Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Human Disqualification
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It hurts.
That was the thought dominating Yoo Daon's mind.
Even after enduring pain to the point of utter exhaustion, the human body never got used to it.
Of course, she'd always acted like it didn't hurt at all in front of that man.
-Bang!
Blood sprayed from her shoulder blade, and the agony of torn flesh overwhelmed her.
"Urk...!"
But here, she could scream in pain without anyone despising her for it.
She gritted her teeth and thrust her awl forward.
The man dodged as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
A sharp pain stabbed into her abdomen.
Had he driven a knife into her?
But that hardly mattered.
-Swoosh!
If he'd embedded a weapon in her body, turning her body would let her seize it.
Gritting her teeth, she spun around—
"Kyaa, urk...!"
And just like that, the man cleanly yanked something out of her abdomen, drawing a scream of agony from her.
Such flawless handling.
Which meant, conversely,
"Once more."
At Yoo Daon's words, the man scowled unpleasantly and kicked her.
"Kehok...!"
She spat up the blood rising from within and glared at him.
Her vision was blurry.
Her eyes weren't injured, but she'd lost so much blood that it clouded her sight.
And that wasn't all.
The floor was soaked with her blood, while the man stood there without a single drop on him, gazing down at her.
...
But Yoo Daon had faith in herself.
Unshakable confidence that she wouldn't lose.
As long as she held him here until everything was over.
The moment she propelled her body forward,
The man pulled something from his bosom.
It was like a wooden rod, sharpened to a point at the bottom.
"A stake?"
The moment she muttered that,
-Kwachik!
Something pierced her solar plexus at blinding speed, sending her crashing to the floor.
"Aaak!"
She hurriedly looked down at her chest to see a wooden stake embedded there.
Yoo Daon grabbed it with both hands and strained to pull it out.
"Kehok, kehok!"
Blood naturally surged into her mouth, but she ignored it and kept pulling.
"It won't come out."
The man emotionlessly replied to her words and stood beside her.
"...Ke, heuk..."
Blood trickled from her mouth as she looked up at him.
"...When we first met, you couldn't even speak, so I had no idea what kind of person you were."
He shook his head as if utterly fed up.
"Guess you really do have the talent to destroy the world after all. I didn't want to use a stake on you."
"...What..."
Talent to destroy the world?
A scene flashed into her mind.
Herself turned into a monster, and a world devoid of anyone else.
A hypothesis surfaced in her thoughts.
But that wasn't important right now.
Stopping this man.
That was the favor he'd asked of her, the one thing she had to do.
Yoo Daon kept straining to pull out the stake, but it was like it had been nailed to the floor—it held her fast without budging.
"Eeek...!"
...
Ignoring her completely, the man headed for the secret passage in the desk.
Clunk.
The door shut, and silence descended.
Fear began to churn in her heart.
What if something happens to him?
Did I hold him back properly?
If only I'd done a little better...
"Eeek...! Urgh...! Come...!"
Every attempt to pull the stake sent waves of pain that made her scream, but she kept straining regardless.
How much time passed like that?
"...Heuk, h-heuk..."
Tears streamed from Yoo Daon's eyes at her own wretched state.
She'd failed again.
She should have reached out and grabbed his ankle before he left.
No, she should have done better from the start.
"If only I'd... if only I'd done a little better...!"
"What would you have done better?"
A gruff voice cut off her sobbing mutter.
"...Huh?"
She looked up toward the voice.
Beyond the setting sun casting slanted rays, a woman with purple hair and a sullen face looked down at her.
"Arin?"
"Yeah. It's me."
Song Arin replied curtly, and a white-haired woman followed behind her, gazing at Yoo Daon.
"You're... alive?"
A golden-haired woman stared at her in amazement too.
"Chaeyeon..."
"Stay still."
Jang Chaeyeon replied impassively to Yoo Daon's words and gripped the stake.
"It's gonna hurt. Grit your teeth."
-Puke!
"Kyaa—"
Before Yoo Daon could clench her teeth, Jang Chaeyeon yanked the stake out with force, leaving her writhing in agony without even a chance to scream.
