Chapter 310: Glutton ∣0∣
Chapter 310: Glutton ∣0∣
When faced with an incomprehensible phenomenon, how should one respond?
There have been countless debates on this subject, and likely, the Management Bureau’s Strategy and Tactics Department is still debating it even now.
It’s only natural, really.
Entities from the Otherworld share almost no commonalities, and in extreme cases, even the standard laws of physics don't apply to them.
However, for the average Hero—that is, the majority of Heroes—the situation is a bit different, as they only ever face the enemies belonging to their own Story.
Even if an enemy acts in a way that defies physics or common sense, a Hero will eventually notice patterns after repeatedly facing the same type of foe. Thus, the Hero of that specific Story naturally establishes their own countermeasures.
But what about the few Heroes who don't fit that mold?
The Heroes who didn't retire and remained with the Bureau.
Those who retired but still have power and serve as Agents.
Those born with power that can never be reclaimed.
Those who aren't Heroes because they never Awakened, yet have surpassed the limits of ordinary humans.
The members of the Assassination Team, the Information Team, the Operations Team, and so on.
Those who must face phenomena that do not belong to their own Stories.
What should they do when they encounter a phenomenon that doesn't exist in the Bureau’s database?
Or when some accident prevents them from accessing such data?
A set of protocols exists for such occasions, providing a minimal framework.
First, the foundation: Observation.
Once information gathering is complete: Contact.
After that: Identification of the phenomenon.
The findings are then reported to the Operations Commander, followed by choices such as destruction, dialogue, negotiation, or repatriation.
However, if that is impossible or the situation is urgent, the choice is left to the personnel on the ground.
If you look at it closely, it’s an incredibly shallow and naive method.
Of course, because it’s such a basic and common-sense approach, the protocol usually works without major issues—but there are many exceptions.
For instance, Meteor merely observed Happiness Drop and ended up with a bullet in his head, etching the memory of his first death into his life.
The Nautilus guy—though that incident was erased—overturned the world just from a single video clip used for observation.
And then there was the monster that showed no movement or perceived danger even after contact; the moment the gathered information was sent to The High Command, it summoned itself to their location and slaughtered half of them.
It was later discovered that it was a creature from a world where one entrusts their soul to another, and it possessed a bizarre mode of existence where it would manifest at a location the moment it was specifically identified. That was the cause of the catastrophe.
Because cases like these are common—where entities trigger phenomena that shouldn't exist within our common sense and information, no matter how careful we are—there is an exception that overrides all those protocols, reserved for truly dire situations.
There are those who, while gathering information on a target, have the authority to ignore orders from the Bureau’s High Command based on their own judgment on the scene.
Those who have been tested against every phenomenon the Bureau has identified and scored a B+ or higher on over 85% of the categories—individuals capable of enduring any situation.
Special Command Authority for Information Gathering.
In my case, I received near-perfect marks in the Physical, Otherworldly Power, Energy, Magic, Causality, Spatial, Time, Nullification, and Soul categories, among others. I only lagged slightly in the Mental and Information categories, so naturally, I hold that authority.
It’s just that the bastards I fight usually exceed the limits of those tests by so much that I’m constantly getting my metaphorical walls kicked in. But if you drop me and Mishika Misha somewhere, we’re the vanguard who will survive no matter what and bring back information, whether it's useful or not.
Conversely, Meteor, who always manages to return in the end regardless of the circumstances, can't get that authority because he scores below average on almost every test. However, he’s treated as an exception because he was the first contact with the Nautilus’s Pillar of Light and the only one who returned after being annihilated by it.
The glorious Meteor, the sole exception, once grumbled that we looked like a penal mine-clearing unit from the old World Wars, but what does it matter?
Anyway, my thoughts have wandered, but the summary is this:
Even if it reeks of something foul, even if we cannot understand it...
If we turn our eyes away, we gain nothing.
Even if it’s incomprehensible, we must burn it into our minds.
If no mouth remains to tell the tale, we must leave a record.
Whether it’s a data stick, a carving in a tree made while falling, a message written in blood on cloth, or information extracted from a rotting brain by a comrade who protected it until the very end.
We move forward through the information we have accumulated.
And so.
Unlike my disciples-plus-one, who were recoiling in horror at the sight of the skeletons seated at the table...
I let go of my disciples' hands and stepped forward.
I had already gathered all the information I could get just by looking.
I felt absolutely no Otherworldly Power from those skeletons.
