Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 104. Erlkönig, Op. 1, D 328
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My eyes met the old man's as blood trickled from my nose.
"Tell me, what did you see..."
-Thud!
Before I knew it, Yoo Daon had pulled out an awl from who-knows-where behind the old man and was holding it to his neck, while Song Arin stood in front of me like a shield.
Jang Chaeyeon was reaching out toward him.
"Even if it's another branch, I'm still the branch chief, you know."
He clicked his tongue and chuckled.
"What if word of this gets out?"
"What do you mean, 'what if'?"
As I wiped the blood from my nose with my sleeve, Yoo Daon muttered while pressing the awl even closer to the back of his neck, smiling brightly.
"If it gets out, it gets out, right?"
Disregarding his words entirely, she shoved the awl closer to the old man's neck.
"Alright, alright, I get it."
In the end, the old man raised both hands as if conceding.
"I was just curious. I wanted to see the skills of the HR Team, said to be the best in intel right now."
Even at his words, Yoo Daon didn't budge an inch and looked at me instead.
"Did this guy hit Jaeheon?"
"No."
Only then did Yoo Daon pull the awl away.
"But where'd the awl come from?"
"I got it."
I see.
"Anyway... I didn't see anything else."
...
The old man grinned slyly at me.
"If you say so, then that's that."
...
"Can I go now?"
"You could stay a bit longer."
"No, I'll head in."
"Suit yourself."
I thought he'd try to hold me back even a little more.
He waved his hand as if he understood.
"Right, let me give you one piece of advice."
As I was about to leave with the others, he looked at me and grinned ear to ear.
"They say the first scene you saw was the past, and the second one was the future."
...
Past and future?
"Don't listen."
Jang Chaeyeon muttered as she pushed my back,
...
And Song Arin glanced at the mirror with a disgusted expression before turning away.
"What'd you see?"
"Something creepy."
She muttered with an even fiercer scowl than before as she started walking.
*
The old man didn't see us off.
As we descended to the lobby, I mulled over his words.
The first scene is the past, the second is the future.
If the first scene I saw was the past...
'...Kept interfering right up to the end. Next time, I'll definitely strike first-.'
My dead body and a voice full of static.
Even if the noise made it impossible to identify who it was, context pointed to only one possibility.
...
What the hell was past me doing to make an enemy of a regressor?
Or did the regressor do something that made past me chase him down relentlessly?
Conversely, why couldn't he eliminate me?
...
"No."
What if he had tried to eliminate me?
I recalled how many times he'd regressed.
666 regressions.
Is there any guarantee he didn't try to kill me during all that time?
If he failed, the reason...
Unconsciously, my gaze drifted to the three women.
The three of them descending the stairs ahead, unaware of my stare.
No way to know.
Ugh, a sigh escaped me unbidden.
Next is the future.
The future scene was honestly more horrifying than the past one.
Song Arin and Jang Chaeyeon dead in gruesome states, and Yoo Daon shoving me aside.
If that's the future...
...
No. Don't jump to conclusions. It's just a future shown by the mirror, after all.
Still, keep it in mind.
The regressor's words, and recent events not going so well...
Lost in those thoughts, we reached the lobby.
No one was waiting for us there either.
Weird. According to the Gangseo Branch Chief, someone should be waiting, right?
As I tilted my head in thought, Yoo Daon sidled up and whispered in my ear.
"Jaeheon, Jaeheon."
"Yes."
She held out the awl to me.
"What's with the awl?"
"I was told to show it to you."
"Show it? For wha—"
Before I could finish, a translucent window appeared above the awl, and I shut my mouth.
[Name: Awl]
[Age: Created 20 years ago]
[Specialty: Stabbing]
[Talent: -]
[Background: The man pondered as he crafted the object. This awl is too dull for my tastes. Let's make a sharper one.]
[Weakness: He entrusted this awl to someone he trusted.]
"What is this?"
"He said you'd know if I showed you this."
"No, who gave it to you?"
"Oh, right."
Yoo Daon opened her mouth, then made a puzzled face and closed it again.
"Uh...?"
"Daon?"
"Uh, uh...?"
"What's wrong?"
"...No, it's just. We definitely faced each other like this..."
Yoo Daon widened her eyes.
"I don't remember."
"That's classic memory loss."
Song Arin, who'd been listening to our conversation, chimed in.
"Memory loss?"
"Yeah, take me right now."
-Smack!
"Ow!"
Song Arin flicked Yoo Daon's forehead, and Yoo Daon rubbed her head with a dazed look.
"Huh? Did something just... hit me?"
"Like that."
Song Arin muttered smugly,
"Song Arin."
"What."
"You might wanna brace yourself."
"Huh?"
-Smack!
