Wear the Mask (1)
‘Mask Finder?’
◈ An item that can find useful masks.
Go Cheon-su couldn't help but make a baffled face at the sudden mention of a mask.
Go Cheon-su checked the item's shape while glancing at the viewers' reactions.
It was called the Mask Finder, and from the reference photo, it looked like a pocket watch.
"Brothers, do we really need this right now?"
He had no idea where to use a mask even if he found one right away.
"So how is it useful, exactly?"
Go Cheon-su stared intently at the chat window.
"Care to explain?"
"Eh, fine."
He hadn't planned to buy it until he knew exactly what it was for, but the viewers seemed to want him to get it and use it.
"Alright, I can't say no to my brothers."
Go Cheon-su selected the Mask Finder and bought it.
Thud.
74 Zen.
As he caught the falling Mask Finder from above and mulled over his remaining funds—
"Mr. Go Cheon-su."
The captain approached and said,
"It's all done."
"Pardon? Already?"
Go Cheon-su looked around. The crew were all watching them, so it seemed true.
"Yes, we've finished talking. They already suspected it wasn't the navy since we'd been in contact."
Meaning the crew had already anticipated it.
Go Cheon-su understood the situation in an instant. Among the crew was an engineer, who would have noticed something was off with the ship. And during docking, there'd been no sign of the navy word "navy," so it was easy to suspect the captain had ulterior motives.
"Fortunately, they all understand the crisis we're in. They'll cooperate with you, Mr. Go Cheon-su."
The captain was handing over the crew and engineer to Go Cheon-su to form a party.
Hmm.
Go Cheon-su glanced at the crew.
Did they really buy it?
Except for Song Hana, the crew weren't showing much friendliness toward him.
Especially that guy.
Among them, a short-haired man was glaring at Go Cheon-su the sharpest.
Bae Young-ho.
His name tag made introductions unnecessary.
"Go Cheon-su, right?"
As Go Cheon-su stared, Bae Young-ho spoke first.
"Just as the captain said, we've all agreed to go with you."
"I see."
"But..."
Bae Young-ho furrowed his brow slightly.
"We'll cooperate, but we won't be one-sided helpers."
"Helpers?"
"We won't just follow your word."
Go Cheon-su let out a hollow chuckle.
"Sure, do as you like. I wasn't expecting that much anyway."
All he wanted was the engineer's cooperation. Fortunately, the engineer didn't seem as strong-willed as the crew.
That was enough.
"And we'll prioritize our own safety. You handle yourself..."
"I'll manage! You survive on your own, got it?"
Go Cheon-su smiled.
"Perfect. That's my specialty."
"..."
Bae Young-ho stared at him with dissatisfaction, his words cut short.
As the mood soured, the captain suddenly intervened.
"Enough. Didn't I say to cooperate with Mr. Go Cheon-su?"
He gestured warningly at Bae Young-ho.
"He's the one who got us this far safely. We need his help, even if we have to beg."
"Yes, sir."
Perhaps because it was the captain's order, Bae Young-ho backed off curtly.
But Go Cheon-su could tell it was reluctant.
Whatever, as long as he doesn't get in the way.
Some hostility was natural between strangers.
Go Cheon-su stood and headed for the door.
"Well then, no reason to stick around."
He turned his head.
"Let's get this over with."
The break room on the same floor as the bridge.
There sat three crew members, the engineer, Heukgu, and Go Cheon-su.
"Phew. Do we really have to go all the way down there?"
"Will it be okay...?"
"No choice, so grab your weapons tight."
Go Cheon-su turned from the chattering crew to the engineer rummaging through toolboxes, gathering gear.
Just picking essentials?
The engineer seemed cautious, selecting only necessary tools to lighten the load.
Hiss.
Go Cheon-su held a radio for contact with Song Hana, Park Chang-sik, or the captain on the bridge.
"...Is that weapon enough for you?"
Bae Young-ho approached and asked.
Go Cheon-su noticed he was eyeing the axe at his waist.
"Yep, more than enough. What about you guys?"
The crew had grabbed iron bars from the break room—overkill weapons, really. Not bad, but no reason to mock his axe.
