I «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» stared at Ami, dumbfounded.

Ro, standing beside her, tilted his head and broke the silence.

“Peanut, you’re seventy?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m about that, too.”

...What?

I looked blankly at the people across from me.

They all still looked wonderfully young. Ami’s voice was downright girlish. Ro looked like he was in his early or mid-twenties. The green-eyed man looked the oldest, but even then he seemed only late twenties, maybe early thirties.

So how the hell did numbers like that come out of their mouths?

Didn’t seem like a joke, either...

I decided not to think too hard. I’d woken in a strange place with all but my name erased—why assume nothing stranger would happen?

Better to just accept life as it comes. Otherwise, something inside me might snap.

Ami looked at the curly-haired man and said,

“Ro, you’re seventy-two.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“What?”

My voice came out in startled reflex.

Eyes wide, I looked back and forth between Ro and Ami.

“Then you two are only two years apart?”

“Hey. You’re surprised at the wrong thing.”

Ro raised an eyebrow.

“Shouldn’t you be shocked at the ages themselves? Why are you freaking out over a two-year gap?”

“No, that’s not what I meant, I just—”

The green-eyed man suddenly burst out laughing.

He lowered his head, shoulders shaking in silent mirth. My reaction must have been hilarious to him.

Ami blinked rapidly, while one of Ro’s brows climbed high enough to brush the ceiling.

Flustered, I waved my hands—the chain on my cuffs clattered loudly in the room.

“I didn’t mean it negatively. It’s just that Miss Ami looks so young.”

“Ahh, I see.”

Ro accepted it at once.

He tapped his leg with a grin tugging at his lips.

“That’s true. She acts like a kid and looks like one, too. Sometimes I can’t believe she’s older than Ricardo.”

Ricardo? Who’s that?

“Ricardo’s me~.”

The green-eyed man smiled and waved lazily.

My eyes nearly popped out.

What? Ami was older than that man?

“Do I really seem that childish?”

I glanced back and forth between Ami muttering under her breath and the green-eyed man smiling languidly. Still couldn’t quite believe it.

Maybe my disbelief showed, because the man chuckled again.

“I’m sixty-eight~. Name’s Ricardo Sordi.”

“Ah... I’ve been causing you trouble, Mr. Sordi.”

“Just call me Ricardo.”

He waved his hand and narrowed his eyes in a smile.

I nodded obediently, though I didn’t dare use his name yet. I worked my brain carefully, not wanting to rub my guards the wrong way. They didn’t seem intent on harming me for now, but who knew when that might change?

Let’s piece this together. Ro was seventy-two. Choi Ami, seventy. Ricardo Sordi, sixty-eight.

And they said those ages were on the older side. Which really was no small number.

And though the concept of nationality no longer existed, the three of them had once had one. Ricardo and Ro were Italian. Ami was Korean.

So then...

“Did the borders vanish while you were alive?”

My thoughtless question froze the air.

Their sharp gazes cut into me. I faltered.

What now?

I really couldn’t remember anything. It was frustrating, but all I could do was ask questions that sounded stupid and obvious.

The sterile conference room sank into a cold, heavy silence.

It was Ricardo who finally answered.

“There was a war~... actually, two big ones.”

...First I’d heard of it.

“Borders disappeared after the first war. Guess you don’t remember that either~?”

“No. Not at all... This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

“So maybe you’re not even from here. I don’t know if you’re even human. Where did you come from? Where the hell did you suddenly pop out from?!”

Ro flung his hands in the air, frustrated. The absurdity of the situation had him on edge.

But truthfully, I wondered the same myself...

I muttered another apology, shrinking under Ro’s glare.

Ami smacked him on the head with her little round fist.

“Ah! What the hell?”

“Don’t yell. Think how baffling this must be for him.”

Ami’s wide eyes fixed on Ro.

“Imagine it. You wake up with no memories. In a totally unknown place. The first thing you hear is people shouting at you, asking where you came from. Then they slap cuffs on you. All from strangers.”

Her gentle logic struck me harder than I expected. Maybe because I had no anchor here, Ami’s small kindness felt enormous.

“And then those strangers in front of you are you guys!”

“You’re being too harsh, Ami... I’ve been treating him well the whole time~.”

“Oh? And what’s wrong with how I’m treating him?”

Ro retorted gruffly, digging at his ear with his pinky.

Ami clicked her tongue, exasperated, while Ro smirked and stuck his tongue out like a brat.

What were these people?

