Calm... stay calm.
At this stop, I will thoroughly explore this courthouse ghost story as well and collect information and Dream-solution.
Think of only that.
It made my anger rise that the others, in their dead bodies, were doing something as reckless as following me, but I held it in.
If I can’t persuade them, getting angry only bruises feelings.
Same with Agent Choi refusing to sell me Dream-solution.
I just have to do it right.
Keep everyone from dying and do my best—that’s all.
That’s how I’ve done it up to now.
Then it will be fine....
[How beautiful, the sight of my friend doing his utmost so he will not regret it. Oh, it pains me that those shoulders look so burdened....]
It’s fine.
[Mm. Then let us advance. This is a step toward judgment—no, toward standing trial!]
I climbed the stairs from the platform toward the Scales Court.
Before I knew it, I was staring into the wide-open doorway.
I thought the Scales Court would be revealed....
“......”
There was nothing to see inside.
A blank white void.
No color, no sound, no form. In fact, it felt closer to a lightless, pitch-black basement.
“...Are you scared, Podo?”
“No.”
The truth is, I’m scared.
But being scared wouldn’t change anything, so I stepped into it.
[Disaster Day of Se-gwang Special City.]
[Rescue request no. 370614 confirmed.]
[Register the rescue requester as a candidate for selection.]
[202■Management no. 370614, Kim Soleum.
Subject, receive evaluation of rescue value through the Scale of Malice.]
The next moment.
I snapped awake and found myself standing at the end of a procession inside some vast courtroom.
“......!”
A modern space in brown, navy, and white—almost grand.
In the center of that courtroom, people stood in a long line as if awaiting summary judgment.
Murmur, murmur.
There was even something about the ordinary clothes of the citizens that made it feel like they had come to handle administrative business.
A space that felt almost stable.
But if you listened closely....
“do geuil it garija gareodeul nebeonie...”
“ji geoneun lidagiji kkaje eonche daena?”
A chill streaked over my skin.
I turned around on reflex.
At some point the companions who came with me were lined up behind me as well.
Tension flickered over the Bronze Agent’s face.
“Agent Podo, I’m sure this place looks like a courtroom. But what they’re conducting over there isn’t an actual trial....”
[202■Management no. 370601, candidate for selection Jeong Hojong, please step forward.]
“...!”
A voice came from far ahead of the line.
But because of the queue, the people, and the strangely hazy scene beyond, I couldn’t quite make anything out.
Only that a human shape walked out from the very front of the procession.
Thud.
...Something heavy hit the floor.
Silence fell.
“.......”
“...What they’re conducting here is likely the Disaster Management Bureau’s emergency selection procedure.”
They swallowed the rest, but I had already heard enough.
Contaminated.
[202■Management no. 370603, candidate for selection Kim Jahun, please step forward.]
The people ahead of us dwindled.
The ones in line walked forward.
We, too, were helplessly moved along.
Before I knew it, ordinary-looking citizens had packed the line behind our party, and only five or six remained in front of us....
And then—
Thud.
My eyes finally tracked down that sound’s source.
[202■Management no. 370611, candidate for selection Lee Hyemi, please step forward.]
At the very top, in the center of the courtroom, stood a gigantic ash-gray scale.
Dust and grime clung to it. It was a balance scale, the two concave pans held level.
A person walked toward the thing set upon the bench.
No—was it a person?
“deneun haya naman ttalliu-yose juryeosal jebal nebeonie.”
A middle-aged figure in a lightweight padded vest stumbled forward in a daze.
[We will now conduct the 8,312th re-evaluation regarding this rescue requester’s suitability for rescue.
Candidate for selection, submit your evidence.]
A voice boomed from a speaker beyond the bench, and the person before the scale shook their head as if struggling to gather their senses.
“Yes, yes....”
They fumbled and grasped the long object set beside the scale.
An ash-gray knife.
As public agencies keep service pens tied with cords so they can’t be stolen, the knife was tethered to the scale.
The middle-aged person raised the knife and stabbed their own chest.
“......!”
And then pulled something out from inside.
[Oh, a heart!]
A pulsing organ, speared on the knife and drawn out into the open—it was grotesquely clear.
I heard Deputy Eun Haje’s low intake of breath.
“...Civil servants used that for public service?”
“No! In the Bureau we— using the candidate’s four pillars and legal name—”
The Bronze Agent hurried to deny it, but I knew.
That, too, was a legitimate use of the Scale of Malice.
“Bronze. Did they use it like that as well?”
“.......”
“The Scale of Malice was originally a supernatural disaster that they machined into a supposedly good tool.”
Agent Choi’s eyes sank.
“If you’re strict about it, that’s the original, pre-machining use.”
[The candidate’s symbol that can be weighed upon the Scale of Malice varies—four pillars, heart, ■■—but all represent the candidate’s conscience.]
[The ethics and good deeds of the person, embodied as a heart, pulse upon the knife.]
[Place it on the scale.]
Incredibly, even after tearing out their heart, the middle-aged person tottered over and set the crimson organ, skewered on the blade, onto the pan.
[Yes. Confirming.]
And the opposite pan began to tremble.