"We're good too."
"Glad to hear it."
Go Cheon-su smirked slightly at Bae Young-ho's calm reply.
"I thought you wanted to swap weapons."
Bae Young-ho stared at Go Cheon-su before turning away to finish prepping with his mates.
Go Cheon-su, now ignoring him, headed to Heukgu, who was sticking his tongue out at the engineer.
"Heukgu, quit bothering and come here."
As Go Cheon-su beckoned, the engineer said quietly,
"It's fine. He's just watching."
"Not a bother?"
"Nah, not at this level."
The engineer had a steadfast, honest face—no signs of picking fights.
Good then...
Go Cheon-su turned to examine the Mask Finder. It looked just like a pocket watch; opening the lid revealed an arrow on the screen.
Distance was shown, but below the arrow it just said "Not far."
Sigh.
No hazard indicator, apparently. Just follow the arrow.
"Engineer."
Go Cheon-su crouched before him again.
"Mind if I ask something?"
"Go ahead."
"Ever seen people sprawled out on the lower decks?"
The engineer paused his toolbox fiddling and looked up.
"Sprawled out?"
"Yeah, like they were sedated or something. Seen 'em?"
"Hmm."
The engineer looked troubled.
"Yeah, I've seen them."
"You have? Know why?"
"You didn't see?"
He seemed surprised.
"Figured you'd seen coming up from the monster-infested lowers."
"Yeah, so what was it?"
"One of the human-like monsters is small."
The engineer held up a monkey wrench to indicate height.
"About this big. It latches on, climbs up, and explodes."
"Explodes?"
"Yeah, bursts like dust. Breathe it in, and you're like those guys."
Shaking his head at the bad memory, the engineer continued.
"Dunno how I survived. Honestly, grim going down to fix the ship."
"Whew."
Having heard it all, Go Cheon-su turned to the viewers.
"Brothers, explain."
"I almost died not knowing."
Exploding monsters required preemptive defense.
"I'm disappointed in you brothers."
He'd suspected. The Mask Finder implied dust or powder issues, and he'd guessed from the uninjured collapsed people before.
But confirming late was still late.
That was close.
Attacked by one without info down there could've been bad.
Of course, in a pinch, Han Do-choe or someone would've tipped him off.
He understood viewers holding back on spoilers outside free-spoil times.
And my guess was right anyway.
As many viewers trusted, he hadn't felt his limits yet.
So he could afford this for entertainment.
That's what a streamer did.
"Brothers, listening made something bug me."
Go Cheon-su recalled entering the ship.
"Cha Dong-jin and Sergeant Joo Young-hoon said they were rescuing someone."
And that someone was...
Whether his hunch was right, he'd see soon enough.
"Anyway, let's go check."
Ending the chat, Go Cheon-su asked the engineer,
"Any countermeasures for those dust-burst guys?"
"Nothing special."
The engineer handed him a large handkerchief.
"If you're okay with it, use this."
"This..."
"Wet it and cover your mouth and nose—might help."
A stopgap, basically.
Ha.
Better than nothing. Go Cheon-su went to the water purifier, soaked the cloth, and tied it over his nose and mouth.
Breathing's stuffy.
Not a real mask, no helping it.
"Alright, everyone ready? Let's move."
Bae Young-ho led the crew out, geared up.
Clunk.
The engineer followed with his packed toolbox.
"Who’s holding grudges?"
Go Cheon-su smiled leisurely.
"This is just kids' play to me."
Bae Young-ho's actions were pure resentment over Go Cheon-su's attitude—nothing more.
Or overzealous loyalty.
It wasn't incomprehensible for Bae Young-ho to want to sideline the outsider and rack up merits on their ship.
Getting captain's praise from an outsider could piss anyone off.
"Heukgu."
But fixating on that in a monster ship was unwise.
"Stop sipping water and let's go."
Pulling pride here could end in screams.
Woof?
Heukgu pulled from the purifier and looked at him.
Go Cheon-su chuckled dryly at the reactions.
Hiss. Crackle.
Time to work.
"Bridge, bridge. This is guest Go Cheon-su."
Peering at the Mask Finder, he said,
"Moving out now."