The mimetic beasts’ abilities seemed almost perfect. But “almost” meant they were not perfect.
No matter how extraordinary those bastards were, in the end, their memories were based on records from when they had been alive.
In other words, there was inevitably a twenty-four-hour gap—the time it took to turn into a mimetic beast.
‘It’s possible to distinguish mimetic beasts to a certain extent.’
Simply knowing that narrowed the scope of the investigation considerably.
All I had to do was narrow it down to those whose whereabouts had been unclear for a specific period before they returned.
Of course, with everyone’s vision cut off, the information people had was limited… but asking them one by one covered that to some degree.
Naturally, it was tedious… and it took a very long time.
On top of that, it consumed a considerable amount of mental energy.
On the sixth day, the final interviewee came to see me.
“A-Angel! It is an honor to meet you like this.”
The middle-aged woman sitting across from me spoke with visible nervousness.
Judging by the cross necklace around her neck, she was probably a Christian.
Well, that would explain why she reacted with even more extraordinary fervor than the other believers.
From her perspective, I must have been the very being from the Bible made manifest.
“Not at all, Ms. Min Gyeonghui.”
“Y-You know my name! Truly, truly…!”
The woman tried to continue, but perhaps unable to find the proper words, she burst into tears instead.
For reference, Kim Soyeong had told me her name in advance before the interview.
There was no way I could memorize everyone’s names in such a short time.
“Sob… What an honor……”
Seeing that, I sighed inwardly.
‘This really feels like I’m holding a fan meeting.’
It was like being an idol facing an obsessive fan.
Since the word “idol” originally meant an object of worship, it wasn’t entirely wrong either.
“Now, now, please calm down. Since our time is limited, shouldn’t we make good use of it?”
“I-I… sob! Just this time spent speaking with you, Angel, is more than fulfilling enough for me…!”
There was no getting through to her.
It seemed over the top to me, but I supposed it was moving enough for her.
After all, the religion she had believed in all her life had essentially taken form and come to save her in the apocalypse.
To put it in a way I could understand, it was like a favorite comic character coming to reality to save me.
‘…No, even then, I think this is too much.’
At times like this, I missed Kim Jihu terribly.
He might have made a fuss too, but if I told him to stop, he would pick up on it and stop right away.
‘…Sigh. It’s not like I can do anything about it.’
Now that I had taken on the position of a religious idol, I had no choice but to endure a certain amount of this.
In the end, it took ages to calm the woman down.
At least she was the last one in line. If she had been somewhere in the middle, I might not have been able to hold back a sigh of despair.
“…So, may I ask how you’ve been living all this time?”
“Yes, yes! Of course!”
The woman began rambling about herself.
Her husband had run a small trading company in the past, and when it did well, they settled down in Seoul.
Her sons were also good students and went abroad to study, and so on……
‘……Ah.’
This wasn’t what I wanted to hear.
I kept listening in case there was anything important, but in the end, there was nothing of substance.
“…And then this whole mess happened in the middle of it!”
“You must have been deeply distressed.”
“Of course, of course…… So much has happened during that time. Truly.”
This time, fairly high-quality information began to come out.
In the darkness, there was nothing much to do except talk, so they had gone around locating one another by sound.
However, with day and night turned upside down, many people slept at all hours, so apparently it was considered proper manners to speak as quietly as possible.
‘It’s a good environment for mimetic beasts to operate in.’
Leaving that less-than-pleasant sign aside, I continued listening to the woman’s story.
In that way, the woman seemed to vent all the resentment that had built up in her by talking about episodes involving the other survivors.
“…You truly went through a great deal. My blessing will be with you.”
“Thank you, thank you!”
I placed a light mental protection on her.
It was not a power that helped much with mental health, but it could help a person avoid being swept away by emotion.
“Ooh……!”
“Then, may I ask you a few questions now?”
“Of course! Please ask me anything!”
I had only watched her for a short while, but this woman seemed to be the type who loved talking.
