Chapter 75

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 75

Chapter Title: Heaven Has Helped You

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Yoon Ha-seo and An Jae-seong dispatched the anomalies with movements far more agile than before.

The offering-fed ghosts that had followed the Fixer up also forgot their fear and rampaged like demons of immense strength, allowing the response team to reach the 10th floor much faster than expected.

Around that time, the woman in the elevator reached the 10th floor as well.

"Just... hold on... a little longer..."

"...."

Standing guard over the elevator, Yoon Jae-beom silently nodded.

He had already reached his limit.

His body had twisted grotesquely from the unidentified 'meat dumplings' he had eaten to survive, and as his flesh began to crumble, maintaining his sanity became nearly impossible.

In a state where a mere touch might topple him, Yoon Jae-beom widened his eyes at the news of the rescue team's arrival and tried to pull himself together.

But even that was no longer enough.

'They really... really came... Can I... rest now...?'

He had guarded the elevator from the anomalies for nearly four days without proper sleep.

He had more than done his part—enough to say he had successfully saved dozens of children.

Having accomplished a feat worthy of recognition, he wanted to rest now.

'My eyes are closing...'

Yoon Jae-beom knew it too. If he fell asleep now, he would never wake up again.

But wasn't this enough?

"Stay... with it..."

"Ugh..."

The elevator ghost, Eve, grabbed Yoon Jae-beom's cheeks with both hands.

The gaze of a disaster-class anomaly was more than enough to jolt the fading agent's mind back to alertness.

"You... left the kids... outside... Hold on..."

"...Yes... Understood."

Yoon Jae-beom was no longer afraid of the elevator ghost.

She was a disaster-class anomaly, but undoubtedly on humanity's side.

She had rescued people from the anomalies and, whenever Yoon Jae-beom seemed about to collapse, rushed over to steady his mind and speak to him.

Without her, Yoon Jae-beom would have died long ago.

Countless times when he had collapsed on the brink of death, that anomaly alone had not lost hope and rekindled the dying embers of Agent Yoon Jae-beom.

He couldn't give up after coming this far.

His duty as an Anomaly Management Department agent wasn't over yet.

His body was already ruined.

And his mind was worn down and on the verge of shattering.

Yet Yoon Jae-beom gritted his teeth and stood again.

He had to escape this apartment and go camping ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with his family. He had promised his son. His daughter was looking forward to it too. So he couldn't die until then.

"They're coming... Soon... They're almost here..."

She informed him that the Fixer was on the way and headed toward the final gateway.

The elevator ghost had planted the Fixer—the last hope—in Yoon Jae-beom's heart.

There was no need to hope for more, nor did any greater hope exist.

"Aaah-!"

"Ah! Aaaah!"

Countless anomalies screamed like defiled humans as they charged to bring her down, to erase her.

If they couldn't deal with the Fixer, they had to at least eliminate the elevator ghost.

To break the reverse mandala barrier, the mirror had to be shattered from both ends of the double helix—the real world and the reverse side.

Defeating the elevator ghost would prevent entry from the 4th floor.

Her individual power was absurdly high, and blocking the Fixer—who had even rallied the apartment's lingering anomalies to his side—was impossible.

Thus, they focused their attacks on the elevator ghost.

"Get out of the way... He has come..."

The woman in the elevator was far from normal herself.

Her arms and legs had been shredded long ago, and even her flesh was sprouting grass, creaking unnaturally.

With no known exorcism method, they aimed to destroy her body entirely to immobilize her.

The elevator ghost stood before the massive mirror on the 10th floor.

She pushed back the charging anomalies, tearing and trampling them, waiting for the Fixer to arrive at the mirror.

The large full-length mirror on the 10th floor had a complete mandala—not simplified—drawn at its center.

Both sides had to shatter it at the precise moment.

Then the boundary between reality and the reverse side would collapse, allowing passage through the mirror and revealing the hidden floor.

Pulling the string simultaneously meant exactly this.

