Chapter 50: Snatching

Chapter 50: Snatching

A space that appears to be a meeting room.

It looked like they were having a video conference.

At first glance, it seemed like a dignified scene, but the conversation wasn’t so dignified.

“I told you it would be dangerous, didn’t I!”

“You kept your mouth shut then, and now you’re saying this?”

“I know you have one foot in distribution, so don’t pretend to be clean.”

“...What?”

As she listened to the conversation, Han Seori pressed her temples.

Judging that this disturbance wouldn’t end on her watch, she quickly contacted others and summoned those involved.

It was good that they responded to the call. No, in a way, they had no choice but to respond. The place they were at... probably couldn’t avoid damage either.

‘Although they didn’t seem to get along well usually....’

Do they have to fight even at a time like this?

Han Seori felt the drowsiness spreading through her body along with irritation and pinched her thigh.

She had a small doubt about whether this feeling came from the anomaly.

Erasing that thought from deep within, Han Seori slowly spoke.

“Ahem... can’t we have that conversation later? For now... I think taking care of the situation comes first.”Diiscover new stories at novelhall.com

“...I suppose so.”

“My, my, what an unsightly thing we’ve witnessed.”

...Is this why they split up the labs and branches all over the place?

Still, it was a relief the argument didn’t continue.

Shaking her head inwardly, Han Seori shared the information she had grasped with them.

As a result of investigating as much as she could.

It seemed the cause was indeed the MREs from Soylent Purple Co. currently being distributed.

Those experiencing similar symptoms to her had, without fail, consumed Soylent Purple Co.’s MREs.

A bit of drowsiness.

A state as if having the Monday blues.

If the symptoms were mild, like Han Seori’s, there may have been no need to gather people like this.

However... the situation was developing in an alarming direction.

‘If I remember correctly, I said to him to avoid it if possible back then.’

Recalling Kim Cheonsu, who was just dragged away and quarantined, Han Seori thought.

Seeing that MREs were found in his house, it seemed he didn’t listen to her warning very carefully.

Or... maybe he couldn’t throw away what he had already stocked up...

‘*Sigh...*’

Anyway.

Those who consumed a large amount, like Kim Cheonsu, craved the MREs like addicts suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

The peculiar thing was, they would lie around as if everything in the world was bothersome, but if they smelled an MRE, they’d lose control and rush to it.

Basically, it seemed to inflict a terrible sense of lethargy on humans, and if they consumed a bit more, they’d become like Kim Cheonsu.

Fortunately, there was no one who looked worse off than Kim Cheonsu yet, so they didn’t know what would happen if it progressed further.

But already, quite a few people at this lab were complaining of this lethargic feeling. The number was rather high, but fortunately, the ratio of those reaching a state similar to Kim Cheonsu didn’t seem very high.

...She could only vaguely speculate that it was because the salary here wasn’t low, so the consumption amount was low.

‘I’m not sure of the exact details, but....’

In the first place, she didn’t keep track of everyone’s family circumstances, so it was ambiguous information to call data.

And then... like Han Seori a while ago, I went around slapping the faces of people who had lost their minds.

I’m doing it because Han Seori told me to, but I was wondering what the hell this was.

But maybe it was because there was nothing else to do other than play with toys or sleep all day.

Honestly... it was kind of fun.

As I was excitedly slapping around without knowing that Han Seori had entrusted me to someone else.

Han Seori approached me with a determined face.

She held me in her arms, quickly walked somewhere, and looked at me.

Before long, she and I boarded the vehicle we had taken when going to the “labyrinth” last time. Perhaps because it was urgent, unlike then, I wasn’t trapped in a glass tube.

As soon as we got in the vehicle, it departed, and Han Seori sighed and put the same collar around my neck as last time.

Soon.

She showed me something somewhat familiar and spoke to me.

“This time, you’ll just need to follow the arrows from the start. And....”

Han Seori stroked my head, pointed to what appeared on the screen, and continued.

“Devour this for me.”

Saying that she picked up the surrounding junk and gently pushed it into my belly.

Focusing my gaze on the screen, I saw a familiar object.

Thinking back, it was in my memory.

The strange can in the basement spewed out red lumps of meat.

It wasn’t a memory I particularly wanted to recall, so my jelly was bubbling. Seeing the bubbling jelly, Han Seori spoke with a somewhat... desperate-looking face.

“...Did you understand? Can you do it?”

Han Seori, speaking like that, was looking at me with a face I had never seen before.

Desperation, impatience, a bit of fear, anticipation, hope.

A very complex expression that couldn’t be defined with a single word. I couldn’t nod my head and just blankly stared at her face.

Han Seori must have thought I didn’t understand as she repeated the same words again.

Finally coming to my senses, I silently (not that I could speak anyway) nodded my jelly.

Then, her face brightened a little.

...That reminds me.

What the hell happened to make her do this? Is it related to the people whose faces I’ve been slapping?

Come to think of it... The man’s condition was a bit strange today, wasn’t it?

Combining the events and experiences I had today, I roughly got the answer.

Maybe... he ate something he shouldn’t have and got sick.

Huh... and she’s asking me to eat that?

Then... what about me?

*Reeeeee!*

While looking at Han Seori, who was sighing without a word, I felt the vehicle come to an abrupt stop.

As I got out of the vehicle, I heard a chaotic noise from a distance.

The entrance to somewhere was right in front of me, so the noise quickly vanished.

Anyway.

After taking the elevator,

I came down to the place where I was placed after being kidnapped.

...I didn’t particularly miss it.