Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 18. Escape Method
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It seemed like he was serious about killing us, because the inside of the Cube began to shake.
Yoo Daon was the first to stand up and react, pointing her finger at the exit.
"That way!"
Debris poured down like mad, and Jang Chaeyeon swung her hand to block it, sending the rocks tumbling to the floor as they collapsed.
-Rumble!
The Cube's exit was about to cave in, and Yoo Daon leaped into the gap, bracing the debris with her back.
An impossible sound came from her body, but she ignored it, turning her head to look at us. Jang Chaeyeon quickly swung her hand again to push the debris away.
"You okay?"
"Still good! Let's go forward first!"
Yoo Daon shouted as she hurriedly charged ahead.
Once we escaped the Cube, what lay before us was a crumbling city.
Buildings were collapsing into the endless pit with deafening roars, and at the bottom, an ominous black light seeped out.
Where should we go?
Cross the falling buildings like this? That was insane.
Not just me—Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon weren't superhumans straight out of a movie, either.
If we got crushed by debris even once while crossing, we'd die on the spot.
-Thud...
Behind us, the Cube's entrance caved in, and Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon looked around in confusion, just like me.
They were probably thinking the same thing.
Had I missed anything?
Something about the Cube I'd overlooked.
Roars echoed as if time was running out.
I desperately scanned the surroundings.
Soon, the Cube's description I'd seen a million times appeared before my eyes.
[Name: Cube]
[Age: Year of manufacture XXXXXXXXXXX]
[Specialty: Reality Alteration and Absorption]
[Talent: X]
[Background: This Cube, made in a distant place, has the functions of reality alteration and absorption. Whether it absorbs through altering reality, or alters reality through absorption—the order hasn't been determined yet. Currently, the Cube has absorbed a city.]
[Weakness: //////////////////]
The weakness was still invisible.
At times like this, thinking alone got me nowhere.
I quickly looked at Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon and shouted.
"Absorbs to alter, alters to absorb! Currently, the Cube has absorbed the city! How do we get out of here?!"
"What nonsense is that!"
"Huh?!"
Jang Chaeyeon and Yoo Daon reacted in turn. Both had expressions saying they had no clue.
"Hurry!"
-Rumble...
The sound of something collapsing grew even louder.
"...I don't know...!"
Jang Chaeyeon shook her head with a frustrated look.
"No, it's not a vacuum cleaner—what's it even absorbing and doing!"
Yoo Daon grabbed her head with both hands and screamed, "Argh!"
Wait, vacuum cleaner?
[Currently, the Cube has absorbed a city.]
"What happens when a vacuum cleaner gets full!"
"Are you crazy, Jaeheon?!"
"Hurry!"
"What are you even asking! You empty the dustbag!"
Yoo Daon shouted her answer, and in that instant, an absurd hypothesis popped into my head.
The Cube alters reality by absorbing it.
Reality is altered by this city being absorbed.
Conversely, this city is absorbed by reality being altered.
So, when it empties what it's absorbed like this, how does it discard it?
Just drop it into empty void?
Even then, wouldn't it need some kind of 'packaging' to drop it into the void?
Like when we empty a vacuum cleaner—not just dumping it on the floor, but shaking the contents into a trash bag, tying it off, and throwing it out.
If this whole thing is a process to dispose of trash all at once?
Then, how do I survive that process?
"A hole!"
"Huh?!"
I looked at the sinking buildings.
"We poke a hole in the trash bag and get out!"
"What are you talking about!"
"We sink with it, then get out!"
Yoo Daon's face filled with shock.
"Is that hypothesis actually based on something?"
"Nope! But I can't think of anything better!"
Please, someone come up with a better idea than mine.
"Ha, fine! ...Okay!"
But no one did.
Yoo Daon clicked her tongue, flashed a fierce smile, and rolled up her sleeves.
"...Trust me."
Jang Chaeyeon murmured softly and stood still, looking at me.
"So, we just wait to sink like this?"
"Yeah."
I pulled the pistol from my pocket.
[Critical: 1]
"I'll shoot and share my vision, so Chaeyeon, rip that spot open with everything you've got."
"Got it. Even if it kills me."
"Don't die."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded calmly.
"What about me?"
