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‘It’ appeared suddenly.

The first person to unexpectedly spot it wasn’t a machine, but rather a human being, under a cloudless sky, like lightning striking down.

“…Huh?”

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

“No, there’s a person over there…”

Could it be that she couldn’t believe the scene reflected in her eyes at that moment?

The fingertips of her outstretched hand, in a state of panic, were filled with doubt about herself.

Thus, her companion thought to themselves, “This girl’s been chowing down on her anxiety meds and is now seeing things under the influence.”

Yeah, that was about all it amounted to.

Until, that is, she unconsciously cast her gaze in the direction her companion was pointing.

“…Huh?”

Like something stuck in the middle of a monitor, there was a black dot hovering in a way that felt more distant than far away.

Roughly rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, she looked at that spot again.

But… the black dot still held its ground.

Even after rubbing her eyes once more, it remained the same.

The dot’s size began to swell a bit.

What had once been merely a tiny speck started vaguely taking on a human shape right after that.

An alarmingly loud siren, the kind she’d only heard during her military service days, screeched into her brain.

Due to that, while her mind grew chaotic, the surroundings were disturbingly quiet.

It couldn’t be helped.

Aside from the humming motors in the turrets set up beside the container and her companion’s heavy breaths, there was no other sound.

The overwhelming clash of noise in her mind contrasted terribly with the utter silence around her.

It felt so horrific that she habitually bit her lip.

As she chewed her lip nervously… the number of dots began to increase.

From one to two.

From two to four.

From four to eight.

It was as if someone was mindlessly dotting a piece of paper, and the number of dots kept growing.

And when those dots began to look like lines… she couldn’t hold back any longer.

“…Sound the alarm.”

“Wha, what?”

“Sound the alarm! Right now!”

Only after those words did her reality seem to snap into focus.

The sound of her companion sprinting toward the alarm system echoed in her ears.

The thud of someone’s footsteps landing atop the container was oddly clear.

‘Those things…’

Do they never get tired of this?

Having brought in that many and turned them all into corpses by morning, you’d think they’d take a day off, but here they come again!

No, even if that part were acceptable, what in the sky is ‘that’… floating up there?

With a gulp, she swallowed down the knot lodged in her throat.

It was no wonder, as an ominous premonition crossed her mind.

If that was one of the abominable entities that had previously made infrequent appearances?

It had the head of an Another.

But what lay before her now… definitely looked like a human.

What’s more… it took the form of a seemingly innocent girl.

That made it all the more bizarre.

This wasn’t reality, and how was there a girl in a dress right in the middle of the realm teeming with Anothers desperately craving human flesh?

Even kimchi on a pizza would be more harmonious than that.

‘Dammit…’

Why did it have to pop up while I’m in this twisted place?

It was probably at that moment her thoughts culminated.

The same ear-piercing siren that had been ringing in her head rang out, claiming the forward base.

And thus began the reactions to that tortured sound.

Perhaps they had been in the middle of a meeting and bolted out at the sound of the siren, but with a resounding crash—something dropped and those who had introduced themselves as the expedition team clambered one by one onto the container.

From the first to scale the container, using enormous hands made of sand, to someone who perhaps had wings made of liquid pulling them from their back to leap atop it.

While their methods differed, the reactions once they climbed over the barricade were all the same.

Faces suggesting they hadn’t expected such a grand welcome.

“That’s…”

“Looks like that’s what it is.”

“It’s crazy… its similarity to a human is spine-chilling.”

“Just because it looks like that, don’t let your guard down. It’s surely a monster beneath that shell.”

“Who doesn’t know that? It’s just… fascinating.”

“Well, I can understand why. An Another mimicking a person. If you think about it, it’s like a tiger pretending to be a rabbit…”

Yet, amidst all this, if there was any solace, it was that despite everyone’s faces being stiff, they didn’t seem to be preyed upon by panic.

As proof, had it really been that serious, they wouldn’t be standing around chatting.

Each of them had their sights firmly fixed ahead, chatting casually, which felt strangely reassuring…

“…I’m sorry, but could the others besides us please go down? It would be fine for you to stay nearby, but it could be dangerous if things go awry.”

That statement, which at a glance sounded remarkably rude, nevertheless made perfect sense, and she nodded instinctively.

Yeah, that’s right.

What good would it do for extras like them to struggle in front?

Compared to them, each of those people was worthy of being called protagonists…

If they just trusted those individuals and waited below, maybe those terrible dots would be sorted out in a flash.

Yeah, it definitely would.

No matter how many Anothers there were, this side had a carefully chosen elite among the millions of humanity.

Though one or two of them might be a bit less than impressive…

Having been an expedition member for nearly a month, she knew.

That boy who looked like he hadn’t even joined the military yet was, in fact, a terrifying monster.

Every time he shot out bullets made of water, both lower and higher entities had crashed down in plumes of noise. His destructive capability was surely comparable to anyone else here.

“Well then, we’ll go down and wait as instructed.”

No reply came.

Only a gesture indicating ‘just do it’ sufficed.

As soon as they cautiously descended from the container—

“…It’s moving!”

The welcoming ceremony for the expedition team had begun.

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At that very moment, the expedition team, including Yoonseo, faced off against the group of Anothers that had appeared suddenly.

In the meantime, Dogun, who had already left the Association building where Chae-rim was located, had his mind spinning at an unusual speed.

And perhaps due to that, his left arm, hidden under his pants, was slightly pulsating… but Dogun remained oblivious to it.

Normally, he would have sensed it right away, but unfortunately, his state now couldn’t be called ‘normal.’

He was fully consumed with just one thought.

How could he overcome this situation?

Given the circumstances, there was no room for distractions or interruptions, so Dogun couldn’t notice the peculiar situation on his left arm.

“Haah…”

What am I supposed to do here?

What can I do here to reach my goal of meeting Yoonseo in person and persuading her?

He felt that staying inside the Association building wouldn’t change anything, so he bolted out, but it was just as grim and hopeless here as it had been inside.

‘Finding the location of the Artificial Rift shouldn’t be too difficult…’

The problem was still figuring out what to do next.

Even if he somehow learned the Rift’s location after searching some of the leads that sprang to mind, there was no way the humans guarding it would let him pass.

Having roughly confronted Chae-rim and bolted out, leveraging the fact that he was Chae-rim’s secretary would be utterly impossible.

Was there really no way?

In a moment of frustration, a weird thought suddenly crossed his mind, one that was quite amusing in retrospect.

Specifically… the object from a cartoon he had seen in his previous life.

A door that would transport you to the place you envisioned once you grasped the doorknob.

If only he had something like that, he wouldn’t need to be contemplating such troubles…

‘…Huh? Wait a minute.’

A cartoon?

 

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