Just like when I searched for Quilp or when I tore down the Great Barrier, even when I viewed reality with my extremely enhanced vision, there was nothing special.
There was no discrepancy in reality here.
“…Senior?”
Leaving my disciples' voices behind, I approached the table and began my investigation.
Thinking that if someone had staged this, they certainly had a twisted sense of humor.
I went to the nearest chair.
I picked up the rodent bones sitting there.
Nothing special.
This, too, simply had a hole where the space between the eyes would be on a human.
However, I had one question.
The skeletons on either side were clearly meant to represent my disciples, judging by their clothes.
If so, the rodent in this spot should rightfully represent Un-ho.
Clatter.
The bones, which seemed to be only loosely held together for form, fell apart as I lifted them. I compared the pieces to Un-ho, who was perched on my shoulder.
It certainly was strange.
“Even I find this creepy, sir.”
Un-ho grumbled as his body brushed against the bones.
Well.
“These aren't your bones, are they?”
“Do I even have bones? I mean, I probably do, but I don't think they’d be this small and tidy, squeak.”
Exactly. That was the problem.
Un-ho looks like a ferret, but he’s a bizarre entity whose body can turn sticky like a slime or change shape to fit a container like a liquid.
He’s the kind of guy who turns into a literal Flesh Monster when his Limiter is released.
Would he even have bones like these?
Of course, if you squeeze him, you can feel a certain resistance, as if something solid is being dislocated.
But that feels less like bone and more like something mimicking bone—like a rod of solidified mana.
Granted, in his transformed state, they seem to function as bones, since twisting his neck results in lower-body paralysis, but that’s likely an effect of him mimicking a spine during transformation.
And most decisively, these bones were shaped completely differently from Un-ho.
It was as if someone had just taken a common sewer rat and sat it there to represent him.
Hmm.
Is it just a staged scene after all?
Then the other two probably won't have much to offer either.
Thinking that, I tossed the rodent bones back onto the chair and moved toward the skeletons mimicking my two disciples.
The skeletons themselves…
Honestly, I couldn't tell just by looking.
I wasn't Oxymoron, that dissection-obsessed freak. What could I possibly learn from just looking at bones?
The only thing I could tell was that they reflected the height difference between Han A-bin and Baek Si-hyun.
The skeleton wearing Baek Si-hyun’s clothes was slightly taller than the one representing Han A-bin.
Therefore, I touched the Magical Girl outfit, the only thing that might yield information.
It’s probably just ordinary cloth.
If even Un-ho’s skeleton is a fake, why would this be any different?
The moment I focused on the sensation against my fingertips, thinking that...
I felt a texture I couldn't understand.
It couldn't be.
It had to be my imagination.
To resolve the doubt, I called out.
“…Si-hyun.”
“Yes!”
“Come here.”
I called my energetic disciple.
At the summons, even Si-hyun seemed a bit hesitant to approach the skeletons, but...
“What is it?”
She soon trotted over and stood beside me.
“Summon your Magical Girl outfit for a second. You don't have to transform fully, just a part of it.”
“Understood!”
Following my command, Si-hyun spoke brightly and changed her sleeve into her black Magical Girl attire.
I took it in my hand.
In each hand, I held a Magical Girl outfit of the exact same design.
To focus on them, I shut down all my other senses.
My vision, my breath, my heartbeat.
Just to feel the softness of the fabric between my fingers.
My cursed senses, which only functioned at the absolute minimum or maximum...
Were further heightened to the extreme, analyzing every bit of information from the fabric.
Eventually, I arrived at a single answer.
The material used here wasn't ordinary cloth you’d find at a cosplay show.
It wasn't a replica made by someone who admired Heroes.
It was something that only existed as a single original in the world.
A Magical Girl’s armament, woven from mana.
Even if it wasn't a part of a Magical Girl’s physical body, the clothing possessed traits nearly identical to the girl herself.
Even if it were created by an entity with the ability to copy others, it would usually show different traits because the user was different.
But these clothes were perfectly identical.
The one Si-hyun had just summoned and the one the skeleton was wearing.
Without a single discrepancy, they were both Magical Girl clothes imbued with Baek Si-hyun’s mana.
“….”
What is this?
What on earth is this?
I had realized it the moment I first touched the clothes.
This wasn't the texture of ordinary fabric; it was something made of Otherworldly materials.
Then, I felt the familiar flow of mana.
But because I wanted to deny it...
I had called Si-hyun to compare.
