Chapter 170
Chapter 170
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: The Black Crow and the White Ghost (7)
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How long had we walked down the passage, naturally concealed in the hallway?
It didn't take long for Raven and me to reach a space entirely different from what we had seen so far.
If the previous areas were so white they seemed obsessive, this place clung to a black so drab it was almost gloomy.
It was a structure that wrapped around the white area, with one-way mirror-like windows observing every corner.
I didn't have any specific knowledge about it, but something similar immediately came to mind.
“Hmm, I thought it looked familiar… It’s just like a prison.”
…!
Yes, that was exactly what I wanted to say.
It just lacks visible iron bars; otherwise, it feels exactly like a prison with two separated spaces.
I nodded in agreement with Raven’s words, my eyes filled with conviction as I looked around.
Well, on second thought, it wasn't so strange for it to be shaped like this.
This was the place I saw in my dream, and it was also where I first woke up and escaped from.
It was highly likely… this was a research facility for creating some kind of psychic.
So, the white area's confusing layout was probably intended to prevent escape.
In fact, if I hadn't thought to force myself into a ventilation shaft and use psychokinesis to get out… I probably wouldn't have escaped so easily.
‘…Thinking back, I was lucky. With the power I had back then, I couldn't have imagined going around opening each door one by one.’
If I hadn't gotten out in time, I might have starved to death inside.
Recalling the perilous situation, I inadvertently shivered.
Then I stuck close behind Raven, continuously observing our surroundings.
It was a dizzying thought, but I'd never been to a place like a laboratory in my life.
The scene, something I had only ever witnessed in movies or games, was fascinating in many ways.
‘Well… it seems they erased all traces. Nothing’s left but trash and junk.’
The only disappointing part was that they seemed to have fled long ago, leaving nothing of interest….
Still, the novelty of being in a strange place for the first time was interesting in its own right.
It's not so bad right now. In fact, I wouldn't mind looking around a bit more.
How did he interpret the intent behind my gaze?
Raven, who was moving forward with a flashlight, spoke nonchalantly without turning back.
“You, are you okay?”
…?
“…We’ll be out soon, so just hang in there.”
His somewhat ambiguous words left me puzzled as to their exact meaning.
He should have been more specific about what he meant.
So, I silently stared at Raven’s back, trying to decipher his meaning.
And soon, I noticed the heavy coat pressing down on my shoulders.
‘Does he think I'm cold? Hmm, it is a little chilly.’
Come to think of it, the coat that had been warm just moments ago had grown cold.
This place was deep underground, so there was no cold wind, but the temperature was just as low.
Perhaps Raven was worried I might catch a cold.
Such a considerate guy. How did he notice something even I hadn't realized?
I marveled inwardly and tugged lightly at his sleeve to signal that I could bear the cold.
Let's just get this over with and go home instead of worrying about me.
It was a gesture meant to convey something like that. I'm sure he got the message.
“…Alright. That seems to be the end, so let’s hurry.”
After walking down the corridor for quite some time, we finally reached a space with an unusually high ceiling.
If the previous areas were ordinary workspaces, this place felt like a central control room filled with screens.
As Raven scanned the high, wide space with a sweeping motion of his flashlight,
I, turning my head from side to side, suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu and my eyes widened.
‘Wait, this place… Isn't this where the old man and the young man were talking in my dream?’
It was. The only place I remembered from that faint, colorless dream.
I’d had the dream only a few hours ago. It was a memory I couldn't possibly mistake.
Was it not a dream, but a real memory of the past?
While I was momentarily lost in confusion between dream and reality, Raven, his expression hardening, strode inside and scowled.
“I had a feeling… So, it’s just an empty shell. This place looks like it was abandoned a long time ago.”
…!
Abandoned a long time ago? No way.
Having fallen behind Raven while lost in thought, I quickly hurried to stand beside him.
And I immediately understood what he meant.
The flashlight revealed an interior so empty it was absurd.
The spots where computer mainframes should have been were like gums with missing teeth.
No matter how hard I looked, there were no documents, photos, or any meaningful papers to be found.
