Chapter 94: The Escape Plan

I asked his assistant about Dr. Yoon’s absence, but all I got was the answer that he had gone to the Association’s research lab.
When I asked when he would be back, the answer was only that he didn’t know.
It was clear that he was avoiding me.

Even though I said I had agreed to leave with him, the assistant would not let me go.
I had thought it was strange when he had meekly said he would let me go…
If he was going to come out like this, I couldn’t just sit back and wait.

Originally, I was going to wait for Jinseok, but since there had been no news for nearly a week, I had no choice but to leave on my own.

I had thought of a few ways to get out, and among them, the fastest way to escape was using a researcher’s ID card.

To get out of here, I needed his assistant’s or a researcher’s ID card.
Since many of the researchers were non-Awakened, I thought I could escape with just my own strength, but if I took the ID card by force, a commotion would arise, and there was a high probability of being caught immediately, so it seemed better to get his help.

He was also absent now, and with his mental-type ability, I could hold the researchers’ feet for a while.
It seemed I would have to talk to him during guiding time.

After the wavelength condensation was over, I rested for about an hour and then moved to the guiding room.
He had arrived first and was sitting on a chair.

「Siyun-gun, you were here first again today.」

I spoke to him in my mind.
Fortunately, he reacted immediately.

「Yes. Guide-nim, I’m sorry, but I read your thoughts without realizing it… Is something wrong?」

「As you would know if you read my thoughts, I’m planning to leave here.」

「So you need an ID card.」

As if he had read my thoughts exactly, he immediately brought up the topic of the ID card.

「That’s right. Could you possibly get an ID card?」

If there was a researcher he had become friendly with while living at the lab, he could ask for help, and even if not, he could surely steal an ID card with his mental-type ability.

「Actually, my previous manager gave me a master key. He said that I would want to leave here later. But I’ve never used it, and it might be in an unusable state.」

As expected, there must have been someone among the researchers who knew that this place was not normal.
To be honest, it was impossible not to know.
After all, I had also felt that something was strange as soon as I first came here.

「Can you bring that card tomorrow? It would be great if you could get another card just in case.」

「I’ll try to get it. And if you’re going to leave, use midnight. Unless it’s a special case, I think everyone leaves by midnight.」

「Thank you for letting me know. I’ll be able to escape safely thanks to you.」

I felt relieved to have met him here.
If it hadn’t been for him, it would surely not have been easy to leave.

「I’ll draw the layout of the research lab that I know in your head. I’ve been out a few times, so it should be fine if you go out the way I did.」

As soon as the guiding was over and I returned to my room, I jotted down the layout he had told me in my notebook.

From here on the third basement level, I had to take the elevator up to the first basement level and then go up to the first floor through the emergency stairs.
When I arrived on the first floor, there was an iron door at the end of the right hallway, and since he said it was connected to the entrance, I just had to recognize the ID card and go straight out of the lab.

After leaving the lab, I could either go into the building that was connected to the Center or contact Jinseok by phone for help.

If he couldn’t bring an ID card, I planned to subdue his assistant and get out one way or another.

It had been less than a week since I had been trapped here, but even though I had been trapped for a short time, I felt so stuffy that I was suffocating.
Perhaps because of the tension from the thought that I had to succeed in my escape, I couldn’t even swallow my food properly, and I left half of my usual meal uneaten.

Soon, it was time for the assistant to come and move to the Multi project room.

I had been able to make an excuse that I was sick yesterday, but it wouldn’t work today.
Still, I had a thought.
Before long, his assistant appeared.

“Guide-nim, let’s move to the project room.”

“Has Dr. Yoon arrived?”

“He is still at the Association’s research lab.”

“I have no intention of participating in the project until he arrives.”

“You haven’t participated in the project properly so far. You have to participate today.”

His assistant said with a face that was tinged with a slight annoyance.
At that face, I also got angry, turned around, went to the bed, and lay down.

“Guide-nim, what are you doing?”

“Bring Dr. Yoon. Or let me talk to Manager Choi Jinseok.”

“Didn’t you come here to participate in the project?”

“It was him who said I could use my phone. But I haven’t been able to use it freely here once. It feels like I’m being imprisoned.”

“Imprisoned?”

“What is this if not imprisonment? There are no windows, and you won’t let me go out.”

He must have also felt that I wouldn’t bend my will, as he glared at me with his cheeks stiffened as if holding back his anger.

“First, I will relay your intentions to him.”

“Yes. Please be sure to do so.”

The assistant left without even answering my words.
A snort escaped me at that.

I lay in bed for a while, cursing his assistant, and then thought about escaping again.
Then I remembered the terminal Sehyun had given me and rummaged through the inner pocket of my bag.
The terminal was fortunately charged, but its state was different from when he had explained it to me.

He had definitely said that it worked with wavelength, not a communication network, but it wasn’t connecting like a phone.
I went out into the hallway and tried to connect, but it still didn’t work.

For a moment, his nullification ability came to mind.
There were areas in the Association and the Center buildings where abilities could not be used.
If that was the case, the research lab could also be like that.
Since wavelength was ability energy, the terminal he had given me would be useless in an ability nullification area.

A sigh burst out.
He wasn’t the general manager of the research wing for nothing.

Still, I didn’t give up and went around here and there, trying to send a message with the terminal and my phone, but in the end, I failed.

With my frustration towards him and my worry about escaping, it didn’t seem like I would be able to fall asleep easily today.
And as I feared, sleep did not come.
I stayed up all night with my eyes open and only closed my tired eyes at 5 AM.
When I opened my eyes again, it was 10 o’clock.

I still had no appetite and couldn’t eat properly, so I waited for the assistant.
There would probably be a message from him today.
But contrary to my expectation, there was still no news from him.

“Know that I will not participate in the project until he appears.”

The assistant no longer even answered my words.
At that, I also stopped talking and ignored him.

I refused the project and the guiding wavelength condensation, but I decided to continue his guiding, using the excuse that ‘it’s a pity that the child can’t receive guiding, so I’ll continue’.

When it was time for his long-awaited guiding, I went down to the fifth basement level with the assistant and walked down the hallway, keeping my distance from him.
He would have surely gotten the ID card.
After all, he wanted to get out of here as much as I did.

When I entered the guiding room, he was sitting on a chair with a blank expression.
Unlike his blank expression, he greeted me with a friendly voice.
At that, I could vaguely tell that he had gotten the ID card.

「Guide-nim, you’re here.」

「Yes. Did you get the ID card?」

「I got two, as you said. I’ll give them to you when you leave.」

「Thank you for granting my request. It must not have been an easy task.」

Come to think of it, it was a situation where I didn’t know if I would succeed in my escape, and if I failed, he could also be harmed.
I felt a deep sense of gratitude to him for trusting and helping me even in an uncertain situation.

He once again told me the route I could take to get out.
He and I simulated the situation of leaving several times together.

After the guiding was over, we approached the door together as he had said.
He passed by me and handed me the ID card.

「Please get out safely.」

I answered okay to his words and checked the ID card as soon as I arrived in my room.
According to him, the white card was a regular ID card, and the black one was a master card.
There was a researcher’s name written on each card, and Jinseok’s name was written on the black card.

Only then did I realize that the researcher who had been in charge of him was Jinseok.
The thought that he was helping me both inside and out made me a little choked up.
I had a feeling that the escape would go well.

I held the ID card tightly and prayed that I could get out safely.
And to not miss this opportunity, I braced myself.