Chapter 26
Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Can't Find It (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
When she opened her eyes in the morning,
Lee Seol thought to herself.
'So empty...'
As she got out of bed and walked down the hallway lined with white marble floors, she thought again.
'I want to talk to someone...'
Even as she stepped into the spacious bathroom with its anti-slip treatment,
even after washing up and standing before the massive window overlooking the Han River, confirming with her own eyes what she'd only heard about before—"Your place has an insane Han River view"—
even as she brewed a cup of coffee,
even as she sat in her soundproofed studio equipped with all sorts of production gear, layering notes one by one while composing,
- Nunnun-nim. The OST you sent this time is amazing! Thank you so much. I was worried about the schedule slipping, but... as expected from Nunnun-nim. You crushed it with the quality. Yes. Yes. The drama's going to be a huge hit, and I'll make sure to repay you. Yes, yes. Thank you!
even while taking a work-related call,
Lee Seol thought.
'I want to talk to someone! I want to see them!'
But who?
Who exactly?
"Argh! Damn it! This is unbearable!"
In the end, Lee Seol couldn't hold back today either and shot up from her seat.
She stuck a bandage with a rabbit drawn on it over her missing left ear, where she could no longer hear stereo sound,
and drew a smiley face on the spot where her pinky finger used to be,
then headed outside.
She wandered aimlessly.
Whenever she walked like this, her feet always took her to the same place. Amid the tall-walled buildings, a pretty alley where sunlight filtered in.
The very alley where she had gained her eyes.
"..."
Lee Seol stood there silently.
"...I'm back again."
She didn't know why she kept coming. But this feeling tugging at her heart...
"...Who the hell am I waiting for? No. What...?"
Everything felt blurry. Just standing here like this.
Some days, it felt like she had met someone.
Other days, it felt like she never met anyone, as always.
But when she snapped out of it, she was always standing here, waiting for someone, or something.
Endlessly.
"This is frustrating..."
Before she knew it, the sun was setting.
Lee Seol's shadow stretched longer and longer, leaning against the high wall.
"...Whoa. The sunset. Wow."
The red light that set the whole sky ablaze, the molten gold yellow, and the cotton-candy clouds dyed in purple and pink.
"Oh my god..."
Lee Seol's mouth fell open.
She still felt a pang of resentment sometimes.
Especially at moments like this.
"Other people... they've been seeing things like this every day their whole lives...? What kind of life is that...?"
In truth, the kind of sunset she was witnessing now was so rare that even people with perfectly healthy eyes might only see it once in a lifetime, but she didn't know that.
She was just overwhelmed by the wonder of this moment right in front of her, regretting that she could only see it now.
"It's so beautiful..."
Lee Seol thought.
For some reason, this moment felt eternal.
Like she was born here and would die here, that strange sense of déjà vu.
"...Some kind of music is coming to mind."
Hmm~
Humm♪
Hmm♬ Hmmm♪ Mm~
She hummed.
Without realizing it.
In front of the most majestic and beautiful sunset she'd seen since gaining her eyes, she hummed a tune.
Maybe she should compose a song like this on the way home.
With that thought, as she turned to head back home with soft footsteps, it took a few corners for her to realize.
"...Huh?"
The scenery wasn't changing.
No matter how many corners she turned.
Again and again.
The same place from before.
The same sunset from before.
"Hmm...?"
The eternal,
Twilight of Waiting,
had swallowed her whole.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ No answers came, even as time passed.
Just more worries piling up.
I'm going insane.
"How do I even make a proxy...?"
Sometimes, while pacing and scratching at the floor in frustration, inspiration strikes suddenly.
Very plausible inspiration.
"Scissors! Maybe make some scissors. Scissors that can cut shadows."
Once inspiration hits, it's like someone whispering in my head—settings and details assemble automatically.
How about this?
The shadow cut by the scissors mimics me. Clumsily at first. Then more precisely. But at some point, it starts changing, becoming different from me. Completely independent.
Born as a shadow that mechanically imitates me, but eventually transcending that fate to forge its own path... a growth story!
Isn't this way better than making a straw doll?
It makes sense for me to hope the shadow becomes different from me, and no worries about it turning into a doppelganger that attacks to replace me...
Much better...
"Argh... what do I do."
I was excitedly rolling with the idea when I slumped back in my chair like injeolmi dough spun on the stove again.
"It seems better... but it's dangerous in a different way..."
The concept of the shadow overcoming me and growing differently is good.
But.
Then.
Will it act as my proxy?
"Overcoming me and finding its own path to grow? A shadow like that... it'd just go independent and live its own life..."
That's the problem.
Independent from me, living its own life? Fine. No issue there. If the shadow's happy, who am I to complain?
But.
What if.
What if.
The new life it discovers, its own way, whatever—if that's something really cruel and evil?
What if the shadow that overcame and grew from me starts killing people, going, "Ahh, this is it. This red blood. These tearing screams. I've finally found the meaning of my life..."?
So.
I can't think naively.
The opponent is a ghost story.
Even our nice Rational Gacha brings hearts from who-knows-where... That's what ghost stories are like...
I need to maximize plausibility and minimize side effects.
"Sigh... stuck again. What now? Is there really no plausible way to make it mimic me without side effects...?"
