16 - Hiking

TL/Editor: raei Schedule:

Illustrations: None.

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The first photo was of a gruesome corpse. Its limbs were twisted in various directions, and its stomach, exposed under a pulled-up shirt, appeared to have been eaten by an animal. Bugs swarmed all over it.

Yoo Ji-yoo, with a frown, added an explanation.

“A hiker died in this mountain. The autopsy results showed that he slipped and rolled down a slope, and he slowly died from those injuries.”

“…That’s not strange, is it? It seems like an ordinary accidental death.”

Yeonwoo calmly asked back. He scrutinized the brutal photo, looking for anything unusual with steady eyes.

‘...I can’t tell.’

It seemed like a simple corpse. Yeonwoo took his eyes off the photo and looked at the others.

“Ugh, f*ck.”

Jae-min was leaning over the bench, gagging. He was of no help. On the other hand, Ji-yoo, like a good senior, pointed kindly at the report as if she had expected this.

“It seems like a simple accident, right? Look at the next page.”

Rustle—

The sound of turning pages. Yeonwoo, startled by his own action, closed his eyes briefly, then opened them calmly to read the report.

“Oh.”

Park Sangjoon’s ID photo appeared. Below it were dialogue records that looked like an interview. There were many alternating questions and answers.

With a puzzled look, Yeonwoo glanced up at Ji-yoo.

“You know him too, right?”

“Yes. Why is he in this?”

Park Sangjoon, a civil service exam veteran. He was someone Yeonwoo had taken the Human Qualification Exam and done the new employee training with.

Ji-yoo let out a deep sigh.

“He tried to kill himself in this mountain. In a secluded valley where no one comes.”

“What? Why?”

“They say he couldn’t endure the training and dropped out. That means he was prescribed memory-erasing medication.”

“Yes… You don’t need to say more.”

Yeonwoo looked silently at Park Sangjoon’s ID photo. Somehow, he felt he understood him.

‘He failed the fifth civil service exam, and he had to prepare for the sixth one. But when he came to his senses, he realized time had passed without any memory of studying.’

He probably lost the will to prepare for another exam, couldn’t endure it anymore, and perhaps the influence of ‘Reasons I Should Die’ lingered in his subconscious.

‘If I hadn’t joined the company… No, this is not the time for such thoughts.’

Yeonwoo slapped his own cheek and began to read the material methodically.

“Survived? Amnesia?”

Park Sangjoon survived. But he seemed to have experienced another strange incident.

“He came down in a terrible state but said he couldn’t remember anything. He thinks he saw something and ran away. But the important thing is.”

Ji-yoo held up four fingers in front of Yeonwoo’s eyes.

“The valley where Park Sangjoon tried to die is where the first death occurred, and since then, four more people have died in this mountain.”

“From slipping?”

“Yes, from rolling down.”

“In a similar valley?”

“In that same valley.”

This was certainly strange. Yeonwoo looked around cautiously.

The white mist had thickened since before. The visibility was narrowing. The trees in the distance were blurry shadows standing beyond the mist. The swaying branches and leaves looked like something was gesturing.

In the midst of this ominous mountain, Ji-yoo spoke seriously.

“Our mission is to investigate whether this is truly an anomaly and what kind of anomaly it is.”

“It’s dangerous work.”

Yeonwoo steeled himself.

Just like when he took the Human Qualification Exam, when he survived ‘Reasons I Should Die,’ and when he captured the Director and Leonardo, he was prepared to fight desperately.

But just as things were getting serious, Ji-yoo suddenly slumped her shoulders and smiled slightly.

“…Well, in reality, it’s about finding small clues and running away. After all, we’re working to make a living, so there’s no need to risk our lives.”

“Mister, don’t worry. I’ve worked on a few cases too, and I’ve never seen anything truly strange.”

It’s all lies, bullsh*t, just rumors. Anomalies aren’t that common.

Jae-min and Ji-yoo laughed.

But Yeonwoo couldn’t relax.

'It’s a strange world. Nothing would be surprising.'

His muscles were tensed just right, his senses on alert. He was ready to react instantly to any signs of danger.

Seeing Yeonwoo's tense face, Ji-yoo patted him on the arm.

"It's fine. You're a newbie, so it's normal to be on edge. It's not a bad attitude."

"Wow, Mister, you're such a scaredy-cat. Then again, I guess you have less experience than me. I've already done over ten investigation drills."

They laughed, displaying a lack of awareness of the danger.

Yeonwoo opened his mouth to say something.

"Shall we get back to work?"

Ji-yoo took back the documents. She put the papers into her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and got up from the bench energetically.

"The valley where the deaths occurred is too dangerous, so let’s go up to the peak overlooking that valley. We might see some clues from there."

Ji-yoo took binoculars out of her tracksuit pocket and waved them like a cheering stick.

"Safety first. Let’s go safely."

Yeonwoo kept his mouth shut at those words.

She was a senior in the investigation team.

He couldn’t dismiss her experience, skills, and the fact that she had survived until now. It might not be a lack of awareness but confidence.

'Still, I must stay alert. Even if I look strange, I need to stay sharp.'

He shook his head to clear his mind. As he followed Ji-yoo with Jae-min, he asked a question.

"How long until we reach the peak?"

"About one-fifth? We’ve come that far."

"Oh, I see. About 20 percent…."

They still had a long way to go. Thinking about the return trip made it seem even farther. Yeonwoo looked at the high peak with a distant gaze.

