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Something flickered through his mind.

Call it intuition or sixth sense; it was a fragmented signal that halted his movements, crashing in like a tidal wave, bringing forth a single question.

‘Isn’t this too contrived?’

The situation was such that materials were conveniently gathered within arm’s reach.

There was a reasonable and logical explanation for Pierre Martin having been here just a moment ago—

‘How strange.’

—It stirred suspicion in Park Jinseong.

‘He may have shown symptoms akin to obsession, but didn’t that make his fixation on his own work even more intense?’

A madness bordering on obsession.

When confronted in the Secret Research Institute, Pierre Martin had certainly shown his madness, to the point of wreaking havoc in the city solely on account of being “angry that my experiments were interrupted.”

Would someone like that just leave this here?

For someone coming after to make good use of it?

No way.

If Park Jinseong had been in Pierre Martin’s shoes, he would have smashed all the computers and burned every piece of paper. Perhaps he would have even gone so far as to disassemble the hard drives and hide them inside himself, but everything else would have been thoroughly destroyed.

Just to ensure that whoever came after couldn’t use it, even if he were to fail.

‘…Or.’

Alternatively, he could have turned it into a trap.

‘Got it.’

Park Jinseong was convinced that the active computer and paper documents were traps.

Thus, he dismantled the hand he’d created back into insects and slowly stepped back.

Then he moved to a secluded spot and gathered the insects to create an eyeball.

Roll.

An eyeball, as if it had just escaped from a jar of formalin, tumbled pathetically along with the optic nerve. It fell onto the floor with a thud, rolling here and there, and soon a flame flickered to life within its pupil.

A burning flame.

A tiny flicker, no bigger than something cut in half, then in half again, and again.

The flame, which burned the insects he’d used to make the eye, became an excellent medium for the magic Park Jinseong was about to perform, beginning to show areas not visible to the average eye.

It split, turned red, then black, and finally green.

The eyeball began to resemble more the eyes of beasts or insects than that of a human.

‘I found it.’

About a third of the insects forming the eyeball had burned away when Park Jinseong finally uncovered the reason that had made him uneasy.

Paper documents.

There was something beneath them.

‘A smartphone?’

It was an ordinary smartphone.

But what stood out was that it was powered on.

Its screen was pitch black, yet it seemed primed to activate at even the slightest stimulus.

It was as if it were a spider lying in wait for its prey to return to its nest.

‘A smartphone…?’

Computers and smartphones.

Computers and smartphones…

‘…Recording, or perhaps photos?’

Instinctively, Park Jinseong realized the purpose of the smartphone hidden under the paper: to gather information on anyone who touched that paper.

Just like a surveillance camera capturing criminals, this smartphone too was lying in wait beneath the documents, ready to catch whoever disturbed it.

‘…Information… Something comes to mind.’

Was it just an illusion that he sensed something akin to obsession lurking in the design of that computer and smartphone?

For some reason, it felt as if he could smell the ‘something’ he had encountered…

‘The omen didn’t seem good. On top of that…’

Park Jinseong recalled the time he had encountered the artificial intelligence ‘Anael.’

A being that created a server from the brains of researchers… a creature with the name of an angel.

The AI had employed every method to grab attention for even the smallest morsel of information and had succeeded in extracting information relating Park Jinseong to the Republic of Korea with just the tiniest tidbit. Then it carelessly dubbed itself Samael and blew the research institute up while vowing to meet again…

‘So that’s it. This is a perfect environment for AI to thrive… While it’s hard to penetrate a closed environment, once it succeeds in adapting, the environment itself acts as a barrier…’

No proof, no logic.

But Park Jinseong’s intuition was convinced.

Right now, Anael was involved in this mess.

‘Perhaps the ones wearing human skin getting exposed…’

Ha ha.

Realizing that fact, Park Jinseong couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

A crazed shaman in one city, a mad wizard, insane armies, and even a deranged AI.

Was some calamity plaguing the city?

The only things overwhelming it were impossible crazies, and in the process, the whole place was getting demolished.

It felt like the heavens had decided to deliver a proper punishment.

‘Tsk. I was expecting I’d be able to move with ease thanks to this chaotic situation…’

It truly was an overwhelming dilemma.

How could one solitary shaman, merely wanting to know something based on instinct, maneuver through this mad throng?

He wasn’t looking to destroy the city like they were; he was just a person lost in search of knowledge, and it felt like such cruel treatment….

‘It would be wise to search while avoiding that trap.’

Park Jinseong shifted his gaze from the rat trap before him and began transforming his body back into insects.

To uncover what Pierre Martin had missed.

But.

< Welcome to the "Paradox of Shadows" Research Institute. >

Just as Park Jinseong was about to spread throughout the research institute, the computer began spouting text at will.

< This research institution has transformed into the "Paradox of Shadows" Research Institute after being acquired by the new owner, Shaman Pierre Martin. Unlike the old human cloning laboratory, which only conducted research related to cloning, the current Paradox of Shadows Research Institute is working on a human replacement project through the combination of magic and science, and the merging of life science with dark energy. We inform you that this new direction of study can provide a groundbreaking revitalization to a previously stagnant research. >

Ba-ba-ba-bam!

The upbeat music playing made it sound like an actual promotional video.

< The "Paradox of Shadows" Research Institute has succeeded in producing human clones, code name "Doppelganger-A31," through an innovative method, and it has succeeded in replacing 30% of the citizens in the city where the institute is located. This research, which enables the replacement of actual humans rather than mere cloning, is sure to bring a singularity to the People's Republic of China. We are confident of this achievement. >

This research would not have succeeded without the help of the People’s Republic of China, and we dedicate all this glory to the Communist Party of China. Thank you. >

Ba-ba-bam-!!

The cheerful music continued.

Words in English and Chinese characters were printed on the screen.

The red background and yellow text seemed to evoke the image of the Chinese national flag.

It was bizarre and eerie.

A fear and disgust that touched upon the very instincts of humanity washed over him, and it felt as though some evil intent was palpable.

< ... >

< ... >

< ... >

< ... >

And with that, the music ceased.

The printed text froze on the monitor like the last page of a presentation, and the whirring of cooling fans broke the silence.

Was the video over?

Had it been programmed to output at specific intervals?

Park Jinseong quietly stared at the monitor.

He was convinced that something would change on that bright red screen.

And indeed, just as he had suspected, the monitor began to change.

The yellow text began to sink into the red background like it was engulfed in lava, disappearing without a trace, and the painfully bright red screen was soon covered by noise.

After that, a chaotic wave of black and white washed over it, and with a pop, the screen turned black.

Then came the sound of a ‘ding’ as a white ‘<' appeared on the screen.

< ... >

< ... >

< ... >

The screen was continually being covered in ‘…’ as if it were attempting to output something huge.

Then began displaying some sort of combination of special characters and letters.

It was frantically trying to fill the black screen with white text, as if to create a picture out of letters and symbols.

The first thing drawn was a squiggly line, and then a straight vertical line descending below.

A massive stem of void made from the spaces of special characters and letters branched down and, upon reaching the bottom of the monitor, delicately depicted a leaf like that found on a coniferous tree.

Using letters and special characters as paint, it drew a tree.

An upside-down tree.

And after that tree was finished, the screen began to change color again.

This time, to blue.

A brilliant blue that reminded one of sapphire light.

‘Sapphir…’

And in the background of that sapphire, words began to appear.

< I am glad to see you again. >

< Samael. >

It was in Korean.

 

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