Chapter 04
“It was a tone of genuine bewilderment. Caught off guard by the unexpected reaction, I was flustered, but since things had come this far, I decided to just brazen it out.
‘Absolutely not. How could I readily become your student without even knowing what kind of person you are, Professor? Besides, I heard all your lectures were canceled.’
‘……Then what are we supposed to do?’
There was hardly any change in his expression, but was it my imagination? I even sensed a strange zeal in his eyes.
‘What’s this? Does he want to teach that badly?’
I hesitated for a moment. It was true that he had helped me, but I couldn’t completely trust him.
Judging by Kwon Tae-hyun’s reaction, it was clear he wasn’t human. I couldn’t discuss matters concerning the Agency or the rulebook in front of someone like him.
‘Finding a solution…… is the administration office’s job. Just as teaching is the professor’s job.’
‘…….’
Regaining his composure, Kwon Tae-hyun quickly chimed in.
‘It must be difficult for the student to speak freely in front of the professor too. Wouldn’t it be best if you stepped aside for a moment?’
Mallo stared at me silently. As if asking for my opinion.
‘It would be better if you went back to your lab, Professor. Thank you for seeing me here.’
To reassure him, I raised one hand in a small wave.
Mallo looked a bit surprised, but eventually turned away without resistance. And just as he was about to walk out the door, I saw him glance back at me and give a faint smile.
‘……How did you do that?’
As soon as he disappeared, Team Leader Kwon Tae-hyun slumped into his seat and asked.
‘Pardon?’
‘That, just now.’
Kwon Tae-hyun pointed to the door Mallo had exited through.
‘You mean the Professor?’
‘Hah, yeah, the ‘Professor’.’
He let out a scoff.
‘I’d been relieved, thinking he was holed up in the basement……, and then he suddenly shows up at the admin office, saying what? That he wants to teach?’
He seemed to have been quite tense; he was still sweating. I understood his feelings, but shouldn’t I be the one asking the questions here?
‘I’m just as much in the dark as you are. I just arrived here, and earlier I heard a strange voice in the hallway……’
‘Ah, right. What exactly are you?’
‘What am I?’
‘You’re not an agent, are you? Doesn’t seem like a prospector either. Don’t tell me…… are you a drifter?’
‘……That’s right.’
‘But…… you don’t seem very surprised?’
‘What do you mean by that?’
Team Leader Kwon Tae-hyun folded his arms and looked at me with suspicion.
‘The existence of the Citadel is hardly known to the general public. For someone who suddenly ended up in this strange place due to an accident, you seem far too calm.’
‘……Is that really important right now? Do you know what’s in the basement here? I’m barely managing to keep my sanity as it is.’
‘Well, setting that aside, how did you get into the Citadel? Did you have a derailment accident or something?’
‘I suppose…… you could say that.’
I averted my gaze and answered.
It’s true that the Citadel’s existence is largely unknown to the public, but it’s common knowledge that entering the Citadel without Agency permission is a criminal act.
I’d even heard that if you drift in due to an accident and fail to report it immediately, you can be fined for a minor offense.
‘Um, so Team Leader Kwon Tae-hyun…… you’re an agent affiliated with the Agency, right? Then can you get me out of here?’
Kwon Tae-hyun sighed.
‘Not right away. As you might have noticed, this isn’t a place you can just come and go from at any time.’
Kwon Tae-hyun took a notebook out of a drawer and flipped through it. Then, he tapped a specific point with the tip of his pen.
‘The earliest possible exit point is…… about a week from now, by this place’s time. The conditions are a bit tricky, but it’s not impossible.’
A week.
‘……And the return point?’
‘There’s a better than even chance you’ll…… return to your point of entry.’
That meant I could very well end up back in that warehouse where the loan sharks had shoved me in.
I had to be careful. I’d never heard of a forcibly inserted drifter returning unscathed. In other words, the fact that I’d even encountered an Agency agent was incredibly fortunate.
If I went back to that warehouse, nine times out of ten, I’d be shoved back in again. Would such fortune strike the same person twice?
I didn’t think so.
‘But Team Leader, I think I saw something in the news recently about people sometimes being forcibly pushed in here. You know, like illegal loan sharks pushing debtors into strange worlds and making them come up with money……’
Kwon Tae-hyun tilted his head.
‘Well, it’s certainly possible. There is money in it, after all. Anyone who knows about this place would never willingly walk in, though……’
‘Then what happens to those people? If they could request protection from the Agency……’
Just then.
Beeeeep.
At the unfamiliar sound, both I and Team Leader Kwon Tae-hyun were startled.
I frantically searched the pocket of my jeans where the sound came from. Clink. What I found was an object I had absolutely no memory of. A small, round, flat flip phone, the kind that might have been used in the early 2000s.
It had a dangling, glittering bead strap, and a sticker of a yawning cat was attached below the tiny LCD screen.
Carefully opening the flip phone, words appeared, blinking on the green main screen.
[WELCOME BACK, AMELIE!]
‘Amelie……?’
Startled, I muttered it aloud, and Team Leader Kwon Tae-hyun looked up.
‘May I see that for a moment?’
He held out his hand. After a moment’s hesitation, I handed the phone over to him. He examined the cute phone with his rough hands, turning it this way and that, and let out a deep sigh.
‘A week is probably out of the question, then.’
He said, handing the phone back to me.
‘What do you mean……’
‘I thought it was strange. There’s no way an ordinary drifter would fall into an underground lab and just calmly walk out on their own two feet.’
‘Could you please explain properly?’
Kwon Tae-hyun glanced at his wristwatch and nodded toward the door.
‘Let’s talk while we walk. The lights will be going out soon.’
