The Bronze Agent… why was he wearing a Segwang High uniform in a younger body?
“…….”
The situation was so insane my mind almost went blank, but I immediately forced myself to think and started assessing things.
Bronze Agent Ryu Jaekwan looked slightly younger even than the high school boy appearance I had seen in the Ghost Story “In the Black Shadow.”
And it wasn’t just the school uniform that was different.
There was something unmistakably younger in his expression and the atmosphere around him.
“Uh….”
And he didn’t recognize me.
‘…Has he been assimilated into the Segwang Special City Ghost Story?’
Just like me, he seemed to have been properly “assigned” as a citizen of May 4th in Segwang Special City.
…Wait.
If everyone who had fallen in here was like this, then how on earth was I supposed to take them with me and escape?
How was I supposed to persuade them?
The relief of having found one of my companions lasted only a moment before urgent choices came rushing in again.
I desperately turned things over in my head. Meanwhile, the high schooler Ryu Jaekwan, who had run after me, caught his breath and then chose his words.
“The bicycle earlier… is it all right?”
“It’s fine.”
I looked at that face, so young it was almost childish.
His expression held bewilderment and concern, but considering he had just witnessed something straight out of a Ghost Story happen in real life at that age, he was remarkably calm.
‘…He did say the first time he got swept up in a Ghost Story and was rescued by the Disaster Management Agency, he was still a student.’
Had he been reflected from an even earlier point in time? No, the important question right now was how to keep him with me.
Pretending to examine the school uniform of the person standing before me, who had no nametag, I asked,
“More importantly… student?”
“Yes.”
“By any chance, is your destination Segwang High School? That looks like their uniform.”
“It is, but….”
“That works out nicely. I’m headed that way too.”
Then I approached the bike-share rack and started smashing the locks with a stone.
“…!”
“It’ll be hard to rent a shared bike…