204 – The Returner Endures (1)

United States.

A hotel built near the desert.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh. When I told him that I already knew, he felt reassured and told me in detail. “They asked me how I knew, and I said Michael Jeter told me.”

“Okay. But since I lied… I need to just rob the warehouse and return right away. I can’t take the items? “Let’s just slurp down the elixir.”

“That alone is enough.”

After checking the plan until the very end, we got in a rented car and headed to the vast desert. The word is a desert, but the visual is close to a ‘wilderness’. It is not as overflowing with sand as the Egyptian desert, and the overall color of the ground is red.

The shaky car left the paved road at some point, and had to replace its tires once because it stepped on a cactus. Since we were heading to a place off the beaten path, this level of hardship was already expected.

“Is it here?”

“Uh. “You just have to walk a little further.”

“Then…” “

When we finally arrived at a point about 30km away from our destination, Jiwon Choi and I got out of the car wearing the gloves and masks we had prepared in advance.

“You said there were no security guards, but… Because it’s better to be certain.”

“Uh. “I don’t believe everything he says.”

It is a secret warehouse in the United States, so it cannot be without security. We moved forward, looking out for any hidden humans or shiny lenses from afar.

“… “I guess it wasn’t a lie.”

There was no sign of popularity from the outside as to whether the person who gave information to Choi Ji-won was a liar. To be honest, I thought there would be soldiers on standby, but there was no one.

As I continued forward through the stinging sand wind (I was careful not to get sand in my eyes and wore goggles), I was finally able to arrive at the ‘entrance’ that Choi Ji-won had mentioned.

“… “How do you find this?”

If I didn’t have the information, I would never have found it. When viewed from a distance, the bunker entrance hidden in sand looked like it was just made of iron plates. It is not much different from other trash that is usually found in the desert.

When I carefully brushed off the sand dust, the hidden entrance was completely revealed.

“Wow… “

It is definitely an entrance that gives the feeling of being neglected. There is a lot of rust on the iron, most of the white paint has been erased, and the entrance is slightly open and rattling. No, is it okay for the entrance to the secret warehouse to rattle? The sand is just going inside?

“It’s right here, right?”

“According to the information, it is correct… “

“Okay.”

It is unlikely that there are two bunkers in this vast desert. Since regression is certain anyway, we must move forward.

“It’s cleaner inside than I thought?”

“… “Isn’t it dirty?”

“No, this is the meme… done.”

“What, what is it?”

“No, no. “Now let’s focus.”

Go down the stairs one by one and look in all directions carefully. This is no ordinary warehouse. It is a secret warehouse of the ‘US government’. It wouldn’t be surprising if there were some traps hidden there. To put it bluntly, what would I do if a land mine exploded here and I died? Are you going to file a complaint?

“Whoa… “

Tongue. Tongue. Tongue.

The footsteps hit the old iron stairs and the sound echoed repeatedly, and finally it came to an end. After the long stairs, an underground hallway was revealed.

The light was on in the narrow hallway. Usually, it’s a good sign that the lights are on in these old bunkers. The fact that the electricity was working was proof that someone was taking care of it and that it was in the right place.

“… “I’m in a bit of trouble.”

However, the lights in this bunker were out in many places, and most of them were blinking, which gave me an eerie feeling rather than a sense of relief. Maybe the information is wrong? Or did you end up in another bunker right next to the one you were supposed to go to? But it’s too late to turn back, so I’m just burning inside.

“First of all… “Let’s relax as much as possible.”

“I understand.”

I walked through the old bunker with as much concentration as I could. As I walked, it seemed too narrow to be called a bunker, and it looked like it should have been called a secret underground base. While bunkers are usually built in the form of a wide plaza, this one had a narrow passageway and several rooms connected to each other.

“Hmm… “

There was nothing special in the room I saw as I passed by. There was a bed, a desk, and a small ceremonial table. It was a facility that looked like it was made for soldiers, and I think this is what the living space of sailors looked like in a documentary I saw in the past.

“Ah, let’s go left here.”

“What about the right one?”

“There are traces of people on the left. If you look at the floor here, the dust is uneven. “There are people who have already passed.”

“… “Do you feel that?”

