2. Use Coins
Was it because of the brick in my hand?
I felt reluctant to take the elevator. Something about it didn't feel right. So after hesitating for a moment, I took the stairs down.
Step by step, down the stairs.
And as I made my way down, I understood exactly why I'd wanted to take the stairs.
I was hesitating.
Sure, I really did hate that bastard Manager Kim enough to want to kill him. That hadn't changed.
But I was still hesitating.
I didn't know how powerful this unidentified message was, but I'd spent twenty-eight years learning that murder was wrong, and I recoiled from the idea.
My steps slowed.
I was a little confused. I didn't know why I was acting like this.
Suddenly, the brick in my hand felt utterly alien.
This thing shouldn't be here. This thing shouldn't be in my hand.
All at once, everything seemed suspicious. All at once, everything seemed doubtful.
Why had I thought about killing someone so easily? Why had I rationalized murder so naturally?
That message. Wasn't that the problem? Hadn't that made me strange?
My steps came to a complete stop.
Standing on the emergency stairwell landing with a brick in my hand felt completely wrong.
Something was wrong. It definitely was.
Even if some transcendent being was urging murder, I shouldn't commit it as if I'd been waiting for the chance.
Because that was my choice.
And then, as I stood there stopped, another message appeared in front of me.
[Kill a 'human' to obtain 'Coins.' Use 'Coins' to obtain enormous rewards. If you kill a 'human' within 10 minutes, you can obtain 1 additional Coin.]
The moment I saw it, I dashed down the stairs. I flung the emergency door open and sprinted straight to the office.
My coworkers came into view.
Some staring into space, some looking at each other at a loss, a few spotting me and turning their eyes to my hand.
Ignoring them, I ran at Manager Kim.
I doubt I'd sprinted that hard in years. I'm sure of it.
Charging in like that, I spotted Manager Kim and threw myself forward as if diving, slamming the brick in my hand into his head.
"Hey! You! What...."
Thwack!
A horrible sound. It was the first time I'd heard the sound of stone striking a person's head.
Then came a second, a third. A fourth, a fifth, a sixth.
"Aaah!"
"H-he's crazy!"
"Aagh!"
Screams and shock from all around, and other noise.
Ignoring all of it, I kept hammering Manager Kim with the brick. And then another message appeared in front of me.
[You have obtained 1 (+1) Coin. To use Coins, please say 'Use Coins.']
The moment I saw it, I dropped the brick, scrambled to my feet, and ran.
Around me, people were going "uh, uh," hesitating over whether to grab me.
All of them were people I knew. But they looked completely unfamiliar.
"Assistant Manager Lee! Stop!"
Someone called out and tried to grab me, but I shoved them away and fled.
Once I got outside the office, I headed for the stairs again and was soon able to get out of the building.
Outside the office looked just as unfamiliar.
It was a sight I'd seen every day. On weekdays, I saw it at least twice, morning and evening.
But this place didn't feel like the place I knew either. For one thing, I could hear screaming. I could see people collapsed on the ground.
I wanted to go somewhere with no people. So I sprinted into a nearby shopping arcade.
The shopping complex didn't seem particularly crowded. On its top floor was a mission center.
The elevator happened to be on the first floor, so I got on. I pressed the top floor and hammered the close button.
Once the doors closed and the elevator started rising, I felt a little relieved. And only then did I realize I was covered in blood.
Blood all over my hands and clothes. Evidence of what I'd done.
I was staring at it, hands shaking, when the elevator arrived.
I got off right away and went to the bathroom. Fortunately, no one was in there. It was a weekday morning, so there wouldn't be anyone here.
So this bathroom should be safe for now.
I washed my hands. I wiped the blood off my hands and scrubbed hard at my clothes.
But blood on a white dress shirt doesn't come out that easily. It just smeared around, looking ugly.
I gave up on cleaning it, sat down in a stall, and caught my breath.
Only now did what I'd done really hit me.
I had killed someone. Since the message said I'd obtained a Coin, that bastard Manager Kim was definitely dead.
Washing the blood off my hands wouldn't change that fact.
I was a murderer, plain and simple.
That message. That was the problem. The moment I saw it, I'd run without a second's hesitation.
Did it make me strange? Did it brainwash me or something?
But why hadn't other people reacted? Why hadn't other people committed murder?
