260. The End of the Shin Family (2)
260. The End of the Shin Family (2)
'What the hell... is this? What is it...? I just can't make sense of it...'
Shin Do-hwa's face had hardened into a rigid mask.
She had grasped that Jin Yu-ha and the Utopia Party were closing in on her.
Shin Do-hwa had made all sorts of preparations to deal with them.
But all of it had crumbled from the very start.
The most grating thing was, of course.
These noisy bugs.
The sensation of those horrible legs clinging to her face.
The sickening feeling of them crawling inside her clothes.
The buzzing wings right at her ears left her utterly unable to think straight.
She loathed bugs.
Because they dragged up memories from long ago, of the Shin family's brutal discipline.
A past where a slight displeasure or a simple mistake meant being locked in a room full of bugs for days.
"Kyaaaaah! Get away! I said get away!!"
She drew up her Mana and unleashed flames as if to incinerate everything around her.
Whoosh—
Since Utopia had released the bugs in the first place.
She had anticipated they might use them to enter.
She'd thought she could just burn them all before they latched onto her.
Bugs were weak to fire, after all.
But strangely, every time she raised the flames like this, they all converged on one spot.
Onto the shield held by the black-haired girl.
What was more, no bugs flew near the girl, so her flames could only burn a tiny fraction of the swarm.
Bzzzzzz—
A fly landed on Shin Do-hwa's ear.
She recoiled in spasms and shook her head to get it off, but then another one landed on her hand.
"......This can't go on."
Unable to bear that sickening sensation any longer, Shin Do-hwa's eyes went cold.
Whooooosh—!!!!
The flames erupted.
But this time, the fire didn't go outward.
What caught fire was her own clothing.
She had set herself ablaze.
Sssssizzz—
The fire eating at her collar spread to her skin, and burns began to mottle her whole body. Her long, straight black hair started to burn with an acrid smell.
It only stopped at this level because, as an awakener who used fire, she had Fire Resistance.
"Grrkkkhhh!!!"
A horrible searing pain flared through her.
But she clenched her teeth and endured it.
Because pain was better than bugs.
'Just where... did it all start going wrong...?'
Shin Do-hwa, her body engulfed in flames and now freed from the bugs.
Only now did the whole situation come into view.
First, the girl standing before her.
She didn't know all the details.
But this child was her natural enemy.
A Tank that didn't seem to take any damage from fire and absorbed everything she did.
She'd never even heard of such a thing.
If the Shin Family Guard had been here, maybe things would be different, but without them, she couldn't even touch her.
The black-haired girl seemed to be having trouble adjusting to the sudden situation.
She looked flustered, but she never lowered her shield.
Then, when she glanced to the side.
She saw a gray-haired man holding his forehead and pushing himself upright.
Even though she had tried so hard to brainwash him, even pumped him full of every drug imaginable to make him lose his mind completely.
He seemed to have finally come to his senses.
"Daddy! Daddy!!! Daddyyyyyy!!!!!"
A small child who looked to be his daughter was in his arms.
"Sha, Shasha......? Shasha!? H-how in the world did you get here......!!!!"
Shin Do-hwa, who had been staring blankly at this, let out a hollow laugh at the sheer absurdity.
"......Ha."
Because it had all fallen apart.
Shin Do-hwa stared into the empty air with vacant eyes.
'Does this even make sense?'
This whole situation felt like some horrible nightmare to her now.
That fervent wish to raise the Shin family as the world's greatest family.
All the effort she'd put in, hiding like a rat to build up strength—all of it lay in complete, colorless ruin.
Without managing to do a single thing properly!
That was when.
Step.
Step.
A boy walking toward her entered her field of vision.
Long, black hair, and beautiful features.
Eyes that were utterly resolute and cold.
Yes. The boy who had ignited her possessiveness from the very first time she saw him.
It was Jin Yu-ha.
"Let's stop this now."
He looked at her burning figure and spoke in a flat voice.
'I kind of hate that this is our first real conversation.......'
At the very least, she'd wanted to see him crying, or grimacing, or glaring at her with eyes blazing with hatred and resentment.
Even in this moment, that twisted desire was driving her insides.
Shin Do-hwa forced up the corners of her lips, which hardly ever wanted to rise, and opened her mouth.
"Do you... really think you've won?"
Whether because her vocal cords were burnt too, her voice came out rough and cracked.
"Yes, it's all over now."
"Don't make me laugh."
Right. She couldn't let it end this pathetically.
No matter what anyone said, she was a Shin.
Wasn't her entire life one she'd ground away for the family, living with her eyes fixed on the Shin family's revival and nothing else?
Her end couldn't be something that left not a single trace behind.
Hummm—
The Subspace Tattoo on the back of her hand glowed.
And what emerged was some sort of bright red remote control.
She clutched the remote and smiled a triumphant smile.
Because this would definitely be able to twist that boy's face into a grimace.
"Do you know what this is?"
"No."
"If I press this, calamity will descend upon this world."
Yes, he probably hadn't thought this far.
No matter how thoroughly he had overturned every single thing she'd prepared.
Unless he could see the future.
Usually, she didn't like long explanations.
But she spoke because she wanted to see the despair stain Jin Yu-ha's face.
