Chapter 105

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Translator: 8uhl

Chapter: 105

Chapter Title: I'll Prove You Wrong

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"I've come to pick you up, Se-bin."

There was no response from Se-bin. She was so still that I wondered if she was even alive.

"Kang Se-bin!"

A bad feeling hit me out of nowhere. I grabbed her face and turned it toward me. Those bottomless black eyes stared right back. A faint breath brushed my skin.

"Haa..."

A sigh of relief escaped my lips. I gripped her shoulders and barely managed to pull her upper body upright.

No visible wounds.

She didn't seem physically hurt, which was a relief, but her mental state was a total wreck. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and her bangs were matted to her forehead with sweat.

"Kang Se-bin."

Se-bin avoided my gaze, lips pressed tight.

I had so many questions. Were all those corpses from the nightmare your doing? Did you return the friendship necklace? Why did you intercept the letter?

And... were you dreaming of me dying?

The questions swirling in my head tormented me until they all mashed together into one tangled mess. I pried my reluctant lips apart and spoke carefully.

"You should've just been honest with me."

Se-bin flinched at my words. Like a kid caught red-handed, she flicked her eyes toward me before dropping her head again.

"It wouldn't have mattered if it wasn't me specifically."

"Everything precious to me ends up leaving my side."

"I keep thinking you'll be in my future..."

"The idea that I might spend my whole life with you, Ji-ui... that's why I tried to take you away right then."

Se-bin's words settled heavily in my mind, one by one.

If she'd just been upfront with me, I would've said something before my gut burned like this.

She knew full well how weak I am to people asking for favors, yet Se-bin never burdened me with any.

Idiot.

It felt too half-hearted to call her "sweet," even if it pricked my conscience a bit.

"If you'd been honest..."

"Huh?"

"You would've kept worrying about me and stayed by my side."

Se-bin, who'd been silent the whole time, finally spoke.

"That wouldn't work."

"..."

"You're already looking out for too many people, Ji-ui. At the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠very least, I need to lighten your load."

Drip.

Tears finally fell from her black eyes.

"At least someone has to take care of you."

"Se-bin..."

"That's why I wanted to be the perfect person—one you wouldn't have to worry about."

Se-bin rubbed her eyes furiously with her coat sleeve, her shoulders trembling. It was a childish sob, nothing like anything I'd ever seen from her.

Looking back now, Se-bin really had been the perfect friend to me. She never rebelled against adults, never fought with anyone else. Her grades were great before awakening, and she kept up with studies even after.

She'd never once asked me for help.

"But then I'd end up alone again... and I hated that too..."

"Haa..."

"Sorry. It's because I'm such a hypocrite..."

Her sobs broke up her words. When I didn't reply, she just kept repeating "sorry." Se-bin, fully broken down and baring her true feelings, looked weaker than I'd ever seen her.

The real idiot here is me.

I thought we were as close as family, but I didn't know her at all. A sharp pang stabbed my chest.

"You're disappointed in me, right?"

Se-bin uttered the exact same words as her 98th self. I was reflected in her bloodshot eyes, her lips trembling after spilling her heart.

"No."

"Liar."

"Not a lie."

We bickered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like children. Se-bin had calmed a bit and was staring straight at me now, catching her breath.

"You saw what I'm like."

"..."

"Manipulating the kids, hating on your friends just because I wanted to be close to you..."

Se-bin clamped her lips shut. Sure, those actions weren't normal, but they were the tamest things she'd done.

She came to save me even after the 98th regression.

Thwack.

"Ow."

I lightly flicked her forehead. She stared at me blankly, clearly confused.

"Why do you think I'm here?"

"Ji-ui..."

"I came to save you, Kang Se-bin."

Before she could deny it, I pressed on.

"Maybe saving you ten years ago was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fluke, but this time? I'm here for you—Kang Se-bin specifically."

I didn't need the status window to know Se-bin was utterly confused. I could practically hear the gears grinding in her head as she tried to process my words.

"Kang Se-bin, you said it yourself—everything precious to you ends up leaving."

"...Yeah."

"You're wrong. As long as I'm around, that statement doesn't hold."

Grab!

I seized her collar. She flinched, eyes wide as she looked at me.

"I'll be your counterexample."

"..."

"And you'll stick by my side and watch me prove it."

Tears streamed from Se-bin's eyes again. They trailed down her smooth face, dripping onto the back of my hand. She tried to stop crying, but ended up sobbing like a child and burying her face in my shoulder.

Finally, I can relax.

With all the issues resolved, my tensed-up body started to loosen. Now we just had to find the source of her nightmare and get out.