Earlier I’d overheard they’d been comrades for forty years. They carried guns, wore uniforms. Most likely soldiers. Could be police, or private security.

And me—I’d appeared out of nowhere right in the middle of them.

Five of them in total (the two behind me were so quiet it was eerie) had me surrounded, while I sat defenseless with cuffs on my wrists.

A mouse in the cat’s paw.

I’d better tread carefully.

The moment I made that vow, Ami’s phone rang.

“It’s Ska calling!”

She stopped short of running out and instead pulled it from her pocket.

Her bright voice rang through the room.

“Yes, Assistant!”

She listened for a moment, then answered formally. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“Yes. Everyone on portal management is on it right now, investigating. Yes, the hospital and Personnel have been notified as well. Yes, yes... No, Personnel Director won’t be coming. Yes, me too.”

She kept replying “Yes, yes” to the muffled voice, then ended the call.

She slipped the phone away and spun to face the group.

Everyone but Ro was looking at her.

“What’d they say~?”

“They want Hilde sent to the hospital first.”

The round-eyed girl walked up to me.

“They’re going to take your fingerprints, run a DNA test, and do a polygraph. Since you appeared right in the portal zone of all places.”

Maybe they’d find something about me with fingerprints and DNA.

A faint light of hope made me sit up straighter. I glanced at Ricardo stretching lazily to his feet, and at Ro, still glued to his phone without any intention of moving.

The green-eyed man stretched his body and said,

“Shall we send the two rookies home~? No reason to keep them hanging around...”

“Yeah. The three of us should be enough. Doesn’t seem like Hilde’s the type to suddenly start a fight.”

Of course not. I’ll behave.

I gave a small nod. Ricardo smirked.

“You two can head out~.”

The tall man tossed a glance at the pair behind me.

“We’ll take it from here.”

“Good work, you two! Go rest up!”

“Thank you. We’ll be leaving.”

“Heading out.”

“What, they get to go home?”

As the pair bowed and left, Ro finally looked up from his phone, frowning.

Ami sighed and shook her head at him.

“Not you.”

Then she turned back to me, smiling gently.

“Hilde, shall we go to the hospital?”

“Yes.”

I rose easily from the chair.

The chain clinked brightly. The cuffs made my posture awkward, but no one seemed inclined to take them off.

Still, I was grateful they’d been civil so far.

With two fewer people watching me, I felt slightly relieved. They seemed less wary of me now, as though unless I did something outrageous, they wouldn’t strike first.

For the moment, that was enough.

Once I was truly safe, I could start searching for my memories.

I gave a faint smile and followed Ami.

***

There was nothing wrong with me.

After undergoing a battery of tests, I sat waiting without much thought. The doctor would deliver the medical results, while DNA and fingerprint data would be sent to the Assistant’s phone—the one Ami had just called.

Which meant I wouldn’t be seeing those results right away.

That thought lingered as I sat with the others in violet-colored chairs.

I kept still, quietly eavesdropping on their conversation.

On my right, Ami swung her legs as she spoke.

“Yun oppa was just taking off his shoes in the doorway when he got called back. He’s at the Science Division now, getting torn apart.”

“Unfortunate~.”

Ricardo, standing in front of her, replied in a voice utterly devoid of sympathy.

“But hey, we’re working late too. When an emergency blows up, it’s the same for everyone~.”

“Hungry, aren’t you?”

On my left, Ro muttered as he played a game on his phone.

“Peanut, you got anything?”

“No. And we already ate dinner outside before coming back.”

“Oh, that tasteless ration crap! Doesn’t even touch my stomach.”

“It’s your liver, not your stomach.”

Ami corrected him casually, but Ro ignored her.

Instead, as the words “Game Over!” flashed on his screen, he flung the phone aside and looked at me.

“You got anything?”

I blinked.

Ami and Ricardo both gave him exasperated looks, but Ro didn’t care. I stared at the curly-haired man, then fumbled at my pockets with bound hands.

Clean. Empty.

“I’m sorry. Nothing on me.”

“Not hungry yourself~?”

Ricardo suddenly addressed me.

Startled, I lifted my head to look at him.

Those long, slanted eyes.

“No, I’m fine.”

I answered with a faint smile.

“Thank you for your concern.”

One of his brows arched slightly.

But before he could reply, the far door banged open.

“What the hell is this?!”

A man in a white lab coat stormed in, shouting at us.

Blue eyes, black hair, rough stubble. His face looked mid-to-late forties.

A man who looked every bit the exhausted doctor fixed his eyes right on me and barked,

“Get him in here right now!”