Chapter 237
Chapter 237
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 237. Lethe's River
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Mountain lodge.
Honestly, it wasn't a place that stuck in my memory all that much.
Part of it was because I was caught up in the chaos at the time, but there were just too many things left unexplained.
Back then, the very concept of a god was vague to me, and so was the idea of something parasitizing it to survive.
If I'd run into it now, I probably could've figured something out with my experience and insight.
"The mountain lodge, huh."
Song Arin muttered with her arms crossed.
"It was kinda half-baked, yeah."
"Half-baked?"
"I mean the god. The god. Or maybe I should call it an idol."
Song Arin muttered and shook her head.
"But this place... you can't even call it an idol anymore."
"How do you know that?"
"Symbolism."
Jang Chaeyeon answered my question.
"This place has symbolism. Meaning someone already created the symbol here."
She was talking about the hill.
While I pondered that, my gaze drifted to Eileen, who was holding the clothes.
"You're sure about this?"
"You think I wouldn't recognize my own dad's clothes?"
Eileen snapped at me sharply, and Yoo Daon scratched her cheek as she replied.
"But it's been over ten years, hasn't it? Isn't it normal not to recognize them?"
...
Eileen stared hard at Yoo Daon, who gave an awkward smile.
"...Sometimes people have days they can never forget. You might not, but."
"That could be true!"
Yoo Daon smiled back at Eileen's words, and Eileen turned a complicated expression back to the dress shirt.
"...You need to learn to separate what to say from what not to say."
"But..."
"Arin is right. Maybe... try considering the other person's feelings a bit more."
"If Jaeheon says so... I'll give it a try."
Yoo Daon nodded at my words, and Song Arin snorted in disbelief at the sight.
"Why do you ignore me but listen to him?"
"But it's Jaeheon saying it."
"That's exactly what I'm asking—what does that mean?"
Song Arin glared at Yoo Daon, who gave an ambiguous smile.
"Because you're not Jaeheon?"
...
"Cut it out."
Jang Chaeyeon stepped in to stop the two of them.
"You're making her uncomfortable."
"...Thanks, Chaeyeon."
"No problem."
Jang Chaeyeon smiled faintly and stepped back again.
I turned my head and looked at the clothes Eileen was holding.
"Where was it?"
"On the bed. Folded neatly."
"What about other clothes?"
"...There weren't any."
Eileen slowly shook her head at my question.
"Just the dress shirt..."
It felt a bit off somehow.
I exchanged glances with Song Arin.
"For now, finding something is good progress, at least."
"...Yeah."
Eileen replied, clutching the clothes like something precious.
"At the very least, we don't know if your parents are... alive or dead here, but we do know they were here."
"Right."
"That's enough reason to come back."
...
I wondered if there wasn't some trace of anything else around.
"Any sign of, uh, a little girl or something?"
"A little girl?"
Everyone's eyes widened at my question as they stared at me.
"What girl?"
"...Well, actually."
I started explaining to the others.
The darkness, the three people who visited our house, and my little sister from the past.
...
...
Jang Chaeyeon and Yoo Daon listened to my story with serious expressions, while Song Arin squeezed her eyes shut as she heard me out.
"Anyway, that's the story."
"...I see."
"I... didn't sense Jaeheon's little sister. Didn't smell her either."
Jang Chaeyeon muttered, and Yoo Daon shook her head.
Song Arin...
"...Sorry."
Just like back then, she looked down at the floor with a guilt-ridden expression full of remorse.
"It's fine. If anything, I was too harsh on you back then."
"No, you had every right to be."
Song Arin shook her head.
"I was the one who didn't consider your feelings enough."
"Try having that mindset with other people too."
Jang Chaeyeon said to Song Arin like that, and for once, Song Arin didn't argue back much, just averted her gaze.
"...I got it. I'll really be careful from now on."
...
Jang Chaeyeon crossed her arms in satisfaction, and Song Arin glared at the floor in annoyance but said nothing.
"...For now, I'll look for traces too."
"Me too."
Eileen muttered, and Park Ye-eun nodded as well before we set off to search the house again.
*
A long time passed.
...
The only meaningful find was a single one.
Jang Chaeyeon, holding a single shoe, handed it to Eileen.
"Here."
"...Thanks."
Eileen nodded as she took the shoe.
Just one shoe.
That was the result of our hours of searching.
"This isn't your mother's shoe, is it, Eileen?"
"...No."
No matter how many times we checked, Eileen kept shaking her head.
It wasn't her mother's shoe.
