Chapter 169 – Paruelaine (5)
“Welcome.”
Back at her office, Choi Yeon-ju leaned back on her chair and operated her machine by flicking her fingers. There was a strange hat on the complicated machine that could be used on an electric chair, and the small arms protruding from Yeonju Choi’s body were adjusting the hat very precisely. She said.
“What size is your head?”
“It is 55.”
Yeonju Choi nodded and adjusted her helmet to size. I wondered if this woman had a complaint about something in the previous contract and was trying to fry me. Choi Yeon-joo, whether she knew my doubts or not, tuned her helmet and even hummed to her.
I pretended to know about her hum in response to the uncomfortable silence that didn’t follow her question.
“Is that the song from this drama?”
“Yes. [The Return of Empress Myeongseong] OST. Did you watch this drama?”
“No. The other day, I went to a cafe with her girlfriend, and they played it as background music there. I liked the song so much that when I looked it up at home, I was a bit surprised to hear that it was a song from a historical drama.”
“Is it so. The song is good, but the drama is more fun. Hanbok verification is very thorough. The historical facts were also adapted in a fun way.”
I wasn’t the type to like Empress Myeongseong, but when she said that, it made me wonder what the hell she was talking about. I asked her
“I guess you like historical dramas?”
Yeonju Choi nodded her head. She was the most vehement of all her reactions she showed in front of me.
“Yes. I like historical dramas. A historical drama with a female protagonist. There is [Jang Hee-bin] And [The Return of Empress Myeongseong] That came out this time, you know. Previously, there was a historical drama called Damo about a female detective from the Joseon Dynasty, and I enjoyed watching that too.”
“Ah, do you remember? That historical drama.”
“Yes.”
She nodded her head. Then, as if she had finished adjusting her helmet, she pushed toward me with a satisfied face. Her hands, which stretched out like coral reefs all over her body, retracted. Yeonjoo Choi said:
“Write it down.”
“What is this?”
I carefully lifted my helmet. I felt the coldness peculiar to metal in my helmet, and I had to shake my hand involuntarily. She said.
“It’s a machine that can talk to fragments of the Almighty.”
“A conversation with a splinter?”
“Yes. Originally, only those who have absorbed fragments of the Almighty can communicate, but when you wear this helmet, the image world of the Almighty is transmitted to the screen in real time.”
“Ah, so you’re showing me my image world?”
I touched the machine with a feeling of being really strange. Yeonju Choi nodded her head with a proud face, as if she liked my reaction.
“Actually, among the fragments of the Almighty until now, there were only a handful of cases where conversation was possible properly, so I don’t know if it will work this time.”
“Are they just basic conversations?”
“No. The transmission technology itself is perfect, but most fragments of the Almighty have no reason. They are often half-mad or have poorly formed personalities. It’s hard to see fragments of the Almighty with a perfect personality. Since they are all foreigners, it is impossible for us to experiment. Korea is now at the level of a child in the study of fragments of the Almighty, so foreign countries do not pay attention.”
“Okay.”
I felt a bit strange that most fragments of the Almighty were irrational or half-mad. Yeonju Choi started the machine and left the room. While I was thinking about whether I should follow her, she came in with a camera from outside.
The large camera was pointed at the screen where the image of the Almighty was sure to be broadcast. Yeonjoo Choi said:
“As written in the contract, all experiments are filmed. Are you aware of it?”
“Yes.”
It was what was written in the contract. So I nodded lightly and put on my helmet. As I put on my helmet, Yeonju Choi reached out and turned on her machine. As soon as I heard the click of a button, the machine turned on electricity, and I felt light pressure on my head. I frowned and closed my eyes.
Several researchers were creeping up behind Choi Yeon-joo with curious faces. Choi Yeon-joo seemed to have a lot of expectations. She rubbed her palms together and pressed one last black button on her bottom.
The screen flickered, then immediately switched to a pure white background.
“Oh.”
I was stunned by the scenery that was identical to the one in my image world. Little by little, a silhouette began to appear in the white space. Choi Yeon-joo touched the machine a few times and then she told me.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t turn the sound on.”
She took the machine a step further and raised the sound. The moment Yeonju Choi removed her hand from her speaker, a faint sound of music began to play. Yeonju Choi looked at me and said.
“It’s a bit strange that music comes out of the world of images. I usually hear a lot of noise from life. What is it? Is it EDM?”
Someone’s voice was heard over the thumping beat. Yeonju Choi was operating the machine with her friendly face. The voice was getting louder and louder.
“The crayons of youth are UFOs!”
“UFO!”
“The love between you and me is unconfirmed!”
“Unidentified!”
“Guitar Solo!”
“Waaaaa!”