She had been itching to talk about herself since earlier.
I asked the common question I had asked all the interviewees so far.
“Were there any days in the past when you missed a meal?”
“No! There were not!”
“Are you saying you participated in every food distribution?”
“Of course. I’m embarrassed to say this, but I really love eating. Other people sometimes skipped meals, but no matter how depressed I was, I had to eat first before I felt right.”
“…I see.”
According to the Eye of Truth, it was the truth without even a shred of falsehood.
In fact, all the testimonies so far had been like that.
I moved my fingers under the table where she could not see.
“…Then, I’ll ask just a little more.”
After that, I asked several more questions, and only then did the interview come to an end.
The woman expressed deep regret that the interview was over, but she did not cling messily to my pant leg.
As she left the building, she bowed to me at a ninety-degree angle.
“Thank you, Angel! Thanks to you, hope that we can leave this place keeps welling up inside me! To be honest, until now, I had even considered committing the grave sin of suicide…… Ah, of course I absolutely won’t do that! And of course, I have been repenting enough as well.”
The woman was talkative to the very end.
Only after seeing her off to the exit did I return to my room.
“…You worked hard.”
When I returned to the room, Kim Soyeong, who had been recording the conversation, greeted me.
“You worked harder, Soyeong. Just recording that woman’s conversation would fill an entire notebook.”
“Even so, facing people directly is another matter.”
Hearing that, I thought it over for a while… then soon shrugged.
“It does drain me, but I don’t dislike it.”
“Is that so?”
“I don’t know. Should I say it feels worthwhile? When I think that someone can brighten up like that because of me, I think it’s enjoyable in its own way.”
Of course, this was only a thought I could have because I had some peace of mind.
I would be able to meet my younger sister safely, and my teammates’ safety had been secured to some degree.
The influence of having accepted divine power as my own was probably significant as well.
“So I don’t think badly of that woman either. Of course, listening to her talk drains me… but she likes me that passionately.”
I suddenly turned my gaze out the window.
The easygoing woman who liked to talk was already chatting with another survivor, wearing an extremely bright expression.
I watched that sight, then suddenly gave a faint, bitter laugh.
‘Of course, that’s only if that woman is still a living person.’
As I silently looked out the window, Kim Soyeong asked me,
“Then how should we classify that woman?”
“…Please classify her as part of the mimetic beast risk group.”
Unfortunately, there was a high possibility that the woman who had spoken with me had actually died long ago.
‘Everything that woman said was definitely true.’
But this had not been the only interview.
There had already been dozens of interviewees before her, and I had heard all of their testimonies as well.
That was why I had deliberately listened to the woman’s useless stories.
To cross-check them with the other testimonies.
The woman was nosy and talkative by nature, so she was also the sort who drew a great deal of attention from those around her.
As such, there were also testimonies from other survivors about her……
‘They said there was one day when she missed a meal.’
That testimony was true, and the woman’s testimony was also true.
At first glance, it was contradictory.
But we knew of the twenty-four-hour gap that existed in the process of becoming a mimetic beast.
“Then I’ll add her.”
“…Please.”
Was it now the third day since I had started the interviews?
Since I had proceeded after the religion had settled in to some extent, there was a bit of a gap in timing.
With this, the final interview of the sixth day was over, and the number of people interviewed so far was 125.
Just today, five people had been added to the mimetic beast suspect group.
“Ah, and we need to change the classification of the three people we interviewed the day before yesterday. From the testimony we received this time, it seems they had a twenty-four-hour gap.”
“…Understood.”
And so, among the 125 people classified so far, the total number in the mimetic beast risk group was 23.
The ratio had decreased somewhat compared to yesterday, but… not to a meaningful degree.
“Ah, what did they say on that side?”
“Jeon Minchan came by while you were in the middle of the interview.”
She relayed the news brought by the carrier pigeon.
“He said a meeting will be held in the early hours today, and asked whether you would attend.”
Finally, what was coming had come.