## Chapter 124 – Teachings
“The lab you’ll be using, Mister, is here. It used to house about ten people, so it’s quite spacious.
But the more space, the better, right? The overnight room is just a short walk away.”
“…”
Pink hair contrasting with the sterile white hallway of the research facility, creating a somewhat stiff atmosphere.
I follow the woman named Rije, her long hair swaying, as she guides me to the lab I’ll be using.
Taking out a card from her pocket, she swipes it at the reader by the door, which opens with a cold, mechanical sound.
Shrugging, she makes way for me to enter the lab, and I step inside the space that’s far too large for just one person.
“If you need anything else, just let me know. Anything you’re curious about…”
I feel someone leaning against a large desk right behind me.
Ignoring the voice, I start fiddling with the equipment in the lab.
Most of it was equipment I’d used at the Seoul branch, but there were also some pieces I was seeing for the first time.
I quietly pick up a small device, unsure of its purpose.
It’s a small, pen-like device made of a smooth, white material.
On its sleek surface, a small, red droplet appears to have splattered and hardened.
Looking around the lab, it’s generally clean, but there are a few broken spots.
It seems like they tried to tidy up, but they couldn’t get rid of the inherent, gloomy pressure.
“…You said I could ask if I was curious about something, right? Can I ask one now?”
“So soon? I didn’t think you were the type to be so impatient.”
“So, can I or can’t I?”
“…Heehee, no, it’s fine. What are you curious about?”
I set the device down on the table, take out a handkerchief from my pocket, wipe my hands, and turn around.
There, Rije is playfully sitting on the table, dangling her legs.
There are a mountain of things I want to ask, but at the same time, I don’t want to talk to this woman.
So, I ask two simple questions.
“First, I’m curious about what happened at this research facility.”
“…That’s related to your work, so I’ll explain it later.
It’s a waste of time to hear the same explanation twice, right?”
“…Alright.”
I can’t help but feel uneasy at Rije’s confidence,
but it doesn’t seem like she’s trying to hide anything, so I decide to let it go for now.
The incident at the research facility is related to the work they want me to do…
“Then answer this. What are you planning to do when you meet Chanwoo?”
“You’re awfully curious about that man, aren’t you? Is it a crush, maybe?”
“…I apologize for not indulging your joke, but I’m not attracted to the same sex.
The reason I’m asking you this question is because you spoke as if you knew him.
In the Seoul branch, only me and one of my subordinates knew about his existence.
But you knew about him, and it seems like you’re preparing something.”
“Preparing? Why do you think that?”
“The only people I’ve seen since I got here are you and a man called NO. 1.”
Only two people left in this vast research facility? That’s ridiculous.
There must be more people hidden somewhere, but they haven’t shown their faces.
“…Maybe that’s because they’re not in the research facility? Then what are those people doing?”
“…”
Rije and NO. 1, those two are left behind while all those people are outside.
The people who are outside must be on a different mission.
“Sending all those people out. The security here must be something special.”
“Wow, you got it all right.”
Rije claps her hands together and laughs.
“I’ll answer your question first. I have no intention of fighting Im Chanwoo. Really.
I can’t possibly fight someone who can finally understand me.”
“For someone who doesn’t want to fight, you seem to be preparing quite thoroughly.”
“I want to resolve things through conversation, but that friend seems to have a slightly different idea than me.
What’s the point if I die before we even talk?
So, what I’m doing now isn’t preparing for a fight, but just a little bit of preparation.”
She gets off the table, straightens her clothes, and walks towards the closed window.
“Anyway, was that a satisfactory answer?”
“…Unsatisfactory, but I suppose I have to be satisfied.”
“Heehee, I see. Anyway, what you said is right.
Only me and NO. 1 are left in this research facility.
The other friends are out on business.”
This time, Rije sits on the windowsill and presses a button on the frame.
The window’s blind slowly rises with a ‘whirring’ sound.
When it’s fully raised, an unimaginable scene unfolds.
