Chapter 203
Chapter 203
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Primal Fear
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The branch manager, who had returned alone, wore a grim expression.
"Branch Manager?"
"..."
"Branch Manager."
"Ah, yes."
Only after I called her twice did the branch manager look at me.
"Is Chaeyeon okay?"
"...No."
She slowly shook her head.
"..."
Song Arin briefly furrowed her brow before relaxing it, and Eileen closed her eyes for a long moment before opening them again.
"...Branch Manager."
Soon, Song Arin stared straight at the branch manager.
It was a different expression from the one she made toward me, Yoo Daon, and Jang Chaeyeon.
Song Arin was looking at the branch manager with genuine irritation.
"You're coming back alive, right?"
"Yes."
Coming back alive?
I looked at the branch manager as well.
"..."
Receiving my gaze, the branch manager chewed on her lips before opening her mouth.
"...Jang Chaeyeon probably died there. She knew it herself."
"You never said anything like that, did you?"
I didn't recall her saying that to me.
"I did."
"She did."
Eileen and Song Arin answered in unison.
"...Now that I think about it, it's field agent lingo, so you two wouldn't know."
Song Arin sighed as she glanced at Yoo Daon and me, who looked puzzled.
The branch manager's expression hardened, then quickly turned pale.
"You... didn't know..."
Ignoring the muttering branch manager, Song Arin turned to me.
"White Hair knew it herself. That's why when you said you were going, she went first."
Song Arin muttered that it was just like her and clicked her tongue before looking back at the branch manager.
"She must have said she'd survive because she has something to rely on."
"...It's not just something to rely on. I can say for sure."
Receiving Song Arin's gaze, the branch manager stammered her response.
"If we don't resolve this incident, we're all dead anyway. But if we do resolve it, everything will go back to normal."
"...You're using the watch?"
At my words, everyone except the branch manager and me looked puzzled, and she slowly shook her head.
"No. It's not using the watch. Rewinding time isn't the same as going back to normal."
"...Then what?"
"Literally."
The branch manager pointed to the lunar surface beneath her feet.
"Everything that happens here will be treated as 'nonexistent.'"
"..."
"Just like a dream."
The branch manager muttered as she gazed at the moon.
"We'll stake everything on this one chance. If we succeed, we'll survive no matter what we do. If we fail, we'll die no matter how we struggle."
She muttered while staring into the distance, as if reciting something she'd heard from someone.
"..."
The branch manager looked at me.
"I'm sorry. I thought you, Kim Jaeheon, knew what that word meant."
"I'm not a field agent."
"You weren't?"
Ignoring Eileen's mutter from behind, I looked at the branch manager, and she bowed her head to me.
"I'm sorry."
"It's like I deceived you, Kim Jaeheon. I have nothing to say."
"..."
I had a lot I wanted to say.
"...Let's go for now."
That could wait until after we resolved this incident.
Getting angry at her wouldn't ease Jang Chaeyeon's pain.
In fact, she had bought us this time for our sake.
Our pace quickened.
Thinking of her sacrifice, we had to move even faster.
The branch manager walked beside me, and the three followed behind us.
It felt even emptier than before.
"There are about two more ahead."
The branch manager muttered as she glanced back.
Our eyes met hers, and after looking at us, she bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.
"I'm sorry. For dragging you all into this incident."
Still bowed, she continued.
"I know you have a lot to say, but with Jang Chaeyeon heading to the crater, we don't have much time left. From now on, it's a race against time, so let's hurry."
"..."
"If you must, you can hit me or even shoot me."
"She says that because hitting her doesn't hurt and bullets don't work anyway, right? She doesn't feel a thing herself."
"..."
The branch manager froze.
"Daon, quiet for a sec."
"Hey, Jaeheon—mmph!"
I covered Yoo Daon's mouth.
But now that I thought about it, she wasn't wrong.
I released my hand from Yoo Daon's mouth.
"Go on."
"Yeah, keep going."
"...Is the HR Team always like this?"
As Yoo Daon got encouragement from me and even Song Arin, Eileen muttered in amazement as she looked at us.
"..."
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Even if you suddenly tell me to..."
"Oh, come on. You yap endlessly at me."
Yoo Daon looked at us with a troubled expression, and Song Arin stared at her in disbelief.
"...Anyway."
The branch manager, who had fallen silent after hearing Yoo Daon, looked at us.
"I'll do anything for you. So let's go for now."
"If we can't resolve this, promises don't mean anything anyway."
Dead people can't grant wishes.
"Let's hurry. Chaeyeon must be suffering."
"...Right here."
Hearing me, the branch manager pointed ahead.
There were stairs.
...Stairs?
"Stairs?"
And it seemed I wasn't the only one questioning it.
Song Arin muttered with furrowed brows, and Eileen quietly stared at the branch manager.
"Legacies left behind."
"More precisely, our entrance."
The branch manager responded to Eileen and looked at us.
"We'll enter the moon's interior through here."
"..."
"But don't think an entrance means it's safe."
The branch manager muttered as she eyed the stairs.
"The moon will probably try to stop us."
"Didn't you say the moon doesn't perceive us?"
More precisely, that it doesn't care about us.
"Yes. The moon isn't consciously trying to block us."
The branch manager nodded.
"But simply put, we're like..."
"...A virus."
"Exactly."
The branch manager nodded at my words.
"From their perspective, we're a virus. So the white blood cells in the body rush to stop us."
A virus and white blood cells. It sounded like the moon was alive.
"What exactly happens?"
We need to know to resolve—or not—things.
"There's a door at the bottom of the stairs leading to the moon's core. We completed it exactly seventy years ago. Before that, we had to dig tunnels directly or go through nearby craters."
It usually didn't end well, she muttered as she looked at the stairs.
