Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 116. Strongest Against Humans
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"But how exactly are you going to catch him?"
After I declared that I'd catch him, Song Arin looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"You'll catch him eventually if we keep wandering around."
"...With such a brute-force method?"
"Chaeyeon is guarding the outside anyway, and the Team Leader's there too, so he can't just leave recklessly."
I recalled the conversation I'd had with Jang Chaeyeon just moments ago.
'No one's gone out, right?'
[None have.]
In other words, no one had left the nursery yet.
So why had he stayed behind in this nursery?
"Daon."
"Yes."
"...Could you go with Eileen and, uh, properly reset that wall?"
"...You okay with that?"
"Anyone I send would be fine, but I figured Song Arin might be helpful if things go south."
At my words, Yoo Daon looked deflated with drooping eyes, while Song Arin puffed out her chest with a proud smile.
"Yeah, I'm really good against humans, right?"
"...Arin, you could die to a blind dagger throw, though. Wouldn't it be safer if I went?"
"...It's not that bad."
Song Arin scowled, her pride clearly hurt.
"That's... We'll block it as long as we don't die."
"Better if I go..."
"Of course that's not wrong, but that wall—if mishandled—could cause big trouble."
Song Arin's ability probably wouldn't work on the flesh wall to begin with.
It's not the perfect spot for her, but at least it's a place where she can use her talent.
I handed the ominously wobbling pinwheel to Eileen, and she carefully took it.
"As you saw and heard earlier, this thing grants the user's wish in a weird way."
"I know."
Eileen gripped the pinwheel tensely with both hands.
"Just don't make a wish, right?"
"Yeah."
"...This is nerve-wracking."
Her young face was etched with intense tension as she muttered.
"No, how can you get nervous about this as the Response Team Leader?"
"That's why I'm nervous. I don't deal with containment objects directly."
Eileen shot me an aggrieved look.
"If I were Containment Team or Management Team Leader—no, even just a team member—I'd take it with a smile, but this is my first time with something like this."
"That makes sense, then."
It was probably like taking our Team Leader to an amusement park—he freaked out, trembling like a leaf.
"Anyway, I'm counting on you."
"...Got it."
"Jaeheon, call us if anything happens!"
"And, Ye-eun? You go too."
"...No."
What was this kid saying?
Park Ye-eun shook her head stubbornly at my words.
"Hey, brat. You think this is a game?"
Song Arin immediately scowled fiercely and scolded her.
"People could die, get hurt, make irreversible choices. Didn't you see your friends turned into walls?"
"I know."
"What do you know? Pubescent brat. Want me to smack you?"
"Damn, you're the same height as me—why call me a pubescent brat!"
"You're really not backing down at all, huh?"
"We could die doing this, you know?"
"Damn, with you here, how could we—"
Song Arin clamped her mouth shut mid-sentence, then lightly punched my arm and muttered.
"...Live your life however you want, brat."
"Sure. Whatever."
I met Park Ye-eun's eyes.
She stared back at me with a cold expression.
"...I'm really going."
"Give me one reason you have to come."
"I know the way."
"Hired. Let's go."
"You lunatic!"
Song Arin shrieked and smacked my back, but I turned to look at her without a care.
"Ah, why?"
"You're seriously taking a kid just because she has one ability?"
"Not because of her ability."
I stared straight at Park Ye-eun.
Eyes full of strong will.
People with eyes like that never listen to others.
"She'd follow us anyway even if I told her to stay, so."
"Oppa, you have good eyes for people?"
Park Ye-eun grinned, and Song Arin glared at me wide-eyed.
"Look at this little fox. Wasn't she calling you 'ajusshi' until just now?"
"Yeah, yeah. Call me oppa from now on."
"Yes, oppa."
"...I'm just gonna follow the black-haired one."
Leaving the grumbling Song Arin at the rear, we walked down the hallway.
"For now, there are two places left we haven't checked."
"Where?"
As we walked, Park Ye-eun held up two fingers.
"First, the director's office. Supposedly... yeah, the director keeps all sorts of fun stuff there."
"Fun stuff?"
"Not sure exactly what, but not like that pinwheel you just saw."
"Got it. Next?"
"Next is the attic."
Folding her last finger, Park Ye-eun continued.
"Honestly, there's nothing special in the attic. It's just a secret hideout for us kids who wander around."
"I see."
"...Where to first?"
"Attic."
"Huh, not the director's office?"
"Nope."
"...Any reason?"
Song Arin, who'd been listening to our conversation, cut in.
"Just thinking about what he's been doing so far."
I'd encountered him directly once, indirectly two or three times.
Based on my experiences so far,
"He seems to like dark, damp places and sneaky tricks."
"...That's it?"
"Yeah."
"...Should I believe this or not."
"I'll guide you to the attic."
Ignoring Song Arin's mutter, Park Ye-eun took the lead.
"Whew, whatever."
Song Arin finally sighed and followed behind us.
*
"This is the way up to the attic."
Park Ye-eun pointed at a ladder and looked at us.
"Then I'll go first."
"...You sure?"
Song Arin muttered worriedly as I grabbed the ladder.
"Anyone else volunteering instead of me?"
"...Me?"
Song Arin hesitantly pointed at herself, and I couldn't help but snort.
"How long ago did your arm even heal? No thanks."
As I climbed the ladder, a hatch in the ceiling came into view.
An attic straight out of a movie.
"Anyone can tell something's gonna pour out if I open this."
