Purple Venom
Purple Venom
There are now three people by the campfire.
One of them is Jin. He introduces himself as being on his way to the Citadel.
"I... don't have anything to tell you guys."
The other is a woman. A yellow-haired woman dressed in adventurer's gear.
She tries strangely hard not to reveal anything about herself, and the only thing one can tell right away is that she stutters.
However, the important person right now isn't this woman.
"Ah, my name is Jack. I'll be in your care for a bit."
"Nice to meet you."
"...."
A man with navy-blue hair has newly joined them.
His eyes are on the sharper side, but perhaps because he's wearing glasses, he gives off an intellectual vibe rather than a cold one.
He carries light luggage, and perhaps because he came through the forest, leaves are stuck to his hair and shoulders.
"...Hmph."
Seeing him, Jin welcomed him outwardly, while the woman openly displayed her wariness.
But Jack didn't mind much, gave a shrug, and sat down.
Then, perhaps thinking it was still too early to sleep, he started a conversation with Jin.
"Hmm... did you say you were on your way to the Citadel?"
"Yes, that's right."
"The young lady over there too?"
"...No."
"It looked more like she was on her way away from there."
And I was just about to hear what she was going to tell me right before you arrived. About the Citadel.
...Well, I shouldn't snap at him like that. Not unless I want to ruin the first impression.
The disappointing part is that since the other person arrived, she has shut her mouth and seems to have no intention of bringing up that story anymore.
The fortunate part is that this man named Jack opened his mouth in her stead.
"I'll give you a piece of advice. If possible, it's best not to go to the Citadel right now."
"Why is that?"
"Sigh... I don't know how to explain this, but... there's a monster in the Citadel right now."
A monster, huh. For now, I can assume this person knows about the Doppelgangers.
"Could you explain in a bit more detail...?"
However, Jin pretends not to know what he's talking about.
There was no reason to introduce himself as someone who came to catch Doppelgangers.
"Do you... believe in Anomalies...?"
Gosh... I wish he'd just get straight to the point.
It seems he likes having long conversations with the person in front of him, haha....
"Anomalies...? Oh, come on... those are just things from rumors...!"
"I thought so too until now...!"
Still, I play along.
In my heart, I wanted to tell him I wasn't interested and already knew everything, so just get to the point.
But I endure. This way is much better.
Isn't it a huge gain to be able to win someone's heart just by listening to their story once?
"Seriously, you talk too much."
The woman muttered. ...Honestly, I agree.
'Then please, you stop him.'
There's something called the carrot and the stick. I'll be the carrot, so you be the stick.
It's a win-win because you get to shut that man up, and I get to win his favor.
Unfortunately for Jin, the woman chose to cover her ears and look away rather than scold him further with words.
In the end, he had to react sincerely to everything Jack said and play along.
"...I got full-blown goosebumps! It was like my survival instinct was warning me!"
"!"
"To the outside eye, it was definitely my close friend... but I'm certain, that thing was an Anomaly!"
"No way!"
Ah, finally.
Jack's story was over.
"That's why I'm saying this. There's an Anomaly there that mimics people."
"...."
"And do you think those kinds of things would be friendly to humans? I don't think so."
Phew... good.
Now it was his turn.
"But... I have to go. My yeodongsaeng is there...."
"What...?!"
"?!"
Of course, he didn't have a yeodongsaeng in the Citadel.
In fact, he didn't even have a yeodongsaeng at all. He was an only child.
But he had one starting from today. At least in front of these two, he was an oppa with a precious yeodongsaeng.
"No wonder... I should have realized when she sent a letter saying she was scared and to come quickly...!"
"Oh dear, how terrible...."
"...."
Jack felt sorry for him. Before long, even the woman was looking this way, biting her lip.
"That's why. I can never turn back. So, can't you give me any kind of help?"
He requests information. Information about the Citadel.
...And at the same time, information about Jack and that woman.
"I'm truly sorry, but... I've just told you everything I know."
'What?'
He told me everything as soon as we met? Everything he has?
And he made me listen to all that and react to it?
"...Even something minor is fine, so please tell me anything. What were you doing in the Citadel, Jack-ssi?"
"Umm... as for me...."
He gathered information.
Jack's occupation, according to himself, was an ordinary researcher.
As for what field he researched or where he researched, he avoided answering those questions.
He claimed the reasons were that it was classified and that it had all become a moot point now anyway.
'...Hmm.'
I shouldn't ask more directly here.
In that case, I can just speak indirectly.
"Could it be that your research is related to that Anomaly?"
"...No, that's not it! What I researched was something completely unrelated!"
He shakes him up once.
"But...! If it's not that, there's no reason for something like this to happen!"
As if. There are many, many reasons for something like this to happen.
The Doppelgangers he had seen so far—that is, the Anomalies—were something very supernatural in their birth.
It can't be explained. They just appeared. Without reason.
So, it would actually be awkward to say such a thing was born as a product of research now.
If that really was a Doppelganger, and if he hadn't mistaken another Anomaly for it, Jack's research could never have given birth to it.
...But, he was the only one who knew that. He presses him.
He acts the part of an oppa whose rationality has faded because he's on the verge of losing his yeodongsaeng.
"...Is, is it really not?"
