Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 117. If I Had Been There
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"Aaaah!"
"Damn it, shut up!"
Park Ye-eun screamed as she ran alongside us, and Song Arin shot her an irritated glare.
Park Ye-eun managed to keep pace with us even while screaming her lungs out.
No, it wasn't just keeping pace.
Unlike me, whose breath was starting to come in short gasps, she was belting out those screams without even panting—she still had plenty of energy left.
She could definitely run faster if she tried.
A hand suddenly grabbed Song Arin's collar, and she shook it off in horror.
"How do we get out of here?!"
"By running, how else?!"
I glanced at the hands as we hurriedly dashed forward.
At first, I'd thought if they were just hands, it wouldn't be a big deal.
The problem was that hands weren't all there was to it.
-Bang!
A hand with long nails lunged at me, and I shot it, sending it retreating into the wall with blood trailing behind.
That was the real issue.
Every now and then, among the normal-looking hands, ones that weren't normal would pop out.
In cases like that, the best strategy was to break through as fast as possible.
"Ye-eun! Where's the way out?!"
"Uh, so...!"
At my words, Park Ye-eun's eyes darted around as she mumbled in confusion, and Song Arin glared at her with fierce eyes before yelling.
"We're all gonna die like this! Hurry up!"
"I can't tell because of the hands!"
"You lived here! How do you not know the way?!"
"It's not like my parents just died recently!"
Song Arin snapped her mouth shut at Park Ye-eun's words, and a brief silence fell.
"...Th-that..."
"Sorry. That sister of yours has a mouth as foul as her face looks, but she didn't mean to hurt you."
...
This time, Song Arin clamped her lips shut like she had nothing to say, and Park Ye-eun took a deep breath before pointing at one of the paths with her finger.
"This way!"
"Got it!"
Park Ye-eun took the lead and started running, and we followed right behind.
We raced through the shadowy corridor as fast as we could, thanks to the hands.
I wonder if the others made it out okay.
After running for who knows how long, we reached the spot where we'd encountered the flesh wall with the others earlier.
Fortunately, there were no signs of Yoo Daon or Eileen, and the flesh wall that had been there was gone.
Did they succeed?
As we slid along the corridor, dodging hands, one burst out from the wall.
A hand with long nails charging straight at Song Arin.
-Bang!
I hurriedly raised my gun and shot it.
The hand slumped down, wriggling.
When they popped out so randomly, it was impossible to predict when to react—
"Behind you!"
I whipped around at Song Arin's urgent shout.
Nails reaching right up to my body.
I twisted away to dodge, but it was too late.
-Slash!
A slicing sound rang out, followed by a burning pain in my side.
"Urk...!"
"Hey!"
"Oppa!"
The excruciating pain made me grimace involuntarily.
But if I stopped here, it was over for real.
Clutching the wound with one hand, I kept my feet moving without pause and shouted.
"If we stop here, we're dead! Keep running!"
Song Arin's eyes widened at the sight of my wound, and she pointed at it with her hand over her mouth.
"You, you, blood...!"
"Don't say it! It's scary to look at!"
A gash so deep I could feel it with my hand.
I might finally have to pay a visit to the Management Bureau's infirmary.
The pain narrowed my eyes, and my steps naturally slowed.
I had to keep going. I couldn't stop like this.
"Hey, snap out of it!"
"I am...!"
Song Arin desperately supported me.
"If you collapse here, we're both dead! I don't wanna die with you, so get up!"
"I'm going...!"
Song Arin started dragging me along.
Now even my pants were getting soaked with blood.
The pain was fading; instead, my body felt like it was sinking into waterlogged cotton.
"This is weird. This wound shouldn't be bleeding this much... Ah, no way...! This area...?"
Song Arin muttered something incomprehensible as she led me along.
Of course, no matter how you slice it, a torn wound like this shouldn't bleed this much.
There must be something on those nails. Or someone pulled a trick.
As I pieced together my foggy thoughts, one question occurred to me.
Why had Kim Chanh-ho come to this orphanage?
Simple revenge against the Management Bureau didn't explain such a petty, nonsensical act.
There had to be something he wanted from the orphanage.
The pinwheel.
Where had he gotten that pinwheel in the first place?
How did he even know how to use it?
It was as if someone who already knew how to handle containment objects perfectly...
[For now... Kim Wan-woo here managed the containment objects all by himself down in the basement, even with water flooding in, they say.]
The branch chief's words from when he was praising us and called the Regressor and me in flashed through my mind.
It might be a wild leap.
But what if the Regressor had stayed with the Management Team until the flood hit, to learn how to use the pinwheel and other containment objects, and to smuggle them out?
