#136. Cube (2)
—
“……”
“……”
“……”
Everyone was at a loss for words.
The pedals, spinning violently like they were motorized, sent a chilling sensation through the air.
Was it just his imagination?
The intense rotation seemed to carry the hatred and resentment the pedals had accumulated from being trampled on by countless feet over time.
“Uh, um… we should stop this first….”
Philip tried to wedge a stick he’d picked up between the pedals.
**Ka-ga-ga-gak!**
The stick was instantly ground down to just a nub, and he looked on in shock.
Why?
It felt like even a steel pipe would fare no better.
**Slick.**
Ray released his grip on the frame.
*‘I infused too much mana.’*
He had been murmuring “just a little more,” wanting to fill the vessel with emotion to the brim—and in doing so, failed to control the amount.
**Kkiriririririk────!**
The pedals would naturally stop once the mana was depleted to a certain level.
The real problem was—
“……”
The thick black smoke billowing fiercely from the pedals.
Ray’s gaze slowly followed the smoke rising toward the sky.
On a hunch, he focused his senses.
But the black smoke ignored the boy’s will and continued to drift toward the clouds.
It was only natural.
The black smoke wasn’t mana, but a byproduct of it.
*‘Is there a way to eliminate the black smoke? Or maybe… remove the black clouds altogether?’*
If the sky cleared, it might be easier to spot the rainbow that was supposedly hanging somewhere up there.
Just as Ray’s thoughts began to drift—
**Kkiriririririk────!**
The screeching of the pedals snapped him back to reality.
“J-Jeffrey! Jeffrey!”
“Oh… is the name of this raging metal frame, which is now spewing its hatred toward the world, *Jeffrey*?”
Ray offered a solution to the three people flustered in the face of Jeffrey’s wrath.
“If you just leave it alone, it’ll stop.”
Then he turned to look around the Nerobel Plaza, which had been his top priority destination within Sector 37.
A large and ornate fountain.
Sturdy benches placed throughout.
Music in the air and passersby carrying positive emotions.
It was bustling—just as one would expect from the heart of a sector—and an entirely ordinary scene.
…That is, except for the one building stealing the gaze from the center of the plaza.
A perfect cube made of sleek black marble.
Three meters tall and wide.
With no visible entrances or windows, it felt more like an artificial structure than a building.
*‘They call it the Cube,’* Ray recalled.
Like a giant, precision-carved die with no markings.
This was one of the branches of **Ignis**, said to exist only in higher-numbered sectors.
“Jeffrey! Calm down! I get how you feel, but this won’t solve anything!”
“I think we need to drain the mana… but he’s thrashing around too much to get close.”
Letting the conversation beside him wash over one ear, Ray pulled something from inside his coat.
**Rustle.**
John and Skyle’s black cards.
Each had a circuit-like golden pattern engraved in a corner, with similar but slightly distinct designs.
Like fingerprints.
They signaled who the registered owner of the card was.
Curiosa had explained:
> “As long as you have a card, you can access the interior.”
> “But retrieving money is trickier. You need the password, and you have to be registered as the owner.”
Rey had asked:
> “It’s strange that branches are located in the most crowded parts of a sector. I thought money withdrawals would be more secretive.”
Curiosa had laughed.
> “That’s exactly the point—so *everyone* can see. Who owns the card. How much money they withdraw.”
Ray immediately understood the meaning behind her words.
> “So they’ve made it easy for people to get robbed on purpose.”
> “Exactly. Whoever created Ignis has a twisted sense of humor.”
Carrying a card openly in public was dangerous.
The registration pattern could easily be altered by a technician.
Meaning, as long as someone knew the password, they could steal and use someone else’s card.
> “I think Ignis intentionally made the patterns easy to alter.”
Many believed this.
That Ignis deliberately incited conflict to cause cards to be permanently lost.
> “Makes sense. Any unclaimed money ends up belonging to Ignis, after all.”
Even so, many deposited their money with Ignis.
> “Thanks to the card payment system built throughout the 30s. You can pay by card at most shops. No need to carry cash.”
The convenience was overwhelming, so users were plentiful.
“……”
Ray summarized the conclusion.
In order to use Ignis, one needed not just a lot of money—but also the strength to protect it.
In other words—
The kind of strength to brush aside the many watchful eyes glinting from various corners of the plaza.
*‘I see seven of them.’*
One reading a newspaper on a bench.
Three pacing around the plaza.
One watching a street performance.
Two sipping coffee at a table.
They looked like ordinary passersby, but each of the seven kept stealing glances at the Cube.
Ray was certain they were after the cards.
Every one of them had black mana churning within their vessels.
The associated emotion—
*‘Malice.’*
The intent to cause harm.
Black mana didn’t stem from a single source of emotion, so the associated feelings varied slightly.
But the general nature was always similar.
And Ray had found two words in the dictionary that summarized those feelings with shared traits:
**Malice**, and **Fear**.
*‘They’re not showing any fear, though.’*
Also, the black mana was sharply directed toward the Cube at the center of the plaza.
It wasn’t compressed inward like fear—so it had to be malice.
*‘No visible Links either.’*
He had seen a few mages on the street earlier while riding the rickshaw.
Three of the 1st Circle.
One of the 2nd Circle.
But none of them were among the seven.