So whose shoe was it? Some other person chosen to come here?
"In the end, no real harvest."
Ugh, Yoo Daon stretched.
Looking out the window from inside the house where we found the shoe.
Outside the window, it was still shining brightly.
"Alright. Let's take a short break, then."
Everyone rubbed their legs and sat down wherever.
"Ow, my legs."
...
Song Arin groaned as she sat, and Jang Chaeyeon seemed too exhausted even to groan, sliding down against the wall.
Yoo Daon was still okay, stretching her legs, while Park Ye-eun and Eileen stretched theirs and sat side by side on the bed.
I leaned against the wall too and looked out the window.
Gazing at the bright outdoors, still like midday, questions bubbled up.
What on earth happened that made Eileen's parents vanish like that?
And what happened that brought my little sister here?
As I thought that, my gaze turned to Eileen.
She was still holding the frayed dress shirt like it was treasure.
"Eileen."
"...Human greed is a funny thing."
She shook her head with a smile when I called her.
"Honestly, at first I thought just bringing back something like this trace, let alone my parents' bodies, would be wish enough."
...
"But now hope is growing in my heart."
"Hope?"
"Yeah. Maybe my parents... even if they're not alive, I could at least find their bodies. That kind of hope."
"Yeah, that's how it goes."
Who wouldn't?
It's about loved ones, after all. It's harder to feel satisfied.
I'd love to find my sister here too.
"Thanks for understanding."
Eileen smiled faintly at my words.
"If you could find your sister too—"
Before Eileen could finish,
Darkness came.
Literally, the world outside the window turned pitch black, like night had suddenly fallen.
"...What is it."
Eileen immediately drew her gun, and Jang Chaeyeon pulled out her beads from her pocket.
"It's dark."
"Did night suddenly come?"
"Even if night does come out of nowhere, it was broad daylight just now. Night doesn't fall that abruptly."
Yoo Daon headed to the window.
"...It got dark all of a sudden?"
-Splat!
No sooner had Yoo Daon finished speaking than a sound echoed from outside.
Like slamming a huge glob of mud into the ground.
Or something crumbling.
If I had to describe it, something like that—but either way, it was a sound that soured the mood.
All six of us hid in unison, as if on cue.
Five pairs of eyes met in the air.
...
Yoo Daon pointed at herself.
Meaning she'd go check.
I shook my head to signal no.
If it was just physical danger, maybe, but with mental attacks, Yoo Daon couldn't use her power.
...
In times like this, the one best suited for scouting had to go.
That is, me.
I slowly crawled toward the door, and Jang Chaeyeon grabbed my arm.
It's dangerous, her mouth said.
I know.
But we had to know how the situation was unfolding.
I shook my head and looked out the window.
...
Something was flowing.
A river made of mud.
A mud river flowed along the village paths.
No, not mud.
People.
Countless people were buried in the river, groaning.
"Ahhhh..."
"Uuughhh..."
Their screams echoed through the streets, and the mud river slammed against the walls.
-Splat! Splat!
Soon, a translucent window popped up.
[Name: Lethe's River]
[Age: -]
[Specialty: Forgetfulness]
[Talent: Forgetfulness]
[Background: Those buried in the river lose themselves and everything else, reborn as new people. They merge into one in the river, becoming a vast unconsciousness that seeks new consciousnesses to nourish.]
[Weakness: No one can stop a flowing river. Do not resist this natural disaster; simply wait for time to pass.]
...
People screamed, reaching out as if searching for someone, and I hurriedly ducked below the window before they spotted me.
"...What?"
Jang Chaeyeon looked at me worriedly.
...
In a small voice, I explained to the five what I'd seen.
Lethe's River, and the people seeking victims.
"...Did everyone get swept into that river?"
Eileen muttered in a voice full of worry after hearing my explanation.
"...Who knows. But they haven't found us yet, so probably not."
Of course, I didn't add the caveat: assuming the people brought here have any proper sanity left.
Whether by choice or force, the people who came here were likely zealots or brainwashed.
Eileen knew that too.
But not saying it—that was the best consideration I could give her.
"...It'd be nice if there was at least some info here."
Yoo Daon let out a small sigh, and I couldn't help but agree.
"If only there was some kind of message or—"
-Shrrk!
No sooner had I spoken than the manual unfolded.
[Office Manual]
[Anomaly Team Kim Jaeheon's Record - Church Sanctuary]
1. Exit within exactly 48 hours. After that, they will find you.
...
I swallowed dryly.