Choi Ji-won’s keen sense was of great help in exploring this maze-like underground space. She led me forward by collecting the smallest clues, such as the dust on the floor or the condition of the walls. If I had come alone, I probably would have spent the whole day looking around. As expected, it is Choi Ji-won.

How long did it take to walk like that? By the time she felt that the mask covering her face was a little damp due to her concentration being pushed to its limit.

“… Uh?”

When Choi Ji-won opened the Gwanmuldae that he said was suspicious, there was a secret passage leading to another space inside.

If the road so far was narrow and fishy with the smell of rusty iron, this is a modern space with pure white tiles and bright lighting. It was a space that had an atmosphere like a laboratory. Even part of the ceiling is made of glass, exposing the complex mechanical devices.

“It’s done.”

A suspicious sight to anyone. While I felt confident that I had come to the right place, I also felt anxious about the path ahead. It is a secret warehouse in the United States. It wouldn’t be out of line if there was an army division waiting inside, and it wouldn’t be strange if Michael Jeter went one step further and was waiting.

“… “There’s no one there?”

“Really?”

“Uh. “I even tried using magical powers, but there really was nothing.”

However, the conclusion that Choi Ji-won came up with after focusing her mind was truly surprising. She feels with her keen senses… In this modern space, the only living people are me and Choi Ji-won.

“Is it a trap?”

“What trap?”

“… I know. “What kind of trap is this?”

I take an uncomfortable step into the space. If something goes wrong, she bites her cheek in an attempt to get back to it. Choi Ji-won and I looked around this wide, white space carefully.

“… “Why isn’t there something?”

Surprisingly, truly surprisingly, I found nothing. It wasn’t just that there were no people, but there were no treasures or elixirs that were originally said to be here.

Old bunker at the entrance. A long, maze-like road. A space with a modern interior at the end. So to speak, a horror game that started in an old abandoned house has reached the laboratory, the source of all evil, so why is there nothing there? It’s obviously strange.

“First of all… It is true that this is a space touched by the American hand. The fire also comes on. “I’m sure you didn’t come to the wrong place.”

I take off my mask, which was uncomfortable because it was damp with sweat, and look up at the glass ceiling where I see an unknown mechanical device. Just the fact that electricity was coming on made it clear that ‘America originally wanted to do something here.’

“Then why is there nothing here?”

“I think… It’s some kind of butterfly effect.”

“Butterfly effect?”

“Uh.”

A cliché that often appears in regressions. Butterfly effect.

It refers to a phenomenon in which a trivial thing that I have done carelessly has an impact on the future, resulting in a big difference. It would be impossible to explain this situation without talking about the butterfly effect.

“So, America will be using this as a warehouse until we see a future where monsters appear. “It must have been piled high with elixirs and items.”

But after that, time passed. I stayed on the 16th floor and trained my martial arts, on the 17th floor I confirmed my magical power, on the 18th floor I explored the martial arts world and obtained an elixir, and on the 19th floor, I wrote a book to check my martial arts.

“… “Looking at it like this, it really doesn’t seem like a big deal?”

“Yes.”

If you exclude regression and only think about the last cleared episode… The time we spent in the tower wasn’t very long, and we didn’t do much. But in all those little processes, something changed, and as a result, there was no doubt that America’s warehouses disappeared.

“Ugh… “

There are no other possible cases than this. So, the result is also fixed as ‘this is due to the butterfly effect.’ However, I have no idea the process leading to that result. Why would a warehouse disappear overnight? Why have all the construction been completed, but there are no items or security forces?

“… “I feel uncomfortable.”

“Hmm… Should I contact the association official who gave me the information? “I think he would know.”

“No, even if we contact them, let’s contact them after we return. “It would be too suspicious to contact me right now.”

“I understand.”

Since there was nothing we could know from the information we got here right now, we trudged out of the space and sat down on the old bed.

“Should we just go back now? If you go back to the city for no reason, it might be annoying if you are found out and questioned. “This future has already been confirmed, so it’s not too late to collect information even after going back to the past.”

“Yes. I think that’s true too. Are you going to return right now?”

“Uh. “To do that.”

After gathering my thoughts, I gently bit my cheek, and soon a familiar feeling of dizziness hit my head.

I didn’t know at the time.

What does this empty bunker mean?