"You really came..."

Eve sensed the Fixer's presence.

How familiar, how longed-for that aura was.

The person she had missed so dearly.

The savior who had rushed to her call without hesitation.

She had never seen a human more reliable than him.

"It looks like we need to break this."

"Here, a hammer. Use this to smash it, Fixer."

The Fixer took the hammer from Agent An Jae-seong and stood before the massive full-length mirror etched with the reverse mandala.

He had also noticed Eve beyond the mirror. And that she was waiting wasn't hard to discern.

'Hit it at the same time.'

The Fixer raised the hammer into position.

So the being on the other side could recognize it.

Then, after a brief pause, he swung it forcefully.

Bang-!

The boundary shattered, and fragments of the mirror flew everywhere.

The two worlds were now connected as one.

From beyond the shattered mirror, the ghosts of One Mind One Heart Apartments surged in with frenzied battle cries.

There was nothing left to stop them. The offering-fed ghosts had grown stronger from the meals they received, and empowered by the Fixer, they could now slay anomalies.

The trifling spirits that haunted the apartment trampled and burst the byproducts of the great being.

A wave of ghosts crashed toward the fleeing, terrified anomalies.

"Oh, long time no see..."

Behind the shattered mirror stood the anomaly who had waited and waited for the Fixer, alone.

She looked in very poor condition.

Grass sprouted from her body like an infected, and her once snow-white dress was stained with blood and dirt.

Worried he might be too late, the Fixer asked her.

"Was I too late?"

"No... If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anything, you came... faster than I expected... Bringing so many allies... I missed you... so much..."

Unable to hide her feelings any longer, the anomaly rushed toward the human.

And threw herself into his broad embrace.

Less than a day after her rescue request, the Fixer had arrived with such overwhelming reinforcements. She felt a profound admiration and something more.

Burying her head in the chest of the human she had longed for, the anomaly rested for a long while.

"Ah... S-sorry. I couldn't help it..."

"No need. You've done more than enough alone. Now that we're here, you can relax."

Evil retreats before the shining light.

The anomalies that had gathered to kill the elevator ghost fled in terror at the Fixer's appearance.

Now, all that remained was to uproot the source of all evil.

"W-wait a moment... There are people we need to save first..."

"Pardon? Where?"

Eve led the Fixer to the stalled elevator.

There were many in bad shape. Especially one uncle who had held off the infected for days.

He had to be saved. He deserved compensation.

"Jae-beom...?"

Seeing Yoon Jae-beom—whom he thought must have died long ago—still alive, Park Jae-hyeon couldn't hide his shock.

Inside the elevator stood children trapped in nightmares and Agent Yoon Jae-beom, whose anomaly transformation was nearly complete.

But could he even be called alive?

Over half his body was hideously warped, and his flesh had reached its limit.

Having fought to protect the elevator, he was battered beyond recognition and dying.

Saving him seemed daunting.

"P-Park Jae-hyeon... Agent... I... I did my best... I..."

The moment he faced the rescue team, Yoon Jae-beom felt relief and lost consciousness, collapsing.

At the same time, his body swelled dramatically, mutating rapidly.

Too late. No way to save him now...

"Hold on."

The Fixer pushed aside Agent An Jae-seong, who was injecting mutation suppressant into Yoon Jae-beom.

Suppressants couldn't handle this stage.

The Fixer quickly shed his hazmat suit to bare his arm, then jabbed an IV into Yoon Jae-beom's mangled arm and the other needle into himself.

In an instant, Yoon Jae-beom's rotting wounds began to heal.

His arm, mutated from consuming unknown organics, rapidly returned to normal.

30 vitality was more than enough to save one human, and life returned to Agent Yoon Jae-beom's face.

"How..."

"Don't fall asleep yet, Agent."

"Wh-who... are you...?"

"Rescue team. Stay conscious and get up slowly."

Yoon Jae-beom, returned from the brink of death, rose with a dazed expression.

