“But it’s really strange.”
“Even the metadata is strange.”
“Just like the student said, the date is wrong.”
“That means it must be an error…….”
“Even if we assume it’s an error, I can’t trace the sender.”
“It looks like it has all the necessary parts, but the data itself is a complete mess.”
“……”
“I wondered if it might be the result of a hacking attack, so I collected some other data values.”
“Those were strange too.”
“Tsk…….”
“There’s no source.”
“I mean, nothing comes up at all.”
“That shouldn’t be possible…….”
“It’s almost like a ghost file.”
“What’s that?”
“A file that doesn’t actually exist, but still appears in a file explorer or other file lists.”
“Well, it could be a bug, or simply a system error.”
“There’s also a high possibility that it’s a virus or some kind of malware.”
“……”
“This video is exactly like that.”
“It shouldn’t exist, yet somehow it was downloaded perfectly.”
Cheong-ha kept her mouth shut.
She didn’t even know how she was supposed to react.
“This is just a collection of errors.”
The elderly owner pushed his glasses, which had slipped down to the bridge of his nose, back up firmly and dismissed the matter.
He concluded that it was probably a bug, an error, a virus, or some kind of malware.
After taking her phone back, Cheong-ha lightly tapped the screen.
The man who was falling was still there.
Right, malware, huh……
Malware……
After that, she visited five more data recovery companies, but every one of them gave her more or less the same answer.
Cheong-ha sank onto a bench like a defeated athlete.
A feeling she couldn’t tell whether it was anger or despair clogged her throat.
What kind of virus was this?
How could an error sound like someone’s dying words?
A hollow laugh escaped her amid the laughter of children playing nearby.
What, had the sky itself decided to play a prank on me?
There’s no way that vast sky was the sender.
“……”
Without hesitation, Cheong-ha deleted the video.
“From a human physiological standpoint, there’s absolutely no problem with women performing aerial duties.”
“In fact, when it comes to G-tolerance, women who are smaller in stature actually have an advantage.”
“The real problem is marriage……”
It was the day of the G-test.
Cheong-ha flinched as she pulled the zipper of her flight suit up to her chest.
Even though it was the only day during cadet life when they were allowed to wear the dark green flight suits, the cadets’ faces were tense with nervousness.
“Their abilities aren’t any different from those of male pilots.”
“They can even complete aircraft conversion training for the F-16.”
“That sort of thing isn’t a problem at all.”
“The real problem is marriage……”
The female instructor looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh.
The instructor seemed to have started some small talk to ease the tension of the cadets taking the test again, but it was hardly helping.
Cheong-ha slowly inhaled, then firmly closed her vocal cords.
The special breathing technique used by pilots relied on the abdominal muscles rather than the lungs.
Otherwise, the brain would receive insufficient oxygen, causing blurred vision, followed by blackout and eventually loss of consciousness.
“Girls, did you know?”
“For female pilots, marriage is practically a grave.”
“Suppose you marry a civilian man.”
“Then, inevitably, that husband has to live according to your flight schedule.”
“A pilot is always on standby for emergencies, so eventually the civilian spouse is bound to get frustrated.”
“You end up living like a couple who only sees each other at the end of the month.”
“Then the probability of the husband having an affair increases exponentially.”
“And just imagine adding a child into the mix.”
“……”
“That’s where the real battlefield begins.”
“Now, the second situation.”
The instructor held up two fingers.
“Suppose you marry another pilot.”
“Then you can’t live in the same house because you’ll be assigned to different types of fighter aircraft.”
“You’re not just a couple who sees each other at the end of the month anymore.”
“You become like a pair of geese that have lost their mates.”
“On top of that, you avoid marital relations before flights because of the need to maintain peak physical condition.”
“You both live under that kind of pressure.”
“Then, naturally, both of you are bound to get frustrated.”
“……”
“Eventually, a situation comes where one of you has to give up something for the sake of the family.”
“And imagine if the two spouses even have different ranks.”
“You have no idea how stressful that can be.”
“So women end up giving up more often.”
“……”
“I don’t know……”
“I really don’t know……”
The instructor rubbed her fourth finger and muttered as though she had a headache.
Cheong-ha realized that this wasn’t actually small talk, but the instructor’s personal dilemma.
She gave no indication that she had noticed.
“Next, Cadet Im Cheong-ha of the 66th class, please enter.”