I tilted my head back fully.
The room upside down.
Sunlight streamed into the living room window, stretching a window shadow across the floor.
Shadow.
What the hell is the Shadow Office doing? They said they were preparing. Preparing something for me. Whatever it is, isn't it about time?
Office, please. Give me an answer...
...
...
"...Maybe I should go for a walk."
Clutching my head like this was suffocating.
I threw on some clothes and headed out. Where to?
I walked without thinking...
——!!
Hm...?
——? ?!
Hmm...?
A really strange feeling came over me.
Like something was calling me.
"What is this feeling?"
I followed the inexplicable pull, step by step.
Before I knew it, I was on the subway.
Walking more, I got off somewhere.
Walking further, I entered a clean, pretty alley lined with high walls.
The sun was just starting to set.
"This place..."
I'd come here purely on instinct, without a thought.
But the destination was surprisingly familiar.
"I'm back here again."
The very alley where I met Lee Seol.
No. Why did I come here?
Did I suddenly miss Lee Seol or something?
What.
Puzzled on my own, I turned the corner anyway.
And,
"Huh?"
A familiar woman came into view.
Sensing my presence, she whipped around to look at me.
Slacks, a crisp white shirt ironed so clean it seemed to carry a fragrance, long ponytail reaching her waist.
She shouted upon seeing me.
"Oh, you came! You really came! Mas—! No. No no. No. Uh. Kim I-han-ssi!"
If it had been Lee Seol, that'd be one thing.
But this face I never imagined running into here—I parted my lips in a daze.
"Shin Na... Team Leader...?"
"Yes. Long time no see!"
She flashed a bright smile.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "So, you're saying Team Leader Shin Na called me here?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Just! In my heart. Since I didn't have your contact or any way to reach you. Mas—! Ahem! No. Mas— Khkhum! Sigh. Anyway, Kim... I-han-ssi, I have something to say to you. Please help me. Please come see me. I prayed desperately like that inside."
What is she saying?
Normally, I'd call it nonsense. But right now, I couldn't dismiss it that way.
I'd felt something calling me. That's why I came here... and it was Team Leader Shin Na? I can feel it if she just calls me in her mind?
Seeing me stare blankly, Shin Na cleared her throat and continued.
"Well. Anyway. Mas—! Ahem! I-han-ssi knows the situation, right? Sometimes you receive what I see and feel... transmitted to you? I had that feeling. Like reporting something."
Ah. She knew about that too.
She's right.
I periodically received fragments of her memories and emotions. That's how I knew she kept seeing me as her master, and roughly what situation she was in now.
I bowed my head.
"That's... true. I'm sorry, Team Leader Shin. I never imagined such restrictions would arise."
"No. No. Nothing for you to apologize for. You saved my life, and this is the result. I'm grateful instead. Well. Anyway. That... mas—! Ahem! Since I-han-ssi and I ended up in this master-servant relationship, I thought if I desperately called out inside, you'd come."
"Ah..."
I glanced around cautiously. Was the World Health Safety League setting a trap or something?
"It's not a trap, don't worry. If it were, I couldn't even call you. You know. I can't—! Ahem! Ugh, this is annoying. Fine, I'll just say it. Master! You know I can't harm my master at all."
Eek.
Right now.
She said "Master"...
I knew it, but hearing it face-to-face felt completely different...
"Ahem! What. Master. What. Why. What!"
"N-no, nothing."
"Sigh..."
Shin Na Team Leader fanned her flushed red face and said to me,
"Anyway. I have a favor to ask."
"Ah. Sure. Go ahead."
"Actually, I came to investigate an Aberrant Reality Pollution Source, but someone had entered before me. This ARPS only allows one person at a time..."
"There's that kind of thing too."
"Yes. So the person inside now has to die for me to enter."
"...That's extreme."
"Right? So I thought, maybe with Master's power... you could save them."
"Ah."
"You can create ARPS, and as long as it doesn't break plausibility, you can probably modify them too. This pollution phenomenon... it's cruel. They have to wait until they wither away and die..."
"..."
I couldn't answer easily.
Yeah. Definitely.
I might be able to help.
But... what side effects might come from that, who knows...
As I hesitated, Shin Na Team Leader said,
"Oh. The missing person trapped right now has a connection to you, Master."
A connection? With me?
The moment I heard that, a chill slid up my spine.
"Her name's Lee Seol. Someone who used your gacha machine. You might not know her personally, but it's still a connection... isn't there some way?"
My throat tightened.
"Official designation ARPS-HTS-31038. We call it the Twilight of Waiting among ourselves... If you wait endlessly for someone here, it swallows you. I felt... sorry for her. Wondering who she was waiting for in this alley to end up like this."
My breath stopped.
Just then, twilight fell. Red and yellow light swallowed us, casting long shadows down the alley.
Three human silhouettes etched on the wall.
My shadow.
Shin Na's shadow.
And... between us, the lonely silhouette of a familiar woman, crouched down.
Shin Na glanced at the shadow and muttered bitterly.
"People swallowed by the Twilight of Waiting reveal their traces like this once a day. Only at the moment twilight falls. Without a physical form, just as shadows in the dusk."
Twilight.
Two people.
Three shadows.
Lee Seol's crouched shadow
buried its head in its knees.