## Chapter 131 – Attraction (7)
“…”
“…”
Inside the luxurious elevator, filled with soft music and the gentle, consistent hum of its mechanics.
I, Seohee, Sua, and Nabi were huddled together in the ambiguous space that was neither too wide nor too narrow.
The elevator carrying us had been descending for five minutes already.
“…Um, is it okay for us to find this place so easily?”
“I don’t know either.”
Nabi, squatting in the corner of the elevator and looking back and forth between the three of us,
voiced her doubts about things being resolved too smoothly, asking for our opinions.
Seohee, who was leaning against the side, stroked Nabi’s hair, sharing the same suspicion.
Sua was quietly looking down at the floor, but she probably had the same thought as them.
The thought that ‘this elevator might be a trap set by the enemy.’
After entrusting the tattooed man who suddenly attacked me to Minjung,
I immediately took the remaining group and was searching for the path leading to the hidden area beneath the lab.
While running down the hallway after being separated from Minjung, a wall we passed made a ‘whirring’ sound and opened.
Everyone turned around at the strange sound in the hallway, where only our footsteps had been echoing,
and light was pouring out from the space where the wall had disappeared.
As we slowly moved towards the light, the empty space emitting it came into view.
The elevator we were currently riding had suddenly appeared before our eyes.
We used Crisis Detection to check if it was a trap, but no threat was felt.
Once it was confirmed to be ‘safe for now,’ we boarded the elevator one by one,
and as soon as everyone was inside, it started moving without anyone pressing a button.
“…Earlier, that tattooed man said someone wanted to talk to me.”
“That guy with glasses?”
“No, it’s not Jung Ah-un. The tattooed man said it was Lije. It’s probably someone else.”
“…If it’s not that guy, how does he know Chanwoo Oppa and want to talk to him?”
Seohee, who had met Jung Ah-un in person, and Nabi, who seemed to have a connection with him at the Seoul lab,
both suspected that Jung Ah-un was here.
Of course, I thought so too. There was no way he wouldn’t be here.
He was the one who told me there was another fruit here.
But the name the tattooed man had uttered as if talking to himself wasn’t him.
‘Lije,’ I had never heard that name before, and I didn’t know anyone with a similar name.
Someone I had no connection with spoke as if they knew me.
If it wasn’t Jung Ah-un, as Nabi said, there was no explanation for how they knew me.
“…Wow, it’s the sea.”
I was looking down, trying to sort out my complicated thoughts, when I lifted my head at Sua’s voice.
Beyond the transparent glass of the elevator was an incongruously beautiful and mysterious landscape.
Sunlight, unable to penetrate the massive water barrier created by the sea, collided with the surface and split apart.
The rays of sunlight, divided into many strands, spread like fog throughout the deep sea.
But what caught our eyes wasn’t just the spectacle created by nature.
Below us, there was a bright light that stung our eyes, as if there was another sun.
A light as bright as sunlight, but artificial and lacking beauty.
I understood why the lab we saw from above looked so small.
“…They hid it here.”
An underwater lab of a scale that couldn’t be compared to the one on the surface.
We were approaching an underwater structure of monstrously gigantic size.
The scenery of the sea that had pleased our eyes disappeared from view in an instant.
And finally, the elevator, having reached its destination, came to a very smooth stop,
and as we felt our bodies slightly pressed down by gravity, the doors ‘slid’ open.
Could it really be this easy and simple? I was hesitant to get out, feeling suspicious.
“…”
Looking back, it seemed the others felt the same way.
They were all swallowing nervously or preparing to fight at any moment.
I also cautiously took a breath and finally took my first step into the lab’s hallway…
“Welcome, Im Chanwoo-nim.”
“Ack! Holy shit, you scared me!”
“What’s wrong?!”
I took one leg out of the elevator, placed my foot on the ground, and moved my body forward.
At that moment, from the blind spot between the hallway and the elevator entrance, which I hadn’t anticipated at all,
a voice suddenly greeted me with a bow right next to me, startling me so much that I almost fell.
The three people behind me, who were also startled, jumped out of the elevator and supported me.
I grabbed my chest, still surprised, and made eye contact with the woman who had greeted me.
“…I’m sorry, are you alright?”
“…Uh.”
This woman, bowing to me again and offering a stiff apology…
A woman wearing a belt-decorated top and a full-body suit underneath.
I recognized her identity at a glance as soon as I looked at her.
Unpleasant purple-tinged eyes, a barcode imprinted like a brand under her eyes.
And above all, that expression devoid of emotion, I had just seen it until recently.
…This woman is also a bio-weapon.
This confirms that Jung Ah-un is here too.
By the way, this woman looks a bit familiar…?
“Oh? This person…!”
Seohee, who had been staring intently at the woman’s face, raised her voice.
It seemed Seohee had also realized who this woman was.
A face I often saw on TV was now in front of my eyes.
This woman, whom I often saw on talk shows, entertainment programs, and music broadcasts.
She was definitely a member of a currently popular idol group.
“…Our master wishes to speak with Chanwoo-nim. Would you please spare some time?”
The woman, whom I would never have had the chance to meet, was staring at me intently and asking for a favor.