"While you were outside, dealing with the Shin Family Guard and the trash. I wasn't just fooling around."
"......."
"I accessed the system and made a device to automatically release the Chimeras."
Shin Do-hwa's red eyes fixed on Jin Yu-ha.
"All I have to do is press this button...... and thousands of Chimeras will be unleashed into the world. They're nothing like the failures you've run into up till now."
This was exactly the final device Shin Do-hwa had prepared.
'Now, show me. Show me your despair.'
Shin Do-hwa swallowed hard, anticipating his twisted expression.
But.
Jin Yu-ha's reaction was different from what she expected.
"Then press it."
"......What?"
Shin Do-hwa's eyes shot wide open and her mouth fell ajar.
"Whether the Chimeras spread or not, what do we care?"
"Y-you're a hero, aren't you? The one who inherited the spirit of that revolting Rina—"
"Inherited that Brat's spirit? Please."
Jin Yu-ha shrugged as if he genuinely didn't care.
'Did I misjudge this kid?'
His attitude was so indifferent that the thought actually crossed her mind.
No.
That couldn't be.
Right after she had grasped Jin Yu-ha's existence.
She'd compiled all the information on the things he'd done up to now.
Even the things he'd done behind the scenes.
And had instantly grasped the picture.
Jin Yu-ha.
Someone who was merciless toward the wicked and even showed a ruthless side at first glance.
But his direction was unmistakably that of a hero.
Exactly, a hero cut from the same cloth as that insufferable woman, Rina.
And yet.
Just release them?
"Well, even if they're released here, they'll just be running wild inside China anyway, right? We can just head back to Korea and that's it."
'Is he acting?'
Shin Do-hwa bit her lip.
She absolutely hated how this felt.
This situation, as if she, who had spent her whole life evaluating others, was now being evaluated by someone else.
"......If you thought I was someone who couldn't press it in the end if you said that, then I'd like to tell you that's the real mistake."
"I'm telling you to press it."
"I'm the kind of person who gets more zeal from ruining what belongs to others than from my own life!!!!"
Press—
Shin Do-hwa bit down hard on her lip and pressed the button.
And then she burst into mad laughter.
"Fine! I pressed it! You chose this! Because of you, this world has now taken one step closer to destruction! If I can't have it, I'll break it!!!"
That was when she was laughing all alone.
"Mother, you haven't changed."
Shin Se-hee walked in through the gap in the broken door.
"......S-Se-hee?"
Shin Do-hwa couldn't help the flustered voice that escaped her at her daughter's sudden appearance.
* * *
'Phew, talk about perfect timing.'
In the original game, she had been the one to order the Shin Family Guard to release the Chimeras.
But the situation now was that the Shin Family Guard had appeared right around when the mid-boss showed up, so her support had been cut off far earlier.
Even so, I couldn't let myself feel relieved.
Because I'd predicted that the Shin Do-hwa I knew would definitely prepare one last trump card for when she was cornered, just in case.
'That's why I sent most of our fighting strength—Kang Do-hee, Shin Se-hee, Ichika, and Sofia—all that way.'
From behind Shin Se-hee, Sofia, Ichika, and Kang Do-hee walked in, all wearing exhausted expressions.
Shin Do-hwa still looked utterly dumbfounded.
Shin Se-hee slowly walked up to her and opened her mouth.
"Mother, I'm sorry to say, but all of your creations have been scrapped."
Shin Do-hwa stared at Shin Se-hee with eyes that said that was impossible.
"What? H-how? No one should have known those locations....... Absolutely no one knew—"
Snap—
Shin Se-hee cut her off and snapped her fingers.
Then.
Shhhk—
From behind Shin Se-hee, ten members of the Shin Family Guard formed a line.
Shin Do-hwa, who had been sweeping her trembling eyes over them,
"Pfft! Puhaha, hahaha! Puhahahahahaha!!!"
Suddenly clutched her stomach and broke into crazed laughter.
"Fine! So that's how it was! I was well and truly outplayed from the very start!"
"Yes, that's right. The locations of the Chimeras—these people knew them. And even how to unlock the restraints."
"......Puhahahahaha!!! How long has it been since I've been beaten this badly? Yes, I see. That's right. You can become the master of the Shin Family Guard too. Since you carry my blood. I hadn't expected that at all."
Her voice still full of laughter, she spoke toward Shin Se-hee.
"But, just tell me one thing. Just when did it start? Was it when the Shin family headed for China? Or maybe when you entered the academy? If not that, then from when you were locked in that punishment room?"
As if unable to contain her curiosity, Shin Do-hwa's voice grew faster and faster.
But Shin Se-hee simply shook her head flatly.
"I can't answer that."
"......What?"
And as she said this, Shin Se-hee turned her head toward me.
"Because this entire board was designed by Jin Yu-ha."
"We're all just pieces. There's only one difference: you are an enemy piece, Mother, and I'm an allied piece."
Shin Do-hwa, who had been staring with her mouth open, shook her head with an air of bitter resignation.
"......Just as I thought. She is my daughter. You've latched onto quite the man."
She raised both hands upward, her face looking somehow relieved, and declared her defeat.
"Fine, you've won. Against me, completely. I really couldn't do a thing. I've been utterly defeated."