Chapter 6: Anomalous Space — The Garden (１)

****

I thought I didn’t get motion sickness.

That was before I rode a helicopter.

Whether it was the noise, the swaying, the vibration, or the fact that altitude and position changed simultaneously at a fairly rapid pace, I couldn’t say.

I felt dizzy.

The rotor noise pounded in my head, and the steel of the submachine gun vibrated in rhythm with the helicopter. The weight of the killing instrument pressed against my fingertips.

Even if I opened my mouth now, the person next to me wouldn’t hear a word. I checked the briefing for this mission through my terminal.

How did I end up dragged into live combat on my first day? A recently discovered anomaly, provisional designation: Eyeball Candy.

It wasn’t moving right now, but since there was no telling when it might cause trouble, Recovery Section 1’s opinion was to strike preemptively.

That part was fine.

The problem was that after approving the operation Recovery Section 1 had requested, they said they’d show me what kind of anomaly it was, and I said yes.

In the end, I ended up riding a helicopter to the site where the anomaly was. Of course, that didn’t mean I came completely unprepared.

I had a gun slung over my shoulder and protective gear equipped. Helmet, night-vision goggles, gas mask, joint guards, and even body armor. I’d brought a fair amount of scientific equipment too.

What’s going to happen…

[Nervous?]

“Yes.”

[Just follow the manual. The Foundation’s soldiers know well how unreasonable it is to face an anomaly and fight an anomaly. Nobody’s expecting a hero’s tale from you. As long as you’re not a burden, that’s enough.]

I nodded.

“Have you seen something like this before?”

[Plenty of times. Though I haven’t seen this type of anomaly firsthand. Still, the fact that they brought you along suggests it doesn’t look dangerous.]

“Understood.”

[When we get down, explain the surroundings to me. There might be similarities to anomalous spaces I’ve seen in the past. Bizarre vegetation is common enough, though.]

I couldn’t close my eyes. The moment I did, the helicopter’s noise would probably give me tinnitus.

****

We seemed to have arrived at the target.

The helicopter carrying Recovery Section 1 began to descend. Once it landed, I’d be able to get some explanation from these people—

Wait. Why isn’t this helicopter landing? I waited quite a while, but the helicopter we were on didn’t land. It only adjusted its altitude.

Eleven meters above the ground.

The helicopter door opened midair, and a single rope began descending toward the ground. Ah, shit. I was starting to get the feeling I was screwed.

“Alpha Team, commencing operation.”

The soldiers descended the rope one by one.

Didn’t rappelling normally have safety equipment like a hook? Is just grabbing the rope with a thick pair of gloves and sliding down really the best option?

I squeezed my eyes shut. No, that’s wrong—I shouldn’t close them. Even with both eyes wide open, it was touch-and-go whether I’d land alive. I took a deep breath.

People were already looking up at me from below.

“Dr. Geum! Come down now!”

There was no choice but to go down now. I grabbed the rope and slid down, helpless.

The terror of falling filled my head, and the air churned by the helicopter slammed against my ears with a roar. But I was going down. And—

Thud.

I’d managed to get off the helicopter alive.

While the Foundation soldiers checked their personnel and equipment, I struggled to steady my dizziness, dry-heaving by myself.

“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Min Taeseok, science officer of Recovery Section 1, Alpha Team.”

“A pleasure.”

I had a rough picture of the recovery team’s structure now.

Each section of the Recovery Department seemed to be made up of multiple teams. Section 1 apparently had Alpha, Bravo, Charlie Teams, and so on in order.

“I heard you’d served in the military, but it doesn’t look like you’ve had fast-rope training. Still, I’m glad you came down safely.”

I forced a nod. Did he take me for some kind of special forces? Why would I have had fast-rope training? By common sense, would I have?

“Thank you.”

I brushed the dust off my clothes.

****

This place was an empty mountain in a remote corner of Gyeonggi Province. At least, it had been until a few days ago.

About a week ago, the Foundation’s seismographs confirmed a small earthquake in this area.

The Foundation’s sensors detected radio interference in the zone, and before long, anomalous graviton reactions were also picked up.

