Ch'en walked with large strides forward, slamming her hand onto the metallic table with a daunting look upon her face.
The black-haired man didn't react much aside from staring down at her hand, then back at her eyes.
She opened her mouth in order to question him on how he had attained such foods when they had already done a pat-down on the man. Except, she remembered that he didn't speak Lungmenese, causing her to grit her teeth and restrain herself.
Hopefully her countenance had already given him enough of a message that his previous display was by no means helping his case in any measure.
"죄송합니다. 꽤 오랫동안 기다리고 있었습니다..." The black-haired man said in his foreign language, sounding seldom remorseful, if remorse was extraneously arduous to discern.
***
Jin-Woo had already fully taken in the features of the blue-haired woman in front of him when he departed from the Red Gate, such as those dragon-like horns and dragon-like tail, much to his own surprise.
It looked like something straight out of a video game or cartoon, further detaching this world's 'normalcy' and common sense from his own. The same rang true for the other woman brought into the room who carried a clipboard, looking like she possessed feathers peeking out by the sides of her head.
He assumed her to be some sort of translator on first guess, or another high-ranking person of this police force whose name he still didn't know.
Jin-Woo pursed his lips slightly when the blue-haired woman continued glaring at him, saying something to the other woman in their foreign language. He continued to remain seated patiently—as if he hadn't breached expectations with food 'contraband' in the last few seconds—silently hoping that the other woman knew what he said earlier.
The woman with discreet feathers spoke something to the blue-haired one, before the two went on some conversation splintered away from his comprehension. Based on what he could tell from their emotions however, was that it was likely his language was foreign even to her.
His patience thinned e'er further, making him lean to the right, propping his head up with a loosely closed fist against his cheek. His foot continued to tap the ground as he zeroed out what the two were talking about, attempting to find any other methods of communication, lest he willingly confiscate even more hours than he had already lost.
...Can they speak English?
A revelation hit him, one that would have left him a few hours ago facepalming and saying, "That was so obvious!"
Jin-Woo, admittedly, was already half-way from facepalming himself, but reined it in. It was strange how the blue-haired dragon woman hadn't attempted it either, which further brought him the idea that she couldn't speak English either.
However, one other factor was at play, which was the translator... or somebody else she brought in if she wasn't a translator, being capable of speaking English.
Taking in a deep breath whilst the two were still talking, he hoped his voice could break the tension.
"Hello? Speak English?" Jin-Woo tried, tapping the metallic desk with his palm, speaking in a broken English ladened with a heavy Asian accent.
The blue-haired woman, who was facing the other person, dropped everything she was doing and jolted her head in his direction. "You... you can speak Victorian?" Her previous anger—most likely at his eating antics—had dissipated and fizzled into shock.
"Vic...torian?" Jin-Woo raised a brow, pointing to himself. "English, this is English." It was an automatic response, but he was able to piece two and two together to know that it equaled four—that 'Victorian' was this world's 'English'.
Even more similarities.
***
Ch'en was about to lose her mind.
This man had been capable of speaking Victorian, even if in a broken dialect, the entire time! How had she not thought of probing him with the other languages she knew and simply mistaken him for somebody who only spoke an unknown language?
"Bloody hell," she muttered an inaudible curse underneath her breath developed during her tenure as a Victorian university student, placing a hand over her face.
Sleep deprivation was one hell of an inhibitor.
Maybe Hoshi was right about taking medication, she thought.
"Uh, you speak good?" The black-haired man spoke up again, gaze calmly fixated between her and Mei.
Ch'en kept her physiognomy imposing as she stood over the seated man. Mei had told her the language he spoke was Danese, one that the translator wasn't quite fluent in, and had only started learning a few months ago; thus being aware solely of the bare basics.
She couldn't bring herself to blame the Liberi, considering she had to juggle Victorian, Lungmenese, Yanese, Iberian, Ursine, Higashinese, and Leithanian. In short, an exceedingly talented individual.
"Of course I can speak Victorian," she finally said, moving back onto her chair with crossed arms. "And I have a lot of questions to ask you."
"Okay. I know." The black-haired man rolled his shoulders and placed his arms on the table. "Been waiting long time. What do you want?"
Ch'en motioned for Mei to grab a chair and take a seat herself, the Liberi complying wordlessly. "First thing's first, you already know what you've done, haven't you?"
"I have." He nodded lazily. "Here for a reason.'
It was strange for her to finally be able to communicate even if it was just a quarter way off the line of intelligible.
"Yes, you're here for a reason," Ch'en rhetorically confirmed. "And might I ask, how you've smuggled items within here?"
The black-haired man remained silent, perhaps deliberating whether or not he should answer it.
"Tch... Maybe I should have had them search up there after all," she spoke dangerously, making Mei and the only male in the room pause at the implications.
"...Okay, calm down—"
"You're not one to make demands here," she interrupted. "Tell me, what is your name?" It was most likely already approaching morning, and the Superintendent didn't wish to loiter around with wasted time.
