Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: -8
Chapter Title: A Slight Fracture
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As always, the sky was somewhat bright, but it was definitely night right now.
I settled lightly onto a bed that reeked of mold and dust.
I wanted to dig deeper into the strange and suspicious relationship between those two, but suddenly the girl said she was tired and retreated to a nearby room.
Forcing her to stay would only arouse more suspicion.
The Headquarters Chief and I had been through a lot and hadn't gotten proper rest since, so in the end, we decided to each get some sleep.
And that's how I ended up claiming a bed in one of the rooms.
You might wonder what I'd do if those two snuck away in the middle of the night.
My answer to that is, "Doesn't matter."
Sure, since it involved the protagonist, I'd like to investigate thoroughly, but it wasn't essential.
I'd just ask if they felt like talking, and go with whatever they chose.
Even the Headquarters Chief didn't seem all that enthusiastic about this incident.
I suddenly felt the exhaustion in my body, which had grown so numb I barely noticed it anymore, and lay down on the bed.
The pillow was hard from being left untouched for so long, and the mattress creaked noisily under me.
It felt like all sorts of harmful things, mold included, were piling up in my lungs through my respiratory system, but compared to the usual rotten corpse stench, it was much better—enough to make me feel like my body was actually getting healthier.
I reached into my pocket at the sensation of something foreign against my waist.
It was the core of the device I'd received from Moon Woo-seok.
It still glowed with that murky yet mystical hue, giving me a sense of calm reassurance.
But the comfort didn't last long. The face of the apartment resident I hadn't been able to save started floating into my mind.
I didn't have direct responsibility for the collapse, but my responsibility was on a higher level—the end of the world itself. Every name of every person I'd heard since coming to this world pierced through my eardrums.
It was one hell of a headache.
"Hoo..."
How could I, of all people, abandon the world's protagonist?
If I hadn't been here, the world would have raced toward its happy ending.
I had to take responsibility even for the protagonist.
"Let's think this through again."
Hyuk Tae-jun's personality today was vastly different from what I remembered.
At first, I figured it was because his life experiences had diverged, but now that I thought about it, I wasn't so sure.
In the original game, Hyuk Tae-jun was a righteous, upright sort of guy.
Could simply failing to join the Bureau really turn him into such a mysterious, enigmatic figure?
His personality was somewhat adaptable to situations, sure.
But it was definitely connected to the girl, who was the biggest question mark right now.
There was no doubt she was a tale.
With the world changed like this, it wouldn't be strange for there to be tales I'd never heard of.
I just didn't know what rules governed her.
At first, she'd been trembling by Hyuk Tae-jun's side, then she'd crushed the monster with overwhelming power, and now she'd lost that strength again.
"...Tricky."
If I pieced together what I knew and made some assumptions, I could chalk it up to Hyuk Tae-jun's condition being off after encountering the tale.
The most suspicious thing was hypnosis or suggestion.
"Ah, I'm hungry."
I must have overthought it.
It had been nearly a day since I'd eaten anything proper, so that made sense.
Once you lose your sense of taste, you just don't feel like eating anything.
Even looking at potato chips makes you imagine they taste like cement, and your appetite plummets.
"The girl scarfed down that chocolate like it was delicious, and she's the tale."
Here I am, human, and this is how I end up. What irony.
"Chocolate... Choco... Huh?"
If my memory wasn't distorted, she'd definitely eaten chocolate right before the fight.
And after finishing the chocolate, they'd fled here.
Come to think of it, when we first met, she'd grabbed Hyuk Tae-jun's arm without any issue.
"..."
I think I've found the connection.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Dawn broke.
Well, not all that brightly, but let's call it a figure of speech.
Surprisingly, those two hadn't run off.
They hadn't even woken up until the Headquarters Chief and I roused them.
"Ah, thanks for waking me. So... Jin-seong?"
"Mmm..."
They'd slept in the same room, but I'll skip the details of how they looked.
Just know that the Headquarters Chief clicked his tongue.
We gathered around a table in a larger room and started our meals.
I drank a thick beverage mixed with various vitamins and bread for full nutrition, while the other three tore into processed foods more focused on taste.
