There was a heavy snowstorm outside.Perched on cables covered in ice chunks from the cold, a bird registered in the Radio Kingdom's Digital RK-CHANNEL stood still. It pecked the wire several times. Lowered and lifted its head. A metallic chill slid beneath its wings. Its tiny eyes opened and closed.
On the street shaded in hues of grey and charcoal, radio engineers were checking the stations running beneath the road and giving digital confirmation through tablets in their hands.
Tian Yan, carrying a sack stuffed with cables on his shoulder, set the sack down and caught his breath."It's freezing," he said, his teeth chattering. He picked the sack up from where it had sunk into the snow and slung it over his back again. Not a single ray of sunlight illuminated the area; it didn't even reflect off the grey sheet of ice.
Wia Huya, in charge of collecting junk and dumping it into the garbage pit, was barely able to push his cart over the snow-covered layer. Like the others, the garbage carrier had a barcode connected to the Digital RK-CHANNEL."Tian, what's up?"
The two men had met at a Kingdom Guild celebration, an organization set up for security around the Palace.
Tian paused for a moment and said, "Not much. It's freezing… and it hurts."
"It's going to hurt even more," said Wia Huya.A sharp breeze passed between them."Why did you say that?"
A small child emerged from beside the cart.
Tian Yan hadn't noticed him. Smiling, he took on an uncle-like demeanor and asked, "Is the little one yours?"
Wia Huya grabbed the boy, tucked him under his arm, and gently pinched the cheeks of the boy who shyly looked at Tian Yan."My wife passed away two weeks ago."
"My condolences," Tian said, gazing at the child."Who's taking care of him?""Me," replied Wia Huya wearily. "I have no place to leave him."
Tian Yan felt sorry for the boy. A lightbulb went off in his head.
"Isn't there a family who would want to adopt him?"
"Of course there is," said Wia Huya. He looked as if he were in pain. With a sigh, he added, "But he's my child."
"I understand you," Tian Yan said. "But for his own good, it might be better if he finds a new family."
At that moment, the child bent down and started playing with a stone.
"No," said Wia Huya possessively. "I can't trust anyone enough to give him away."
Tian Yan barely had the courage to say it:"King Fuzulin hasn't had a child for a long time. Your son…"He lowered his voice slightly and continued after a pause."King Fuzulin will definitely want to take him in."
Wia Huya stood stunned. He stared at his son for a long time with sorrow. The boy was now pushing a stone across the snow using a dry twig.
For a moment, he imagined a perfect future for his son.
The idea that formed in his mind hurt him deeply.
"See you later," he said absently and pulled at his cart."Come on, Lui. Let's go."
A trench car passed in front of the two men and the boy.
"Attention, attention! Clear the way! Make way for the Royal Trench Vehicle!"
Tian Yan, Wia Huya, and his son stepped aside to opposite sides of the road.The trench car plowed through the snow.Its overheated engine fell silent, and smoke billowed into the air.
Lui hid beneath his father's arm. A voice entered his ear.[Quest start unlocked.]
It began to snow again.
Four uniformed trench soldiers stepped out of the government vehicle.
They began walking toward Wia Huya. One of the soldiers pulled a frequency card from his pocket."Frequency 1, from the Trench Military. Are you Wia Huya?"
Lui tightened his grip on his father's hand. He blinked. The voice spoke once more.[Listen to the words of Frequency 1.]
Holding his son's hand, Wia Huya turned to the soldier."It's nothing," he said. "I'm him. What is it?"
"Is it true that your wife died two weeks ago?"
Wia Huya thought about his wife, who had already been placed in the "dead" section of the frequency system.
"True." There was desperation and shame in his voice.
"Then you must surrender your son to child protection," said Frequency 1, eyeing Wia Huya's tattered clothes.
"What is that, Dad?" asked Lui.
Wia Huya waved his son off."Go play over there for a bit."
Lui obeyed and started running around.
Frequency 1 whispered something to the three soldiers beside him. Then he turned back to Wia Huya and said in a stern voice:"King Fuzulin wishes to raise your son—the one you'll have to give up for adoption."
Lui held his aching ears as the voice in his head rang again.[Early quest completed.]
[100/10000 frequencies collected for the upcoming mission.]
***
13th Victoria Day – Celebration Scene
The 13th Victoria Day celebration had taken on a magnificent atmosphere beneath the palace lights.
Everyone, one by one, patted Lui's head—who had landed on Fuzulin's skirts—and pinned a coin onto him.
Lui's gaze was timid and constantly evasive. His mind kept returning to the voice he had heard that morning.
"He's a wonderful child!" said the officer's nephew.
"So handsome!" said one of the women, who was about the same age as his mother.
"May he bring luck to our king's household," the crowd said in unison.
Fuzulin gathered the folds of his robe, stood up, and took Lui's hand.
Like a breeze sweeping through the garden, winter had covered everything in snowflakes.
Watching the slowly drifting crystals in the air, Lui reached out his hand to one of them.
One of the officers leaned toward Fuzulin's ear and whispered that the Frequency Chief had arrived for the celebration.
Lui ran away from his stepfather, who was also the king.
He spun in circles, trying to catch the snowflakes in his hands.
Just then, a baby's cry echoed from the courtyard.[Mission: Resurrection. Detected!]
The cheerful music drowned it out.
Lui ran toward the sound. He was acting on instinct.[Approaching mission.]
Ding!
The snow was so thick and dusty that he couldn't even see a few steps ahead.
Lui's steps veered right. On the left wing of the Kingdom Tower stood a massive, ornate door. On either side of it were red, arched pillars. He realized the sound was coming from there. His curiosity grew exponentially. Was it coming from a toy doll?
Or perhaps a buzzing remote-controlled car?
The further he walked, the closer the sound of crying became.
Just a meter from his feet, he saw the snow shift like the belly of a pregnant woman.
What was that? He bent down.
He realized that what was buried in the snow was a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.
[Target found! Mission: Find the father to facilitate resurrection!]
He pressed his knees into the snow. He gently picked up the baby in his arms.
The baby stopped moving altogether. It stopped breathing. Its face turned cold within seconds.
It was a dead baby.
Lui felt the blood in his body freeze.
Cradling the baby, he ran toward the king who was standing opposite the door. His breath clenched his heart. The king, who had been speaking with one of the high-ranking officers, turned his head.
"What's wrong, Lui?" he asked—just in time to see the baby in the boy's arms.
Lui held out the baby toward his father."I found him by the pillars."[Mission description: Moderate. Mission: Hand over the baby.]
The king's eyes widened, and he took the baby into his arms."But he's d-dead!"
Lui looked up at his father with wise eyes."He was crying at first."
[Task description: Simple. Task: Switch to listening mode!]
"How is this possible?" the king said in disbelief. "So the baby's cry I heard... was real."
Tears welled in his eyes."A dead baby?"
As soon as the drop from Fuzulin's eye fell onto the baby's face, the sky split in two. The snow stopped. Everything became cloaked in thick black smoke. The baby in Fuzulin's arms vanished in mere seconds. As the king raised his head, he saw black snow falling.
"Oh my God!"
[That's Kaji Caesar. Sent to save the Radio Kingdom.]
Lui shivered.
Before Fuzulin stood a young man—appearing in the blink of an eye.
It was Kaji Caesar.
[Kaji Caesar] System paused. Kaji Caesar has taken over your mission. You will meet our savior again in the future. Until then—Grow up!]