"I know."
"...Be really careful."
Song Arin grabbed my sleeve once more, then let go, and I opened the hatch.
-Pssht!
The moment I did, something snapped, and an object dropped right above my head.
I instantly let go of the ladder with both hands and rolled across the floor.
-Thud!
"Ow ow..."
A stinging pain shot through my back.
"Hey!"
"Oppa!"
Song Arin rushed over in a panic to check on me.
"Any injuries?"
"None. Just something falling with the hatch when I opened it."
"Damn, you scared me."
Song Arin muttered and glanced aside, where an axe lay embedded in the ground.
"Looks like this is the place."
"Can we really get in there..."
Song Arin eyed me uncertainly.
But I wasn't worried.
"There's a way."
"...Well, if you're sure..."
Only then did Song Arin gesture helplessly.
"Then I'm going up again. Don't follow."
"Oppa, isn't it dangerous?"
"You following would be the danger."
With that, I climbed the ladder.
The attic that greeted me at the top was pitch black.
Had they covered the windows on purpose? Even though it was daytime when I arrived, it was like midnight—nothing visible.
...
A thick stench of blood.
Turning my gaze aside,
A corpse lay there.
A body pierced all over with blades.
Was this the... special forces guy or whatever?
Had he made it here, only to die fighting him?
The man continued, breathing heavily and raggedly.
He'd clearly struggled hard.
"...How many did you lose getting here?"
A high-pitched voice reached my ears.
"None."
"Lying won't help."
"Really."
Yoo Daon had died once.
...
The high-pitched voice paused briefly before resuming.
"...What about Eileen?"
"Why Eileen?"
Not a name I expected to hear here.
"You wouldn't know. If things followed the original history, she was supposed to be with us."
Someone who was supposed to be with them if history went as original.
Her uncanny lack of injuries at the amusement park, the situations that oddly favored her.
Was she originally part of the regressors?
Then why wasn't she with them now?
I'd never seen this guy before, and from what Kim Chanho said, she clearly didn't know him either.
In other words, for some reason, she hadn't joined—or couldn't join—the regressor group now.
"Curious?"
The high-pitched voice let out a creepy chuckle.
"Nope."
Why would I chat with the guy who just tried to axe my forehead.
[Critical: 2->1]
I drew my gun from my pocket, and the world turned black-and-white, slowing down.
In the monochrome world, a man in a black hood glowed brightly.
[Name: Kim Chanho]
[Age: 31]
[Talent: Storage]
[Talent: Storage]
[Background: Working in the Management Bureau's Accounting Team, he was tipped off about his future and fate by someone.]
[Weakness: He's just an ordinary person. Kill him, and he dies.]
Surprisingly visible in the dark.
-Bang!
Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger, the bullet slamming into his thigh like it was sucked in—
-Clink!
A rosary—the same one from the amusement park—fell from inside his clothes.
"What the—"
Blood pouring from his thigh, he swung his arm.
"I've got what I need already."
[Critical: 1->0]
The world slowed again.
Without firing, I scanned around.
Blades charging at me from all sides in slow motion.
Normally, I'd never dodge, but now was different.
In the slowed time where everyone else lagged, I calmly traced the blades' paths.
One step forward.
I slipped the trajectory of the blade flying at my side.
Duck the waist slightly.
Evade the one aimed at my head.
Eyes fixed on the enemy.
The blade rushing at my neck could no longer threaten me.
All that remained was pulling the trigger.
-Bang!
As I fired, countless blades grazed past my body.
One nicked my side, drawing blood; the one at my neck left a thin cut as it passed.
But nothing hit true.
"Grgh..."
In front of me, conversely, was a man dying from bullets to the solar plexus and thigh.
"Cough...!"
He vomited blood, dark red spilling from his mouth.
"Kuh, kuhehe...!"
His face twisted in a sneer.
...
I knew why he was laughing.
He wanted me to realize how valuable information I'd lose by killing him.
But I had ways to extract info.
Ignoring him as he spewed more blood, I turned and called the one I needed.
"Song Arin."
"Yeah."
Song Arin, who'd come up, stood beside me.
"Pull the key points—the most vital info—in the shortest time."
"Don't worry. That's my specialty."
Bewilderment crossed his face as he saw Song Arin.
"Wha...t..."
"Shut up, you trash who picks on kids."
"Gr...k...! Get... out of my head...! Aaaagh...!"
Song Arin stared coldly at him as he writhed in agony, clutching his head.
...
"Wait."
Soon, his expression went blank, words spilling out, and Song Arin glanced at me before murmuring and reciting his words.
...
Song Arin listened intently with a businesslike face.
His face, spilling secrets, showed no anger or sadness—just emptiness.
"Got the gist."
Song Arin finished muttering and stepped beside me.
"How is it?"
"Too long for here. And this—did I ever tell you and then erase the memory?"
"Yes."
"Damn. Gotta erase it again."
-Thud!
The floor shook at that moment.
"Sis! Oppa! The house—!"
Park Ye-eun's frantic voice from below.
-Sizzle...
And from behind, the sound of something melting.
...
...
Song Arin and I turned.
Kim Chanho's corpse had already melted, leaving only bones.
-Thud!
The house shook.
"The house is acting weird!"
"Let's go."
"Yeah."
We slid down the ladder in haste,
"Kyaaah!"
What I saw was Park Ye-eun screaming, grabbed by countless hands bursting from the wall.