It was shrouded in thick fog and not visible.

---

---

They walked and walked. They climbed uphill, then went downhill, climbed again, and descended again. They stepped on dirt, weeds, fallen leaves, and branches.

Huff— Huff—

"Wait, let’s rest for a bit."

“…Okay.”

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Yeonwoo collapsed onto the ground, struggling to lift his head to look at the sky. The sky was covered by a white mist like a lid. The sun, a white dot, was high above his head.

"We should have reached there a while ago."

"That’s true. This is strange. Why are we still on the mountain path?"

A long time had passed. They walked slowly because of Yeonwoo, but even so, they should have reached the peak by now.

Yet, they were still on the mountain path. They didn’t know if they were at the base, the middle, or near the peak.

Ji-yoo raised her binoculars to her eyes, then lowered them in frustration. She tapped her thigh with the binoculars.

Tap tap tap—

"Can’t see anything because of the fog. No people, either. I don’t know where we are."

"Sis, look at this."

Jae-min showed his phone to Ji-yoo. A map app was open with a red pin marking their current location.

"We’re only halfway up."

"…That doesn’t make sense."

Her hand stopped mid-tap.

Ji-yoo glared at the map, then turned to look back at the path they had walked. The white mist filled the air, hiding the end of the downward path.

The next moment, Ji-yoo spoke cheerfully.

"Clue collection finished! This fog that makes people lose their way is definitely strange, right? Let’s head back and report!"

"Are you sure? Isn’t it just the fog causing us to get lost?"

Before Jae-min could finish his rebuttal, Ji-yoo’s hand swung.

Whack-!

"Ouch! Why again?"

"Intern? When a full-time employee speaks, you listen."

"Damn."

Despite her playful yet serious attitude, Jae-min pouted his lips and wisely said no more.

Ji-yoo turned to look at Yeonwoo.

"Yeonwoo? Shall we head down now? Yeonwoo?"

"Senior."

His voice was trembling. Yeonwoo was sitting on the ground, staring at his phone. His eyes and hands were shaking.

"Look at this."

"What is it?"

Ji-yoo quickly approached, bending down to look at the phone over Yeonwoo's shoulder.

[Recent Calls]

-Team Leader (Outgoing Call / One Hour Ago): 1 minute 20 seconds

It was a call he had no memory of making.

From a distance close enough to touch noses, Ji-yoo and Yeonwoo locked eyes.

"Yeonwoo, did you secretly call the team leader?"

"No, and it’s not like I walked far enough that you wouldn't have heard the call."

"Then..."

An unremembered call record.

Ji-yoo stood up quickly, pulling out her phone and pressing the speed dial to call the team leader. The call connected almost immediately.

A voice came through the speakerphone.

-Hey, what is it now?

"Team leader, we’re trying to come down now. The fog is making us lose our way, so we’re going to head back down."

-...The newbie already reported that earlier.

"Reported? He did?"

Ji-yoo rubbed her forehead and looked at Yeonwoo. Yeonwoo shook his head vigorously, mouthing that he definitely hadn't made any such report.

Ji-yoo licked her dry lips.

"Team leader, we’re still on the mountain. We don’t remember making that call."

-You don’t remember?

Silence.

Only the sound of breathing came through the phone speaker. Then, the team leader’s voice mixed with the noise of him making another call, flipping through papers.

After a brief moment, the team leader spoke again.

-Damn it. It’s not life-threatening, so there’s no rescue team coming. Those bastards think investigators are lab rats.

"Oh. So, we have to find our way out ourselves. But we can’t find the path."

Ji-yoo craned her neck like a meerkat, looking around. Only the white fog was visible; there was no path to be seen. Her labored breaths hit the phone’s microphone.

Hearing this, the team leader shouted loudly. The speaker seemed to tremble with his yell.

-Ji-yoo! Get a grip! You’re the senior! If you lose focus, you’ll fall and die! Stay calm!

"Yes, calm down. Stay calm."

Fuuu—

Taking deep breaths, she regained her composure. The team leader, hearing her breathing, waited before speaking again.

-Take good care of that kid who can detect parents. Listen to the newbie. He’s good at surviving.

"Got it. Yes."

-Come back alive. There’s a reward waiting when you return.

"A reward?"

Ji-yoo’s eyes sparkled, slightly more composed now.

-That fog might be useful for making memory erasers. We’re short on those. The reward won’t be small.

"We have to make it back alive, then."

-Yeah. See you later.

Click, the call ended.

Ji-yoo put her phone in her pocket but then took it out again, holding it in her hand. To compensate for her fading memory, she turned on the video recording.

Yeonwoo and Jae-min appeared on the recording phone screen, waiting for Ji-yoo’s instructions. Ji-yoo’s voice reached the microphone.

"Ahem. Intern, junior. From now on, our top priority is getting down the mountain. The investigation is over; our goal is to return safely. So, let’s each make a record to prepare for any memory loss."

"Understood."

"Yes, ma’am."

Yeonwoo opened a notepad app and typed a few words.

Current time 12:35 PM: Memory loss confirmed. Proceed with caution while descending.

He pinned it to his home screen.

Click—

Meanwhile, Jae-min took a selfie and wrote a few lines on the photo. Then he opened the map app again.

"I’ll keep checking our route."

"Good job. Let’s head down."

Ji-yoo took the lead, starting down the slope. Soon, the three figures disappeared into the fog. In the deserted mountain, shadows of trees, birds, and animals stirred.