"Prove that my thinking... is wrong."

"Don't worry."

Se-bin lifted her head. Her red, puffy eyes from crying made me want to chuckle, but she ignored my reaction and spoke with dead seriousness.

"Until you do, I'll protect you, Ji-ui."

That's my girl.

Rustle.

I straightened her messy coat, then stood. She rose with me.

Alright, now...

"We need to find the source of this nightmare."

"The source...? I've killed everything suspicious already."

I silently offered her the Gourmet's Fork. She examined it, then realization dawned. She raised one eyebrow and suddenly stabbed her own wrist.

Stab.

"Wh-what are you doing?!"

"Huh? This nightmare's all my fault in the end, so I'm the source..."

"Haaaa..."

I let out a sigh so long it emptied my lungs. Luckily, her wrist was fine aside from a light fork mark.

All those piled-up corpses outside were her doing too, huh.

My mouth tasted bitter for some reason.

"Ah..."

Then Se-bin let out a short sigh. I turned to see her staring down at her shadow. Her shadow, which had been rippling like it wanted to swallow the whole space, had returned to normal.

"Ji-ui."

Se-bin pointed at her shadow with the fork. I looked down too—and saw black mist boiling up from it.

The source of the nightmare is in her shadow?

I looked back up at Se-bin. A lonely smile waited for me.

"I don't know how I look on the outside, but my true self ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠has always been ugly."

"..."

"So instead of killing the me others see..."

Stab.

"I should've killed this."

The fork plunged straight through the black mist. Crimson-black blood oozed from the shadow, and cracks spiderwebbed across the entire space around us.

Crash!

The letters appeared as the pure white space shattered. We floated in midair, like drifting on water.

Loss...

As we headed to the Gourmet's Lounge, I quietly reflected on Se-bin's life.

A life where precious things slipped away one by one, until in some timeline, she lost even her own existence.

Grab.

I took her wrist. She looked at me with gentle eyes.

"Let's never disappear on each other."

Se-bin's eyes widened.

"...Yeah."

Then she smiled brightly and nodded.

We wouldn't lose or abandon anything.

Especially not each other.

Boom!!

"Urk!"

"Cha Do-yun Hunter!"

Azure flames erupted. Do-yun's Heaven's Disaster barely redirected them, but the flames were too massive to fully evade. Clutching his arm as he staggered back, a Healing Hand settled over the peeled skin.

"Haa, haa, ugh!"

"Hang in there just a bit longer, Cha Do-yun Hunter. I'll buy us some time."

Jin-woo leaped off the Lucky Rabbit's Foot and kicked the ground. The parched earth turned to sticky mud, sucking in the humanoid figure of black dust. The dark shape, wreathed in flames, tried to rise, but only sank deeper.

We have to hold out until Shin Ji-ui Hunter and Kang Se-bin Hunter arrive...

Jin-woo gritted his teeth and eyed the Air Raid Shelter behind the black figure. The crimson-flamed cube stood unscathed against every attack.

"Choi Min Hunter! Please come out!"

He bellowed at it, but his fragile cries couldn't pierce the impenetrable blaze.

Kaboom!!

A deafening explosion ripped from the mud as flames burst free. The black figure soared high, gazing down alternately at Jin-woo and Do-yun. Do-yun reformed his stance the moment Healing Hand faded from his arm. But all they could do was endure until Ji-ui and Se-bin arrived.

"That's definitely Choi Min Hunter's nightmare source."

"The problem is, the one who needs to catch it is trapped inside the shelter..."

Do-yun chewed his lower lip at Jin-woo's words.

Floating through Min's nightmare, they'd witnessed all her traumas. At the end, they met her inside the shelter—but she was so far gone she didn't even remember herself. Explanations fell on deaf ears.

So Jin-woo and Do-yun were expelled outside. Waiting for them: the nightmare source, wearing Min's form but cloaked in black dust.

Bang!!

More azure flames lashed out. They dodged swiftly, but the scorching heat choked them and dazed their minds.

Time's almost up...!

Do-yun drew back the string of Morning Glory and fired at the ground beneath the shelter.

Kaboom!

The wind arrow bored into the earth without slowing. He aimed to shake the shelter itself. Do-yun crouched low, loosing more arrows that tore at the ground toward it.

A massive roar kicked up dust clouds.

Whoosh—

Do-yun swept the dust away with Heaven's Disaster.

"Hoo, haa... damn it all."

A wry, twisted smile crossed his lips at the sight.

The ground had collapsed into a cliff, yet the shelter remained perfectly in place. He looked up again.

The nightmare source, identical to Min, loomed like a world-ender, staring down at him.