Location: Iwaoi University, Journalism Campus, Library

Date: September 1, 02:04 a.m.

“Please, I won’t write or investigate anything anymore! If necessary, I will leave the university! Spare me!” Momo yelled throughout the entire library.

Something fell heavily onto the floor. Momo’s voice suddenly faded.

‿̩͙⊱༒︎༻♱༺༒︎⊰‿̩͙

Location: Iwaoi University, Journalism Campus, Library

Date: September 6, 11:00 p.m.

Rian had been sitting late in the library for several days in a row. Coffee cups were scattered quietly under the table as he tried to connect all the facts he had collected. This was his first major investigation as a journalist. He couldn’t afford to miss such a chance.

There was no one else in the library. He sat in absolute solitude. His strength was already leaving him. Even though it was only 11 p.m., his head no longer obeyed him and slowly fell onto the keyboard.

“gysyfbdadinsntskdntskntsssdlybftssdbtsdsfntssodntsndtsosiytssoyytssocychs,” letters began to appear endlessly on the screen.

Rian’s eyes slowly closed. Everything was dark and silent.

A rustling sound echoed through the library. Someone was searching for something very important. She was in a hurry, desperately trying to find an important archival document.

“What are you doing here?” a low male voice asked.

The girl wanted to scream when an unknown person suddenly covered her mouth with his hand.

“Don’t you dare,” the same male voice continued. He leaned closer and whispered something into her ear.

The girl’s pupils immediately shrank. A wave of wild fear and horror washed over her, and she began to struggle desperately to escape his grip.

“Please, I won’t write or investigate anything anymore! If necessary, I will leave the university! Spare me!” Momo yelled throughout the entire library.

“Stupid girl, I told you to remain silent!” he shouted and struck her on the head. The blow was so strong that she collapsed unconscious onto the floor.

“Aaaaaaaaaaa!” Rian screamed throughout the entire library, jolting awake and jumping up from his seat. He turned and saw a guy bent over him, then shoved him to the floor with all his strength. Losing his balance, Rian fell on top of him.

“Are you completely crazy?” the dark-haired guy shouted.

The library attendant came running at the sound of their screams. Seeing them literally lying on top of each other on the library floor, she quickly turned away.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t want to disturb you…” she said shyly. “I was just scared that something had happened. I think I need to go.”

“No!!! You misunderstood, Rora!” Rian shouted. “Come back!”

“Moron, why do you want her to come back!” the guy snapped, trying to push Rian off him. “Get off me already!”

“Oh, ahahah,” Rian laughed hysterically. “Forgive me, Rae, I didn’t recognize you right away.”

“Maybe you should go get some sleep? You’ve been here all day.”

“I can’t just go to sleep. I need to find a clue.”

“A clue?”

“Yes. I need to understand what happened to Momo. I can’t sleep peacefully until this case is solved.”

“You literally just passed out from exhaustion.”

“That doesn’t count!” Rian said, sitting back down at his laptop. “I’m missing something important — something in plain sight that can’t be seen with the naked eye. But what?”

“To be honest, I haven’t been sitting idle these past few days either. Maybe we should join forces?” Rae said, pulling a laptop out of his backpack.

“You were looking for Momo, too? Rae, I never doubted you for a second,” Rian exclaimed, trying to hug him.

“Hush. We’re in the library.”

“It’s already midnight. There’s no one here.”

“Still, it’s better to behave calmly. And you look like you’re about to fall asleep again. Maybe we should get some fresh air and discuss this at the same time?”

“I’m not falling asleep at all,” Rian shouted, slamming his fist on the table. He immediately winced. “Aaah, that hurts.”

The library had a large balcony right next to the archives. Students often gathered there to discuss their studies, business ideas, or talk with professors.

Outside, everything was silent. The university was surrounded by forest, and at night nothing could be seen except tall pine trees.

“Momo is just a second-year student. What could she have done to get herself kidnapped?” Rae asked.

