Chapter 21
Chapter 21
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Interrogation Records and Side Effects
-----------------------------------------------------------------
LED lights shone down on the nameplate atop the desk.
[Headquarters Chief]
No name beyond the title was written there.
It was because his social position didn't permit his name to be revealed.
I reached out toward the documents.
-
Choi Seong-min Interrogation Record
Tale Management Bureau: Why did you choose "Eyeball Candy" (narcotics) out of all the many products?
Choi Seong-min: I once handed drugs over to them sometime in the past.
Tale Management Bureau: Yes, go on.
Choi Seong-min: When I gave them the drugs, their reaction was the best.
Tale Management Bureau: How did you know their reaction was good?
Choi Seong-min: They told me. To bring that type.
Tale Management Bureau: Understood. And there were several additional drug deals after that.
Choi Seong-min: ...
Tale Management Bureau: That's why you purchased "Eyeball Candy" from the shop, correct?
Choi Seong-min: Yes, that's right.
.
.
.
.
Choi Seong-min: To Mom... I can only say I'm truly sorry...
Tale Management Bureau: Understood. Thank you for your cooperation.
-
An organization that turns people into Tales.
For now, with nothing uncovered, the Tale Management Bureau had named them "Horrifica."
There had been plenty of groups trying to exploit Tales before, but Horrifica was a type that had never existed.
Tale-ization itself was such a rare phenomenon that few even in the Tale Management Bureau knew of it, and it was kept as top secret for that reason.
How Horrifica had learned of it was the first mystery.
"Tch. What a headache."
After that disaster, most personnel had been thrown into the Horrifica investigation, but no good news had come yet.
The only scrap of information was that they favored narcotics.
Even that came solely from Choi Seong-min's mouth, so its reliability was low.
Assuming Choi Seong-min was telling the truth, why would they prefer narcotics?
It was too obvious—in fact, it didn't serve as evidence of their identity.
It had long been known that tale-ization was linked to mental state, so they were probably trying something mental.
And though the form was a bit different, they had succeeded.
If not for the sacrifice and efforts of our excellent staff, it would have turned into a horrific catastrophe.
For now, we'd kept information about the incident from leaking outside as much as possible, but if something like this happened again, control would be impossible.
I flipped through the documents.
-
Records on the Tale Shop
.
.
.
-
The root of all this and its guide: the Tale Merchant.
The excellence of the items he handled honestly didn't hold enough value for me to trade with him.
But the information he possessed.
That surpassed the Tale Management Bureau's.
He knew the detailed process of tale-ization and how to resolve it.
Could he know that naturally because he was a Tale?
No way.
The Merchant clearly knew much more.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "No, what are you talking about?!"
"Come quick! It's too complicated to explain over the phone!"
Tu, tu, tu—
"Hey, Yoon Seo-yeon!"
I was so flustered I didn't even notice the call had ended.
"The car's ready."
And thankfully, unlike me, the clear-headed Do-hyun snapped me out of it.
"Let's go check it out."
Do-hyun's driving was quite smooth.
He followed all the rules of safe driving while fluidly adjusting speed as needed, so there was no frustration.
In other words, the deep frustration welling up from my chest had nothing to do with Do-hyun's driving.
"Squad Leader, is my understanding correct?"
"Yeah, looks like there's a side effect. Aside from the hoarse voice, it seemed fine, so probably not life-threatening. But it's not something simple either."
"We'll have to check if it was the Merchant's mistake or intentional."
"Honestly, we've only seen five products so far, and the Tale Shop's only been around for a week now, right?"
"That's true."
"Maybe we've been thinking too simply."
I gazed out the window.
The massive scar, whose true cause the Tale Management Bureau hadn't announced, came into view.
A side effect from the item we'd thought was the key to resolving it.
Guess we'd have to check it ourselves.
The car continued along the road.
Soon, as the sky was dyed red with sunset, the Tale Management Bureau building appeared under the sun.
Yoon Seo-yeon was standing in front of the building.
"Se-jin!"