Within 24 hours, the Foundation evacuated the area and restricted civilian access.

The Foundation attempted to survey the space through various means, but electromagnetic interference rendered drone-based reconnaissance a failure.

However, a few days later.

The Foundation’s cameras captured an anomalous organism, and a manned expedition into the anomaly “Eyeball Candy” was approved. That’s why I’m here.

Think, think. Thinking is the only way to survive.

When entering an anomalous space, what’s the first thing to check? An anomalous space is, after all, an error in reality. There’s no way it leaves no trace.

When an anomalous space forms, what traces does it leave in reality? There must be visible signs, and there must be a way to confirm them with simple experiments.

First, let’s look at the sky. The sky showed no difference from what I’d witnessed before entering the anomalous space. That’s a positive sign.

Voices of the Foundation soldiers came from beside me.

“So, which way do we go?”

“We stay together and sweep the area first. We don’t know how dangerous this space is.”

The science officer was talking with the expedition team leader. When I raised my hand, the eyes of the soldiers gathered nearby snapped to me in an instant.

“Please wait a moment.”

The team leader looked at me.

“Chief Researcher. What is it?”

“According to the anomalous space entry manual, there are several things that must be checked. The simplest is electromagnetic interference. We’ve already confirmed that compasses don’t work inside this anomalous space, so…”

I pulled down my gas mask and wet my lips with saliva. Quite a few eyes were on me.

“To put it simply, the Geiger counter is pointing that way. I believe the anomaly intensifies the further we go in that direction.”

This time, the soldiers’ gazes turned toward the direction my Geiger counter was indicating.

“What do you want to do?”

The Alpha Team leader looked north.

“The further we go, the more dangerous it gets… Well, no help for it. We still have to go, don’t we? Our objective is to confirm the anomaly.”

****

We walked slowly forward.

The Foundation’s assessment was that the anomalous space was roughly one square kilometer in size. Of course, that was from the outside. There was no way to know for certain how vast the interior was.

The interior of the anomalous space was an ordinary Korean deciduous forest. At least in appearance. There might be other irregularities lurking.

One peculiarity: radiation levels were two to three times higher than in normal spaces. Not dangerous for a day’s exposure, of course.

Still, I couldn’t shake the sense of wrongness.

“Don’t you feel something strange?”

The science officer, Min Taeseok, shook his head.

“I don’t. Explain.”

“The colors are different. Korean deciduous forests aren’t this vibrant in spring. It’s not even warm enough yet, and there’s no reason insect sounds should be this loud. And isn’t it oddly warm for early spring?”

“I’ve already recorded the temperature.”

“The air inside the anomalous space isn’t sealed off from the outside. Warm high-pressure air is flowing in from somewhere.”

“You suspect a subspace.”

“I think there’s a subspace open somewhere in the forest. If we follow the Geiger counter, we might find the rift in reality.”

The further we stepped, the more vivid the surroundings became, and the more unfamiliar the forest’s vegetation grew.

A patch of vivid blue azaleas spread beneath our feet, and a purple-feathered pigeon flew over my head. I collected a sample of the blue azalea blossom and placed it into a vial.

Then, suddenly.

“Take cover. Hostile instance.”

The team leader gave hand signals, and the soldiers moved in perfect unison. I gripped my submachine gun and hid behind a tree.

Hostile instance, hostile instance… What on earth could it be?

As I hid, gunfire rang out from ahead. It wasn’t the sound of gunfire I’d heard in the military. It didn’t sound like the familiar K2 rifle.

I peeked out to check, and the rifles of the soldiers at the front weren’t standard-issue—they were semi-automatic shotguns. They must have decided that was the most suitable weapon for the mission.

The gunfire died down before long. I craned my neck slightly toward where the soldiers were. They turned their gaze to find me.

“Um, Chief Researcher? I think you’ll need to come take a closer look at this.”

I’d been planning to do exactly that anyway. With one soldier escorting me, I moved to the head of the formation, submachine gun still in hand.

“That’s…”

It was a creature I’d never seen before.