“Maybe she had fans. Some crazy guy. Let’s say she rejected him, and he decided to kidnap her.”

“Then why do it in the library? And why would she even go there at 2 a.m.?”

“Asks the man standing on the library balcony at midnight.”

“Or maybe it was someone from her course. Imagine — she stole a guy from a classmate, and the girl decided to take revenge. Now Momo is lying in some ditch with a disfigured face, waiting to be rescued… Nooo! Poor Momo! That’s horrible!”

“Stop talking nonsense. You know her. All day long, she talks only about studying and journalism. She has no time for guys. And honestly, maybe she was working on some kind of investigation, and someone decided to make her disappear,” Rae continued. “Hmmm…”

“What kind of investigation would require documents from our archive? And she only just transferred into her second year. It’s unlikely she managed to uncover something so serious that she’d be kidnapped for it…”

Before Rian could finish his thought, something fell into the bushes beneath the balcony.

“What was that?” Rae asked.

“I don’t know. But it definitely wasn’t a bird. Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane.. “ Rian wanted to continue, but the way Rae was looking at him made him stop. “Sorry…”

A dark silhouette lay motionless on the grass for a few seconds. Slowly, the man raised his head, looked around, stood up, and began to run away, limping.

“Who is that?”

“Idiot, that could be the kidnapper. Let’s run!”

“What? The kidnapper? Wait for me!” Rian shouted, running after Rae.

“Boys, where are you going?” Rora shouted after them.

There was no point in calling the elevator. The boys rushed down the ramp as fast as they could and ran out through the back exit of the university. Near the gates, they noticed someone lying beside the security booth.

“Are you okay?” Rian shouted.

“He’s lying on his back. Of course he’s not.”

Both boys’ hearts were pounding. It was dark. It was impossible to tell who had jumped out of the campus window, struck the guard, and disappeared into the forest. Everything felt deeply wrong.

“Guard Chu! Guard Chu!” Rian shouted.

“What… what happened?” a man around fifty years old asked weakly. “My head… it hurts…”

“Were you attacked? Who did it?” Rae asked, scanning the surroundings. “Did you see his face?”

“Sorry, kids. I didn’t see anything. It was too dark,” Chu replied.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Rae asked.

“As usual, I was sitting in the booth watching a drama. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone limping toward the exit. I stepped outside to see what was going on. But before I could fully open the door, they hit me on the head. After that, I remember nothing.”

“You don’t remember any details? Clothes, height, hair — anything?”

“He was dressed all in black. A black cap, so I couldn’t see his face. Black shirt, black trousers. Hmm… He was a little shorter than you and quite thin. That’s all I remember,” Guard Chu said thoughtfully.

“Thank you, Guard Chu,” Rian said.

“Should we take you to the first aid station?” Rae asked.

“I can’t leave my post until someone replaces me. But don’t worry — I have my own first aid kit. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. Please be careful.”

“You too, boys. You too.”

“What do we do now, Rae?”

“I don’t know. This is all very suspicious. But we should go back to the library. It’s not safe to stay outside after what just happened.”

“And Rora is alone. She must be scared after all the noise.”

“Yes. Let’s go back and figure out our next move.”

When they reached the campus again, Rian and Rae headed for the elevator to the fifth floor, where the library was located. But the elevator was already going up, and the wait could take a while.

“On foot,” Rae said, and they started climbing the ramp they had just descended.

The reception desk was empty.

“That’s strange. Where did Rora go?” Rae wondered.

“She wouldn’t leave her post like this,” Rian said. “I’ll call her.”

The library was plunged into silence and darkness. Rian’s phone beeped, but Rora didn’t answer.

“I hope nothing happened to her,” Rian said, shaking his head.

“Maybe she went to the restroom. Who knows?” Rae replied.

“Okay. Let’s wait a bit. In the meantime, let’s organize everything we know about Momo. Can we put all the facts together?”

