## Chapter 20 – Beginning (4)
“What is this… an apple?”
It’s too blue to be one.
And more than anything, it’s shining.
An apple? First, I detach the machines stuck to the fruit that looks like an apple.
As the lights inside the machines turned off one by one,
I could easily tell that this apple was no ordinary object.
It’s not that I know nothing about machines,
nor that I know them well, but I can say this for sure.
The power source for these large machines is this small fruit.
“What kind of thing is this?”
I look around the apple and smell it.
It’s really no different from a normal apple…
“Eh, whatever.”
I put the apple in my bag, and
the moment I tried to leave this place in a hurry.
‘Behind.’
‘Danger.’
‘Dodge to the right.’
I tilted my head to the right, and
this time, instead of blue electric sparks,
a red-hot bullet grazed my ear.
“Dodged it, the target dodged…!”
Aiming for the head of the pursuer, who seemed flustered, I picked up a pebble and threw it.
The cheerful sound of the stone hitting the iron mask they were wearing rang out,
and at the same time, the pursuer screamed and fell.
I turned my head and spent a short time looking in the direction he came from.
Fortunately, it seemed that only the one I just knocked down had arrived here first.
Let’s get out of here before more pursuers come.
Have I ever run so fast in my life?
I ran through the bushes with all my might at a speed that made me wonder.
“Is this good enough?”
I took off my jacket and put it in my bag, and
I broke the glasses I was wearing and threw them in the trash can.
It was break time, so I mingled with the crowd coming out of the lecture building.
I took off my mask and took a deep breath.
Then, I quickly rolled my eyes and looked at the people around me.
There’s no one who looks suspicious.
Only then did I let out another sigh of relief, and
entered the lecture building where people were coming out.
Not to attend a lecture, but
to find a place where there are people but no one is around to find out what this apple-like thing is.
I could go to the old dormitory’s empty lot where I first met Chaeyoon, but it would be even easier for them to spot me.
So, the place I chose after going around and around was, in the end, the last stall in this bathroom again.
It’s so comfortable that it feels like my own home now.
I entered the bathroom, locked the door, and
opened the zipper of my bag, and the blue light flowing out from it filled my vision.
Because the bathroom was already dark,
the light shone even brighter, and I was so surprised that I almost screamed.
“What is this…”
This time, I slowly admire the fruit.
The fruit, which emits a light so bright it’s ethereal and dreamy, made me feel like I was holding the Earth in my hands.
‘Eat.’
Like…
‘Eat.’
Like a star.
‘Eat.’
But, why does it look so delicious?
The fruit, emitting a light that seemed to suck me in, gradually came closer to my eyes,
and I took a bite.
————————
“So, what happened?”
‘…Out of the 4 members of Team A in charge of retrieval number 1,
and 1 standby member, 3 died and 2 were seriously injured. And…’
“And what?”
‘The ‘power source’ of number 1 has disappeared.’
“…”
Without a word, I walked up and kicked the shin of the agent in front of me with all my might.
It must have hurt,
but other than faltering slightly, he stood like a stone statue and continued to speak in a calm voice.
“I am very sorry.”
The power source, to think it was taken away.
More than that, does the individual know what it is?
There’s no way.
And no matter how sensitive the individual is, it would be difficult to find it when trained agents are moving secretly.
“…Was there only one?”
“Yes, there was only one individual.
And there’s another unusual thing…”
I urge the agent, who has been trailing off since earlier, in an annoyed tone.
“What is it?”
“…That individual was a male, not a female.”
————————
We are still awake.
Grow.
Bloom.
No, what the hell are you talking about?
Where am I?
Everything in front of me is pitch black, and my body won’t move properly.
It feels like I’m floundering in water.
And in that deep, bottomless water, a voice echoes like the cry of a whale.
A big but somehow warm,
comfortable voice like a lullaby I heard when I was young.
Make sure to achieve it.
My… ah…
Wait, the voice cut off a little.
What did you say? Please tell me one more time.
“Wait…!”
I reach out to the fading voice.
But the feeling is a bit different from before.
My hand moves and stretches out easily as if cutting through air, not water.
If I stretch out a little more, it feels like my hand will reach that voice,
so I pull my arm out with all my strength and reach out.
