Chapter 318 : Dust Apocalypse (2)
Chapter 318: Dust Apocalypse (2)
Seven agents gathered inside the ruined auditorium.
With only a few tickets left to return to the past,
they had all stayed within their assigned sectors for their own safety.
If headquarters hadn't summoned them,
none of them would've traveled such a long distance.
After fighting their way here through hordes of zombies,
every agent was on edge.
Cha Seongbin let out a short sigh as he sat down in a creaking chair.
“So there's a traitor among us? What does that suddenly mean?”
“I don't know. I came as soon as I got the call too.”
Jin Sehyeon replied with a furrowed brow.
They were agents who had spent a long time together.
Even if they weren't personally close,
they had built emotional trust through dozens of journeys through time.
Yet now,
there was supposedly a traitor among them.
And not just any traitor—
one who had stolen tickets.
That wasn't something they could overlook.
Slowly unclasping his hands,
Kang Siwoo spoke with a serious expression.
“We received a message from headquarters. Last Friday, five tickets disappeared from the Ticket Storage. They're assuming it was done by an agent currently stationed in the Korean region.”
“…Someone stole the tickets?”
“Five of them?”
The auditorium erupted into murmurs.
Straightening his clothes,
Cha Seongbin continued.
His voice was unusually cautious.
“So you're saying there's a spy among the seven of us. Then we need to find them.”
“I don't think it's seven.”
“Hm?”
“Six people and one pet zombie.”
Ha Junseo's correction left Cha Seongbin speechless.
“A zombie? Who's that?”
Seohan's eyes sparkled as he gave a short response.
“Woof.”
“He says he's not dropping the concept.”
At Ha Junseo's explanation,
Jin Sehyeon clicked his tongue.
“Look at him laying the groundwork already. He's planning to keep barking whenever things don't go his way.”
“Woof?”
Jin Sehyeon held his throbbing head and sighed.
As much as he hated to admit it,
there was one thing he couldn't deny.
“Still... you're really committed.”
Way to go, idol persona!
Seohan nodded,
accepting the compliment.
“Thank you.”
“……!”
“Huh? He can speak Korean? Then why's he been barking?!”
“He's even a polite zombie that uses honorifics~.”
Thinking it was adorable,
Cha Seongbin patted Seohan on the shoulder—
and nearly got bitten.
“Argh! Don't bite!”
“Kang Siwoo, please keep your pet zombie under control.”
In response to Ha Junseo's scolding,
Kang Siwoo immediately replied,
“Seohan, bite him!”
“……?”
Do Seohan tilted his head before quietly raising a fist toward Kang Siwoo.
Watching the scene,
Cha Seongbin clutched his stomach.
“Hahahaha! Hahahaha!”
“Hyung, he's telling you not to treat him like a dog.”
“True. Zombies are people too.”
“Woof!”
The pet zombie certainly knew how to stand up for himself.
With his lower lip tightly pursed,
Seohan turned away from Kang Siwoo.
Apparently,
he was sulking.
Just then—
Bzzzt.
A signal came through Kang Siwoo's walkie-talkie.
It was another transmission from headquarters.
[We have received a report that there is a traitor among the agents.]
The agents' expressions instantly turned serious,
as though they hadn't been joking around just moments earlier.
“Ah....”
A traitor who had stolen five tickets.
No matter what,
they had to uncover their identity.
The rules were simple.
[The traitor hiding among the team is capable of lying. The traitor is the only person who may fabricate information to their own advantage. However, the information they possess contains incorrect details. Find the traitor through conversation and report them to headquarters.]
[If you identify the traitor within two attempts, the agents win.]
It was essentially a game of Liar.
From this point onward,
every single word mattered,
and suspicion filled the agents' eyes.
“Who wants to start?”
Kang Siwoo spoke first.
“Let's compare the information we each have first.”
Before filming the Self-Content,
the production staff had handed them a fairly lengthy briefing.
It covered details such as the rendezvous point,
the Ticket Storage,
their movement routes,
and other specifics.
