Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 100. Gordian Knot
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-Boom!
With every swing of the Branch Chief's fist, the air split with a ripping sound, and monsters exploded.
Completely soaked by the rain, she swung her fist with a smile.
-Boom!
Watching her from behind the door, a sense of injustice welled up.
Me, Yoo Daon, and Jang Chaeyeon had used joint prayer just to catch one of those things, smashed windows, and even forced a look at the ceiling. What the hell had all my efforts been for?
As expected, having a strong body means your brain doesn't have to suffer, right?
-Pour...
"Can I take a look?"
The Branch Chief turned to me amid the rain.
"Yes?"
"The sky."
"Uh..."
I looked up at the sky as she said.
The sky, endlessly shedding tears, had fixed its gaze on the Branch Chief.
"...It looks pretty dangerous."
"Oh my, it's staring at me."
...
As if she had anticipated it, the Branch Chief smiled and drew out a branch. At the same moment, the rain began pouring ferociously.
If the rain until just now could be called a downpour, this rain was like a typhoon.
People—or whatever had once been people—rushing toward the Branch Chief were swept away by the wind.
Yet amid it all, only the Branch Chief stood tall, gazing at the sky.
"Come on, Kim Jaeheon."
"Yes?"
-Whoosh!
Her hair fluttered wildly in the ceaseless wind.
"From now on, I'm going to use this branch."
...
Even as the fierce rain and wind raged, her calm voice pierced through to my ear.
"If I do, I'll be heading somewhere for a bit."
"...Where?"
"Secret."
Still keeping her eyes closed, she smiled playfully and pressed a finger to her lips.
"After that, your role gets important, Kim Jaeheon."
...
Our eyes met.
She smiled with her eyes as she spoke.
"Everything will return to normal, so don't worry."
"You're certain?"
Even with the Branch Chief standing right in front of me, I couldn't help voicing the doubt in my heart.
Will that really be enough?
"Of course!"
Soaked in the rain, she smiled brightly like a child.
"Isn't that our job?"
...
Was it childlike faith, or the faith of someone who had personally performed countless miracles and witnessed them come true?
Her words rang with unwavering conviction that everything would naturally resolve well.
"...Well, then. Guess I have to."
She had called me for a reason—it had to be something I could handle. At least, that's what I hoped.
Our eyes met.
"Please, tell me."
"The rain falling soon will turn into ordinary rain with no effect whatsoever."
"Yes. ...Yes?"
"Push straight through the rain to where the eye was."
"Uh..."
Where the eye had been?
"Ah, not to the sky."
"I know you can't fly, Kim Jaeheon," the Branch Chief added with a laugh.
"Of course, if you'd like, you can go with the HR Team members."
"Having reliable people is always a good thing, right?" she said with a smile before continuing.
"You'll find a very, very big tree there."
"Yes."
"Look at the tree."
"...Uh, yes."
"That should do it!"
"Isn't that a bit short on details?"
Just go look at a tree?
"Do you really need to send me specifically for that?"
Anyone else could handle it just fine.
"No."
She shook her head at my words.
"You'll understand when you get there."
"...Alright, then."
Satisfied with my response, she smiled and cracked open her red eyes to meet mine.
"You'll trust me?"
She waved her hand, then hurled the branch into the sky.
The instant the branch hung in the air,
She and the eye in the sky vanished like dust.
*
Heading toward the main gate, I spotted the HR Team members I'd parted with earlier, clustered together and chatting about something.
"Everyone!"
I waved and shouted. Their three gazes turned to me.
"What? Already over?"
"It's not over."
I gave Song Arin a curt reply as she eyed me curiously, then relayed what had happened with the Branch Chief.
"...So, I'd like your help."
"I'm in."
Jang Chaeyeon answered immediately and straightened her clothes.
"If you need me, I have to go."
Yoo Daon pulled on her gloves as she replied.
"...Fine. No choice for me, huh?"
Song Arin let out a sigh and tied her shoelaces.
As we neared the main gate, someone blocked our path like they were waiting.
"You can't leave right now..."
"By order of the Branch Chief."
"Wait—are you Kim Jaeheon?"
"...That's me."
It was the guy who'd been rolling around earlier.
I scanned above his head.
[Name: Ahn Sanghyeon]
[Age: 31]
[Specialty: Rolling]
[Talent: Unaffected by interference while rolling]
[Background: He was hired by the Management Bureau Containment Team solely because rolling evades all attacks and interference. But no one knew. He would become the strongest member of the Gangseo Branch Containment Team.]
[Weakness: Without rolling, he's no different from an ordinary human.]
...
The world was full of strange people.
"I've heard from the Branch Chief."
"Ah, yes. ...Yes."
He looked at me and spoke in a solid voice. I responded awkwardly.
Thud.
Jang Chaeyeon gripped my shoulder protectively and glared at him with wary eyes.
"...Uh, why?"
"Careful."
