The Regressor Endures (8)
The Regressor Endures (8)
"Awaken! Awaken!"
-What's this? Looks like the girl from the morning news.
-idk lol she's speedrunning getting arrested rn.
-Wow... she's kinda my type...
-Pedophile?
-No, the older brother type.
-?
The live viewer count was already around 5,000. At first there were barely ten viewers, but after someone drew attention to it on a community board, the numbers had skyrocketed in an instant.
"The government! Must apologize! Must compensate!"
"...I didn't teach her to say compensate."
Areum had even taken off her hair ribbon, fervently crying out for apologies and compensation. Rather than genuinely wanting someone to pay up, she seemed to simply find the entire situation thoroughly entertaining.
Thirty minutes had passed since the broadcast started. By now, a report had definitely been filed with the police, and the 'government' I intended to deal with would have noticed what I was doing. They were probably trying to identify me. Unfortunately for them, I was an undocumented person.
-So what are they supposed to apologize and compensate for? Say it instead of just shouting.
A productive question had appeared in the chat at just the right moment. It was exactly the kind of question I'd been waiting for.
"Everyone. Didn't you find it strange that the face of a mere missing child was plastered all over our national media? Have you ever seen something like that in your life?"
-He's got a point.
-I did think it was pretty over-the-top.
-Maybe she's some government official's daughter and you're the kidnapper?
"No. If that were the case, a specific description of the suspect would have circulated too. Does anyone here know who this girl is?"
-How are we supposed to know
-So what're you trying to say
"This girl... is the government's secret shame. No, a child who holds a truth that must never come to light. Aren't you curious?"
-??
-Is this a joke or for real?
-I'm recording this just in case.
-So what's this secret shame exactly?
"That is..."
-That is?
-That is?
"Something I will disclose when the viewer count gets a bit higher."
-Is this crazy bastard lolol
-Oh man lolololol
-He's about to get arrested and he's still playing hard to get lololol
To the people watching the broadcast, it sounded like I was stringing them along as a joke or to bait attention... but this was a message for the government.
I know the truth. I am threatening you. Come quickly. Otherwise I'll expose everything.
Obviously, I knew nothing. I was the one who needed to extract the information, truth or otherwise. But on the surface, I maintained a poker face, acting as though I had certain demands.
More importantly, how long was I supposed to keep this charade up? The police would arrive soon. It was about time I got a bite...
"Wait a moment!"
At that very moment, a woman who had just gotten out of a taxi ran frantically toward us, clutching a large briefcase to her chest. Her glasses gave her a somewhat intelligent look.
"Journalist! I'm a journalist! I can help—"
"Hold on."
But before that, men in plainclothes surrounded me much faster. I recognized their faces from my memories. They were the same ones who had apprehended me at the amusement park.
"..."
"..."
Even as the sturdy men encircled me, I didn't flinch at all. I calmly handled the tablet, turned off the broadcast, and handed it over to one of the men.
"The broadcast is off."
"..."
"I'd like to have a conversation... is that possible? Ah, the condition is that Areum and I stay together."
"...Wait."
The man was receiving instructions through an earpiece so small you'd miss it unless you looked closely. His expression, which had been blank at first, gradually twisted. Letting out a long sigh, he bowed his head slightly toward me.
"...This way, please."
"Wait! Wait just a moment! You! Can you do this! I'm a journalist, a journalist!"
The man guided us to a black van. Beyond the barrier of benevolence, I could faintly hear the journalist's voice from earlier, but I had more pressing matters to deal with right now.
"B-Big brother..."
Areum gripped my hand tightly, uneasy.
"Just trust me."
From now on, I had to keep my wits sharp.
**
The speeding van came to a stop. Armed soldiers inspected the occupants inside, then saluted and withdrew.
"..."
This was the mountain from my memories. To be precise, the mountain I had fled to with Areum during the first cycle. I had been running straight into the tiger's jaws in that first cycle. The sniper... must have mistaken me for an intruder.
"You'll have to wear a blindfold from here."
"I've already seen the entire route on the way here, though?"
"The facility will be relocated anyway. It's because of the staff members' faces."
"...Is it approved for me to stay with Areum?"
"Yes. Let's go."
I held Areum's hand firmly and got out of the van. Even blindfolded, my mana meant I wasn't completely blind.
After being led along a disorienting series of hallways—they deliberately made us go in circles—the blindfold was eventually removed. We were in a room where an elderly man was waiting for us.
"Go on in."
"...Big brother."
"It's okay. Let's go."
The inside of the room was decorated like a family home. More precisely, it looked like someone had lifted the inner room of a house and turned it into a set.
The old man, who had been reading a stack of papers on his desk, noticed us enter and immediately posed a question.
"Who are you affiliated with?"
"...?"
