Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Speak with Your Body
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'Is that guy finally losing it?'
That was the thought that flashed through Song Arin's mind.
No, maybe not. He might've just heard things half-assed.
From what she could tell, that old man had conveyed his message crystal clear.
Go to the on-duty room and all fall asleep together.
Then you can reach the Museum of Truth.
Of course, from Song Arin's perspective, it wasn't exactly a story that made sense.
The Museum of Truth?
It was the place where the Containment Team had suffered massive losses and barely managed to contain it.
A site that had been quiet for years suddenly failing containment—and in a dream, no less?
"Doesn't something feel off?"
"What?"
Jang Chaeyeon responded without taking her eyes off the man, to Song Arin's mutter.
From Jang Chaeyeon's gaze, the man looked strange too.
He was focusing on the old man with unnatural intensity.
He wasn't the type to zone out during conversations with others in the first place.
And yet there he was, just standing there?
No need to overthink it.
Jang Chaeyeon slowly walked toward the man.
She had no clue what was going on, but she understood the man standing there.
"Hey, where are you going!"
Ignoring the bewildered voice from behind, she kept walking.
"What's going on?"
The man turned his head at her words and looked at her.
Eyes deep in thought.
Soon, he turned his body and started walking to the right.
"Ah, damn it... wait up...!"
As he turned, Yoo Daon followed right behind without a moment's hesitation, and Park Ye-eun stared at the two with a face that showed she had no idea what was happening before trailing after them.
Jang Chaeyeon followed the man without hesitation too.
After he headed right instead of left, he opened the door right there on the right.
The weird part was that after leaving that room, he hadn't said a word.
As he opened the door,
"...What the hell is this?"
Bewilderment seeped into Song Arin's voice as she followed behind.
Jang Chaeyeon was just as baffled.
This was her old workplace, after all.
She'd walked this corridor countless times, entered every door.
But the door in front of them now was one she'd never seen before.
A heavily rusted metal door with a lock so pathetic it barely qualified as one.
The kind you'd buy at a corner stationery store.
And then,
...
His gaze lingered on the lock for a moment.
His eyes scanned it as if reading something,
and he reached out to punch in the code.
The numbers were <1234>.
*Click!*
The lock opened, and so did the door.
*Creaaak...*
A horrific screech of metal as the door swung open,
revealing stairs leading down.
The stairs were rusted through too, ancient enough to make you wonder if they could even hold weight.
"...Blood."
Up until then, Yoo Daon—who'd been standing still—sharpened her expression and stepped forward.
"I'll take point."
The man nodded at her words and drew a pistol from inside his coat.
Something's up.
Jang Chaeyeon pulled steel marbles from her pouch and slipped them onto her fingers, while Song Arin cracked her knuckles.
"W-What's going on...?"
Only Park Ye-eun blinked in confusion, staring at the four of them.
The man's gaze turned to the four women,
and his index finger went to his lips.
Stay quiet.
They all shut their mouths at the gesture.
Something was there.
Yoo Daon started down the stairs,
and the other four followed behind her.
*
The stairs went on forever.
And for Yoo Daon leading the way, they felt even longer.
She glanced back at the man.
He met her eyes and gave a slight smile.
The smell, his actions—it was the man she knew.
Weird.
She furrowed her brow, trying to recall the old man's conversation, but honestly, Yoo Daon hadn't paid close attention, so nothing stood out.
It wasn't like she'd been slacking.
Even if she'd heard it, she wouldn't come to a satisfying conclusion like he could.
So she should just do what she was good at.
That's why Yoo Daon focused on reading the room and the Gangdong Branch's atmosphere.
If his role was to assess the situation and then act, hers was to handle any incoming threats preemptively.
In fact, what she'd zeroed in on most was the old man's vibe and smell, and scanning the surroundings.
At least in that room, no major threats.
But this was different.
*Screech...*
Every step Yoo Daon took echoed horrifically off the iron stairs.
But that wasn't what concerned her.
The blood smell was getting thicker.
Stronger with every step down.
What the hell happened below?
Even she didn't know.
*Thud...*
Her foot hit solid ground, reaching the end of the endless stairs.
"Ugh..."
A putrid stench assaulted them.
*
Not urgent?
Isn't this urgent as hell?
If we'd been even a little later, who knows what could've happened.
