Chapter 214
Chapter 214
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 214. Finding the Body
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Song Arin opened her eyes to find herself seated in front of the audience seats on a rundown stage.
"God, this is creepy as hell."
She let out a sigh and started to rise from her seat when
the curtain parted, and a puppet show began.
At the center stood a puppet with purple hair that looked just like Song Arin, surrounded by other puppets dangling from strings and dancing around her.
Laughter echoed.
"What's with her? Her eyes look weird, and she seems like a total bitch."
One ordinary-looking puppet spoke up.
Song Arin remembered those words.
They were the first insults she'd heard.
More precisely, they came after she entered the Management Bureau and started living at the orphanage with the other kids.
The Song Arin of today would have headbutted the girl next to her or rammed her own head into someone without a second thought, but back then, she was too busy sobbing in sadness.
"Waaah..."
The child version of Song Arin's puppet wailed loudly.
Why doesn't anyone love me?
Why do people reject me?
Watching the crying puppet, the now-adult Song Arin sighed.
Because that's just how it is.
No one is loved by everyone.
Some people click with you perfectly, while others clash just as intensely.
And she wasn't even nice or anything. She was just some outsider who rolled in.
If anything, she was more likely to be hated than loved.
Night fell before she knew it, and the puppet lay in bed, closing her eyes.
"God..."
Yeah. She had prayed desperately.
Soaking her pillow with tears, she always prayed.
"Please make the other kids like me tomorrow."
She prayed fervently to be loved.
And a few days later.
"Arin! Play with me!"
"No! Arin's playing with me!"
"Me!"
Her wish came true.
She was loved by everyone, welcomed by all.
The puppets who had mocked and surrounded her now laughed and played alongside her.
Until the day a man in sunglasses appeared and took her away.
The stage shifted, and the sunglass-wearing puppet looked at Song Arin's puppet.
"You can control people's hearts."
"Huh...?"
"Yeah. It might be shocking, but—"
"W-Wait."
Cutting off the man, Song Arin asked just one thing.
"Those kids... they're not being controlled by me, right?"
"..."
The man didn't answer.
Song Arin rose from her seat, staring bitterly at the stage.
She remembered exactly what she'd felt then.
Despair.
The love she'd so desperately wanted was nothing more than something that happened because she'd wished for it.
Not some fairy-tale magic, but the kids had hated her and were just forced to pretend otherwise.
In the end, she'd never been truly loved.
"..."
She stood from the rickety old chair.
The aged springs creaked.
She had to go.
With a wave of her hand, a few strings shot out and drew the curtain closed.
"...That's not important right now."
Right now, saving the man came first.
Ignoring the ongoing puppet show, she started walking.
What she needed to do wasn't this.
-Shraaap!
Just as she took a step,
she turned at the familiar sound of pages flipping open beside her.
[Office Manual]
It was the manual.
Why is this here?
She picked up the manual, puzzled as she looked around.
"...Ugh."
As always, a stabbing pain pierced her temple.
The manual opened.
[Office Manual]
[PLK - When advancing through darkness.]
1. If you see this entry, you're in grave danger alone right now. Yet you're moving to save someone else.
2. Open the manual and focus. It will make you nauseous. That's how Management Bureau manuals work.
3. But endure it. It's what you must bear if you want to find that person.
4. Go forward.
-Shraaap!
The moment the manual opened, a brilliant light burst forth.
"...What the hell is with this manual of yours."
Wincing from a headache far worse than usual, Song Arin snatched up the manual.
The bright light pushed back the impenetrable darkness, illuminating the path ahead.
"...Fine. I'll use you."
Song Arin muttered as she started walking.
"You'd better do your job properly."
Of course, the manual had no response since it was just a book, but it almost felt like it was saying, *You do your part.*
Song Arin's figure vanished into the darkness.
*
I looked around the pitch-black backstage area.
I figured escaping the house would yield something useful.
But there was no gain—just empty stages stretching before me.
If puppets were being controlled from back here all along, what happened that there are none now?
I scanned slowly for an exit.
Crude sets.
But a set means...
"If you can enter it, there must be a way out."
Where there's an entrance, there's an exit.
Otherwise, no one could get in.
Entrance means exit.
Clinging to that logic, I searched the surroundings.
But even after looking everywhere...
"...Damn it."
