Black Badger

Unfamiliar voices reached my ears.

When I opened my eyes, I caught glimpses of people moving busily. I blinked in a daze. Shadows loomed over me. Urgent shouts filled the air. Figures rushed off somewhere.

My senses hadn't fully awakened yet, leaving my mind foggy. I closed my heavy eyelids and then opened them again, and the scent of dirt and gunpowder tickled my nose.

Then I saw the gun barrel pointed right at me.

What the hell?

The moment that thought crossed my mind, a sharp voice snapped me back to reality.

"Who the hell are you!"

That was exactly what I wanted to say.

"Where'd you pop out from all of a sudden!"

I pushed myself up onto my elbows.

My field of vision widened considerably. I could see multiple gun barrels trained on me. A blindingly white light settled over the afterimages.

What was going on here?

I stared blankly at the five people holding guns, the vast room with its high ceiling, and the man standing in front of me.

The voice belonged to the man who shoved a gun barrel between my eyes.

He had curly hair and striking hazel eyes.

"Where did you come in from?"

"Where is this place?"

I muttered, gazing into the man's clear eyes. My mind wasn't working right.

Did I pass out after drinking?

"What was I doing?"

"Hey, cut the crap!"

The curly-haired man scowled.

"Where and when did you enter?"

He seemed like the hot-tempered type. But I genuinely had no idea what was happening. I looked at the man who leaned toward me.

He was dressed like the others, in a pitch-black special suit that seemed to absorb all light. Black gloves, and a sturdy-looking massive gun in his hands.

The man prodded my neck firmly with the pitch-black muzzle. I felt the cold touch of the barrel.

This seemed like a pretty dangerous situation, didn't it?

"You gonna keep spouting nonsense? You messing with me?"

"Ro."

Someone standing behind him spoke up.

"Looks like there was a problem with the portal. Lower the gun."

A girl with round eyes chimed in. She had her black hair tied back in a single ponytail and gripped a gun almost as big as her torso. As the only East Asian woman there, she naturally drew the eye.

Why did a kid who looked like a high schooler—at most a college freshman—hold a gun like that?

The curly-haired man, called Ro, whipped his head around.

"Hey, you know what this guy could be? And you're telling me to lower the gun!"

"That's why it seems like there was an issue with the portal."

The girl strode over toward us.

"Maybe it got linked to another portal for a second."

Lower the gun, Ro. The woman nagged him casually.

I propped myself up with both hands on the floor and took in the approaching girl and the people behind her.

They were all striking in their black attire. They didn't seem like ordinary civilians. Their gazes fixed on me were sharp enough to pierce.

And even though she'd told him to lower the gun, they were all poised to shoot if I made any suspicious moves. The air carried the scent of gunpowder and dirt.

Where was I? How did I end up here?

The high-ceilinged, pale space was unfamiliar. From their reactions and my gut feeling, it didn't seem like a place I'd been before. I had no clue why I'd woken up here.

And what did I even do for a living?

I panicked as my past refused to come to mind. That's when the girl stopped in front of me.

She looked down at me, slumped on the ground, with her round eyes.

"Hello!"

She greeted me brightly, extending her right hand.

"I'm Choi Ami! Call me Ami."

"...I'm Hildebert Talev."

I reflexively took Ami's hand.

"Feel free to call me Hilde."

But I couldn't remember when or by whom I'd been called Hilde. My memories had gone completely blank.

When did this start?

I stared blankly ahead, flustered by the void in my recollections. My heart sank, and a silent panic began to set in.

At the same time, handcuffs clicked onto the hand I'd extended.

*

I was led somewhere, restrained by the handcuffs.

They didn't drag me roughly. I followed along obediently because I was too out of it to resist. Stunned by my lost memories, I dumbly trailed behind the woman named Ami.

The people from the room flanked me on both sides and behind. The man called Ro was on my left, a tall man with softly slanted eyes on my right. Behind us came a petite girl with two-toned hair and a man wearing a balaclava that covered up to his nose.

It looked like they were escorting a VIP.

In reality, it was surveillance, not protection.

We walked down a wide corridor and arrived at a room.

A white desk and several chairs were set up. It seemed like a conference room used occasionally, or maybe not at all.