The iron stairs were rusted heavily, mixed with brown and gray.
"The door to the core can only be locked from the outside, not from the inside."
"What does that mean?"
"Once you're inside, it's either die or succeed. One or the other."
The branch manager looked at us.
"There are no other options."
"...Why?"
"Because the moment someone judges they can open the door, any normal person would run."
"..."
We all fell silent at her words.
"And we have to close the door from the outside to keep the things inside from coming out."
Of course, the things coming from the outside are horrific too, she muttered as she stepped toward the stairs.
-Clang... Clang...
We followed the branch manager down the stairs.
The deeper we went, the thicker the darkness became.
"...Cold."
Song Arin muttered, rubbing her arms.
She was right.
It was getting cold.
The faint moonlight had long vanished, and we descended relying on old incandescent bulbs dangling from wires at intervals.
Soon, the branch manager stopped.
"Here it is."
"..."
Under the flickering incandescent bulb was an iron door with a round handle like something from a ship.
"...Sorry to say this."
The branch manager opened her mouth.
"Someone has to stay here and make sure no one can open the door."
"..."
"Someone who can purely endure and hold the door."
Our gazes turned to one person.
Receiving the looks, Yoo Daon gave a small smile.
"As expected... it has to be me, right?"
"...I'm sorry, Yoo Daon."
The branch manager slightly bowed to Yoo Daon, who waved it off with a smile.
"It's fine! If it's necessary, it has to be done."
"...Daon."
Hearing my voice, Yoo Daon tilted her head and looked at me.
"Don't worry, Jaeheon!"
She smiled.
"I'm really good at enduring!"
She pumped her fist with a "Yup!"
"I'll be quick."
"Take your time! I'm not going anywhere."
Yoo Daon smiled, and the branch manager immediately grabbed the handle.
"I'm sorry. I'd love to give you more time to talk, but we have to hurry. They've probably noticed us on the stairs."
They?
-Creak!
As the branch manager turned the handle, the door opened with a horrific grinding of metal.
-Clang... Clang...
Something was coming down the stairs.
"Hurry."
The branch manager held the door, Eileen tapped Yoo Daon's shoulder, and went in.
Song Arin and I remained, looking at Yoo Daon.
"Hey, Black Hair."
"Yes?"
"...Hang in there."
At Song Arin's words, Yoo Daon beamed.
"Of course!"
"Daon."
"If you're that worried, um."
Yoo Daon placed her index finger on her chin, thought for a moment, then beckoned me over.
"..."
As I approached, she whispered softly in my ear.
"Later, come with me to tour the moon."
"...Naturally."
She'd overheard the branch manager.
"Sorry, you two. We have to go now."
The branch manager called us, and Yoo Daon waved lightly like she was off to a friend's house.
"See you later!"
Song Arin glanced at Yoo Daon and entered, and I looked at her a bit longer before going in.
-Creak... Bang!
As the door closed,
-Thud!
A horrific sound came from beyond the door, and blood seeped out from below.
"...Daon!"
"...I'm fine!"
Yoo Daon's cheerful voice rang in my ears.
"Let's hurry."
The branch manager grabbed my arm and pulled.
-Thud! Thud!
Beyond the door, it sounded like something was endlessly pounding.
*
"..."
Now only four of us remained.
Without any agreement, we all quickened our steps.
Sounds came.
-Thump... Thump...
A heartbeat pounded in our ears,
"...Hngh..."
Eileen, walking beside me, broke out in cold sweat and leaned against the wall.
"Eileen?"
"W-We have to run."
She muttered.
Soon, Eileen turned back.
"It's trapped."
The branch manager's cold voice snapped her out of it.
"B-But...!"
"Kim Jaeheon, hold Eileen."
At the branch manager's words, I hurriedly grabbed Eileen's shoulder.
"N-No! I don't want to die here! N-No...!"
"Eileen, snap out of it! Arin too—"
I looked at Song Arin.
Her face was deathly pale as she stared ahead.
"Not here."
"Arin?"
"I-If we stay here, we're all dead. We have to go now. Not here."
She muttered,
"Get a grip."
The branch manager immediately grabbed Song Arin's shoulders and locked eyes with her.
Her red eyes pierced Song Arin, who flinched.
-Thump... Thump...
A sound like a heartbeat battered my eardrums.
I was scared. A little—no, a lot.
It felt like primal human fear itself being triggered.
From the era before humanity civilized, when we lived purely on instinct.
The emotion felt when encountering a colossal being beyond their ability to handle.
Unlike the branch manager, who walked calmly, the two struggled to take even a step.
I was barely managing to move.
"Just a little more."
The branch manager encouraged us as she walked.
She dragged Song Arin along, and I forcibly pulled Eileen.
"Song Arin, you're okay."
"E-Eileen...!"
Our voices echoed.
-Thump... Thump...
The sound grew louder.
Cold sweat drenched my body, and Song Arin and Eileen could barely breathe.
"...We're here."
Only the branch manager, who seemed unfazed, walked ahead and looked.
"...Eek."
Eileen, following her gaze, let out a terrified shriek.
I followed her eyes to where the branch manager was looking.
A massive cavern, and above it hung something.
Like a human child, or a lizard, or a toad.
Or human—no, not human. Or something mimicking a human, forcibly shaped like one.
Or bear, sea, sky.
Fragmented thoughts and images flashed through my mind, and I dropped to my knees.
An indescribable sense of déjà vu gripped me.
Before the translucent window appeared, the branch manager stepped in front of us, shielding us.
"...This is it."
She muttered, staring ahead.
"What the Management Bureau has been trying to contain for decades through construction, where countless people died in the process. An element of danger similar to the wedge."
She turned back to look at us.
"It's the moon."
-Hoo...
It breathed.