Chapter 29: "A Visit"

Eight o’clock in the evening.

Yutaka Soya arrived fifteen minutes early at the gate of the Cosmic Technology Research Institute, ready to switch shifts with Yuki, but was stopped by the security guards at the entrance.

They informed him that the company president had left with several security personnel and had not yet returned.

At that moment, his communicator buzzed at his waist. Soya took it out to find a message from Yuki, instructing him to head to an underground parking lot beneath a downtown shopping center for the shift change, as the employer would not be returning to the company.

What was going on?

Puzzled, Soya nonetheless hurried toward the new destination.

Soon, at the entrance to the underground parking lot, he met up with Yuki without incident.

But seeing the grim look on Yuki’s face, Soya’s previously cheerful mood faltered.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Not really…”

Yuki shook his head, though a heaviness settled in his heart.

He hadn’t interacted much with the employer, but after a few days of escort duty, trailing behind the president and observing coldly, he knew the man’s character well enough. With the rocket launch halted by regulatory order and those coveted space technologies slipping from his grasp, it was hard to imagine the president smiling.

Yet now, he was drinking with high spirits.

Though unspoken, Yuki understood: this was an early celebration. The launch plan was still underway.

Looking at Soya’s completely relaxed expression, Yuki could see that at least the public had believed the Institute’s official announcement—their fabricated story. The protesters had dispersed, off to celebrate their supposed victory.

Yuki couldn’t say much to Soya now. He needed to hand over his shift quickly to avoid arousing suspicion from the employer upstairs, and there might be surveillance nearby.

The parking lot was bustling, located beneath a busy shopping center, covered by nearly flawless surveillance.

So, after a routine handover, Yuki hurried away.

Watching Yuki’s tense, ashen face recede, Soya felt a faint sense of unease. But he knew that any unusual action—like skipping his shift—could complicate matters.

After confirming the locator was functioning normally, Soya returned to the employer’s side. From now on, he was the live locator attached to the employer.

……

……

Under the low-hanging night, fully armed, Yuki hurried to the headquarters of the police station, which also housed the Foreign Affairs Unknown Division.

Just days before, he had been brought here by police escort.

Standing at the base of the stairs before the building, Yuki dialed Officer Sakura’s number.

“Officer Sakura.”

“Oh, Yuki?”

“Are you still at the Foreign Affairs Unknown Division headquarters?”

“Hm? Yes, I am. What’s up?”

“Officer Sakura, I have some intelligence about extraterrestrials. I’m downstairs at the station now. Could you come pick me up?”

Officer Sakura barely had time to utter a surprised “Eh?” before Yuki hung up, raising his gaze to the three surveillance cameras at the station entrance.

Now, every second counted.

Yuki reached for his waist, touching the inner wrist to the Taiga Light Key, activating the light screen and sliding to the second page.

After a brief hesitation, he slotted the “Doorway” skill into the still-empty slot.

…!!

A sudden dizziness flooded his head, forcing Yuki to step back to steady himself.

He’d considered what equipping this skill might feel like—if it were a skill from an eldritch entity, using it in a COC tabletop game would mean losing sanity points, and if unlucky, experiencing symptoms of “temporary madness.”

Auditory hallucinations, visual distortions, emotional instability, fainting, sudden violent tendencies—anything was possible.

Even with mental preparation, the onset of discomfort caught him off guard.

The world before him instantly became bizarre and dazzling: countless glowing threads shimmered everywhere, some stationary, others pulsing rhythmically.

A sharp pain pricked his eyes, as though soap had gotten in them during a shower—tears streamed out, and he could barely keep his eyes open.

Pressing his temple, Yuki rubbed fiercely, trying to dispel the discomfort.

“Yuki!”

At that moment, the station’s glass doors slid open, and Officer Sakura strode briskly outside. Seeing Yuki standing tense at the bottom of the stairs, eyes shut, hand pressed to his forehead, obviously enduring some distress, Sakura hurried down to steady him.

Within a few breaths, Yuki recovered from the discomfort, half-opening his eyes to peer past Officer Sakura to the station’s entrance.

Was this... a visualized data stream?

Three lines of electric light extended from the entrance cameras, converging at a point on the first floor.

It must be a security room—a wall of small screens displaying feeds from every surveillance camera.

From that nexus, a newly generated line shot upward...

Yuki raised his head, tracking the line as it ascended.

Three, four... seven, eight... sixteen, seventeen.

The seventeenth floor.

Someone had rerouted the surveillance feed—the location was on the seventeenth floor of the station building.

The electric light paused there, condensing into a glowing dot.

As Yuki focused on the dot, it seemed to sense his gaze, expanding slightly. Alarmed, Yuki quickly looked away, afraid he might involuntarily reach toward that spot and—right in front of Officer Sakura—open a black-bordered, red-edged teleportation circle.

The mere thought was terrifying.

Yuki immediately removed the “Doorway” skill, and the last traces of discomfort vanished, leaving only a faint ache from pressing his forehead.

“Yuki, are you alright? Are you okay...?”

He looked up, meeting Officer Sakura’s worried and confused gaze. Thinking of what he was about to do, Yuki felt a pang of conscience, but stuck to his rehearsed line: “Officer Sakura, I’d like to report that the Cosmic Technology Research Institute has made a deal with suspicious extraterrestrials. They intend to use the celebration rocket launch to destroy the space station.”

Officer Sakura was stunned.

“You know we Aegis received the Institute’s escort assignment. During the operation, I discovered anomalies, and I have solid evidence.”

Yuki glanced around, then cautiously suggested, “Can we discuss this somewhere else? I brought the evidence.”

Awakening from his shock, Officer Sakura nodded hastily and led Yuki into the station.

Though it was already eleven at night, the station was brightly lit, with staff bustling through the corridors, each moving with purpose.

As Officer Sakura often lamented, they were truly busy.

His office was in an open-plan area on the fifth floor. He took Yuki up, and as they exited the elevator and turned into the corridor on the right, rounding the corner, Officer Sakura suddenly heard a rush of wind at his ear, then darkness swallowed his vision, and his consciousness abruptly snapped.