Even across the entire plaza—
*‘Judging by their eye signals, they’re working together.’*
Were they the only members?
Or were they part of a larger group?
Their organized appearance suggested the latter.
The vagrants had said there were four major factions dividing the underworld of Sector 37.
Perhaps these men belonged to one of them.
Countless thoughts and assessments swirled through the boy’s mind.
To avoid drawing unnecessary attention, he’d have to minimize Cube access.
For now, he needed a broker to alter the card pattern, so there was no need to enter the Cube right away.
…But curiosity and inquisitiveness were causing chaos inside his vessel.
After carefully measuring all the variables, Rey spoke.
“Philip, Veronica. Why don’t you go ahead and secure lodgings with the driver?”
The answer came from somewhere else.
**Kkiririririririk────!**
—
Jeffrey’s rampage was resolved when Ray retrieved the mana and reduced the element concentration within the frame.
The rickshaw driver, Jang, looked visibly shaken—as though discovering a shocking side to his longtime friend.
“Then… I’ll depart.”
“Sir, you’ve put the gloves on the bike handles instead of your hands.”
“Yes, departing now.”
“They’re on completely backwards.”
The rickshaw carrying Philip and Veronica disappeared down the road.
Ray sprang into action immediately.
He entered a clothing store near the plaza and picked the plainest, most nondescript outfit he could find, then headed for the fitting room.
**Rustle, rustle.**
He quickly changed clothes and looked into the mirror inside.
“……”
A boy with white hair and eyes was staring back at him.
**Buzz──**
With a surge of mana, his hair and eyes turned black.
Black hair and black eyes.
An everyday look on the street.
It wasn’t real dye.
It was a simple illusion spell to deceive the average observer.
**Click—**
He added the round glasses he borrowed from Philip, and in the mirror—
“Perfect.”
No one would think this was Ray.
The prescription on the lenses was a little strong, making his eyes slightly dizzy, but it was tolerable.
Satisfied with his disguise, the now-black-haired boy nodded and exited the changing room.
“Would you mind holding on to these clothes for a bit?”
“Uh, wha…? Y-yes, of course.”
The shopkeeper, startled by Ray’s altered appearance, accepted the clothes with some hesitation.
**Rattle—**
Ray stepped outside without delay.
He pulled up the hood on his top and strode toward the Cube.
**Tap— tap— tap—**
Among the crowd milling around the plaza, no one paid special attention to the boy with such an ordinary appearance.
Except, of course, for a few with impure intentions.
**Tap— tap—**
Ray didn’t stop walking, while keeping a close eye on the movements of the seven men.
He saw strong ripples of excitement and agitation in their vessels.
*‘They’ve realized I’m heading directly for the Cube.’*
His trajectory differed from the ordinary citizens casually passing by.
The closer he got, the more the seven pairs of eyes darted toward the Cube.
**Tap— tap— tap.**
Once he stopped in front of the Cube, they stared openly, no longer pretending.
…The black mana thrashed like it had found its prey.
Ray took his time, deliberately dawdling, as he examined the Cube.
“……”
Sleek black marble.
White lines stretched like lightning across it in natural patterns.
Where they clustered, it looked faintly like clouds.
It gave a strong impression of being something beyond current technological capabilities.
*‘They don’t seem ready to rush me just yet.’*
Even though he’d spent quite a bit of time observing, the seven didn’t make any overt moves.
They weren’t sure yet.
Whether Ray was truly an Ignis customer.
And it wouldn’t be easy to act in a crowded plaza.
Still, despite their calm appearance, their emotions were wildly fluctuating.
From anticipation, excitement, and greed—
To confusion, doubt, and suspicion.
To reward their anticipation, Ray pulled out a black card.
──!
……!
Shock, excitement, certainty.
Those who were about to give up suddenly snapped back with renewed energy.
**Swish.**
He tucked the card away again.
……?
…….
Confusion, doubt, hesitation.
They faltered.
**Swish!**
This time, he pulled out two black cards.
────!
…………!
Extreme excitement and shock.
Their emotions surged twice as wildly as before.
**Swish.**
He put them away again.
………?
……….
Bewilderment, dismay, tension.
Their feelings slumped twice as hard.
Ray continued to pull out and put away the cards repeatedly, observing the violent swings in their emotions.
—That f-fucking bastard…!
—He’s toying with us, right?
Finally, one of them burst with anger and rose from his seat.
At that moment, Ray pressed a card to the Cube’s surface.
And then—
**Buzz!**
Ray’s form shimmered and was instantly sucked into the Cube.
Among the passing crowds—
There was nothing left where the boy had stood.
—
The sensation of being sucked and spun into somewhere was familiar.
*‘Teleportation.’*
But there was no nausea or throbbing, which told him this was different.
This movement was happening through a pre-established spatial passage.
Just like there were no aftereffects when entering Curiosa’s hut.
Only, it seemed this jump covered a much greater distance—the transition wasn’t ending anytime soon.
*‘So I’m not just being transported to the inside of the Cube I just touched?’*
Curiosa hadn’t told him anything about the interior of the Cube.
She had only left a cryptic remark—he’d understand once he experienced it.
Eventually—
The sensation of spinning stopped.
The light engulfing his vision began to fade.
And from ahead, a voice echoed:
> [Soul recognition complete. Welcome back for your second visit, User No. 1. You are currently in Processing Room 23.]
