CH 207

The missions Red gave us were not as important as we thought. It was a simple task which anyone could do, like disposing oil waste off, incinerating garbage, turning on all power sources, replacing lights, etc.

[E/N: I miss when Among Us was good. *sigh*]

“Pull the lever down and the gate will open. Then you can just throw it out. It’s something I don’t agree on since it will increase the amount of space debris, but in this situation, it can’t be helped.”

“Why do you care about that?”

“In our homeworld, the space environment is the number one issue. The biggest reason why the negotiations with the fairies of Markan 3rd Green Planet broke down was because our sky was too dirty.”

“Well, it’s because fairies love clean places.”

“What bad luck.”

Me and Aracelli laughed as they exchanged jokes. After we completed one mission, we moved to the next destination while looking at the map. But suddenly,

Wiing-!! Wiing-!!

An emergency alarm rang and the lights went out. It didn’t hinder me or Aracelli in the slightest since we both had superhuman-level eyesight, but for normal humans, this darkness would render them useless and they wouldn’t even be able see what was right in front of them.

“I think the generator has been turned off.”

“If we go this way, we will find the generator. Red said that the most dangerous situation is when the alarm sounds, so it’s better to be together.”

“Let’s go too.” I spoke. Looking at the map, we quickly ran toward the generator where the alarm sounded, and the three people who had gathered before us turned their heads the moment we arrived. They were Green, Pink and Gray respectively. Then the ship’s lights turn on just in time. Seems like those three had fixed the generator.

“Let’s return to our respective assignment, this one is already fixed.”

“I understand. Thank you for your hard work.”

“We don’t have much time to chat. Let’s go. I’ll go to the captain’s office right away.” Saying that, Gray hurriedly left. If the spacecraft was not repaired quickly, there may be dangers such as trajectory malfunction or engine leak, so there was no time for chatter.

“Let me and Pink go back to the medical room. We need to fix the vital scan device.”

“Then, we are going to go back to Sector 7 and incinerate some garbage.”

“Work hard.”

After exchanging such dry and necessary conversations, we immediately parted and moved to our respective mission sites. Sector 7 was the place where Red and us first met, and it was also the most central area of this spaceship. Originally, the place was crowded with all eight people, but now it was empty. Even though they knew that it was dangerous to scatter, the crew members couldn’t help but do so for their survival. Although we were in a position where we would be safe as long as we killed the protagonist, we didn’t intend to take the mission assigned to us lightly.

Piip-!! Psshhh-!!

Watching piles of garbage flying into outer space gave me a strange feeling. It was surreal to think that I had just thrown garbage into darkness where thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions or even trillions of stars were twinkling. On top of it, it was mind-boggling to think that the civilization of this world had developed to the level where traveling through those countless stars was as easy as taking an airplane from Seoul to Washington D.C. Perhaps, this world was the most realistic and scientific world I have ever been to.

“Professor.” Aracelli suddenly called me.

“Yeah?”

“What kind of person was Reina Ju?” It was such an abrupt question which had absolutely no relation with what we were doing, so my hand stilled in the air for a few seconds.

“Well… She was very mature. Not childish at all.”

“Is she older than you, Professor?”

“She should be. But actually, I’ve never heard about her actual age, so I don’t know exactly how old she is. She looked like she was only one or two years older than me, so I guessed that she was around that age.” To be honest, Reina Ju’s appearances in my memory had become blurry. I could only recall things I did with her, not her exact face.

“It seems like she was such a wonderful person because it is not easy to be mature at such a young age.”

“Though, when she became angry, it was very scary.” 

It was only once, but there was a time when Reina was really mad at me. It was when I had tried to do something at the risk of my life.

‘This crazy moron!! Are you sane right now!!!’ That was the first and last time I ever heard Reina curse. That time I instantly burst into tears because Reina, who was always gentle, got so angry. Then Reina hugged me and cried while muttering, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry…’.

I cried because I was afraid of Reina, but I still don’t know why she cried at the time. And, if I couldn’t meet her again even after clearing the Hell Gate, then I would never know why she cried that time, forever.

“It seems like she cares a lot about you, Professor…”

“Right… Though, till now, I still feel like her care was burdensome.”

“Why?”

“It’s because I didn’t do anything for Reina. She had only protected me, without me doing anything to pay her back. Always.”

“I see… So, she’s like your parent, huh?”

“Right. Parent. One-sided love for no reason. I felt a parent’s love from Reina even though I have never felt one, since I don’t have parents.”

As we carried out our duties while chatting like that, our quota quickly piled up. However suddenly,

Wiing-!! Wiing-!! Wiing-!!

The alarm echoed. However, It was not a system alarm but a different alarm.

“… it’s an urgent meeting.”

Someone was calling us all.

* * *

Red had told us that if an emergency meeting was called, it would be held in the captain’s office. So, we hurriedly moved there. And after we arrived,

“Th-this is…” Aracelli covered her mouth and stuttered. In the captain’s room, there was a mutilated body. I don’t know if I should even call it a mutilated one, since the only parts of the body which was left was the lower body. The upper body was completely gone.

“G-gray is dead….”

“Oh My God… W-who wore gray today? Come on, answer me! Red!”

“I can’t disclose that. Or else, the murderer would know our identity.”

