Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Subway (3)
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Didn't he say earlier that all the entrances leading to other stations were blocked?
Of course, there was no time to ask questions. I followed silently behind him, retracing the path we'd taken following the green mushrooms.
The sounds from behind grew fainter and fainter. Wasn't their speed that fast? And what the hell were they in the first place?
I had so many things I wanted to say, but I couldn't speak.
The nameless man didn't particularly try to muffle his footsteps. He ran lightly. So lightly that I wondered if they could catch up at this pace.
The screen doors appeared again. The senior indifferently passed by the spot where we'd run in.
I ran too, without glancing at the open screen doors.
Before long, a small cart-like thing with wheels hooked onto the tracks came into view.
"Rail cart."
He said curtly.
"Hold on tight. I set it to go pretty fast."
He hopped onto the rail cart nimbly.
With a clunk, the rail cart started moving.
It wasn't as fast as I'd expected.
No sooner had I thought that than it began accelerating. The air whipped past, stinging my ears. I reflexively gripped the edge of the rail cart tightly.
The rail cart sped along the tracks.
"Truth is, if you were confident you could take them on your own, you could just fight."
The senior said something odd.
I'd been watching the gently curving tracks when I turned my head toward him.
"Pardon?"
"If you're sure you can beat the guys chasing you right now, then go ahead and fight."
It took me a while to process what he meant.
No way he means what I think he does, I thought—just as I realized my hunch was spot on, the station ended.
A wall blocked by earth appeared.
The senior slammed on the brakes, stopping the rail cart.
"Well, yeah. Can't tell how many of them there are, so no point taking the risk."
Without waiting for my reply, the senior jumped off the rail cart.
There were no mushrooms here. The surroundings were near-perfect darkness. Only the faint glow from the small luminescent stickers on the rail cart provided any light. I carefully followed the senior off, senses heightened.
The senior was crouching down in the darkness.
"...What are you doing?"
"Follow me in, then seal the entrance properly."
He suddenly vanished into the wall.
I groped around blindly for where he'd disappeared. With nothing visible, I had to flail about. It took a few minutes to find it. There was a passage in the wall. My arm slid into the darkness.
The passage inside was pitch black, without a single ray of light.
Is this what it's like to be blind? I staggered in, fumbling until I finally managed to close the door. As the door shut, even the faint light I'd barely noticed vanished. No idea how high the ceiling was or how wide the passage—no way to gauge it.
I stretched my arms out to the sides, and my left hand touched the passage wall.
I proceeded, keenly aware of the texture under my left hand and the sounds ahead.
Something feels off.
"What's this passage?"
I whispered, trying not to lag behind or bump into the Black Badger ahead.
A reply came from the inky blackness.
"I dug it. Connects to three stations."
"Impressive."
"Which hand are you touching the wall with?"
I worried about bumping my head.
I suppressed my unease and answered.
"Left."
"Good. Keep your left hand on the wall, and we'll reach our destination."
"How far is it?"
"A ways."
A brief silence.
The senior spoke again.
"We still might not fully escape like this, but it'll put some distance between us."
"Can't be helped."
"Fake rookie."
That must be me.
I really need to ask this guy some questions. He definitely knows something.
I ignored my churning stomach and replied.
"Yes?"
"You still like humans?"
I fell silent for a long time.
I kept my mouth shut, sifting through my memories. There weren't many to sift through. Scattered fragments that popped up sporadically, and the new ones piling up. Every time I lay down to sleep, I clutched and caressed them like treasures.
Where are my roots? It'd be nice to have memories to stand on. Since opening my eyes with no memories to lean on, I'd been staggering along. Relying on sudden flashes of memory, instincts, and the goodwill of those around me to barely stay upright.
But on sleepless nights, gripped by an inexplicable sense of loss, the memory fragment I clung to...
It was my voice from long ago, emerging the moment I thought my life had ended.
I should love humans, after all.
I pressed hard against the wall.
"Yes."
"...That's a relief."
"Senior. Am I not human?"
I asked quietly.
The footsteps stopped. I halted too.
No way I could see his face, but I looked up ahead anyway.
"...What are you talking about?"
"I have no memories."
I answered his stunned question calmly.
"It's been a short time since I awoke in the core, along with my lost memories. Tell me what you know about me."
Silence.
Time passed where only touch registered. Time where sight, sound, and smell felt numb.
Stay here too long, and it'd drive anyone mad. Even after dropping that bomb, I thought so casually.