Nothing.
Not even a door to another room, let alone an exit.
How long had I been wandering?
"..."
A door that definitely hadn't been there before now stood smack in the middle.
I'd never seen it before.
A wooden door labeled <EXIT>.
It had appeared right in front of me.
"..."
I reached for it hastily, then froze.
I'd been circling this area moments ago, and it wasn't there.
If the door appeared now—
I dashed to the corner and threw myself into the audience seats like a diver.
-Creeeak...
The door opened, and someone entered.
"..."
No way to hold my breath, but I naturally covered my mouth with one hand and peered up.
Song Arin was there.
No, not Song Arin.
The theater manager was there.
She readjusted her slipping hat irritably and stared ahead.
"...As expected."
She muttered while looking at the shattered screen.
"You look like the type who'd try to escape the second I step away."
-Whoosh!
She waved her hand, and the host puppet that had been lying there rose.
"..."
She stared piercingly at the host puppet.
"..."
"Speak."
"..."
"I'll give you the freedom to speak."
"P-Please spare me!"
The moment the theater manager finished, the host screamed in terror, staring at her.
"What did you see?"
"W-What?"
"What did you see while you were here?"
"N-Nothing..."
"Nothing?"
The theater manager tilted her head at the puppet.
"I told you to watch carefully."
"...Eek..."
"You. You weren't paying attention."
The theater manager muttered coldly, and the host let out another terrified shriek.
"P-Please spare me! The pain is too much... stop...!"
-Crack!
Before the puppet could finish, the theater manager twisted her hand.
Strings shot out, snapping the puppet's neck,
and it went limp.
"Useless."
The theater manager muttered as she walked off, and the puppet slumped to the floor with a thud.
She glanced around,
"...Something's here."
muttering as she moved.
Her clothes fluttered, the door opened, and she vanished.
Before it could close, I rushed over and jammed my hand into the gap.
-Crunch!
My wooden fingers cracked faintly, but I stopped the door.
"..."
I sighed in relief and glanced aside.
The host had become a puppet with its strings severed.
Was he alive? What was that pain?
Everything was a mystery, but I had to move.
-Creeeak...
I slowly opened the door.
Beyond it stretched a dark theater hallway.
The only lights were the occasional emergency exit signs.
A powered-down popcorn machine sat nearby, its bin thick with dust, showing this place hadn't been used in ages.
Yet it wasn't filthy—just clean enough to seem like someone kept maintaining it.
Posters lined the walls.
Puppet show posters.
Titles like [A Happy Life], [How to Overcome Sadness].
"...Damn..."
Was my body finally breaking down?
My arms barely moved now.
Good thing I'd never used my legs, anticipating this.
I shuffled forward, arms dangling limply.
Gazing out windows as I traversed the dark theater lobby.
They were blocked somehow, showing only pitch-black voids.
As I walked slowly,
a bright light appeared far ahead.
"..."
-Shraaap!
The familiar sound of pages flipping.
"My head hurts, so stop flipping pages."
And a gruff voice.
Even the same voice sounded like a different person.
I hurried toward it.
Song Arin held the manual.
It emitted white light like a flashlight.
"Arin!"
Before I could act, the light suddenly turned red, shining on me.
My strength drained instantly, and I slipped to the floor helplessly.
"Wait—"
"Hey! It's that guy!"
Song Arin, who'd frozen upon seeing me, tossed the manual and rushed over.
"Hey, you. H-How'd you end up like this?"
"Arin."
"D-Doll...? Hold on..."
Song Arin muttered as she supported me.
"You're light."
"It's wood."
"Isn't wood heavy?"
I looked at the fallen manual.
[Office Manual]
[SRY - Advisory Note]
1. The manual has no eyes.
2. No nose either.
3. It judges situations by feel alone.
4. It had no intent to harm. Just instinct.
5. Sorry.
"Arin, could you pick up the manual? My arms are completely shot."
"Sure."
Song Arin grabbed the manual and looked at me.
"Still, glad you're okay. ...I thought you'd vanished for good."
"Me too."
"...So, what now?"
"...Let's find my real body first."
Running now wouldn't help—I'm in a puppet body.
"Obviously. Got a way?"
Song Arin eyed me curiously.
I recalled the host's words.
Pain. Movement.
"...Yeah. I think I do."
Intuition hit.