Chapter 245
Chapter 245
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Anchor
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"...What is this?"
Park Ye-eun muttered, voicing my exact thoughts.
Yeah.
What the hell is this?
We were all staring at the thing in front of us with bewildered expressions.
A cross. Proof.
"...Isn't there anything? Like a god... or no, something on par with one..."
Song Arin muttered with a furrowed brow.
"Does there have to be?"
"I don't know either. I've only seen it in documents or videos, or dealt with cases alongside you."
"You've never experienced something like this?"
"Even people in the Management Bureau only see this stuff once or twice in a lifetime. When would I have?"
Song Arin groaned and stared at the cross.
...
No one was going to be much help this time.
I thought that as I gazed at the cross.
Nothing came to mind.
What?
...
I narrowed my eyes and stared at the cross.
Still nothing.
Is this just an ordinary cross, nothing more?
Does that even make sense?
If so...
"Either this isn't it, or someone's trying to deceive me."
"What?"
Jang Chaeyeon blinked and lightly grabbed my wrist.
"Should we try that?"
"...That?"
Yoo Daon blinked as she looked at us, but Jang Chaeyeon nodded without paying it any mind.
"Yeah, that."
"If you mean that... Ah. That."
Contemplation.
Of course, Jang Chaeyeon didn't know she was using Contemplation, so "that" was all she could call it.
"...That...?"
"It won't work. It's not visible in the first place."
"Got it."
"Th-that..."
Ignoring Yoo Daon, who kept muttering beside us, I answered, and Jang Chaeyeon nodded and let go of my hand.
I looked around.
The shining sun had vanished without a trace, leaving only the falling rain and the cramped summit.
And just the one cross.
"No way this is the end, right?"
"That would be a problem."
Ailin replied in a flat voice as she reloaded her magazine.
"We can't escape like this."
...
What I could do right now.
Honestly, not much.
So choosing was quick.
"Danger-!"
Before anyone else could react, I picked up the cross.
A sharp headache slammed into my mind.
"Ugh...!"
I staggered and dropped the cross, and Song Arin smacked my back with a loud slap.
"Are you insane? Do you have a death wish?!"
-Slap! Slap!
The slaps were loud but not painful as Song Arin hit my back, then looked at me with worry.
"Any pain? Do you know who I am right now?"
"Seems like some mental attack. You're Song Arin."
"SoOoong AaaarIn?!"
Song Arin glared at me with wide eyes.
"This kid's lost it. Give him a white-head smack."
"I'm kidding, Arin. I'm fine. No, really, Chaeyeon! Put your hand down!"
After the commotion, everyone listened to my explanation and stared at the cross with serious expressions.
"So, grabbing it triggers a severe mental attack or contamination?"
"Something... like that."
We couldn't even clearly know how the attack or contamination worked.
"It might be a trial."
After some brief discussion, Ailin was the first to voice an opinion.
"A trial?"
"Churches do that kind of thing."
Ailin muttered with full conviction.
"Well, whether it's a real trial or just a mental attack disguised as one, who knows."
"...Let's save that as a last resort for now."
No need to jump into the fire knowingly. Not yet.
For now, we decided to search every inch around us.
*
"We have to grab the cross, don't we?"
Park Ye-eun muttered in a worried voice, soaked to the bone by the rain.
No gains.
Or rather, aside from the cross, there was nothing at all.
Even the way down had vanished.
We'd combed through the not-so-large area thoroughly, but found zilch.
...
A heavy silence settled.
"I'll do it."
"I'll do it."
Yoo Daon and Song Arin raised their hands at the same time.
The two stared at each other for a moment.
They're gonna fight again.
As I opened my mouth to stop them,
"Arin should do it. She's stronger against mental attacks than me."
Surprisingly, Yoo Daon stepped back, looking at Song Arin.
"...What? Why."
Song Arin was the shocked one.
She stared at Yoo Daon with wide eyes.
"...You're not trying to kill me first because it's dangerous, right?"
"Arin."
"Ah, no. I was just surprised..."
At my scolding tone, Song Arin muttered in a shrinking voice.
In the end, only Song Arin was left.
"...If it's mental attacks, yeah, I'm the best choice..."
Song Arin muttered as she bent down.
"Here goes...?"
"Be careful."
"...Grabbing it...?"
At my words, Song Arin reached out, grabbed the cross,
and collapsed right there.
*
Song Arin opened her eyes.
"Damn it."
She immediately grasped her situation and spat out a colorful curse as she looked around.
An apartment.
The apartment from her memories.
Myeongil Apartment appeared before her eyes.
Song Arin took a shallow breath,
and at the same time, scenes from her past flashed before her like a panorama.
Her parents carrying her as they ran, the many people who tried to save her.
And the words her parents said to her.
<Arin->
Song Arin closed her eyes.
She didn't want to hear it. Didn't want to remember.
She already knew the truth.
She knew, so let's stop now.
She knew, so don't talk to me anymore.
I already know everything-
[This one, unable to face their own end. Deemed unqualified.]
Her mind sank back into darkness.
*
"Cough, cough!"
Song Arin dropped to her knees, coughing dryly.
"Arin!"
"What... cough, cough...!"
She kept coughing on her knees,
-and ting...
Something glowing fell from her chest.
The frankincense brooch was shining.
"...It's glowing? Did she meet the condition?"
Ailin muttered in confusion at the sight of the brooch.
"Huh... huh..."