At the sound of her name, Cheong-ha took two or three deep breaths and headed toward the gondola equipment.
This was the Aeromedical Training Center inside the academy.
Beyond the glass wall, the training gondola was slowly rotating, while the cadet who had ridden it just before her was getting out with a limp, exhausted body.
Her face was completely drained of energy.
As she opened the steel door and entered, the metallic smell rushed into her nostrils.
Preparing for the possibility of losing consciousness, she tightened the safety belt firmly and adjusted the distance between the seat and the footrest.
The door closed, and an announcement came through.
“Please state your unit and name.”
The monotonous voice sounded as though it had performed the exact same procedure countless times.
Just as Cheong-ha was about to answer, a startled “Uh…… uh……!” came through the speaker, followed by a thunderous salute.
“Attention—!”
The air sounded muffled and chaotic, as though someone had hurriedly covered the microphone.
“How is the Major here……?”
The announcement abruptly cut off there.
Confused, Cheong-ha was left sitting inside the gondola for a while, blinking.
What was that……?
She wiped her damp palms against her flight-suit trousers.
Don’t get unnecessarily shaken.
I absolutely cannot ruin today’s training.
Cheong-ha took a deep, long breath.
“Please state your unit and name.”
At the sudden instruction, Cheong-ha opened her eyes.
The words were exactly the same as before, but the voice was different.
Apparently, someone else had taken over the microphone.
When she didn’t answer, the other person shortened his words.
“Unit and name.”
“……Fourth-year, Fifth Company, Im Cheong-ha.”
“Pretty name.”
“……!”
The voice spreading through the narrow gondola was low and calm.
She had been taking G-tests since her third year, but this was the first time anyone had spoken to her like this.
What…… what was this?
As she rolled her eyes around in confusion, she heard another mutter.
His slow, languid tone somehow made it feel as though he were resting his chin on his hand.
“You also look good on camera.”
“Excuse me……”
“Then, Miss Hong Kong Actress.”
“Close your airway now and brace your abdomen.”
“Breathe out—”
“Wait……”
“I’ll begin idling (*1.2G acceleration rotation).”
The unexpected small talk completely shattered her concentration.
While she was flustered, the engine of the gondola was already beginning to rotate slowly.
At first, she felt slightly dizzy, as though she were riding a spinning amusement-park ride, but once the speed stabilized, she quickly adjusted.
“When you’re ready, grip the center trigger once and release it.”
“Hoo…… huff……”
“Then push the lever forward and keep your eyes on the light ahead.”
Without hesitation, she pushed the lever forward, and high-speed rotation began in an instant.
Even while completely disoriented, Cheong-ha glared at the camera lens attached inside the gondola and began bracing her abdominal muscles.
Not long afterward, an announcement informed her that they had reached 5G.
The voice was gentle, but the commanding tone sounded well practiced.
Since she had been told that one rotation took 1.3 seconds, that meant she had completed approximately twenty-three rotations in thirty seconds.
“Ah, this is incredible.”
The frivolous voice came through again.
Cheong-ha’s head was spinning.
“Should we go a little higher than usual?”
“……What?”
“You’re the first student I’ve taken up since I was assigned here.”
“So, as a little celebration, let’s go higher together with your instructor.”
“Ugh……!”
“Put strength into your thighs.”
“Close your vocal cords and brace your lower abdomen.”
The moment the gondola increased its speed, a scream escaped her involuntarily.
Her back was driven into the seat, followed by pain as though she were being crushed beneath a boulder.
She tried taking deeper breaths, but it was useless.
Her vision went dark.
Something was wrong.
When she closed her eyes because of the unbearable dizziness, her stomach churned as though she were plummeting.
Eventually, everything in front of her turned red.
It was her first time experiencing the world turning red because the blood vessels in her retinas had expanded.
It was a redout.
“Ugh……!”
How much…… gravity is there now……?
Cheong-ha thought with her sluggish mind.
“You’ve done well to endure this far, so we’ll take it up to 9G.”
……What?
She didn’t even have time to answer properly.
The joy of having passed the required standard lasted only a moment before it felt as though her face were being torn away.
It felt as though someone were crushing her internal organs and snapping the bones in her neck.
Her lungs must have burst long ago.
Naturally, she could no longer breathe.
In a space swallowed by complete darkness, Cheong-ha slipped into an abyss-like loss of consciousness.
