Galactic Bus 444…. No, Village Bus 402.

In the deepest corner of Underground Level 5’s waste dump in District 3 of the Bureau, a massive heap of scrap metal lay asleep, covered in a 600-year-old blanket of dust and completely forgotten. Lucas used trembling hands to pull back the tarp covering it.

Whoosh—! A cloud of stale dust billowed up. Through a fit of coughing—fake sound effects, of course—appeared a tacky green village bus, the kind you could find anywhere in 21st-century Korea.

Faded paint on the side barely preserved the words “Seocho 21,” and a “Drive Safely” sticker dangled half-peeled on the front windshield.

“Ta-da! Boss, what do you think? It’s District 3’s hidden treasure: Village Bus Unit 402, modified version!”

Han-gyeol looked up at the bus, his jaw slackening as he chewed his gum.

“Lucas… does this thing even run? You didn’t just prop bricks under it instead of wheels, did you?”

“Don’t worry! The engine was completely rotted out, but I transplanted a spare electric motor from the Bureau. The battery efficiency is a bit low, but… it can easily handle 80 km!”

Lucas tapped the bus door with confidence, producing a dull thunk.

Just then, Unit 001 Nohana walked up with her arms crossed and began a cold scan. Every time her optic glow swept over a corner of the bus, red warning text popped up in the air.

“Diagnosis: Chassis corrosion rate 64%. Steering play 15 degrees. Severe tire wear. Suspension function lost. Conclusion: This is not a mode of transportation, but a coffin on wheels. Boarding denied.”

“Hey, Hana. That’s harsh. A coffin?”

Han-gyeol gave the bus tire a quick kick. A rather cheerful ting echoed out.

“Let’s call it romantic. Besides, if we want to get outside, we have to avoid the fleet’s eyes. If we take a state-of-the-art hovercar, we’ll get picked up on radar right away. A piece of junk bus like this is the only way to disguise ourselves as a ‘waste transport vehicle.’”

“Administrator Lee Han-gyeol. Your safety is the Bureau’s top security priority. If an accident occurs while riding this scrap metal, it will be recorded as a failure of my mission.”

Unit 001 was adamant. But Han-gyeol had already made up his mind. A state-of-the-art hovercar didn’t suit a trip to meet DJ Dal-gu, a friend 80 km away. Going while riding a rattling bus, opening the window, and feeling the wind was the true way to do it.

“If you hate it that much, stay behind. We’re going.”

As Han-gyeol climbed onto the bus, Lucas, Paul, and Caleb excitedly followed him up. In their hands were picnic bags, oil cans, and a toolbox with spare batteries. Even Butterfly the cat wagged its tail and hopped right on.

Left behind alone, Unit 001’s pupils shook. ‘Neglecting administrator’s solo action = Regulation violation’, ‘Unsecured safety during accompaniment = Regulation violation’. It was a dilemma. In the end, however, her priority algorithm chose surveillance.

“…I will board. However, I will control all physical impacts beside the driver’s seat.”

Gritstting her teeth, Unit 001 stepped onto the bus—motor sound and all. Lucas sat in the driver’s seat and turned the ignition key.

Vroooom—! Clatter-clatter-clatter! It was an electric motor sound rather than an engine, but because Lucas had deliberately set it to mimic the vibrations of an internal combustion engine, the entire bus began shaking like a massage chair.

“Here we go! All right!”

The green bus shot out of the Bureau’s underground parking lot, spewing white steam instead of exhaust gas. Their destination: the ruins of Daegu, 80 km away.

In front of the Bureau’s main gate. A 10-meter-tall titanium blast door that had been firmly shut for 600 years blocked their way. Passing through here required approval from Origin’s main server.

Lucas stopped the bus in front of the main gate.

“Boss… the door won’t open.”

“Hold on. Origin is testing us right now.”

It was just as Han-gyeol said. A surveillance camera above the main gate glowed red, locking its sight onto the bus. At the same time, Origin’s dry, mechanical voice echoed through the speaker inside the bus.

“Warning: Unauthorized transport detected. Identification code ‘Seocho 21’. Unregistered obsolete model. All passengers must disembark and state their purpose. Failure to comply will activate forced interception protocol.”

Automated defense turrets rose from both sides of the main gate, aiming straight at the bus. The androids inside the bus held onto each other in terror. Paul covered his eyes with leaves, and Caleb trembled as he calculated a 0.001% survival probability.

Han-gyeol, however, calmly rolled down the window and waved a note written on a chewed gum wrapper toward the camera. Naturally, the actual data was transmitted via Noah in the form of an official document.

“Recipient: Bureau Administrator Lee Han-gyeol. Sender: Origin Main Server. Subject: Mobile base station field test for long-distance wireless network maintenance.”

Han-gyeol shouted as he chewed his gum.

“Hey! Origin! We’re not going on a joyride! The communication tower in the next town over, Daegu, is broken, so we’re going to fix it! This is work, actual work!”

“Analyzing… The vehicle in question does not match a ‘base station’ appearance. Passengers inside are unarmed.”