I recalled the conversation with the old man from earlier.
It was a perfect cipher.
*Click.* The sound echoed in my head.
Let me rethink that conversation.
"People always only catch the first line I say."
That's what he told me.
Why throw that at me out of nowhere?
The Management Bureau isn't infallible.
I'd learned that the hard way since the Butterfly's Dream incident.
From the moment we arrived here, we had to prepare for anything.
They only hear the first line.
*Click.* After that sound, I lined up the first lines in my head.
"So the management team isn't on our side anymore."
"Okay, time to mix in some body language here."
Up to then, I'd been half-doubting.
But after hearing the pen click before Song Arin spoke, I was mostly convinced.
"What was it? Don't trust anything but what you hear in this place."
Don't trust anything outside what you hear in the room.
"Okay, time to mix in some body language here."
Body language mixed in.
I recalled when his finger pointed at the floor.
"If you're Management Bureau, wouldn't everyone head to the same place?"
Means go down.
Down, and the same place any Management Bureau person would go.
What's under the Gangdong Branch?
I opened the manual.
Gangdong Branch, Gangdong Branch...
[Office Manual]
[KD - Gangdong Branch Containment Chambers]
1. The Gangdong Branch also has containment chambers on Basement Level 1.
2. Special clearance is required to enter these facilities, so without it, access is normally impossible.
The stairs we took led underground.
Probably to the containment chambers?
But one thing still bugged me.
I still couldn't figure out what he meant by clasping his hands.
What was he trying to say?
I pressed my temple, lost in thought.
Table that for now.
Next part.
"So the management team isn't on our side anymore."
"If it's empty, look around carefully. Sometimes people hide out there."
"Don't get too chummy just because someone talks to you. Better to play it like you're from the Gangdong Branch."
"Don't act too familiar with acquaintances. Especially Arin and Chaeyeon."
It all connected.
Management team isn't on our side.
What does that mean?
Infighting among Management Bureau staff?
Could be a rebellion, or maybe containment objects have crippled operations. Like Butterfly's Dream.
Either way, something's made the Gangdong Branch dysfunctional.
And coming down these stairs confirmed my hypothesis.
We turned exactly right, and the code worked.
"Isn't the safest time when we're all together? Especially when it's dangerous."
I wanted to warn the others too.
"But be careful. Lots of listening ears around."
The listening ears part worried me.
Someone might overhear.
Should I write it down?
But there could be someone hiding.
I scanned around.
Rusted stairs, dim lighting where you could barely see one step ahead.
Now's the chance.
I grabbed Yoo Daon's wrist as she walked ahead.
"Eek...! Mmph...!"
Yoo Daon let out a weird yelp in surprise, then hurriedly covered her mouth with her free hand.
...
Yoo Daon stared at me in flustered panic, hand over her mouth.
I started writing on her palm with my finger.
"Mmph... Hnng..."
Her eyes squeezed shut, body trembling with each stroke.
[Listening devices likely. Stay alert.]
"Hnng... Huh...?"
Yoo Daon's trembling stopped, hand still over her mouth.
She turned to look at me,
and nodded.
She got it.
I went to the others the same way, grabbing wrists and writing on palms.
Soon, I'd conveyed the same to everyone, and we all fully understood.
We moved slowly.
The end of the dark corridor approached, another rusted iron door right in front of us.
Yoo Daon opened it.
*Creaaak...*
The same horrific screech, white light spilling out,
and we stood in the corridor.
...
No one spoke as we scanned the surroundings.
The familiar containment sector layout.
Just as everyone started pointing where to go,
"No way, if it isn't Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin."
A middle-aged woman's voice rang out,
and
*Creak...*
Someone opened a containment chamber door and stepped out.
An ordinary-looking middle-aged woman.
Ordinary clothes too.
Only one thing caught my eye...
A translucent window floated above her head.
[Name: Park Inhee]
[Age: 52]
[Talent: None]
[Abilities: None]
[Background: She thought long and hard. What if just staring was enough to maintain containment? And somehow, her wish came true.]
[Weakness: Ordinary human. Strike vital points to kill.]
"Been a while since you were down here, huh? What's up?"
She smiled softly, glancing over me, Yoo Daon, and Park Ye-eun.
The cross on her wrist gleamed in the ceiling light.