Praying that I was wrong.
But reality betrayed me.
The Magical Girl outfit that skeleton was wearing belonged to Baek Si-hyun.
Then, was the other one the same?
“…A-bin, you come here for a second too.”
To find out, I called the other one.
“Ah? Yes!”
Han A-bin looked truly terrified, her face pale and trembling, but she quickly stood beside the skeleton that resembled her.
I did exactly the same thing I did with Si-hyun.
And once I obtained the information...
It was the same as before.
The clothes this skeleton wore were Han A-bin’s.
What in the world...
My mind was in chaos, but I continued to stack the information in my head.
To contemplate how this phenomenon came to be.
As I stood there, biting my lip and lost in thought...
“…Um… Excuse me… Master?”
I heard a voice that was uncharacteristically subdued for Baek Si-hyun.
“What is it?”
I didn't even look at her, still lost in thought and biting my lip.
“…Well, when I touched the skeleton’s clothes…”
Si-hyun confessed that she had done something.
Wait, Si-hyun.
Startled, I quickly turned my head, and an utterly incomprehensible sight met my eyes.
“…Where did the clothes go?”
“Um… when I touched them, they were… sucked into me?”
Why the questioning tone?
Si-hyun. Si-hyun. Si-hyun.
Did you really have to cause trouble in your usual way even at a time like this?
I let out a sigh and looked at the now-naked skeleton.
The only difference from a moment ago was the lack of clothes.
It was certainly a strange phenomenon.
But on the other hand, it was also understandable.
If those clothes were truly the exact same items as I had sensed, then they originally belonged to Baek Si-hyun.
I didn't know how they had been separated or how they remained manifested despite being away from her, but if their owner touched them, they would naturally be reclaimed.
In that case…
“A-bin.”
“Yes? Ah. Should I touch the clothes too?”
“No, you stay still.”
Having Si-hyun absorb the clothes was enough.
This gave me a control group.
Baek Si-hyun, who absorbed the clothes, and Han A-bin, who didn't.
If something changed, I could gain new information by comparing the two.
“A-bin, you watch Si-hyun for any changes. Si-hyun, if you feel anything strange, report it immediately to me, Un-ho, or A-bin.”
“Understood!”
“I’ll do that.”
“Then, step back again. I’m going to continue investigating here.”
With those words, the disciples moved away from the table again.
They were still staring at me intently, but that wasn't a major issue.
I continued to touch the items on the table.
The food.
I felt nothing special. Even after checking with my tongue extremely enhanced, it was just ordinary food with nothing strange about it.
I left the table and searched all over the dining room, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
When I opened the refrigerator, there were large chunks of meat and bundles of what looked like weeds, which was a bit unusual.
But even the meat I cut off to check wasn't anything special.
Well, it might have been something specific like wild game meat, but at the very least, it wasn't human or Otherworldly flesh.
I found kitchen knives and utensils, but there was nothing particularly strange about them either.
If I had to point out something odd, it was just a strange sense of being "lived-in"—like the handles of the utensils being slightly worn or the kitchen knife having a nick in the blade.
I turned the entire dining room upside down like that, but I couldn't find anything strange at all. Finally, I turned my gaze toward the one spot I had been saving.
So, there’s one place left.
The last chair at the table.
The spot I had intentionally avoided looking at until now.
That place gave off a distinctly different atmosphere from the other three.
The used tablecloth, the utensils held by skeletons or placed haphazardly.
The half-eaten food.
Those were the phenomena occurring at the table in front of the other three chairs.
But this chair was empty.
There was no sign of the tablecloth being used.
The utensils were laid out neatly.
The wine glass still had a purple ring around the rim, indicating its contents had barely been touched.
In other words, no one had ever sat in that chair.
If those three represented Baek Si-hyun, Han A-bin, and Un-ho...
The remaining one was obvious.
Me. It was clearly meant for Lee Ha-ram.
However, I felt no phenomenon coming from that spot.
There was no skeleton, and no sign of use.
The chair was tucked in, and even when I pulled it out, there were no traces of anyone having sat there.
…Are you inviting me?
To this meal of skeletons.
I hesitated for a moment.
If I sat here, would something happen?
By having the last of the four take their place, would something begin?
I pondered for a moment.
But that hesitation didn't last long.
I am one who moves forward.
And so, I sat in the chair.
I unfolded the napkin and picked up the utensils.
Gulp.
I heard the sound of my disciples swallowing hard.
And then.
Nothing happened.