Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 129. Gold
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Yoo Daon didn't let go of my sleeve until we arrived at the Gangseo Branch.
Behind me, Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin were chattering away about something.
The Gangseo Branch was empty, too.
"...Daon. We're here."
Only then did Yoo Daon release my sleeve.
Song Arin and Jang Chaeyeon fell silent as well.
Were they shocked by what they'd heard, too?
"Still, let's go check it out."
It was all unknown. Even if it came from the branch chief's mouth.
It wasn't my first time walking through the deserted Gangseo Branch, but why did the atmosphere feel so different now?
Entering the now-empty office had become routine.
I tapped the branch chief's desk with the tip of my pencil.
As the desk split open, Song Arin let out a deep sigh at the sight.
"Yeah. So this is the thing I'd only heard rumors about."
We descended the old iron stairs.
Soon, a clean underground space and a firmly shut iron door greeted us.
[Name: Iron Door]
[Age: X]
[Specialty: X]
[Talent: Selection]
[Background: When the time comes, it will open for the last hope of humanity.]
[Weakness: -]
The firmly shut door welcomed us.
A heavy mood settled over us in front of the unyielding door.
"Chaeyeon, it won't open, right?"
"...Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon reached out to the door a few times and shook her head.
"Alright, then..."
At Song Arin's words, Yoo Daon flinched and gripped my sleeve tightly.
"Hey, don't freak out."
Song Arin chuckled and said.
"Someone's left behind anyway, right? So... until then, we're together."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded in agreement.
"We don't know yet."
"..."
Yoo Daon just kept her eyes squeezed shut, clutching my sleeve.
"You're right."
The one left behind. We had to deal with that one.
But how do we find them?
No, we probably wouldn't need to.
They'd come to us.
"For now... if it succeeds, we'll leave Daon behind..."
It didn't take long to climb back up the underground stairs and head to the HR Team office.
We entered the HR Team room.
What if the Team Leader was still alive?
He's the best at spotting danger, after all.
Or maybe not. If the Team Leader was alive, that could be a problem in itself.
Lost in thought, I opened the HR Team door.
"..."
Of course, my worries were pointless.
The Team Leader hadn't been there to begin with.
Only the empty HR Team office greeted us.
"Looks like the Team Leader isn't here."
"..."
Jang Chaeyeon silently rubbed my back in response.
-Thump, thump, thump.
A sound started coming from far away.
It wasn't just any sound.
Like drums beating in the sky.
Excluding the out-of-it Yoo Daon, the three of us exchanged glances.
"Alright."
Song Arin, who had somehow sat at her desk and clicked on the computer, stood up.
"I'll go check first."
"Song Arin."
"It's fine. It's common sense for the most useless one to die first."
Song Arin smiled softly and strode confidently out the door, only to return to the HR Team office moments later with a dazed expression.
"Song Arin?"
Had she been brainwashed?
"I'm fine."
Still wearing that shocked look, Song Arin eyed us all.
"Music... I can hear it?"
"Music?"
"You'll know when you see."
Song Arin beckoned to me and Jang Chaeyeon.
We followed her out of the HR Team office and stood at the Gangseo Branch entrance.
In the sky, dyed gold like a sunset.
-Thump, thump, thump...
The drumbeats echoed.
"What is this..."
-Thump, thump, thump...
The drumbeats grew louder.
As we kept staring at the sky, a translucent window finally appeared in my vision after a long moment.
[Name: -]
[Age: -]
[Specialty: -]
[Talent: -]
[Background: The great day is near. Near and coming very quickly. It is the sound of the promised day. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.]
[Weakness: -]
Unlike usual, the translucent window shook violently.
Soon, it vanished with a static crackle, like a power outage.
"...No way, this is..."
"...!"
As I muttered, Jang Chaeyeon seemed to realize something and hurriedly wrapped around me, thrusting her hand forward.
-Thud!
The moment something slammed into us,
"...Keurk...!"
Jang Chaeyeon bled from her nose and gasped for air.
-Thud! Thud!
What was flying at us from afar...
"...Rocks?"
-Boom!
Huge chunks of building debris hurtled toward us, and Jang Chaeyeon blocked them several times.
"Keurk!"
Jang Chaeyeon spat blood and looked at Song Arin.
"You know, right?"
"..."
Song Arin nodded at her words.
"Chaeyeon—"
Before I could finish, Song Arin grabbed my hand and tapped Jang Chaeyeon's shoulder.
Like sending off a comrade, she spoke to Jang Chaeyeon in a solemn tone.
"Hey. I'm counting on you."
"...Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon wiped the blood from her nose, nodding as if she'd known all along.
"Counting on her for what."
"...Over there."
Jang Chaeyeon turned to look at me and smiled softly.
"...I'll trust you."
That was the only thing Jang Chaeyeon said to me.
She reached out toward me.
With a whoosh, Song Arin and I were blown far away by a fierce gust of wind.