"If we're lucky enough to survive, Daon, recover the Cube. It won't go quietly."
"Got it."
Yoo Daon nodded.
-Rumble...
The ground began to crumble.
"Hoo..."
My heart felt like it would burst from tension.
If my idea was wrong, we'd be done for, straight to the afterlife.
No, I might even be grateful for that.
I steadied my shaking breaths over and over.
I looked at the other two.
Yoo Daon stretching, Jang Chaeyeon blankly staring at the falling ground.
I seemed to be the only tense one here.
"...It's coming."
Jang Chaeyeon murmured softly.
The ground started crumbling faster.
Soon, with an endless sense of weightlessness, the three of us plummeted into endless darkness.
I was mentally prepared.
I gripped the pistol tight and widened my eyes.
[Critical 1->0]
The world slowed again, and a tiny red light at the bottom caught my eye.
-Bang!
I fired the pistol as if entranced, then prepared my next move without hesitation.
[Coordinate Rip – 2 uses remaining]
This time, the world turned into graph paper.
I looked at the spot I'd shot.
Sure enough, only that spot was crumpled like wrinkled paper.
I quickly pointed at it with my finger. Jang Chaeyeon took a deep breath, glared at it, then thrust her fist forward, clenching it tight.
Blood poured from her nose.
-Pop!
With the sound of a balloon bursting, my body got sucked rapidly toward the noise.
I looked at Jang Chaeyeon.
Nose bleeding profusely, she nodded at me.
I looked at Yoo Daon.
She gave a thumbs-up like "trust me" and plummeted downward.
Jang Chaeyeon followed, and I was sucked in last.
-Thud!
"Ugh!"
Hitting the ground back-first, the shock stole my breath.
I coughed repeatedly as I propped up my upper body, and fresh, clean air—not like before—filled my lungs.
I looked around.
The hotel that had collapsed earlier, and the familiar scenery.
We'd escaped somehow.
But that wasn't the end.
Sure enough, at the edge of my vision, the Cube hovered in midair, glowing ominously.
In that moment, someone brushed past me.
It was Yoo Daon.
Dodging falling rocks with agile movements, she leaped toward the glowing Cube in the air.
Instantly, the Cube emitted a bizarre light, shooting a beam that pierced Yoo Daon's forehead.
She flipped in midair without even screaming.
The Cube spun in circles in the air, as if mocking me.
"Having fun?"
But I just sat there, doing nothing.
-Twitch.
Soon, Yoo Daon twitched a few times, then stood, reached out, and grabbed the Cube.
It squirmed in her grip like it was startled, but Yoo Daon ignored it, seizing it with both hands.
-Pop!
After wriggling repeatedly, the Cube burst in her hands, thick smoke billowing up.
"Daon!"
Suppressing a coughing fit, I ran to her, but relaxed and slumped back down when she walked out of the smoke unscathed.
"It explodes, huh?"
Her soot-blackened hand held the Cube, which vibrated a few times in her grasp before going still.
Her hand healed as if time rewound.
"...Ow."
Seeing that, I flopped straight onto the ground.
"You okay?"
"My eyes hurt."
"Mine's the hand. It just exploded."
"You're joking, right?"
"Nosebleed here too."
Yoo Daon looked down at me, and soon Jang Chaeyeon walked over to join her.
"...Can we rest a bit?"
In the end, we were once again politely escorted back to the Management Bureau.
*
"You're really sure you don't want to join the Containment Team? Tempting you this much is making even me confused."
"Please stop with the crazy talk. Who was it that shortened 'Human and Containment Incident Response Team' to HR Team in the first place?"
"Such a shame."
The man in sunglasses I'd met before sighed and repeatedly tossed and caught the Cube in his hand.
To me, that thing was a bomb, but to him, it was apparently a toy.
"Before we talk about the Cube..."
He steepled his fingers and looked at me.
"The Management Bureau is commending you for resolving this incident and sending compensation."
A bag was placed in front of me.
"Oh. I said I don't take stuff from the Management Bureau anymore."
"Open it."
In the end, I opened the bag, saw the stacks of bills inside, and had no choice but to bow my head.
"I was just doing my job."
Loyal to the Management Bureau.
Love the Management Bureau.
Forever together with the Management Bureau.