Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: -3
Chapter Title: Utopia's Secret
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“Jin-seong.”
“Yes...”
“I’m just grateful that you believed in me.”
Becoming close with Moon Woo-seok recently was indeed a fact.
His vast knowledge, far beyond my imagination, was more than enough to fill in my own gaps, so how could it not be enjoyable?
However, from a standpoint of trust, the Headquarters Chief of the Tale Management Bureau was bound to be far more reliable than some researcher of unknown origins.
“Moon Woo-seok, that friend of yours, asked me to keep an eye on him.”
And so, I ended up telling the Headquarters Chief everything.
“In any case, a few days ago, I discovered something myself.”
The Headquarters Chief added that he hadn’t mentioned it because I seemed busy enough in my own way.
“Well, more than that, it’s still not certain... but now that suspicions have turned to me, I can’t afford to drag this out.”
In this situation, the pressure made me feel isolated at the eye of a storm.
“This compound definitely has a basement. I haven’t found the entrance yet, but based on my investigations over the past month...”
The Headquarters Chief pointed at the floor with his finger and stomped his foot.
“About a meter beneath this dirt floor, there’s a massive iron plate.”
“Just a little more investigation, and I’ll uncover this place’s secrets. So, it’d be great if you could tell Moon Woo-seok that everything’s fine with him.”
But such solemn promises never quite fulfilled their role.
After that, a certain incident left Moon Woo-seok too busy to even hold conversations with anyone.
Destruction always comes unbidden.
Whether small or large, if tragedy strikes everyone, it’s called ruin.
“Kyaaak!”
“Q-quick, call the doctor!”
“Please save my husband!”
Procuring food was an activity everyone took part in fairly, but it was equally dangerous for all.
And since I’d arrived here, the first victim had appeared.
“Cough, hack...”
Carried on someone’s back with a hole punched through his stomach was a man who lived here with his wife.
I’d only spoken to him a few times, but his name was probably Kwak Young-cheol.
Beside him, his wife beat the ground and wailed.
In this place with its dismal medical facilities, everyone knew the odds of Kwak Young-cheol surviving were near zero.
Only his wife clung desperately to a sliver of hope, sobbing, but the doctor who rushed over took one look at his condition and shook his head.
And the moment the woman looked up and saw Moon Woo-seok running toward them, Kwak Young-cheol let out his final breath with a groan.
The funeral was held two days later.
It was so modest it was almost embarrassing to call it a funeral, but even so, they could pay their respects to the deceased.
However, no one had expected his wife to stay out of sight until his body was buried in the ground.
In fact, no one had seen her since the day Kwak Young-cheol died.
Most figured she’d gone off to follow her husband in death from grief, but who knows.
Would she really slip away without telling a soul?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Time passed, and I met Moon Woo-seok again at Kwak Young-cheol’s grave.
He was so deep in thought that he didn’t even notice me approaching.
No matter how much noise I made, he showed no sign of registering it, so I tapped his shoulder.
“Sunbae?”
“Huh? Oh... it’s you.”
Moon Woo-seok straightened his collar and looked up at the sky.
“Do you remember what I asked you before?”
“Yes? If it’s about surveilling my colleague...”
“No, not that. I’ve been too busy lately to tell you, but there’s no need to keep watching anymore.”
No need to keep watching?
No, better to focus on the conversation first.
“If there was a system where a few sacrifices brought happiness to the many, would you maintain it? That was the question.”
“...”
“That’s the doubt I’ve always carried in my heart.”
Moon Woo-seok quietly gazed at the grave.
“So, what’s your answer?”
Honestly, I couldn’t grasp the intent behind this question.
I vaguely realized it tied into the secrets of this little utopia, but that was it.
I had no idea what kind of answer Moon Woo-seok wanted.
But if it were me...
“I... I think I’d maintain it. In the peaceful old world, maybe not, but in this hell? It’d be an unavoidable necessity.”
“Haha, that’s quite a totalitarian mindset. Or... maybe not exactly.”