"Haha, Jang Chaeyeon, right? Got time later to experiment with our abilities?"
"No."
Now I remembered—Jang Chaeyeon had said it before.
The ace of the Gangseo Branch Containment Team was a weirdo.
What kind of madness lurked behind that upright tone to make her say that?
"...Anyway, we're in a hurry."
"Oh man, my head. Right, since the Branch Chief cleared it."
He smacked his forehead and shouted loudly.
"Open the gate! It's the Branch Chief's designated personnel!"
The Containment Team opened the door.
"Take care out there. We've got our own orders from the Branch Chief to handle."
He flashed me a spirited grin. Jang Chaeyeon's expression hardened further as she clenched her fist.
"Let's go."
The three fell in behind me at my words.
Four of us set off down the drizzling street.
"But what's this about a tree?"
Jang Chaeyeon eyed me curiously. I could only give her a vague answer.
"She just said 'a tree.'"
"Just any tree?"
"Yeah."
"...Tricky."
Jang Chaeyeon muttered with a furrowed brow.
"But why's that guy so weird?"
"...Impure ideology."
Jang Chaeyeon muttered again, brow furrowed as if recalling him.
"Finding the tree gonna take long?"
"Dunno."
But against Jang Chaeyeon's words, finding the tree proved easier than expected.
...
I headed toward where the eye had been.
Soon, a massive olive tree loomed into view.
It wasn't particularly tall, but its trunk was enormous, radiating a sense of deep-rooted stability.
"There it is."
"...Never seen anything like it."
Jang Chaeyeon blinked. A translucent window popped up before my eyes.
[Name: Olive Tree]
[Age: Created moments ago]
[Specialty: X]
[Talent: X]
[Background: Yet I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God forever.]
[Weakness: Uproot it. Absolutely do not cut it. Absolutely do not burn it. Absolutely do not snap its branches.]
...
So that's why she called me.
"Chaeyeon."
"Yeah."
"Can you uproot it?"
"...I'll try."
Jang Chaeyeon stared at the tree for a moment, then extended both hands.
-Crunch...!
The tree began to tear free from the ground with a gruesome sound.
"...Ngh...!"
Jang Chaeyeon gritted her teeth, frowning as she strained.
-Squelch...!
The tree ripped completely free.
The rain stopped. The sky cleared rapidly, and sunlight pierced my eyes.
I squeezed my eyes shut against the glare, then opened them.
"...Huh."
Muggy air enveloped me.
I looked around.
Blazing sunlight beat down. People on the street noticed us and pointed.
Not a trace of water remained. The people who'd been submerged simply stared at us, back to their daily lives.
...
And with my own eyes, I confirmed they were all living humans.
"Wait, the tree..."
"...Gone."
In that instant, remembering Jang Chaeyeon had uprooted it with telekinesis, I whipped around to her. She met my gaze with a dazed expression.
The tree she'd pulled up had vanished, as if it had never been there.
"Oh my, faster than I expected?"
The Branch Chief's voice sounded from behind me.
I turned to look at her.
Her clothes torn in places, blue bruises on the backs of her hands, cheek swollen from some blow—yet she beamed.
"...Good work."
She glanced at the others and smiled brightly.
"Shall we head back? Rest up tomorrow, everyone."
"...Just tomorrow?"
"Branch Chief discretion only gets you one day off. But you're young—should be fine."
"...Gotta talk like an old fogey?"
Song Arin muttered under her breath as she passed. The Branch Chief's eyes flew wide as she stared at her.
"...Sorry."
Color drained from Song Arin's face. She bowed her head hastily and mumbled.
"Come on, let's go? Ice cream on the way back."
I watched the Branch Chief stride ahead happily, our colleagues following, then scanned the surroundings.
People lying like corpses in the water.
The warning not to touch the water.
The Management Bureau on the brink of collapse.
Yet the Branch Chief and Containment Team had been oddly relaxed.
Bone-dry ground. Living people. The eye in the sky.
Could all that really end like it was nothing?
I stared at the spot where the tree had been uprooted.
Sudden rain and disaster. Revived people.
'Prepare to evacuate, just in case.'
Jang Chaeyeon's terrified eyes.
'No memory or thought of what happened, is happening, or will happen—just the urge to pack and head to the Management Bureau. That's what's scary.'
Song Arin's words.
Maybe this wasn't the first or second time.
If so, then me too...
A sudden chill gripped my body.
"What're you doing? Coming?"
"...Yeah."
I shook my head and followed the three.
No way. God, I hoped not.
*
...
...
"So! To commend our two hardworking members, I'm giving a little reward!"
Watching the Branch Chief laugh cheerfully, I glanced at the man seated beside me.
[Name: Kim Wanwoo]
[Age: 28]
[Specialty: Regression]
[Talent: -]
[Background: 666th Round]
[Weakness: Think of the Gordian Knot.]
His eyes, far more gaunt than before, fixed on me.
An inexplicable tenacity emanated from him.