First, Yoon-seok knocked on the ground, but even after five minutes, there was no response. Without hesitation, he injected mana into his sword. Then…
Bang-!
The hidden space reappeared as he carved away the ground.
“Father! Is this a dungeon?”
Rather, it looked more like the entrance to an underground parking lot.
“…It’s not like that.”
As he went down the gently sloping road with Yongyong, who couldn’t hide his excitement, he reached a wide space no less than a thousand pyeong. Hundreds of mountable combat robots stood at an angle along the line drawn across the floor.
“It is a parking lot.”‘
Judging that there were only a few hundred of these units, these gates and hangars must be divided all over the city.
“Is anyone here?”
There was no reply. Where did everyone go? Yoon-seok looked around and found a door that seemed to lead deeper inside.
—You are an unregistered visitor. Please enter your card key.
Yoon-seok heard an announcer-toned mechanical voice as he reached the door.
“I guess there’s no doorbell.”
Yoon-seok knocked on the door again. But, unlike before, a response came after a delay.
“…Sir! That’s the same person from before.”
“An outsider came into the hangar? There must be some distortion.”
A voice filled with doubt and surprise could be heard from beyond the door. The soundproofing wasn’t well designed.
“Could you please open the door?”
Yoon-seok asked gently. But did they think he wouldn’t realize there was someone there if they held their breath?
“…”
The conversation cut off.
Yoon-seok thought the other side would need time to think, too, so he waited without whining. After a while, a voice carefully responded. This time it was through the speaker next to the door.
—I am the Head Manager of Hangar 24 of the Taklan Defense Force. Please reveal your identity.
Yoon-seok thought he was pretty high-ranking because he was called sir, but it turned out he wasn’t the commander.
“My name is Choi Yoon-seok. I am from Earth.”
—…How did you get here?
The answer was so simple, but honestly, would they believe it? There was little he couldn’t do with a sword. After contemplating for a while, he heard a whisper from through the door.
“Sir! We have to buy more time until the reinforcements arrive.”
—…It takes time to get permission to open the door. Could you please wait a minute?
Was there such an ulterior motive? If it was like this, it seemed the door would never open on its own, no matter how long he waited. Well, it wasn’t that important.
“Do you know a little boy named Henigus?”
The point was this. What was Henigus doing, and where was he now? Yoon-seok came to this place for a clue about him. However…
—Henigus?
“Yes. He said he was from here. Haven’t you heard of him?”
—I’ve been serving the Taklan Defense Force for over five years, but it’s the first time I have ever heard that name.
They weren’t looking him in the eye, but it didn’t sound like they were lying. They hadn’t whispered to each other like before.
‘Then should I find a higher-ranking person?’
—…In any case, it will take some time to get permission, so please wait a little longer.
“Yes. Sure.”
Even though he knew what they were up to, Yoon-seok decided to wait leisurely. Anyway, even if he opened the door and entered independently, the Head Manager didn’t know anything. But since people whom he could ask would come to him, it was better to wait patiently.
“Father! Can I take a look around…?”
Soon enough, Yongyong couldn’t stand his boredom and became interested in the parked mechs. And around that time, a young voice came out of the speaker. It seemed that the reinforcements had finally arrived.
—Did you say your name was Choi Yoon-seok? What kind of relationship do you have with those monsters who have invaded the city?”
Unlike the Head Management, his tone was high-pressure.
“Monster?”
—You can’t say that you don’t know the woman with the sword and the giant skinhead, could you?
“Ah…”
—Where did those monsters go? You’d better answer honestly. The dimensional section of the hangar is already prepared to be split.
He didn’t feel anything, but had they prepared something?
—Ah, a lowly human being of Earth, didn’t you understand what I said? To put it simply, you’ll be locked in that hangar forever at the push of a button.
Now that he understood, Yoon-seok nodded. After all, everyone has a plan.
* * *
He wasn’t angry or anything. It was a natural reaction for those whose world quickly turned into a warzone. Besides, wasn’t he an intruder who entered their evacuation area as he pleased? They were just doing what they had to.
‘It’s the same here as well.’
“How about speaking face to face?”
—It seems that you still don’t recognize the situation.
Yoon-seok smiled at the mocking voice. It was a question but not a request.
Krieeeek-bang-!
Yoon-seok ripped open the door with his hands, and he quickly entered. What was the use of a button? It was okay to go in before they could press it.
Whoosh!
Did they flinch and accidentally hit it? The moment he stepped in through the door, a strong wind began to blow behind him. Looking back, he could see a swirling black space beyond the neatly cut walls, as if the entire space had been severed.
“If I was trapped there, would I not have been able to get out?”
He didn’t think there would have been a big problem, but he didn’t need to test it with his body.
“Father!”
Yoon-seok moved his eyes again at Yongyong’s cry to see hundreds of barricaded soldiers in the wide passage. There were only three people on board the mechs, and they were all wearing suits like Iron Man.
“G-get ready for battle!”
Direct engagement. Was this their plan B? If that was the case, it had something in common with Plan A.
It was useless.
‘Anyway, is that him?’
Yoon-seok fixed his gaze on the person who seemed to be in command. He couldn’t see their face because of the suit, but…
“F-fire!”
The voice was the same.
Bang! Bang!
