rooms, let alone an elevator or stairs. It truly felt like a mountain made of humans, an endless sea.
At that moment, Jinhyun’s figure sitting alone in a corner caught Chae Yuha’s eye. Excited at the sight of someone she knew, she tried to approach him. However, she couldn’t reach Jinhyun as easily as she wished.
Blocking the space between Chae Yuha and Jinhyun was a roughly three-meter-tall robot. Robot? No, it wasn’t a robot. It was a walking suit with a design similar to the bipedal mobile weapons from a certain cartoon. Chae Yuha remembered seeing that design somewhere before.
Athena!
Yes, it was Athena standing between her and Jinhyun. Before she could even wonder why, Athena carefully observed the area around Chae Yuha’s chest from behind her hatch, then pointed a finger somewhere. There sat a girl with paraplegia in a wheelchair—Mary—and the butler attending her, Alfred.
She had seen the number tag on Chae Yuha’s chest and was showing her the way. After that, Athena continued to block the path of lost guests and point them in the right direction with her finger. As expected of an S-Class Hero. It seemed ingrained in her to perform good deeds by default.
Chae Yuha lightly ignored Athena’s guidance and approached Jinhyun again.
“What are you doing here all by yourself?”
Jinhyun, who had been sitting with his eyes closed as if concentrating on something, opened his blue eyes and answered.
“...Miss Yuha? What are you doing here?”
“I messaged you the day before yesterday, didn’t I?”
“Ah, so the escort job you mentioned back then was this.”
Jinhyun nodded as if he understood, then closed his eyes again.
Huh? That’s it for a reaction?
I’m on an airship where a terror attack is about to happen?
Feeling a bit spiteful, Chae Yuha plopped down right next to him and asked.
“Why have you been keeping your eyes closed since earlier?”
“I’m distinguishing sounds. This airship has received a terror warning from a villain alliance called Maker.”
“Terror?”
“Did you board without knowing?”
Jinhyun briefly opened his eyes and looked at her. Because she was closer than he expected, he almost let out a strange sound for a moment, but he held it in and continued.
“Do not launch the airship scheduled to depart from Unhwa. If you ignore the warning, we will come directly and explode the airship. A terror warning with that content was broadcast across the entire city.”
What? So he wasn’t unaware.
Then why was his reaction so lukewarm?
Chae Yuha deliberately trembled and swallowed dryly, pretending to be nervous.
“...This was that airship?”
“It seems you really didn’t know.”
Of course it was all an act, but to Jinhyun’s eyes, her appearance looked truly pitiful.
“Do you think you’re unlucky because strange incidents keep happening wherever you go?”
“Don’t I look like I would? Please worry about me a little.”
“If it were up to me, I would tell you to go back, but there is no place in Minos that is perfectly safe. It’s more reassuring to have you where I can see you.”
“...”
“Besides, don’t you have things you need to do in your own way, Miss Yuha?”
“...Well, that’s true.”
“Then I will simply do what I must do as well.”
“...What is that?”
“Protecting you.”
At the words that suddenly dug in, Chae Yuha’s pupils trembled slightly.
“Does this answer put your mind at ease a little?”
“...”
Chae Yuha fled from the spot as if running away. Jinhyun watched her retreating figure until the very end, then closed his eyes again and began focusing on the sounds.
— “This is a new product we just brought in. The effects are truly excellent.”
— “You want me to spike the drinks? Who gave you that order? ...A Royal Roader?”
— “Haha, do you think that’s okay? You know what will happen to your small, insignificant building if you get on our bad side, right?”
— “Mmph!!”
— “Hey, stay still. Do I, of all people, have to raise my voice?”
— “There will be a surprise show in a little while. Yes, yes. You can look forward to it.”
There were too many conversations that caught his attention… He had no idea which sounds he was supposed to focus on.
*
Meanwhile, on the fourth floor of the airship, in guest room 407, four villains had gathered.
— ‘Ueh… B-bomb installation complete…’
— ‘I spiked the drinks too!’
— ‘Ten minutes left until departure.’
— ‘When is Yuha coming?’
All of them were in stealth mode, sending messages to each other as they waited for their leader.
— ‘But this drug… it really won’t endanger their lives, right?’
When Kim Seokho asked with his arms crossed, Nadja grumbled about how many times he was going to ask and pasted the message she had copied earlier.
— ‘It’s just common mold fungus.’
— ‘At worst, it’ll cause stomach pain or red rashes on the skin.’
— ‘It’ll even heal on its own after about a day.’
— ‘This much is plenty to cause chaos inside.’
— ‘...How laughable. Becoming villains and the terrorism we do is the kind that doesn’t harm lives.’
— ‘What are you saying, oppa! We’re doing good things! Didn’t you see the people on the airship?’
— ‘Ueh… Why did I have to see a scene of an auntie with a greasy belly flab wobbling while devouring a young man soaked in drugs…?’
— ‘It’s too vivid, so shut up.’
While they were chatting among themselves, someone approached with footsteps. The villains each held their breath and observed the approaching person’s presence.
— ‘It’s me.’
The owner of the footsteps was Chae Yuha.
— ‘Departure time is getting close, so I came to switch.’
At Chae Yuha’s message, the villains who had been eyeing each other lightly tapped the spot where A.G.O was.
“Ueh…!!”
A.G.O, pushed from behind by the villains, walked toward the changing room where there were no CCTV cameras. What came out afterward was A.G.O transformed into Chae Yuha’s appearance.
“I-I really have to do this…”
A.G.O spoke in Chae Yuha’s voice, looking completely deflated.
— ‘Can’t you do it?’
“N-no…!! I’m just not confident, but I know I’m the only one who can do this…”
Chae Yuha grabbed the shoulder of A.G.O, who was trudging away weakly.
“Do your best.”
She pulled A.G.O into a tight hug and whispered in her ear. A.G.O’s face flushed red as she walked out the door with a bashful smile.
That sight looked quite uneasy, so Nadja and Kim Seokho asked if it was really okay. But—
— ‘I trust A.G.O. She’ll show results beyond expectations.’
Chae Yuha didn’t seem worried at all as she began preparing to activate the broadcast using the temporary line she had received from Park Seongtae in advance.
*
A.G.O, who had gone outside, walked down the corridor with a heart half-filled with fear and half with worry. Although she had received encouragement from the person she admired, her anxiety remained the same. For a Vitaloid, performing an action whose results had not been verified was extremely frightening.
Moreover, the person she had transformed into was none other than Chae Yuha, the one she had always looked up to. What if she made a mistake and damaged Yuha’s image? The anxiety kept pouring in without pause.
Thinking that way, A.G.O stepped into the elevator heading down to the main hall. Naturally, a mirror was installed inside the elevator. A.G.O looked at her reflection in the mirror.
Light blue hair that fell neatly to her waist with a glossy shine, eyes half-lidded in a mysterious smiling shape, long straight legs and a magnificent chest, and even the black dress that perfectly complemented her beauty.
Come to think of it, right now A.G.O had transformed into the exact appearance of the person she had admired all this time.
At that moment, the core module near A.G.O’s heart began to beat explosively.
I have become Chae Yuha right now!
Was there really this much difference between knowing it in her head and seeing it with her eyes? A sense of elation boiled up as if her learning device had broken, and her fear began to disappear.
Yeah, let’s just do it.
I’m already used to hiding behind a mask and driving someone into the abyss.
Who am I? The three-million-subscriber A.G.O.
Then, a uniquely arrogant and seductive smile characteristic of Chae Yuha began to spread across A.G.O’s lips.
Thirty minutes remaining until the terror.