"We've scoured every government database and had AIs comb through all available CCTV footage. The result: you, sir... have never been recorded once. It's as if you sprouted from the ground. That would be impossible without professional skills. So I ask again: who are you affiliated with?"
"..."
When I kept silent, the old man shook his head and rose from his seat. Startled by the sound of the chair scraping, Areum pressed herself slightly against me.
"Well, I honestly don't care what organization you're from. Once a vulnerability is exploited, questioning who did it is pointless. But I want to say that South Korea is willing to cooperate—or more accurately, to share results."
The old man held out the papers he'd been reading.
"Judging from the fact that you precisely tracked Areum's escape route... you must have had your eye on this facility for quite some time. I don't know how much you know, but we will tell you everything first. I hope you'll take that as proof of our sincerity."
The title on the document read: 'Utilization Plan for the Naturally Occurring Internal Human Energy "Zeta."'
I flipped through the pages, skimming the contents... This report was about a power I was extremely familiar with.
"...Mana."
"I see you call it mana in your circles."
People who had been researching mana. A detained girl. Carefully, very carefully, I channeled mana into my eyes and examined Areum more thoroughly. An extremely faint trace of mana was floating around her heart. No, it wasn't that the quantity was small. Her body didn't know how to hold mana, so what it generated kept leaking out around her.
"Isn't it astonishing? Depending on how it's applied, this power could become a blazing flame, flowing water, or crackling electricity. Just as stem cells are the origin of all cells, this unknown force seems to be the origin of all matter. This power... will be the foundation of humanity's future."
"...What have you done to Areum?"
"We have done nothing. Truly, nothing at all. We are simply collecting the unknown power that leaks from her in small amounts. For that purpose... we are detaining her in a certain capacity. However, as you can see, we have arranged facilities of a sort. Ones resembling the outside world."
Areum's body bore no wounds. She was gaunt and pale, but it was true that she showed no signs of physical abuse.
"If all you did was keep her locked up, why is she afraid of this place? And is detaining a child something to be proud of?"
"We have periodically administered sleeping pills because her Zeta production increases during sleep... That has caused her considerable stress. And I am aware it's not something to be proud of."
The old man looked down at Areum with warm eyes.
"I... am heartbroken as well. It pains me to see a girl like her living only inside a research facility, like an animal in a cage. I have a granddaughter around her age. Whenever Areum sheds tears, she reminds me of my own granddaughter."
"And yet you still do this?"
"Because it is necessary."
The professor spoke flatly.
"The Earth—no, let me correct that. Humanity is presently doomed to destruction. Nature is deteriorating further and further due to our reliance on fossil fuels, and the development of green energy is sluggish. All scientists have seen this future of 'human extinction,' yet we are reluctant to dare announce it."
"..."
"Even if no one presses the nuclear missile button, humans will soon all die. Our generation will be safe. Perhaps the next generation too, and even the one after that. But beyond that... we cannot be sure. If we cannot find a new energy source, every last one of us will die."
"And in the midst of that, you found Areum?"
"Yes. We discovered an infant with unknown energy slumbering inside her body."
The professor clenched his fist with resolve.
"I know this is a heinous act. I may never be forgiven, and I might be cursed for generations to come. But it is a task someone must carry out. For the future of humanity, it is a task that absolutely must be done."
"..."
"However... we are still struggling. I don't know which organization—no, which nation you represent... but we need help. The amount of Zeta Areum produces is absurdly small, and our research capacity is insufficient to maximize its use. Please deliver our proposal to join forces for the future of humanity. That is the condition."
The reason Areum had been able to find me was that she sensed my mana. The reason she possessed any knowledge of the outside world was that similar facilities existed inside the institute.
"...Who was the journalist we saw on the way here?"
"...You need not concern yourself with that. We will handle her soon."
I could roughly picture the scenario. For an ordinary player, during their time with Areum, she would be kidnapped back to the research institute. Then a mysterious journalist would approach the enraged player. She would already have collected quite a lot of information, and she would ask the player for help.
One day, while the player agonized over and over... the journalist would meet a mysterious death. And the truth of this world would be left solely in the player's hands. At the moment of exposure, they would be in a position where they'd have to fear the same 'mysterious death.'
Or else... for the greater good, they might cooperate with the institute. They could even throw Areum under the bus as a guinea pig. Either way, as long as they didn't die, Floor 21 would be cleared. Just endure for a week, and the Tower would toss them a reward worthy of their courage.
But what about after that? After the player clears it? What about Areum's life afterward if they went public?
I didn't know exactly which part the Tower meant when it told you to have 'courage.' In my opinion, neither path was a proper answer. Both were merely false courage, close to hypocrisy.
"My answer..."
I knew what I had to do.
If both the right side and the left side displeased me.
"I'll give it to you after I regress."
I would carve a new path straight ahead.