“…”
It was a concert. An idol concert was unfolding. Misaki was dancing cutely, shaking his hips from side to side, and in front of him, the Almighty was cheering with a happy face. It seemed that both of them were very bored in the world of images.
Yeonju Choi looked at me with a mysterious expression. I said.
“Do not misunderstand.”
“I will misunderstand. What do you have?”
“Isn’t the machine malfunctioning?”
“An error about an idol song I’ve never heard of and two women I’ve never seen dancing?”
“…So, the person dancing over there is Almighty God.”
“Who is the woman in front of him?”
“My name is Misaki Hanagawa, and now I am an anime character from that Japanese anime.”
Yeonju Choi shut her mouth, and she looked at me with an indescribable gaze. I think she misunderstood, so she added quickly.
“This is my summon.”
“…”
But then she looked at me with even more contempt, then tightened her mouth and turned her gaze back to the screen.
“Then, let’s proceed with the interview.”
She picked up the microphone next to her machine and spoke to the Almighty.
“Ah, ah, can you hear me?”
Misaki, who was dancing happily, stopped and Almighty, who was cheering, stopped moving at the sudden sound. Startled, the two turned their heads around and finally found the screen. Misaki said with a bright smile.
“And! Is it a broadcast camera? Nice to meet you! Love as much as petals! I’m Hanagawa Misaki! Ekkung!”
“Eww…”
Choi Yeon-ju was disgusted, and then she looked at me again. In the meantime, Almighty Je changed the T-shirt he was wearing back into a hanbok, put the cheering gear he was holding in his hand on the floor, and stood up with a lofty posture and said.
“What is this? Is it a tool for examining us?”
Apparently, it was impossible to check the outside from the other side. Choi Yeon-ju grabbed her microphone and asked.
“Nice to meet you. I am Choi Yeon-joo, an S-class hunter from Korea, and I am currently recording the world of images like this with the cooperation of Hunter Jung Su-hyeon. What is your name?”
When the Almighty Emperor heard her name, she frowned. She seemed to be thinking deeply about something, then she said with a frown on her face.
“What is your name?”
“Choi Yeon-joo.”
Almighty Emperor repeated the name Choi Yeon-ju several times, and she asked again.
“Choi Yeon-ju, Choi Yeon-ju, where did you hear that name?”
Choi Yeon-joo said she didn’t care about her question.
“Since it’s a common name, it must have been among Hunter Jung Soo-hyun’s acquaintances.”
“Is it? Okay. So, why did you come to me like this because you wanted to ask?”
Yeonju Choi looked at me again.
“Is your original way of speaking that old-fashioned?”
“Yes. He has been like that since the first time he met me.”
“Your body is originally a woman?”
“…Yes.”
“You have to be honest.”
“He said he had no memory of his original form, so I asked him to make it a woman.”
Yeonju Choi once again looked at me with a mysterious look. That expression, with her eyebrows slightly furrowed and her lips down, seemed to embody the word ‘contempt’. I protested
“Women are better than men.”
“…Okay.”
Choi Yeon-ju asked Almighty-je again.
“What is your original name?”
“I am a fragment of what was called the Almighty. I have no other memories.”
“Is that the memory that Hunter Jung Soo-hyun told me outside? Or do you yourself remember yourself that way?”
“It is my own memory. Even when I first met Jeong Su-hyeon, I called myself Almighty.”
“Okay.”
After that, a few more questions arose. Most of the Almighty Emperor’s answers are unknown. Or I don’t remember It was kind of a story. I felt that this interview wasn’t very helpful, but it seemed like it was a pretty decent data collection for Yeonju Choi. She nodded her head with a satisfied face, then turned the screen off again. The strange pressure that seemed to press on her head was gone.
Yeonju Choi turned off her machine and faced me. Researchers whispered and carried cameras that recorded the interviews. Yeonju Choi asked while looking directly at me.
“I have a question for Mr. Jung Soo-hyun. Isn’t something strange?”
“Yes?”
I was stung by the image of an idol performing for no reason, and I answered with a shrug of my shoulders. Yeonju Choi explained in a calm tone.
“A fragment of the Almighty. At one time, it was called Almighty Fragment, and in China, Korea, and Japan, a religion called Almighty Jegyo, in which this Almighty Fragment was the remains of an imaginary god called “Almighty Emperor,” Was popular. From there, what was called the ‘fragment of the Almighty’ has reached the present. Isn’t that strange?”
“So what’s wrong?”
Yeonju Choi looked straight at me and said.
“Think about it. The fragments you had never came out until they met you, and were sleeping deep in the ground. There was no contact with the outside world at all. But why do you know the name [Fragment of the Almighty] Given to the later religion? Why are you calling yourself by that name?”
“…Uh?”
