Chapter 217
Chapter 217
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Chapter 217 - 217. 다른 점
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Translator: crow
Chapter 217: The Difference
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Lee Haneul. Known to others as the Kangseo Branch Chief.
Her head hurt so badly it felt like it might split open.
"...I wasn't even this bad off..."
She muttered as she stared at what was now just an ordinary wall.
She had rushed over after hearing that HR Team's Kim Jaeheon had vanished, only to find HR Team's Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon standing in front of her.
"Oh. It's the Branch Chief."
Yoo Daon, spotting her, muttered casually as she looked at Lee Haneul.
"Hello?"
"..."
Yoo Daon gave a slight wave, while Jang Chaeyeon eyed her warily.
Lee Haneul's gaze shifted to the two of them.
Yoo Daon wore a businesslike smile, and Jang Chaeyeon made no effort to hide her guarded expression.
"..."
They might not be very cooperative.
Suppressing a sigh, the Branch Chief approached them.
"What happened here?"
"Well, you see..."
As she listened to Yoo Daon's explanation, the Branch Chief pinched the bridge of her nose.
"...Handling threads, wearing clothes like someone from the Troupe? Song Arin did that?"
"Bad Song Arin... but yeah."
Yoo Daon muttered ambiguously.
"..."
Did that even make sense?
As the Management Bureau's Branch Chief, it wasn't an exaggeration to say she knew everything about this world's secrets except what she didn't know.
Bugs hiding in the moon, hospitals, wedges, and more—information she hadn't wanted to know but was now lodged in her head.
Lee Haneul pulled up what she knew about the Troupe from her dusty library of memories.
"..."
The Troupe Leader was a man.
Someone she'd met a few times, though not often. Or rather, a monster.
That was at least thirty years ago.
Had the Troupe Leader changed in the last thirty years?
"...That doesn't make any sense."
If so, it wasn't through normal succession.
Had someone usurped the Troupe Leader's position? Was that even physically possible?
She pressed her throbbing temples and looked at the two women.
"So, you two are waiting here because you're worried about Kim Jaeheon and Song Arin?"
"No?"
Yoo Daon tilted her head, looking puzzled by the question.
"I'm not worried about Arin at all? But I'm concerned something might happen to Jaeheon."
Worry clouded Yoo Daon's expression as she mentioned Kim Jaeheon.
"..."
"...I'm more worried about him too."
The Branch Chief's gaze turned to Jang Chaeyeon, who nodded quietly in agreement.
Poor Song Arin.
Sending silent condolences to Song Arin in her mind, the Branch Chief looked at the wall.
"...Branch Chief."
Jang Chaeyeon stared at her.
"Yes?"
"...Can't we get inside?"
Her gaze pierced right through Lee Haneul.
As if saying, *You know how, don't you?*
"..."
Lee Haneul and Jang Chaeyeon exchanged glances for a moment.
"...Hoo."
In the end, she couldn't help but sigh.
"Wait here a second."
"Thank you."
"Forget it."
She needed to raise the odds anyway.
He'd overcome the challenges and trials that came his way so far, but now trials beyond his strength were starting to appear.
As his senior and fellow Management Bureau member, helping him was arguably her duty.
"...Thank you."
"Thank you!"
Jang Chaeyeon bowed her head politely, and Yoo Daon beamed back brightly.
"..."
Honestly, it wasn't difficult.
Just one phone call.
Yeah. That one phone call.
With trembling hands, the Branch Chief pulled out her flip phone.
*Click.* She opened it and scrolled through her contacts.
Soon, a name appeared on the old screen.
[Headquarters Asshole]
"..."
She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed the call button.
The ringtone sounded, and an old man's voice came through.
"Bang your head. I'll come open it right away."
"Got it!"
She immediately slammed her forehead on the ground.
"Whoa, did you see that speed? Thought she'd crack the floor!"
"..."
Yoo Daon cried out in surprise, while Jang Chaeyeon stifled a laugh upon hearing it.
*Gonna beat the crap out of him someday.*
Lee Haneul ground her teeth inwardly as she banged her head.
A whirlwind of thoughts raced through her mind.
Yeah. My fault.
No, not really my fault.
