Chapter 176
Chapter 176
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Let's Pray
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What am I?
It's a question everyone ponders at least once.
In the end, no one finds an answer, so they all put the thought on hold.
Torn pages scatter in the wind.
I'd had a doubt ever since fighting the regressor.
What if I'm the regressor?
What if my memories were erased without my knowledge, and I've been regressing all along?
I actually agonized over that for quite a while and finally reached a conclusion.
It's a meaningless worry.
During the process of defining a person, the Manual stated this:
[What constitutes a human is the body, the soul, and <Censored>.]
In truth, I have no idea what that <Censored> really is.
It could be something that transcends body and soul, or perhaps some complex concept that gives me a headache just thinking about it.
But that wasn't the important part.
What constitutes me?
My body? My soul?
Those things are secondary, in my view.
I have no memories of being Kim Jaeheon from the Accounting Team. I have no way of knowing who I spent time with, how I died, or how I sacrificed myself.
Conversely, does the Accounting Team's version of me have memories of going through all these absurd hardships alongside Yoo Daon, Jang Chaeyeon, and Song Arin?
No, he doesn't.
A person might be made of soul and body.
But what makes me is different.
It's memories.
Even if there's another me in some other world, if those memories don't exist in me, then that's not me.
Thus, strictly speaking, that other world's me is no different from a complete stranger to me.
But they wouldn't understand thoughts like these.
The strong don't worry. Everything flows smoothly for them.
The weak, on the other hand, are prone to worry.
From the perspective of someone who only receives or has things taken away, there's no reason to think deeply.
Therefore.
"I offer this."
-Shwaa!
The Manual opens.
Its pages flip endlessly.
What does it mean to offer?
Something an ordinary person couldn't offer.
Something only I can offer.
Something utterly different from me.
"What I offer is my past self."
I recall the words from the Manual.
[5. Leave here an offering for my future self.]
What can I give myself?
Facing death, unable to find something to offer, what vow did I make when I offered my body?
It was decided.
The page in my hand glows brightly.
Wind buffets the Manual, flipping its pages wildly, but the one in my hand remains unaffected, shining steadily.
'Offer it.'
A familiar voice rings out.
It's my voice.
I release the page I'd been holding.
It flutters down to the floor,
-Thud!
And the Manual closes, as if its task is complete.
Then,
-Boom!
The inscription on the tombstone right before my eyes begins to change moment by moment.
[Offered, offered, offered, did not offer.]
[No, I did offer.]
[No, this isn't an offering.]
[It is an offering.]
[That's not right.]
[It is.]
The words shift back and forth like that several times before,
[Unintelligible.]
With that, the inscription on the stone vanishes.
The sky clears.
Sunlight pours down through the once-overcast clouds,
"Jaeheon!"
And the countless tombstones have disappeared.
[Critical: 0->1]
A translucent window pops up before my eyes and fades away as Yoo Daon runs toward me.
"Jaeheon, are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
I look at the Manual.
As if I'd never torn a page from it, it's back in pristine condition in my hand.
Should I grieve the torn page, or was this always meant to be?
I lower my gaze to the Manual.
At least the pages aren't flipping open.
-Rumble...
A crack splits down the center of the massive tombstone,
"Wow, what is this?"
And it begins to open like a door.
Yoo Daon mutters in wonder.
"Let's go."
I move forward, continuing my train of thought.
Someone greets you upon entry, trials strike one by one in the order of the bridesmaids, unknown ordeals you can somehow overcome.
This is totally,
"...a trial."
Song Arin, who'd been quietly at my side, murmured.
"Arin."
"Yeah."
Song Arin turns her gaze to me.
Her eyes seem a bit more lively than before—maybe she's getting used to it.
"Someone seems to be imposing trials on you."
"You could see it that way."
"Of course, you'd break through without issue..."
Hearing Song Arin say that instead of Yoo Daon or Jang Chaeyeon feels strangely familiar.
Whether she senses my mood or not, Song Arin continues.
"Still, let's be careful."
"Got it."
We pass through the tombstone door.
As if nothing had happened, the containment room corridor stretches out before us again.
"...Ugh."
At the same moment, Jang Chaeyeon groans and stirs,
"O-oppa."
"I'm watching."
Park Ye-eun carefully sets Jang Chaeyeon down, and soon her eyes flutter open.
"..."
She slowly opens her eyes and looks at me.
"You okay, Chaeyeon?"
"...Yeah."
Her response is a bit delayed, but she nods weakly.
How did she wake up?
Song Arin had to forcibly snap out of it.
"What about the others?"
"Everyone else is awake."
Jang Chaeyeon's gaze shifts to Yoo Daon and Song Arin.
"..."
"..."
Song Arin and Jang Chaeyeon's eyes meet.
Song Arin averts her gaze from Jang Chaeyeon.
"That one's acting weird."
Jang Chaeyeon mutters.