"Ugh!"
The moment my warning ended, Yoo Daon slammed her fist straight down on Song Arin's head.
Song Arin clutched her head and crouched down, while Yoo Daon smiled at me.
"That's for Arin hitting you, right?"
"Yes."
"You're such a jerk... I didn't hit you that hard..."
Song Arin muttered in a teary voice, cradling her crown.
"Don't do it again!"
"You little... next time you're dead..."
Yoo Daon scolded Song Arin sternly, while Song Arin grumbled with her head covered, ignoring her. I turned my gaze back to the awl.
No clue.
I peered closely at the translucent window again.
Name, age, specialty, talent—none visible. Just background and weakness...
Someone trustworthy, and a man.
...
Always more questions piling up.
"No idea."
Guess I'll just ask the branch chief.
"By the way, we taking the plane back too?"
"Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded slowly.
"Do we have to?"
"That's the procedure."
"...Why?"
"We took the subway back from Gangdong Branch."
At least the subway's quick.
I sighed and kept walking.
"You don't want this, Jaeheon?"
Perhaps sensing our talk was over, Yoo Daon trotted up beside me and offered the awl.
I instinctively reached for it, then stopped.
"No. You keep it, Daon."
"Huh, why?"
"...Well."
It'd be a shame seeing her charge at monsters barehanded every time. But saying that might hurt her feelings.
"Just... it suits you."
Her face lit up at my words.
"Really? Then this is a present from you, Jaeheon?"
Who gifts an awl?
"...Uh..."
"Thank you!"
Before I could finish, Yoo Daon hugged the awl to her chest and beamed.
Well, she's so happy—can't exactly say it's not a present now.
"Next time, something better."
Yoo Daon's eyes widened even more, but before she could speak, Song Arin breezed past us.
"What're you doing? Not going?"
"We are."
"Good. I hate this place."
Song Arin spat thorny words as she headed out the door, and Jang Chaeyeon followed with a cold expression.
Fast walkers.
*
The trip to the plane was no different from before.
Same uncomfortable seats, same bumpy flight through the skies.
A bit better since I'd done it once.
"Um."
"Yes?"
Jang Chaeyeon, sitting beside me, leaned in and whispered.
"Got a question."
"Sure."
Her long lashes tickled my face.
"That. Aesthete."
"Oh, yeah."
...
"How'd you know?"
Her voice was nothing like her usual tone with me.
Pure terror.
...
"Pardon?"
Before she could say more, someone tapped my shoulder.
"Time to go."
Already?
A woman with crimson hair and freckles, her smile unsettling.
"Talk later."
"Okay."
I stood with Jang Chaeyeon and started walking.
As expected, Yoo Daon and Song Arin were already there waiting.
"Alright, I'll head out then?"
Just like before, Yoo Daon stepped forward, Song Arin entered after her.
"Then me too—"
I turned to Jang Chaeyeon, but locked eyes with our guide.
Untidy red hair, freckles plastered in an eerie way.
A massive stitched scar around her neck, like some huge surgery.
A translucent window popped up over her head.
[Name: Aesthete]
[Age: -]
[Features: Art]
[Talent: Art]
[Background: If asked to name the top ten most harmful entities to humanity, this cautionary object proudly claims one spot.]
[Weakness: All art galleries it creates will burn away, and it will vanish with them.]
She held an invitation in one hand and smiled delightedly.
"Time for delightful art."
"Chaeyeon, ru—"
I opened my mouth to warn Jang Chaeyeon, but before I could speak, the Aesthete shoved us both.
Not a mannequin hand—a human one.
Jang Chaeyeon and I plummeted into endless darkness.
After a brief floating sensation, classical music reached my ears, and I opened my eyes.
...
It was a vast art gallery.
But different from the one where I'd seen the Aesthete.
Darkly gleaming floors instead of marble, no chandeliers—just dim lighting illuminating the space.
The artworks hanging nearby asserted their presence, reminding me this was an art gallery.
"I told you to ditch the invitation!"
Song Arin's irritated voice.
"Looks like an art gallery?"
Yoo Daon's bright voice.
...
And Jang Chaeyeon's silence.
The three women's voices came from beside me.
As I glanced around briefly,
-Shhh!
The manual unfurled naturally onto my hand.
[Office Manual]
[Gallery No. 1 - Pavilion of Love and Darkness]
[Welcome to the Pavilion of Love and Darkness. This place will fully awaken your artistic senses, perhaps even making you wish to become art itself.]
[Falling here means you're linked to the Aesthete object for some reason. The Management Bureau sincerely regrets it cannot intervene.]
I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them.
Like the hospital, and the amusement park.
I hurriedly read the next entry.
1. First, die once.
...
Not easy from the start.