The Master of Vigilance (1)
I buried my back in the sofa, sinking in deeply. Since it was a weekday, there were no TV programs that stood out. As cable entertainment reruns were in full swing, the volume had been increased.
-…The odd fact is that the people being manipulated remain conscious! The phenomenon that occurs when you approach the Philadelphia Channel is already well known through the media…
Panels sitting around the round table were throwing words at each other. The theme was…Channels.
-The reason that the Philadelphia Channel became more popular is because of an article in a local daily newspaper… and the controversy about its authenticity has become a hot topic until now, half a year later, right?
-That’s right. The U.S. government has been conducting experiments in the past few months to get various people into the Channel. Still, not a single person has had a real conversation as Mia Keaton did. Is it really interesting?
The U.S.’s current official position stated that it was difficult to determine the authenticity of the article…
-Meanwhile, there are many speculations that the US government’s persistent attempt to access the Philadelphia Channel is due to the fact that it has not yet entered into a state-level agreement with any “advanced alien civilizations.”
-Yeah. It is analyzed that the Chinese government has signed an exclusive trade and information exchange agreement with the Gramperi race-based in Hong Kong. Will it make the U.S. government even more annoyed by the fact that they are virtually monopolizing the world’s goods and information?
For some reason, I felt dissatisfied.
“What’s all the fuss about? What’s so interesting? Ah, what’s the matter?”
They didn’t know how serious it was. It was a wide-area psychological control that had never stopped once in the last six months!
[They don’t know to treat the Channels as something interesting. It must have been quite a shock from the perspective of this civilization.]
“I know, yeah.”
[Has society already regained stability in a short time, such as half a year?]
If I watched a broadcast like that, it seemed so. However, if you look a little closer, it didn’t seem that society had entirely returned to normal. It would be near impossible to go back to the time before the Channels appeared, especially in terms of the economy. Stock and real estate prices were still fluctuating, and prices were soaring. Korea was in a better situation than other countries in terms of cross-alien race aggression because I completely blocked the Channel. Still, it hadn’t escaped from the aftermath of the recession that covered the world.
“To be honest… (Nom nom)… I don’t know if there are… (Gulp) so many channels in space. Even though I heard about the Channel in this country through prophecy (Crunch)… it seems that the elder… (Chop chop) have limited prophecy… (Gulp)”
Garam expressed his appreciation by constantly into his mouth. He sat next to me on the sofa, his feet up on the table in the living room as he diligently ate the metal he had piled up on a tray. The wound on his forehead was completely healed, and he took off his torn hanbok and changed into something worth noticing. Even if he wandered outside like this, he would look like a normal neighborhood kid.
By the way, this guy was really…well, he ate very well. This Spirit Beast, who had just melted a whole plate of metal, now picked up a stick of metal the size of a finger. Then, he bit into it and chewed as if eating a bar of chocolate. The jade-colored glow in his mouth, that texture, that…was Palemikranium. It was a magic metal! Oops… it seems that I accidentally brought out what I left behind.
“You are really talented, not like humans. How did you make this metal? Indeed, it is a delicacy.”
He smiled with delight as if he was very satisfied.
“…You aren’t full yet?”
“If I decide not to eat, I can live without touching anything for a year, and if I decide to eat properly, I can eat all day long.”
Garam and Mrs. Pearl had been staying at my house. It was their second day. The answer seemed to have yet to come back from the village called White Deer. Meanwhile, Garam finished off more than half of the iron and copper stock in my warehouse in such a short time. He had a huge appetite. He wouldn’t continue eating like this unless there was a mineral mine in Halla Mountain. Still, I wondered how he had lived in the meantime, and it seemed that there was no problem with survival even if he didn’t often eat like ordinary creatures.
“When you decide not to eat?”
“When I don’t like it very much. I mean, this warehouse is truly like a gourmet hall. I have never seen a person with such a variety of metal stacks.”
Then he continued.
“I mean, why don’t you open up more space where I can enter the warehouse? What I put on this tray now is the last compartment of the drawer under Section 8.”
As he said so, he wiggled his feet on the table. Delightfully. Following the feet movement, which move from side to side like a seal clapping, Bart Simpson, who was drawn on the ankle socks I bought, revealed his teeth and laughed. He smiled so grimly at me.
“Hmm…”
As long as I planned to create an environment they wanted to stay in, I cannot be fed up with them. Also, I should keep their feet in this house as much as possible. It was uncomfortable to release them without any measures within the barrier.
“I’ll open it up after I’ve cleaned it a bit.”
I had to put away anything like magic metal that was very rare or difficult to make and then open it to him. It was troublesome to stock up on other metal types, but they weren’t very expensive items.
“Did you hear from the village?”
“Not yet.”
