The World after the Fall

Chapter 96: Path of the Depth (5)

She reached out and as her finger touched the boy's shoulder, she felt a spark of electricity.

"Kya!" she screamed. She then realized she found her target.

'Pathfinder!'

She began running after the boy, but there were others after him too.

"STOP! STOP RIGHT THERE!"

There were men in blue uniforms.

'Are they the peacekeepers here?'

Then came a shout from the people around them, and they were all saying the same word - Police.

"The kid's appeared again!"

"How foolish to stay as a kid."

"HEY! Get that kid, will ya?"

It was very weird. Why was it a crime to stay as a kid? Sirwen quickly followed, and soon found the boy at a dead end in the corner of an alley, surrounded by policemen.

"Give up, kid."

As she watched the police approaching the boy with a metal pipe in his hand, she felt something was wrong. Just then, a policeman guarding the entrance of the alley cautioned her.

"Hey, young lady. This place is dangerous. Move along."

"…What did he do?"

"Huh? Oh, he rejected becoming an adult," the policeman informed her as he laughed.

"It's a crime punishable by death."

Sirwen was dumbfounded. Earth seemed like a very strange place if it was real. However, it didn't seem real. She had never visited Earth, but she could see that.

"Are you all crazy? What are you doing to the boy?!"

"Ugh, lady… huh?"

The policeman then spoke to her, noticing something on her head.

"You look weird."

"Huh? Isn't that a cosplay outfit?"

They were looking at her horns.

'Dammit, I should've hidden them.'

"Young lady, can you show us your ID?"

She had to be careful not to draw attention to herself, but it was too late. She focused on activating her magic to kill off these men and save the Pathfinder, but-

'…W-what?'

The fire that was gathering in her hands immediately died out as soon as it started.

'My magic's not working!'

And that was her mistake. The policemen, who saw the fire gathering in her hands, began to change like demons.

[ALERT! ALERT!]

[FOUND NON-REGISTERED ENTITY]

[REMOVE IT!]

The policemen charged at her. Their eyes were now filled with hunger and lust as they grabbed Sirwen. She looked around for help as her mouth was covered by a policeman, but there wasn't anyone. She felt a terrible fear. This was the world that was ruled by the unconsciousness.

"…Move!"

A boy's voice was heard and one of the policemen fell.

Then, there was the sound of a pipe being swung again, each time accompanied by the sound of a skull being crushed. Someone's blood splattered over Sirwen's cheeks. And when the last policeman fell down in front of her, a boy appeared, covered in blood. Sirwen thought, 'This man doesn't change even when he's a boy.'

The boy then turned to Sirwen and asked, "Who are you?"

The Pathfinder of [Uncanny] always took the form of the target's conscious age.

'So, this boy is him?'

Sirwen was amused. That proud man actually had a mind of a boy.

'But it should have been obvious.'

As she had heard from the small Jaehwan, this world was a world that forced everyone to become an adult. Considering the fact that the world of [Uncanny] was formed to symbolize reality, it seemed that the real Earth might be quite similar in some sense.

As Sirwen organized her thoughts, small Jaehwan spoke.

"So, I guess you were swept up by the Wave of Memories?"

"Wave of Memories?"

"Yeah, sometimes there are memory particles that are swept here by meteors. This is the first time a living being like you came."

Small Jaehwan seemed to be excited by that.

"You've lived here all your life?"

"Yeah."

"And you're always being chased?"

"Yeah."

"Why do they try to make you an adult?"

The question was unexpected so small Jaehwan began thinking. There was no way he would have an answer. It was a world made out of unconsciousness. There was no way that there was a rule that had a reason…

"Because everyone else is an adult."

Sirwen was dumbfounded. It was very simple indeed. Everyone was in the world was the same in a certain way that they did not accept any differences. Jaehwan asked, "What is he like? The 'me' on the outside."

Sirwen smiled. How should she explain it? What would make this boy happy? In fact, she did not know much about Jaehwan.

"He's like you."

"Is he an adult?"

Sirwen pondered for a bit and answered, "No, he's a kid."

Jaehwan seemed to be happy at that answer. He was so cute that Sirwen felt like hugging him tightly, but the boy spoke again.

"I'll have to get you out."

"Do you know how?"

"Yeah. That's my job."

"What is your job?"

"Getting lost memories to the right place."

Sirwen understood what he meant. It was why they were called Pathfinders, after all.

"You brought some memories with you too."

"Huh?"

"Those particles on your clothing. They are memory particles."

She realized there were pieces of shining white rocks on her clothes. They looked like particles of meteors. She carefully removed them.

"I think there are emergency ones too. You see those red ones?"

"Is that even a thing?"

"The redder it is, the more serious of an emergency it is. If I don't get it back to where it was, something might be happening on the outside."

Sirwen then thought about the situation outside. There were the Lords of the <Great Lands> that could attack at any moment. What would be the most serious emergency?

'Wait…'

She became pale.