At the time,
they had only memorized it because they'd been told to.
Now,
those alibis were the only clues they had to identify the traitor.
According to headquarters,
the traitor's information contained inconsistencies.
They had to exploit those flaws to expose them.
Unclasping his hands,
Kang Siwoo asked,
“Where was everyone?”
“Hmm....”
The first to speak was Ha Junseo,
immaculately dressed in a neat suit from head to toe.
Compared to the other agents,
he looked remarkably clean,
as though he'd had a much easier journey.
Speaking confidently,
he answered smoothly.
“I stayed in Seoul the whole time. Our meeting point was in Seoul too, wasn't it? I stopped by the National Assembly building for a bit, then met Siwoo on the way here.”
“With my pet zombie.”
“Woof.”
Simply claiming they'd met wasn't enough to establish an alibi.
Seo Ian looked at them carefully before asking,
“What about you two?”
Kang Siwoo stroked his chin and explained.
“I was originally monitoring the situation over in Gangwon Province. I only returned to Seoul after the nuclear strike. I met my pet zombie after I arrived in Seoul—right in front of Gangnam Station. He was staggering around Exit 10.”
“What about Seohan?”
Jin Sehyeon's gaze fixed directly on Do Seohan.
Just in case,
he gave a warning first.
“Don't you dare just bark.”
“……!”
With a serious expression,
Do Seohan scratched his head.
“To be honest, ever since I became a zombie, my memory's been a little fuzzy....”
“Let's hang him up first.”
“Woof!”
The older members showed no mercy just because he was the youngest.
Seohaim burst into laughter at Jin Sehyeon's radical suggestion.
“Hahaha! Hahahaha! He says to hang Seohan up first!”
“What do you think, Ian hyung?”
“Don't do that. Seohan's probably a good zombie....”
At this rate,
they really were about to hang him.
“No, just listen to me first.”
Seohan hurriedly waved both hands as he stood up.
Even then,
he never abandoned his staggering act,
displaying the true spirit of a dedicated zombie.
Behind him,
Seo Ian quietly applauded.
Even while wobbling,
Seohan calmly began explaining.
“I was originally in Chungcheong Province.”
“Where in Chungcheong Province?”
“I was in Cheonan!”
From here on,
he was simply reciting the alibi the production staff had assigned him.
“I was stationed in Cheonan, but I got bitten by a zombie.... Then I overcame it through sheer willpower.”
“Hmmm?”
“Doesn't really look like you overcame it.”
“Anyway, I came up to Seoul to receive the vaccine. Just like Siwoo hyung said, I met him at Gangnam Station Exit 10....”
Just then,
Jin Sehyeon cut him off with a solemn expression.
“Wait a second. I happen to know one very important fact.”
Seohan's eyes widened.
Then Jin Sehyeon dropped a bombshell.
“Our Ticket Storage is located in Chungcheong Province.”
“Huh? Wh-What?”
“In my opinion, Seohan definitely stopped by the Ticket Storage and stole the tickets. He was mentally unstable because he'd been bitten by a zombie!”
“Woof?”
Seohan immediately bit Jin Sehyeon's shoulder.
“Argh! That hurts!”
Jin Sehyeon yelped as he jumped into the air.
Frowning,
Seohan interrogated him.
“Where were you, hyung?”
“I was in Seoul. I never even went down to Chungcheong Province.”
“Wait, wait. Let's organize this one person at a time.”
Since nobody had any idea anymore,
Agent Leader Kang Siwoo stepped in.
He tore a page from a notebook and picked up a pen.
“Haim, tell us your alibi first.”
“I was in South Gyeongsang Province, then came to Seoul through Cheongju. But I didn't even know the Ticket Storage was in Chungcheong Province~.”
“Was there even a Ticket Storage there?”
Cha Seongbin tilted his head as he added his own statement.
Like Ha Junseo,
he was also dressed surprisingly neatly.
“My route overlapped with Haim's, but I started from North Gyeongsang Province. Around Pohang.”