"What kind of side effect is it?"
"Let's head to the lab quick!"
Yoon Seo-yeon grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the elevator.
Do-hyun followed into the elevator while trying to hold her back.
"This... how should I put it? It's not a massively huge side effect. More like a phenomenon, maybe?"
"Explain properly."
"You two weren't around the clocks for that long, so you probably didn't notice."
Ding—21st floor.
"I'll explain while you watch."
Yoon Seo-yeon rummaged around and brought out a transparent acrylic box containing ants.
"Here, look."
When Yoon Seo-yeon put Paradoxical Time inside it, the ants struggled as if in agony, unable to hold their bodies steady, before dying.
"It seems to accelerate aging in living things near it. In simple terms, rapid aging?"
"That sounds seriously dangerous..."
"Mm. But not quite that dangerous. As you see, short-lived things like bugs die quick, and the range doesn't seem that wide. Roughly measured, about 1 meter nearby?"
"True. If it were more than that, I'd already be a hunched old lady."
"Still, just in case, I'll hold onto it for research for a while. Sorry, but we'll have to rebuild manually this time."
Disappointing, but unavoidable.
Whether the village was rebuilt tomorrow or next year didn't matter to me, but knowing it lay in ruins because of my mistake left my heart uneasy.
"But if I finish the research quickly, we can use it, right?"
"Huh?"
"So, about that—mind if I ask a favor?"
"...What?"
"Could you go to the Tale Shop within the week and look into Paradoxical Time for me?"
The Shop...
Honestly, I thought going once a week was plenty.
"Of course, it's up to you whether you do it or not. No pressure."
But if I brought back info, she could stabilize Paradoxical Time faster.
That way, we could prepare for any other potential side effects too. Two birds with one stone.
"Got it. I'll go sometime soon."
"Okay, okay. Thanks!"
"Squad Leader, that thing."
"Ah, right. Yoon Seo-yeon, could you take a look at this?"
"Huh?"
I handed over the sample I'd collected earlier.
"What's this?"
After hearing the explanation, Yoon Seo-yeon nodded.
"Alright, I'll research it while you're out!"
I waved as I left the lab.
"Do-hyun, pull out the business card."
Tale Shop Business Hours: ■■ "This means it's closed, right?"
"The map's gone too, so yeah."
"Then first thing tomorrow when it opens."
"Yes."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Let's rest straight through the week."
It'd be nicer to see you working steadily.
But since the Tale Management Bureau's blocking more customers, sure.
"Can you last a week?"
More abundant than any time before.
This should easily cover a week.
Earned plenty this time, and no need for civilian customers this month, so peace of mind.
A true sense of rest.
This is why we needed that deal with the Tale Management Bureau.
"Ahh... a real vacation after so long."
Doesn't matter what you do.
Gonna live idly all week?
"I'd like that, but... gotta restock too. Rest one day, then get to work."
I glanced at the Label Library left against the wall.
"Gotta prepare for that soon too."
Excellent attitude.
Come to think of it, since you ingested plenty this time, your power's probably gotten a lot stronger.
"Huh?"
Bring out your tentacles.
I pulled out the tentacles as the Shop instructed.
You'll know with a simple swing.
As I lightly applied force to the tentacle, it shot out at a speed far beyond my expectations.
"Wha—huh? It's too fast, I can't con—"
Bam—!
Gaaah!
The tentacle slammed into the Shop's wall.
A speed incomparable to before.
You fucking idiot!
Damn, I want to rip out the part of my brain that even briefly acknowledged a bastard like you.
"Ah, no."
Not quite at the level to take on the Tale Management Bureau yet, but enough to solo the National Library last time.
And I just slammed that power straight into the Shop.
As I retracted the tentacle into the shadow, the deep gouge in the wall was revealed.
No blood flowing or anything, but for the Shop, it might as well be a wound.
"But... won't it regenerate?"
Even if you ripped off my leg, it'd recover within an hour.
Wanna try?
"Mm. Was I too self-centered, making you upset?"