Chapter 6: Wonderland-5  

The Mad Hatter’s home was on the complete opposite side from SoYoon’s home in the neutral zone. As a result, SoYoon had to walk a long way to get back to the neutral zone.

The sun was now directly above her. Compared to earlier that morning, many more people were in the streets. And that was not great news for SoYoon.

SoYoon swung her blood-dripping sword with ease. With the sound of wind, the fat and skin that clung to the sword fell away. The bystanders retreated as the drops of blood splattered in their direction.

The rumor that the new White Rabbit had made an appearance must have spread fast. There were many who hoped to kill her and take her place.

With the neutral zone in sight, SoYoon sliced off the head of the fifth challenger. Taking out a piece of cloth, she wiped down her sword, placed it in her sheath, and slung it over her back. She was thoroughly content with the weight, power, and precision of this sword, but, almost as large as she was tall, its size was troublesome. Every time she took out the sword, she had to hold the sheath with her left hand.

As she left the scene, the bystanders looted the bodies. The freshly killed corpses held a lot of value, whether it was in the items they carried, their clothes, or even their organs. Paying no attention to the fight ensuing behind her, SoYoon stepped into the neutral zone.

Even though crime was forbidden in the neutral zone, it was still part of Wonderland; the people did not flee from her blood-stained clothes. Instead, they were even more polite as they tried to sell her new clothes. But SoYoon didn’t have any intention of buying anything and instead went into a restaurant. The sandwich she was eating now was just as unappetizing as the pasta she had eaten the day before.

Another day in Wonderland had passed.

The second day that SoYoon was to meet Mad Hatter, she thought hard about whether she should make the appointment in the middle of the night. She didn’t know if the fact that she had defeated all her challengers hadn’t circulated yet or that there were mistaken rumors swirling around due to her small stature or that the position of White Rabbit was so coveted, but the stream of attackers never ended.

In the 30 minutes to Mad Hatter’s house, she was attacked more than ten times. SoYoon contemplated her situation. If I killed them to this extent, there wouldn’t be rumors flying about me running away and whatnot. Resolute, she swung her sword onto her back and ran.

“Oh…!”

“That’s White Rabbit…!”

By the time the challengers who were waiting for her realized what had happened, she was already a dot on the horizon.

SoYoon stopped in front of the Mad Hatter’s house to catch her breath. Ten seconds later, she raised her hand to knock when Mad Hatter popped his head out the second-story window. Today, he wore a rainbow-colored fur hat.

“Do you know what time it is? And if you had arrived, what are you wasting your time knocking for?”

“You requested I come in the afternoon.”

Mad Hatter wagged his tongue at SoYoon and popped back inside. SoYoon knocked, and as if the door had been waiting for her, it opened.

Mad Hatter was waiting for her on the steps that led to the second floor. Unlike the first time, he was wide awake and staring down at her with an iciness of a winter sky.

“We will run the tests on the second floor.”

SoYoon followed Mad Hatter up the stairs. Every step she took, the old stairs creaked. The sound penetrating the silence brought about memories.

The second floor, like the first, was extremely untidy. Mad Hatter picked out the parts he needed from among the mess and placed them on the bed: a rolled-up piece of paper, a pencil, several flasks and beakers with different concoctions, a chart. SoYoon was familiar with these things. From another room, Mad Hatter brought over a machine the size of her hand and instructed her.

“Take off your outer layer and sit there. Don’t touch anything.”

SoYoon took off her sword and placed it on the bed, took off everything, including her undergarments, and sat at the edge of the bed. During that time, Mad Hatter soaked a towel in a bowl full of water.

“We are going to run tests for two hours each day. After the two hours, you are going to explain smartphones to me. That will be my payment for figuring out your brand situation.”

“Okay.”

Mad Hatter took out a monocle from his pocket. On the silver rim of the monocle were written words so close together, they were indecipherable. Mad Hatter turned it this way and that until it was aligned, then put it up to his left eye.

He pressed a button on a machine and said, “From now on, you will keep your mouth shut.”

Even without this command, SoYoon already had closed her mouth. She tried to keep her cool but couldn’t help clenching her jaw.

The monocle flashed like a scalpel as it examined the brand. Mad Hatter’s right eye was shifting between the paper and the brand, and his right hand was scribbling the brand’s magical symbols and copying them onto the paper. Beep, beep—a rhythmic sound continued to come from the machine.

There came the scratching sounds of writing, the cold air, the analyzing gaze, the mechanical whirring of the machine.

Researchers in white gowns surrounded her while they injected various drugs in syringes into her body one by one. Her pleas, screams, tears did not register as that of a human like themselves. That part of her was isolated.

SoYoon clenched her fists.

A cold liquid dropped onto her shoulder, making a sizzling sound like meat landing on a hot grill. It smelled spicy. Uh-oh. A smooth voice mumbled. A cold-water-soaked towel wiped down her shoulder.

This time, a hot liquid fell on her shoulder. As she had once felt before, she felt the pain as if her skin was rotting. This isn’t it either. The towel wiped off her shoulder. Another liquid came, then pain. Soon the towel was no longer cold but warm.

Two hours later, Mad Hatter took off his monocle and pressed his pounding temples.

“We’ll stop here for today. Now explain to me about smartphones…”

Thud! At the sound of a collapsing doll, Mad Hatter looked to the bed. SoYoon had lost consciousnes. Clicking his tongue, Mad Hatter started to put the experimental items back in place. Within those few minutes, SoYoon opened her eyes and felt a throbbing pain on her palm. In her tightly clenched fist was a wound.

“You’re awake.”

Mad Hatter greeted her as he came back after putting away the bowl and towel. He grabbed a notebook and handed it to SoYoon. Inside was the picture of the smartphone that she had drawn two days ago.

“If you press this, then the cellphone starts? Then how do you send messages? Phone? Where do you enter the numbers or words?”

SoYoon put on her clothes and secured the sword behind her back and answered halfheartedly. At this, Mad Hatter scolded her with a sharp voice.

“Don’t you know about give-and-take? Show me some effort.”

“…Sorry. I’m just a bit tired. Next time, I think I should explain about the cellphone before we start the tests.”

“I’m the one running the experiments, so why are you tired?”

SoYoon didn’t answer. Mad Hatter didn’t seem to be interested in her and didn’t ask again.

She was only allowed to leave after fulfilling the entire two hours. She had thought that she could describe everything about a smartphone within a day, but she was wrong. For example, this item was meant for communication, so why were there functions for listening to music? Such questions meant there was a lot more left to explain.

“Next time, come in the morning,” Mad Hatter said to her back as SoYoon left.

Mad Hatter could hear her answer through the door. He took off his hat and, with a content expression, went off to bed. On top of the bed was a blue-gray hair.