Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: No Time to Die 3
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The folded fan gripped in his hand began to change shape. It seemed like the handle was elongating when something started protruding bit by bit from inside the wings. The transformation was so organic it even tricked the eye into thinking it was watching living tissue.
Even as this happened, Nati pressed forward with steady strides. Geumsa-ni, on the other hand, hesitated and fell back. By now, Nati held not a fan but an iron longsword. Its scabbard, black as obsidian, was densely engraved with countless constellations.
Geumsa-ni cried out sharply.
"You're drawing that? For one pathetic little woman? Put it away. The you I know isn't some bleeding-heart altruist!"
"I told you, you're not the one who can even guess at a fragment of me."
As Nati approached without hesitation, Geumsa-ni ground her teeth.
"Cut the bravado. Think I can't see how wrecked your body is right now? You can't draw that thing. Not unless you want to die!"
"Fine. Let's die, then. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sick of this endlessly long life. It's just a shame my companion on the road to the afterlife will be your cheap neck."
With that, Nati seized the sword's hilt without a moment's pause. Geumsa-ni recoiled in shock. Nati was dead serious. She couldn't comprehend it. The fight had been all but won. She'd never anticipated a variable like this.
Nati flashed a cold-blooded smile, as if to show off. If Ibi had survived to see it, she'd have been stunned just by the fact that Nati could make such an expression.
His grip tightened on the hilt. He was moments from yanking it free in one pull.
"What..."
The puzzled voice came from Geumsa-ni. Not because of Nati's actions. The next instant, even Nati faltered briefly. An unforeseen situation unfolded before them, beyond either's calculations.
Two hands pressed against the chest of Geumsa-ni, who had taken human form. A woman's hands. Someone had embraced her firmly from behind.
Geumsa-ni tried to wrench them away at once, but she couldn't. The moment she touched the woman's hands, her own began to scatter, reverting to her true shadowy form.
"Wh-what? This is..."
In the end, she never fully grasped what was happening. White light bloomed around the hands pulling at her chest, literally erasing Geumsa-ni's body. She realized what was befalling her at the last second and thrashed to resist, but it was already too late. She couldn't even scream—her mouth vanished. She was gone entirely.
Ding...
Only the faint, mournful chime of a bell lingered in the air before fading.
"You..."
Even Nati's voice carried shock. It was more than warranted.
"What did I just do?"
The one who had erased Geumsa-ni spoke in a trembling voice herself.
"I clearly died. How... how?"
There stood Ibi before them—definitely Ibi, whose neck had been snapped. Alive and well. Impossible. Nati could only briefly halt the flow of time, not resurrect the dead.
And Ibi's eyes glowed faintly. The same white light that had just annihilated Geumsa-ni.
"Calm... calm down. Just calm down first."
He couldn't fathom what had happened, but Nati approached Ibi closely regardless. The sword he'd been about to draw was no longer a concern.
"Things like this can't happen."
"What choice do we have? It's already happened. Deep breaths. Accept it."
Still, Ibi couldn't settle easily. She spread her hands and stared down at them with shaking eyes. Realization was dawning slowly.
"You said... if I died, last night would become a dream."
"Yeah. That's right."
"But I died, and I didn't die. So this place... this world... it's my dream."
Nati thought her words rang true. Normally, the moment Ibi died, a new night should have looped immediately.
In that new night, Ibi would have been dead, and with her gone, there'd be no stopping Geumsa-ni forever. That was why Nati, confirming Ibi's death, had tried to take down the enemy before him by any means.
But in that process, Nati had somehow suppressed the shift to a new loop, even if temporarily. As a result, last night—what should have been processed as a 'dream'—had extended, and Ibi had imagined herself reviving within it.
"So this is a lucid dream. I..."
Ibi looked up. Her eyes still wide, still reeling from shock, she almost looked like a madwoman at a glance.
"I can do anything here."
Ibi raised her hands slightly. Dazzling white light swirled over them for an instant before vanishing. Nati asked in a bewildered voice.
"What did you do?"
"..."
"What did you do?!"
"...The dead people."
Ibi met Nati's eyes with an eerie gesture, like a marionette's jerky motion.
