The Fruit of Wisdom
“Ugh, fuck!” The speeding car repeatedly latches onto and drops from the schools of fish-like parasites swimming through the city’s river-like streets, then keeps running. The men on small bikes weave through gaps between cars, but the distance between us keeps growing. When the car I’m riding hits a red light and stops, I leap off, sprint with everything I have, and grab onto another vehicle, repeating the process to close the gap bit by bit.
That woman right at the front—she’s the one being chased by the very parasites that were after us. There’s something inside the bag slung over her shoulder.
“...Lapus. Wisdom.” I still don’t know what the words mean, but the feeling is exactly the same as when I first found the blue fruit. That’s why I followed her. I don’t know what she’s doing and I don’t care, but I can’t just let her get caught.
I jump off a truck, step on the roof of another car, and climb onto the next truck. Finally, four bikes come into view.
“Perfect.” I steady myself on the truck bed, then sprint forward and leap at the lead man wearing an iron mask.
“?!” The sudden impact startles him. His handlebars twist and he crashes to the ground. With the leader stopped, the others slam on their brakes in surprise—but it’s already too late. One of them slides straight into my fist from the leftover momentum. His grip slips, the bike topples forward, and he flies backward like a cartoon character. The last man stops his bike and draws a gun.
“Requesting backup! Situation—” I rush in and drive my fist into his jaw before he can finish. He never even gets to pull the trigger and collapses.
“Alright, now...” Only the woman remains. I grab the least-damaged bike and turn toward her—then freeze at the bizarre sight before me.
The woman on the bike has been stopped by another iron-masked figure... no, a woman. What the hell is going on?
I stare blankly for a second. The masked woman walks toward the girl who has fallen off her bike. I can’t let that happen. I hurl the bike I was about to ride straight at her with all my strength.
I thought it would hit, but just before impact she turns her head, twists her torso, and knocks the bike aside with the motion. What kind of reflexes is that? Still, I’ve succeeded in drawing her attention. Her steps toward the fallen girl halt, and she turns to approach me instead.
“New order confirmed. Capture the male specimen.”
——————————————
‘Unit 4, new orders. Capture the male specimen in front of you.’
‘New order confirmed...’
“...” A crude machine made of scrap metal. The earpiece connected to it delivers a familiar voice.
“...There you are.” The reaction on the screen. Time to move.
——————————————
The masked woman answers mechanically in a low voice. From her comes a familiar sound.
‘Dangerous.’
‘Not the same as us.’
‘Different from our kind.’
“...” The presence I feel from her is familiar. I sensed something similar right before fighting Na-bi—something that feels human yet isn’t, and isn’t quite like them either. It fills the entire street.
Horns blare from every direction because the road is blocked. Some people lean out their windows to curse at me.
“...” Ignoring them, the woman pulls something small from her coat. When she applies force, a long blade extends like a baton. A brief standoff follows.
“...!”
“Uwah!”
The fight begins instantly. She charges and swings the blade upward from below. I twist my body to dodge. If I hadn’t, my right leg and right arm would have been sliced clean off. But the big motion leaves her face, torso, and other weak points wide open.
Good. I regain my balance after dodging the blade and gather the momentum from the movement to drive my fist into the left side of her face—
‘Right.’
‘Behind.’
‘Head.’
“!!” The sharp warning in my head makes me jerk my head back. A red flash passes where my head was and slams into the asphalt with a deafening roar. The blaring horns and cursing voices fall silent.
I dodge her next blade strike. She attacks from every direction without pause. Even when I find an opening to counter, bullets come flying from behind to match my dodge, leaving me no room to breathe.
“...Ugh!” I can’t keep this up forever. The way out of this situation is...
I stop moving and cease dodging. I take a short, deep breath. The blade comes flying without waiting. This time it looks like she’s trying to split me from my left shoulder all the way to my right side. The blade is about thirty centimeters from my shoulder when another gunshot rings out behind me.
“...?!”
“Aaaagh!!” I grab the blade with my left hand. Red liquid spurts from the wound. At the same time I duck, and the bullet slams into the asphalt again.
“Ugh?!” The surprised woman tries to pull the blade free, but I refuse to let go.
“...!!” There’s a brief window before they can attack again. I clench my right fist and drive it straight into the immobilized woman with everything I have. She tries to abandon the blade and dodge, but my fist has already connected with her iron mask, producing a crisp sound.
The shattered pieces of scrap metal fall limply onto the asphalt. Finally, her face is revealed.
“...” The woman wipes blood from her split lips. No emotion lingers on her face. It resembles Na-bi’s, yet feels different somehow. If Na-bi had been close to human, this woman’s face shows nothing that could be called human at all.
“...What the hell are you people? What’s your goal?”
