A space-expansion box that the American advance team members called the “Dark Box.”
After learning that the box had activated safely, I was able to hear an explanation about it.
“This box is a relic America prepared for the exploration of this planet. I heard that because of dark energy, the space inside the box is much larger than it looks from the outside.”
‘They didn’t get it on this planet?’
I muttered inwardly at Huiwon’s words.
I already knew that this box was something like the magic pouches I’d seen in novels.
The moment it became bound to me, I learned many things about it.
That only I could use it now, how large the interior of the box was, and even the circumstances under which I would become unable to use it.
But the information I gained through the binding did not include the box’s origin.
‘Did they get it from some ruins on Earth? Or did they get it from another planet?’
Even if I asked, they obviously wouldn’t tell me.
Besides, even though they were part of the advance team, it seemed Team Member Huiwon and the other Koreans didn’t know its origin either.
“Unfortunately, I heard it’s impossible to put things inside it and then spatially transfer. They said the powers related to space collide with each other.”
That was also information I already knew.
If that had been possible, there would have been no reason to run around hunting monsters barehanded with spears.
“And to use this box, they say they need someone who can awaken the relic. It was partly for that reason that they had people spatially transfer with backpacks and bags—to find that person.”
So someone who could move with a backpack could use this box.
I could understand it, more or less.
That didn’t mean I could accept everything I was being told now.
Instead of continuing to listen, I probed lightly.
“How did they figure that out?”
At my question, she answered with a troubled expression.
“They said it was because both are ruins related to space… But I only heard it too, so I don’t know anything more.”
She asked David, but got no answer.
As expected, the Korean advance team members were nothing more than subcontractors for the Americans.
They were only there to interpret and manage the follow-up members.
The owners of this base were the Americans.
Perhaps thinking the rough explanation was over, David asked,
“Two yards, right?”
“He’s asking if the length is two yards… about one meter and eighty centimeters?”
Because the yard-pound system suddenly appeared, the interpretation wasn’t smooth.
Still, I could understand what he meant.
He was asking about the internal size of the Dark Box, the space-expansion box.
In the novels I’d read, the inside of such a box had been shaped like a cube, but the interior I confirmed through the binding was different.
‘A circle—no, a sphere.’
A large, hollow sphere.
The length David mentioned must have referred to either the diameter or the radius of that sphere.
I didn’t ask which.
Because either way, it didn’t matter.
‘About six times my height. Maybe around ten meters.’
Five times in length, seventy-five times in volume.
The difference from the size David mentioned was far too great.
I made a quick decision.
“It’s roughly similar.”
It wasn’t similar at all, but since the box was bound to me, there shouldn’t be anyone who could tell.
I didn’t feel sorry either.
They were people with plenty of hidden secrets anyway.
I needed to have at least one card hidden up my sleeve too.
It was a lie, but David nodded with a satisfied expression at my answer.
“Good! From now on, Mr. Hyeon is on the exploration team. We’ll proceed as planned, so explain it well.”
With those final words, he sent me out of the cave.
Although it had become bound to me, I couldn’t take the box with me.
I felt a little empty, but it was something I’d expected, so I was able to shake it off right away.
I recalled David’s words.
‘Exploration team? And what plan is he talking about?’
Fortunately, there was someone who could explain.
It was Team Member Kim Huiwon, who had come out with me.
After we left the cave, she first interpreted David’s words for me.
“Mr. Hyeon Myeonghan, you’ve become part of the exploration team. He says we’ll move according to the plan starting tomorrow, so I should explain it to you properly.”
At her words, I asked what I was most curious about.
“What does the exploration team do?”
I could more or less guess from the name alone, but I still needed confirmation.
“We didn’t explain this to the follow-up members, but there are two things we have to do on this planet.”
“Does that include survival?”
“Ah. If you include survival, then there are three. But that’s a given.”
“In any case, one of the things we have to do is collect the black stones I mentioned earlier. We need black stones to keep traveling back and forth to Earth.”
It seemed she didn’t know.
That wasn’t the only use for black stones.
The Dark Box had also been made using black stones.
Now that I had the box, I could tell.
The translucent patterns drawn on the surface of the box had all been made by processing black stone.
I didn’t know exactly how it had been made, but black stone was something necessary for creating relics.
‘The spatial-transfer ruins must be the same, right?’
The patterns drawn in the stone chamber of the ruins had been similar to those on the box.
The box and the ruins—both the relic and the ruins I knew of were connected to black stones.
‘Which means the others are probably the same too.’
There were definitely more ruins and relics.
Her next words also supported my thought that there would be more ruins.
“The second thing we have to do is investigate this planet.”
“You don’t mean things like ecological or environmental surveys, do you?”
“That’s work for scientists.”
Even without examining it closely, her words were strange.
We were currently on a planet with life, forty light-years away from Earth.
And yet they weren’t going to investigate this planet’s ecosystem or natural environment?
Scientists would be jumping up and down over that.