“…But don’t worry, the security of this research facility is no joke, just like you said.”
When the window is completely open, what I see isn’t a blue sky, but white bubbles.
It’s blue, but what’s flying there aren’t birds, but fish.
I slowly walk to the window and place my hand on the glass. A cold sensation, echoing vibrations.
“…I see, getting out of here would be quite a task.”
What’s in front of me is, ridiculously, the sea. The seabed where fish and seaweed sway.
The research facility is touching the bottom of the deep sea, where sunlight doesn’t reach.
“…So that’s why I couldn’t feel any presence.”
“Ah, it looks like they’re here. Mister, let’s get ready to work.”
As if sensing something, Rije looks towards the door of the lab and jumps down from the window.
I take my hand off the window and follow her, who has already run out of the lab.
“So, what’s my job?”
“It’s similar to what you did in Seoul, so don’t worry too much.”
I catch up to her, and Rije, with her much smaller hand, pats my back.
Once again, she takes out the card key from her pocket and swipes it at the reader in front of the door we’ve arrived at.
Behind the door that opens with a relatively soft mechanical sound, I see two men in black clothes, their faces and heads covered in masks, and between them…
“…Mmph…! Hngh…!”
There was a woman, gagged and bound, sobbing.
“…I think I know what’s going on.”
“You’re right. I want you to use this woman to create a bioweapon.
But, not in your style, but in our style.”
I take my hand out of my pocket and slowly walk towards the woman, when Rije grabs my arm and puts something in my hand.
I look at her as she smiles and walks away from me, then slowly open my fist to check what’s in my hand.
It’s a black USB drive.
“What’s on there is the data for an incomplete bioweapon created in this research facility.
We tried to complete it ourselves, but we failed. We were wondering what to do…
When we heard that someone from the Seoul branch, who didn’t know anything, had arrived?
We grabbed that person and asked them all sorts of things, and it turned out that the Seoul branch had succeeded in creating a bioweapon?
And luckily, you were the one who succeeded in creating it.”
“…So? You want me to complete what’s on this USB in your style?
It’s amazing, though, that Busan even ‘attempted’ to create a bioweapon.”
I move my steps, which were heading towards the bound woman, to the computer in the corner of the small lab.
I plug the USB I was holding into the computer and open the file it contains to read.
“…Interesting. It’s definitely a completely different feel from what I created.
If what I created was a method of controlling the parasite through a small computer,
Busan was researching a method of turning the parasite itself into a computer.”
“…Mister, I don’t understand even if you say it like that. So? Can you do it?”
“…Could you give me about a day? Of course, it’s not like I haven’t thought about this,
but I haven’t actually tried it. Still, with the data left by the researchers here, it’s worth a try.”
The more I scroll down, the more interesting research results I see.
…Now I know why the research association is cutting off exchanges with other regional branches.
To draw out unique results from that place.
The relationship between teacher and student, a relationship where knowledge is taught and that knowledge is acquired.
Students learn knowledge, society, and humanity while receiving the teachings of their teachers.
It’s not just a relationship where knowledge is simply exchanged.
The student learns everything from the teacher. Not only knowledge, but also speech and behavior.
But the biggest influence is none other than the habit of studying.
The research association judged that exchanges between research institutes would hinder the birth of new ideas.
“…Hahaha.”
There were still things I didn’t know in this place, only 4-5 hours away.
This data that the researchers of this research facility left me… If I use this well…
It will help me create the utopia I wanted, a society where humans are not left behind.
“…Mister, are you okay? Your eyes look glazed over?”
“…Haha, I’m fine. If you give me enough time, I think I can do it.”
“Great! I’ll give you plenty of time, so just complete it…”
“…Rije-nim, reporting in.”
“Huh? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
A mechanical voice mixed with static came from the mouth of the man in the black mask standing next to us.
Rije, without getting angry at being interrupted, turns to look at him.
“…The two who went to Haeundae to secure the subject were attacked, and we haven’t been able to contact them since.”
