NOVEL WEB Chapter 19 - Basement 5th Floor
Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: KYSOIWDI
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[ Chapter 19: Basement 5th Floor (2) ]
[Please enter the code.]
The light inside the elevator flickered.
Hong Seok-young and Kim Chae-min quickly stepped inside the elevator.
“Is this the secret entrance?”
“Code? What code are you talking about?”
“Is this why we needed you?”
I was annoyed by how close they were to me. I pushed them aside and firmly pressed the buttons to input the code.
After a moment, the elevator responded.
[Confirmed.]
[Please select the floor you wish to go to.]
“How many floors are there?”
I pressed 5 and answered.
“Basement 5th floor.”
Clunk.
Creak…
The elevator descended slowly. Every time it jolted, the lights flickered.
Kim Chae-min looked at the lights with anxious eyes.
“Is it safe to ride this? It’s not going to fall, right?”
“Even if it falls, you won’t get hurt.”
“What about my psychological trauma?”
“From now on, use the stairs instead of the elevator.”
Kim Chae-min glared at me with a look of disbelief.
But I had no time to worry about Kim Chae-min.
It’s good that the elevator was working. It was also good that the code I input worked.
But why was the elevator shaking like this?
As if…
The electricity had been cut off.
On the surface, it looked like an abandoned building where ghosts might pop out, but the basement, where the research was conducted, was different. From the 2nd to the 5th basement floors, Bangju didn’t skimp on money for research. Even to my young eyes, the equipment looked incredibly expensive.
The cold, pale lights, and the machines that gleamed coldly. Researchers in white lab coats moving about…
Bangju operated this place until just before Hong Seok-young’s attack. Although I visited other research centers of Bangju, I spent the most time here. Was it about two years?
At this time, Bangju would be deeply engrossed in research. They wouldn’t leave the elevator lights flickering like this.
The lab director here was especially strict about such details.
“By the way, Dr. Woo, this doesn’t look like a back door. Are we really sneaking in?”
When the number indicating the floor changed to 4, Hong Seok-young asked.
I looked at him with a face that questioned why he would even ask such a thing.
“Of course not.”
“…Then is it okay to enter this way?”
“What’s not okay about it?”
Hong Seok-young opened and closed his mouth like a fish and then shut it.
Shaking his head, Hong Seok-young approached the elevator doors. This slow elevator still hadn’t reached the 5th basement floor.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m here, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“That’s right. Hong Hunter will handle everything.”
“So, was there any need to gather more people? I could just go around and take care of everything myself.”
“Exactly.”
I calmly agreed.
“Why did you call everyone?”
[This is the 5th basement floor.]
Only after hearing the monotonous voice of the elevator did Hong Seok-young realize what he had been asking about.
He was concerned that Bangju’s people might be on guard.
But if the lobby elevator wasn’t moving, then perhaps here…
[The doors are opening.]
“Huh?”
“What the…?”
Hong Seok-young and Kim Chae-min hesitated, looking confused. I pushed past them and got off the elevator with a grim expression.
I had expected this from the moment the elevator started clunking. The reality wasn’t too far off from my expectations, which only made it more unsettling.
An empty hallway.
There were signs of a hurried clean-up, as if they had fled in the middle of the night. Equipment that couldn’t be cleared out in time was piled up like a mountain on one side of the hallway.
The only light came from the flickering glow seeping out of the elevator.
* * *
Click.
Click, click.
“Ah.”
“It worked.”
The flashlight turned on.
“…What are you doing leaving the Grand Mage behind? I can just light up the place myself.”
“No.”
“Then why did you bring me along? You won’t even let me use magic?”
“Did I bring you? They brought you along on their own.”
“I told you to call me ‘teacher.’ Why are you still like this?”
“I’m a colleague, not your student.”
“Don’t you know that even teachers call each other ‘teacher’?”
“…Let’s go.”
“Huh. Now that you have nothing to say, you just say, ‘let’s go?’ Fine, fine. Let’s go.”
The three people stood up.
The young man holding the flashlight took the lead, seemingly in charge of guiding.
With a sullen face, the man spoke to the woman following behind him.
“They executed the emergency protocol. The mana might be unstable.”
“I’m a Grand Mage, you know? I can tell if the mana is unstable.”
“Yes, I’m sure you can.”
The man spoke indifferently.
“I don’t know if it’s the official name, but everyone calls it the Pompeii Project.”
“Pompeii Project?”
“They left the place unguarded; wouldn’t they have done something for security? They must have drawn runes reacting to mana in unseen places. When mana is detected…”
The man briefly clasped his hands together and then opened them. The gesture’s meaning was obvious.
Explosion.
The woman gulped.
“…Can you do such things with runes?”
“Runes aren’t that versatile. They just set up a bomb and used a rune as a switch.”
“A switch? A switch, huh…. Do you know that rune too?”
“…I’ll tell you later.”
“Wow!”
The woman beamed.
The middle-aged man following at the back shook his head.
“It’s good to be eager to learn, but… let’s focus. Even if this place is empty, there might still be something we can find.”
The man glanced around the corridor.
“Mr. Woo, is this really the lab?”
