‘I’m still fine mentally for now…’
Noah sighed and frowned as she thought.
‘But later… it’s hard to say.’
No normal person could remain sane after experiencing death countless times.
If they did, it would only mean they weren’t normal to begin with.
This little incident didn’t affect Ouruola’s progress in finding metal objects.
After the two of them packed up everything, they left the room with their weapons.
Noah kept thinking about the question the black-clad person had asked, to the point that she didn’t wait for Ouruola and walked ahead.
‘How many moons are in the sky?’
It was clearly a secret code, and the answer Ouruola had given last time was indeed wrong.
Noah racked her brain but couldn’t figure out the answer.
After passing through the research institute’s office area, Noah headed toward the Warehouse District with ease based on her memory from last time.
Ouruola followed behind her, looking at her with a puzzled expression.
“Weren’t you supposed to let me lead the way? How come it feels like you know this route pretty well?”
Noah instinctively froze for a moment.
She suddenly remembered that she had already performed Death Return, which meant Ouruola hadn’t guided her through this stretch.
She paused briefly, then pretended to be confused and asked back, “Huh? Isn’t there just this one road ahead? Is there a shortcut here?”
There were indeed no forks from the Failed Product’s confinement area to this spot, so Noah’s explanation was technically correct.
Ouruola thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“Uh… no… there’s just this one road…”
“See? I’m just following this road forward, that’s all.”
Noah spread her hands and replied matter-of-factly.
‘That makes sense…’
Ouruola thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Okay… let’s keep going. The Warehouse District is ahead.”
After watching Ouruola take the lead again, Noah couldn’t help raising a hand to wipe the nonexistent cold sweat from her forehead.
She instinctively felt she couldn’t let others know about her Death Return ability, or something terrible would happen.
The two of them re-entered the research institute’s Warehouse District.
Ouruola glanced around, then pointed at a container in front of her.
“Hey, beautiful, help me open this up. There might be some supplies inside. We…”
Before she could finish, Noah quickly silenced her with a gesture.
Under Ouruola’s bewildered gaze, Noah led her to the back of a container.
Noah waved at her and gestured for Ouruola to look in the direction she was pointing.
Three black-clad people snuck into the Warehouse District.
The leader had a long blade strapped to his waist.
He didn’t speak, just used hand signals to direct the other two to search nearby supplies.
Ouruola covered her mouth in surprise and stared at Noah with an incredulous look.
“Oh my god… you sensed them from this far away? Is that your superpower?”
Noah didn’t answer her.
Instead, she lowered her voice and asked, “Do you know them?”
Noah wanted to test if Ouruola’s response or actions would change if things started over, but to her disappointment, Ouruola’s answer was almost exactly the same as last time.
“No…”
Ouruola shook her head and replied in a low voice.
“I don’t know them. They’re all wearing masks, so I can’t tell who they are… Be careful, don’t let them spot us… If worst comes to worst, we go back the way we came.”
‘Go back? Unless I never use this path again, I’ll run into these three eventually.’
Under Ouruola’s astonished gaze, Noah stepped out of their hiding spot.
She walked straight toward the three black-clad people.
“Have you lost your mind?! What are you doing?!”
Ouruola couldn’t understand Noah’s behavior, but reason told her not to follow this lunatic into foolishness.
So she stayed put, watching from where she was as Noah got closer and closer to the black-clad people.
The black-clad people immediately noticed Noah approaching them.
The leader was startled too.
He lowered his stance and placed his hand on his sword hilt, ready for combat.
He asked in a muffled voice, “Tell me…”
But before he could finish, Noah interrupted him and asked in the same tone, “Tell me, how many moons are in the sky?”
Since she didn’t know the answer, she would turn the tables—that was Noah’s plan.
The air froze instantly.
Ouruola’s mouth hung open in shock, but she couldn’t say a word.
After hearing the question, the black-clad person opposite clearly paused.
He relaxed his posture, sheathed his long blade, and let out a long breath before answering quickly.
“Three. There are three moons in the sky.”
The black-clad person waved his hand to signal the others to stand down.
He walked up to Noah and asked in a friendly tone, “So you’re one of us? You scared me. Were you sent by the Leader to collect supplies too?”
‘Leader… collect supplies…’
From these two keywords, Noah understood the current situation.
These three were also Failed Products in the research institute, and they had an organization.
They had been sent by the organization’s Leader to collect supplies here.
Judging by the looks of it, they hadn’t found anything.
Noah first memorized the answer to the secret code, then nodded.
“We’ve already searched here. There’s nothing worth noting.”
The black-clad person thought for a moment, then pointed toward the office area behind them.
“What about over there? Have you checked the Cells in A-4 Area?”
Noah didn’t turn to look in the direction he pointed, because she feared the black-clad person would attack her from behind.
“We have. We just came from the Cell Area. There’s nothing there except dead people…”
Noah was mostly telling the truth.
The Cell Area had nothing left except some corpses that could be used.
But if they searched again carefully, there might still be other finds.
“Is that so? What a shame…”
The black-clad person’s voice sounded a bit disappointed.
He glanced at the dagger on Noah’s waist and asked in surprise, “You… went out collecting supplies with just that?”
Noah didn’t understand what he meant.
“Is there a problem?”
“I don’t know whether to call you confident or reckless…”
The black-clad person shook his head as he spoke.
“There are three organizations in this research institute, and they’re at odds with each other. Using such shoddy equipment to search Area A for so long—I kind of admire you.”
With that, the black-clad person made a gesture to his subordinate.
The subordinate pulled a short blade from behind his back, held it in both hands, and walked toward Noah.
“Take this, comrade.”
The black-clad person’s tone sounded quite concerned.
“At any rate, it’s better than that dagger of yours.”
‘Looks like these people really think I’m one of them…’
Noah thought.
She tried to make her expression less stiff as she stepped forward to meet him.
With a faint smile, she said in a sincere tone, “I really was lacking a decent weapon. Thank you, comrade.”
“No need to be polite.”
The moment the words left his mouth, the subordinate suddenly gripped the blade.
Without any warning, he swung it at Noah’s neck.
Noah appeared unguarded, but her nerves were taut.
The instant the black-clad person swung, she drew her dagger and blocked the strike.
The massive impact numbed Noah’s wrist.
She staggered back a few steps, then immediately pulled out her pistol and aimed it at the black-clad person.
“What the hell are you thinking?! Do you have any idea what you’re doing?!”