Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Doubts About the Black Flame Man
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In the pitch-black, dimly lit space.
Amid the piles of countless documents, the only thing felt was the gaze of a single woman glowing faintly.
The middle-aged man who had been staring blankly at her eyes fell silent for a long while without a word.
But in the end.
Breaking through that long silence, he opened his mouth. He unfolded the neatly organized single-page report in his right hand.
Taking a shallow breath, he began to recite the black text written on the paper.
"Exactly 1 hour and 41 minutes ago from the current time, dozens of personnel were confirmed to have gathered in front of the agency's building."
"……."
No particular response came to the words of the middle-aged man giving the report. But the middle-aged man didn't mind and continued with the reporting procedure.
"As a result of continuously conducting statements and interrogations of the civilians in question, it was revealed that they were all individuals who had been captured by a specific ghost story. And that ghost story was—"
"404... I see."
"!!"
"Judging by Section Chief Choi Kang-in's reaction, that must be correct."
Choi Kang-in paused for a moment while reading the text on the report.
Then, instead of continuing according to the report format.
He began to bring up a different agenda.
In fact, it was content connected to what could be called the core of this report.
"...During additional statements, it was confirmed that they mentioned a man shrouded in 'black flames' around his face had saved them."
"...Section Chief Choi Kang-in."
"Yes."
Lee Jui's voice sank even lower than usual.
"You remember... I asked you the same question before."
"……."
"I'll ask it once more, if I may... What do you think of the 'Black Flame Man,' Section Chief Choi?"
"……."
Grip—.
Choi Kang-in, clutching the report in one hand, mulled over his superior Lee Jui's words. For a moment, no sound came from him.
As no immediate answer came from Choi Kang-in's side.
Lee Jui continued, a characteristic cynical chill curling at her lips.
"Do you still think of him as... a being we need to keep watching?"
It was Lee Jui's second question.
But was it because of that question?
No trace of hesitation flickered in Choi Kang-in's eyes anymore.
"I honestly don't know what kind of answer Executive Director wants... but this much, I can say for certain."
Choi Kang-in's voice.
Was filled with conviction.
"He saved numerous civilians this time as well. That's an undeniable fact, at least in this regard."
"You're saying... you trust him?"
"It might be better to keep a wider range of possibilities in mind... That's my thought."
"……."
Choi Kang-in truly spoke his honest answer without holding back.
It was up to Executive Director Lee Jui to make the decision after hearing his words.
It was true that Lee Jui had also sensed something odd in the Black Flame Man's actions so far.
Not only had he saved her entire R Team.
Following his record of rescuing the woman 'Hansol' and 'Executive Director Seo Eun-bom' and sending them back. Today, he had even saved and released dozens of civilians.
...A strange ghost story bastard.
It was markedly different from the behavior shown by ghost stories up to now.
They had seen countless ghost stories that showed friendliness toward humans.
But a ghost story trying to save humans so outright—this was the first case with the Black Flame Man.
So Lee Jui suspected.
Is the Black Flame Man really a ghost story?
In fact....
The suspicion that he might actually be a human like us kept endlessly circling in Lee Jui's mind.
"Executive Director, there's actually one more thing I need to report today."
Amid that, another piece of information from Choi Kang-in followed.
"...What is it?"
"It's about the applicants I mentioned last time."
"Ah... It's already that day, huh."
Choi Kang-in explained that today was the day for the agency's new applicant selection.
The agency's work involved handling ghost stories with extreme risk levels.
Even if they hired a large number of new employees annually, the many interns who made it to the finals often went missing in ghost stories.
Or they quit early, citing voluntary resignation.
"This time... I hope there are as many voluntary resignations as possible..."
It was true that more personnel helped both with workload and in tackling ghost stories.
But.
R Team, which Lee Jui belonged to, wasn't a group mad enough to use humans as shields to produce results.
Naturally, other teams might be different....
"So... how many applicants this time?"
"Not many this time. Around 21 in total."
"...That's few."
It was certainly a small number.
The agency's average monthly applicants numbered just over 100.
21 applicants was indeed a notably low figure.
Choi Kang-in mentioned about 6 noteworthy applicants out of those 21.
"And among this batch of applicants, there's 'Hansol,' who was previously under our protection and surveillance, along with two female students who applied together."
"If I recall... both of them were middle schoolers, right?"
"Yes, since there's no age restriction in the recruitment criteria, they seem to have applied along with Hansol. What should we do?"
Up to now, the youngest applicants had been first-year high school students.
For reference.
Lee Jui had submitted her application to the current agency when she was in her first year of high school, becoming the youngest hire ever.
Her reason for applying was, naturally, money.