Kang Siwoo turned toward Seo Ian.
Having grown tougher after surviving the apocalypse,
the once-soft Sundubu sat there with unwavering eyes.
“What about you, Seo Ian?”
“I was in Yeosu, looking at the Yeosu Night Sea.”
With a completely straight face,
Seo Ian added,
“…It was romantic.”
“We don't need that kind of useless alibi.”
“Yes....”
Even after everyone had revealed their alibis,
no one felt certain.
Everyone simply sat there silently,
carefully reviewing each other's stories.
“……”
As the silence lingered,
Cha Seongbin finally spoke.
“But there's one suspicious thing.”
“What?”
“Seohaim hasn't been talking.”
“Huh?”
At Cha Seongbin's remark,
Seohaim immediately looked up.
Jin Sehyeon's eyes lit up.
“You're right.”
Once the suspicion started spreading,
things escalated in an instant.
“Seohaim is suspicious~.”
“Hey, why are you so quiet?”
“Because it's not looking good for him.”
The last comment came from Do Seohan.
Seohaim let out an incredulous laugh.
“Wow. Look who's suddenly speaking Korean only at times like this.”
“That's just how it is.”
Do Seohan shrugged,
completely unfazed.
Seohaim firmly declared,
“I think that pet zombie is suspicious! All he ever does is bite people! Didn't you run away with the tickets in your mouth too? Tell the truth!”
“What are you talking about, Choco Haim?”
“Hey! Hey! This isn't an informal speech challenge!!”
“Woof!”
[Who do you think the Stardust traitor is?]
I've rewatched the Self-Content over and over since yesterday, and I still can't figure out who the traitor is.
Maybe they haven't revealed all the alibis yet??
Current suspects:
Car Seongbin, who appeared as the traitor in the music video
The pet zombie who keeps barking whenever alibis come up
Choco Haim, who's unusually quiet
Jin Sehyeon, who suddenly becomes super talkative whenever there's detective work
-Feels like it'll be Cha Seongbin because of the MV concept ㅠㅠ Haven't they still not revealed all the alibis??
└Episode 2 comes out tomorrow, so I also vote for "they're hiding something."
└22222222
-Seohaim is my bias, but my boy is extremely suspicious.
└LOL same.
└Haim, why did you suddenly stop talking?
└Considering how much he usually talks, he's definitely suspicious. LOL
└Nope. I vote that he just stayed quiet because he didn't want to use his brain.
└That's actually possible LOL.
└That's way too mean. LOL
-I still haven't watched the Self-Content. Who's the pet zombie?
└Seohan.
└LMAO.
└First the cicada and sparrow impressions, and now my idol is attempting zombie impressions too.
└No matter how you look at it, he's subtly insane.
└I think we're past "subtle." He's just openly insane now....
-Am I the only one who thinks it's Jin Sehyeon? He's too smart. Makes him suspicious.
└I think it could be Jin Sehyeon too.
└He's way too logical. If you listen to him, you honestly feel like you're being manipulated.
└Honestly, I'd let myself be manipulated just by looking at that face.
└LMAOOOOOOOOOO.
[Do Seohan taking his concept this seriously is hilarious.]
Whether it was when he played the rookie at Dust Trading Company,
or now as a zombie,
why is he always like this? LOL
The real problem is how ridiculously well he pulls it off.
-The fact that the real Do Seohan gets shy whenever you make him do stuff like this makes my heart race....
└Would he really get shy?
└He looks like he's enjoying it way too much though...
└LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO.
└Theory: Do Seohan is an attention seeker.
└What's wrong with an idol being an attention seeker? LOL. That's perfectly normal.
└Academia has reached the consensus that he chose the right career.
Only Episode 1 of <Dust Apocalypse> had been uploaded so far.
Everyone had a different opinion about who the traitor was.
While countless fangirling posts and meaningless speculation continued to flood the community,
one post filled with absolute confidence rose to the very top.
[I figured out who the traitor is.]