Should I just quit?
Her heart was a mess.
*
"For now..."
I looked toward Song Arin and the distant road.
"We should walk, right?"
"...Honestly, I have no idea."
Song Arin sighed.
"But we've checked everywhere inside there. No big discoveries."
"True."
"So... shouldn't we go?"
"...Well. Can't argue with that."
I walked the dark street alongside Song Arin.
My thoughts didn't stop.
Song Arin, who had become the Troupe Leader, came to find me.
Different in that she sought me out, but it was still meeting a different Song Arin than the one I knew.
An adult Yoo Daon flashed briefly in my mind.
It felt a lot like the wedge incident.
But why?
I could chalk the wedge incident up to something going wrong with the wedge operation when I got there.
But this? No reason at all.
Is it really my problem?
I hope not.
"..."
While I brooded, Song Arin was watching the people.
"It's weird."
"What is?"
"Look at how they're lying there."
She pointed at the people.
"They're all lined up neatly."
"Guess the Troupe Leader laid them out that way."
"That's what I'm saying."
Song Arin looked at me.
"They went out of their way to line them up neatly."
"...Is that worth worrying about?"
"...Feels like my hypothesis is right."
Song Arin muttered, staring at the ground.
"Your hypothesis?"
"The Troupe Leader obsesses over happiness to an almost compulsive degree, from what I can tell."
"Happiness?"
"There are probably various ways."
Song Arin muttered, glancing back.
The theater behind us had already faded into the distance.
"In her world, there are only eleven humans. The ones at the table and herself."
"..."
"The rest? Well, she probably sees them as beings she has to save."
"Beings she has to save?"
At my murmur, Song Arin gave a self-deprecating smile.
"It's foolish."
"..."
"The pain from her own wounds hurts so much that she rashly assumes everyone in the world must hurt like her."
"..."
"And then one day, if she gains great power, she thinks this."
"What?"
"Ah. I can make them happy."
Song Arin shook her head.
"God, I really don't want to understand it."
Her gaze drifted far away.
"But annoyingly, I'm the one who can understand it best."
I turned back to look at the theater's name.
[Theater Troupe of Dreams and Hope]
And the play titles I'd seen.
[Life of Becoming Happy], [How to Overcome Sadness].
I had a rough idea what Song Arin meant.
We walked through the city in silence.
An uncomfortable quiet.
I always notice this, but some people suit silence, others conversation.
Jang Chaeyeon suits silence with me, Song Arin suits talk.
"By the way."
"Yeah."
Song Arin looked at me.
"Th-that. Over there."
"Yeah."
"...Uh."
"...Just say it."
"..."
Song Arin opened and closed her mouth repeatedly.
"I was shocked."
"Huh?"
"I saw you getting caught."
"...You saw?"
How?
Didn't Song Arin go the opposite way from where I went?
"I-I had a bad feeling, like it was dangerous."
She stammered in response.
"Anyway, so I followed you."
"Yeah."
"...Yeah, that's it."
"...Right."
What? What is she trying to say?
"..."
Song Arin twisted her fingers, then dropped her gaze.
"Uh, you know."
"Yeah."
"...Damn it... You really have zero, no, *abysmal* awareness...!"
Song Arin muttered in frustration.
*-Ping!*
A sound rang out.
I switched gears instantly.
I hurriedly tackled Song Arin to the ground.
"Kyaa!"
Song Arin hit the pavement face-first.
Something wrapped around my right arm, yanking my body backward.
*-Crunch!*
At the same time, my right arm tore clean off.
"Hey!"
Song Arin widened her eyes, and another sound came.
*-Ping!*
Left arm this time?
I tried to spin around, but my body wasn't that fast to begin with. Wooden doll and all.
In that instant,
*-Whoosh!*
Something stuck to my back, sending me sprawling backward.
"Ugh!"
"Gotcha!"
Song Arin sighed in relief, gripping my back.
"...Sloppy."
A voice came soon after.
A familiar one.
Song Arin's voice.
*-Clack... clack...*
Footsteps approached.
A familiar figure appeared in heels.
Ridiculous—no, Troupe Leader-worthy clothes.
And eyes devoid of any emotion.