"All the people who died unjustly today... on Halloween. I brought them back. Even the ones who'd been infected. Everyone."
She smiled faintly then, and it felt downright chilling.
"You know what? This feeling. This... do you get it? It's the best. Absolutely incredible. I can do anything I want."
"Stop it."
"What next? What should I do? With this, I could make the whole world happy."
"I said stop."
"Why? Why should I stop? Didn't you hear? I can do anything! No one's ever had power like this. With this, even my mom..."
The moment those words escaped, Ibi faltered briefly.
"Even my mom..."
Yes. She could surely revive her mother too. Nothing was impossible for her now. She just had to reach out...
"Stop. Stop right here."
Just before her mother's face surfaced in her mind, Nati suddenly yanked Ibi's shoulders toward him. Ibi blinked several times. She realized she was cradled in Nati's arms like a doll.
"Sorry. For not protecting you. But this isn't it. Please, just stop."
"Why... why should I?"
"Power is a trap. Trust me. No one knows that better than I do about those words. Or look at me. Look at the mess I'm in. So... please. Stop here."
"Nati... are you crying right now?"
"...Please. I beg you."
"What is this? I can see you. Your mind... the past you've walked..."
Hearing that, Nati nearly flung Ibi away. But he bit his lip and held back. There was no other way right now.
"Don't look too much... It's nothing to be proud of."
"This... wait, this is..."
Ibi's voice, hazy as if wandering a dream, sharpened gradually. Then it rose an octave.
"Hey. Are you thinking about another woman right now? While you're holding me like this?"
"...Is that what's important here?"
"Ha, you're unbelievable. We're not a couple or anything, but still, at least right now, that's rude! Isn't it too much? I'd never date a guy like you! Never!"
By her final shout, she was fully back to her usual self. In that instant, something snapped in Ibi's mind. The world spun for a moment, then went dark. She collapsed limply onto the cold floor.
Nati rushed over and checked her. His heart sank for a second, but her pulse was steady, her breathing even. Astonishingly, there were no other injuries. Just exhaustion.
"Ha."
How long had it been since he'd let out such a dazed sound? Laughter followed. Absurdity-fueled laughter that wouldn't stop, building into full-blown guffaws. That too had been ages.
"Kang Ibi. You're... something else. Really something. Never imagined it. Me, keeping around a ridiculous one like you. Hahaha..."
Of course, the person in question remained unconscious, eyes closed. If she'd been in her right mind, Nati wouldn't have muttered such things. How long did he laugh like that? Calming down, Nati gazed at the still Ibi and spoke plainly.
"Good work. Let's go home now."
Nati scooped up Ibi and stepped out of the hospital. Only as he passed beyond the grounds did he realize something. The sky remained overcast, but the rain had stopped.
And only then did frozen time begin to move properly.
00:01.
November 1st. Monday.
By the time they reached the lake park entrance, walking slowly, Ibi finally opened her eyes. Realizing she was in Nati's arms, she panicked visibly and squirmed. Nati, with no intention of persisting in what she disliked, let go, and she tumbled straight to the ground.
"..."
Leaving Ibi to wriggle pathetically with her face planted in the wet earth, Nati walked ahead into the park.
Ibi scrambled up, intending to chew him out, and chased after. Then she noticed the park was utterly empty. Her prior thoughts vanished in an instant. This park, once so horrific, had returned to normal.
The black lake lay peaceful, lazy winds weaving through the walkways. Not entirely unscathed—there were no visitors—but it seemed safe to say it was fully restored.
Then voices called from deeper in the park, summoning Ibi and Nati. Heading that way, they found Kang Areum and Mina sprawled on the ground.
The two, monstrous until moments before departure, had reverted to human form. But no one could call them fine, even politely. Especially Kang Areum's state made Ibi gasp and step back.
Her body was covered in wounds, and her left leg was gone below the knee. The black cloth that had shrouded her face was absent. Her exposed eyes were horrific beyond words. Unfathomable how they'd ended up like that, but both pupils were cracked like glass marbles. Blood tears streamed from them relentlessly—an amount that seemed lethal on its own.