Ami pulled out a chair at the desk in the middle of the room for me.

I sat down obediently, my hands cuffed.

"Mr. Hilde?"

"Yes?"

"I'll step out for a quick call."

I blinked in surprise at Ami's sudden statement.

Staring blankly at her, I replied awkwardly.

"Ah, yes. Sure. Don't mind me—take your time with the call."

The East Asian girl grinned, her eyes crinkling.

She opened the door in front and stepped into the corridor.

Silence immediately settled over the tidy room. Everyone took their seats and fell quiet. They seemed to be waiting for something, but it didn't look like the situation would change anytime soon.

This was my chance to think things over.

I made the most of the quiet, trying to recall what kind of person I was.

This drove me crazy. Why couldn't I remember anything besides my name?

So much was blank. No, most of it was. It felt like someone had washed my memories clean with water. Ever since the handcuffs went on, I'd been trying to remember where I came from or who I was, but no luck.

Only fragmented, useless memories popped up. Like sitting in the passenger seat looking out the window, or playing a game on a handheld console a bit bigger than my palm.

I straightened my posture, frowning.

"Need to use the bathroom~?"

The man sitting next to Ro broke the silence with a sly smile.

"If you do, just go~...."

I blinked.

"No, I'm fine."

I forced my back straight and looked at him.

"Thank you for asking."

"If you need to, feel free to say so anytime~."

The man's eyes curved into crescent moons. His vivid green eyes narrowed.

Ah. He had a nasty personality.

I decided I should avoid upsetting him if possible.

He might have had a perpetual smile, but he seemed incredibly sensitive and sharp underneath.

The green-eyed man lounged in a chair in front of the whiteboard, leaning back lazily with his legs crossed and hands in his pockets. Yet I couldn't spot a single opening in him.

Cross him, and it'd be bad news.

Looking at his long, slanted eyes, black hair, and neat features, I added politely.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome...."

"Hey."

Ro, who had been tapping at his phone next to the green-eyed man, looked up abruptly.

"Yes?"

"Where are you from?"

Ro leaned back in his chair, dangling his foot.

"Didn't you say you don't remember?"

"Yes. Sorry. I'm trying, but only useless stuff comes up."

"Like what?"

"...Like, memories of playing games on a handheld...."

I frowned, trying to dredge up something more useful.

But it was another failure. Clean rooms with two apples on the table, a coffee milk with a straw and half-eaten scone—nothing helpful flitted through my mind.

I let out a small sigh.

"...Sorry. Nothing worth mentioning comes to mind. Weirdly, I only remember my name—nothing else about my background."

"Maybe you lost your memories crossing the portal...."

The green-eyed man muttered to himself.

"There used to be similar cases occasionally, but I'm not sure if that's reliable info...."

"Damn it. What the hell is this? We go through the portal and come back, and suddenly there's an extra guy we don't know. Even if I'm an idiot, I know if five go in, five should come out. But hell, we got six. Makes no sense."

"That's why we're sitting here dealing with it~. I was planning to head back, wash up, and have a smoke right after returning...."

The green-eyed man drawled, tilting his head to the side.

"I just wanna clock out...."

"Sorry."

Seeing the smile fade from the green-eyed man's face, I responded reflexively.

"You can smoke here if you want. I don't mind."

Ro, who had been staring lazily into space, and the green-eyed man's gazes snapped to me. I felt the stares from those standing behind boring into the back of my head.

It felt like I'd become the animal in the zoo.

I gave a wry smile and withstood the incoming looks.

But before I could speak, the door opened.

"Nothing!"

Ami burst in, her eyes wide.

"No one matching your description, and no Hildebert Talev, in Center Core or any other core."

"What the hell are you, really?"

Ro glared at me, his thick eyebrows furrowing.

"Where exactly did you come from?"

"...Sorry. But I'm really confused too...."

"Ska says he'll get in touch for now."

We'll wait quietly until then. Ami waved her hands as if to soothe me and Ro.

I watched intently as Ami closed the door and approached me. The gun she'd been holding earlier was nowhere in sight.

As she came closer, I tried to process the information. Maybe because my memories were gone, it felt like being a newborn learning everything from scratch. Who was Ska? And what did Center Core and core mean?