…Come to think of it, I remember seeing a news report about an idol member who had gone missing before we came to Busan.
The ‘master’ she was talking about, the one who had been kidnapped and had her mind neatly rewritten.
What was that human thinking, trying to make such a big deal out of this?
And she had been saying she wanted to talk to me since earlier… I had no idea what her intention was.
Should I try to probe her a little for now…?
“…Why should I trust your master enough to talk to him? It could all be a trap.
Earlier, a pervert without a shirt tried to stab me in the eye with a knife upstairs.”
“I am truly sorry if you were inconvenienced.”
…Even though I was clearly showing my discomfort, the woman simply bowed formally.
Is she even human? Her tone was even stiffer than Minjung’s, and I couldn’t feel any emotion at all.
“…Who is this person you call your master? I need to know that before I go.”
“I am not authorized to comment on that.”
“…Is your master perhaps someone named Jung Ah-un?”
“I am not authorized to comment on that.”
This won’t work. I feel like I’m talking to a computer.
It’s like I wrote and sent a heartfelt message, but all I got back was an automated response.
While I was having a small argument with her, I used Crisis Detection.
…As expected, I don’t feel any hostility, so does she really just want to talk?
I turned my head to look at the three who were assessing the situation.
I sent them a look, asking what they thought.
After exchanging a brief glance, I turned my head back.
“…Alright, take me to your master.”
Seohee, who had confidently walked out from behind me, crossed her arms and asked the woman to guide us in a threatening tone.
“…I apologize, but our master wishes to speak with Im Chanwoo-nim.
The other members of your party will have to wait until the conversation is over.”
“…What? You want to send Chanwoo alone? That’s ridiculous…”
…There was no lie in her coldly spoken words.
She really just wanted to talk to me and had no intention of harming Seohee, Nabi, or Sua.
If that was the case, then engaging in this meaningless standoff was just a waste of time.
“Alright, let’s go to your master.”
“Hey, you…!”
“It’s okay, just wait. I’ll call you if anything happens.”
I calmed Seohee, who was looking at me with anxious eyes.
If it was just a conversation, nothing major would happen.
And if I wanted to find the fruit here, asking that ‘master’ would be the fastest way…
While I was still calming the anxious Seohee,
black robots had appeared behind Nabi and Sua and were guiding them away.
“…We will escort the guests to the waiting room.”
“Thank you very much for granting our master’s request, Im Chanwoo-nim.
We will now begin guiding you to where our master is. Please follow me.”
I made eye contact with the women who were following the black robots to the waiting room.
I nodded to them as they walked down the hallway in opposite directions,
then followed the woman who was walking in front of me with a polite posture.
We hadn’t walked far when she stopped abruptly, bowed to me once again,
reached out to the reader on the mechanical door next to the hallway, and opened the door.
I passed through the smoothly opening automatic door and slowly stepped inside.
A plush sofa for welcoming guests was placed in the center of the not-so-large space,
and various kinds of refreshments were prepared on the table in the center.
With the seemingly fancy lighting and chandelier, it was a room with a clear purpose of welcoming guests.
“You’re here? Do you like coffee?”
I quickly turned my head at the woman’s voice coming from the corner of the room.
Standing there was a woman with long, pink hair.
She was standing there, brewing coffee. No wonder it smelled so good.
“…Who are you? You seem to know me.”
“That’s right, I’m the only one who knows your name. Feel free to call me ‘Lije.’
Oh! Don’t be so wary and take a seat first. I really don’t intend to fight.”
The woman, smiling as she poured coffee into a cup, pointed to the sofa.
This woman who identified herself as ‘Lije.’ Was this the Lije the man upstairs was talking about?
I decided to sit on the sofa as she said. I came here to talk,
so there was no need to provoke her.
“Sugar?”
“Forget that, you said you wanted to talk to me?”
“That’s right~! I’ve been wanting to meet you so much!”
“…You wanted to meet me?”
Lije placed the coffee cup in front of me and then lay down on the opposite sofa.
She smiled brightly and leaned her face towards me, placing her hand on the table.
As she approached, I leaned back and asked a question.
“Before I talk to you, let me ask you this first. Do you know me?”
It doesn’t make sense. A stranger whose name I don’t even know, let alone their face.
That would be the extent of her relationship with me. But how did she know me,
and how did she know I would come here? What exactly is Lije’s identity?
“…Haha! I haven’t told this to anyone, but I’ll tell you because it’s you!”
Lije, who had been about to lift her coffee cup at my question, wiggled her body as if she was excited.
She slowly stopped laughing and said in a calmer tone.
“My friend taught me about you.”
“…Friend? What do you mean…”
I felt goosebumps all over my body. The eeriness I had felt in Seoul.
A heaviness that felt like it was pressing down on my whole body brushed against me.
An absurd presence was emanating from her, from this place.
“Why? You’ve met them too, haven’t you? The friends inside the fruit.”
Her eyes turned purple as she picked up her coffee cup again and smiled leisurely.
A different being, a different power, and the same power, the same presence as me, felt within Lije.
I could tell her identity from this short conversation.
The power that I have, that she has. The power we received.
It seemed Lije had also met the King of the Root.
