The Jelly Alien Will Save You! Chapter 61

I diligently chased after him, following close behind. 

 

“……!”

 

I followed him deep inside and was startled.

 

The interior was much wider and more modern than I had expected from the outside.

 

There were sharp white cement walls and a vault made of thick iron. 

 

It was a space that was impossible to imagine being inside a tree trunk.

 

“…Handprints.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Following Cha Haeeon’s gaze, I saw the vault door. 

 

There were countless marks left there, like handprints and scratch marks from fingernails. Below them, a few fingernails had fallen off as well.

 

‘Whose are those~!’

 

Tense with nerves, I stuck close to Cha Haeeon’s leg and trembled.

 

Then, Oppa, who was inside the spaceship, clambered up to the top of my head and covered my eyes with his tentacles.

 

“It doesn’t look like getting the inheritance will be easy.”

 

Cha Haeeon took a few steps inside and examined a piece of torn cloth lying on the floor.

 

‘That’s….’

 

I recognized what it was immediately.

 

It was a protective suit.

 

Although it was white, when one thought of a hazmat suit, one couldn’t help but naturally recall a ‘yellow hazmat suit’. 

 

Could it be that the ones who left those handprints and fingernail marks were people sent by ‘Planet Dynamics’?

 

‘To get what? The inheritance?’

 

Just then, Cha Haeeon read the phrase written on the safe door.

 

“It says… Insert the key?”

 

He looked back at me.

 

I blinked as I looked at the key in my hand.

 

This?

 

When I held up the key, Cha Haeeon shrugged. It seemed to mean, ‘I don’t see anything else but that, do you?’

 

I cautiously approached the door. As I got closer, the handprints and fingernail marks left near the door became even clearer.

 

My trembling hand moved toward the keyhole.

 

Is this really right?

 

If the inheritance could be obtained by inserting the key, then why were there marks from someone clawing at the door?

 

The moment I tried to insert the key while swallowing my doubts.

 

“Would you like to check if you possess VIP qualification?” 

 

‘VVIP special customer and the VIP counter.’

 

“Have ‘you too’ come to retrieve the inheritance?” 

 

The words of the employees passed through my head like a panorama.

 

“….”

 

Instead of inserting the key, I breathed the power of purification into my hand.

 

Then, the key turned into a squishy liquid and dripped onto the floor.

 

“…?”

 

“….”

 

Cha Haeeon’s gaze and mine met.

 

After a moment of silence, Cha Haeeon, who had been looking back and forth between me and the key that had turned into liquid, remarked sarcastically.

 

“Well done. Now we won’t be able to get the inheritance just like you wanted.”

 

No, I mean, I did that because I had a plan too, okay? 

 

My brother stepped up in my place and slapped Cha Haeeon’s leg.

 

I patted my brother on the head, telling him he did a good job, and said:

 

“This is a trap. The inheritance isn’t something just anyone can take. It looks like unqualified people tried really hard to take it, though.”

 

“Then?”

 

“Only I can do it.”

 

When Cha Haeeon looked at me with a suspicious face, I grinned.

 

“This is something only I can receive.”

 

Cha Haeeon still had a face of disbelief, but I could prove it.

 

The reason why I was a VVIP customer.

 

That was….

 

I manifested my purification power.

 

‘…Because it must be thanks to the purification ability that only I possess.’

 

At that, the pure white room began to peel away a layer. 

 

The surface fell off as if old wallpaper were being stripped away.

 

The walls no longer looked like solid cement.

 

Rather, it was the tree itself, with its growth rings vividly alive.

 

“Wow….”

 

It felt as though I was inside a huge tree trunk. 

 

It was then.

 

Screeeeeeeech!

 

A sharp noise, like a fingernail scratching a blackboard, clawed at my ears.

 

Cha Haeeon furrowed his brows and covered his ears.

 

However, I merely looked around my surroundings. 

 

To Cha Haeeon, it might just be noise, but to me, it sounded a bit different.

