GDCG c284

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Chapter 284

note: I will post an epub on the main page soon after I post the chapters for today. I will be updating the epub file every 10-15 chapters or so

 

"With this many explorations piling up, I figured it was about time you discovered it……."

Ho Yuwon’s voice sounded strange.

It seemed filled with joy, yet also sorrow, dim fear, and trembling all at once. At the same time, it felt as though he were smoothly concealing all of it beneath the surface.

But one thing was certain.

'About time I discovered it?'

That meant the traces of the Azure Dragon Team I found in Segwang Special City were exactly what Ho Yuwon had been expecting.

Question: What do you know about the Deployment and Rescue Division Azure Dragon Team?

"Hm? Isn’t that something Roe Deer should be explaining to me? That’s the reason I planned this project in the first place. To uncover the truth behind a certain Catastrophe-Level supernatural disaster. So……."

Ho Yuwon grabbed my shoulders and stared into me.

"What did you discover in Segwang Special City?"

At that moment, I became certain.

"About the Azure Dragon Team."

This man had known about the Azure Dragon Team from the very beginning.

And it was deeply connected to Ho Yuwon’s purpose in exploring the 'sealed Segwang Special City'….

'Resentment, maybe?'

I couldn’t be certain, but in my mind the pieces naturally connected together.

The deep grudge Ho Yuwon held toward the Disaster Management Bureau was undoubtedly tied, in some way, to the vanished Azure Dragon Team.

After hesitating for a moment, I explained the truth exactly as it was.

Discovery at Segwang Technical High School:

Confirmed traces of the Azure Dragon Team within the school.

"Ah."

He stiffened.

"So you really could reach it through the subway station too……."

'As expected.'

The joy of someone whose prediction had been correct.

Question: What do you know about Segwang Technical High School?

"Hm? Daydream enters that high school every new moon, don’t they? After seeing the name, I figured it must’ve been connected to Segwang Special City."

Judgment: False

"......."

Ho Yuwon’s eyes darkened strangely.

He looked at me.

Question: What did Ho Yuwon do in Segwang Special City before the lockdown?

"……Are you curious?"

Affirmative.

"I used to do the same thing I do now."

His eyes shifted toward the plaque hanging in front of the waiting room.

Fox Counseling Room

"Counseling."

…….

"It was rewarding work. Because of that, there were certain high schools I regularly visited in order to counsel the students there."

…!

The Fox Counseling Room seemed to warp.

"I did many different things for my clients……."

And the next moment—

"But all of that is in the past now."

Everything returned to normal again.

Ho Yuwon smiled gently at me.

…….

Question: What is Ho Yuwon searching for in Segwang Special City?

"What I’m searching for."

Ho Yuwon’s voice lowered.

"It’s located in a facility connected to one of the subway stations in Segwang Special City."

…….

"Please continue exploring in the direction you’ve been heading now, Roe Deer. Explore the subway stations and infer what the outside situation was like. If you do that, I think you’ll eventually find it. And once you face it……."

A smile spread across his lips once more.

"At that point, even if I say nothing, you’ll immediately understand what Ho Yuwon has been searching for."

…….

Question: Ho Yuwon’s feelings toward the Azure Dragon Team

"Who knows. I suppose I dislike them? I hate the Disaster Management Bureau, after all."

But the voice giving that answer was strangely dry.

And I sank deeper into confusion.

The Azure Dragon Team.

Segwang Special City.

And… Ho Yuwon.

***

That evening.

"Grapes."

At last, I finally met with the Disaster Management Bureau agents.

The other team members had already left the Fox Counseling Room for interviews and protective supervision related to the Dream Essence Collectors.

So I was the only one there as 130666, but honestly, there were far more urgent things I needed to discuss, so there wasn’t even time to feel awkward before I jumped up to greet them….

"……First, let’s move somewhere else."

The agents’ expressions were grim.

Under the cognitive distortion provided by the dokkaebi fire, I followed them once more into a nearby Disaster Management Bureau container.

I didn’t even have time to worry about things like, 'At this rate, won’t the Disaster Management Bureau discover where I am?'

"…Grapes. You see, we found something."

These agents had actually raided the secret archive on Basement Level 33 of the Gangwon Disaster Management Bureau branch to retrieve records related to Segwang Special City.

'So that’s why they so readily pulled out of the exploration…!'

Question: Concern regarding disciplinary punishment if discovered

"Agent Grapes doesn’t need to worry about that……."

"Yeah. We already got punished. Salary reduction!"

"......."

Agent Bronze pressed a hand to his forehead….

"Anyway, that’s not the important part. What matters is what we found, right?"

Agent Choi grinned out of habit.

