Chapter 244
Chapter 244
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 244. The Happy You
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"Mom, Dad."
Eileen muttered in a bitter voice as she looked at me.
...
I had no idea what to say to her either.
I couldn't just tell her, "The people in front of you look like your parents from before, but they're different."
"Arin, do you sense anything else?"
...
"I'm sorry. Just one more time—"
"Don't apologize. I'm doing what I can."
At my words, Song Arin broke out in a cold sweat and focused again.
"...Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Just the bottomlessly positive emotions I mentioned earlier."
Song Arin let out a sigh of relief.
A sigh of relief?
"Honestly, I was worried."
Seeming to notice my gaze, Song Arin continued her explanation.
"I was thinking, what if she starts sensing something that shouldn't be sensed, or can't be sensed."
"...Like a god or something?"
"There are no gods, but even so, something capable of creating a phenomenon like this is something the Management Bureau would be on high alert for."
"Then why not suppress it..."
"Short on manpower."
Jang Chaeyeon answered my mutter.
"The Management Bureau has too many enemies to throw all its forces at smashing churches."
"It feels like they have the power but too many foes."
"Yeah."
I never really get these complicated matters, no matter how often I hear them. People like the branch chief handle that stuff.
...
I look back at the dancing people.
People laughing as if the whole world is a joy.
Their faces seem to overlap with the faces of those swept away screaming in the River Lethe.
"For now, let's move on. Daon."
"Okay."
At my call, Yoo Daon steps up beside me.
"If something lunges at us—"
"I'll throw myself in front to protect Jaeheon."
"...I'm right here, so I can block it immediately. I can block mental attacks too. Just say the word."
"Ah... Okay!"
Yoo Daon nods.
"Eileen, stay here with Chaeyeon, Arin, and Ye-eun."
"...You okay?"
"Yeah."
They have no offensive capabilities, but for evasion or defense, the two of us are enough.
I give Song Arin and Jang Chaeyeon a look.
A look that says, keep an eye on Eileen.
I don't know if they fully understood, but they nod, so probably.
"Daon, let's go."
"Okay!"
Yoo Daon stands beside me, and we slowly start walking.
I draw my gun and approach the people standing in a circle.
Not one of them looks at me or Yoo Daon.
They're just gazing at each other, laughing happily.
Slowly, like testing a stone bridge, we take steps forward.
A circle of red bloodstains is drawn on the green field.
"Daon, how many do you count?"
"...Hmm..."
At my question, Yoo Daon murmurs in embarrassment as she scans the crowd.
"Let me see... Roughly a hundred? No, three hundred...?"
She looks over the people.
"Fewer than I thought."
Three hundred.
So, about three hundred people sacrificed themselves and joined the faith?
"...That's too few."
"Right?"
Yoo Daon nods at my mutter.
The church is a massive organization. Three hundred might sound like a lot elsewhere, but considering the church's numbers and influence, it's ridiculously small.
We keep walking steadily even as we talk.
The people draw closer, and I can feel Yoo Daon's body tense up beside me.
Naturally, she steps ahead, and the laughing people come into view.
-Thud... thud...
Our footsteps echo, and Yoo Daon inhales sharply.
-Thud.
We're close enough to feel each other's breath, but they don't seem to notice our presence at all, just keep circling silently.
Yoo Daon squeezes her eyes shut as she passes them,
...
And nothing happens.
They're just dancing, oblivious even to our existence.
"...G-Good thing..."
Yoo Daon exhales in relief.
"Even I was worried if I could protect Jaeheon from that many rushing at us."
"I'd have run pretty well in that case."
"Against three hundred?"
"You'd be there too."
"Ehehe."
Yoo Daon scratches her cheek and laughs, then looks at the circling people.
"...They seem kinda pitiful."
"Huh?"
She looks at me at my question.
"Jaeheon, I'm happy."
Something she often says to me.
"But those people aren't happy."
...
Yoo Daon gazes at the grinning people.
In her eyes, there's just one thing—no fear, awe, or dread.
"Poor things."
Only pity.
"I know I'm happy because I have a life to compare it to."
A life to compare.
I recall Yoo Daon in her hospital gown.
She must have been unhappy then.
"If I hadn't met you, Jaeheon, or escaped the hospital, I might not have realized I was unhappy."
