Chapter 334: What the Hell is Going On? (1)
Chapter 334: What the Hell is Going On? (1)
I opened my eyes, sensing that something had changed.
The eyelids that had briefly blocked my vision lifted, and the light illuminating the room poured into my eyes.
It was blinding.
Reflexively, I reached out to shield my eyes and began to retrace what had happened before I fell asleep.
Let’s see…. Ever since I arrived at the Geneva Branch, I hadn’t had a moment’s peace because of that strange magic I’d been hit with.
The Geneva Branch was always noisy to begin with, but with all the various incidents piling up, it became unbearable. Seeking even a brief respite, I asked a staff member for a recommendation and ended up here.
A specialized laboratory, completely isolated from the outside world, designed to block out almost all stimuli.
Right, that was it.
Satisfied with the silence, I had closed my eyes to shut out the remaining sensory input.
I hadn’t intended to sleep, but it seemed I’d drifted off anyway.
Perhaps the accumulated fatigue was worse than I’d imagined.
Well, maybe it was for the best that I managed to get some rest here.
With that thought, I pushed myself up. I crossed the room, stretching my limbs to work out the stiffness in my body.
My destination was my phone, which was plugged into an external line for both charging and communication.
“Yaaaawn.”
I let out a long yawn, rubbed the stray tears from my eyes, and looked at the glowing screen.
Two things on the display caught my attention.
First, the time.
Based on when I’d entered the room, I could see I’d been asleep for about two hours.
And second….
“…What the hell? Why are there so many notifications?”
Messenger apps, Management Bureau programs, standard calls, texts, private lines.
Every imaginable alert was plastered across the screen.
If there were only one or two, I could have grasped the situation at a glance from the preview snippets, but there were so many that I couldn't even tell what was what.
I had a bad feeling about this.
Given the circumstances, I should have unlocked the phone immediately to check the contents, but my hand hesitated.
The most likely scenarios were that Baek Si-hyun had caused another disaster, or a sudden Public Enemy Designation had been issued.
But if it were a serious emergency requiring my immediate presence, there was no way I wouldn't have woken up from the deployment broadcast….
Did Baek Si-hyun really mess up that badly?
I wondered what kind of bizarre, one-of-a-kind incident she’d managed to trigger this time.
My luck had been rotten lately, so it wasn't outside the realm of possibility.
Steeling myself, I let out a heavy sigh.
“Haa.”
I unlocked the phone.
The moment I saw the message from Park Hyun-seok, which was the first thing my eyes landed on, a curse escaped my lips.
“Holy shit.”
‘Public Enemy Designation.’
‘Contact me.’
‘Confirm survival.’
The messages were brief, but the same urgent content had been sent repeatedly.
I immediately initiated the lab door’s release, booted up the Management Bureau program, and contacted Hyun-seok via the confidential network.
I could have pieced things together by looking at the other notifications, but since Hyun-seok had contacted me directly, it had to be urgent and related to me.
Rather than wasting time clicking through every alert, it would be faster to get the explanation from him.
I squeezed through the door before it had even fully opened and rushed out.
As soon as I confirmed the connection was established upon leaving the room, I yanked the charging cable out.
Barely ten seconds had passed.
It wasn't a long time, but I berated myself for wasting the golden hour sleeping as I listened to the noise ringing in my ear.
Static. Crackle. Beeeeep.
It wasn't a standard ringtone; it was the encrypted, anti-eavesdropping noise used for secure lines.
Enduring the ear-piercing static that showed zero consideration for the user, I hurried toward the elevator.
Click.
“…Is that you, Lee Ha-ram?”
A familiar voice came through the phone after a few seconds.
“Yeah.”
I was dying to ask what was happening, but I knew I’d just blurt out a mess of questions if I spoke first. I kept my answer short and kept moving.
“Where are you right now?”
“Geneva Branch.”
“…Are you sure?”
What kind of stupid question was that?
“Do you think I’d get my own location wrong? What the hell is going on with all these notifications?”
My patience didn't even last five seconds. I snapped the moment I heard that weird question.
Actually, it might not have been a lack of patience so much as the sheer urgency I was feeling.
Regardless, despite my outburst, there was no particular reaction from the other end of the line—only the sound of a dry breath as if he were deep in thought.
Driven by anxiety, I mashed the elevator button instead of badgering him further. I stared blankly at the elevator doors to give Hyun-seok time to think, but then….
…What’s wrong with this thing?
The elevator, which I’d assumed would be working, was dead. The display that usually showed the floor number was dark, as if the power had been cut.
Is it broken?
I pressed the button a few more times and even pressed my ear against the elevator wall while holding the phone to the other, but I couldn't hear any sound of machinery moving.
Nothing for it, then.
I quickly gave up on the elevator and headed for the Emergency Stairwell marked ‘Authorized Personnel Only.’
The moment I twisted the handle and pushed the door open—
Creeeeak.
“Don’t panic, and listen carefully, Lee Ha-ram.”
Hyun-seok’s voice overlapped with the harsh metallic screech of the door, which clearly hadn't had its hinges maintained in a while.
“Why would I panic? From the looks of it, the Geneva Branch has gone to hell. Did the mages decide to run some social experiment to create a 'Gu' survivor? Or was a Public Enemy Designation issued?”
