Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Awakening and Confirmation
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96.
While the afterimages from my half-asleep state still lingered faintly.
Snore-
.....
As the face of that Toy Ghost Story kid, peacefully sleeping with sheep horns sprouting from her head, came into view, I vaguely sensed it.
I...
...am back.
Finally free from that annoying Eve brat.
I'd finally opened my eyes from what felt like an endless dream.
And the moment I spotted the clump of static already sitting in the white chair, waving cheerfully in welcome.
I was certain I'd returned to the right place.
Rustle-
Ugh.
My body felt heavy.
Who knows how long I'd been asleep. Every part of me ached and throbbed.
Soon, as I sat up, a booming Noise voice echoed through the entire space.
"You've finally woken up! Employee Park Yeon-jeong! I was starting to think you wouldn't wake up all weekend."
...Pardon?
All weekend?
That didn't sound good.
So I asked.
"...May I ask what day it is today?"
"Of course! It's Saturday, 1:37:52 PM."
"......"
Getting an earful from Soi was now a given.
"You'll get an earful from her."
"......"
I know that already.
Stop rubbing salt in my wounds.
I'd blown half the weekend away, sleeping soundly right here in the company.
I didn't immediately get up to clock out or leave the place.
There was still something I needed to do here. Specifically, something to confirm with Noise.
My footsteps didn't head for the exit.
They turned toward the figure with a face covered in static.
Thud-
?
"Employee Park Yeon-jeong? Do you have something to ask me?"
Yes.
I do.
Something only you can answer....
A question just for you.
"...Yes, I have something to ask. This time... I met that child in the red robe again."
"!!"
Crackle-
A faint, irregular flicker of static caught my eye.
....
Noise was reacting to Eve, the little girl, just like before.
Eve's words.
'Weren't completely wrong after all.'
If so, all that was left was to confirm it.
Whether Eve's words were truly.
A fact.
Or just princess syndrome.
I took a short breath, exhaled repeatedly. Then, staring straight at Noise, I asked.
I forced out the words that stuck in my throat.
"That child... absolutely loathed you."
"!!"
"'I hate you for killing me.' 'I despise you.' She just kept repeating those words endlessly."
".........."
After I finished speaking, Noise's silence seemed... just a bit longer than usual. A tiny bit.
But that was it.
No real reaction followed.
Just a slightly prolonged silence. Nothing more.
As expected.
Weakness, my ass.
'It was just a kid with severe princess syndrome.'
*****
Precisely at the moment in the dream when I was bickering with Eve.
"Tell her I hate you! She'll definitely cry her eyes out from sadness! She'll bawl like a baby for sure!"
"...Cry?"
That Noise?
The Noise who tosses me into dangerous ghost stories like it's nothing?
'Cry?!'
I was seriously wondering if this Eve girl in front of me was suffering from extreme princess syndrome when.
Her confidence made me want to counter.
"But what if I tell her, and she doesn't cry?"
"...Huh?"
"What if she just brushes it off calmly?"
"!!"
Up until now, Noise had never clearly shown 'sadness' over anyone's death.
Anyone else, maybe.
But I couldn't imagine Noise shedding tears.
"She... forgot about me......"
Eve's voice began to flow slowly, like sliding over a languid rhythm.
As if feeling the air's flow.
As if all the world's time slowed. Every movement felt like watching a slow-motion video.
And then.
Drip-
A teardrop like a jade bead welled in Eve's eye and quietly trailed down her cheek.
!!
Drip-
"M-me... forgot......"
Drip-
No!
'Why are you crying now?!'
My words had made Eve cry.
The rest of the time was wasted soothing the heartbroken little girl.
*****
And now.
I'd done exactly as Eve asked.
Even after hearing her message, Noise showed no particular reaction. No notable response at all.
Sadly, Eve...
Wasn't Noise's weakness.
That was my conclusion from what I'd seen and felt.
"I'll be heading out now."
"...Yes, good work. Park Yeon-jeong, Employee."
Not a hint of tremor in Noise's voice until the end.
Sorry to Eve, who had cried so pitifully...