Because it was just daily life, she murmurs, looking at me.
"Same for them."
Yoo Daon's gaze turns to the blood-soaked grass.
"They're not happy."
...
"How can someone who only knows happiness be happy? Happiness is a word that only exists because unhappiness does."
Her words shake my mind.
Two people—similar yet different.
One just unhappy, one just happy.
Something's on the tip of my tongue, but it won't come.
"...You're right, Daon."
She was right.
"They're not even people anymore."
Forget containment objects or anomalies—they're missing something fundamental as humans.
Yoo Daon and I walk past the people.
None touch us.
We pass them and look into the distance.
The sun still hangs warmly, and the people keep circling, gazing at each other.
Without that scene, it could be an idyllic pastoral view.
"Feels endless, right?"
"Yeah."
I nod in agreement with Yoo Daon.
No matter how far we walk, we'd just keep strolling through paradise.
Because paradise isn't defined by a place.
"Shall we head back?"
"Jaeheon."
"Yeah."
"You seem to be thinking the same thing."
Yoo Daon smiles at my words and looks at me softly.
"Want me to help?"
...
"I can take the words you can't say, the ones you're scared to say, the hatred you don't want to receive."
Has she read my mind? She picks up on my dilemma and continues.
She walks with her hands behind her back.
"If it's hard for you, Jaeheon—no, even if it's not, I can do it."
Her shadow stretches in the sunlight.
Yoo Daon leans down slightly to look up at me.
"You okay?"
...
A whisper like the devil's temptation.
I've always been the one delivering bad news.
Unpleasant words and tough decisions were always mine, and they weighed on me more than expected.
Especially this time.
Yoo Daon would gladly shoulder that burden.
But.
"I'm fine."
It can't be that way.
Especially not Yoo Daon. She's the type who wouldn't hesitate to take hatred for others.
I shake my head, and she smiles wistfully.
"I figured you'd say that, Jaeheon."
...
"But don't forget."
Yoo Daon straightens up.
"I'm always! No matter what! On your side, Jaeheon!"
I look at her, and she's smiling.
Seeing her smile, I sort my thoughts.
Yeah, let's go say what needs to be said.
*
When we return, the others are watching me.
"How was it?"
Song Arin calls out anxiously.
"...Eileen."
Eileen looks at me at my words.
...
Our eyes meet.
Her face calm, she gazes at me,
"What if I said the path opens only if these people here disappear? Would you believe me?"
...
She squeezes her eyes shut.
Song Arin inhales sharply, and Jang Chaeyeon looks away.
"Probably—probably, the parents Eileen's looking for—"
"They're gone."
Eileen cuts me off.
"No two people in the world are the same. Logically speaking."
She looks at me.
"The path had no end."
...
I nod, and Eileen covers her eyes with one hand for a moment before uncovering them.
"...Yeah."
She mutters painfully, then draws her gun from her back.
"I'll do it."
"Let me—"
"No."
She cuts me off firmly.
"I want to. No one else—just me."
"...I'll do it with you."
...
Eileen looks at me briefly, then turns around.
"Fine. You chose to share my responsibility, so you should share this too."
I step back slowly, and Eileen aims her gun.
I draw my pistol too.
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
Flames spit from Eileen's muzzle.
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
With our backs together, I fire too, and the spinning people fall.
None resist or scream and flee.
Fear has been stripped from them.
No—even when others fell, they didn't react, so the very concept of others was stripped away.
It wasn't human anymore.
Just something crudely shaped like one.
Eileen's muzzle turns elsewhere.
...
Her parents, circling hand in hand.
"...I love you."
She says that.
-Bang!
And pulls the trigger.
The two collapse like discarded dolls, mid-play, and no one remains there.
Only six stand.
What does a shepherd need to become one?
Land? Grass? House? Job?
No.
Sheep.
A shepherd proves himself only with sheep.
Paradoxically, a sheep manager is nothing without sheep.
So, what happens when one loses all sheep and forfeits the shepherd's qualification?
Under the brightly shining sun, the grass withers.
The grass dies black, and the sun begins to fall.
-Shwaaa...
Rain wets our heads again.
Before us looms a single massive cross.
<Proof>
With just that one word left.