At the time, Lee Jui needed money just to eat and survive each day.
"For now... let's observe them on-site."
"Yes, understood."
"Then... the remaining three applicants?"
"Well......One of them is a civilian woman who survived and returned from this 404 incident."
"...Quite the unusual one."
The sudden application from a 404 victim.
Especially since she had escaped from there today, and immediately submitted an application.
It was truly exceptional.
Typically, civilians involved with ghost stories were strongly recommended memory erasure due to extreme mental stress making normal life difficult.
Usually, all civilians wanted that.
Yet, the civilian woman who had been held by 404 for months.
The moment they heard she wished to apply to the agency right after escaping the ghost story.
'The number of applicants is small, but each one is... unusually unique.'
Then.
The remaining personnel.
Just two applicants.
Unlike the other applicants he'd mentioned so far, Choi Kang-in added this explanation about the last two.
"The remaining two are men......but they go around saying they're the 'savior' who will save this world."
"......Ah, that type..."
Lee Jui didn't dig too deeply into the remaining two male applicants.
*****
A vast plain shrouded in thick fog—an unknown space.
...Yeah. I know it.
I had just passed out on the spot from the aftereffects of prolonged Mass-Produced Hero use.
I fell asleep right there.
And I know this space too.
The place where I first met that woman called 'Eve.' The place where the culprit who created Noise in this world resides.
Self-proclaimed 'Noise's dream.'
This time, unlike before, I had awareness.
Maybe that's why there was no resistance to moving.
Rustle-
If there's no resistance to moving.
Rustle-
Then maybe now I can ask? That thought crossed my mind.
Rustle-
I fixed my gaze on the source of those footsteps approaching me from earlier.
The appearance of a girl in a red robe.
"Hello."
"...Pleased to meet you."
We exchanged light greetings.
And on the face of the child who introduced herself as Eve, a hint of regret seeped between her slightly downcast eyes.
"Once again, it's not that kid. He really has been so shy since way back."
"...Shy, you say?"
Who?
No way, the Noise I know... is shy?
That guy?
"...Lies."
"It's true, I tell you?"
Eve began speaking busily in a languid tone, as if explaining her favorite idol.
"How long did it take just to start talking to him? He was so immature back then."
What?
Kid?
That... is definitely a lie.
The only one who could call that guy with his gravelly voice a kid was probably this girl called 'Eve' in front of me.
From what she was saying now, it seemed Eve, this girl, had spent quite a long time with Noise.
So if we met again, I wanted to ask.
About the figure 'Noise,' not even recorded in the [Ghost Story Archive].
To the one person in this world who knew of his existence.
There was this one question I absolutely wanted to ask.
"What is his ultimate goal?"
"……."
Noise's ultimate purpose.
Eve fell silent at my question.
And the answer that came after a long silence instead made me fall silent.
"How would I know? His heart is his own... right?"
It was a pretty irresponsible answer.
But I didn't give up on the question.
"Well, something like world conquest."
"He's not interested in that stuff?"
"...Resetting the whole world to the beginning."
"Why would he do something so inconvenient? You'd find it super inconvenient too if it actually happened?"
"......To become the god of this world...."
"Isn't that the same as world conquest?"
......This girl.
She knows nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
At least pretend to think about it!
The only responses to my questions were vague ones like 'Probably not?'
Eve didn't provide a clear answer.
We just wasted time pointlessly. At this rate, I'd only end up hearing useless trivia about Noise from this Eve girl.
I wanted to extract some important information about Noise.
I retraced my thoughts, over and over.
While thinking about what information I could get from this Eve in front of me.
Flash-.
Suddenly, like a shadow floating on the water's surface, Noise's words lingered briefly in my memory.
-I killed that kid.
"He said he killed you."
"!!!"
Even through the face shrouded in the red robe, Eve's flustered expression clearly floated over the robe.
Seeing her first overt emotional change, I waited for Eve's response.
And when Eve opened her mouth again.
"That kid......even said that much to you."
The sorrowful eyes of the girl made tears fall from her lips, chilling the fragile heart of the frail girl with her slender hands.
"It was a 'mistake'... That kid did nothing wrong!"
As those words spilled from the girl's mouth.
Noise's words came to mind as well.
-If you ask for a reason... shall we call it a 'mistake'?
Between the event they both called a mistake, the girl's continuing voice.
Began to carry a nuance as if she were about to make a request to me.
"By any chance...."
Eve's short voice was truly frail and filled with sorrow.
To that quiet voice of Eve's, the response I could give was.
Probably....
"No."
".........Huh?"
"I said no."
"……."
Eve, don't cross the line.
I'm done with troublesome matters now.