Chapter 291
Chapter 291
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 291
Chapter Title: Similar Appearance
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Park Kwang-rim passed by children singing and dancing, bursting into happy laughter, as he approached Hope Wing.
[Ah]
[Flowers] [Sleep]
[A ton of flowers]
[Beautiful] [Well]
[Machine] [Sleep]
What had he discovered in Hope Wing?
But before any elaboration on those fragmented words, trouble struck Park Kwang-rim.
Voices of adults blocking Park Kwang-rim.
“Hey, didn’t we tell you not to come near here?”
Only then did Park Kwang-rim realize one more shocking fact.
[Children’s appearances.]
[They resemble.]
[The volunteers]
[And the people managing this place]
[Their appearances match the children’s.]
People wearing name tags that read [Volunteer] blocked Park Kwang-rim.
They smiled warmly and spoke to him slowly.
“You look like you could use some sleep therapy yourself, sir.”
* * *
Park Kwang-rim spat curses as he ran backward.
Even while running, it seemed he kept writing.
In the notebook, there were characters that looked like [疯子] written upside down (a derogatory term for the mentally ill), along with a jumble of incoherent words.
He must have written them believing I would find this notebook.
[Hope Wing]
[Trust Kim Shin-hwa]
[Save m] [Jang Hyun-deok]
[Flowers]
[Hope]
[Cloning]
[Cure Medi]
* * *
That was all the notebook contained.
“Cure?”
Cure Medical Care?
That name came up here?
Something clicked in my mind.
“Ah, Sokcho, Buyeo, and Busan, right?”
The choices forced on me by the message window.
Go to Sokcho where [Yeonam Construction] appears?
Go to Buyeo where [Foreign Nationals Management Office] appears?
Or—
Go to Busan where [Cure Medical Care] appears?
The quests in Sokcho and Buyeo, which I thought were separate events, were actually connected stories preparing for one single event.
“No wonder Busan popped up out of nowhere.”
Busan.
So why was Busan, connected to Cure Medical Care, presented as a choice alongside Buyeo and Sokcho?
Jang Hyun-deok, who vanished from Ansan at such a coincidental time.
Traces of Cure Medical Care found in Ansan.
And the Busan quest involving Cure.
“Even if it wasn’t for Jang Hyun-deok, looks like I should’ve investigated this place anyway.”
It hadn’t even been three hours since I got Park Kwang-rim’s call.
I could still save him.
Geeeeeee—
I gathered my magic power and glared beyond the barbed wire.
An intense light poured from all four eyes on my face.
“First time at this place, first time doing this event, but...”
Thanks to Park Kwang-rim, I knew the theme and what kind of enemies to expect.
[Shadow Bewitchment]
Buzzzzzz...
The hem of [Night Veil’s Robe] began to spread wide.
The hem enveloped my entire body, turning me into a pitch-black shadow indistinguishable from the night’s darkness.
[Flight]
Fwooooosh—
I shot straight into the sky and flew over the barbed wire.
Beyond the barbed wire, thorny vines and bizarre flowers bloomed thickly—and far off, a building.
That building must be Healing Wing or Hope Wing.
I hoped it was Hope Wing—
[System: Penalty trait, ‘Feast’s Sacrifice’ effect activates.]
Whoooosh—
“Ugh, what the hell?”
A nauseating sensation of sky and earth flipping. Mild queasiness. Dizziness.
I had clearly crossed the barbed wire—and I was still flying—but the scenery I saw was wrong.
Thud.
I stopped flying and clung to a massive tree in front of me.
“Damn it...”
Instinct told me what had happened, so I turned my head to look back.
The barbed wire was there.
Thorny vines beyond the barbed wire.
Flowers blooming strangely on those vines.
A lawn.
Flowers blooming on the lawn too.
And buildings visible in the distance.
“...”
Crack.
I extended my magic power and carved a mark into the tree I clung to.
[Flight]
Fwooooosh—
I flew toward the barbed wire again.
[System: Penalty trait, ‘Feast’s Sacrifice’ effect activates.]
Whoooosh—
Space spun around sharply.
Thud.
I clung to a tree that suddenly appeared in front of me.
“There’s the mark.”
The mark I had just carved remained on the branch I clung to.
Space twists the moment I cross the barbed wire.
The message window had popped up just now.
One of the abyssal beings was interfering with my approach.
‘Telling me to take the normal route? Or...’
I tilted my head sideways and spoke into the empty air.
“You think that’s enough to stop me?”
Geeeeeee—
To figure out the structure of this annoying trick, I spread my magic power in all directions.
* * *
“Crazy bastard! Are you insane?”
Chinese curses echoed down a hallway with no windows.
Rrrumble—
Park Kwang-rim, bound to a wheeled bed, was being dragged away.
“Sir, if you talk like that, we can’t understand. Don’t you speak Korean well?”
“It’s cursing. You don’t need to understand—just feel the disgust. Got it? Brain-dead idiot!”
“Haha, that’s a curse too, I suppose.”
Racist slurs began pouring from Park Kwang-rim’s mouth, but his transporters just kept their kindly smiles.
Screeech—
A door opened.
Park Kwang-rim tried to look around, but he couldn’t see what he wanted.
The restraints locked not just his limbs but his head too.
“You’ll regret this. My boss is gonna get revenge on you all.”
“Boss?”
A voice similar to the ones he’d heard until now.
But not from the mouths of his transporters.
“Who’s that? Who just spoke?”
Park Kwang-rim tried to turn his head again, but his range of motion was extremely limited.
He barely managed to twist it a bit, but all he saw was a distant blind.
‘A blind? Is there a window there? If Kim Shin-hwa breaks it and jumps in at the perfect time, that’d be great.’
Park Kwang-rim gave a self-deprecating smile at the thought.
