Chapter 8: Woodenpool
Lenin and Liya find themselves in old man Johan's house, while Sharia listens intently from outside.
Old man Johan gazes at Liya, recognizing a resemblance to Karl. He chuckles, "You do have the same eyes as Karl, hahaha."
Liya begins to ask a question, but Lenin stops her. He's about to ask something himself, "Sir..."
Old man Johan interrupts Lenin, saying, "What, are you kids playing cops this time? Man, I'm tired of it."
"Sir, please," Lenin implores.
Old man Johan continues, "Then again, since you are his sister. Listen, I told him to let go of that stupid Codex translation project. That cursed codex ruined my life."
"Cursed!" exclaims Liya.
Old man Johan shares, "Just think, we were a team of 12 members. And every one of them either died or went missing, except me."
"Why did he want to translate that super old book?" Lenin inquires.
Old man Johan responds, "He seemed pretty interested in the project for some reason. I don't get it. What the hell is so amazing about a double civilization fairytale?"
Lenin and Liya exchange glances.
"He didn't even publish anything, just translated one-tenth of it. And gone missing," Old man Johan adds, "Sometimes I feel lucky to be alive after all these."
"Sir, could it be all the context of the book..." Liya hesitates.
Old man Johan laughs, "True...hahahahahahaha. Listen, kid, I translated all of it, and trust me, it's all garbage."
"You did what?" Liya reacts.
Old man Johan explains, "Just imagine. It says, there are some normal humans among the normal humans who can sense the abnormal ones and they attend to some kind of institution hidden in the western forest. I have searched every corner of the forest. What an idiot I was."
Lenin and Liya exchange concerned looks.
Old man Johan continues, "Karl was a nice kid. He was smart, intelligent, and hard-working. I hope he gets back to you someday."
Both Lenin and Liya leave room 2002, expressing their gratitude.
"Thanks for the food, sir."
"You kids are always welcome here," Old man Johan responds.
Lenin contemplates everything as Liya walks beside him, with Sharia following them from afar.
Lenin remarks, "Either old man Johan is in danger or he is special."
Liya adds, "Then again, it's not like nothing bad happened to him at all."
Lenin agrees, "Yeah."
Liya asks, "What are you thinking?"
"Exactly the thing you are thinking," Lenin replies.
"Western forest, Woodenpool, then," Liya suggests.
Sharia, who has been eavesdropping, mutters, "I can't hear anything. Shit, I'm a little too far. I'm gonna keep following them."
Lenin checks the time, "Let's head home for now."
"Okay."
"It seems they are heading home," observes Sharia.
Later, in his room, Lenin contemplates, "The western forest, Woodenpool, is 22 kilometers away from where we live. It is a deep forest filled with a lot of animals. Some of them are dangerous. Kids and teenagers would require previous camping experience, a forest guide, and permission from parents, of course, to visit there. This is gonna be tough. Maybe I should see if there is anything about Woodenpool in the translated version of the super old book."
Lenin decides to read the book Unseen for the first time.
After a while, Lenin is back in his room.
"Man, there is nothing about Woodenpool in this book," he exclaims, tossing the book toward the desk.
In the classroom, Liya and Lenin sit together.
"So, we cannot go to Woodenpool," Liya states.
"It would be tough," agrees Lenin.
Sharia suddenly appears, saying overconfidently, "I can help."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone