Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Snowy Mountains
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I've commuted to work in a suit on a snowy day before.
Suits generally lack any functionality, so they get soaked hard to dry, and the clothes wear out fast.
In other words,
"...Ugh!"
I gritted my teeth and forced my feet through the snow that kept sinking deep.
I should've run when it started snowing.
To be precise, I did try to run when it started snowing.
I was just a bit too late.
Breathing roughly in the cold, I looked around.
Before I knew it, we were somewhere with zero visibility ahead.
...
I should've run then.
*
"Why is it snowing in the middle of summer? Hey, Jaeheon. You don't look so good..."
"Team Leader."
I looked at the Team Leader, who had been staring out the window with me.
"Why."
"Do you sense any danger?"
"Are you using your superior as a human alarm?"
"Ah, come on, just tell me."
"I've raised my subordinate wrong. So wrong."
Sighing deeply, the Team Leader closed his eyes and focused.
...
...
An suffocating silence fell.
"No."
The Team Leader's eyes snapped open.
"I don't feel anything at all."
"I don't believe you."
"Then why'd you ask?"
"Try widening the scope a bit. Not just you, but danger to 'us'."
"You think that'll work, Jaeheon?"
"...Then, Team Leader. You're heading home now, right?"
Only then did the Team Leader stare out the window intently at my words.
"Yeah, I should. My kids and wife must be worried sick."
"Then, could you come with us?"
When it's dangerous, we take the Team Leader hostage.
...
And as if reading my mind, the Team Leader stared right at me.
"...Fine. I'll let it slide because I feel sorry for you."
"Got it? Everyone, let's pile into the car."
At my words, three people came rushing over.
Three people?
I looked at Park Ye-eun, who was staring at me.
"You're not coming?"
"Ah, I got a place here."
"...Here?"
The Management Bureau?
Park Ye-eun nodded at my words.
"Houses outside the Management Bureau are dangerous, and the daycare's closed right now."
"...Right."
"So I'm staying inside the Management Bureau for now."
"...Hmm."
Yeah, in a way, that might be better. Way better than a minor living alone at home—staying inside the Management Bureau with some supervision.
"Alright. If anything happens..."
"If what happens?"
"There's this scary woman with brown hair who doesn't open her eyes much. Uh, not a girl. Sister. No. Er. Um. Woman."
"Yes."
"Go find her and beg her to save you."
"...Will that keep me alive?"
"If that doesn't, you're dead no matter what you do."
...
I left Park Ye-eun, who nodded quietly, and turned to the other three.
"I'm riding with the Team Leader. What about you three?"
"How far are you going?"
"Subway?"
"Sure!"
Yoo Daon shot her hand up.
"Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded.
"...Fine, I guess I have to. Sigh."
And Song Arin sighed.
"Alright. Then follow us."
As we prepared to leave the office following the Team Leader,
[Announcement from the Management Bureau.]
The broadcast started blaring.
It was the same voice from the flood.
[Due to the snow, all employees please go home. Those staying or working overtime must absolutely not leave their offices.]
[Repeating: Due to the snow, all employees please go home. Those staying or working overtime...]
"...Let's hurry."
The Team Leader quickened his pace after hearing the broadcast.
"Did you sense something, Team Leader?"
"No. But my years of experience are telling me to get home fast."
We headed to the underground parking following the Team Leader.
A prepared six-seater, like you'd expect from a dad with kids.
"Get in."
He slid the door open with a rumble and looked at us. We followed the Team Leader into the car.
With a low rumble, the car started, and as we left the parking lot, what we saw was...
"...Holy."
A world turned completely white.
Buildings, roads—all blanketed in snow.
The difference being...
"...Doesn't it seem like no one knows it's snowing?"
No one was looking up at the sky.
They just trudged along, burying themselves in the snow.
"Probably the Gangseo Branch pulled some strings."
Song Arin, who had been watching, spoke up as if explaining.
"Like brainwashing so they don't feel the cold and just see a clear world."
...
"Not me."
As I stared at Song Arin, she shook her head.
"I couldn't cover a range this wide from the start. Probably some containment object or... ...well. Someone big shot."
Song Arin muttered a bit bitterly, gazing out the window.
"...Over there."
And Jang Chaeyeon's voice snapped us back.
"Yes, Chaeyeon."
"What's that?"
Jang Chaeyeon pointed ahead, and following her gaze...
"...What the hell is that."
There was light.
A blinding light that could burn my eyes.
"It's a bit bright, huh?"
"Pretty bright?"
"Super... bright...?"
Song Arin, Jang Chaeyeon, and Yoo Daon's reactions varied,
"Kids, what are you talking about? I don't see a thing."
And the Team Leader looked at us in disbelief.
...
...
"You see it too?"
Jang Chaeyeon tapped my shoulder, and I nodded back.
"It's so bright I can't see ahead."
"...Not that bad for me."
Jang Chaeyeon furrowed her brow,
And—
Whoosh!
"...Huh?"
We were inside a snowy blizzard on a mountain.
*
...
Blinding light, huh.
Why did it look different to everyone?
"Song Arin!"
"What!"
I strode up to Song Arin walking ahead and called out.
"You said you saw the light earlier."
"Is that important right now?"
"We're walking anyway, so talk while you walk. You're not stopping."
"You—ugh, whatever."
Song Arin sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, I saw it."
"How bright was it?"
"How bright?"
Song Arin brushed snow off her face and furrowed her brow at my question.
"Just, like flashlight level?"
"To me, it was insanely bright."
"Hmm..."
"Got any idea?"
Song Arin put her hand to her chin, thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"Nope, no clue."
"...Got it."
"Anyway, let's talk about something important now."
"Something important?"
"What are we gonna do!"
Song Arin shivered in the cold, glaring at me.
"No lodge in sight. No campfire. Got any ideas?"
"Yeah."
"A shelter would be nice..."
As Song Arin muttered, something flashed in my mind.
"Ah, shelter."
"What."
I hurried toward Jang Chaeyeon, who was following behind.
"Chaeyeon!"
"Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon approached, nodding at my call.
Her face was flushed red from the cold too.
"Should we make a shelter?"
...
Jang Chaeyeon, who always agreed with me, looked at me confused this time.
"How?"
"Remember what we did on the cruise?"
"Oh."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded and extended her hand to the ground,
Boom!
The earth lifted, and the ground started caving in.
How much did Jang Chaeyeon swing her hand?
Soon, a big hole formed in the ground.
...
Song Arin and Yoo Daon gawked at the sight.
Jang Chaeyeon reached out to me.
"Grab on."
"Huh?"
"Hurry."
"Ah, yeah."
I took her hand, and she jumped down with me.
Like at the lodge, we descended slowly, floating through the air.
Soon, we landed on the bottom.
"But Chaeyeon."
"Yeah."
"As far as I know, we weren't supposed to dig this deep, right?"
It was supposed to be a shallow dig, then cover with snow.
What she'd made was practically a pit trap.
"You crazy bitch! Let us down!"
"Should I jump? Might just sprain an ankle if I'm lucky!"
"Let those two down too."
"...Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon scratched her cheek embarrassedly and extended her hand,
And the two descended faster than before.
"Whoa, hey. Kyaa!"
"Ow!"
They both landed on their butts.
"You rude little..."
"Ow ow..."
Song Arin glared at Jang Chaeyeon, and Yoo Daon rubbed her butt with a teary face.
"It hurts..."
"For now, let's rest here until the snow lets up."
I took a deep breath and brushed snow off my clothes.
"...Ugh, cold."
Song Arin fiddled with her clothes and muttered.
"These are soaked. If we stay like this, we'll freeze solid with our clothes on."
"...Yeah."
Song Arin muttered, and Jang Chaeyeon nodded, looking at her own clothes.
"Ah, in that case!"
Then Yoo Daon clapped as if she'd thought of something.
"They said sharing body heat works!"
"...I've been dreading when you'd say that."
Song Arin's face flushed red at Yoo Daon's words, while Jang Chaeyeon stared at me so hard it felt like she'd bore holes.
"Hey, wait. Even so, that's a bit..."
"I agree."
"B-but... it might be necessary to survive..."
"Luckily, I brought butane gas."
After the mountain god incident, I always carry a gun and butane. It's paying off big here.
"Chaeyeon. Want to widen the inside a bit?"
"Yeah."
After carefully working the interior with Jang Chaeyeon,
"...This should be good enough, right?"
It was a hole big enough for the four of us to lie down comfortably spaced.
"Alright then..."
I shook the butane canister, set it on the ground, and opened the lid.
Whoosh!
Flames shot up, dancing in the air and rising high outside.
"...This right?"
Song Arin muttered as she sat by the fire, and I pulled out the manual and set it nearby too.
"First, I'll pass on what I heard."
I told the three about the 'mountain' from the Gangdong Branch that Ailin mentioned.
"...Wow..."
Song Arin muttered in disbelief, mouth agape.
"A mountain, huh."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded as if she got it.
Finally.
"Ah, so like how Daon and I saw the future this time, others did too..."
Silence fell.
"Saw the future?"
Jang Chaeyeon muttered, looking at me.
"What does that mean?"
"Uh..."
"Ah, was this our little secret?"
Yoo Daon covered her mouth, eyes wide, and Jang Chaeyeon stared at her.
"You're hiding something?"
"No, not really, but..."
"It's fine even if Jaeheon doesn't say! We can keep it our secret."
Yoo Daon smiled softly, and Jang Chaeyeon looked back and forth between me and her.
How do I explain this.
Snow kept falling endlessly from the sky.