But it was over.
Noise truly had no notable weaknesses.
Thud-
I walked away calmly.
I'd thought learning Noise's weakness would benefit me in many ways.
'Still a long road ahead.'
I kept walking.
Crackle-
"Employee Park Yeon-jeong."
"Yes?"
His voice brushed my ear amid the static. I paused and turned.
There...
...!!!
Without even noticing the static covering his face had vanished.
Noise said this to me.
"Was she... crying?"
"......"
Through the cleared areas where much of the face-covering static had dissipated, Noise's clearly visible lips gazed at me.
A flat tone.
No trace of sadness in his voice this time either.
It was just the cynical reply of a hollow man, yet why did Noise's voice sound.
Why so.
Sad in that moment.
The only words I could offer him.
Were these.
"...Yes."
"......I see."
After hearing my answer, Noise stared blankly out the window into the white night.
That was the last sight of Noise I saw that day.
*****
Monday, the start of the week.
And the 21 fresh-faced applicants gathered there.
"Th-this is that... GRA place, right, sis?"
"Obviously, look at the building. Why ask?"
"You two, no fighting. We're not here to play today."
Today was the GRA's monthly new hire recruitment day.
To list the tests for selecting new hires simply:
-Written exam.
-Practical.
-Aptitude test.
The initial written exam verifies basic personality and ideology.
As long as you don't check the weird boxes, you won't fail this part.
Next comes the practical.
Combat adaptability measurement, mental-physical integration test. Think of it as a physical fitness check.
If you pass those two smoothly.
The final is the aptitude test.
An E-grade ghost story test managed by the GRA.
Teams of three who successfullyit get special bonus points.
Even poor scores on written and practical aren't fatal if you shine in the E-grade.
"So you get it. Stay calm, but don't overdo it."
"Yes... got it."
"Calm? You're not kids."
"You two are still kids."
After the two girls showed different reactions to Hansol's words.
Soon, through the automatic doors in front of the space where the 21 applicants stood, a middle-aged man appeared in everyone's view.
Holding a checklist in one hand, he bellowed in a booming voice loud enough for all to hear.
"I'm Section Chief Choi Kang-in, proctoring this test. Thank you to all who applied to our GRA. Testing begins now!"
The man with the checklist began calling names one by one.
And soon, the called name was.
"Applicant Hansol."
"...Yes!"
Hansol walked up to Choi Kang-in and took the form.
Then, in a voice only Hansol could hear, he muttered.
"I'm expecting great things."
"...Yes."
Hansol, form in hand, gave a light wave to the two kids still waiting, then stepped inside.
Choi Kang-in continued without pause.
"Applicant Kim Hye-seon."
"Y-yes!"
The youngest applicant among them stiffly approached Choi Kang-in.
Watching her, he thought.
This kid is a shame, but...
She'll drop out soon.
He deemed her unfit to face the ghost stories ahead.
'...Hope she quits early.'
Maybe because she reminded him of his own daughter at home.
"...Next, Applicant Yang Min-ji."
"Yes."
The next applicant seemed another middle-schooler like Kim Hye-seon.
She appeared quite calm on the surface...
"...What are you staring at?"
'......This one too.'
Calling these applicants made Choi Kang-in think a lot.
Not long after.
Only two application papers left in hand.
The remaining two were the most problematic applicants here.
-Applicant Nam I-ryeong.
-Applicant Ryu Geon-woo.
Both male applicants looked quite sturdy on the outside.
But one was overflowing with enthusiasm.
"I'm done with homeless life! Wait for me, money sources! Ryu Geon-woo is coming out!"
And one was way too negative.
"I'm gonna die...... Definitely gonna die... Homeless life wasn't so bad...."
Choi Kang-in felt a long-absent instinctual headache from these two, worst among the tests he'd proctored.
As he moved to step forward, thinking all names called.
"Excuse me."
"Yes?"
"You haven't called my name yet."
"......"
Choi Kang-in thought that impossible.
Because.
There were definitely 21 applications received.
"...May I have your name?"
"It's Soi."
Soi?
A very unusual name.