Chapter 37

Chapter 37, Harvest (1)

Lee Jinsung, whom Arlin had temporarily held in the air using magic, rapidly fell toward the ground.

Then he gradually slowed.

By the time he was less than a hand's width above the ground, he was moving so slowly that he might as well have been stopped.

“Somehow, everyone survived.”

“...Good work, everyone. Things became dangerous at the end, but we accomplished our goal.”

I spoke in an exhausted voice.

Everyone except the unconscious Lee Jinsung seemed to agree.

If I hadn't possessed regression...

If I hadn't possessed the Tag...

The Company would have been an enemy with no clear answer.

Unlike the enemies we had faced before, they weren't a group relying entirely on Mysteries.

They used technology.

And despite possessing that kind of power, they were also cautious enough to prepare traps.

They had waited for us to reach the 500th floor.

Then they bombarded us with everything they had.

We only survived because the Medieval Tag was practically a perfect counter to the Company.

Without it, we probably wouldn't have found an answer even after trying more than ten times.

Because of the Medieval Tag, the Company's careful preparations became their own downfall.

“Now... it's over.”

“We won.”

Victory.

Right.

We had won.

Because of the overwhelming presence of the dragon, the feeling hadn't fully reached me yet.

But the fact remained.

The Company branch in front of us had lost most of its military force in a single battle.

It had lost two valuable Imitation Mysteries.

If that wasn't a defeat for the Company, what was?

And with the Mirror of the Other Side destroyed, the Company's true building buried inside the Other-Side Space should have disappeared too.

Wait.

“Is that really true?”

Thinking about it, I started doubting whether the building had really collapsed together with the Other-Side Space.

If everything inside the Other-Side Space had truly been destroyed when the mirror shattered...

Then what about the dragon?

It had appeared in reality.

And how had we escaped?

If the entire building had collapsed together with the space, we shouldn't have been fine either.

Thoughts I hadn't considered while being swept up in the situation began connecting one after another.

I opened Lucy and reread the description of the mirror.

No matter how many times I read it, Lucy said nothing about what happened after the mirror's main body was destroyed.

Then there was a possibility.

“...Let's enter the Company again.”

My companions blinked at me.

Then they nodded.

They probably didn't fully understand what I meant.

Even so, they trusted me and followed.

A warm feeling filled me.

Supported by the others, I entered the Company again.

Lee Yeonhee still hadn't stopped healing my leg.

Judging by the speed of the regeneration, it would probably be fully restored in around four days.

Considering how quickly she was growing, perhaps it wouldn't even take three.

I repeatedly thanked her.

Then we crossed through the Company's automatic doors.

What we saw inside was shocking.

The 1st floor, which had been completely empty before, was now crowded with people.

Every one of them wore a card around their neck.

It had the exact same format as Kim Hyunwoo's ID card.

They were all Company employees.

“There may be a fight, so don't lower your guard.”

I was pleased that my suspicion had been correct.

My companions prepared for combat with stiff expressions.

Company employees moved busily around us.

I reached the center of the crowd.

Then I drew my gun.

Some of the employees noticed something strange and turned toward me.

I immediately fired into the air.

Bang!

The sudden gunshot made everyone look toward the source.

Dozens of pairs of eyes gathered around me.

I calmly spoke.

“Who here has the highest position?”

“...”

“Who among you can confidently say, 'I know the Company's structure better than anyone else. I know what is on every floor'?”

No one answered.

I summoned fire from my right hand.

Blue flames carrying a strangely sacred feeling wrapped around my body.

The surrounding temperature began rising.

Thirty degrees.

Forty.

Fifty.

It continued climbing.

Just before the temperature passed fifty degrees and reached a level dangerous to life, several people raised their hands while sweating.

There were four of them.

“Tell me your positions. Give me a short introduction too.”

A faint killing intent entered my voice.

Two of them answered like new employees standing in an interview room.

They seemed to understand why I was asking.

“I'm... Otsuge. My position is deputy manager, but I can confidently say I know the Company's structure better than anyone here.”

“That bastard has only worked here for three years! He got the deputy manager position through connections! I'm a department manager, and I've worked at the Company for eleven years! I definitely know more than him!”

