Guide to the Fallen World - Chapter 24

#24. Let’s pass the test

Yes. There’s no doubt that Jay had gone mad. Or perhaps something within her was broken. While Yeowon worried about the potential threat Jay’s condition could pose to the base’s security, she was also overcome with excitement.

“Really, you’re going to allow it?”

“Of course. Although I can’t tell you where it is, if you pass the test, I’ll grant you permission to go out for a short visit to a shelter near the base.”

“Really? You’re not lying? You’re a liar.”

“So, do you not want to do it? If you don’t, it’s fine with me.”

“I’ll do it!”

Jay is a nasty transhuman who recklessly spouts lies, but when she makes a deal, she never lies. The reason was that she couldn’t afford to destroy even the minimum amount of trust.

So, Yeo-won believed what Jay said. She knew from her past experiences that it wasn’t a lie or false hope.

And so, Yeowon began her training. Jay’s promise of granting her a sliver of freedom if she passed the test became her driving force.

Still, a test was a test. If she didn’t pass, there would be no outings or anything else.

The problem was the practical exam. She had already passed the memorization test regarding shelter protocols, but the practical test Jay devised was a completely different challenge.

This insane practical exam was conducted using holograms that artificially recreated parts of the shelter, with scenarios and environments changing each time. Judgment, intuition, quick thinking, and crisis detection—all of these were evaluated.

Thus, Yeowon found herself navigating a crowd of countless holographic people, avoiding traps along the way.

Ignore the child lying on the street.

Respond to the man picking a fight with a barrage of gunfire.

When an event involving pursuit by human traffickers occurred, Yeowon quickly secured an escape route and successfully escaped into the sewers within the time limit.

However, even in the sewers, unexpected events were inevitable.

Last time, she failed because she panicked and didn’t know what to do. But this time was different.

Carefully, she deployed barriers and activated combat drones, mowing down everything ahead with machine gun fire. Perfect!

She missed no responses. She handled every situation flawlessly.

And yet, Yeowon did not pass the test.

“Why did I fail? I avoided every threat!” she protested.

Dohyeok looked at her with pity.

“You were pickpocketed.”

“What do you mean? Look at this. I still have my gun, the guiding suppressant, and even my money pouch—all intact. My bag wasn’t stolen, and there’s no sign of it being slashed with a knife.”

Dohyeok silently looked at Yeowon’s wrist. Following his gaze, Yeowon looked at her empty wrist and fell into quiet despair.

As she stood there, Jay smirked and mocked her.

“Ta-da! Your guiding inhibitor was stolen! Here, I’ll return it to you.”

Yeowon couldn’t accept it. This time, she simply couldn’t acknowledge her failure.

“Let’s make the guiding inhibitor non-removable. That way, pickpocketing won’t be a problem. In exchange, this counts as passing the test. Deal?”

“You used to hate it, saying it felt like a shackle… You insisted so much about how inconvenient it was while showering that we compromised on a wristwatch design. And now you want to go back to a bracelet form?”

“So, is it a yes or a no?”

Jay hesitated for a moment. Suggesting that Yeowon wear inhibitors on both arms and legs too would be pushing it, wouldn’t it?

Besides, Yeowon had already repeated the shelter simulation test over a hundred times by now. As much as Jay wanted to add new variables to spice up the now predictable tests and push her further, it was true that there hadn’t been much incentive up to this point.

Normally, Yeowon would have accepted her failure and gone straight back to restarting the simulation. The fact that she was stubbornly refusing this time was unusual.

She’s probably just exhausted, to the point where she’s clinging stubbornly out of sheer frustration.

So, offering a carrot at this point wouldn’t be such a bad idea. After all, it was a rotten carrot anyway.

“Alright. Deal.”

“Woohoo! I did it! This is for real, right? No takebacks! No changing your mind! I want to leave right now!”

Yeowon, overflowing with excitement, chattered on nonstop. Jay silently watched her, a faint smile on her lips.

After all, what Yeowon needed most was despair.

“There’s no need to get so excited. The shelter I mentioned, Sakhalin, is close to the base and has no Espers, so I’ll let you go. But it’s on the verge of total collapse. Are you sure you want to go? Do you really want to visit a dystopian ruin that badly? I just can’t understand your enthusiasm for this.”

“Can’t you tell? Why do you think I’ve been putting up with these awful tests? I just want to go outside!”

“You’ll regret it. Life’s tough out there, but you don’t seem to get it… Anyway, I’m not telling you the current state of Shelter Sakhalin. Knowing in advance would ruin the fun.”

“That’s exactly what I want. Spoilers ruin movies too,” Yeowon replied, flashing a bright smile.

Jay shook her head in disbelief. That smile only made her feel more bitter, it was too easy to imagine how quickly it would fade.

“I warned you, didn’t I? It’s a dystopia,” she said, but Yeowon wasn’t listening anymore.

Yeah. Nothing I say will get through to her now.

After all, the shelter’s population, once dwindling by the dozens every day, had been reduced to just five people. It was like a jar of insects where everything had died off, leaving only the strongest survivors behind.

The problem was that these “insects” were humans.

One was a murderer.