“Yes. Good idea. Go ahead.”

“Wow, cold Rae actually praised me.”

“Let’s get to the laptops.”

They sat down at the table and began to talk.

“I’ll start,” Rian said, opening his laptop. “I’ve gathered some things already.”

“Wow, you even have your own blog.”

“Yes. I publish articles there sometimes. It works as a portfolio. I also added a comment section so people can share opinions or contact me.”

“Convenient. Have you published anything about this case yet?”

“Not yet. There are still too many unanswered questions.”

“Then let’s go through it together.”

“So,” Rian began, leaning on his wrists, “Momo is a second-year journalism student. On the night of September 1st, around 2 a.m., she disappeared. We know she went to the library — this is confirmed by surveillance cameras. The footage also shows her heading toward the archive.”

“The archive contains different types of materials. I’ve been checking it myself these past few days. There are old books, newspapers, and documents — information about former students and student projects. Nothing extremely serious.”

“I checked the card index, too. Nothing interesting. It would be great if we could see which documents were requested during the past week. Or at least know what Momo was looking for.”

“It’s difficult, but not impossible,” Rae said, pulling a flash drive from his pocket.

“Where did you get that?!” Rian exclaimed.

“I have my own methods.”

“Wow, Rae. You’re impressive. I’ll add that to the article.”

“All the documents are somehow related to finance and laundering,” Rae said.

“So she was investigating something,” Rian said, typing quickly. “I’ll add that. We still don’t have enough information, but we already have a general picture. Let’s upload a few photos of the library and archive, a blurred photo of Momo, and publish it.”

“Make sure the comments are open. We’ll need help.”

“Agreed,” Rian said. “Publishing now.”

“Great,” Rae said, watching the screen.

“I wish we could travel back to that day and find out what really happened.”

“That would help. But our job is to work with the present, not the past,” Rae said, patting Rian on the back.

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed through the library, and the lights went out.

“What was that? Thunder?” Rian asked nervously. “Did the power go out because of it?”

“Quiet,” Rae said, covering Rian’s mouth. “Someone’s in the archive.”

A rustling sound echoed again. Someone was searching frantically. In the darkness, the silhouette of a tall girl appeared. Moonlight from the balcony faintly outlined her figure, but her face remained hidden.

Suddenly, a tall male silhouette appeared behind her.

“Wha… t… r… you doin…?” he asked. His voice was barely audible.

Rian didn’t understand what was happening. He looked at Rae, whose heavy, serious gaze was visible even in the darkness.

The girl tried to scream when the unknown covered her mouth.

“Don’t dare…” the same male voice whispered, leaning close to her ear.

Her pupils shrank instantly. Terror overwhelmed her, and she began to struggle.

“Please, I won’t write or investigate anything anymore! If necessary, I will leave the university! Spare me!” the girl screamed throughout the library.

Rian tried to break free from Rae’s grip, but Rae held him firmly.

“We need to understand what’s happening. Don’t do anything stupid,” Rae whispered.

“We need to save her.”

“It could be dangerous. He might be armed. Shhh.”

“Stupid girl, I told you to remain silent!” the man shouted and struck her head. The blow was so powerful that she collapsed unconscious.

The man glanced around quickly, then ran toward the balcony.

“We need to go to her,” Rian whispered.

“Okay. Carefully.”

They moved slowly toward the archive. A young girl lay unconscious on the floor.

“This can’t be…” Rian whispered, his eyes wide. “This is… this is…”

“Momo.”

They stood frozen.

“But why is she here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Damn it. We need to wake her up,” Rian said, kneeling beside her. “Momo, Momo, can you hear me?”

“Quiet, idiot! What if someone hears us?”

“Then let’s carry her out of here.”

“Okay. Go ahead.”

Rian bent down to lift Momo onto his shoulders when suddenly a head appeared in the window.

“Aaaaaaaaaaa!” Rian screamed throughout the entire library, jumping back and falling onto Rae.