Munch-munch. Rustle.Crinkle, crinkle, gulp.There were, however, a few things he couldn’t help but notice even without looking away.Hidden by Joo-o’s bizarre abilities, Jin Muhae himself was a person with quite sensitive, acute senses.All the while the guy beside him was chomping and crunching, glancing this way and that, so Muhae’s head — which had intended to think only of Hoihang’s business — kept drifting back to him.‘Annoying.’He was already busy guessing what awaited at their destination. He didn’t need pointless thoughts mixed in.First came the curiosity whether anyone could survive eating so much syrupy stuff until the smell soaked into their clothes, then the astonishment that food kept going in all day and he never seemed to get any fuller.There was the suspicion that he’d polished off a cheap slice of bread last time and still seemed flat-stomached. Could a human’s fuel efficiency really be that bad? The thought provoked irritation.“Ding-dong♪ The vehicle is almost at its destination. Today too, safe and swift Jangryong transport….”When the taxi finally stopped, Muhae had to get out without any real mental preparation.Joo-o stuffed a scrap of plastic into his pocket and hopped out behind him with an unabashedly bright face.“Oh. It’s a forest.”For the sake of manufactured parts — no, for the citizens’ mental health — residential parks generally showed lush, green nature.Fresh vegetation with no withered or polluted spots. Seeing a park that displayed only what looked pleasing, Muhae felt a faint jealousy.Those born and raised here wouldn’t tense at the sight of dense grass. They’d never once have felt the threat that something might leap out from behind it and pierce their necks.Muhae was used to accepting given injustices and living with them, but sometimes his insides twisted a little like this.“Jin Muhae. This way?”“Stay beside me. Don’t go ahead.”In contrast, Joo-o looked like he had no particular worries. He wouldn’t envy residents of Jaegang as long as there wasn’t meat hanging from every tree and blade of grass in this park.Muhae grabbed Joo-o’s arm as he tried to dart off and crossed the park.A nearby artificial pond glittered, reflecting the sky.“There it is. Right?”Outside the park’s side path buildings of various sizes began to show. A row of shops lay along the approach to the communal housing.Joo-o’s fingertip pointed at a shabby storefront. Yes — the third floor there was the address Gureum had given him.“We’re going to a restaurant.”“Okay.”“First we’ll stop by the restroom.”Muhae nodded toward the building entrance — giving him a reason to go inside.Turning his head, the red eyes opposite him smiled distinctly. Joo-o didn’t reply but he’d understood; as if all his earlier spacing-out had been an act.“I like going to the restroom with Jin Muhae.”“There’s no need to say that.”Joo-o tightened his grip around Muhae’s arm. Whether from pleasure or nerves, his little heart thumped against him.Muhae glanced at his wrist and led him into the building. This side’s link watch was rooted, so it wouldn’t pick up position, but Joo-o’s wasn’t — he’d need to tinker with that watch soon.Inside, the shopping complex had an odd structure. Unlike the open exterior, the interior felt like a private corridor where only tenant merchants came and went.Still, on the second floor he’d vaguely heard people’s voices here and there.As soon as they climbed to the third floor, however, the signs of life vanished.‘….’The air felt completely different from downstairs. What kind of business had moved in here that even the foot traffic stopped?Their steps along a windowless corridor halted at door 3-07. A small lock was affixed to the heavy iron door that was their destination.Gureum wouldn’t have given this address without some plan. Muhae glanced around and held his watch up to the square recognition pad.Diri-ring!“…!”Though he’d roughly expected it, he flinched when the door opened.With a soft whir — the shutter rose and revealed an interior that looked like it had been left to gather dust.Muhae stepped into a long room of about eight pyeong. It looked like an old office: an electronic board hung alone over a desk, giving the place a strange feel.Creak — clack.“Whoa.”As Joo-o clung to him the door shut behind them. Click — a switch, and the previously dark ceiling lights flared to life.“There are no windows.”As Joo-o had said, the room had no even small windows. ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Only the hum of machines for ventilation came through holes in the walls.Plain if ordinary, suspicious if you wanted it to be — Muhae pried the clinging kid off and inspected the surroundings.There were no obvious oddities on the walls or ceiling. Tic-tic. He tapped the wall with his fingernail and it rang a solid note.“This won’t turn on.”Hearing a tapping sound, he turned to find Joo-o already climbed onto the desk and fiddling with the electronic board.Muhae clicked his tongue and slipped his hand under Joo-o’s arm to shove him aside.But Joo-o, thinking he was being hugged, latched on.He clung so hard — even when Muhae quickly withdrew his hand — that he stuck to Muhae like a cicada on an old tree.A satisfied sigh sounded in his ear.“Let go.”“You hugged me, so I feel good.”“I didn’t hug you. Get down.”“Tsk.”Impertinently, Joo-o clicked his tongue. Clearly, he’d picked that up from someone.He slid down Muhae’s body and plopped onto the floor, muttering something.“I can hug you, though. Jin Muhae won’t hug me.”A remark not worth hearing. Muhae pretended not to and turned his head.Click.Muhae found the cable connected to the electronic board and poked at the connector.A faint sound of power coming on, then blink — a smile icon appeared on the black screen.On closer inspection it was an ASCII-coded pattern of white characters. When scanned with other devices it looked like a meaningless string of letters; only Muhae’s link watch could decode the keyword.No need to waste more time.Tii — to —!Pabababam!A jumble of hologram windows erupted before Muhae’s eyes. As always, they were records related to Hoihang.Unlike last time — when he’d wandered into a strange place in the late-night hunt for Sakdal — this information was easier to find than he’d expected.All that remained now was to go back and verify the newly obtained data…―I hope it pleases you.Gureum’s modulated voice intruded in his head. She’d said he’d be there often; Muhae had spent days puzzling over that baffling aside.Was there still more to discover? If he left now it would be hard to return; in that case it would be better to dig as thoroughly as possible before leaving.Just then Joo-o, who had hurriedly pulled his pants straight, sidled over as if waiting for directions.He poked Muhae’s arm and pointed at the unfinished hologram.“That thing’s moving.”A palm-sized window in the lower right. A cursor blinked in its center.It was a prompt to enter something. Muhae had never heard of a password here — another complication.When he lightly touched the button at the edge of the window a microphone icon faintly appeared.It meant he had to hit the answer by voice, with no keypad in sight.“I’m hungry.”I’m hungry_Ziiing-!Joo-o’s chatter was entered. Muhae slapped the vibrating watch as if it were wrong, narrowed his eyes, and looked over.“You didn’t do that on purpose.”“Even if I’d picked up a rock instead of the chocolate, that much would fill the day’s calories. Don’t bother me and sit still.”“Hah. Tsk.”He was infuriatingly distractible. Was it already time to feed Joo-o dinner?But the sky before they’d entered had been free of red. The sun wasn’t near setting, so it wasn’t yet the time for his fussing.As his thought wandered off course, Muhae suddenly recalled a conversation he’d once had.“There’s a parcel to be picked up directly for Mr. Shin Dae-su.”“Where from?”“From where the sun sets.”The day he first learned about the indexing conditions of documents in the official residential area — that is, Taeul District — Muhae had recited that phrase he’d heard from Jeong Seonsaeng to the man with the water gun. Proper searching had begun from that moment.His heart began to pound. The sense of facing a great destiny washed over him again.“From where the sun sets…”Muhae cleared his throat and spoke.“…there.”from where the sun sets_from where the sun sets_Vrrrr-!A different, softer vibration thrummed his wrist than before.At the same time the small window vanished and all the hologram windows died at once.Whirrrr… a tiny gear turned somewhere.“Jin Muhae. The floor’s moving.”Joo-o whispered, the first to notice the slight motion. The inner corner of the floor began to slide, and a hollow hole slowly yawned open.Muhae drew a deep breath and approached. A long, narrow stairway descended. It was barely wide enough for an adult to pass.“This is…”“We’re on the third floor. I think we’re inside the wall.”The room was vertically long; all four sides enclosed with not a window in sight.As Muhae stepped toward the stairs, light poured into the previously pitch-black opening with a clack, clack, clack.Round lights along their path lit up one by one.

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