"Agh, urgh, ah...!"
"...Didn't you pull it out too hard?"
"...Does that even look like just a stake?"
Song Arin glanced at Yoo Daon thrashing in pain, prompting Jang Chaeyeon to avert her eyes as she replied. Ailin looked at the three of them.
"Let's get her out."
"...You're not coming?"
Song Arin eyed Ailin at her words, but Ailin shook her head.
"I got another job."
"Huh? What's that?"
"Lock the door."
"...What the hell?"
"I don't know either."
"But—"
Before Song Arin could argue, Yoo Daon had no choice but to interrupt loudly.
"Not that—the regressor and Jaeheon down below...!"
"Hey! You're telling us now?!"
Song Arin widened her eyes at Yoo Daon's words, while Jang Chaeyeon grimly headed under the desk.
Yoo Daon followed them worriedly.
Please, let everything be okay. She prayed her efforts had helped him.
On the iron stairs, only the hollow clang echoed.
*
It's over.
The loud noises from above stopped, the desk opened, and a human shadow fell across.
And my preparations were complete.
...
I don't have Jang Chaeyeon's overwhelming power, or Song Arin's way with people, or Yoo Daon's endless endurance in battle.
I have to fight my own way.
-Thud, thud, thud...
Measured yet swift footsteps approached,
And whoosh!
I yanked the prepared string.
The butane gas cans I'd set up hissed open, flames erupting forth,
And at the same time, a figure wrapped in what looked like a blanket tumbled down the stairs.
It shouldn't go out that easily.
But I'd prepared more than just this.
I rolled backward hastily and slipped into the alcove in the wall I'd scouted.
I'd have to have properly fought a person even once for this to work.
I'd only battled non-humans until now—throwing me into a fight against one now would just leave me suffering.
I checked the gun in my hand.
Time to fight.
I had zero chance of winning as I was.
I stepped out from the corner and locked eyes with the man.
A familiar face.
An unreadable expression, faint features.
Soon, a translucent window appeared above his head.
[Name: Kim Wanwoo]
[Age: 28]
[Talent: Regression]
[Talents: -]
[Background: 2208th Loop]
[Weakness: Think of the Gordian Knot.]
"Daon must've put up a real fight."
...
The man stared at me silently in response.
Now.
-Bang!
I drew and fired.
He casually tilted his head to dodge.
[2209th Loop]
He drew his gun too, and I backpedaled in sync—but
-Bang!
"Urk...!"
A bullet lodged in my arm, sapping my strength.
Then the man charged me.
-Bang! Bang!
I fired repeatedly, but he dodged as if it were nothing.
[2210th Loop] [2211th Loop]
The number above his head kept rising.
As expected. He loops back after each fight to prepare countermeasures.
I kicked a nearby desk and fired,
[2212th Loop]
He ducked his head again to evade the bullet.
How the hell am I supposed to beat this?
This has no chance of—
I backpedaled frantically and drew my gun, but
-Bang!
"Urk...!"
He'd drawn faster and shot me.
Agony like my gut was pierced drained the strength from my body.
"...Hah..."
My knees buckled naturally, and when I clutched my stomach, my hand came away soaked in blood.
"As expected."
He gazed at me and muttered indifferently.
"Regression must be one-time. You couldn't dodge this."
"Urk..."
"No harm in being cautious. The plan's gone pretty sideways anyway."
His voice rang in my ears like tinnitus.
"Urk, hah..."
"...You didn't go down this easy back then."
Kneeling, I looked up at him as he muttered impassively.
"Without me, you can't even use containment objects properly. You're no different from some slightly insightful normie who can only wield a manual."
...
"I warned you before what happens without someone who knows the future."
...
He looked at me.
"Have you ever longed for the past?"
...
I swallowed the blood rising in my throat and thought to myself.
Who wouldn't long for the past? Even I sometimes missed my student days—hard and grueling as they were, they were fun—or even further back, my carefree childhood without a worry in the world.
"If you wanted to return to that past so badly, what would you do?"
"...Kehok... People can't... go back to, the past..."
"What if there was a way?"
His voice brimmed with confidence.
