Chapter 29

Chapter 29. Where Corpses Run (1)

It was gunfire from the two o’clock direction.

BANG—! BANG—! BANG—!

From the eleven o’clock direction came explosions.

BOOM—! BOOM—! BOOM—!

And right beside me, Kwak Jae-gyeom was in the middle of a radio conversation.

-Jae-gyeom, how many dummies do you have left?

“22 now.”

-This is the B-7 mine section. Can’t you give us a few more dummies?

“Come on, no. We have to get to No. 10 today, and we’re already cutting it close.”

-Hey, we’re only halfway done on our side, and all our dummies are smashed. The firepower on these mines is insane!

“What? Seriously?”

-A-3 sniper section investigation complete.

“Yong-su hyung! Do you have any extra dummies over there?”

-We have 3 that got shot. Take them if you need them.

“Su-ho hyung, you heard that, right? Use what’s left from the other group first. If that still isn’t enough, I’ll ask too.”

Standing beside me, Kwak Jae-gyeom answered the radio calls flying in from all over.

Not long after, the explosions that had briefly stopped rang out again.

BOOM—!

“Wow, that firepower really is good.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom whistled carelessly.

Then, as if belatedly remembering me, he looked over and asked,

“Hyung, are you okay? It’s a little noisy today, right?”

“Uh…… I’m fine…….”

I answered with a forced smile, but in truth, I was not very fine.

Every time I heard an explosion, my heart dropped, and when gunfire rang out, a chill ran all the way down my spine.

But what could I do? I had to endure it…….

Three weeks had passed since I came out of the 「Membership Warehouse Mart」.

During that time, I had fully recovered and was now back inside the 「Membership Warehouse Mart」.

And…….

“Huh? It’s Ha-ma.”

WHIP—!

Kwak Jae-gyeom spotted someone and suddenly raised his arm.

Wobble—

At Kwak Jae-gyeom’s large movement, I was dragged along helplessly and staggered.

“Hey, hey…….”

“Ah, ahaha. Sorry.”

When I tugged on the wrist cord, Kwak Jae-gyeom looked sheepish and lowered his arm.

At that, the cord that had been pulling tightly on my wrist loosened again.

Kwak Jae-gyeom and I were tied to each other with a cord a little over 1 meter long.

Tying two grown men together like dried yellow croakers.

Even I did not think it was a particularly good sight.

But if you ask why we were doing this, I will answer that it was simply because we wanted to live.

---

It began four days ago.

BANG—!

Along with the shot, a tingling vibration traveled through my hand.

BANG—! BANG—! BANG—!

The recoil of the pistol was considerable, but as I had been taught, I held my breath and calmly aimed at the target.

Before long, the magazine was empty.

I took off the earmuffs pressing heavily over my ears and let out a sigh.

This was the shooting training range inside the Bureau.

I was learning how to shoot a pistol from Cha Si-eon.

When I finished the final set and came out from the firing lane, the target I had shot appeared on the screen.

The target had as many holes as there had been bullets.

And all those holes were clustered in the 8-point-or-higher zone.

Even two days ago, there had been plenty of bullets that had not hit the target at all.

This much was a big improvement. Yes.

Satisfied with my rapid progress, I said to Cha Si-eon,

“At this point, can’t I carry a gun?”

“You cannot.”

“…….”

I shouldn’t have said anything.

“Gun authorization is still far off, so take care of the possessions you have been issued.”

Cha Si-eon trampled the sprout in my heart and gestured with his chin toward the table.

There lay the items I had briefly taken out of my vest while practicing shooting.

I stood in front of the table, wondering about Cha Si-eon’s upbringing.

Then I suddenly stopped at a thought that came to mind.

When I stood there blankly in that state, Cha Si-eon said,

“There is a risk that a firearm may be taken by someone else. That is why they are not issued based on shooting scores alone.”

“No, that isn’t it.”

This bastard, does he think I’m sulking because he won’t give me a gun?

If so, he was completely barking up the wrong tree.

I shook my head and asked Cha Si-eon,

“How far does the range of possessions go?”

“Is that a matter I must answer?”

……When will something called conversation become possible with this guy?

I shook my head in another sense, then spoke seriously again.

“When I get dragged into a Special Zone, the clothes I’m wearing at the time or the things I put inside those clothes get dragged along with me. And it’s the same for other people too. But isn’t that strange?”

“What is strange?”

“For example, ‘wearing clothes’ is ‘a state in which cloth assembled to wrap around the body remains fixed in contact with the human body.’ From a human perspective, we mix in subjectivity and define that as ‘wearing’ or ‘putting on.’”

Cha Si-eon looked at me with an expression that said, What kind of bullshit is this?

Hey, don’t curse at me with your eyes…….

I gave this frustrating and rude bastard an example and explained again.

“When I was dragged into the hospital Special Zone before, I had been sleeping at home under a blanket. But when I woke up in the Special Zone, there was no blanket, and I was only wearing the otter T-shirt and shorts. Why did only the clothes get dragged along then, while the blanket didn’t come with me? Clothes and blankets are both the same cloth, and both were touching my body.”

At my added explanation, Cha Si-eon’s expression finally grew serious.

It seemed he had finally understood what I meant.

“When I was dragged into the railway station too, the bag I was wearing on my back came in with me. But last time, when I was dragged into the mart, I was holding the examination room doorknob in my hand, yet that door remained perfectly fine in reality. Isn’t that strange? This means some force that transfers people into Special Zones knows and distinguishes concepts like ‘wearing,’ ‘putting on,’ and ‘possessing.’”