“…It is.”
Woo Hee-jae shone the flashlight on a door. It seemed the place was hastily abandoned, as many doors inside were unlocked.
Cautiously checking for potential traps, Woo Hee-jae shone the flashlight inside the room.
It was just as chaotic as the hallway. Overturned desks and bookshelves. A bucket filled with half-burned papers, possibly set on fire.
Although no obvious traces were left, there were still things they could figure out.
“There’s no dust. It can’t have been long since they left. They didn’t completely destroy it, so they probably plan to come back.”
“But you don’t know why they left? Could it be they knew you were coming?”
Woo Hee-jae shook his head.
“No. I don’t think so…. If they knew, they wouldn’t have left so neatly.”
Woo Hee-jae led the two deeper into the building.
“Usually, they wouldn’t move places easily because of the kids….”
“Because of the kids?”
“The experiment… Honestly, I don’t know what it is. But the environment is very restrictive. It’s a kind of….”
The other room looked similar to the first one. There were cages containing animal carcasses, possibly used for experiments. Due to the dry environment, there was no smell of decay.
Woo Hee-jae exited the room and checked another area, speaking as he did so.
“…A sterile room? It’s not a real sterile room, but it’s made similarly to minimize the children’s contact with the outside environment.”
“They didn’t harm the children, did they?”
“No, it wasn’t that kind of experiment… At most, they drew some blood.”
However, Woo Hee-jae’s voice lacked confidence as he said this.
It couldn’t be helped.
In the past Woo Hee-jae knew, Bangju’s sudden disappearance never happened!
‘This definitely didn’t happen.’
I glanced at Kim Chae-min.
It was also true that Kim Chae-min joining the Pilot High School as a teacher never happened.
There wouldn’t have been someone like Woo Hee-jae, who came back from the future, either.
So, what had changed?
If this wasn’t a different world, there must be a reason.
If there’s a reason, it can be found.
Before long, we reached the innermost part. From the 2nd basement to the 4th basement were mostly dormitories for researchers or storage rooms. We could check those later.
“This door is locked?”
“It looks different from the others! This one has double doors and looks grand.”
Kim Chae-min was right.
A large iron door that seemed to suggest something incredible was inside. Hong Seok-young knocked on the door to check.
“It looks pretty thick. Should we try forcing it open?”
“What if there are runes on this door like Mr. Woo mentioned? I don’t want to die!”
“Hmm.”
…Why are they doing this in front of me?
I let out an obvious sigh and pushed Kim Chae-min and Hong Seok-young aside.
What was the code for this place again?
Next to the door was a keypad for entering the security code. Even though the lab’s main power was cut, the security system seemed to be working just like the elevator.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
“……”
Hong Seok-young’s gaze was intense.
He was probably intensely contemplating what my position within Bangju might have been.
I hadn’t originally planned to reveal this much.
If the lab had been running properly, Hong Seok-young would have searched and fought on his own without me lifting a finger.
But now, I needed to gather information as well. If I was going to be suspected no matter what I did, it was better to make it clear that I was a big shot.
“I told you. If you’re going to be bold, do it properly.”
No, saying it like that might make it seem like I had ulterior motives.
I’m a victim here.
Beep.
Clunk.
The door opened.
Just as Hong Seok-young said, it was a thick iron door. It was thick enough to remain intact even if the lab exploded due to the Pompeii Project.
Whirr…
Flick.
The lights turned on as soon as someone entered. I turned off my flashlight.
This place was just as empty. Considering they cleared out the outside so thoroughly, there was no way they left this area untouched.
The computers were entirely removed, not a single one was in sight. The desks were also completely empty.
But there were still things they left behind.
“This is…”
I could hear Kim Chae-min gulping. Hong Seok-young was grinding his teeth.
Past the empty desks, further in. Deeper.
The innermost part of the lab. Where the most important things were kept.
The children.
An entire wall was made of glass. To be precise, it was a one-way mirror that allowed us to see inside without those inside seeing out.
I lightly brushed my fingers against the glass. Thanks to the lights in the inner room, I could see the inside without any trouble.
Soft mats on the floor. Disheveled blankets. Doll-like toys. Fairy tale books. Bunk beds in one corner of the room.
A drawing of the Bangju on the facing wall. An upside-down ship using a rusty sword as a mast.
“…I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
Kim Chae-min muttered with a pale face.
Veins bulged on Hong Seok-young’s hand. I decided to share new information.
“This room is not part of the Pompeii Project.”
This is the most important facility, it shouldn’t be destroyed.
“Really?”
Hong Seok-young responded nonchalantly and swung his fist.
Crash!
The glass shattered into pieces.
From the center to the edges, thin cracks spread like a spiderweb and then collapsed. It was quite a sight.
I had seen this from the inside. The uncle had used crazy magic control to blunt all the sharp edges of the shattered glass to prevent the children from getting hurt.
Now, without the children, he didn’t display such finesse.
But…
The sharp shards of glass, somehow, felt a bit…
Crunch.
I stepped on the glass and entered the room.
The glass shards under my feet.
For some reason, it felt a little, enjoyable.