Her observation skills are sharp as ever.
"I've linked her with Daon right now."
Jang Chaeyeon's eyes turn to Yoo Daon, who smiles awkwardly and looks away.
"Seems like it."
She nods and stands.
"Sorry for passing out. What happened?"
I explain the situation to Jang Chaeyeon.
After hearing everything, she nods.
"Something's waiting ahead, right?"
"If my theory's correct."
"Got it."
Jang Chaeyeon nods and stretches her body this way and that.
"Let's go."
We start walking again.
"Arin, you okay?"
"...Yeah."
Song Arin answers slowly, and Jang Chaeyeon watches her before looking at me.
"She's fine."
"Huh?"
"No need to worry. We've faced worse."
What on earth happened?
But since she says so, I have nothing more to add.
"By the way, Chaeyeon."
"Yeah."
"Did you have a bad dream?"
At my words, Jang Chaeyeon pauses slightly and looks at me.
"...Yeah."
"What kind?"
"A bad dream."
She says that and clams up.
She doesn't want to talk about it, I guess.
"Understood."
Then I can't exactly force her to tell me.
"Anyway, up ahead..."
I turn my gaze forward,
And we all fall silent.
A containment room door looms right in front of us.
But it looks like someone ripped it off its hinges with brute force.
The thick steel door, folded in half, lies crumpled on the floor.
That alone might be one thing.
But the room inside is slathered in dark crimson.
Like someone obsessively painted over white walls with red.
"...The smell."
Yoo Daon wrinkles her nose and mutters.
"I caught a whiff of blood on the stairs. Must've come from here."
"Is it bad?"
"Really bad. ...How many did they kill?"
Yoo Daon murmurs.
"Let's go."
I glance back.
The door we came through has vanished, replaced by a solid wall.
It's as if whatever sent us here is determined to keep us trapped.
We slowly step through the doorway.
"..."
As we cross the threshold, voices reach us.
"Lead us."
"Fill us."
"All this is your grace."
Countless people kneel in prayer.
"..."
If they weren't all dressed in Management Bureau suits like office workers, and if the woman who handed me the cross earlier wasn't kneeling there, I might've thought I'd entered the wrong place.
'Management Team is no longer on our side.'
Is that what it meant?
"..."
I step inside, but no one pays us the slightest attention.
As if we don't exist, they focus solely on their prayers.
"...What now?"
Jang Chaeyeon mutters and looks at me.
"..."
We can't go back—there's no path.
Fight all these people?
We could, probably.
I look at Song Arin, and she tilts her head.
"Brainwash them all? If you want, I can make them kill themselves."
"Hold on."
I step toward the interior.
No one notices us.
Dark red liquid sticks to my shoe soles, and the horrific stench forces me to breathe through my mouth as I press on.
Soon, a massive cross comes into view.
A translucent window appears.
[Name: Cross]
[Age: 3̸̡̭͖̪͇̻̝͔̬̯̋̐ͅ]
[Talent: Gift for serving God.]
The window looks scratched up.
What the hell is this?
I squint to see closer, and that's when—
-Drip!
"Aaagh!"
The window vanishes, and at the same moment, the thread connecting Song Arin and Yoo Daon snaps.
Song Arin screams, clutching her head as she collapses.
"Ah, ugh...!"
"Arin!"
Yoo Daon hurriedly covers Song Arin, while Jang Chaeyeon scans the surroundings.
But no one reacts to the commotion.
"Jaeheon, Arin's...!"
"I'm coming!"
My vision glitches.
More precisely, it's like what happened with the Red Lady when I looked straight at it.
Just without going blind.
I rush to the four of them,
-Thud, thud...
And footsteps echo.
These footsteps...
"That's it."
Jang Chaeyeon mutters, staring outside.
Her hand trembles slightly.
"That priest."
The priest who made everyone but Yoo Daon faint on sight.
We're running into him here?
If we collapse now, there's really no escape.
Should I use Critical?
I hurriedly draw my pistol from my coat,
"...Huh."
The translucent windows are gone.
"..."
I blink frantically, scanning around desperately, but not even Critical or anyone else's info appears.
"...Huh...?"
Then Jang Chaeyeon, beside me, mutters in confusion and lifts her hand.
"...Can't move."
"...Me too?"
Yoo Daon fearlessly scratches her own arm with her nail,
"...It's real."
Blood trickles down her arm.
"O-oppa."
Park Ye-eun, Yoo Daon, and Jang Chaeyeon look at me in panic.
"Ah... ugh..."
Song Arin breathes raggedly.
-Thud... thud...
The footsteps draw nearer.
Think. Think. If I don't, we're all dead here.
I desperately rack my brain, recalling what I'd heard and seen.
The hand pointing at the floor, the hand pointing up.
And,
"..."
I kneel beside Song Arin, covering her as I sit.
"Everyone."
I speak to the bewildered group looking at me.
"Let's pray."