It was so clean you could almost say it had been cleared out for construction.
Only bundles of wires, dangling from the ceiling like severed roots, proved that something had once filled this space.
‘This is a complete bust, then. If the largest area is like this, the other places must be the same.’
I guess we were too late to find any information.
…No, it was probably already like this when I first woke up.
They must have destroyed all meaningful information and abandoned the lab, leaving only the power on.
Then, after I woke up and somehow managed to escape, the power must have been cut off too.
Does that mean all we managed to find out today was securing the girls who seem to be test subjects?
Perhaps they were left behind because they weren't considered useful clues.
The possibility of this being a complete dead end was rising steeply.
Just as expected from a force that could toy with the Fixer Association, an organization with overwhelming power and global reach.
No matter how much Raven had insisted we come, the frustrating result was hard to accept, and my heart grew heavy.
“Hmm, should we search a bit more thoroughly? No, it’s unlikely that people this meticulous would carelessly leave anything behind… I suppose we’ll have to leave the next step to the experts.”
….
“Why the long face? We found this place thanks to you. Cheer up, kid.”
But I can't help feeling disappointed. And stop messing up my hair, it tickles.
I squirmed, trying to get away from Raven as he casually placed his hand on top of my head.
Of course, escaping from someone as deft as him without using psychokinesis was nearly impossible.
After a long struggle, I finally broke free from his petting and swung my fists at him in retaliation.
However, my feeble punches seemed to have the effect of a light massage.
He just tapped his shoulder with his finger, as if asking me to hit him there too.
Should I just fold him like a sandwich with my psychokinesis?
As I glared fiercely at him, Raven finally shrugged, saying he was just kidding.
….
“Ah, sorry, sorry. Let’s just look around here a little more and then head back. Sound good?”
…Alright, let's look around a little more. I'll help.
Somewhat drained, I gave a weak nod.
I was starting to feel like I just wanted to go home and rest.
In that state of half-hearted motivation, I spread my psychokinesis across the floor.
Since there were no obvious clues on the surface,
I decided to check beneath the floor and behind the walls, just in case.
‘Huh? This feeling… there's something here.’
But as I spread my power in a half-daze, I felt a sense of wrongness in one section of the floor.
It felt as if this spot alone was hollow, unlike the rest. It was definitely a secret compartment.
I can't believe there was actually something hidden.
Feeling bewildered, I quickly approached Raven and poked him in the back.
He was in the middle of effortlessly ripping a desk fused to the floor with just his arm strength.
Holding a crumpled lump of metal, he turned to look at me as if asking what was wrong.
He probably never imagined I'd found something in that short amount of time.
Smiling under my mask, I waved my hands urgently, as if to say this was no time for that.
“Why, did you find something?”
…!
“Ooh, impressive. Where is it? Lead the way.”
The place I led Raven to was a corner of this high, wide room.
A spot usually untouched by human hands due to heavy objects being placed there.
I bounced on the spot as if to say, ‘Here, right here!’
Then, with a flick of my outstretched hand, I pulled the hidden object out.
“Is this… a box?”
…?
What emerged, crumpling the unusually thin metal of the floor, was a black box.
It was a square, elegant-looking box that wouldn't have seemed out of place holding jewelry.
Raven lifted it lightly in his hand and glanced at me as if asking for permission.
When I nodded vigorously, he broke the lock with his grip and opened the box.
Inside was… a sharp fragment that looked as if it had been chipped from a stone.
Perhaps because it was too crude and ugly to be a jewel,
Raven, who had been quite serious, now wore a puzzled expression.
But coincidentally, the moment the box was opened, a clamorous sensation washed over me, and I immediately recognized what the fragment was.
‘This is… Don't tell me, an Invader fragment?!’
It was a fragment of an Invader, the same kind that had emerged from a rift once before.
And almost at the same instant I realized it, I was swept up in a wave of power erupting from the fragment.
As if caught in a massive torrent, my consciousness was instantly pulled into some deep, unknown place….
And what surfaced was the profile of a stranger.