“Th-then, what’s your answer, sunbae?”
Moon Woo-seok glanced at my face and started walking back toward the compound.
“Well, I don’t have an answer.”
I was so dumbfounded my jaw dropped.
“Follow me. There’s something I want to show you.”
Moon Woo-seok simply headed inside the compound.
“You must be wondering why I told you to stop surveilling your acquaintance.”
“...Yeah, I suppose.”
“Your acquaintance. Hmm... should I call him the Headquarters Chief?”
Wait, did he just say Headquarters Chief?
“Haha, why so surprised? It’s not like I didn’t do my own investigating. As a lowly employee back then, I didn’t recognize him at first.”
“...”
Should I bolt right now and warn the Headquarters Chief?
Moon Woo-seok’s physical abilities didn’t seem superior to mine.
“Don’t be so on guard. If I’d planned to do something, I’d have done it already.”
True enough.
But that wasn’t reason enough to drop my guard.
“If you and the Headquarters Chief aimed to destroy this place, that’d be different, but your goal is saving people. That’s enough.”
With that, Moon Woo-seok quickened his pace.
The place we headed to was on the first floor, the room at the very end.
“Why here...”
Moon Woo-seok told me to wait a moment and pushed the bookshelf aside.
And there appeared a secret passage that would’ve been a shame to miss.
The stairs... led underground.
The Headquarters Chief’s investigative skills must be top-notch.
Even as we descended the stairs, Moon Woo-seok kept talking.
“Back when I was researching at the Bureau, I managed something called the Corpse Tree.”
Moon Woo-seok chuckled.
“All the good specimens got snatched by senior researchers, so I took it on grudgingly.”
I was too busy trying to process what was happening to respond.
“To suppress it, I invented a machine. Originally to prevent it from blooming, but...”
About two floors down, like in an apartment building, a certain space came into view.
“Th-that’s...!”
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the unimaginable sight.
“Yeah, I refined that machine for a very long time. And the result is the ‘Tale Suppression Device.’”
Calling that a device felt like a stretch.
The thing, twice the size of an average person, blinked with LEDs, and in its center was embedded a crystal about the size of my palm.
“Ah, it wouldn’t have been reported to the Bureau. It was my personal project, and the world turned into this mess during stability testing. So the Headquarters Chief not noticing is understandable.”
“How does this thing even work? What’s its purpose?”
“So many questions. I’ll explain slowly, so don’t rush me.”
Moon Woo-seok stopped right in front of the device.
“Alright... let’s start with the purpose. True to its name ‘Tale Suppression Device,’ it blocks tales from taking effect. So, that’s the secret to this peace you and the Headquarters Chief have been wondering about.”
I’d half-expected as much.
What else would a device hidden in this secret basement be for?
“Well, I never imagined it’d hide us from the eyes in the sky above.”
I was about to ask how it worked when I noticed something glinting atop the device.
Looking closer, it was a gold ring.
And the most recent gold ring I’d seen was... Kwak Young-cheol’s wife’s.
“Next, how does it work? Electricity? Gasoline? Or superpowers?”
“From your expression, you’ve already guessed. Yep, it’s people. See that crystal? That’s the damn tale powering it.”
I felt the hairs on my body stand on end.
A repulsive sensation, like hundreds of ants crawling up my legs, twisted through me.
“One person a month—pretty cost-effective for this peace, right? The original ran on corpses, just enough to fertilize the flowers... but upgrades made this necessary.”
“...Why tell me this?”
“The Headquarters Chief would’ve figured it out soon anyway, and I couldn’t stop that monster.”
“That’s your only reason? I’m telling the Headquarters Chief everything. Given his personality...”
“Haha! I know—he wouldn’t stand for it. But you won’t tell him.”
“Why the hell would you think—”
Moon Woo-seok smacked the device, cutting me off.
“I plan to pass my role on to you.”
“What... did you just say?”
“Unlike me, you have a complete answer to that question. I’m handing you the utopia I created.”