Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: #1. Black Badger (1)
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Unfamiliar voices rang out.
When I opened my eyes, I caught afterimages of people bustling about. I blinked vacantly. A shadow loomed over my head. Urgent shouts. Figures rushing off somewhere in a flurry.
My senses hadn't fully awakened yet, leaving my mind hazy. I closed my heavy eyelids and opened them again, and the scent of dirt and gunpowder tickled my nose.
Then I saw the gun barrel shoved right in my face.
What?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a sharp voice snapped me to attention.
“Who the hell are you!”
That was exactly what I wanted to say.
“Where’d you pop out from all of a sudden!”
I pushed myself up onto my elbows.
My field of vision widened considerably. I could see multiple gun barrels trained on me. A blinding white light settled over the afterimages.
What the hell is going on?
I stared blankly at the five people holding guns, the vast room with its high ceiling, and the man standing in front of me.
The voice belonged to the man pressing a gun barrel between my eyes.
He had curly hair and striking hazel eyes.
“How’d you get in here?”
“Where is this place?”
I mumbled while gazing into the man’s clear eyes. My mind wasn’t working right.
Did I pass out after drinking?
“What was I doing?”
“Hey, cut the bullshit!”
The curly-haired man scowled.
“When and where did you come in from?”
He seemed like a hot-tempered guy. But I still couldn’t grasp the situation. I watched as he leaned in toward me.
He was dressed like the others. In pitch-black tactical gear that seemed to absorb the light. Black gloves. A hefty-looking gun gripped in his hands.
He jabbed the pitch-black muzzle against my throat. I felt the cold metal.
This seems pretty dangerous, doesn’t it?
“You gonna keep spewing stupid shit? You messing with me?”
“Ro.”
Someone standing behind him spoke up.
“Looks like there was a problem with the portal. Lower the gun.”
A girl with round eyes chimed in. She had her black hair tied back in a single ponytail and was holding a gun almost as big as her torso. As the only East Asian girl there, she naturally drew the eye.
Why’s a kid who looks like a high schooler—at most a college freshman—holding a gun like that?
Ro, the curly-haired man, whipped his head around.
“Hey, you know what this guy is? And you want me to lower the gun!”
“That’s why I’m saying there must’ve been a portal glitch.”
The girl strode over toward us.
“Probably got briefly linked to another portal or something.”
Lower the gun, Ro. She nagged him casually.
I propped myself up with both hands on the floor and took in the approaching girl and the others behind her.
They were all dressed in striking black outfits. Definitely not ordinary civilians. Their gazes fixed on me were sharp enough to cut.
And even though she’d told him to lower the gun, they were poised to shoot if I made any suspicious moves. The air carried the scent of gunpowder and dirt.
Where am I? How did I end up here?
The vast space with its high ceiling and pale walls was unfamiliar. From their reactions and my gut feeling, it didn’t seem like a place I’d been before. No clue why I’d woken up here.
And what did I even do for a living?
I panicked as my past refused to come to mind. That was when the girl stopped in front of me.
She looked down at me huddled on the floor with her round eyes.
“Hello!”
She greeted me brightly and extended her right hand.
“I’m Choi Ami! Call me Ami.”
“…Hildebert Talib.”
I reflexively took Ami’s hand.
“Call me Hilde for short.”
But I couldn’t remember when or by whom I’d been called Hilde. My memories had gone completely blank.
When did this start?
I stared blankly ahead, flustered by my empty recollections. My stomach dropped, and I began to panic in silence.
At the same time, handcuffs snapped onto the hand I’d extended.
***
I was dragged off somewhere in handcuffs.
They didn’t manhandle me roughly. I’d followed along obediently, too dazed to resist. Stunned by my lost memories, I trailed blankly after the girl named Ami.
The people from the room stuck close: on my left, the man called Ro; on my right, a tall guy with softly upturned eyes. Behind trailed a petite girl with two-tone hair and a man in a balaclava that covered up to his nose.
It looked like they were escorting a VIP.
In reality, it was surveillance, not protection.
We walked down a spacious corridor and arrived at a room.
A white desk and several chairs. It looked like a conference room used occasionally—or maybe never.
Ami pulled out a chair at the desk in the center of the room for me.