Ah. The senior, standing just a few steps ahead, seems to be looking back at me.
Just a hunch. But it felt like he was staring right at my face.
"It must be true."
"Yes."
After a long pause, his subdued voice returned, and I replied steadily.
"Unfortunately, it's true. How do you know me, Senior?"
Another long silence.
Good thing there was no light; I couldn't see his expression. Would I get an answer? Or did I even want one? I couldn't tell if I felt fear or hope.
The reply came slowly.
"How'd you become a Black Badger?"
"Ye-hyeon accepted me."
"Ye-hyeon? Supreme Commander Ye-hyeon? Why? Couldn't bear to scrap your Enhanced Body?"
"I thought so at first, but that wasn't the only reason."
"Why? What'd he say?"
"...I'm like his joker card. Whether I'll be the winning hand or the losing one, only time will tell..."
The senior inhaled sharply.
Explaining it myself felt too cringey. Calling nothing-but-a-blank-slate me a "joker" was way too flashy.
I stared awkwardly into the darkness where his head should be.
Until the senior burst into convulsive laughter.
"That bastard knows too!"
The man—who laughed for a good while (a bit scary)—finally spoke.
"I thought he knew nothing. But he knew everything. Makes sense, in his position. He's been seeing the truth and preparing for it all along. Yeah. Been so long, I forgot. That's the kind of guy he is. Always was."
"Uh. Senior, I'd like to know that truth too."
"Ye-hyeon didn't tell you?"
He didn't.
To be precise, it felt like he wanted me to recall my past on my own. Judging by how he always gave me time to ask questions.
I explained that, and the senior hummed.
"What'd he say when you told him you'd lost your memories? You must've told Ye-hyeon you remembered nothing."
"Well, others reported it... He didn't say anything special to me..."
Ah.
Right. Our first meeting.
Amnesia can be a blessing.
He'd said that. Like a mutter to himself. I could still recall it like a photo.
Sunlight pouring through the large window onto his desk. Long, pale fingers gently covering the documents.
I explained, and the man ahead snorted.
"You'll have to remember it all eventually. Some blessing."
"So help me remember it all. I'm desperate, really."
"Let's walk first. We'll get caught and die like this."
Answer me!
Did my desperate plea get through? Soon after footsteps resumed, the senior spoke.
It was a massive bomb.
"You're not human."
Damn it.
"At least, the ones you call your former comrades claim you're not human. Don't know how true it is. I didn't hear everything from them either. They don't trust me."
"...Who are those guys?"
"You okay?"
I'm trying not to cry.
Pretend you don't notice my voice trembling as I fight to control it. Ricardo said I probably wasn't a 10th-tier creature. Rodo replied, "But you look human."
So those two were wrong, and the seniors who looked at me like an alien were right.
I felt a slope. I walked on silently, mouth shut tight.
The senior broke the silence again.
"When we reach the other station, don't touch the walls. They've got mouths."
"...Why go to a place like that?"
"Our lives are on the line, so the ones chasing us will be too."
Can't argue with that. Though it overlooks the chance we might die first.
I didn't voice my inner thoughts. No confidence my voice wouldn't crack yet.
Too busy digesting the bombshell from the deserter Black Badger. Ignoring it wouldn't change anything. Think rationally. This senior must've met someone calling themselves my former comrades while deserting. And heard about me from them. Introduced as their betrayer, maybe?
And I'm not human like them.
Really damn it. How am I supposed to face Ami and Ricardo now.
"But I look human..."
"We're almost there."
The senior said abruptly.
I'd been walking with my head down; I craned my neck. Still nothing visible, but I felt the tension in his voice.
The man added in a low voice.
"No matter what, don't touch the walls."
"Yes."
"No big creatures in sight, but if there are, shove them into the wall and run instead of fighting."
"Yes."
"And don't listen to the bell sounds."
"Pardon?"
What?
Faint light appeared. A sliver leaking from a half-open door.
My returning vision brought tears of joy. Not that I'd lost it.
As the door slowly opened, the light grew. The senior's silhouette now clear ahead. He stepped toward the light, muttering.
"This station has bell sounds."
"Bell sounds?"
"Nothing that follows them ever came back."
He didn't turn to look at me.
The dark passage ended. Vision snapped back into full clarity. I followed the senior as he broke into a run toward the light, his fear-laced voice echoing in my ears.
"Block your ears and run."
Gritting my teeth, I ran after him.