Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Overturn the Board
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"It's brighter than I thought."
That was my simple impression.
A bluish light illuminated the interior. The fact that no trace of the light source was visible only made the mood more unsettling.
"...How are your eyes?"
Yoo Daon tapped my shoulder and asked.
"They're fine for now."
The memory of that earlier notification disguised as a conversation came back to me.
This time, I really had to be careful. During the Butterfly's Dream incident, there had at least been a somewhat friendly monster residing in the Management Bureau, but now it was just three people who were a bit more unique than ordinary civilians.
Of course, if that's all I thought it was, I wouldn't have come in here at all.
"Do you remember?"
At my question, Jang Chaeyeon slowly shook her head.
"No, not at all. There's still a hole in that memory. But I do remember wandering around here for a long time."
She wore a complicated expression.
In the end, Jang Chaeyeon had nothing she could tell me.
She must have had a reason for calling me here.
I slowly began to look around.
The interior was surprisingly spacious compared to the exterior, with enough light from some unknown source to see clearly. The barren space contained nothing else—a hole serving as an exit and a single door without even a handle.
Why had Jang Chaeyeon wandered in a place like this? With an exit right there, what had she been searching for? Or had she seen something different?
"...I'm just gonna lie down for a bit."
Yoo Daon looked around before stretching out her legs and lying down in a spread-eagle position.
In the end, only Jang Chaeyeon and I were scouting the surroundings.
Soon, Jang Chaeyeon pressed her fingers to her forehead and started muttering.
"...No. Then..."
Now it was just me left.
But she had called me here for a reason.
I wandered around restlessly, checking for anything hidden, and eventually succeeded in finding something.
"Found it."
A small Cube tucked away in the corner.
Wondering why it had been hidden so thoroughly, I peered into the Cube.
[Name: Cube]
[Age: Manufacturing Year XXXXXXXXXXX]
[Specialty: Reality Alteration and Absorption]
[Talent: X]
[Background: This Cube possesses the functions of reality alteration and absorption. Whether it absorbs by altering reality, or alters reality by absorbing it—the order has not yet been determined. Currently absorbed into the Cube: a city.]
[Weakness: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? When you can't tell— - - - // Weren't you here to talk?]
...
It was a ridiculous description, but no voice came from the Cube aside from what my eyes could see.
Should I try shouting?
"...What are you?"
I muttered softly, and soon the weakness section changed.
[Weakness: I'll let you out.]
Suddenly like this?
Without realizing it, I narrowed my eyes and stared at the translucent window. Why was this happening all of a sudden?
"What about the others?"
[Weakness: The chicken - - - // I can send out the black-haired woman. However, I cannot send out the white-haired woman.]
I glanced at Yoo Daon, then at Jang Chaeyeon.
"Let me take a guess."
Come to think of it, Jang Chaeyeon had left with the Cube. She definitely had it when we first started tailing her, but by the time the fight broke out, she no longer had it.
I might have assumed she'd left it in her room before coming after us, but that hypothesis shattered when I put a bullet in her forehead. The Cube had suddenly been expelled when the bullet lodged there.
I picked up the Cube.
A cold sensation touched my fingertips, and a migraine began to creep in.
Ignoring it, I gripped the Cube and tried to solve it.
"...As expected."
It didn't budge.
They said each solved face caused a reality shift, but the Cube was designed to be physically unsolvable.
"You can't solve the faces physically. From the start, it had to be implanted into someone as an object."
In the end, the Critical shot I fired hadn't been aimed at Jang Chaeyeon.
It had jammed the Cube's solving process in her mind.
Let me organize what I know about the Cube.
Solving it would be disastrous, but it couldn't be solved physically. Ultimately, it required some ritual-like action. In that process, Jang Chaeyeon had been selected as the 'executor' of this ritual.
But how had they subdued her? What had turned her into this when she could casually eliminate even those monsters?
A window appeared before my eyes.
[Your understanding of the Cube has increased.]
No more text flowed from the Cube in front of me.