But cold sweat had gathered at his temples.

"…When we checked the lockdown records, there were censored terms even inside the secret archive."

The agents’ faces darkened as they added that it was a bad sign.

"But we managed to piece together the general sequence of events. Listen……."

And Agent Choi began explaining.

The Disaster Management Bureau’s response records leading up to the notation written on the paper: Catastrophe-Level Supernatural Disaster – Special City Deletion.

"At first, a request for support came from the branch office. The Disaster Management Bureau branch located inside that special city itself."

Support Request from ■■ Special City Branch:

Investigation of newly discovered supernatural disaster.

Rapidly increasing influence radius, projected casualty growth severe.

"Naturally, under Bureau protocol, they first tried to determine what kind of disaster it was. …But then, three veteran White Tiger Team agents who entered the special city disappeared within two hours."

Communication lost, all attempts to determine whereabouts failed.

: Declared missing.

But that was only the beginning.

"Five hours later, the branch office inside the special city itself lost contact too."

…….

"And after that, it says no one from that branch was ever seen again. …This was the final recorded transmission."

Unknown outgoing call: Don’t come! Don’t come here! This is impossible for us to han— (static interference)

Transmission terminated.

*Identified sounds: shattering glass, screams, the roar of something heavy collapsing, music box melody, ecstatic murmuring.

"After that, all records about the nature of the supernatural disaster itself were censored. Except for the casualty section."

Estimated dead: 620,000 people.

"That all happened… in just a single day."

…….

Hell had descended upon an entire region.

"Once the Bureau grasped the situation, they urgently prohibited agents from entering the special city."

In a situation they couldn’t control, they had likely tried at least to prevent further agent casualties.

"…But here’s the thing."

Agent Choi smiled bitterly.

"It looks like other agents collectively took leave and infiltrated the area on their own. Trying to save whoever they still could. …More than half of the entire Deployment and Rescue Division went in."

Ah.

"And."

Agent Choi lowered his head slightly.

"Not a single one of them came back out. Not until the entire special city was sealed away together with the Catastrophe-Level supernatural disaster."

…….

In the end… faced with enormous casualties and the terror of nationwide spread, the Disaster Management Bureau must have decided to seal away the Catastrophe-Level disaster.

By erasing it, so that it would never be recognized.

"That’s how the Deployment and Rescue Division ended up with almost no personnel left."

…….

"So apparently, ‘to reduce the sense of discrepancy,’ that division was completely dissolved and reorganized together with ‘another team that handled similar duties.’ But all the team names there were fully censored too."

Agent Bronze and Agent Choi.

The two of them looked at me.

"And that’s why we’re asking."

A strained smile spread across Agent Choi’s face.

"As you continue exploring that special city… could you also search for traces of the Disaster Management Bureau agents?"

Hoo.

Traces confirmed.

“...!”

During this exploration, traces of Disaster Management Bureau agents were discovered within a facility inside the Hanbit Library.

Items: shattered glass lantern and letter

"What?"

And then.

Team Name: Deployment and Rescue Division Azure Dragon Team

Agent Choi’s eyes darkened into blue.

"Azure Dragon Team."

…….

"Yeah. So the Deployment and Rescue Division originally belonged there. Haha, Jaekwang, no wonder our workload was so insane…. We were doing the jobs of two teams. Right?"

"Agent."

"No wonder. If you’re going with the Four Symbols, of course Azure Dragon should be there too. But even though only that team was missing, none of us ever thought it was strange. Never even made a joke about it…."

"......."

"They must’ve deliberately made people unable to think about it."

Agent Bronze spoke heavily.

"…A disaster that caused over six hundred thousand casualties in a single day. It was probably a necessary measure. …For the sake of saving more lives."

Logically, he was right.

'The Disaster Management Bureau branch inside the special city lost all contact and everyone there was presumed dead.'

The problem was that this was the perspective of those outside.

'…For the people trapped inside while still alive, it was basically being buried alive.'

And there was still someone who remembered all of it.

'Ho Yuwon.'

No matter what method he had used, Ho Yuwon clearly knew about Segwang Special City and the disaster that occurred there.

In that sense—

Perhaps Ho Yuwon’s hatred toward the Disaster Management Bureau began the moment they decided to seal away Segwang Special City.

'…Hoo.'

I honestly didn’t know what emotion I was supposed to feel.

Maybe the only reason I wasn’t even more shaken was because I was 130666, my physical body already collapsed beyond maintaining proper form.

'……For now, the urgent matter first.'

Let’s focus on what I can do.

Requesting confirmation and analysis

: Torn talisman

"…A talisman?"

It was directly connected to Segwang Technical High School.