When he does that, the other person joins in.
The woman, who had just been quietly watching the situation, speaks up.
And she rebukes him. Asking if he really has no responsibility for this incident, just as Jin said.
"You don't believe me either! I'm telling you, it's really not me!"
"Th-en try saying it...."
"What!"
"What... you researched.... You can at least tell us that much...."
"I told you! It's classified! Just saying it is a leak!"
If Jack were human, there would be absolutely no reason for him to lie.
And it means it's a secret he doesn't want to tell even in a situation where he's being suspected.
Because the feeling of being wronged by the suspicion would be great.
And right now, except for the woman who is only armed with a light dagger, everyone here is empty-handed.
The probability of it leading to a major accident just because feelings are hurt isn't high.
One never knows how the world will turn out, but in the current situation, there's nothing in particular to pull the brakes.
Anyway, he continues his train of thought.
Jack is human. And he doesn't want to talk about his research.
What kind of research would be like that?
If he were an ordinary person of this other world, he wouldn't know, but as a possessor, he could narrow down the candidates.
"...Wait."
Everyone, focus.
"If it's a place that would conduct that level of research... wouldn't it be nowhere else but the <Franshtein Research Institute> in the Citadel...?"
Up to here, it's a very ordinary deduction.
"Wha-what. Then what's so 'ordinary' about being a researcher there...?"
Because it's a famous place, well-known enough that even that woman, who seems to have no connection to such things, would know it.
"...."
Jack remains silent.
Is this silence an affirmation or a denial?
Earlier, the woman's was an affirmation.
One can't tell from his expression. It's complicated. It's closer to him agonizing over it.
But for now, I'll assume it's a yes and continue speaking.
"And... the <Franshtein Research Institute>... is a place that researches life...."
He pretends his head hurts, pretends to remember something.
The atmosphere heightens. He can feel both Jack and the woman staring only at him.
After doing that, after maintaining silence for a moment, he opens his mouth.
"Ah...! Come to think of it, my yeodongsaeng sent me news in letters every month!"
This is a hastily made-up setting. But since he already set up that he received a letter from his yeodongsaeng earlier, it won't be too suspicious.
"In there... my yeodongsaeng's daily life was always written...."
"...."
"A while ago, she said there was a rumor that an experiment failed there and many people were hurt...."
"Uh, I, I think I heard that too...."
The woman's support came in once again.
This is also true. It was a rumor that only circulated inside the Citadel and didn't particularly leak outside.
The reason he knew this fact was entirely thanks to the Watcher's information gathering.
From now on, it's important. He asks a question that might determine his identity.
"And they say that experiment used the flowers of a young <Purple Venom>...."
"...."
"Is that right...? This experiment...?"
In <Can I Come In?>, you see.
There is a radio object.
If you press it, it doesn't have any important content for the game, but it provides information that makes the side stories and the world-building more elaborate every day.
Then, after a certain amount of time passes, only increasingly gloomy news comes out, and eventually, it almost stops working.
That information was also something I heard while playing the game.
Jin could know because as soon as he realized he had been possessed into this place, he had organized all the information once.
There is a place called the Citadel Research Institute, and a major experiment failure occurred there once.
News that poison leaked and many people were hurt.
The cause of the experiment's failure lay in a mistake.
They used young <Purple Venom> instead of the original experimental target, <Lavensia>.
Purple Venom. It's a very intuitive name.
It's damn poisonous. To the point where a single drop of poison made by grinding it can kill several adults.
By sheer coincidence, Lavensia, which is also a purple flower and a medicinal herb, and young Purple Venom are too similar.
The flower of Purple Venom gets darker as it grows. That's the whole story of the incident.
So this is an unmistakable fact.
Jin didn't hide the name of the flower and said it exactly as it was.
Jack's reaction upon hearing Jin's words was...
"Ha... yeah. That's right."
"...."
"Do you feel relieved now?"
It was an admission that it was correct.
"...If so, then it really had nothing to do with you. I'm sorry."
"No... it's understandable, I fully understand."
He apologized. Fortunately, he accepted it.
He sighs and adjusts his posture.
But he was a bit careless.
"Whoa!"
"!"
"Oops, be careful!"
He bumped into the campfire. The firewood tumbled and rolled slightly.
In this situation, it was natural to look at the campfire.
The woman did, and so did Jack.
...Except for Jin.
Jin was looking at something else.
He grabs his cane.
And, drawing a trajectory in his mind,
-Cha-eeng!-
He draws it.
A silver line is drawn in the air.
-Pu-wa-ak...!-
And soon, that line turns into a black line.
The head flew through the sky as if it were a ball.
It was a real relief. That he accepted his apology.
Thanks to that, his tension relaxed.
He didn't lie at all. That experiment was indeed an experiment that used Purple Venom.
...But, that's something you can only find out in the later stages after progressing through the game. And we're still practically in the tutorial period, aren't we?
You should have answered that you used Lavensia, not Purple Venom, right now.
Many people jumped in and tried to find the cause of the accident here and there.
Then, they barely discovered after several weeks that it wasn't the facility equipment or a strange chemical reaction, but that the wrong ingredients were used.
Jack told the truth, but because of the difference in time, he became a liar.
And the punishment for that was, unfortunately, summary execution.