“...” She snaps the blade still in my hand and drops it. The wound on my left hand closes instantly. Ignoring my question, she silently pulls something else from her coat—this time a blunt weapon shaped like a baton, crackling with bright electricity.
“...Damn it.” I reset my stance. I don’t know why, but this feels even more overwhelming than fighting Na-bi. Unlike Na-bi, who still felt like a living creature, this is like facing a machine programmed solely to kill me.
How do I—huh?
Beyond the masked woman’s shoulder, the fallen girl twitches slightly. She lifts her head a little as if checking the situation, then gets up and starts running.
“Hey, wait—!!”
“Thanks for saving me!!”
The woman in the black suit watches the girl flee, her gaze leaving me. This is bad. I charge at the escaping girl. My punch misses as she dodges effortlessly. The baton swings toward my face. Thanks to the motorcycle helmet, the impact isn’t too severe, but I’m sent flying far away.
“Kuhk..!” The masked woman immediately runs after the escaping girl. No good... I force myself up and start running again. But the gap has already grown too wide to close.
The distance between the masked woman and the girl is almost gone. Just as the masked woman’s hand is about to reach the girl’s bag, someone bursts out from between the cars and punches her in the face.
“...Phew.”
“...What the hell.”
Another woman wearing a motorcycle helmet, just like me. She shrugs off her jumper to reveal a familiar gym uniform. The woman with copper-toned skin glowing in the sunlight immediately raises her guard and shouts at me.
“Father, go after her quickly.”
Hong Su-a. It’s Su-a. I have no idea how she got here, but I leave the masked woman to her and chase after the girl.
——————————————
“What the hell is that?!”
“...Report the situation.”
‘Another specimen has appeared. No data matches the two previously reported specimens.’
...A new specimen? Just as the research team feared, they’ve already succeeded in breeding? Unlike normal males who would take ten months like human women, it’s only been two months since the incident and they’ve already reached this level... Is this the power of the male specimen?
“...The female specimen doesn’t matter. Capture the male specimen at all costs.”
‘...Understood.’
——————————————
“Hey, stop for a second!!”
“No way!!”
Catching up wouldn’t be difficult, but the situation is dangerous. She doesn’t seem to notice, but a large number of masked men are already closing in from all sides, tightening the encirclement.
“...Shit!!” I pour every last ounce of strength into running. Please, please!!
My hand finally reaches her bag.
“Kyaa?!”
At the same moment, a man leaps out from between the cars and snatches the girl away. Something glowing tumbles from the torn bag and lands on the asphalt with a clear sound.
‘Clink. Clink.’
The fruit that makes that sound. I look at the glowing green fruit.
‘Lapus.’
‘Wisdom.’
‘The wise one.’
‘The prudent one.’
The voices react like mad. I snatch the fruit and immediately charge at the masked man holding the girl. I’ve got the fruit. But this girl who was being chased while carrying it—if she’s connected to them, I need to save her. She’s a human holding information that’s more important to us than anything else.
I rush the man, but a bullet immediately pierces my shoulder.
“Ugh?!” My danger sense caught it, but there was no way to dodge while airborne. I start fighting the men charging at me. The fight itself isn’t a problem, but there are too many of them. Damn it!
The man holding the girl is getting farther away. I try to push through the crowd, but it’s not enough. Then—
“Uwaaaagh!!”
“Kyaaaagh?!”
A man writhes on the ground in agony and drops the girl. Someone stands in their way.
“...Ah!! I’m sorry!! I thought it was anesthetic... but it was corrosive liquid...”
A man wearing a white lab coat and glasses. He radiates an atmosphere completely out of place in this chaos and kneels before the fallen man, sincerely begging forgiveness.
“That man... I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere...”
The man in glasses pulls a small pistol from his coat.
“Well, anyway, I’d like to get my— no, humanity’s hope back. Would you all cooperate?”
“...What?”
What? The hostile atmosphere turns toward the man. He’s not on their side?
“...Dr. Jeong A-un has appeared... Yes, understood. I’ll eliminate them as ordered.”
...Jeong A-un. That man’s name. Several of the men surrounding me turn and approach the man in the white coat. Jeong A-un removes his glasses, puts them away, and speaks with a genuinely sorrowful expression.
“...My condolences.”
Contrary to his words and expression, he pulls the trigger on the nearest man. What fires isn’t a bullet, but some kind of capsule. It sticks to the lead man and releases a strange-colored gas.
“Cough, cough...!”
One by one, the men start coughing. The abnormal reaction appears immediately.
“Gweeeeh!!”
One man collapses, convulsing and vomiting blood. His skin turns red, then begins peeling as if burned. A grotesque sight. Through the men falling one after another, Jeong A-un—now wearing a gas mask—approaches and sits in front of me, taking my hand in both of his.
“...A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Im Chan-woo.”