“I think this issue will need to be discussed with the Analysis Team as well.”

Perhaps because he had many thoughts, Cha Si-eon answered more slowly than usual.

My head was still scattered too, so I nodded halfheartedly.

Then, returning to my original question, I muttered without thinking,

“So just how far does the range of possessions recognized by Special Zones go?”

It was something I said to Cha Si-eon, and there was a question mark at the end.

But I had not been hoping for an answer.

Not only was there no answer, but to begin with, it was closer to a monologue than a question.

But a few hours later.

Team Leader Cha Si-eon abruptly threw his answer at me.

Even though I had never asked for it.

---

That evening.

“I’m back.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had gotten off work one step later than me, opened the lodging front door and came in.

Then, the moment he saw me, he threw something.

“Hyung, this is a present!”

A present?

I caught the object flying toward me in confusion.

What Kwak Jae-gyeom threw was a rolled-up black cord.

But even after seeing it, I could not tell what it was.

A dog leash?

But why were dog collars attached to both ends?

“What is this?”

“Our team leader gave it to me.”

Cha Si-eon?

As I stood puzzled, Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had taken off his shoes and come inside, unrolled the cord.

Then he fastened the dog collar on one end around my wrist and the dog collar on the other end around his own wrist.

With that, Kwak Jae-gyeom and I ended up tied together like prisoners at a labor camp.

Of course, it was not locked with a padlock, so it could be removed at any time.

“……So what is this?”

“He said to connect ourselves like this and live for a while as Do-un hyung’s possession. He wants to see whether I go with you or not when you get dragged into a Special Zone.”

“What……?”

I was dumbfounded by Kwak Jae-gyeom’s words.

Connected by a cord and made into a possession?

A person, not even an object?

No, more importantly……!

“What if you really get dragged in with me?”

“That would be exciting. Two is better than one, isn’t it?”

I asked in panic, but Kwak Jae-gyeom answered as if it was nothing.

No, if anything, he smiled brightly and bragged to me.

“Look at this. Team Leader gave me a gun too.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom opened his work uniform and showed me the holster hanging inside.

At the gleaming figure of the Glock, I was even more at a loss for words.

Instead, Team Leader Cha’s cold voice automatically played in my head.

“Gun authorization is still far off.”

“Instead, I will give you Kwak Jae-gyeom carrying a gun.”

Team Leader Cha was…… no, forget it. What was the point of saying it?

In any case, I understood that he had referenced my words and itemized Kwak Jae-gyeom.

I also understood that he had even permitted a firearm in preparation for an unforeseen situation.

I would give his execution ability and spirit of challenge a rough round of applause too.

But if you asked whether that made me feel reassured, no……? Not really.

Kwak Jae-gyeom, whom I had experienced while living together for nearly a month, was a cheerful and entertaining roommate.

Because we saw each other morning and evening, we had become quite close too.

But Kwak Jae-gyeom, who was the Bureau’s youngest, was even younger than the interns at our publishing company.

Kwak Jae-gyeom was 23 this year.

If Jae-gyeom got dragged into a Special Zone with me and something went wrong?

The guilt would be no joke.

Besides, this cord is too short……!

As I agonized while looking at the cord that was only one arm’s length long, Kwak Jae-gyeom grinned across from me.

“This is fun. When I was little, I used to play like this a lot with my hyung.”

Wow, as expected, he is young. To think this is fun.

“With this length, don’t we have to follow each other into the bathroom too?”

“Not that far. More like when one person does his business, the other waits in front of the door?”

“Do I not have privacy?”

“Team Leader said you don’t.”

Team Leader Cha……!

“Team Leader also told me to pass this on. Matters such as human rights, dignity, pride, and privacy are to be handled after preserving life first.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom put strength into his eyes and imitated Cha Si-eon.

At that terrible impersonation, I realized clearly.

I had dug my own grave…….

It was troubling, but there was no way to refuse.

Because I was also curious about the range of possessions.

More importantly, what should we do starting tonight?

The bed was narrow, so should we spread blankets in the living room and sleep there?

What about tomorrow’s schedule?

Would Kwak Jae-gyeom skip work and follow my training around?

“Ah, starting tomorrow, you’ll also be entering the 「Membership Warehouse Mart」 with me, hyung.”

But what Kwak Jae-gyeom relayed was completely different from what I had expected.

It was not that Kwak Jae-gyeom would follow me, but that I would follow Kwak Jae-gyeom?

I was still a trainee, and that side was a real field site.

Of course, the 「Membership Warehouse Mart」 was now fairly safe.

The memberships I had previously brought out in bulk.

The Field Division agents who used those to go in and out of the place as if it were their own home.

With those two things, the warehouse club was currently being conquered to great acclaim, and its infamy as Three Steps, One Death was now a thing of the past.

So it would not be as dangerous as before, but it was still unexpected.

Wasn’t Cha Si-eon a rigid, by-the-book type?

When I wondered about this unconventional assignment, Kwak Jae-gyeom added,

“Team Leader said that since we’re experimenting anyway, we should do another experiment at the same time.”

“What experiment?”

“Does Seo Do-un get dragged into a Special Zone even while inside a Special Zone?”

Ah, right.

Cha Si-eon was not by-the-book. He was a psychopath.

I forgot!

When I laughed hollowly with clouded eyes, Kwak Jae-gyeom smiled back with a bright face.

“You’re curious too, right, hyung? So am I.”

At that remark, which contained no malice, my smile grew even emptier.

Right. It had been from this moment.

My one-month roommate.

The psychopath’s subordinate.

Kwak Jae-gyeom, the Bureau’s youngest, became my possession.