“Damn it! Marisa, as long as Marisa isn’t dead…”

“Blue you stupid bastard! Don’t mention her real name! Marisa is an important person, so she has a high chance of being targeted! If Marisa reacted just now, you would have killed your lover!”

“…Keuk.”

Gray is dead. Therefore, there were only seven crew remaining. Even though everyone else was crestfallen and angry, Red as the leader had to keep his cool.

“Tell me all of your destinations.” Red spoke in a calm tone. Hearing his words, starting from Pink, each and everyone of us told him our destination. A total of three people passed through the captain’s office. It was Blue, Red, and Green. However, they said that all of them stopped by just for a short amount of time at the beginning and then left. They also did not meet anyone along the way. But Gray met us in the generator room earlier. In other words, it means that he was the last one who went to the captain’s room.

“Aren’t there other personnel in this spaceship?”

“There’s none. The ship’s vital signs could even capture microbes. There were obviously only ten people on this ship.” Red said. In other words, the murderer was disguising themselves as an astronaut. Which means, some of these people were lying.

“I’m suspicious of those two. How could they suddenly appear in this spaceship? They must have been hiding while killing our crew until now, and then lied that they crash-landed here because they got discovered!”

“Right! I’ve never heard of an extraterrestrial race that manipulates light! Those guys are the most suspicious!”

“Calm down, Pink, Green. I witnessed with my own eyes that both of them came from Hangar 3, an impossible route for anyone else. What if I kick them out and the murders happen again? Are you guys going to take responsibility then?”

“Is responsibility the problem now? We were all going to die!”

The astronauts’ emotions intensified. Their suspicion towards us was justified, so we had no option but to keep our mouths shut.

‘Blue, Red, Green. The three visited the captain’s office. Gray also visited…. But he’s dead now…’ I already confirmed that Blue and Green went to the captain’s office. But I don’t know when Red went there.

“First, let’s calm down, and let’s end today’s mission here.”

More and more, the case fell into a labyrinth, and thus our first day on the spaceship came to an end.

* * *

It was now our second day on the ship. The 7 astronauts who had gathered in Sector 7 got up from their seats helplessly. They were livid since they were haunted with the fear of their comrade dying every night. However, they couldn’t be together every time, because they needed to repair the ship. If they didn’t do that, they would all end up dying after all.

“Everyone, please once again work hard on today’s mission.” Just like yesterday, Red gave Aracelli and I a simple task.

“Aracelli. Who do you think is the murderer?” I said as we left the captain’s room.

“I’m not sure, Professor. If I could look into the person’s eyes, I can tell what they were thinking. but since they are wearing a helmet…” Aracelli said. 

Until now, I still hadn’t found anyone suspicious yet. So, I think I had to change our approach. “Let’s set aside today’s mission a little and change our destination.”

“Yes? Why?”

“Just because….” Then, the alarm echoed through the corridor. At the same time our body started to float.

Whiing-!! Whiing-!!

It seems that there’s a problem with the gravity machine. If it wasn’t repaired right away, it would hinder our movement more and more since we had to float now instead of walking. Therefore, it would have been the best decision to repair it right away.

“Professor. We have to go through North Gate 17 if we want to go to the Gravity Chamber.”

“Is that so? Then, let’s go in the opposite direction.”

“Yes.” We moved right away as Aracelli accepted my words without questioning even further.

The gravitational chamber was located on the right side of the ship, so, as we deliberately went in the opposite direction rather than going there, we went to the left side of the ship—the furthest place from the gravity chamber. The reason for doing this was simple. It was to check whoever was there and not go into the gravity chamber.

“Why are you guys here?” While moving in the opposite direction, we suddenly ran into Red.

“Ah, it’s because we left something behind. How about you Red?”

“It was because I had an unfinished mission.”

“…is that more important than the gravitational chamber?”

“It is.”

“Hmm…” I hummed. I found him suspicious. This place was far away from the gravity chamber, a place which if it wasn’t your mission, you wouldn’t come here. And since there’s damage in the gravity chamber, the fact that he’s here was really suspicious. Perhaps, he was intervening in someone else’s mission or trying to kill someone. 

“Well then… Excuse me, I have to go to my assigned mission.” Red said so before disappearing. We also went our way without tailing him. My suspicion to Red was only a baseless conjecture with no facts whatsoever currently. Therefore, there’s no reason to tail him. Rather, if Red—the leader of the astronaut—called us suspicious, we would be at the disadvantage.

‘I have to pinpoint his weaknesses. Even if someone becomes a victim….’

Soon, the alarm stopped ringing. It seems like some crew had repaired the damage on the gravity chamber. Aracelli and I also moved to another place to do our mission.

However,

Whiing-!! Whiing-!! Whiing-!!

Someone’s distress signal suddenly rings. Aracelli and I used our magic and hurriedly ran towards the place where the alarm sounded. The location was the medical room. A place where you can check the crew’s vital signs.

However, the moment we opened the medical room’s door, our eyes instantly opened wide.

“What the hell is this?”

It was because, with the upper body missing, Red’s corpse lay flat on the floor.

“Just how…?”

However, no matter how many questions I asked, the dead wouldn’t answer. After all, dead men tell no tales.