 

[̌̒̌̒̅᷇̚͞This‎͍̞̏̿ ‎͍͓̮᷃record‎̞̈͛᷃ ‎̯͉̊͢is‎͔͚̽̊̒̔ ‎̟̇̊̒passed‎̰̞̔ ‎̢̛̮̭̂̆down‎̛͖͍̐ ‎̛̥̪̘̂͡only‎̧̣̋ ‎̧͔̖̈̕to‎̙̣̹̄ ‎̘̳̄ͅthe‎̨͇᷉̄̊ ‎̭̹̋one‎̬͕͓̆ ‎̞̓̊who‎̬͖͐̄ ‎̜͐̏inherited‎̰̻̽̆̈ ‎̪͖͎̎̎̋the‎̫̫̉͑ ‎͍̫̘᷃̀power‎͈́͡ ‎̜̈̄of‎̨̪̠̓͐᷅ ‎̨purification.]

 

At the same time, a familiar metal fragment floated up in the center of the room.

 

‘It’s the one I saw in the Quasar equipment storage room….’

 

Unknown characters were engraved on the metal fragment, just like back then.

 

I read them aloud. A voice like singing flowed out.

 

“̃᷃᷇̔Ah‎̦̞̀-‎̟͛̀͋̎ah‎̝̌᷉̂-‎͎͛́ah‎̢̠̜͒-‎͕̦”

 

Swish!

 

The metal fragment curled into a circle and threads bloomed out, turning into a shape like a pompom.

 

‘Ah.’

 

When I suddenly turned back to look at Cha Haeeon, Cha Haeeon was frozen on the spot. 

 

Just like the time when time had stopped at the Quasar office building.

 

Without hesitation, I reached out my hand to the metal fragment. The thin metal threads softly tickled my fingers.

 

“Hmm….”

 

Since Mimic Jelly isn’t here right now, is it impossible to reproduce it like back then?

 

I looked here and there to see if there was any other way, but nothing appeared.

 

‘I guess it can’t be helped.’

 

With a grab, I caught the round metal sphere. Then, the threads pulled back inside, leaving only the shape of a metal marble.

 

‘I should at least take this with me.’

 

I could just go home and tell Mimic Jelly to manifest it.

 

It was as I was tucking the metal sphere away.

 

“Is that the inheritance?”

 

Cha Haeeon’s time began to flow again.

 

“Ah, yeah!”

 

“It looks similar to what we saw at the Quasar office.”

 

I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

 

“I don’t think it’s similar at all. That one looked like a pompom, but this one doesn’t.”

 

It was because it seemed he would oppose bringing it in, saying it was a dangerous object. 

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Mhm. Now let’s get the seeds and go back.”

 

After packing the metal sphere into the spaceship, we went outside.

 

Then, the employee at the desk looked at us with eyes of disbelief.

 

She whispered to the tree as if murmuring.

 

“How did they get out? How did they get out?”

 

Rumble— Rumble—

 

A sound like a cry was heard from the tree as if in response.

 

The employee once again tilted her head like the hand of a clock. 

 

“The jelly didn’t die. The jelly didn’t die.”

 

Rumble— Rumble— 

 

The fact that she said everything twice for some reason made my skin crawl.

 

‘As expected, I almost died….’ 

 

Suddenly, I remembered the fingernails that had been lying on the floor.

 

…The owners of those fingernails didn’t all die, did they?

 

No. Let’s not have unnecessary thoughts.

 

Shuddering as I pressed my lips tightly together, I approached the employee and held out the seeds. 

 

“Can you exchange these for Galactic Two-Two Pepper seeds?”

 

Then, the employee’s head, which had been twisted grotesquely, returned to normal.

 

“Of course, Customer.” 

 

The way she smiled brightly made her look like a perfectly normal human again.

 

‘So scary.’ 

 

That being even scarier, after I received the Galactic Two-Two Pepper seeds, I quickly headed outside.

 

“…!”

 

Then, a thought suddenly occurred to me.