Fortunately, the new voice was just as kindly mannered as the other administrators.
“Me? My name is Kwig Haejul. I’m in charge here.”
“Kwig?”
Park Kwang-rim wasn’t born and raised in Korea, but he could tell Kwig Haejul was an unusual name.
“Did you naturalize too?”
“No. I was born in Korea. And Korea has the Kwig clan originally.”
The same friendly response as before.
“Haejul’s weird too, isn’t it?”
“It got assigned randomly, so names like that happen. Can’t be helped.”
Park Kwang-rim felt his stomach twist. Their kindness and gentleness only made him more disgusted and uneasy.
It felt alien, like dealing with a broken AI.
They talked like that, but they had beaten him until he couldn’t move—left him alone for hours—then bound him forcibly and dragged him to this strange room.
“What are you planning to do to me now? Where is this? What the hell do you do here? What’s your connection to Cure Medical Care?”
“Hmm, hard to answer for security reasons.”
Rustle.
“What are these flowers? Are you gonna plant one in me too?”
* * *
Rrrumble—
“A thought?”
What was that just now? A sudden vibration from afar.
Park Kwang-rim wanted to turn toward it, but he couldn’t.
All he could see were the similar faces of the administrators holding him on either side.
But they seemed to sense it too, staring seriously in one direction.
‘That’s north...’
Park Kwang-rim’s [Dowsing] ability required a few minor prerequisites, one being [Acute Sense of Direction].
So he realized where the vibration came from.
‘South-southwest.’
The direction he’d thrown the notebook.
“We’re not planting flowers.”
“Then—”
“We give seeds. Miraculously, within days, their talents and abilities bloom as flowers. A special gift from our god.”
Images came to mind of the fixers smiling amid flowers blooming all over their bodies.
“So that’s why you said not to eat the flowers...”
“Exactly. Eating the flower lets you gain that person’s talent. But it doesn’t work on just anyone. If your constitution doesn’t match, nothing happens.”
“Those kids...”
“Yes. By the will of the [Source of Life], we maintain this world. We recover ability users whose roles here are done and pass their talents to new children who will shine.”
Proudly.
* * *
Rrrumble—
The similar-faced administrators nodded with pleased expressions.
“It’s rewarding work. You’ll join us soon too. You have such a unique and special talent!”
Another vibration came, but Kwig Haejul either didn’t notice or spoke in ecstatic tones anyway.
“How much you must have suffered from talents that didn’t suit your temperament? Constantly tormented by horrific dangers and threats? Now you can shed them all!”
Park Kwang-rim finally got a look at Kwig Haejul’s face.
Disheveled hair. Large round glasses.
Otherwise, the same face as the other administrators.
But Kwig Haejul’s face bore a madness and ecstasy no one else could mimic.
“We’ll protect and care for you for life. You can spend the rest of your days happily in this safe, peaceful house of healing. The dangerous, horrific role meant for you will soon be taken by another child. You’ll just laugh happily, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh—always happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy. Isn’t that wonderful!”
* * *
Click—
The sound of a bottle opening.
“Here it is. Normally mixed in food, but we’ll let you take it straight.”
“Don’t you get motion sick?”
Park Kwang-rim’s odd question.
“Motion sick?”
“I feel like I’m gonna puke. I wanna vomit.”
Park Kwang-rim closed his eyes against the dizziness.
Not just from Kwig Haejul’s madness. It was the effect of [Acute Sense of Direction].
『But why did they take Jang Hyun-deok?』
This wasn’t a question from Park Kwang-rim’s mouth.
He noticed and was startled, but at the same time, an irresistible urge to answer gripped him.
It was a desire so intense it brought tears, since he didn’t know the answer. Ah, why don’t I know? I want to answer! If I knew, I’d tell for sure!
The others felt it too, it seemed.
These administrators were kindly by nature anyway. They all spoke up at once to answer the alluring question.
“Oh, that? Cure Medical Care needed a lot of talents.”
“Yeah. We called in origin holders in a hurry. As fast as possible. We have limits on how many we can extract at once!”
“One guy had a ton of talents, so we could meet the quota.”
“We’re about to harvest the flowers blooming on that guy’s body—”
“Wait! Stop!”
Kwig Haejul silenced the others before they could say more.
“Who? Who is it? Sir? Where are you speaking from?”
Only then did the administrators grasp the situation, releasing Park Kwang-rim to look around warily.
“Bring that one here too!”
At Kwig Haejul’s order, the wheels rumbled, and Park Kwang-rim’s view shifted.
He was wheeled deeper into the room on the bed.
“Hey, crazy bastard.”
Park Kwang-rim said to the administrator moving him.
“Remember what I said?”
“What?”
“I said my boss is coming. My boss is a real psycho. You’re all dead now. Total plummets.”
Park Kwang-rim laughed as he said it.
“Plummets?”
“Problem! We have a problem! The building! The building!”
Another administrator running down the hall.
Same appearance as the others.
“What nonsense? What’s wrong with the building?”
Rumble—
The floor suddenly tilted.
Crash! Rumble!
Shelves and clutter poured toward the tilt.
“What’s happening!?”
Chaos so intense no one could tell who shouted.
“Window! Open the window!”
Rustle—
Blinds hastily pulled open.
Whoooosh—
Fierce wind blowing in from outside.
“The building!”
The building was flying through the sky.
“Hey, move!”
Thwack!
A pitch-black silhouette burst in through the window.
“Who are you? What the hell is this?”
“Whoa, polite Jang Hyun-deok. No, more than polite—it reeks of intelligence, and it’s pissing me off.”
“What?”
“I wanted to see Jang Hyun-deok, but not this much, and not like this.”
Kim Shin-hwa said that while looking at the administrators with Jang Hyun-deok’s exact face.