“Aren’t you nervous? I think the answer is a little slow?”
I was trying to sneak a little, but he responded without changing his expression as if it were nothing.
“Usually, it takes a long time for the elder to decide something. I will have to bear that much.”
“But I think it’s been a while since you left your hometown, don’t you want to go home? Back to Jeju Island.”
“I didn’t have any gold buried there, and there is no hurry. Moreover, staying here is quite comfortable. There are many delicious things.”
At that time, Mrs. Pearl, who was in her room, came out to the living room in a hurry.
“Garam!”
“What happened…?”
I cut off Garam’s words, approached Mrs. Pearl, and asked.
“Did you get a response?!”
She nodded her head.
“Yes!”
Mrs. Pearl held out what was in her hand. It was the red silk cloth she carried around with her luggage. As she spread the cloth on the living room floor, an array of vertical letters seemed to have been written in ink with a brush. Clearly, it wasn’t written there before. Seeing that the missing letters suddenly came up, it seemed that they sent the words from the village of Jeju Island. However, these were characters that I had never seen before. They were like Chinese characters but a little different.
“What does it say?”
Mrs. Pearl said hesitantly.
“It is not the character of my kind…Garam, please look at this!”
Then Garam got up from the sofa and walked toward us, rubbing the piece of metal in his mouth.
“…The pine-scented dew formed at the end of the branches, so they gather and grind their food. How have you both been? It’s going to be freezing cold, but I’m afraid to look at the sea on your side. These days, I’m often looking for alcohol because I get emotional every night. ‘Why do you think that every step of the road will be filled with hardship…’”
“The main point!”
I cut it off because it was something like a long greeting. Garam frowned disapprovingly and rolled his eyes. Then he read the writing quickly.
“Blah blah… blah blah… ah, this is the main point.”
His eyes stopped at the last line of the letter, and he read it.
“…Well, the elders are pondering. I’ll put in the stovepipe as it is decided, so please wait. It will rain tonight… The end!”
The end?
“That… is that the end…???”
Garam folded the silk cloth, handed it over to Mrs. Pearl, and spoke, looking at me.
“They haven’t decided yet, so wait a little longer. Anyway, Brother Song wrote so long. He’s often prolix.”
It seemed that the two would be staying a little longer.
***
Jeffrey introduced himself as the head of Isolation Camp No. 25. The two had a conversation while looking at the alien race across the glass wall. For over a month after being captured, he had delivered only small demands to the company. Still, this time it was content that would draw attention from the top.
“The higher-ups are very interested.”
Jeffrey nodded.
“I’m sure of it. This is the first time he has asked for such information.”
Actually, the information he requested from the company was a matter that could be obtained by looking at the news. Still, from the standpoint that he was isolated from the outside, the information couldn’t be obtained without negotiation with the company. Moreover, the documents in Simon’s hands contain details that were incomparable to those published in the media.
Simon looked down at the papers.
“What did you say was the reason he wants this? I read the summary in the work order, but I didn’t receive the unopened conversation log.”
“Perhaps that’s all you’ve seen. Although he learned English quickly, he still lacks vocabulary. He is only talking via voice because the side effects experienced by the agents when he communicates telepathically are too much.”
“From what I read, it was said that it was related to his purpose for coming to Earth?”
Jeffrey nodded and explained what the alien had said.
“It is said that they gave a gift to a great being in their world. In return, they said they got information about this world, the Earth.”
“There was no explanation for that “great being” in the document.”
Jeffrey laughed awkwardly.
“Because the level of words he knows isn’t high enough, he used the word Finder to describe its existence, but I’m not sure exactly what context it was used in. It feels like he just puts -er on the verb he knows.”
“Did you specifically ask?”
“He declined to explain in detail. Except that there is only one in that world and that it has a great deal of power. As you can see from the report, in this case, it is like an iron wall. He insists on speaking telepathically instead.”
“Hmm.”
“It is said that he gave a gift to that being and heard the story, but in context, it seems to be more like a sacrifice.”
Simon contemplated and scratched his chin.
“Finder… Is it sort of like a searcher? Hmm… anyway, and…?”
“According to the story they found out from ‘Finder,’ there is something unusual in our world.”
Simon burst into laughter. Was there anything normal in this crazy world? Jeffrey spoke quickly, guessing his mind.
“I don’t think he is talking about the hundreds of channels currently open on Earth. Aside from that, it is said that a unique phenomenon that is rarely found in other dimensions has occurred on Earth. It is said that he came here to observe it.”
“Probably, the story has to do with these flying creatures.”
Jeffrey nodded. After Simon handed over a few documents, a photograph of black-winged creatures that came out a few months ago was seen, taken near the Channel on Mapo Bridge.