The girl, who had been shoving food into her mouth with her bare hands, suddenly stopped and stared at Hyuk Tae-jun.
"Sleep well?"
"Yeah. Slept great."
It was short, but it carried a mature vibe.
"Want some chocolate? I found more in the kitchen."
Her words brought my suspicions from yesterday flooding back, and I tensed up, but the girl's response rendered my wariness pointless.
"Nah, I'm good. Not really craving chocolate right now."
That's weird.
The Headquarters Chief stopped eating and watched their exchange.
It felt completely different from yesterday.
"Chocolate's for kids, right?"
The girl flashed a clear, bright smile unlike any she'd shown before.
Hyuk Tae-jun gazed at her with serene, warm eyes.
The subtle atmosphere between them could pass for lovers, but to the Headquarters Chief, it was an incomprehensible horror.
I'd just figured out the rule for when the girl gained her power, and now another rule crashed in without mercy.
It was like she'd become a completely different person.
But Hyuk Tae-jun didn't sense anything off.
This confirmed he was under some kind of hypnosis.
Their conversation carried an inexplicable sorrow, surging like waves.
Waves rippling between happiness and grief.
Unable to bear the eeriness, I slipped my hand into my pocket.
All my gear was in my bag, save for one thing I carried on me.
The core, reflecting its iridescent glow, emerged from my pocket into the world.
"Hm? Jin-seong, what's that?"
I'd held it out not toward the girl, but Hyuk Tae-jun.
I'd never tried this before, and Moon Woo-seok hadn't instructed me to use it this way, but I had an unfounded certainty that it would work.
Yet Hyuk Tae-jun showed no reaction.
As the Headquarters Chief and the girl's puzzled stares made me start feeling awkward, a single tear laden with emotion slid down Hyuk Tae-jun's cheek from his eye.
The tear wet the floor, and Hyuk Tae-jun opened his mouth.
"Jin-seong."
Tears poured out like a sudden downpour.
"Thank you."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Call it an epilogue, or more precisely, the content of Hyuk Tae-jun's long tale.
He spilled it all in a rush, so I can't claim to have grasped every detail perfectly, but I can piece together a basic life story.
Hyuk Tae-jun had lived a fairly satisfying life as a police officer.
Given his backstory of joining the Bureau to help people, the job suited him well.
He seemed even happier than in the game where he was with the Bureau, so you can imagine the extent.
One day, he encountered a child victim of domestic violence and even met their aunt, whose name was Han A-ram.
Han A-ram, who adopted her niece, became Hyuk Tae-jun's lover.
A lot must have happened in between, and he teared up reminiscing, but there's too much to cover, so let's move on.
Anyway, Hyuk Tae-jun was happy.
He burst into tears saying so while recalling Han A-ram, so I can state it definitively.
But that happiness couldn't last forever.
It would have been nice if it was just the usual ennui that plagues couples.
Unfortunately, this too was my fault.
The end of the world.
God's upheaval.
The collapse of freedom.
None of these quite applied to Hyuk Tae-jun.
It was just "a slight fracture."
"Uwaaa! N-no... please..."
One of her two nieces died.
The one who bolted out from under the sky first during the evacuation.
Such deaths were all too common for ordinary citizens who knew nothing.
But commonality doesn't make it right.
The child who had come alone to the police station for her sibling ran toward her sister again, and the price was horrific.
How good a person was Han A-ram?
They'd only been family for a few months at most, but her feelings matched those of a parent.
Yet time marched on.
Despite Hyuk Tae-jun's wishes, the relentless flow of time drove Han A-ram to the edge, body and soul.
"Kwaaak! Aaah, uwaaa..."
Unable to hold her center any longer, she plummeted into the abyss—Han A-ram's death.
What happens to the human brain when everything is lost?
The mind fractures and merges repeatedly, racing toward a single axis.
That axis is long but thin, blocking concrete thoughts and compelling one to follow.
"A-ram... Are you alive? The niece you loved is still by my side."
Story and belief.
"Ahaha. Why was I even sad? You're right here, watching over me."
When those two blend, they form a single tale.
"A-ram."
All that Hyuk Tae-jun loved merged into that thin axis.
"Sleep well?"
And reached toward salvation.
"Yeah. Slept great."