"Urk!"
-Thud! Thud! Thud!
Intense combat sounds erupted, like things colliding.
Then, without looking back, Song Arin grabbed my hand and started running.
"Wait, Song Arin...!"
-Boom!
Behind us, endless collision sounds rang out.
The noises continued without pause until the moment we entered the branch.
-Thump, thump, thump...
The drumbeats rang out, and the sounds stopped dead.
How long had we run? Song Arin stopped in front of the HR Team entrance and looked at me.
What about Jang Chaeyeon? What was that earlier?
Then what was that fight just now...
"Listen up!"
Song Arin grabbed both my cheeks, forcing eye contact.
Her purple eyes met mine.
"From now on, take Black Hair and go."
"..."
Song Arin gripped both my hands tightly, then let go.
"Wait, Song Arin."
"Think about it."
"..."
Song Arin looked up at me.
Her purple eyes calmly met mine.
"In this total mess of a time, who else could openly attack us like this?"
"..."
One man came to mind.
"It's okay."
Song Arin's hand trembled as she held mine.
"This isn't because... I'm a senior at the Management Bureau or a veteran."
"Wait, Song Arin."
"I won't ask for much."
"..."
"Next time, call me Arin."
Her hand slipped away.
"When you see me, say I must've had it rough. Praise me for going through hell, even if you don't know."
"Wait, Song Arin!"
Song Arin turned and ran back toward where Jang Chaeyeon had been.
She rounded the corner and vanished from sight.
"...Damn it."
I had no choice but to open the HR Team door and call for Yoo Daon.
*
"...Hah... hah..."
Song Arin's legs trembled endlessly as she rounded the corner.
It was clear fear, but she had to press on anyway.
"...Hah... hah..."
Her gaze turned outside.
The white-haired woman, with her familiar face, knelt like a statue of stone.
No sign of life came from her anymore.
"...Thank you."
She couldn't hear, but Song Arin thanked her honestly and looked ahead.
-Step, step...
Footsteps approached.
"..."
Soon, a man with a mild expression appeared before her.
Two of his fingers were already twisted grotesquely.
So this was the regressor he'd mentioned.
He looks totally ordinary.
Song Arin smiled inwardly.
She was already prepared.
"Man, you—"
Before Song Arin could finish with her bold smile.
-Squelch!
Something pierced her solar plexus.
"...Ah, urk..."
She slowly looked down.
A long something was stabbed through her midsection.
She didn't even have time to think, What is this?
Dull pain hit, and her body collapsed without obeying her.
"...Last time I let you talk, you messed with my head right away. So I had no choice but to kill you."
The man's voice rang out.
Song Arin looked up at him.
Her unfocused eyes had already left her.
"But you were fated to die back then anyway. Think of it as a little extra life and be grateful as you go."
He said that and walked past her.
"...Kuh, heuk..."
She tried to speak, but a lump of blood clogged her throat, keeping her from making a sound.
Still, watching the man leave, she couldn't help but smile inwardly.
She recalled their earlier conversation.
'Hey, White Hair.'
'...'
While the man busied himself soothing Black Hair, Song Arin had spoken to White Hair.
'What.'
'How do you fool someone who sees the future?'
'...Dunno.'
'You have to make them believe their vision is reality until the end, idiot.'
'...Why ask that out of nowhere.'
'Listen up.'
In her memory, White Hair listened intently to her story, just like old times—
"...Idiot, of course."
Watching the man leave, Song Arin twisted one corner of her mouth up.
"You... keuheuk...! Lost...!"
From the moment Jang Chaeyeon blocked his attack, Song Arin had already hypnotized the man.
But seeing him snap out of it by deliberately breaking his fingers, as if aware of the hypnosis, Song Arin instantly shifted strategy.
He could detect direct hypnosis.
Then he had to be deceived by her until it all ended.
"You misread... the time..."
-Thump, thump, thump...
As Song Arin muttered, drumbeats echoed behind her.
"...Ha."
And the man didn't return.
She had won.
A smile bloomed on Song Arin's face.
"Ah ha, keurk, ahahaha, keurk!"
Humans can't resist a power greater than themselves alone.
The same went for abilities.
Just as there were opponents her ability didn't work on, no ability was omnipotent.
That man who could turn back time had probably lived so isolated that he never realized it.
She spat out a gush of blood and smiled in delight.
Struggling to turn her head to the sky, the Management Bureau ceiling was gone, replaced by golden rays beaming down.
She thought of the tired-looking man whose eyes had met hers.
It'd be a lie to say there was no fear, but she had no regrets.
Any version of her in any timeline would have done the same.
'Next time you don't call me Arin, you're dead.'
That version of her wouldn't remember, of course, but still.
'I'll kick you right in the shin.'
A soft smile spread across Song Arin's face.
At the same time, the golden light touched her body, and her memories stopped there.