Light enters my vision.
Bang!
My hand pushed the bathroom door and smashed it.
I thrashed and got up like someone who had a falling dream, turning the bathroom into a mess.
“Oh, shit.”
The door was shattered by my palm, which I had thrown with all my might,
and the door that bounced out smashed the urinal right in front of it.
I quickly came out of the toilet stall and looked around the bathroom,
but fortunately, there was no one there.
On the other hand, when I turned my head and looked out the window,
the sun was setting slightly, coloring the sky orange.
I took out my phone and checked the time, it was 5 PM.
Did I pass out for at least 4 hours?
It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve slept for more than 2 hours after becoming this body.
My last memory was eating that apple…
That’s right, the apple.
Startled, I turned around and looked at the apple,
but the apple had already lost its light and was a normal apple-like red color.
“…”
Just in case, I ate the apple again.
“…It’s delicious.”
The taste is also the taste of a normal apple.
No, what did it taste like before?
‘Behind.’
Startled, I looked behind me and heard voices from the end of the hallway.
Feeling the presence, there is only one person.
“Um, excuse me, is anyone inside? I heard a loud noise.”
“Ah, yes, I’m okay, I just fell a little.”
I’ve heard that voice a lot.
I packed my things and came out, and a familiar silhouette was waiting for me outside the bathroom.
“…Professor?”
“Ah, Chanwoo, it was you…”
One of the professors in the design department.
He is one of the younger professors among the other professors, so he is friendly with the students and is a popular professor.
I heard the voice and thought it was a woman so they couldn’t come in,
but I never thought it would be the professor.
“…”
“…”
An awkward atmosphere flows.
It’s not just this professor, but I don’t have a good relationship with any of the professors.
It’s awkward, so I should leave quickly.
“…Well then, I’ll go first…”
‘Use it.’
“What’s wrong?”
The moment I was about to say goodbye and leave, another image popped into my head.
I can do this?
I stopped walking and turned around to look at the professor.
Thorn-like bristles sprouted from my index finger.
And I brought my index finger to the forehead of the professor, who was staring blankly at me.
“What are you doing… ah…?”
As soon as I put my finger on it,
the professor’s arms drooped and her eyes lost their vitality.
Something that wasn’t blood flowed through my blood vessels through the thorns,
into the professor’s head.
I don’t know why, but I know how to use it.
“Can you hear me?”
“Yes…”
The professor answers, drooling a little from her slightly open mouth.
“Tell me your name, age, and what you do.”
“…Han Heeju, 36 years old, I work in the design department at Sunghoe University…”
A student puts his finger on a professor’s head, and the professor answers the student’s questions.
Even if it’s personal information.
What made this abnormal situation possible was probably that apple-like thing.
I don’t know exactly, but by connecting my brain to hers and pouring some kind of liquid directly into that brain, the brain becomes vulnerable, as if it were on drugs.
In short, it’s similar to a trance state caused by hypnosis.
It’s definitely not as versatile as Chaeyoon’s brainwashing.
In this case, I’ll have to take my time and carve it out carefully.
“Okay, then now…”
————————
“Ahahaha! Good, well done!”
I hug the agent in front of me.
The agent seems flustered and doesn’t know what to do, then awkwardly puts both hands on my back.
“If you had something like that, you should have told me sooner! Does your leg hurt?”
“Ah, no, I’m okay.”
A male individual, a male individual, huh?
Unlike when I’ve done experiments before, there is a male individual who walks around on two feet, has intelligence, and whose body has not mutated.
I knew we still needed more research.
I can’t help but smile because I’m so excited.
I feel like a child who has received a new toy.
The discovery of a male individual that I had never seen before,
and the first individual to show interest in the ‘power source.’
Instead of research that is stuck in a frame, an ecosystem that cannot be contained in the hard drive of a mere computer is emerging into the world.
Thanks to bald Team Leader, I love you.
“Ah, but I can’t go back to the lab for the next 3 days…”
“…”
“Ah! That’s right, I’m sorry I hit you earlier.
Would you like to come to my house? The research team is going out for a 회식 (hoesik) dinner now.”
“Ah, no. It’s okay…”
“Hey, it’s okay, so please come.”
