It seems like this place... is a broken sphere that was turned into a settlement.
But it didn't end well.
Surely, this settlement failed because of the Heavens People. They're the only ones who could easily find and identify the Broken Dwellers living in a place like this.
And judging from what I've seen, the people who lived here probably didn't get to stay for long.
The Heavens People must have found them quickly.
After all...
The mark of a sphere is still fresh.
---
[04:12 PM]
[Southeast, Broken Sphere]
One thing after another.
I still couldn't find the part I was looking for.
Damn it.
I searched from one place to another, pile after pile of broken equipment and useless scrap. There were a few things that could still be salvaged, but the particular unit I needed—the one that was supposedly common in every sphere—was nowhere to be found.
"Did that manager take them?"
What I needed was a core.
A stabilizer.
Something that could make these gears of mine work properly.
Ever since the beginning of WW4, every piece of advanced equipment required highly compressed batteries capable of sustaining the enormous energy output demanded by modern weapons.
But that created another problem.
Energy stability.
Instead of creating an entirely new generation of batteries, they created something else.
A stabilizing core.
EQUI.
Why?
Because they couldn't afford to waste more time improving their toys.
It was more convenient to create stabilizers. They were cheaper, faster to produce, and could be integrated into existing technology.
So, in the years that followed, humanity focused on creating better Nuclei Batteries and more efficient EQUI cores.
And the war continued.
Eventually, however, the use of such technology stopped being enough.
It became worse.
It wasn't just the batteries anymore.
The innovative minds of humanity kept pushing forward, looking for something more convenient.
Something better.
The Nuclei Battery and EQUI combination eventually reached its final form.
The Era of the Sphere brought with it the creation of a special power source for modern weapons.
The Vitality.
A battery that required no stabilizer.
It was almost laughably simple compared to what came before it. A reusable and disposable power source, depending on its application.
Then came the weapons.
More advanced.
More efficient.
More terrifying.
Though such technology remained exclusive to the spheres.
We Dwellers still relied on Nuclei Batteries and EQUI.
"They say it's for future threats."
I scoffed.
"But aren't we humans the ones always here?"
People tend to use the future as an excuse.
Since we had no access to their technology, the things they threw away became our only means of advancing.
Their discarded machines.
Their broken weapons.
Their abandoned equipment.
Everything was an opportunity.
And among the Dwellers, there were those who stole technology from the Heavens People.
Some did it out of necessity.
Others did it because of hatred.
They would take whatever they could find after killing those who came from the spheres.
And because Dwellers could access sphere technology, we eventually created our own equipment from it.
Not because we wanted to become like them.
But because we needed something to protect ourselves.
And perhaps...
To take revenge against the people who came from above.
---
I wonder how many minutes had passed.
"I've been looking around for a while..."
I kicked a piece of scrap aside.
"It's frustrating that the thing I need the most is the one thing that's missing."
At some random corner, I noticed a buzzing monitor.
Its screen flickered repeatedly.
It probably wouldn't last much longer.
Right.
It had been abandoned.
Just like everything else here.
I looked around the ruins again.
"Guess I have to search some more."
---
[05:06 PM]
[TICK... TOCK...]
I still hadn't found anything useful.
I wondered why.
Why did people choose to destroy?
These rooms...
The broken tables...
The chairs...
The walls...
Everything in this place had once been touched by someone's hands.
Someone had eaten here.
Someone had slept here.
Someone had laughed here.
Someone had probably cried here.
Every corner carried traces of someone's memories.
And now...
It was all destroyed.
I sat on the rubble of a broken building and watched the sunset.
The orange light slowly disappeared behind the ruined structures.
For a moment, the Broken Sphere almost looked peaceful.
Almost.
"Guess I'll search another location tomorrow..."
I sighed.
Then—
Caw.
I looked behind me.
Caw... Caw... Caw.
Four calls.
A crow stood nearby.
"Are you telling me to leave your turf?"
The crow jumped.
Instead of flying away, however, it walked toward me.
It stopped beside me and tilted its head.
I stared at it.
It stared back.
"...You're weird."
The crow simply remained there.
I looked toward the horizon.
The sun was almost gone.
The World had Ended 468 Years Ago.
That's right.
What stood in front of me was nothing but the remnants of what our world should have been.
Broken buildings.
Dead machines.
Forgotten memories.
Everything left behind by people who were long gone.
And outside...
Was a place filled with the unthinkable.
A place where humanity had learned to survive after the world had already ended.
I looked at the crow beside me.
For some reason...
It felt like it was waiting for something.
[05:21 PM]
The crow was still beside me.
I looked at it.
It looked at me.
"...What?"
"Caw."
"Yeah, yeah."
I looked back at the sunset.
I don't know why, but having a crow beside me feels weirdly peaceful.
Maybe because everything else around here is either broken or dead.
A crow at least is alive.
I picked up a small piece of metal from the rubble and threw it away.
Nothing.
Still no EQUI.
"Where the hell did they put all of them?"
I already searched almost every place I could find.
If this was really a settlement made from a sphere, there should've been at least some EQUI around here.
Even broken ones.
Even the useless ones.
But there's nothing.
It's almost like someone took them all.
"...The Manager?"
Maybe.
He's the only person I know who's still connected to this place.
Then—
"Still searching?"
I turned my head.
"Oh."
The Manager.
The old man was walking toward me.
He didn't look tired at all.
Honestly, sometimes I forget that he's old.
The way he walks, the way he moves...
He's definitely not like those old Dwellers who can barely carry their own equipment.
"Yeah."
I looked back at the ruins.
"Can't find what I need."