I sat obediently, hands cuffed.
“Mr. Hilde?”
“Yes?”
“I need to make a call. Be right back.”
I blinked, caught off guard by Ami’s abrupt words.
Still dazed and staring at her, I mumbled awkwardly.
“Oh, sure. Go ahead. Don’t mind me—take your time.”
The East Asian girl’s eyes widened, and she flashed a grin.
She opened the door in front and stepped into the corridor.
Silence instantly settled over the pristine room. Everyone took their seats and shut their mouths. They seemed to be waiting for something, but it didn’t look like the situation would change anytime soon.
Might as well use this time to think.
I seized the silence to desperately try recalling who—or what—I was.
This is insane. Why can’t I remember anything besides my name?
Countless things wouldn’t come to mind. No, most things wouldn’t. It was like someone had washed my memories clean with water. Ever since the handcuffs went on, I’d been trying to remember where I came from or who I was, but no luck.
Only fragmented, useless memories popped up. Like riding in the passenger seat looking out the window, or playing a handheld game a little bigger than my palm.
I straightened my slouched posture, frowning.
“Gotta pee~?”
The man sitting next to Ro broke the silence with a sly smile.
“If you do, just go~…”
I blinked.
“No, I’m fine.”
I forced my back straight and looked at him.
“Thank you for asking.”
“Feel free to say whenever~.”
The man’s eyes curved into crescents. His vivid green eyes narrowed.
Ah. He’s got a nasty personality.
I decided not to get on this guy’s bad side.
He might have a perpetual smile, but he seemed incredibly sharp and sensitive underneath.
The green-eyed man lounged lazily in a chair in front of the whiteboard, leaning back against it with his legs crossed and hands shoved in his pockets. Yet I couldn’t spot a single opening in him.
Cross him, and I’m done for.
Looking at his long, slender eyes, black hair, and refined features, I added politely.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome….”
“Hey.”
Ro, who’d been tapping at his phone next to the green-eyed man, looked up abruptly.
“Yeah?”
“Where’re you from?”
Ro slouched in his chair, jiggling his foot.
“Didn’t you say you don’t remember?”
“Yes. Sorry. I’m trying, but only useless stuff comes up.”
“Like what?”
“…Like, playing a handheld game or something…”
I frowned, trying to dredge up something more useful.
But I failed spectacularly again. Only unhelpful scenes flitted through my mind: a clean room with two apples on a table, a coffee milk with a straw and half-eaten scone.
I let out a small sigh.
“…Sorry. Nothing worth mentioning comes to mind. Weirdly, I only remember my name—nothing else about myself.”
“Maybe your memories got wiped crossing the portal…”
The green-eyed man muttered to himself.
“Used to happen sometimes back in the day, but not sure if that’s accurate…”
“Damn it. What the hell is this? We come back through the portal, and suddenly there’s some random guy we’ve never seen. Even I know if five go in, five should come out. But nope—six came out. Makes no sense.”
“That’s why we’re sitting here like this~. Was planning to head back, shower, and have a smoke right after returning…”
The green-eyed man drawled slowly, tilting his head to the side.
“Wanna clock out…”
“Sorry.”
Seeing the smile vanish from the green-eyed man’s face, I reflexively apologized.
“You can smoke here. I don’t mind.”
Ro and the green-eyed man’s gazes snapped to me, along with the stares from those standing behind, prickling my nape.
Felt like a lab rat.
I gave a wry smile and endured the incoming stares.
But before I could speak, the door opened.
“Nothing!”
Ami burst in, eyes wide.
“No one matching your description, Mr. Hilde—no Hildebert Talib—in Center Core or any other core.”
“What the hell are you, really?”
Ro glared at me, his thick brows furrowed.
“Where’d you even come from?”
“…Sorry. I’m really confused too…”
“Ska’s on his way, apparently.”
We’d been waiting patiently until then. Ami waved her hands as if to calm me and Ro.
I watched intently as Ami shut the door and approached. The gun she’d been holding was nowhere in sight.
As she came closer, I tried to process the info. Maybe because my memories were gone, it felt like being a newborn learning everything from scratch. Who was Ska? And what were Center Core and the cores?
