Thread of Clues (2)

The Commander of Nightfall had vanished.

It had already been about a year since she disappeared.

There had been no warning signs at all. It was a day no different from any other. One of the other executives had woken up that morning and gone to her office as usual, greeted her as usual, and prepared to give his mission report as usual.

But she wasn't there.

No attempts to contact her went through, and not a single trace of her could be found anywhere. The only thing she'd left behind was a single letter, sitting abandoned on her desk.

At first, everyone assumed she'd simply stepped out for a bit and thought nothing more of it.

But a day passed, then two, then a week, and she never appeared. As time went on, finding her became the highest-priority task for all of Nightfall.

We considered the possibility of a threat or abduction by another organization, but none of them showed the slightest movement.

Even my knowledge of the original story couldn't locate her. In the original, Nightfall's Commander had been nothing more than background—a figure mentioned in a few lines of text, with neither her identity nor her name ever properly revealed. Even I had barely known she existed until I met her in person here.

And yet, she was someone etched quite deeply into my memory.

The others inside Nightfall surely remembered her too, each for their own reasons.

Still... after the Commander's seat was emptied, someone had to step into it. If word spread that the head of an organization had vanished, what would happen in this underworld was as plain as day.

The one who stepped forward then was Lee Sejin. Taking on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the role of Acting Commander under her old codename, Yilwolgeom—the Sun-and-Moon Blade.

But she refused to officially become the Commander. She insisted she was only ever the acting head, and that the seat should remain empty for now.

Perhaps she believed she fell short of the Commander in too many ways... Either way, that was how Nightfall had kept itself running.

In any case... the vanished Commander had saved Kang Yurim from the Association?

"You're sure it's really ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I still remember it..."

Kang Yurim nodded.

"She once covered me up with a blanket when I was soaked to the bone. She said I'd catch a cold otherwise."

A small smile blossomed on her face.

"It's strange, isn't it? She was someone whose name I didn't even know... but those few words felt so warm."

"....."

If what she saw was true... if what she saw really was the Commander...

Then this story became very complicated indeed.

Setting everything else aside, the Hero Association was an organization hostile to our own. In a word, it was enemy territory.

Did she abandon Nightfall and go over to the Association, then...?

"There's no way."

That couldn't be it. First of all, that woman simply wasn't the type to betray anyone.

I hadn't known the Commander for long. But she was someone who cherished the organization more than anyone, someone who remembered every single member's name.

Trusting people easily is a reckless thing in a world like this, but with her—and her alone—there was something that left me no choice but to believe.

"Yurim."

"Yes?"

"When did you first meet her...?"

"Hmm... I didn't really have a sense of dates back then... but I'd say about half a year ago? She's probably still there even now."

The timeline matched up, roughly. A tangled knot of threads began forming in my head. But one thing was certain: the time to move had come.

"Could you say that one more time...?"

"That's the fifth time."

"Still! If you show up banging on my door at one in the morning saying you've found the Commander, who on earth is supposed to believe you!?"

"You didn't believe me, yet you still bolted straight out of the room, didn't you."

"Th-that's—!"

Lee Sejin chewed on her lip and couldn't finish the sentence. She probably wanted to believe what I was saying, but at the same time didn't want to stake her hopes on it only to be disappointed.

"So where is it?"

"An underground research facility operated by the Hero Association."

"...What?"

Lee Sejin's expression froze blank. It was the face of someone who'd just been hit in the back of the head with a hammer. Her eyes didn't so much as flicker; only her lips trembled a few times.

"...You're joking, right?"

"If this is my joke face, we have a different problem entirely."

Lee Sejin's face flushed crimson, and she jabbed a finger at me in a panic. She was unusually unable to contain her emotions today. Then again... I'd only just barely managed to calm down myself, moments ago.

"The Association? The one we treat as our mortal enemy right now... that, that Hero Association?!"

"Yes."

"...And the Commander is there?!"

"That's what Yurim says, for now."

Lee Sejin's expression wavered. Her face couldn't decide whether to be glad or more on guard. She spoke with difficulty.

"Is it really her? The real Commander?"

"That's what we're going to have to find out."

A brief silence passed. Lee Sejin steadied her breathing slowly and nodded.

"I suppose... you're right. We should visit that research facility in the near future."

"And how near is that...?"

Lee Sejin's gaze hardened.

"Tomorrow. We go tomorrow."

When my face betrayed brief surprise at how fast the decision came, she smiled bitterly.

