The First Loop
"What's going on?"
Rewinding time slightly, to the moment Ariel first realized the internet had cut out in her room.
"Why's the internet down all of a sudden? The phone isn't working either..."
She had been getting ready to search her own name on social media—a ritual she performed the second she collapsed onto any bed—only to find her smartphone completely unresponsive. Pouting, she tapped uselessly at the dark screen and let out a grumbling sigh.
"...I'm so bored."
Hours had already slipped by since she retreated to the room on Professor Oh Ji-seok's instructions. She couldn't bring herself to sleep; an inexplicable unease hung over her like a dark cloud. Pulling out her phone to kill time was equally useless, as she didn't have a single game installed on it.
Maybe I really should've upgraded my phone.
The thought crossed her mind for a fleeting second, but she quickly shook her head. This phone was a gift from her late older sister, Justia, when Ariel was still a little girl. It was an ancient model, with so little storage that downloading modern mobile games was out of the question, but to Ariel, it was an irreplaceable treasure filled with precious memories.
"...Guess I'll just watch TV."
Slipping the phone back into her pocket, she picked up the remote control resting on the desk and clicked the power button.
Welcome, Professor Oh Ji-seok.
"Huh?"
Ariel blinked at the screen. The display greeted Professor Oh Ji-seok, of all people.
"Wait... isn't this my room?"
Muttering in confusion, Ariel looked down at the name tag hanging around her neck, which doubled as the keycard for the guest quarters.
"Wait a second..."
The card had somehow flipped over. When she turned it around, the name printed on the front was not hers—it was Professor Oh Ji-seok's.
No wonder it felt so weird earlier.
Come to think of it, when she first arrived at the lodging, the room she assumed was hers hadn't unlocked. The facility used a cutting-edge sensor system where doors unlatched automatically the moment you grasped the handle while wearing your tag. Wondering if even sophisticated machinery was prone to glitches, she had tested the door right next to it, and it had clicked open without hesitation. Convinced she had simply mixed up the room numbers, she stepped inside and settled in.
As it turned out, Ariel hadn't entered her own room at all. From the very beginning, she had been staying in Professor Oh Ji-seok's quarters.
But how did our tags get switched?
Could Transfer have handed them out incorrectly? No, Ariel thought back carefully and ruled that out. Her own name had unmistakably been on the badge when she first hung it around her neck. That meant the tags had been swapped at some point while she was walking alongside Professor Oh Ji-seok.
He was the only person capable of pulling off such a swap, but there was no reason on earth for him to do it. Though they hadn't known each other long, he hardly struck her as the kind of man who played childish pranks.
What is going on... really?
Lost in thought, she puzzled over the bizarre mix-up for a long while.
Kzzzt... Sssshhh...
"...Is the TV broken too?"
She frowned at the display as it dissolved into a flurry of gray static. But right at that moment—
—Yes! As we speak, a bid of sixty thousand dollars has just come in!
Without warning, the static cleared to reveal a scene from an unfamiliar, shadowy auction.
"...?"
Tilting her head in confusion, Ariel set the remote down and leaned forward, her curiosity piqued.
—Seventy thousand dollars! Seventy-seven thousand! Eighty-three thousand!
"Whoa..."
Staggering fortunes, sums of money she couldn't even fathom, were being thrown around simply by raising numbered paddles.
—We have ninety thousand dollars! Ladies and gentlemen, things are heating up!
"People that rich must be able to eat whatever they want, whenever they want..."
—U-Unbelievable! One hundred twenty thousand! One hundred twenty thousand dollars!
"Must be nice..."
She assumed it was a scene from a movie or a television drama. Lavishly dressed figures wearing porcelain masks sat in tiered rows, casually hurling small fortunes into the air.
—Are there any higher bids? Going once, going twice... three, two, one...
If I had that kind of money, I'd build a five-star restaurant right inside my house.
Watching the spectacle with wide eyes, Ariel quietly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, daydreaming about what she would do with so much cash.
—Sold! Sold to bidder number forty-two!
The auctioneer's crisp, cheerful voice echoed through the quiet room.
—The eyes of former Rank 24 Hero, Jewelia, have been sold for one hundred twenty thousand dollars!
"...What?"
Ariel's eyes snapped wide.
...Did I mishear that?
She followed hero news religiously, so she knew the name well. Rank 24 Hero Jewelia—a shining star who fell in battle several months ago while holding off a horde of magical beasts single-handedly. Possessing the 'Concept of Jewel', her crystallized, sparkling corpse had reportedly attracted swarms of ravenous beasts and was destroyed beyond recovery. That had been the official public announcement.
So how could someone be selling her eyes?
More to the point, how could something like that even be auctioned in the first place?
—Our next lot is the hair of Jewelia! An item in just as much demand as her eyes!
"Are they insane?"
—The opening bid starts at seventy thousand dollars! Let the bidding begin!
Buying and selling the harvested body parts of a hero who died in the line of duty? Even for a fictional movie or a gritty crime show, this crossed every conceivable line of decency.
"What kind of trashy TV station airs this kind of garbage...?"
Fuming with disgust, Ariel snatched up the remote control to change the channel.
"...Huh?"
There was no channel information displayed on the screen.
—Yes, and right away we have one hundred thousand! One hundred twenty! One hundred thirty thousand!
"............"
The fervor inside the televised auction hall continued to mount into a frenzied roar.