For some reason, I had a terrible premonition. I threw out the joke hoping that wasn't the case.
Creeeeeak.
The dark, desolate metal stairs groaned under my weight as if it had been ages since anyone had used them.
The stairwell stretched endlessly up and down, illuminated only by the dim flickering of emergency lights. My pace quickened.
And then, the voice on the other end gave me the answer.
“…It’s a Public Enemy Designation.”
“….”
Creek.
“The location is specified as the Management Bureau’s Geneva Branch. Detailed information is currently unknown.”
“….”
Creek.
“As a point of note, the Geneva Branch was completely sealed off immediately after that information was sent. Only one final piece of data made it through.”
“….”
The dread was mounting, as grating as the creaking of these stairs.
“The Hero of the story designated as a Public Enemy… is you, Lee Ha-ram.”
Dammit.
Why are my bad feelings never wrong?
I suppressed the urge to scream profanities and charged up the stairs.
Thump. Rumble, rumble.
The stairs vibrated strangely under my feet, but that wasn't important right now.
“Are you sure? I didn't hear the Voice.”
What mattered wasn't the structural integrity of these ominous stairs, but the hellish reality that I had been branded a Public Enemy.
“To be precise, the authenticity of that information cannot be verified at this time. Communication with the Geneva Branch has been cut off.”
Wait. Communication is down?
“Then what about my phone? I’m talking to you just fine.”
“That’s why my first question was what it was. Lee Ha-ram, are you really at the Geneva Branch right now?”
“Why would I lie about that? Do you want my GPS coordinates? I was stuck in a basement lab, the elevator is broken, and now I’m sprinting up the stairs. Can’t you hear the thumping?”
I snapped back at him, but…
…Am I really at the Geneva Branch?
The doubt began to sprout.
Normally, I would have confidently declared that it was impossible to imprison me without my noticing.
But then again, hadn't I failed to notice the antics of that Executive-class tentacle just recently?
If so, this new enemy might possess specialized abilities that defied common sense.
As I was wrestling with these thoughts—
“…I see. Indeed, the scouts reported that the blockade manifested in the form of a spherical space. So that’s why.”
Park Hyun-seok muttered something incomprehensible, ignoring my question.
Hey, isn't this an emergency?
“Hey, speak so I can understand you!”
Explain! Clearly! Now!
“…Lee Ha-ram, you are likely indeed at the Geneva Branch. However.”
“However?”
“Since you were deep underground, I suspect you were outside the spherical blockade The Enemy deployed. If you keep going up, you’ll probably encounter it….”
“Encounter what? Why are your explanations so half-assed today—?”
I cut him off to complain, but then I saw it.
There was something there.
Screeeeeech!
The metal stairs shrieked as I grabbed the railing to halt my high-speed ascent. The emergency stairs were sturdier than I’d expected, managing to withstand my kinetic energy.
And then, I realized what Hyun-seok was talking about.
“…Hyun-seok.”
“What is it?”
“That thing you were talking about… is it a disgusting-looking barrier full of holes?”
“That’s accurate. You found it?”
“Yeah, it’s right in front of me.”
In plain sight.
It blended with the darkness, making it hard to see at first glance—a dark blue barrier composed of countless overlapping funnel-shaped force fields, their points facing inward.
If I hadn't been warned that something was there, I might have charged right into it without even noticing.
If it were a normal barrier, I wouldn't have worried about hitting it, but…
This felt wrong.
“…I’ll share what I’m seeing first. The barrier is made of countless conical force fields overlapping toward the center. What about your side?”
“It’s the same here.”
I see.
So, this bizarre barrier was layered spherically to cut off the inside from the outside.
But one question remained.
I recognized this barrier.
Snap.
I flicked my fingers, summoning a metal marble into the air.
Whack!
I swung a quickly summoned hammer, striking the falling sphere.
The metal marble flew through the air like a high-speed tennis serve, but it soon collided with the barrier.
Crunch.
The marble instantly lost its momentum, crumpling under the force it had generated itself.
Snap.
The moment it exceeded its durability limit, it shattered into metallic shards and was repelled back from the barrier.
…Just as I thought.
“Hyun-seok, I’ve got the gist of the situation. With things like this, it’ll be hard to enter from the outside, and I get that gathering information is impossible.”
“Right. That’s why I contacted you urgently to see if you knew anything, but it seems you don’t have any information either. For now, try to rendezvous with the nearest Management Bureau branch. Every second counts, but we’re forming an emergency team—”
Park Hyun-seok, the Seoul Branch Manager, began pouring out words like a waterfall, as if he didn't want to waste a single moment.
I didn't want to interrupt his plans.
I even wanted to deny the information surfacing in my own mind.
But we had already experienced too many "impossible" possibilities.
So.
“No, I’ve figured one thing out.”
Even if it was unbelievable, I had to tell command.
“…What is it?”
And command had to hear it.
“The one who deployed this barrier is likely….”
Yes, I had seen this barrier before.
This composition, this effect, and this form.
Though, when I saw it, it hadn't been scattered in such massive numbers.
“…Magic Weaver. I remember seeing this barrier before.”
I spoke the words, carrying the possibility of betrayal that even I doubted.
Even if it was information no one would believe.
Because only by considering every possibility could we survive.
We knew all too well, through blood and sacrifice, that being picky with information was a luxury we couldn't afford.