Song Arin let out a sob mixed with groans,
and at the same time, the brooch shone as Song Arin "vanished."
"...Arin!"
Where did she go?
I hurriedly stood, but Ailin reached out to stop me.
"...She's out."
"Out?"
"In all my dozen-plus experiences, the brooch only glows when you can leave. The brooch is both key and door. Song Arin... satisfied the condition somehow."
I recalled Song Arin clutching her throat, coughing.
What the hell happened-
"We've got some time left before heading back."
Yoo Daon said calmly, looking at me.
"Daon?"
"I'll watch closely and tell you."
"Wait, Daon-"
Yoo Daon immediately grabbed the cross,
and collapsed.
*
Young Yoo Daon held her mother and father's hands.
The two looked down at her with kind faces.
"Daon."
"Just wait a bit. We'll come get you."
In front of the rundown hospital, the two left her behind and departed.
Yoo Daon watched them for a moment.
The young her didn't even realize she'd been sold; she just waited endlessly there until the hospital dragged her in.
Yoo Daon smiled.
Fear?
None of that.
She had no reason to feel fear.
No need to face it.
She knew the meeting she awaited would come.
Yoo Daon closed her eyes.
That pain was just one step in the process toward the meeting.
If so, she could ignore the pain with a smile.
[Reserved without facing it. Deemed unqualified.]
*
Yoo Daon opened her eyes peacefully and took out the glowing brooch from her chest.
"It shows you the memory you hate most."
She said calmly, looking at me.
"I thought that scene meant nothing."
"...I see."
"Ah, but Jaeheon couldn't see it, and Ailin lost her brooch."
Urgency flashed across Yoo Daon's face.
"Jaeheon!"
Before she could finish, Yoo Daon's body vanished.
...
...
Yoo Daon had pointed it out correctly.
Ailin, who lost her brooch. Me, who couldn't see it in the first place.
"...Rip?"
Jang Chaeyeon muttered seriously, looking at me.
We tried Coordinate Rip as she suggested, but as expected, nothing visible.
"Ye-eun."
Then Ailin called Park Ye-eun.
Park Ye-eun flinched and looked at Ailin.
"Go."
"Sis..."
"I said go."
"I-I too..."
"Tsk."
Ailin glared at Park Ye-eun, who made a dejected face and picked up the cross.
*
She just cried.
The day she lost her father. The day she became an orphan.
The day the Management Bureau came and called for her.
She cursed that day.
She just closed her eyes and covered her ears.
Please pass, please pass...
[Immature actions and words. Deemed unqualified.]
*
...
After Park Ye-eun left, Jang Chaeyeon looked at me.
She blinked.
A face full of worry.
"I'm fine."
I nodded, and she hesitated before picking up the cross.
*
Sister.
Jang Chaeyeon looked at the person before her.
"Chaeyeon."
Covered in blood, she was smiling.
"It's not your fault."
"But sis...!"
"It's not your fault. You did the right thing and said the right words."
She looked at Jang Chaeyeon.
"But..."
"No, it's okay."
Her sister smiled.
"Be happy."
Then, she vanished.
After that day, Jang Chaeyeon sealed her lips and lived with a mask.
To ensure nothing like that ever happened again.
[Self-deception. Deemed unqualified.]
*
Jang Chaeyeon opened her eyes and looked at me.
No question if she was okay.
"I heard the voice."
"Voice?"
"Deemed unqualified."
She muttered calmly.
"Might be weeding out."
...
"And getting picked isn't good anyway."
...
"Be careful."
She vanished like mist.
I looked at Ailin.
"...Won't work."
She gave a wry smile, picked up the cross, and nothing happened.
"See."
She shook her head.
"I'm, well."
Ailin looked up at the rainy sky.
Her light-lost blonde hair blended with her dull eyes.
"I tried to die here."
She muttered.
"That's why I left the brooch."
A trial anyone could pass.
Ailin gave a wry smile.
"I've always been the one left behind. Everyone left me, and I had to watch people wither or leave from this spot."
Like recalling a distant past, she closed her eyes.
"So this time, I wanted to be the one leaving."
"Why?"
"I'm tired."
She answered my question calmly.
A face that looked exhaustingly weary, unlike her youthful features, looked at me.
"But I couldn't die until I achieved my goal."
Finding her family.
Ailin smiled and looked at me.
"But now, I can't leave because of you."
Looking at her like that, the Regressor's face came to mind.
What did he see in her?
Why was he thinking of her?
"Take responsibility. Then I'll take responsibility too."
"I will."
"Huh?"
"I'll take responsibility."
I don't know Ailin well as a person.
I only know she has immense mental strength and a sense of responsibility surpassing others.
That's what brought her here.
What did the Regressor see in her?
"Something unchanging."
"Huh?"
Humans are organic.
No one stays the same.
Hunger can breed greed; a full belly can lead to yielding to others.
All that changes outcomes and stories.
"You're consistent, Ailin."
"I hear that a lot."
But those crushed by duty are different.
No matter what, they cut away all trivialities for that duty.
That is Ailin's duty and responsibility.
She is the anchor.
In the ever-changing flow of time and events.
"But no choice. It's what I have to do."
She is the only one who doesn't change.
To someone where everything changes, even after thousands of regressions, the one who doesn't.
[Your understanding of Ailin has increased.]
"Now it's changed because of you."
She gave a playful smile.
[Unlocking Combined Skill.]