"That so?"
"Yeah."
He stopped beside me.
For a moment, he just looked at the place.
No words.
Just the two of us looking at a dead settlement.
"You know..."
The Manager suddenly spoke.
"People always leave something behind."
"Huh?"
"When they leave a place."
He looked at the broken buildings.
"They leave their belongings."
"Their homes."
"Their memories."
"Sometimes, they even leave their regrets."
I looked at him.
"That's deep."
He laughed.
"Was it?"
"Yeah."
"Then perhaps I'm getting old."
"You are old."
He laughed again.
I smiled a little.
Then the silence returned.
I looked around.
Broken houses.
Broken roads.
Broken machines.
Everything here used to belong to someone.
Now it belongs to nobody.
"Manager."
"Hm?"
"Do you ever wonder why people destroy things?"
He looked at me.
"Why?"
"Because..."
I looked at the ruins.
"I don't understand it."
"We make things."
"Then we destroy them."
"We build houses."
"Then we burn them."
"We create weapons."
"Then we use them against each other."
I sighed.
"What's the point?"
The Manager didn't answer immediately.
He sat down on a nearby piece of rubble.
"The point?"
"Yeah."
He looked at his hands.
"Perhaps there isn't one."
I looked at him.
"...That's depressing."
"It is."
He smiled.
"But people still continue."
"Why?"
"Because stopping is easier than continuing."
I didn't understand.
He continued.
"Anyone can destroy something."
"But building something..."
He looked toward the horizon.
"That takes someone willing to believe tomorrow will exist."
I stayed quiet.
That sentence...
For some reason, I remembered it.
Maybe because I needed to.
Maybe because I've always been looking at things that were left behind.
Old technology.
Old weapons.
Old machines.
Everything we Dwellers use came from a world that was already dead.
We're always looking backward.
Never forward.
The Manager suddenly looked at me.
"So."
"What?"
"What are you looking for?"
I looked at him.
"An EQUI core."
"Only that?"
I hesitated.
"No."
I looked toward the sunset.
"I'm looking for something that could save this world."
The Manager went silent.
I expected him to laugh.
Or tell me that I was dreaming.
Instead, he just stared at me.
Then he smiled.
"I see."
"That's it?"
"What else should I say?"
"I don't know."
I scratched my head.
"Most people would probably call me crazy."
"They would."
"Thanks."
"I didn't say you were crazy."
"You basically did."
The Manager laughed.
Then he stood.
"I have the cores you're looking for."
I froze.
"...What?"
"EQUI."
He looked at me.
"I have them."
"You..."
I stood up.
"You actually have EQUI?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Enough."
"Enough isn't a number."
"It's enough for you."
I stared at him.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"You didn't ask."
"...I hate that answer."
"I know."
He started walking.
I followed him.
"Wait."
He looked back.
"What?"
"Why do you have so many EQUI cores?"
"I run a hotel."
"That's not an answer."
"It is."
"No, it isn't."
He smiled.
I sighed.
This old man...
He's annoying.
But somehow, talking to him feels different.
He's strange.
Not the kind of strange that makes you uncomfortable.
The kind that makes you want to keep listening.
We continued walking.
The sun was almost gone.
The Broken Sphere slowly became darker.
I looked back one last time.
The ruins were slowly disappearing into the shadows.
I wonder how many people once lived here.
How many of them thought they would still be here tomorrow?
How many of them thought their homes would remain standing?
How many of them thought the world would continue?
And now...
Nothing.
Just ruins.
"Manager."
"Hm?"
"Why are you running a hotel here?"
He kept walking.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said."
I pointed around us.
"Look at this place."
"There's nothing here."
"There's no settlement."
"No proper road."
"No people."
"Nothing."
"And yet..."
I looked at the hotel in the distance.
"You're still running a hotel."
The Manager smiled.
"Because there are customers here."
I stopped.
"...Customers?"
"Yes."
I looked around.
There was nobody.
Not a single person.
I looked back at him.
"Where?"
He pointed at me.
"You."
I stared at him.
"...Me?"
"You are the customer."
I didn't know what to say.
"That's your reason?"
"Yes."
"One person?"
"One person is enough."
He continued walking.
I followed.
"You're telling me you run an entire hotel in one of the most ghosted places in the world..."
"Yes."
"Just because one person came here?"
"That person came looking for something."
He looked at me.
"And I happen to have what he needs."
I smiled.
"So that's how you run your business?"
"Something like that."
"You're weird."
"I've been called worse."
We finally reached the hotel.
The lights were already on.
Warm light coming from the windows.
It looked completely different from the ruins behind us.
Almost like it didn't belong here.
Maybe it really didn't.
I looked at the building.
Then at the Manager.
"You really don't plan on leaving?"
He looked at the hotel.
"No."
"Why?"
He was silent for a moment.
Then he answered.
"Because someone has to keep the lights on."
I looked at him.
He opened the door.
I followed him inside.
The moment I entered, the warmth of the hotel hit me.
It felt strange.
Outside was a world that had ended 468 years ago.
Inside...
It almost felt like nothing had happened.
The Manager walked ahead.
I followed him.
And while walking, I couldn't help but think about what he said earlier.
Someone has to keep the lights on.
Maybe that's what this place was.
Not just a hotel.
Not just a strange building in the middle of nowhere.
Maybe it was proof that something could still remain standing after everything else had fallen.
I don't know.
Maybe I'm thinking too much.
All I know is that I came here by accident.
And somehow...
I found something.
Or rather—
I found someone who had that... Peace.
I don't know why.
But I had a feeling that I was going to remember this old man for a very long time.