"What if, when everyone else in the world died and I was left alone, I could return to the past I desired?"
...
"And if I got a chance to correct every mistake?"
I spat blood and stared at him.
"I don't know how you crossed timelines to block me or prepare,"
His voice was filled with bravado.
"But I'll go back to the past and fix my mistakes."
"Cough, urk..."
"And then, I'll live for myself."
"For... that..."
Just for that?
"Just?"
He looked at me like I'd said something novel.
"Isn't the most important thing in the world me?"
His voice now boomed in my ears like it was mic'd up.
My vision blurred.
"So first, with the variables eliminated, I'll start over from the beginning... the objects underground..."
Muttering to himself, he passed me by.
-Grab.
I reached out and seized his leg.
...
He looked down at me like I was trash and shook his leg.
"Get off."
...
He stared at me and stomped on my hand.
Dull pain flared as he pried my hand free and walked on.
...
I could feel death approaching.
So cold, endless darkness following the pain.
Exactly what I'd been waiting for.
-Crash.
With a small sound, the doll in my bosom shattered.
*
I wandered the darkness.
A voice echoed in my memory.
'That look in your eyes. Even knowing your meager strength couldn't save your life, you desperately sought answers without losing hope. I love that look.'
"See? Told you."
As I recalled the voice, laughter sounded, and someone whispered in my ear.
"Guh..."
Chest-searing pain jolted me awake.
I lifted only my gaze ahead.
Far off, the regressor was walking.
He scanned around and closed his eyes long.
At that moment, I rose and drew the gun from my bosom—
-Bang!
[2213th Loop]
He dodged the bullet and stared at me in shock.
"You, how..."
"...Updated, huh."
In any game, you save at the safest moment.
Song Arin could instill that security, but I couldn't.
Bringing her here would've gotten her hurt or in danger for sure. She had her own job anyway.
In the end, I had to gamble my life to give him that false security.
His shock was brief; he drew his gun and eyed me.
"Even if—I'll just kill you and leave—"
-Thud!
Before he finished, the door above burst open with footsteps.
"Jaeheon!"
Yoo Daon's voice rang out, followed by the other two.
-Bang!
He fired at me hastily,
But the bullet whizzed harmlessly past.
"Careful."
Jang Chaeyeon stood beside me.
"That psycho shoots first thing he sees."
Song Arin clicked her tongue at me,
"Any injuries?"
Yoo Daon scanned my body frantically, her eyes widening at my stomach.
"Jaeheon, no way..."
"I'm fine."
-Clank!
The sound of the door locking above echoed.
...
He stared at me.
"It's a battle of time, and I'll win."
"I know."
Under normal circumstances.
Before he came, I'd asked Ailin to lock the door once the three entered. Perfect.
I took a deep breath and pulled out the manual from my bosom.
"Commencing record on Containment Object 'Kim Wanwoo.'"
-Flutter!
The manual opened.
What is a human?
A frail thing, thrashing to survive.
Always distrusting others, living for itself.
Regretting the past, fearing the future—a cowardly being.
And yet.
'Isn't that our job?'
I recalled the branch chief smiling in the rain.
[Employee Manual]
[PRV - Containment Object 'Kim Wanwoo' - Record by HR Team's Kim Jaeheon]
"This object is a regressor, thoroughly prepared for the future."
[This object is a regressor, thoroughly prepared for the future.]
I pictured Song Arin rescuing people in the theater, relieved.
Jang Chaeyeon saving them with telekinesis.
And.
'I'm so happy right now.'
A bright smile surfaced in my mind.
"Regression targets a specific point and fulfills at the object's will."
[Regression targets a specific point and fulfills at the object's will.]
Overcoming all that frailty and selfishness to worry for and protect others.
Giving of oneself even in the tightest crevices for another's sake.
"You."
[Your understanding of Containment Object Kim Wanwoo increases.]
He fired his gun and hurled something.
But Jang Chaeyeon swung her hand, Yoo Daon spread hers, and Song Arin twisted his sense of direction unnaturally.
The bullets veered like magic, embedding in the wall.
[Critical: 0->2]
"You're humanly disqualified."