Where did I even come from originally? I racked my brain for my home country. I hadn’t forgotten country names. America, UK, Australia—all came to mind. But crucially, I couldn’t recall which one I was from.
I watched Ami set a paper bag on the desk and asked.
“Where is this place?”
Ami, Ro, and the green-eyed man looked up at me.
“I mean, which country am I in right now? America?”
Their expressions turned strange.
Silence fell. A weird tension filled the bland room.
Flustered by the shift, I blinked. Why? Sitting there alone in the silence, I panicked.
Why are they reacting like this…?
Ro broke the silence with an irritated remark.
“What kinda nonsense is that?”
“There’s no country called America anymore~.”
The green-eyed man cut off Ro’s annoyed, suspicious tone.
His sharp green eyes pierced mine.
“Haven’t heard that proper noun in ages…”
I blinked at the incomprehensible words.
“Pardon?”
“He means borders don’t exist anymore~. Kids these days don’t even grasp the concept of countries… You remember your age, right~?”
“Uh? No… Sorry, that’s gone too… Pardon? Huh?”
I stammered “pardon?” repeatedly in confusion. I couldn’t understand what the green-eyed man was saying.
He repeated himself. Borders no longer existed, and everyone lived in cores. I tried fusing my fragmented memories with this new info. But it was futile.
My memories clearly included multiple countries.
I remembered some distinctly. America, UK, China, India.
I must’ve floundered in confusion for a while.
Eventually, I pulled myself together. To escape the chaos, I deliberately focused on my senses. The room was dead silent, unmoving. White fluorescent light and the pleasant scent of wooden desks. The people in front of me stared, waiting for me to speak.
Feeling the cool air, I finally managed to open my mouth.
“So, where are you three from? What country… or not from a country? What exactly does ‘no borders’ mean?”
“Ah.”
The green-eyed man, who’d been sitting stock-still with legs crossed, gave a sly smile.
“Tough question~. Lucky for you, we’re all on the older side. I’m originally from Italy~. Center Core now, though…”
“Sicily.”
Ro cut in bluntly.
“The two kids behind you are Center Core natives. This little one’s from China.”
“I’m from Korea, I told you!”
Ami, who’d been observing me with wide eyes, jumped up. I flinched at her sudden anger.
Staring at her with wide eyes, I saw the green-eyed man chuckling at me. Ignoring the reactions, Ami glared down at Ro and slammed the desk.
“I’ve told you dozens of times—Yoon Oppa and I are Korean! The Chinese one’s the HR Director! Mr. Joo!”
“Oh, right? Whatever.”
“Whatever? You’ve been my comrade for 40 years—how do you still mix up my nationality!”
“Hey, speaking of—where’s HR? Some unknown guy pops out of the ground; shouldn’t they be here?”
“Mr. Joo’s not coming.”
Ami calmly stated it out of nowhere, eyes wide.
I saw Ro and the green-eyed man blink.
The round-eyed Ami added indifferently.
“Doesn’t seem urgent, and no special tasks right now, apparently.”
“Crazy. If a guy appearing out of thin air isn’t urgent, what is?”
“Dunno.”
“Did you report to the Supreme Commander~?”
The green-eyed man asked slowly.
“What’d he say…?”
“He’s coming as fast as he can. Ska the Aide will handle it for now. John and Yoon Oppa are checking the portal. Samuel’s prepped for Mr. Hilde’s physical. HR’s got the polygraph ready.”
“Um…”
I carefully interjected. I felt their gazes converge again. Not a welcome reaction, but I couldn’t hold back the question on the tip of my tongue.
I was piecing together the puzzle from their snippets of info and conversation. Like how I’d apparently popped out of a portal unexpectedly. Borders were gone, no America or China, people lived in something called Center Core.
And the quiet pair of man and woman behind me were probably lowest in rank…
I asked about the one thing I couldn’t comprehend.
“How old are you three, exactly?”
Smiles crept onto the green-eyed man’s and Ami’s lips. Even Ro’s face broke into a mischievous grin.
I stared blankly at their beaming faces.
Waiting for them to explain as they grinned at me.
Ami answered. She smiled brightly at me.
Then she said cheerfully.
“Seventy!”