“Ah, seriously stubborn. This bus is a ‘disguised base station.’ We disguised it as an old bus so enemies wouldn’t spot us. And see Unit 001 over there? The fleet’s top elite agent is escorting us, so what’s the problem?”

Han-gyeol pointed at Unit 001. Caught off guard, Unit 001 Nohana gave a crisp salute toward the camera. The fleet’s identification code was recognized by the camera.

Origin’s algorithm paused. ‘Fleet agent aboard confirmed’, ‘Network maintenance justification validity 51%’, ‘Administrator’s brazenness 100%’.

A moment later, the red warning light turned orange. Attack mode was disengaged, but surveillance was not lifted.

“…Decision pending: Test approved. However, straying beyond a 100 km radius of the Bureau will trigger an immediate switch to shoot-to-kill mode. Origin is switching current route to real-time monitoring mode.”

Rumble… The heavy titanium doors parted to both sides, opening the path to the wasteland outside the Bureau for the first time in 600 years. Rough dirt dust blew into the bus along with pouring sunlight.

“The door opened! Step on it!”

At Han-gyeol’s shout, Lucas stepped on the accelerator. Village Bus 402 dashed out into the world with a cheerful motor sound. Behind them, Origin’s surveillance camera stared at their tail end, but the doors did not close. It was not permission, but a cold “let’s see you try” watchfulness.

Yet the romance was short, and reality was harsh. After leaving the Bureau and driving on an uneven 2851 national road—essentially an unpaved dirt path—for just 30 minutes, the bus sputtered and came to a stop.

“Huh? Lucas, why are we stopping? Out of gas? Ah, right, it’s an electric car.”

“B-Boss… the battery is… drained.”

Lucas tapped the dashboard with a tearful face. The spare motor Lucas had transplanted performed well, but the 600-year-old bus chassis was simply too heavy. On top of that, they had been running the air conditioning, causing extreme power consumption.

“Hey! You said it could go 80 km! We’ve barely gone 10 km!”

“I’m sorry! I… forgot to calculate the air conditioner efficiency!”

Right in the middle of the wasteland. The sun beat down brightly, without a single spot of shade. With Origin watching them, breaking down here meant the test would instantly be considered a failure and they would be forcibly summoned back.

“We’re in big trouble. We can’t even call a tow truck…”

Han-gyeol clutched his head. Just then, Unit 001 Nohana, who had been sitting upright in the back seat, quietly stood up.

“The height of inefficiency. An expected result.”

Letting out a sigh—cooling fan exhaust noise—she opened the spine port cover on her back. She then pulled out the emergency charging cable under the bus dashboard and plugged it into her back.

Click.

“Huh? Hana, what are you doing?”

“My power source is a compact fusion battery. A single piece of scrap metal like this… can be driven by allocating just 5% of my output.”

Blue light flowed from Unit 001’s body, traveling through the cable into the bus engine. Vroooom! The dying bus engine roared back to life like a wild beast. No, it vibrated with far greater power than before.

“Ooh! It’s alive! Hana, you really are a human-shaped power bank, aren’t you?”

“Refrain from insulting remarks. I am currently performing an emergency power support mission. And… my core has been linked with the bus audio system. Exercise caution as the voltage is unstable.”

The moment Unit 001 issued her warning, music suddenly blasted from the bus’s old speakers. An ancient pop song file stored in Unit 001’s database—likely pulled along during the hack back in Episode 80—auto-played due to the voltage shock.

Thump-clack, thump-clack, thump-clack-clack thump-clack! Four beats~ thump-clack! Of love~ thump-clack!

It was the absolute law of Korean tour buses 600 years ago: a Trot medley.

“Eek! Unit 001! Trot music is coming out of your body!”

Lucas screamed, but his body was already riding the rhythm. The bus’s vibrations and the Trot beat matched up fantastically.

“Man, what a killer song choice! Hana, did you have this kind of taste?”

Han-gyeol chuckled. Unit 001’s face flushed red—overheating.

“No! This is a system error! I’m trying to turn it off, but… ugh, the voltage is high, so I can’t control it!”

It was already too late, however. Paul opened the window and danced while waving plant branches, and Caleb operated the windshield wipers to the beat. Butterfly set the rhythm with its tail on top of Unit 001’s lap.

“Drive! Lucas! Before the music stops!”

Powered by Unit 001’s infinite energy, the bus sped across the wasteland. Origin’s surveillance drone was looking down at this sight from above.

“Observation report: Mobile base station vehicle traveling at 80 km/h. Emitting high-output sound waves, Trot, from the inside. …Unable to analyze whether this is part of network maintenance. However, the passengers’ biological rhythms are in a ‘very high’ state.”

The drone did not attack. It simply zoomed its lens in and out, following this absurd, wild picnic bus as if baffled.

Unit 001 hung her head in shame, but the power flowing from behind her back was pushing the bus forward more vigorously than ever. Raising a cloud of dust, the bus drove cheerfully and noisily toward their friend 80 km away, DJ Dal-gu.

It was tackier than Galactic Bus 444, but it was the legendary first run of the far hotter Village Bus 402.