...Originally, a weight symbolizing sin ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) should have occupied that spot. Through the Scale of Malice, the Disaster Management Bureau mostly requisitioned wrongdoers to use as sacrificial victims.
But in this contaminated courthouse of Se-gwang Special City, the Scale of Malice worked in reverse to select those with rescue value, and thus....
[What you love most rises onto the opposite pan.]
Instead of sin, something took form.
On the right pan, a small figure in training clothes—looked like a college student—fidgeted, glancing around.
The middle-aged person, watching the wavering blur, staggered as if to get a closer look.
“Hyemin!”
The scale shook.
The once-level balance began to quiver.
[Checking the scale’s markings.]
“I can’t wait any longer! No! No more! Somebody please die in my place!! Someone die instead of me! I have to be rescued and meet Hyemin!”
A scream rang out.
“Wait, if they say that kind of thing....”
The candidate’s crimson heart on the left pan turned a dingy blackish color and withered in a strange way.
“Haah.”
The right pan tilted—down.
[The 8,312th evaluation result for candidate no. 202■Management 370611 is....
Not selected for rescue.]
The balance lost its equilibrium and collapsed.
[Through the Scale of Malice, it has been determined that the candidate’s heart contains a psychological value that overrides ethical and moral judgment.
Under present circumstances, this is an evildoer for whom guidance is impossible. Re-evaluation is permanently terminated, and....]
An impassive voice came from the speaker.
[We sentence the candidate to humanitarian execution.]
Thud.
The right pan slammed to the floor.
The balance fully collapsed. By rebound, the heart on the left pan flew up into the air.
“Aaaghhh!”
Ssssk—blood spattered from the chest of the middle-aged person, who had been howling after losing their heart, and the body tumbled off beneath the bench.
“.......”
Screeeech.
The scale moved again.
As the balance returned to level, blood dripped down beneath it.
[202■Management no. 370612, candidate for selection Park Gyeongju, please step forward.]
“...We’re screwed.”
I heard Deputy Eun Haje’s low, urgent voice.
“What is that. Something you cherish goes up on the opposite pan? And so, if it’s precious enough that you’d commit a serious crime for it, you’re out?”
Close, but the criterion likely wasn’t merely whether one could commit a simple serious crime.
It would be whether there is something you prioritize—twistedly—enough to shove aside ethics, conviction, conscience.
“Civil servant, that’s different from what Sa-nyang Chief said....”
“Just a moment. You two—did Chief Sa-nyang, that is, Agent Park Ha, tell you about this?”
“Yes.”
Tension crept over the Bronze Agent’s face.
“You heard a rumor that they use the Scale of Malice here to separate out those with rescue value and select the ones to be rescued....”
But it seemed the fact that non-selected candidates are executed had not been known.
The Bronze Agent clenched their teeth and muttered.
“...Please don’t worry. The fact that so many people are all being re-evaluated means the standards are... strict, yes, but not overly warped.”
[Ho—what do you make of that remark, friend?]
I simply kept my mouth shut.
Meanwhile—
[202■Management no. 370613, candidate for selection Seon Yuseok, please step forward.]
The person in front of me stepped out into the courtroom and then—
Thud.
Once again, they lost their heart and rolled off beneath the bench.
“.......”
Now there was no one left in front of me.
And at last I could see the courtroom clearly....
The floor was glass.
“......!”
Beneath it, corpses were piled high.
A mountain of bodies.
Hearts and bodies were cast away like trash and mirrored up from beneath the floor as some grotesque sculpture.
At the very top, I caught a glimpse of the lightweight padding of the middle-aged man who had just rolled off the bench....
A terror dizzying enough to tingle the scalp.
And then—
[202■Management no. 370614, candidate for selection Kim Soleum, please step forward.]
My turn came.
Ha.
Taking a deep breath, I moved my stiffened feet forward—
“Wait!”
“...!”
Someone dashed out in front of me.
One of the people who had been standing behind me.
Agent Choi!
“May I go first?”
Are they out of their mind?
“Agent, are you cra—”
“No, this person’s shaking so badly... and it looks like you’re doing this in summary form, so if you’re an agent you’ve surely got the leeway to allow something like this! Look. This person really....”
Agent Choi seized me and pressed hard on the veined part of my forearm. Enough to make my hand shake on reflex. This....
“Right, their condition’s not good.”
“...!”
Two others behind gathered in, holding me as if to support me.
Wait, what is this....
“Podo. You know it’ll be more dangerous if you start yelling and making a scene here, right?”
Agent Choi whispered.
“Watch me take it first, then think and act. You’re not in your right mind right now. Got it?”
“.......”
Who goes first didn’t matter much. But not in my right mind—what in the world....
“Please. Judge—no, selector!”
After a stabbing silence and stares—
[Confirmed.
202■Management no. 370615, candidate for selection ■■■, please step forward.]
“Yup.”
Smiling at the speaker, Agent Choi stepped forward.
I held back a string of curses.
The only reason I stayed still was that I was confident Agent Choi wouldn’t fail this evaluation.
[We will conduct the evaluation regarding this rescue requester’s suitability for rescue.
Submit your evidence.]
“...Of course.”
Agent Choi lifted the knife tethered to the scale and drove it into their own chest.
Between the split flesh, the organ revealed was....
Silver-lit.
“......!”
Right.
So that’s where the Silver Heart originated....
[The candidate’s symbol extracted for the Scale of Malice may appear in various states depending on the course of their life.]
Most agents would have similar forms.
Which is why the Silver Heart was inspired by this.
[Place it on the scale.]
Agent Choi did as told.
And what appeared on the opposite side was......
Flap.
A warm window with stirring curtains, a worn sofa, a table.
A familiar scene.
...Team Hyeonmu 1’s waiting room.
[...Checking the scale’s markings.]
The balance tilted.
But in the opposite direction from my earlier observation.
Agent Choi’s heart sank heavily downward and then—
Thock.
At last, touched the floor.
“...!”
The scale vibrated.
[The evaluation result for candidate no. 202■Management 370615 is....
Selected for rescue.]
“...!”
[This rescue requester has been selected through the Scale of Malice and is qualified to be rescued.
We will dispatch an agent now to respond to the request.]
“Oh.”
The scale shivered as if it had reached a true result.
Somehow the courtroom seemed brighter than before, the air looser, as if one could breathe.
A hopeful atmosphere born of a pass.
[Hmm. We have a successful candidate! Let’s see if they jumped the gun to snatch Mr. Noru’s glory.]
......No.
That wouldn’t happen.
[Mm?]
Agent Choi lifted the heart off the scale and, with a barely held smile, began to speak.
“Wait. About that....”
In that instant—
The crackling speaker spat out a rapid, impassive voice.
[Rescue impossible.]
“...What?”
[rescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossible
rescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossible
rescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossible
rescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossible
rescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossible
rescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossible
rescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossible
rescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossiblerescueimpossible]
[At present, the ■■■■-Bureau branch in Se-gwang Special City has no additional personnel available for rescue.
Due to lack of slots, we annul the evaluation result.]
The scale that had gone down returned to its original balanced form.
A gigantic ash-gray scale, filmed with dust and grime.
[We re-announce the sentence.]
A voice came from the speaker.
[The evaluation result for candidate no. 202■Management 370615 is on hold.
For future re-evaluation, please go through the procedure again and wait.]
“Hold on.”
“.......”
“Then....”
Agent Choi looked over the procession, eyes widening with realization.
Right.
“Agent.”
I forced my frozen mouth to open.
“This evaluation was never passable to begin with.”
“...!”
“...You heard it earlier.”
The announcement given to the middle-aged man being judged before us.
[We will now conduct the 8,312th re-evaluation regarding this rescue requester’s suitability for rescue.]
“That person... had been re-evaluated 8,312 times.”
“...!”
“Kept on being put on hold because it was a ‘currently impossible-to-rescue situation,’ because there were ‘no open slots for rescuers’....”
And so they undergo judgment here without end.
In this infinite yoke of the Scale of Malice.
Tormented by the hope that maybe, someday, there will be an ‘open slot for a rescuer’ here.
“...And then, when the contamination worsens or they can’t endure it any longer, their criteria for good and evil get blurred.”
If, by the Scale’s standards, they display an unethical, overpowering attachment to what they love.
“They are executed.”
“.......”
“They can never escape this place. ...Until they’re sentenced to death.”
I looked back over the line of people.
“The ones here have probably been judged endlessly since the day Se-gwang Special City became like this.”
However—
“But from now on, it’ll be okay.”
“What?”
“I’ll find a way to resolve it.”
That’s how I’ve done it up to now.
And this time, too, I’d already thought of a method to try clearing this courthouse.
And honestly, whatever method would do, wouldn’t it? Desperately, try everything, find the gap, cling to it.
Even if I’m scared to death, it’s all part of the process.
Use contamination, die, whatever—so long as the result is good.
“Don’t worry.”
[202■Management no. 370614, candidate for selection Kim Soleum, please step forward.]
“Wa—”
I stepped forward.
This time before the two could grab me.
[We will conduct the evaluation regarding this rescue requester’s suitability for rescue.
Candidate for selection, submit your evidence.]
I split open my chest and took out my heart.
...Surprisingly, silver gleamed out.
So they’re counting me as an agent after all?
A relief. If I’d been in the state of 130666, or under some other contamination state, I probably wouldn’t have received that judgment.
Even so, I had never deliberately killed anyone up to now, nor harmed others for pleasure....
Whatever. Good.
It’d be better to get put on hold.
That would make things easier.
I set my heart on the scale.
[Yes. Confirming.]
The scale trembled, and something began to appear on the opposite pan....
...it didn’t.
...Huh?
No shape at all.
No person, no scene.
What is this?
Do I not have anything I love?
...Which wouldn’t be entirely wrong either.
Before I knew it, I’d bent down to peer into the opposite pan.
The scale was shaking.
It felt like something was in there. Some kind of blot, a black circle—
The phone grip.
[Checking the scale’s markings.]
The balance collapsed.
[The evaluation result for candidate no. 202■Management 370614 is....
Not selected for rescue.]
The scale plunged downward.
