Chapter 34, The Company (6)
Meow.
I heard a cat.
It was a cheerful cry that didn't fit the cruel scenery of the laboratory.
I turned my head, looking for the source.
Then I noticed something rubbing against my leg.
A chill ran through me.
This was clearly enemy territory.
From the moment I stepped inside, I hadn't lowered my guard even once.
My senses were at their sharpest.
And yet something had passed through those senses and reached my leg without me noticing.
If it had been an enemy, I would have been dead.
Feeling deeply unsettled, I looked down.
A cat was rubbing its head against my leg.
Its pitch-black fur was glossy.
From the purring sound it made, the cat seemed happy.
If the cat had only one head instead of five, and if I hadn't just read that research report, it would have looked cute enough that I would have gladly stroked its fur.
I read the experiment result again.
Mystery No. 1009.
Cat That Creates Cause and Effect.
I checked Lucy.
Mystery No. 1009 had been registered there as well.
That was shocking.
If the report was real, the Company had created a Mystery.
And Lucy recognized it as a true Mystery, not some Imitation Mystery.
A human had created a Mystery.
Even if three other Mysteries had been sacrificed in the process, that was something I never would have imagined possible before.
I silently felt horrified by the true power of the Company.
The cat continued pressing against me and crying.
Meow.
Hearing it, the others who had just finished cleaning up approached me and the cat.
“What is it, Oppa? Oh, a cat? It's cute. Why is there a cat like this here?”
Lee Yeonhee asked.
At the moment, all five of the cat's heads were buried against me.
From behind, it looked no different from an ordinary cat.
So she had mistaken it for one.
Lee Jinsung reacted similarly.
Hwa-ryeon, who could sense presences, and Arlin, who could detect mana, reacted very differently.
“Crazy... what the hell is that? Is the Company really insane?”
“The Company is even more disgusting than I imagined. Creating such a horrifying creature...”
“More importantly, it's been crying this whole time. Does it want something? That's strange.”
“Wait. It's been crying this entire time?”
At Lee Jinsung's words, I quickly checked the report.
It described the cat's abilities.
If the left head cried, misfortune would come.
If the right head cried, good fortune would come.
Lucy said the same thing, so it was real.
I checked which head had been crying this entire time.
Fortunately, it was the right head.
Did that mean good luck was coming?
But what counted as good luck?
And who exactly would receive it?
Would the Company receive the fortune because they had created and raised the cat?
Or would I receive it because I was currently beside the cat?
I felt like it would be the latter.
From the moment the cat first approached me, I had felt some kind of connection.
It was similar to what I had felt from the Shroud, Lucy, the book, and the flame.
It felt almost identical to the sensation I experienced when a Mystery became bound to me.
It seemed the cat had chosen me.
I almost reached out with my right hand to pet it.
Then I remembered that my right hand was currently covered in fire.
I used my left hand instead.
All five heads stuck out their tongues and licked my hand at the same time.
Was this what people called a dog-like cat?
Only then did Lee Yeonhee and Lee Jinsung realize the cat had five heads.
They screamed in shock.
Ignoring them, I made my decision.
I was taking the cat with me.
Its ability felt like gambling, but it could be extremely useful if used properly.
While petting the cat and organizing my plans, a question suddenly came to mind.
Why was a Mystery like this wandering around freely instead of being contained?
The Company couldn't possibly be stupid.
It was a small question I couldn't answer, so I quickly pushed it aside.
Then I spoke to the others.
“It doesn't look like there's anything else worth taking from this floor. It would have been nice if we'd left someone alive to question... but we killed everyone.”
“Their combat strength was weaker than I expected. Maybe they haven't realized we've invaded yet?”
“Who knows? Let's go to the next floor for now.”
After such a long and boring search, it seemed the others had gotten carried away by the sudden excitement.
Because they hadn't left a single person alive, we needed to visit another floor to find someone to interrogate.
After wandering through the laboratory, we found the elevator fairly quickly.
We stepped inside.
“Let's go to the floor directly above.”
I reached toward the button.
Suddenly...
Pop!
The button exploded.
The explosion was tiny, so no one was injured.
But the button was gone.
We couldn't go to the floor above anymore.
Confused, I reached toward the button for the floor below.
Pop!
That exploded too.
And it didn't end there.
Those first two explosions seemed to be signals.
Hundreds of elevator buttons suddenly exploded at once.
When the chain of explosions ended, only two buttons remained.
421st floor.
499th floor.
This wasn't natural.
It was clearly artificial.