"Agent Park Jae-hyeon."

"Yes! Speak."

"Can you take Agent Yoon Jae-beom and the survivors out of the apartment?"

The Fixer decided to leave Yoon Jae-beom and Park Jae-hyeon here.

"Leave it to me. Protecting them is no problem."

The Fixer nodded to the confident Agent Park Jae-hyeon, then gazed at the door to Room 404 that had appeared on the 10th floor.

They had finally reached the entrance to the 4th floor connected to the central plaza.

The anomalies no longer attacked the Fixer and the response team.

To be precise, they were waiting in the plaza for their arrival.

"They're swarming."

"Disgustingly so..."

The central plaza was packed with anomalies writhing their tendrils, not a foothold in sight, all glaring at the response team.

Even the offering-fed ghosts that had followed the team here were overwhelmed by the sheer number.

This was the nest and spawning ground created by the dream placenta.

"That is..."

Yoon Ha-seo trailed off at the mind-numbing sight. The others were the same.

At the center of the countless anomalies in the central plaza grew a tree made of humans.

No telling how many had been fed into it. The human tree, crafted from dozens, greeted the Fixer and response team.

And at the center of the trunk was a man's face—the only one retaining sanity in the human-composed tree.

A monster who had embedded an anomaly into his own body, transforming even himself.

Monk Seol Yun welcomed the Fixer and his group.

"Welcome. You made it here after all. Fine by me. Grand plans like this always get disrupted by idiot protesters. Yes, crises and trials make it all the more magnificent."

The dream placenta writhed, birthing anomaly spawn.

The man looked down contentedly, stroking his belly.

"Truly beautiful lifeforms. If only they have flesh to cling to, they birth themselves. Impregnate themselves. Near-infinitely. Like a dream."

The dream placenta let out eerie cries in response to his touch.

He hadn't opened the door himself, but the author of 'Fetal Dream Scripture', Monk Seol Yun, had brought the seeds of ███ through the opened door.

A master spirit sorcerer with an extraordinarily powerful soul. And one with the rare constitution to retain sanity even when 'fused with others'.

The dream placenta dwelled in Seol Yun's body—fused from dozens—and clung parasitically, birthing anomalies.

A little more time, and Seol Yun could become complete through the dream placenta.

Qualified to incarnate the great mother ███.

As a perfect incarnation, he could spread dream seeds everywhere.

All people on this land would dream deep, eternal dreams.

Escaping chaotic reality, reaching a new phase of life.

To Seol Yun, this was profoundly altruistic—the surest way to protect humanity from anomalies.

"If doomsday is inevitable anyway, better ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to dream happily without pain, no? Isn't it? This is... a blessing. Heaven aids me. All shall become one."

The Herald of the Fetal Dream Scripture, Seol Yun, truly believed his thoughts were right.

To him, the world was too chaotic, too dark, filled with pain and despair.

Better to dream sweetly than live in fear of unknown death.

The flesh might suffer, but the mind would taste supreme pleasure.

Offering himself to the dream placenta was an equal exchange: bodily pain for mental ecstasy.

"Great mother... Lord of dreams..."

He recalled the form of the great being he had once encountered.

The goddess who had veiled him personally to preserve his mind.

Soon, he could summon her and turn this land to rest. Time to realize the Fetal Dream Scripture.

Less than two days remained until his wish came true.

Unlike some cult leader dreaming of summoning the Twin Ghost King to rule the world, Seol Yun acted to benefit it, believing his deeds 'good karma'—sure to be aided by heaven.

"Yes. Heaven has helped you, as you thought."

The Fixer acknowledged heaven had aided Seol Yun.

But not that it approved his actions.

"Heaven sent me here before you crossed the final line. Dream in hell. And burn to death."

Before the anomalies could react, flames erupted.

Whoosh.

The central plaza was engulfed in karmic fire.

The Fixer bestowed true salvation and purification upon the arrogant evildoer who had rampaged without knowing his place.