One was an elderly person.

One was a deranged lunatic.

The remaining two were so gravely ill that they were on the brink of death.

Yeowon needed to understand that a shelter nearing its end was far more horrifying than one that had already fallen.

***

Although Yeowon had clumsily passed the test and Jay’s approval was officially granted, she didn’t dare to fully believe she’d actually be allowed to go outside. She knew all too well how powerless she’d be if Jay decided to change her mind halfway through.

But as she moved to the restricted hangar area in preparation for her outing, boarded one of the tightly lined airships, and sat down, the reality of it all finally sink in.

I’m really leaving the base.

The moment Yeowon stepped into the hangar, she was overwhelmed. She had always thought of this place as merely a guiding suppressant production facility. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined a space like this existed within the base.

As Jay stood next to her, nagging relentlessly until the very last moment, Yeowon quietly looked up at her.

“Why did you really let me go?”

“Hmm. Once someone tastes freedom, they can never truly go back to how they were before.”

“That’s it?”

“Hmm. Our ancestors. Risking danger to find the Core, and the Espers invading the Ark, those were actually good things, right? Thanks to that, you escaped the Ark, got some fresh air, and even joined a traveling merchant group. Right? I know it too. I know I was too much. That’s why I’m letting you go.”

“Jay…”

“Don’t get too excited. This is a one-time thing, and even after this, I’ll only grant permission to go out very occasionally. I’ll probably only allow it once every year or two, so keep that in mind and go.”

“Thank you, Jay. I’ll be back!”

Yeo-won, who smiled brightly, fastened her seatbelt as she sat down, and the engine roared to life. Watching Yeo-won filled with anticipation, Jay sighed.

“I taught her so much not to trust people, but her learning ability is just…”

“Because the director is a trustworthy person.”

“Are you flattering me now? You go and sit down quickly too. Yeo-won is waving her hand.”

“I’ll be back.”

With those parting words, Dohyeok boarded the hovercraft as the crane slowly moved the vehicle towards the tunnel entrance.

Jay watched the body of the departing airship with a forlorn expression.

“I hope she’s not too disappointed…”

She was sending her to face reality, to be disillusioned and crushed by it, yet she already felt regret. Still, with Dohyeok accompanying her, she should return safely without wandering off the intended path.

It was all done with the hope that the naïve guide would come back a little tougher, a little stronger.

Yeowon will be very disappointed. She’ll probably return with a broken heart.

But that’s precisely why I needed to take such drastic measures. Yeowon has always been so different from me.

As a guide who finds joy in exploring various shelters through holograms when she’s bored or depressed, she yearns for civilization.

She longed for the scent and atmosphere of people living. Knowing this, she deliberately didn’t accompany her. There was no point in having an object of resentment by her side.

***

After approximately five hours of flight, Yeo-won entered Shelter Sakhalin with Do-hyeok.

In reality, it wasn’t a flight at all, but simply rotating within an underground hangar before being brought to the surface, but the guide’s senses were like those of an ordinary person, so she didn’t know this fact. She shouldn’t be told either.

The guide had to believe they traveled to Shelter Sakhalin by air. It was safer that way.

Upon arriving at Shelter Sakhalin, the guide’s cheeks were flushed with tension.

Taking in the brisk, cold air, Yeowon beamed with a bright smile, her face full of excitement. Watching her, Dohyeok couldn’t help but smile too, but there was an underlying unease. He knew it wouldn’t be long before she would be disappointed.

He understood exactly why the Director had let both him and the guide loose in Shelter Sakhalin. And though he knew, he had accepted it.

He simply wanted to share even the guide’s disappointment and heartbreak.

His innocent, childlike guide.

He had to protect her. Not just her body, but her heart as well.

Therefore, he wouldn’t entertain any foolish thoughts. The Director was probably watching with a drone even at this moment.

On the other hand, Yeowon, completely unaware of Dohyeok’s complicated feelings, crunched through the ankle-deep snow, enjoying her freedom.

She knew Jay was watching via satellite, but an outing was an outing. And this was a formally permitted outing.

“This is my first time visiting a shelter like this!”

“Is that so?”

“This is my first time in a place like this too. It’s like a ski resort. I want to build a snowman.”

“It would be better to do that after returning to the base.”

“Huh? Why?”

Dohyeok hesitated, unsure how to explain. If they started making a snowman, the corpses hidden beneath the snow would reveal themselves. It would be better to make a snowman using artificial snow in the base’s storage.

“I guess making a snowman is too childish, right? I must have gotten carried away.”

“Well… it’s not that.”

Yeowon immediately noticed that Dohyeok was troubled about something. Did he perhaps dislike snow?

Well, since everyone has different preferred seasons, it was possible.

“Should we head to the center of the shelter first? We can also avoid the snow. But it seems we’re quite far from the center. There’s no sign of anyone around. No traces like footprints either. I don’t think anyone is hiding around here.”

“Yes. There’s no one.”

“Then shall we go?”

Dohyeok hurriedly followed after Yeowon, who started walking ahead.

He simply wished for Yeowon to be happy for as long as possible.

Even though he knew it was impossible.