The two men wore business suits.

The remaining two wore white laboratory coats.

They spoke hesitantly, their faces filled with both fear and confusion.

“My name is Huei. I'm a senior researcher. And... ah! I developed the zombie virus!”

At first, he had been slouching nervously.

Then he suddenly shouted with confidence.

He proudly announced that he had developed the zombie virus.

The two Company employees who had introduced themselves before him stared at him in horror.

Their expressions practically said, Why would you admit that?

I nodded without changing my expression.

Then I looked at the final researcher.

She was the only woman among the four.

She was also young.

Judging by her appearance alone, she seemed to be in her mid-twenties.

From the moment I appeared, she had remained unusually calm.

She opened her mouth.

“I'm Noah. I'm a chief researcher. I developed the antidote for the zombie virus. I also developed the Status Window. More importantly...”

Her eyes moved toward the flame surrounding my body.

“I led the team for the project that developed the Imitation Mystery you're using.”

So she was capable.

The names here were quite international.

Then again, this was supposedly the Company's First Branch.

It would actually have been strange if it wasn't international.

I memorized their names.

Then I moved the flame.

The blue fire struck Huei, the senior researcher.

In an instant, nothing remained but burning bones and ash.

The maximum temperature of my flame was currently around 1,300 degrees.

That was at least a hundred degrees hotter than lava.

It still wasn't enough to completely melt bone.

But it was more than enough to burn a human to death.

Huei died without even getting the chance to scream.

That became the signal.

The flame split into thirteen streams.

Like snakes hunting prey, the blue flames crawled across the ground and swallowed the gathered Company employees and researchers.

It took less than five minutes for everyone to die.

Everyone except the three standing in front of me.

I walked past the two stunned Company employees and the researcher whose thoughts I couldn't read.

Then I pressed the elevator button.

“Get in.”

“Y, yes!”

“...Understood!”

When I entered with my companions, they quickly followed.

The elevator had five hundred buttons.

I looked at them.

“Noah. From now on, tell me every floor containing a Mystery. The two behind you will immediately report if Noah leaves anything out or gives false information.”

After saying that, I raised my hand.

The flame pointed toward the two Company employees.

They flinched in terror.

There wasn't even confusion over why I was threatening them.

Only fear.

They looked perfect for what I needed.

“If we search all five hundred floors and neither of you reports anything, I'll kill you.”

“But if either of you discovers even one thing she left out, I'll spare you.”

“...Understood.”

“I'll... do my best.”

They stared at Noah with determined expressions.

Noah calmly accepted their gazes.

Then she asked me a question.

“Should I start now?”

“Yes.”

“Then I'll begin by listing the floors that contain Mysteries.”

She listed fewer than ten floors.

That sounded like a small number.

But considering that we were talking about Mysteries, it was actually quite a lot.

I checked the two Company employees in case Noah had lied.

They were biting their lips tightly.

At the very least, it didn't seem like Noah was hiding anything.

We visited the floors she mentioned one by one.

First, the 213th floor.

It had been used to research weather.

There, we found a Mystery called [Talisman That Stops Rain].

It could be used once per month.

When activated, it stopped rainfall for one day.

It didn't create rain.

It only stopped rain that was already falling.

So I couldn't immediately think of any useful application.

“It should still be valuable as research material. I'm curious how it stops rain.”

Arlin liked it anyway.

No matter how useless its ability seemed, a Mystery was still a Mystery.

We carefully placed the talisman inside a bag.

The next floor was the 249th.

There, we found a Mystery called [Perfect Cleanser].

When used, it perfectly killed every bacterium.

Unfortunately, that included beneficial bacteria inside the human body.

It didn't seem suitable for use on people.

Besides, something like this should have been called a sterilizer, not a cleanser.

Most of the Mysteries inside the Company were like that.

Whenever another useless Mystery appeared, Hwa-ryeon and Lee Yeonhee made awkward expressions.

Arlin, meanwhile, looked delighted as she examined every Mystery we acquired.

The journey of revenge had ended.

Now...

Our journey of harvesting had begun.