No time for second thoughts.
I headed straight for Gangnam.
“Yes, this is a taxi… huh.”
A taxi I’d hailed after bolting straight out of the house.
The driver looked startled the moment he saw me, but that reaction never even registered in my eyes.
I had something far more urgent to deal with.
“Let’s go to Gangnam.”
“Y-yes! To Gangnam… wait, did you say Gangnam?”
The driver, barely holding himself together, asked again as if bewildered.
“Gangnam, of all places. What business does a youngster like you have there….”
“…I have a reason I must go.”
“No, no! I can’t go there!”
The driver said, shuddering.
I stared at him, finding his reaction odd. Then he waved his hands and explained.
“I don’t know the details, but something happened there, a Blackout or whatever? Anyway, it’s not good to go in.”
“…I know.”
“And I heard soldiers are blocking it off so you can’t even get in to begin with. You won’t even be able to try.”
Hearing that, it felt like a timer in my heart was ticking faster and faster.
Just what the hell is happening inside there…….
Of course, I had absolutely no reason to worry about that reckless brat, but I’d said something to Mom, so I had to bring her back.
“Then, get me as close to Gangnam as possible. I’ll pay whatever it takes.”
“Well, money isn’t the issue! Why would you go somewhere that could cost you your life…….”
The taxi driver, who had shouted in agitation for a moment, caught his breath.
He carefully examined my now-composed face through the rearview mirror, then asked cautiously.
“…Family.”
“…….”
“Your family, they’re in there?”
“…Yes.”
Should I even call them family?
We were truly blood-related.
But that was the extent of it. I felt no attachment or affection toward her whatsoever.
“…No wonder you looked so urgent.”
The driver muttered in a bitter voice.
Urgent, huh. He wasn’t wrong.
I really was in a hurry.
But this urgency didn’t stem from any affection for her.
How could I feel affection for someone who caused nothing but trouble every single time?
But… ah, right.
I’d said something to reassure Mom.
To keep those words from becoming a lie, I had to grab her by the scruff of her neck and drag her out, at the very least.
I had a duty to do so.
After a brief silence, the driver spoke in a slightly hoarse voice.
“…Let’s go. I don’t know how far we can get, but I’ll take you as far as we can reach.”
“…Thank you.”
I knew full well that my obstinacy had played a major role this time.
I didn’t know when, but I would definitely repay this kindness.
I looked at the business card engraved on the back of the seat.
[010-XXXX-XXXX
Yu Myeong-jin
Swiftly driving you to your destination!]
I would not forget this name.
*
It seemed the promise to swiftly drive one to their destination was no lie.
Despite my impatience, the taxi zoomed forward.
This was partly because the roads were completely empty.
“Hooah…….”
The taxi driver took a deep breath.
The highway traffic was lopsided, like during a holiday.
Packed with people trying to leave Seoul, but hardly anyone heading into Seoul.
That was probably… an evacuation procession.
The reason people were fleeing was clear.
Despite still being some distance away… a black pillar was clearly visible.
A black cylinder, swaying as though it would swallow even all light, towered in the direction of Gangnam.
‘…Is that the Blackout zone? The news never showed photos like that.’
It wasn’t a simple power outage, but a supernatural spectacle that looked like an entirely different dimension had unfolded.
It seemed more like a black mosaic had been applied to a photograph.
‘…So there was a reason they didn’t show it.’
If that sight had been broadcast properly, chaos would have ensued.
But with it sitting out in the open so plainly, proper information control was impossible.
“…You can turn back here.”
“It’s fine! I said I’d take you, so I’ll see it through to the end.”
The driver’s hands trembled slightly as he said this.
But there was righteousness in his eyes. Given my position of having to take advantage of his goodwill, I couldn’t say anything more.
Thus we arrived at the Sinsa Station intersection.
“Damn…….”
The taxi driver let out a groan, flustered.
And I was just as flustered.