“What we have to find are the ruins and relics left on this planet.”
‘As expected.’
Ruins and relics. I had expected it from the moment I saw the Dark Box.
Ruins capable of transporting people across dozens of light-years, and a box boasting an enormous capacity.
Now that Earth’s scientific technology was difficult to use on other planets, relics had become extremely important as well.
“It’s as important as finding black stones. And it’s something that must be led by the advance team.”
The nuance of her next words was odd.
I swept my senses over the surroundings, then spoke in a low voice.
“It sounds less like it’s led by the advance team and more like it’s led by America.”
At my words, she quickly looked around.
I had already checked.
No one was listening.
After hesitating for a moment, she whispered quietly.
“…Yes. You’re right. This matter is something the Americans want. Our government is obsessed with gathering black stones.”
As expected, it was an operation being carried out under American leadership.
However, the black stone matter was different from what I’d thought.
It wasn’t the American government, but the Korean government that wanted them more.
Was this not just simple subcontracting?
“Then, this plan you mentioned…”
“Yes. It’s the exploration of ruins. Before you all arrived, the advance team found one set of ruins. But because there was no box carrier, they haven’t been able to enter the ruins until now.”
At her words, I couldn’t help tilting my head.
The two sets of ruins I had seen had merely been deep underground.
Even so, they hadn’t been so deep that you’d need to pack up loads of food to go there.
‘Ah, maybe the ruins on Earth were different?’
We had arrived quickly by elevator, but if we’d walked, it would have taken days to reach that depth.
Though that had been a problem caused by the movement of the Earth’s crust.
The entrance had been blocked, so they’d had to dig a tunnel.
She explained in a little more detail.
“I’ve only heard about it too, but apparently exploring ruins is more dangerous than expected. There are monsters that make their homes in the ruins, and traps too. I heard it’s a difficult place to move around while carrying heavy loads.”
It was hard to imagine, but I had only seen two sets of ruins.
The Americans, who had many secrets, were probably more correct than I was.
There were many things that still puzzled me, but after hearing the explanation, I could accept it to some extent.
I also understood that it was important work, and that my position was important.
However, there was one thing I didn’t like.
“So in the end, I’m a porter?”
At my words, she became mute as if she had eaten honey.
I silently stared at her.
In the end, she avoided my gaze.
A short while later, I returned to the cave.
The atmosphere inside the cave was gloomy.
Unlike me, who had been out of my mind with all that had happened, the follow-up members still hadn’t escaped the news of the deaths.
From the inner part of the cave, Sergeant An waved his hand.
The people I’d hunted with were gathered beside him.
When had they gotten close?
They were the exact opposite of me, who found it difficult to get close to strangers.
Since they were calling me like that, there was no reason to ignore them.
I went over to Sergeant An and the group.
When I sat down beside them, Sergeant An asked,
“Why did they call you?”
“Starting tomorrow, I think I’ll have to go to a different team.”
At my words, everyone in the group clicked their tongues.
“Because you’re the box carrier or whatever, right?”
“Yes.”
“Damn it. They’re doing whatever they want.”
“If you’re gone, hyung, what happens to our team?”
Worrying about the team from the start.
There was a reason Sergeant An had called me, and a reason they were all gathered like this.
“There were deaths, and some people are leaving, so they’ll probably reorganize the teams.”
“That’s a problem. I heard only one person besides our team felt that dark energy or whatever it was.”
At the butcher shop owner’s words, the college student sighed.
There was something in the college student’s words I was hearing for the first time.
“Only one person?”
“Yes. And even that seems uncertain.”
“You and Hanna were the strange ones.”
I had my abilities from the start, so Hanna was the only strange one.
“This is serious. I heard more than half the advance team will be leaving tomorrow because of some other work too.”
I had a feeling I knew what that “other work” was.
My former team members continued to worry, but there was nothing they could do.
In the end, the conversation ended with sighs, and everyone lay down to sleep.
And so the second day passed.
***
The next day, just as people expected, the hunting teams were reorganized.
The hunting teams became three teams, each consisting of one advance team member and six follow-up members, one team fewer than before.
While the hunting teams were being recreated like that, I was standing elsewhere with the advance team.
On my back was the backpack I had brought from Earth.
Inside the backpack, instead of combat rations, was the Dark Box.
Not only the hunting teams, but the other follow-up members as well looked at me with puzzled eyes as I stood with the advance team.
For some reason, the girl Kang Hanna was glaring at me.
It might sound ridiculous, but she looked like she was watching a lover who had left her behind.
There was one more person among the advance team glaring at me.
He was the Korean officer in charge, Park Osu, who had failed to participate in a hunting team and was staying behind at the base.
He was glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me.
It wasn’t as if I had done anything.
It seemed I’d been marked.
Since it didn’t look like we could become friends, I figured I should draw a line through that man’s name as well.
A short while later, the hunting teams departed, and I also left the base.
The exploration team’s porter set out toward the ruins.