Although the shape was similar, the structure of their weapons was different from modern firearms. Instead of bullets, light burst out from their guns. It didn’t look particularly dangerous. However…
“Father! I will block them!”
Yongyong, who had suddenly changed into his human form, spread his palms forward and unfolded a translucent barrier. Yoon-seok thought he was only studying martial arts but was he also taught magic from time to time?
“I’m proud.”
Yoon-seok felt a warm smile tug at his lips as he moved. When he grabbed the commander by the neck, the shooting stopped. A mechanical sound came from the face of the suit as it creaked.
“M-monster…!”
This was the word he heard the most after entering the Tower. With a grin, Yoon-seok ripped open the face suit, and after checking the hidden face, he tilted his head.
Crack-.
Yoon-seok thought his voice sounded quite young, but he was much younger than expected. No, in this case, should he say he was just a kid? Even considering that he looked like a Westerner, he could only be a high schooler at most.
“According to the customs, please only take my head as their commander and have mercy on my subordinates…!”
Come to think of it, the space pirate who opened the gate to this place said the same thing. Was this common not to beg for their own lives? Yoon-seok didn’t know, but seeing the kid close his three eyes tightly and say something like that, he just looked pathetic.
“Never mind, let me ask you a question. Then I will quietly leave.”
“…?”
“Do you know anything about a little boy named Henigus?
“Henigus? How does someone from Earth…”
It looked like he knew something, unlike the Head Manager. Yoon-seok’s eyes lit up.
“What the hell is he doing?”
“…Maybe you should ask the people who made this place like this!”
He should at least open his eyes if he were going to say something like that, but… resolving the misunderstanding was Yoon-seok’s priority.
“The people who made this place like this? Are you talking about the other districts being smashed?”
“Yes! Do you know how many proud Imperial soldiers died because of you?”
“We didn’t do it… anyway, why don’t you open your eyes now?”
The Commander carefully opened his third eye at Yoon-seok’s prompting.
“…This is not your fault? What does that mean?”
Yoon-seok briefly explained what Henigus did, and he added that it would be good for them to hand over the information he wanted. Of course, it wasn’t of much use.
“The officers of the Empire are not naive enough to believe the words of the enemy!”
‘…If that’s the case, why did you ask?’
Yoon-seok let out a silent sigh and changed his method. As expected, this kind of persuasion didn’t suit him.
“If you want to save your men, just answer me.”
“How dare you threaten the officers of the Empire!”
“It is persuasion, not a threat.”
Well, he needed to speak right away.
“…I get it. I will answer all your questions, so send my men back safely.”
“Of course.”
As soon as Yoon-seok changed the method, the persuasion ended instantly. His way of speaking had become more polite, too. Admiring Cheon-ma’s excellence once again, Yoon-seok brought out his first question.
“What does Henigus do?”
“He is the executioner of the Space-Time Clan.”
“The Space-Time Clan?”
“Those who have been living here since long ago. Because of their curse, unlike us, they can’t leave.”
“Then what does being the executioner mean?”
“The executioners are the ones who perform the task of dealing with prisoners once every 500 years when they grow too numerous. My father said that when the time comes, the Imperial Army will leave for a month under the treaty.”
“Once in 500 years…”
Yoon-seok could see why this place was used as a prison. It took people’s lives, or to be precise, their time every 500 years. The Taklan Empire caught prisoners and locked them all in here for that purpose.
‘But this time, is he even killing the Imperial Army because their numbers aren’t enough?’
That seemed to be the reason. Henigus said the current number of staff was also too tight. Maybe they just didn’t know, but an agreement may have been reached with their superiors in the Empire that it was okay to fill in the missing numbers with their soldiers. However, if this inference was correct, one question remained.
‘Why does the Empire help that kid?’
Henigus had a motive in that this place was his hometown. However, what was the benefit of extending this place’s lifespan from the Empire’s standpoint?
“What is this place for in the first place?”‘
The Space-Time World. Like in the Heavenly Sword Cave, it was a strange space where the Tower system worked even though it wasn’t the Tower. So what did this place exist for?
Starting with the Heavenly Buddha’s sudden visit, Yoon-seok believed that all these secrets would be here. But the question was, could this commander not know much?
‘I have no choice but to find out the rest myself.’
Yoon-seok smacked his lips.
* * *
“That’s the end of my questions. Where is the way out?”
“…?”
“I can’t go out the way I came because of what you did.”
“Are you just going to leave?”
He answered Yoon-seok’s questions because of his subordinates, but he didn’t trust his promise.
“Didn’t I tell you? It wasn’t us who slaughtered your soldiers. It was that kid.”
“…”
The boy commander’s expression grew serious. It was obvious. Slowly, he was starting to think that this might be true. Although he believed it now, their business was already concluded.
“…Follow me. I will guide you out through another hangar.”
After following him for about ten minutes, Yoon-seok reached the surface through a similar route.
Whooong.
When the shutter went down, and the door completely disappeared, Yoon-seok checked the time engraved on his wrist.
[44:15:29]
It was less than four hours after the whole thing started. Therefore, it was understandable that they hid underground to avoid turmoil. However, even if they hid, they would panic after a day. After all, they had to kill monsters or people to buy time.
But it was none of his business.
‘Well, they’ll figure it out on their own.’
Yoon-seok flew up on Yongyong’s back. And then, without a sign, more messages appeared.
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