One rookie throwing a tantrum.
Two supervisors on the verge of tears.
All three are eight years old.
The situation was deteriorating beautifully.
‘Damn it!’
This wasn’t a discussion, it was just an expression of overwhelming emotion…!
I finally tried to explain the reason behind my ‘No! We gotta keep looking!’ with the intention of biting my tongue if necessary, but both of them were already getting swept up by the mood.
Tears spread quickly among children…!
“W-We still have time left, and you said we’re only doing two days because of the rules. So I thought that meant we still have time to explore safely without getting contaminated…”
“Then I’d like to keep looking, sir. Just one kid. Maybe they’re here, and we just didn’t find them!”
Child Agent Choi sniffled.
“Th-then maybe just… two more days…”
“Agent!”
Agent Bronze, eyes red at the corners, stepped in and sharply glared at Agent Choi before turning to me with a firm voice.
“No.”
I wanted to say, ‘Why not?!’
And I did.
“Why not?!”
I’m going crazy.
Agent Bronze shouted back.
“Because it’s dangerous! An agent’s life always comes first. If we push past the rules…!”
His voice caught in his throat.
“I’ve seen agents die from that. So many sunbaes never made it back.”
“……”
“That’s why… we should never start something like this. Following the rules is the right way.”
‘……Huu.’
He’s not wrong either.
Then, Agent Bronze glanced at my arm.
“Don’t forget that arm of yours needs to be recharged every three days.”
“I brought a charger for it! Th-then how about this? Just one more night. Just a single night.”
Choi raised one finger.
“If by tomorrow afternoon we’re not sure we can rescue anyone, we’ll just leave. Okay? Delaying the mission by half a day is… it’s something you just mention in a single line of the report.”
“……”
Both of us instinctively looked at Agent Bronze.
“Jaekwan-ah…”
“Agent, um…”
“Do whatever you want.”
And then Agent Bronze shut his mouth.
Leaving only those words.
“I never agreed to it.”
It certainly seemed that way.
His face was flushed red, unable to hide his frustration and bitterness.
Still, it was also an unspoken signal that he wouldn’t protest further, so Agent Choi wrapped it up right away.
“All right. Then just one more day!”
So, the three of us children promised this: if we still found nothing, we’d give up and leave right away.
And so we each returned to the sleeping quarters of the children in our assigned areas.
Agent Choi took the area near the palace, Agent Bronze stayed near the central fountain, and I… headed toward the town entrance.
The annoying part was that our paths overlapped, so I ended up walking with Agent Bronze.
“……”
“……”
“Um, I’m sorry…”
“…It’s fine.”
Agent Bronze let out a sigh and spoke.
“Compared to other cases of people affected by dokkaebi tricks… this was a pretty rational outcome.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes. Some agents ended up bawling and wrestling with each other.”
O-Oh, I see.
“…That’s why we need rules. In supernatural situations like this, even if it doesn’t make sense in the moment, following protocol is important. You’ll eventually realize it was the right call.”
Agent Bronze took a deeper breath.
“Of course, you aren’t at fault, Agent Grapes. Every rookie goes through something like this at least once. But the person in charge failed to explain things properly and went along with it, so…!”
“……”
You’re really skilled at shutting up the rookie who just successfully negotiated for one more day thanks to that very person in charge…
Anyway, although Agent Bronze still didn’t look happy, the mood recovered enough that he gave me advice as we split up.
“All the kids will fall asleep before midnight anyway. Agent Grapes, don’t waste your strength. Get some rest too.”
“…Yes.”
In Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace, day and night are determined by the chimes of the town clock tower.
When night falls, a drowsiness appropriate to children’s sleep cycles sets in. Everyone falls asleep before midnight, and cheerful music plays at sunrise to wake them.
It was a distinctly supernatural structure, fitting for a ghost story.
I walked past the dazzling reddish-gold hues of the palace district, into the softly glowing navy and white-lit part of town, and entered the lodging I was assigned.
A sign at the entrance read:
Dreamland Beds
for Children
Inside was a huge, whimsically decorated room fitting for young kids, with a dozen or so fluffy canopy beds.
…All the children in the room were already fast asleep.
Because I had spent every last possible moment searching for a child I could still rescue, I had pushed time to its limit.
Sleepiness washed over me too.
“Huu.”
I picked one of the empty beds at random and lay down. The absurdly soft and warm bedding gently wrapped around my head and body.
Then, briefly, the disgrace I just showed flashed through my mind… Wow.
I threw a tantrum? Me?
‘I don’t think I ever even acted like that even as an actual kid.’
And judging by their personalities, Agent Choi and Agent Bronze probably felt the same way about themselves.
Maybe because dokkaebi tricks aren’t true rejuvenation but more like deception, there’s this strange sense that we’ve been turned into the ‘concept’ of children.
So what matters now is staying calm and not being swayed by the exaggerated traits of this child’s body.
The goal hasn’t changed, after all.
With a hazy mind, I made a slow vow.
‘…Let’s get up early and start searching right away.’
Maybe one.
Just one… maybe I could bring back at least one child.
……
……
[Grapes.]
(T/N: Spoken affectionately; Podo-ya)
…Hm?
[Grapes. I think you’ll make a fine agent. Your arm thinks so too.]
A voice, warm and familiar, drifted in.
No, listening again, it sounded reliable and strong.
What is this?
[It’s your dream.]
I see.
Come to think of it, I had fallen asleep.
Before my closed eyes, sparkling light shimmered like a warm flame.
[And in dreams, thoughts that don’t come to you in reality often rise up. Because you’re free from the constraints of the real world.]
……
Things you can’t think of in reality.
That’s true. Now that I was running a rescue mission as a child due to the entry requirements, there were things I had most likely overlooked.