Chapter 18
Chapter 18
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: It's Over
-----------------------------------------------------------------
18.
It's over.
Really... everything's over.
With Choi Section Chief's support, I barely managed to stand up from my seat.
The civilians were still staring at the GRA agents in a daze, as if unsure whether the situation had truly ended.
"...Section Chief."
"......Is it really over?"
But the GRA employees were just as eager to confirm if it was truly finished.
Their moist eyes, brimming with hope for the answer they wanted, all fixed on one person.
Choi Section Chief gave them the answer they desired.
It was probably the answer he himself wanted, delivered after a brief silence.
He opened his mouth.
"...Situation terminated."
"That means......"
"I'll treat everyone when we get back."
"......"
That final remark silenced them all. But the faint smile spreading across Choi Section Chief's lips.
Sniffle.
The employees swallowed their tears.
The joy of survival.
In a hopeless situation where death seemed inevitable, they had reclaimed the chance to meet tomorrow's selves.
The GRA employees didn't erupt in loud cheers.
Probably holding back their emotions in front of the civilians, at minimum.
A few who looked like new recruits were clutching their colleagues nearby, sobbing openly in view.
...Sniffle.
Someone sniffled.
This time, it was Park Yeon-jeong.
But it wasn't tears.
It was the blood dripping from his nostrils from the Thousands of Gazes assault moments ago, which he sniffled back up.
Strangely, no tears came.
'Probably thanks to these glasses.'
A rationality bordering on MBTI 'T' type, colder than necessary.
But it was only his outward emotions that had dulled.
Just recalling the situation made his heart feel like it would burst.
His legs trembled.
Instead of tears, Park Yeon-jeong took in deep breaths and exhaled repeatedly.
"Thank you... thank you...."
"We survived. We made it......"
The sighs of relief and sobs from those around him filled the air. For now, the priority was getting the gathered civilians out of this Ghost Story as quickly as possible.
Just in case.
If the Conductor regained its strength and rampaged again, it would truly be over.
He approached Choi Section Chief, the only one here who would believe him, and suggested a swift escape route.
"But the routes and emergency exits we knew before seem to have changed, so I'm not sure how long the evacuation will take."
"Don't worry about that."
"You know the escape route?!"
Choi Section Chief looked at him with genuine surprise.
"No. I don't know the exact location either."
Of course he didn't.
If he had, he wouldn't have bothered with the Thousands of Gazes and would have escaped in one go.
"But I know someone who does."
"......Someone who knows the emergency exit?"
Choi Section Chief gazed at him with curiosity unbefitting a middle-aged man, and Park Yeon-jeong found himself smiling faintly without realizing it.
He immediately called out to someone in the empty air.
"You heard everything, right? Tell me the emergency exit location."
......Silence.
Well, he hadn't expected compliance from the start.
"I'm saying we'll leave quietly. The Conductor's in that state anyway—what more can it do? Right?"
【............Understood.】
A woman's voice came from the speakers.
【I'll guide you to the emergency exit.】
"Good."
Flash!
As soon as the words ended, a bright beam of light shot out from the floor, stretching toward somewhere.
Following this path would lead to the emergency exit out of here.
"Let's go."
"......Yes."
Choi Section Chief asked no more questions. Perhaps because they were in a position to receive help, he refrained from further rudeness.
They began a large-scale movement along the bright light beam. Naturally, Choi Section Chief led, guiding them efficiently without wasted effort, and they soon reached the destination.
When everyone arrived at the end of the light beam at their feet.
At the beam's endpoint.
A prop door shaped like it was made of large corrugated cardboard captured their attention.
Saying he had no doubts would be a lie.
But true to what a responsible superior should be.
Choi Section Chief strode toward the cardboard door.
Creak!
He grabbed the cardboard doorknob without hesitation and flung it wide open.
Some GRA employees, including civilians, tensed up.
Worried if Red Orchestra members waited beyond, wielding their bizarre instruments once more.
For that instant, only quiet silence flowed, and when Choi Section Chief first peered through the door.
The first thing to enter his sight.
Crunch.
Was the cardboard doorknob crumbling to dust in an instant.
Lips trembling faintly.
Pupils fixed on one spot.
As everyone watched such a Choi Section Chief.
Even he struggled to hide his emotions.
The words that escaped his lips.
"......R Team."
"......"
"You all remember the manual, right."
At those words from Choi Section Chief, every member of R Team clenched their fists.
They knew exactly what their section chief's words meant.
Those who had worked with him for so long understood.
They dropped their guard in unison and responded loudly.
"Yes, sir! Understood!"
All of R Team swiftly passed through the narrow cardboard door one by one with the civilians.
The employees followed the drilled manual systematically, evacuating many through that single narrow door safely and quickly.
Once all personnel had exited, the only ones left in this Ghost Story space were Park Yeon-jeong himself, Choi Section Chief, and two employees.
"......Section Chief. Radio confirms all personnel have safely returned to the real world."
"We should get out of this shithole too."
The two remaining employees were eager to escape the wretched theater as soon as possible, and Choi Section Chief surely agreed.
But the main reason he had stayed until the end.
'Probably me.'
From the moment he confirmed the door beyond the cardboard was safe, Choi Section Chief directed an intense gaze at him without hiding it.
A man's burning stare.