My thoughts kept multiplying. But soon I erased them all.
Now wasn't the time to think about that. It wasn't the time to regret what I'd already done or feel guilty.
Coins. What the hell were these Coins that they told you to kill people? What were the rewards you could get with them?
That was what I needed to check now. Not sit there beating myself up like an idiot for killing someone.
I recalled the message from earlier. And I said what it told me to say.
"Use Coins."
Then a window appeared in front of me. Text saying I had 2 Coins.
And the words 'Acquire Skill.'
Below that, five buttons. And one button at the very bottom.
The buttons read, in a row: Use 1 Coin, Use 10 Coins, Use 100 Coins, Use 1,000 Coins, Use 10,000 Coins.
And below those, one separate button read Use 100,000 Coins.
It was like a game. Like a gacha game, I mean. Though a game probably wouldn't be this shoddy.
But thinking about it, it was absurd. Use 100,000 Coins.
Killing one person got you 1 Coin. So 100,000 Coins meant 100,000 lives.
"Ha."
It felt ridiculous. And also like, what even is this?
But it wasn't enough to make me clutch my head over what it was. So there was no reason to hesitate. I'd just try it.
I pressed the Use 1 Coin button. Then a window below it showed six boxes, and they appeared one by one.
The first box: 'Oneself.'
The second box: 'For 5 minutes.'
The third box: 'While one's feet are touching the ground.'
The fourth box: 'An object smaller than one's palm.'
The fifth box: 'Can move it freely.'
The sixth box: 'Only when one has a wound on one's body that will not heal within 1 week.'
Below that, a floating sentence: 'Register as a skill?'
And below that was a button labeled 'Register.'
I stared blankly for a moment. Then I tried combining what was written.
If I have a wound on my body that won't heal within 1 week, then for 5 minutes, while my feet are touching the ground, I can freely move an object smaller than my palm?
In other words, this was my skill. A skill created from one person's life.
First, I said I'd register it. Because I was curious.
I needed to find out what this skill was. So after registering the skill, I dug through my pockets.
An object smaller than my palm. And what came to hand was a lighter.
This would work. It was definitely smaller than my palm.
The problem was I didn't know how to use the skill. I was flustered for a moment, but then I looked at the lighter and thought:
Move.
But the lighter didn't move. And I immediately realized I hadn't met one of the conditions.
A wound that wouldn't heal within 1 week.
I'd thought the wound from gripping the stone and swinging it would count, but apparently not. This must be a wound that would heal within a week.
So after hesitating for a moment, I dug my fingernail into the wound and tore it open.
A searing pain like being burned flared up and bright red blood welled, but I ignored it and stared at the lighter in my hand.
And the lighter moved slightly side to side.
My eyes widened at the sight. I tried moving the lighter more.
The lighter floated up. It circled around me just as I pictured.
Freely, exactly as I willed.
It was astonishing. The shock of the murder was completely erased. None of that mattered anymore.
If you could get a skill like this in exchange for murder, anyone would do it. Definitely.
Then the lighter flying through the air dropped to the ground with a thud.
Looking at it, the 5 minutes must have passed. Watching the lighter move freely through the air, I hadn't even noticed the time go by.
But when could I use it again? There was no condition for that.
That was soon answered, though. Once another 5 minutes passed, I could move the lighter again.
I see. Since it specified 5 minutes, I could use the ability for 5 minutes, and then the cooldown was 5 minutes. Got it.
The trembling from before was gone. And countless thoughts flooded in.
I can freely move an object smaller than my palm?
And there was no restriction like distance here. Which meant I could send it flying anywhere.
I left the stall and opened the window in the bathroom. Then I sent the lighter flying outside the building.
The lighter flew through the air however I pleased. It went far off into the distance and then came back to me. At terrifying speed.
With something like this, couldn't I kill people?
If I sent something small and sharp, smaller than my palm, flying, couldn't I kill anyone without even being close?
At that thought, my body trembled.
Part of it was excitement, of course, but part of it was worry.
What if someone else had a skill like this?
And what if I got unlucky and ran into someone like that?
I'd die without even getting a chance to try anything. I'd probably become someone's Coin too.
That made me afraid to go outside.
Just encountering people was hard. Because I had no idea when, how, or by whom I might be killed.