"...Song Arin."
"Don't talk. You're bleeding."
"Right now...! Go to the Gangseo Branch basement...! It's not there...!"
"You thinking about that right now? Shut your mouth and stop the bleeding...!"
Song Arin's voice trembled as she supported me.
"Snap out of it! Hurry!"
"I am..."
"No, you're not!"
I had to think. That's the only way to stay conscious.
I desperately turned my numbing brain, lost in thought.
What if this pinwheel had been in the Gangseo Branch basement? And what if the Regressor had handed it to Kim Chanh-ho?
Then why had Kim Chanh-ho come here?
That part still made no sense at all.
No matter how I thought about it, he had no reason to come here.
"...Urk..."
"Hey, please. Yeah? Snap out of it..."
Now Song Arin was practically sniffling as she propped up my shoulder.
My senses were dulling more and more; it was getting hard to stay upright.
Is this it?
If I'd known, maybe I should've used the manual to block it?
As useless thoughts swirled in my head,
"Sorry."
"...Huh?"
Pink bridges scattered across my vision like fluttering petals.
Flash.
Then an immense force lifted me like a piece of paper.
"Huh...?"
Park Ye-eun had me piggybacked.
"Just now, I judged oppa as dead weight! Now I can carry you!"
Dead weight, what?
Regardless of my thoughts, Park Ye-eun dodged the hands nimbly while carrying me and started running.
"Just shoot the ones I can't dodge!"
"...Got it...!"
"I'm running!"
Park Ye-eun broke into full sprint.
"Hey, wait! Why is this girl so fast?!"
Song Arin chased after us in astonishment.
Just as she'd said, Park Ye-eun's speed was incredible.
It was like carrying me made her even faster; she danced around the hands with light steps.
How long did she carry me like that?
"There! People!"
Park Ye-eun shouted urgently and pointed ahead.
"...Who..."
"Oh shit! Hey! Everyone, stick to the wall!"
Song Arin, spotting the person, yelled and plastered herself to the wall, and Park Ye-eun followed suit, pressing me against it too.
"Ha! Hahaha! Hahahaha!"
A boisterous man's laughter echoed.
Then something round came rolling at tremendous speed—
-Shrrrip!
It shredded all the hands on the wall.
The hands vanished in a cloud of blood.
...
...
What just happened? Believe it or not, it was just a man rolling along.
But even though I clearly saw the man, no translucent window appeared above his head.
As Park Ye-eun and I exchanged baffled looks, Song Arin dashed out and shouted.
"Run, quick!"
"Uh, y-yeah!"
Park Ye-eun yelped in confusion and bolted forward.
Soon, someone was straining right in front of the door.
"Let me go, Team Leader! Jaeheon is inside—!"
"The Containment Team just went in! Hold on!"
The Team Leader holding back Yoo Daon, who was thrashing with her wing joints grabbed from behind, and Jang Chaeyeon spinning in circles in place.
"Sisters! Oppa here! He's hurt bad!"
At Park Ye-eun's voice, carrying me on her back, their heads whipped around with an audible snap.
"Jaeheon!"
"You...!"
Their faces drained of color, turning ashen at the sight of me.
"How is there this much blood...!"
"Stop the bleeding, stop the bleeding...!"
The Team Leader pushed through the panicking pair.
"Calm down, calm down! The Management Bureau's on the way, first bandages! In my car!"
Yoo Daon rushed off to get bandages, and Jang Chaeyeon stared at me with her pale face.
"Stay with me."
"...I am."
"You're doing great."
Soon Yoo Daon wrapped the bandages around me, and blood seeped through the white cloth.
"...The bleeding will stop."
Song Arin, watching, blurted out.
"Better than before, right?"
...
She was right.
The bleeding had clearly slowed compared to earlier.
"How... did you know?"
"I'll explain later. Just because the bleeding stopped doesn't mean you're not anemic."
Song Arin spoke calmly, then turned to the two and opened her mouth.
"He's okay for now—"
"That's why I said I'd go."
Yoo Daon cut her off, staring at Song Arin.
My vision was too blurry to make out Yoo Daon's expression.
"...If I'd gone, this wouldn't have happened."
...
I couldn't see what expression Song Arin made at Yoo Daon's words.
"Rest."
Jang Chaeyeon took my hand, ignoring their conversation entirely.
Maybe from blood loss, but Jang Chaeyeon's hand felt much warmer than usual.
"Chaeyeon..."
"I'm listening."
"...It's intense..."
Park Ye-eun muttered like she was grossed out,
and I was immediately carted off to the Management Bureau hospital.
That infamous yet renowned Management Bureau hospital.