So intense that Park Yeon-jeong worried if Choi Section Chief harbored other intentions.
"...W-Well then. I'll head out too."
Fearing what he might hear if he lingered, Park Yeon-jeong tried to step away first.
"...What was your real purpose."
"Section Chief!"
One employee urgently stopped Choi Section Chief's sudden outburst.
"You know best that getting involved with Ghost Stories brings nothing good! And intelligent entities capable of communication are even more to be avoided than any Ghost Story!"
Along with the employee's warning to stay alert around Choi Section Chief.
He swallowed tears at suddenly becoming the avoidance target. But Choi Section Chief's gaze seemed deadly serious.
Eyes that might pursue him until he answered.
Deciding there was no need to leave a bad impression here.
"My purpose wasn't you all. It was the 'Ghost Story.'"
"......"
"And now, really, let's go back. Your employees... don't seem to trust me much."
That should suffice with his kindly tone and demeanor.
If he stayed longer chatting with Choi Section Chief, one of those two employees looked ready to draw an item.
Like it or not.
Getting Choi Section Chief out of this space quickly was the best way to ensure his own safety.
Step.
So he left first.
They weren't close enough to detain someone clearly trying to leave for a conversation.
R Team's survival report must have reached the agency by now.
Choi Section Chief had no reason to follow him anymore.
He walked on, conveying the nuance to go his own way.
"Section Chief. You really need to go now."
"......Yeah. Let's head back."
Yes, please just go!
Choi Section Chief's voice saying 'Let's head back' echoed softly down the quiet hallway.
After a deliberate pause and a few more steps, when he glanced back.
No one was there.
No shadows remained beyond the cardboard door.
".........Phew. They're gone."
Finally, the interlopers had vanished.
Now, truly, no other human-worthy beings remained here except himself.
......Gaze.
One man's eyes lingered wistfully on the still-open cardboard door beyond.
......I want to leave too.
Honestly, he desperately wanted to pass through that door and escape this damn theater.
He gripped the 'Quill Pen' the Announcement Broadcast had given him, tucked in his inner pocket.
......Sigh.
A deep sigh.
He still had unfinished business here.
Following the bright light beam at his feet, he retraced his steps.
After wandering the silent hallway for a while.
He returned to the stage where all the chaos had unfolded.
He spotted the Conductor, still missing both arms and legs, its torso rolling pathetically like a lump.
Fortunately, the cross-sections where Thousands of Gazes had torn off its limbs weren't made of flesh and blood like theirs.
Only thick, empty darkness filled those severed areas.
Thank goodness this Conductor had no organs.
If it did, he would have vomited dozens more times here.
Step.
In just a few steps, he reached the pitifully sprawled Conductor torso.
Grip.
He held the Quill Pen in his right hand.
.........?
But.
How do you use this thing?
Contrary to the Announcement Broadcast's claim that it would activate automatically upon subduing the Ghost Story.
Silent stillness.
He stared awkwardly at his right hand.
Just as frustration built with no changes despite the promised 'auto-use,' facing the inert Quill Pen.
Slosh.
A strange sound of liquid rippling from somewhere.
And with black ink flowing from the Quill Pen's tip.
A line of text appeared before his eyes.
『Ink is insufficient.』
The black ink text stated a lack of ink.
Even then, the once-written text soon morphed, revealing new words.
『Quill Pen specifies material for ink use.』
At those words, his gaze instinctively turned to the sprawled Conductor torso on the floor.
『Valid material identified.』
『Replenishing ink.』
With the black text confirming the material, a single drop of black ink fell from the Quill Pen's tip to the floor.
Whoosh!
The black ink instantly engulfed the Conductor's sprawled torso.
Slosh.
The massive body vanished in an instant, replaced by a highly compressed drop of black ink slicing through the air toward Park Yeon-jeong.
It landed on the feather atop the pen nib.
『Ink replenished.』
The drop absorbed into the feather, soon taking the shape of a musical note.
♪.
Witnessing the wondrous sight, the man's pupils dilated, his eyes gleaming with anticipation for what came next as he stared endlessly at the Quill Pen.
.............
......Is that it? Really?
Done just like that?
The events unfolded so swiftly that disappointment welled up as he questioned if it was truly over.
【......Conductor?】
Suddenly, the woman's Announcement Broadcast voice began searching for the Conductor.
【Conductor? Conductor! Where are you, Conductor!......Conductor!!!】
The Announcement Broadcast's desperate voice pleading for the Conductor.
【Without you, we......】
Crash! Shatter!
Ending the desperate search, a chandelier crashed right beside him.
The floor and outer walls began shaking in succession.
Park Yeon-jeong knew what this meant.
When the Ghost Story entity that created this space vanished.
It signaled the loss of power to maintain the phenomenon.
Shatter!!
This place was about to collapse.
【No! I don't want to die! Conductor! Conductor! Don't abandon us!】
Causing chaos until the very end!
If he stayed, those countless chandeliers on the ceiling might crush him.
He had to escape.
......But where?
[Where else.]
But in that moment.
A familiar, utterly unpleasant male voice brushed his ear with chilling calm.
Click!
Accompanied by the sound of familiar lighting activating.
[Congratulations on achieving your first performance record! Employee Park Yeon-jeong!!]
He was back in the library.