I didn’t know Seoul’s geography well, but this place seemed to be a strategic point.
Soldiers had gathered in force and erected barricades, blocking access for anyone trying to pass.
And we were no exception.
“Halt, halt!”
The taxi, which had been slowing down because of the barricade, soon came to a stop.
On the other side, several armed soldiers were approaching with long strides.
Knock, knock.
A knocking sound at the window.
The driver rolled down the window. Beyond it, a soldier glared at us with a stiff face.
The soldier spoke in a low voice.
“This is a restricted area. Turn around immediately.”
“Ah, haha! Soldiers of the Republic of Korea, you must be having a hard time on a day like this…….”
“I won’t say it twice. Turn around.”
“…….”
The taxi driver hung his head low.
He was silent for a moment as if thinking, then spoke with his eyes squeezed shut.
“Can’t you just look the other way, just once? The passenger’s family is inside…….”
“…Ha.”
The soldier let out a hollow laugh, as if it were absurd.
He spoke, one corner of his mouth pulled up.
“If they’re in there, so what? You have a way to save them?”
“…….”
“The details are classified so I cannot say, but the nation is doing its utmost. So… please turn around now.”
“…Yes.”
The taxi driver, who had been pleading desperately, hung his head.
There was nothing more he could do.
Vroom—.
Inside the car as it turned back, the driver spoke as if to comfort me.
“…It’ll be alright. You heard, right? The soldiers are doing their best…….”
I was fine.
If I’d planned to persuade the soldiers and cross the barricade, I would have helped the driver plead earlier.
I hadn’t thought I could persuade the soldiers from the start.
What could those guys do besides follow orders?
Of course, I’d likely be in no different a situation myself a week from now.
When I remained silent, the driver cautiously suggested.
“It’s presumptuous of me to say, but I think it’d be better to just go back. No matter how you look at it, that cylinder is too ominous…….”
He wasn’t wrong.
I too had been overwhelmed for a moment by the sight of that cylinder.
Blackout, Blackout. I’d only heard the word, but seeing that supernatural form with my own eyes, my whole body was trembling in truth.
But…….
“Could you let me out around here?”
“Here? No, my friend. If we’re going back, we go back together…….”
“Over there, people are gathered.”
Not far from the Sinsa Station intersection.
Something like a camp where many people were gathered was visible.
The driver, belatedly noticing them, said with eyes wide.
“Whoa, there’s a camp set up in the middle of Seoul.”
Those people were probably residents of Gangnam.
Unable to return home in the current situation, it seemed they had set up a camp there.
I was thinking of going there to get some information.
But feeling that the driver wouldn’t let me out if I said that, I lied.
“I know someone there. I’ll catch a ride back with them.”
“…….”
He looked like he didn’t believe me.
Well, I wouldn’t have either.
Knowing that, I didn’t avoid the driver’s eyes. Rather, I met his gaze.
So that he couldn’t refuse, even if he didn’t believe me.
A long staring contest.
In the end, it was the driver who looked away first.
“I don’t make a habit of leaving passengers in danger.”
“…What could possibly happen?”
“But…….”
He seemed to harbor a strange sense of guilt.
“And do I look like an ordinary person to you?”
“That’s… no.”
Pure white wings stretching out with a soft flutter from my shoulder blades.
And atop that, a halo that, though faint, exuded a presence more intense than anything else.
The driver had seen these elements all along but pretended not to notice.
He probably thought of it as consideration for a mutant.
He was the kind of person who would treat even Sin A-yun, not just me, normally.
“So don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”
Being the object of such a person’s worry was gratifying, yet also burdensome.
Because I felt sorry.
The guilt inside me sprouted and grew, reaching up to my chest before I knew it.
Really, I ought to let our adorable little brat of a sister—the one so lovable I could just kill her—know about this too.
For all I knew, she might already be beating the crap out of every monster in there and resting easy.
If so… that would be nice.