"Sung Jin-Woo," he responded promptly, leaning back on his chair without much ceremony.
"Then Sung Jin-Woo, why did you enter that unidentified phenomenon?" Ch'en gave no respite, demanding.
"Had to," Sung said, drawing out for a second before he pointed to his chest. "Or else heart stops."
"What?" Ch'en glanced toward Mei to see if she was hearing the same thing, the latter woman nodding whilst jotting down what was being said. "Why exactly would your heart stop?"
He tapped his incredibly sharp chin in thought. "Hard to explain. Can't really explain." He shrugged.
Her brows crinkled. "Are you under duress, then?"
"Guess could say so," he confirmed.
"Who is it from?"
"Not from 'who'," Sung accentuated with quote unquote marks utilizing his fingers. "But... System inside myself." He pointed to his chest.
Ch'en was becoming even more confused. "System? Like an organ system? A machine?"
He fluttered his hand left and right in the air. "Kind of."
"Are you purposefully keeping this vague?"
"Yes...?" he said, not understanding what the word 'vague' meant in the Victorian language meant.
She sealed her lips shut with deadpan eyes, a circulation of enhancement Arts gathering around at her clenched fist. It was a good intimidation tactic without actually resorting to violence.
A look of recognition—lacking any of the fear Ch'en would have expected—crossed the black-haired man's mien. "Mana?" His eyes marginally widened in wafer-thin fascination, one that was far removed from his stoic expressions from earlier. It was as if he had come up with something.
Mana? Is he talking about my Arts? She tensed her mouth. "Quit detracting from the—"
Her words were interrupted as a dark ambience hovered around Sung, shadows seemingly releasing and contorting from his body. An oppressive robustness was the bastion of his body at that moment, ebony silhouetted markings slithering to his right cheek.
He sat there encompassed by that sickening presence, betrothed as Death's most beloved.
"Mei! Leave!" Ch'en jolted up, grabbing the handle of a blade sheathed by her side, the Liberi translator standing up herself, chair toppling over. "And don't let anybody else in until I say so!"
"I—I understand," Mei stuttered, hurriedly moving to the door.
Sung and Ch'en stared each other down in the instance the metallic door had been unlocked after a knock, and an L.G.D. guard had guided the other woman out; also feeling the daunting atmosphere within the room and retreating.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Ch'en demanded, snarling at what she presumed to be the man's 'Arts'.
"What is that thing?" Sung motioned with his chin. "Your aura."
He really knew how to grate at people's nerves, didn't he? "You're not the one asking questions here."
"I'll answer, if—" He paused only for a second when she drew her blade and pointed at his throat. "—You answer me too. I can tell you everything you need to know about the... phenomenon." He terribly pronounced the last word.
She hadn't answered him yet, keeping her blade fixated upon him, hand gripping the handle of her sword tighter as Sung's shadows had not waned away its crescence. Now they were at the escarpment of escalating conflicts.
"...Only if you answer first." Ch'en grit her teeth and relented. "And lower your damn Arts."
He raised an eyebrow. "Arts? I'm not using paint." The darkening flame-like coils surrounding him receded. "This is Mana." He flicked his finger for good measure, a faint blue-ish black glow emanating.
Ignoring the first remark, Ch'en asked, "You keep blabbering on about Mana, what is it? An epithet for Arts?" Slowly and carefully, she lowered her weapon, but didn't resheathe it.
"I wanted the other woman gone," Sung explained. "Because this Mana came from that Gate you see last time. Would cause big problems."
That word... 'Gate'. "Gate? Problems?"
"That phenomenon before," he continued tone more grave, "is Gate which lead to 'Dungeon' where 'Magic Beasts' are."
The terminologies were annoying her, but she continued to listen along to his words.
"It can only close if all Magic Beasts inside are killed. I killed all inside, and it closed," Sung finished off, the recipient still digesting the information.
However, he still had one more thing to say. "I'm telling you this because..."
"Because what?" Ch'en's suspicions were rising.
"Because society might collapse in one week."
***
It was a completely bold statement to make, and Sung Jin-Woo knew that whole-heartedly. However, by no means, was he exaggerating by any degree when he stated society might collapse within the timeframe of one week.
Why?
Why so?
How could he have been so confident?
It was simple.
———————
(!)ALARM
———————
[System reboot complete.]
[Disabling Maintenance...]
[...]
[Maintenance disabled.]
[Assigning new quest...]
[...]
————————
(!) QUEST INFO
————————
[Urgent Quest: Clear the 20 S-Rank Gates]
GOAL
20 S-Rank Gates have appeared in this world due to your arrival. Prevent their influence by clearing them.
WARNING
If you do not complete this quest, you will receive an appropriate penalty.
REMAINING TIME
1 Week
...At that moment, even he had felt his black heart sink into the deepest abyss when reading the System notifications.
Over and over again did Sung Jin-Woo read the digital screen, repeating it incessantly within his psyche.
20 S-Rank Gates.
20 S-Rank Gates.