—And now, for the final lot from Jewelia: her heart! Bidding will start at one hundred thousand dollars!
This is sick...
A wave of revulsion washed over her. Ariel pressed the power button to shut the television off once and for all—
Thump. Thump...
"Eep!"
The auctioneer whipped off a velvet shroud, revealing a crimson, pulsing heart. Ariel gasped in pure shock, the remote slipping from her trembling fingers.
"...Ugh."
Suspended in clear preservative fluid within an acrylic cylinder, the disembodied heart twitched and contracted on its own.
—One hundred seventy! One hundred ninety! Two hundred ten thousand!!
Its blood vessels and muscle fibers were formed entirely from gleaming red gemstones, throbbing with an organic rhythm so vivid it looked like it had been torn straight out of a living chest only moments ago.
—Former Rank 24! Jewelia's heart is sold for two hundred fifty thousand dollars!
Ariel stared in stunned silence. As the dropped remote bounced against the carpet, an accidental button press brought up the TV's input menu in the corner of the screen.
[External Input 1]
She followed the long HDMI cable trailing from the back of the television, running across the floor and snaking under the door to somewhere outside. Only then did the horrifying reality crash down upon her.
This wasn't some sick movie or late-night drama. This depraved auction was taking place right here, right now, somewhere in this very facility.
"S-Someone's just messing with me... Right. It's just a prank."
Desperately clinging to the idea that this was nothing more than a twisted joke, Ariel tried to push herself up from the bed. But the auctioneer's next words froze the blood in her veins.
—Now, ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for our next lot!
She stopped dead, rooted to the spot.
—None other than the biological younger sister of Justia!
On the massive projection screen hanging at the rear of the auction stage, a live video feed materialized: Ariel herself, lying on the bed only minutes ago, captured from a hidden angle in the ceiling.
—Who among you would pass up the chance to own weapons and 'Mysteries' forged from the sole surviving bloodline of the world's strongest hero, Justia?!
Every drop of color drained from Ariel's face.
—The moment the gavel falls, we will carve the heart from her chest right in her quarters and begin the manufacturing process! The entire dissection will be broadcast live to all attendees—
Before the auctioneer could finish his sentence, Ariel bolted upright. Her legs quivered violently, but panic drove her toward the exit.
I have to get out of here.
Battered by a barrage of nightmarish revelations, raw terror consumed her mind. Any shred of calm, rational thought was wiped clean away. The only instinct left was the desperate need to run.
Rustle...
"I need to get out..."
Her trembling fingers closed around the metal handle. But then, a voice flashed through the chaos of her mind.
Wait... isn't going out there even more dangerous?
Professor Oh Ji-seok had explicitly told her to remain in her room. He had promised to send someone capable of helping her.
If this horrifying plot was the exact danger he had anticipated, stepping out into the open corridor was the worst thing she could possibly do.
"Hah, hah..."
Squeezing her eyes shut, her hand gripping the doorknob, she forced herself to release her hold and desperately tried to organize her thoughts.
Stay in the room. I have to call for help from in here.
Her face had already been broadcast on that screen, so the odds of hiding were slim. But there was still a chance they might target the wrong room. If they raided her assigned room and found it empty, they might assume she had fled and look elsewhere. And even if they didn't, she had no other realistic choice.
Get ready... prepare to use my power...
Gasping for breath, Ariel drew in deep lungfuls of air, steeling herself for combat.
Autosave Complete!
She was so consumed by panic that she failed to register the ethereal notification that hovered before her vision the moment her hand touched the door.
"..........?"
With her eyes shut, Ariel kept breathing heavily. But suddenly, the surrounding air felt drastically different. The chill, the scent, the subtle vibration underfoot—everything had shifted.
She slowly opened her eyes.
"Uh."
A choked squeak slipped from her lips.
Somehow, she was no longer in the guest bedroom. She was standing dead center in the horrific auction hall she had just been watching on television.
"How... why am I...?"
The horrifying realization hit her like a physical blow. Turning ghost-white, Ariel stumbled backward in sheer terror. As she did, her gaze drifted down to her right hand.
"...Ah."
The brass doorknob she had grasped was still clutched in her fingers, completely sheared off from the mechanism. The spatial transition trap that Transfer had laid on the door of Oh Ji-seok's room had tragically activated on her instead.
Clatter...!
Gasping in horror, she dropped the piece of metal, but it was already far too late.
"............"
A masked figure standing right beside her had turned, his hidden gaze locking squarely onto her trembling frame.
"N-No..."
Her legs shook uncontrollably as she backed away, her voice breaking into a terrified whimper.
"S-Stay away from me..."
Noticing the commotion, the surrounding masked patrons began turning their heads one by one.
"H-Hic..."
A figure wearing a plain white mask strode directly toward her and reached out a hand. Overwhelmed by helplessness, Ariel shut her eyes tight, bracing for the worst.
"..........?"
Yet the blow never came.
...A mask?
The man in white had pulled a spare mask from his coat and gently fitted it over her face.
"Shh."
Paralyzed with fear, Ariel stood frozen until a quiet whisper brushed against her ear.
"...Act as naturally as you can."
It was an intensely familiar, soothing voice—a sound that filled her with overwhelming relief.
"Do you understand, Student Ariel?"
Speaking softly, Professor Oh Ji-seok took her trembling hand into his and gently patted her head.