[Name: Cube]
[Age: Manufacturing Year XXXXXXXXXXX]
[Specialty: Reality Alteration and Absorption]
[Talent: X]
[Background: The Cube, made in some distant place, possesses the functions of reality alteration and absorption. Whether it absorbs by altering reality, or alters reality by absorbing it—the order has not yet been determined. Currently absorbed into the Cube: a city.]
[Weakness: You don't have to play along with the game— // // // // ]
The weakness window in front of me was just shaking wildly.
[Weakness: Sometimes // // // // //]
The Cube was deliberately blocking my weakness window.
I stared it down several times, trying to read the weakness, but unfortunately, my weakness window kept glitching, with text appearing and disappearing repeatedly.
This could go on forever.
I picked up the Cube and stood.
Sure enough, the entrance sealed shut, and all the subtle light sources vanished.
Then, the door on the opposite side opened, and those human-like things began slowly walking out just like before.
"I don't want to drink coffee today"
"I don't want to hurt anymore"
"I don't want to live"
There was no difference from those guys earlier.
I gripped my gun again, and by then Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon had positioned themselves behind me, ready.
"Any progress?"
"Yes. I think I can recover those memories too."
"To do that, we have to get through those?"
"That's right. And while we're at it, I need to have some emotional bonding with her."
"Got it."
"Yes?"
The last question was from Yoo Daon, but Jang Chaeyeon smoothly continued.
"If it's necessary, there's nothing I won't do. What do I need to do? Kiss? Hug?"
Was this woman insane?
"Are you crazy? Why would I kiss or hug you?"
At my words, Jang Chaeyeon froze.
"Huh...? Emotional... bonding...?"
"Do I go around kissing my friends for emotional bonding? Don't say that kind of stuff anywhere."
Jang Chaeyeon shut her mouth at my words.
Soon, *smack!* Something struck my back hard, and I writhed in pain on the floor without even screaming.
Jang Chaeyeon rolled up her sleeves and stepped in front of us.
She continued in a flat tone.
"Not needed. I'll handle it all."
But her earlobes were bright red.
"No, I mean, who's misunderstanding and making a fuss all by themsel—"
*Smack!*
I decided to stay quiet.
*
We really weren't needed.
Jang Chaeyeon utterly demolished the monsters charging at us, while I lay there writhing and watching, and Yoo Daon gently stroked my back while watching.
"...Hoo."
Soon, Jang Chaeyeon took a deep breath and sat down in front of me again.
"So, what do I need to do?"
"...Hmm."
I looked at Yoo Daon.
Yoo Daon met my eyes with a puzzled expression.
'Then I have no choice but to stake my life on Jaeheon too.'
...This situation was too bizarre.
"So—"
At that moment,
-*click,*
A sound like something slotting into place came from the Cube I was holding.
"Huh?"
"Can't do it alone!"
Jang Chaeyeon shouted and grabbed my hand. Time stopped for everyone except her and me.
...
...
I opened my eyes.
Yoo Daon had her eyes wide open.
"...Daon?"
I waved my hand in front of Yoo Daon.
No reaction.
I poked her cheek.
Still the same.
Squeeze. Jang Chaeyeon's hand, which had grabbed mine earlier, tightened even more.
Her hand trembled as she held mine.
"I remember now."
"...What is this?"
Fear filled her face.
"...It's too hard alone. ...I should have gone with you."
"What the hell is this?"
"...The final torment."
Deep despair welled up in Jang Chaeyeon's eyes.
"Torture that locks a person alone in eternal time, forcing them to do nothing."
...
So that's what it was.
"But... even so... alone is impossible... if there are two..."
Jang Chaeyeon muttered and hugged her knees.
"...Hold on a second."
The frozen weakness began spitting out text again.
[Weakness: Sometimes not playing the game is the way.]
...
I sat facing Jang Chaeyeon, who still wore a depressed expression.
"...Huh...?"
Jang Chaeyeon stared at me blankly.
"Chaeyeon, do you have anything you like?"
"Huh...?"
Overturn the board itself.
If something isn't fun, make it fun.
"Favorite food? Hobbies?"
"Huh? Huh?"
Bewilderment bloomed on Jang Chaeyeon's face.