Where did I even come from originally? I racked my brain for my country of origin. I hadn't forgotten country names. America, UK, Australia—they all came to mind, but crucially, I couldn't recall which one I was from.

I watched as Ami set a paper bag on the desk and asked.

"Where is this place?"

Ami, Ro, and the green-eyed man looked up at me.

"Uh, I mean, which country am I in right now? America?"

Their expressions turned strange.

Silence fell. A weird atmosphere filled the bland room.

I blinked in confusion at the shift, panicking alone amid the quiet.

Why... Their reactions....

Ro broke the silence with an irritated remark.

"What the hell are you saying now?"

"America doesn't exist anymore~."

The green-eyed man cut off Ro's annoyed, suspicious tone.

His sharp green eyes pierced mine.

"Haven't heard that proper noun in a while...." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

I blinked at the words that didn't make sense.

"Pardon?"

"It means borders don't exist now~. Modern kids don't really get the concept of countries.... Do you remember how old you are~?"

"Pardon? No.... Sorry, I don't remember that either.... Pardon? Huh?"

I stammered, repeating "pardon?" in confusion. I couldn't comprehend what the green-eyed man was saying.

He repeated himself. Borders were gone now, and everyone lived in cores. I tried to fuse my fragmented memories with this new info. But it was futile.

Clearly, my memories included multiple countries.

I remembered several distinctly. America, UK, China, India.

I must have floundered in confusion for a while.

Eventually, I pulled myself together. To escape the chaos and disorientation, I deliberately focused on my senses. The room was quiet, still as could be. White fluorescent light and the pleasant scent of wooden desks. The people in front of me stared intently, waiting for me to speak.

Feeling the cool air, I finally managed to open my mouth.

"So, where are you three from? What country... or rather, since countries are gone, what does that exactly mean?"

"Ah."

The green-eyed man, who had been sitting motionlessly with his legs crossed, smiled faintly.

"Tough question~. Luckily, we're all on the older side, so. I'm originally from Italy~. Now I'm with Center Core, though...."

"Sicily."

Ro interjected bluntly.

"The two young punks behind you are from Center Core. The little one's from China."

"I was from Korea, I told you!"

Ami, who had been observing me with wide eyes, jumped up. I flinched at her sudden anger.

As I stared at her with wide eyes, the green-eyed man chuckled at me. Ami, oblivious or not to the reactions, glared down at Ro and slammed the desk.

"I've told you dozens of times—me and Yoon oppa are Korean! The Chinese one is the HR Director! Mr. Joo!"

"Oh, was that right? Whatever."

"Whatever? It's not whatever! We've been comrades for 40 years, and you still mix up my original nationality!"

"Hey, speaking of which, where's the HR Director? Some unknown guy pops out of the ground—shouldn't he be here?"

"Mr. Joo says he's not coming."

Ami, suddenly calm, said it matter-of-factly with wide eyes.

I saw Ro and the green-eyed man blink.

The round-eyed Ami added indifferently.

"It's not an emergency, and he doesn't think there's anything urgent to handle right away."

"Crazy. If a guy appearing out of thin air isn't an emergency, then what is?"

"Dunno."

"Did you report to the Supreme Commander~?"

The green-eyed man asked slowly.

"What did he say...?"

"He's coming as soon as possible. For now, Ska the aide will handle it. John and Yoon oppa are checking the portal status. Samuel's got everything ready for Mr. Hilde's physical exam. HR's prepped the polygraph."

"Um...."

I interjected cautiously. I felt their gazes focus on me again. It wasn't a welcome reaction, but I couldn't hold back the question lingering in my mouth.

I was piecing together the puzzle from the snippets of info they'd thrown out and their conversation. For instance, that I'd suddenly popped out of a portal. That borders were gone now, America and China didn't exist, and people lived in a place called Center Core.

And that the pair of man and woman standing silently behind me were probably the lowest ranking....

I asked about the one thing I couldn't comprehend.

"How old are you three, exactly?"

Smiles crept onto the green-eyed man's and Ami's faces. A mischievous grin spread across Ro's.

I stared blankly at them smiling brightly.

I waited for them, grinning at me, to say something.

Ami answered. She smiled brightly at me.

Then she said cheerfully.

"70!"