Discovery location:

Inside the Azure Dragon Team’s glass lantern

"...!"

I quickly explained, as concisely and clearly as possible, about the Azure Dragon Team’s letter and the condition of Segwang Technical High School.

Tension rose across the agents’ faces as they listened.

"Wait. Can you describe that talisman in more detail?"

Immediately, I drew the talisman from memory.

The half-torn shape that had been inside the glass lantern.

As well as the partially recognizable lines from the completed talismans plastered all over the fifth floor.

Protection (護)

"......."

Agent Bronze’s pupils widened as he stared at the shape I formed from smoke.

"This is… an anti-evil talisman."

Anti-evil talisman (辟邪).

"It’s made to ward off wicked things and protect a place or a person."

"Jaekwang, have you ever used something like this in the field?"

"No. Talisman techniques like these probably fell out of use once the production of Glass Hands increased. I was taught it was because of stability and cost-efficiency issues."

Agent Bronze raised a finger and traced the smoky lines I had drawn.

"They’re powerful, but the price is equally severe. Since they invoke supernatural phenomena directly, they place a heavy burden on the agent using them."

"......."

"And… this wasn’t even created in a commonly used format to begin with."

Agent Bronze’s blue eyes looked at me through the smoke.

"Could you describe what kind of paper or ink was used? Even a rough color or feeling would help."

Source of the paper: scrap paper

Library checkout slip from a library used as a sanctuary by some great existence

"…! Based on a supernatural disaster…. Wait, that…"

Agent Bronze suddenly stopped speaking and quietly examined the remaining lines of the torn talisman again….

"When it comes to talismans and sacred texts, Jaekwang is probably among the best in the entire Black Tortoise Team. Comes from where he used to work."

'…Used to work?'

But before I could continue the thought, Agent Bronze lifted his head just as he had said.

"You said this was found torn apart? Inside the lantern?"

Affirmative.

"…Was there perhaps no dokkaebi fire inside?"

……!

Absence of dokkaebi fire

Only traces of flame remained to guide the way

"…I see."

Agent Bronze’s expression darkened.

"It seems this anti-evil talisman used dokkaebi tricks powered by the supernatural phenomena within the special city, instead of borrowing power from some other divine entity."

Dokkaebi tricks.

"The shattered glass lantern Agent Grapes discovered—was it larger or smaller than the ordinary lantern you received before?"

…!

Affirmative.

It had definitely seemed smaller and more ornate than mine. Its characteristics were….

"A lantern consecrated specifically for its owner’s fate."

"Yes."

Agent Choi clenched his hand.

"It seems that an agent who had passed the 'dokkaebi trial' borrowed the power of their dokkaebi fire to protect that high school… and then the talisman broke apart."

…….

If that was true, then—

Request: Recreation of the talisman

"...!"

An attempt to restore Segwang Technical High School to the state that agent had originally tried to protect.

"That’s possible."

Light returned to Agent Choi’s eyes as he looked at me.

"But we’ll have to do it unofficially."

Affirmative.

"Good. Then we still have options. Let’s go."

The agents rose from their seats.

'Wait, if we’re heading to one of the Disaster Management Bureau workshops, following them might be a bit difficult for me….'

Wouldn’t it be awkward for the spiritual creature candidate who vanished after leaving behind only a letter to suddenly show up? Besides, I couldn’t exactly wander the streets looking like this.

Since there still hadn’t been any news from the reptilian aliens, I was just about to offer to at least bring a carrier when—

"Mm. No, where we’re going now is fine."

Huh?

When I turned my head, surprisingly, even Agent Bronze was wearing the faintest smile instead of sighing.

"We’re going to Jaekwang’s old workplace."

…!

"Heard of it? It’s an extraordinarily spiritual bookstore."

***

Leejeong Bookstore

One of the many sources the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau used to obtain sacred supernatural artifacts.

Due to a long-standing cooperative relationship dating back to the late Joseon era, agents would sometimes even introduce clerks to the bookstore owner whenever help was needed.

'And one of those clerks had been Agent Bronze during his childhood.'

Good lord.

I raised my head and looked at the bookstore.

Beneath a clear night sky lit by a bright crescent moon and sparse scattered stars, there stood a single small, tranquil shop.

Lee

Jeong

Book

Store

The glass door was old and slightly cloudy, yet polished smooth and carefully maintained. Hanging from it was a metal bookmark wind chime.

A tiny space standing in complete contrast to the vast Hanbit Library we had just explored.

"Boss. Dongi’s here."

Jingle.

With a light ringing sound, the three of them stepped into the small bookstore.

Into a sparkling silence, and the mystery of dust.

 

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