The Troupe Leader stared at us.
"..."
Song Arin gritted her teeth.
"You've been following us?"
"Following?"
The Troupe Leader muttered at her like she'd said something absurd, looking at Song Arin.
"I've known from the start."
"..."
"This is my world, after all."
The Troupe Leader lazily surveyed the surroundings.
The sky split open.
Buildings crumbled.
The sun rose.
Despite all that, not a speck of dust rose, nor a sound.
"This is my stage."
The Troupe Leader muttered, looking at us.
Suddenly, countless dolls stood, staring at us.
It happened so abruptly it was like magic.
"..."
I was floored.
"...So, locking me in the house and letting me escape was all intentional too?"
"No. That wasn't."
The Troupe Leader slowly shook her head at my question.
"That was outside my expectations. That's how intruders got in."
"..."
Even knowing that, she casually chose to capture us.
How the hell do you beat this?
Seeing that, Song Arin squeezed her eyes shut then opened them.
"Then why toy with us before trying to kill us?"
"Me? Toy with you two? ...Why would I?"
The Troupe Leader looked genuinely puzzled at Song Arin's words.
"I never intended to toy with you."
"...Then what were you trying to-"
"Learn."
The Troupe Leader cut Song Arin off.
"How you talk to him. What expressions you make while looking at him. And how he reacts and responds to that you."
The Troupe Leader alternated glances between me and Song Arin.
"Hey!"
She suddenly glared at me.
"..."
"You can't understand even one bit of how I feel?"
Not the emotionless face from before, but perfectly mimicking Song Arin snapping at me in irritation, the Troupe Leader yelled.
"..."
"All I wanted to hear was one simple 'thank you'!"
"..."
"...See?"
She instantly reverted to a blank expression, looking at Song Arin.
"Identical, right?"
"..."
"Now I can take that girl's place, don't you think?"
"...What are you talking about."
"I'm not lacking anything compared to her."
At my question, the Troupe Leader tilted her head blankly.
"If you just acknowledge it, I can stay by your side forever, living just like her."
"...So why? Why go that far?"
"..."
"You don't get it."
The Troupe Leader shook her head at my words.
"It's fine. You'll know soon."
Song Arin stepped in front of me.
"Arin—"
"Run."
She muttered.
"Run somehow, and bring Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon."
For the first time, she spoke their names, staring ahead.
"Or don't even bring them. Just run."
"Arin."
As I spoke, the Troupe Leader stared intently at Song Arin.
"Fear, sadness, grim resolve. And... a hint of joy."
The Troupe Leader murmured.
"You're happy, aren't you."
"...Yeah. I am."
Song Arin murmured.
"Why? Happy to die for him? Because you like him?"
"Idiot. It's not that simple."
"...Oh?"
The Troupe Leader tilted her head.
"Yeah. You could never understand."
"..."
Song Arin smirked.
Contempt filled her face.
"What would you know about understanding, analyzing and studying people like some hobby."
"It's just a lack of time."
"No."
Song Arin shook her head.
"You'll never understand this feeling your whole life."
"..."
"Because you never walked my path."
Song Arin murmured, spreading her hands. The Troupe Leader raised hers like conducting.
Countless dolls rose at her gesture.
In front of Song Arin, not a single doll remained.
"..."
"What are you doing? I said run."
I stood beside Song Arin.
"Thinking about it, we probably can't escape anyway."
She could erase buildings at will. What chance did we have running on foldable ground?
"So here's the thing."
Right now, I had nothing.
My arms were wrecked, unresponsive to my will. My eyes couldn't exert their power either.
All I had was this wooden body. And...
"Please handle me appropriately."
A firm sense of self.
"..."
Song Arin looked at me.
"You know you'll really die if you do this."
"Then Arin shouldn't kill me."
"...You're seriously insane..."
Song Arin muttered, sighing.
But somehow, my left arm, which hadn't moved, now stirred.
"...Fine."
She murmured, extending her fingers. My body assumed position.
"I'll get us out of here. No matter what."
"Yes. I trust you."
Countless dolls and the Troupe Leader.
Me and Song Arin.
No matter how I thought about it, the outcome was obvious.
"Let's go."
We would win.