"Putting it off would only deepen the worry. This kind of thing needs handling fast before I can rest easy. As for the internal layout and such, I'll have the intel team burn through it starting right now to make sure we have it."

Aren't those guys asleep right now...? The thought crossed my mind for a moment before I shook my head. Was that really the issue here?

"Closer, you'll move together with her."

"...Yurim?"

"Yes. Her ability is an amplification type, isn't it? It'll likely be an asset to the operation."

Lee Sejin paused a beat, then continued carefully.

"And... I hate to put it this way, but no one knows the internal structure of that research facility better than she does."

"Understood."

"I'll have the rest for you within the day. I need to go wake the intel team now."

She hurriedly threw her clothes back on, and just as she was stepping through the door, she paused and looked back at me.

"I hope you can find her."

It was a voice laced with a surprising amount of longing—unlike her.

What had the Commander meant to her, exactly? Having played the original game only once through, I had no way of knowing what had happened between the two of them. But it must have been something beyond a mere superior-subordinate relationship.

"We'll find her."

In the end, all I could offer was a formulaic answer.

The next day.

"Yurim, are you really sure about this?"

"Yes. Besides, we're going to find that unnie, aren't we? I'm absolutely in favor. And more than anything..."

She glanced away for a moment, embarrassed, before meeting my eyes again.

"I want to be helpful to you, Oppa."

Walking back to that place of her own accord couldn't have been an easy choice. And yet she'd offered before anyone asked... She was a remarkable kid, truly.

"All right. Then let's go."

I reached out and gently ruffled her hair. She blinked, then smiled shyly and nodded.

The place we visited to hear ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the full operation briefing was the intelligence team—more precisely, the department that handled hacking, security, and information work. The moment we stepped inside, we saw...

"Oh, you're here? Perfect timing. We're just about done."

Lee Sejin greeting me brightly, and...

"You have arrived."

Shifty, encased in her mechanical suit. And then...

"Uuuuugh...."

"Ghhhhaaa...."

Organization members slumped in front of monitors with faces like zombies, tapping away at something.

How long have they been worked?

"Exactly how long has this been going on?"

At my question, Lee Sejin tilted her head thoughtfully.

"Hmm... since early this morning, so... sixteen hours, no breaks."

You demonic child... Even a machine would break down if you ran it like that.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I got their consent. We agreed to pay double overtime for every hour worked."

Ah. So it's fine, then.

As always, most trivial problems could be solved with money. Anyway, that wasn't the important thing right now.

"Did we get results?"

"Yes. We've fully mapped the research facility's internal layout, and the security framework is roughly sorted out as well. However... the underground lab where Yurim said she was held. We couldn't find that one."

"Is it a hidden structure?"

"It seems so. If not even a hint of its location shows up, it's most likely a sealed chamber designed with considerable precision."

"It's all right. I know at least the entrance to that place."

Kang Yurim answered from the side, as if to reassure us.

"Then... that side should be fine. And this—" She dropped a thick stack of documents onto the floor with a thud. "—is the personnel data. We ran a full six-month sweep. A list of any unusual persons of interest, entry logs, even the surrounding CCTV footage—we went through all of it. A few people had their names and faces redacted for security reasons, but the important thing is..."

She flipped briskly through the pages without even bothering to wet her finger, out of habit.

"There's no sign that anyone has left that facility in the past several months. No transfers, no resignations processed—everything's exactly as it was."

"Which means..."

"There's a high probability she's still there."

I nodded.

"And given what kind of facility it is, Shifty will be deployed with us as well. When it comes to handling cutting-edge equipment, she's the best we have. Honestly speaking... I do wish I could go myself."

"You have to stay and hold things down here, Sejin."

"Yes, you're right. Thank you for understanding."

She let out something like a sigh, nodded, and gave a wry smile.

"Ah, and Closer. One last thing I need to say."

"What is it?"

She gazed at me for a moment, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then spoke in a quiet voice.

"If the Commander is alive—and if it really is her—I won't tell you to bring her back no matter what."

My eyes narrowed at that.

"If that was her will... and if you believe it's right, then you can simply let her be."

Her expression slowly settling, she added:

"In exchange, at the very least, make absolutely certain you tell me that she's safe."

"That's all you need?"

"Yes. That's enough."

"Understood. I'll do exactly that."

Once I gave my answer, she calmly straightened her posture.

"Then I'll walk you through the operation."