Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Shadow Festival 2
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Nati said,
"...How exactly did you wake up? What time was it precisely?"
The incoming question seemed on the verge of reaching her, only to fade like an echo. Then it sharpened into clarity.
Ibi stood motionless. She was inside the Flower Mugwort Tea House. Rain continued to fall outside. She blankly scanned her surroundings. Her legs buckled, and her body swayed.
"What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
Ibi shook her head weakly. She mulled over the question. Exactly when had she woken up?
She slipped her hand into her pocket. Pulled out her phone and lit up the screen.
"...10:23."
"What?"
It went without saying—this was the current time. Just then, Ibi's eyes met Kang Areum's. From her new friend's expression, she drew certainty and spoke with renewed force.
"I just woke up."
Even Nati looked baffled by the abrupt declaration. Ibi added a more detailed explanation.
"I died one more time just now and came back. You and Mina were outside. Don't you remember?"
The circumstances came together quickly. Ibi explained how she had died yet again. Kang Areum, who had been inside the Flower Mugwort Tea House, shared the same memory.
Further conversation revealed that Nati and Mina also retained hazy recollections up until the moment they stepped out of the tea house.
That was when Aerin spoke up, pointing out one key detail.
"But why does the time Ibi wakes up keep shifting earlier?"
Everyone fell silent. It was a sharp observation.
The first death—her throat slit—had occurred right around 9:00. The next, after plummeting to her end, she had revived at about 9:36, roughly half an hour later. Nothing unusual there.
But now, after her neck snapped, she had woken at 10:23. Why was this happening? Did it signify something?
For some reason, all eyes turned naturally to Nati. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Feels good to be so popular."
"Is this the time for jokes?"
"Don't come at me so hard. Feels like an interrogation—it's scary."
Typical Nati, always with the mouth. The four women exchanged glances, their faces mirroring the same exasperation. Any ordinary guy would have wilted under the pressure.
Maybe his claim of fear wasn't entirely bluster. Nati's expression softened a touch as he continued.
"Still, after one more night, it feels like we've pieced some things together. Vague bits have started to clarify."
Even with an extra night, they had no memories after leaving the shop—so any real breakthrough seemed unlikely.
Yet he spoke with such conviction. It was uncanny. Then again, when Ibi had been ensnared by the Guest before, he had navigated her out of that maze with just a call or two.
"No time, so let's sum it up fast. First... well, just now? Or the night before? Time's all twisted—it's messing with my head. Anyway, starting from Ibi's question. Why do only you keep dying over and over, and why can you alone remember this looping night fully?"
Ibi nodded ambiguously. The others leaned in for his next words.
"Truth is... even before Ibi pointed out the night was repeating, I felt this weird déjà vu. You know the feeling. You all sensed it too, right?"
Everyone nodded more or less. Like hearing a ghost story for the first time but swearing you'd heard it before. Or biting into a cake you'd never tasted, yet it felt familiar.
"I mulled it over. We dream a lot, but how many stick in memory? So I wondered if the new moon serpents repeating a single night meant they were turning each passed night into a dream we process and forget. That's why we loop through it endlessly but retain no recall."
"Sounds about right... but any solid proof?"
"I'm the type who blurts things out without certainty. Still, it's not baseless. We've got this one right here."
With that, Nati seized Ibi's shoulder and spun her around. She blinked in flustered confusion.
"M-Me?"
"First to spot the loop—this one. Only one among us remembering last night—this one. And the new moon serpents locked us in a dream. See the connection? 'Dream.' Everyone knows Ibi has precognitive dreams, right?"
Ibi blinked rapidly, caught between absurdity and dismay. She'd never considered it that way. Wait—didn't something not line up?
"W-Wait. Strictly speaking, my dreams aren't precognitive. Ghosts or monsters show up in them, and the next day, the exact same thing bursts into reality to torment me..."
"Isn't that a precognitive dream?"
"...It kinda is, but not exactly! It only happens with nightmares!"
"A death dream isn't a nightmare?"
"No, I... I've never dreamed of dying before this."
"Who dreams of dying multiple times?"
"......"
It sounded nonsensical, yet weirdly convincing. No counterargument came to mind—and honestly, no need to fight it.
"Before Ibi caught on, we'd probably looped this night dozens of times already. Without a glitch, who knows how many more. Then came the wildcard."
Nati's gaze pierced Ibi like an arrow.
"Figure the new moon serpents, plan sailing smoothly, geared up for phase two. Hit the Ghost Bridge Society. Not bragging, but yeah—we got blindsided, clueless."
He let out a small sigh mid-sentence.
"If they claim our underground warehouse... Ugh, can't even picture it. No one left to stop them."
The other women—minus Ibi—shuddered visibly. That warehouse must hold something monumental.
"But the new moon serpents botched their raid from the jump. First target? The girl with precognitive dreams. In other words..."
He paused for breath, then pressed on.
"The instant Ibi died to that hockey mask, this endless Halloween loop shifted from bland dream to 'nightmare starring a freakish monster.' And the victim herself started remembering last night's dream from then on."
Understanding lit the others' faces at last. What kind of absurd...
Then Mina shot her hand up. Nati flicked his fingers in permission, and she blurted breathlessly.
"So why does unnie's wake-up keep sliding later with each death? Can't be random."
"Three loops—could be chance, but bad angle. Maybe the serpents sniffed an impurity in their cycle. No one should remember prior nights, yet here you are. The growing delay? Their handiwork."
As puzzled looks hung in the air, quiet Kang Areum finally spoke.
"Midnight?"
Nati nodded, surprised.
"Spot on. Their looped night is Halloween only. Past midnight, die or not, time snaps back. That's how it rolled before we wised up."
Mina got it now.
"So if unnie's wake-up creeps past midnight..."
"No prior-night memory. Actual death."
"Hold on."
Ibi pressed her forehead, cutting in.
"This is a repeating night, right? A dream, right? Even without recall... I come back, don't I? The others keep their memories here—we could find a workaround..."
"Sure, but folks the serpents kill in Woncheon City? They stay dead. Scouted it myself. You're the outlier, revived by your gift."
Ibi cradled her head and sank to the floor.
"So that means... my deaths turning precognitive..."
"Methods, times varied, but the outcome? 'Slain by unknown monster.' Same every time."
"Right. Exactly. So no matter what... I die anyway, yeah?"
"...Maybe the future's changeable?"
"No."
Ibi shook her head with iron resolve—the first true certainty amid the chaos in ages.
"My dreams never fail. Ever. If death's locked in... no escaping it."
She stressed it once more.
"I'm going to die."
That was when it hit—a fleeting memory grazed her mind. Ascending Central Tower with Nati. The fall.
She dismissed it as a trick of the mind. Or willed it so. Scrabbling at the floor, begging Nati to save her.
Nati had done nothing.
Sure, she was out of reach by then. Maybe he couldn't help even if he wanted. But... he had watched without a flicker of distress, as if it were the most natural thing.
Why?
Because he knew she'd revive? Yet he'd said himself he wasn't sure back then.
Then why stand idle?
Could he have... wondered if she'd truly come back from death?
Testing his theory on her?