Chapter 255
Chapter 255
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Riverside
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I look at the man kneeling on his knees.
Kim Wanwoo.
Even before I beat him in a fight, he was exhausting me, but somehow, even after turning into a brain in a jar, he keeps meddling in my life.
I don't think he needs to get this tangled up in my life.
But putting that aside, what the hell is Kim Wanwoo doing there?
Curiosity surges first.
He kneels with his eyes closed.
"No matter how I come here, it all ends in ruin."
He mutters and glances behind him.
The branch manager next to me takes a deep breath upon seeing the scene, and the man mutters in a bitter voice.
"Hell."
It was just as he said.
It was hell.
Under the blood-red sunset, the city looks like it's bleeding, and you could say the people living there are much the same.
Beneath the crimson sunset, people are wandering around.
Countless people stand or crawl atop piles of corpses, their faces twisted in agony.
Most are dead, but even the living don't look alive enough to call it that.
I examine the people's appearances.
Some have parts of their bodies missing, others wander around laughing as if their minds are broken.
"What the..."
The branch manager next to me mutters in a horrified voice, and as if hearing it, the regressor beyond the mirror opens his mouth.
"It's horrific no matter how many times I see it."
He clicks his tongue and lets out a deep sigh.
"Seeing that no matter what I do, it doesn't work... it really feels like this is the end."
The blood-red sunset still hangs in the sky, showing no sign of setting.
"It's all meaningless."
He sighs.
"It's time to give up. I'm too tired now."
As soon as his words end, the image in the mirror vanishes,
...
...
and the branch manager and I look at each other.
"You saw that too, right, Kim Jaeheon?"
"...Yes, I did."
I nod in response to the branch manager's question, and she stares at the mirror with a bewildered expression.
"The riverside..."
"Under the river?"
"How do you even know that—never mind. It'd be weirder if you didn't."
The branch manager widens her eyes at my question, sighs, and nods.
"We don't really know what's under the river either."
"You don't know?"
Is it the most dangerous containment object in the world, or something like that?
The culprit behind all containment objects—
"There are plenty of other dangerous things in the world, of course."
The branch manager raises a finger.
As if to say my thoughts are off-base, she continues while holding up her finger.
"But in this region... at least around your area, Kim Jaeheon, everyone's judging this to be the most dangerous right now."
"...What the hell is it?"
I get that it's dangerous.
But just how dangerous? What can it do that even a regressor can't stop it, and the branch manager is this tense?
"I don't know."
"Huh?"
What kind of nonsense is this?
As I stare at the branch manager in disbelief, she nods with a serious expression.
"But I really don't know."
"Why not?"
"What's under the riverside was only passed down orally from our predecessors."
...
Two hundred years ago?
"It does exist, right?"
If it hasn't appeared in two hundred years, can't we just say it doesn't?
"Don't think weird things."
The branch manager glares at me.
"We may not have seen its true form, but we've seen plenty of what it causes. You saw it too, Kim Jaeheon."
"Me?"
"Myeongil Apartment."
"Ah."
That incident.
The people in the apartment suddenly going berserk overlaps in my mind with Song Arin's appearance.
"It creates anomalies like that."
"It doesn't create containment objects?"
"No, that's not it. It's literally a containment object that causes anomalies."
"Ah, so it doesn't make containment objects."
"As far as I know."
If that's what the branch manager knows, then that's what the Management Bureau knows.
"Anyway, even though it causes sporadic issues like that, it hasn't caused any major problems."
The branch manager mutters, slightly furrowing her brow.
"I'll report this to headquarters too."
"If there's any action I need to take, or if it looks like I'll get dragged into it again, please give me a heads-up in advance."
"That won't happen. We can't know what's down there anyway."
"You've never gone down?"
If it's under the river, can't they just send in exploration robots, or at least cameras if not?
...
Instead of answering my question, the branch manager just gazes at me steadily.
"You think we haven't tried in all that time?"
...
"Even with time passing and technology advancing, the Management Bureau not knowing what's under the river has its reasons."
"I understand exactly what you mean."
I nod at the branch manager's words, and she nods back upon hearing me.
"Right. Shall we go? If we stay here longer, the Gangbuk Branch Chief might catch on."
She might have already, but I decide not to point that out.
*
As soon as we return to the Gangseo Branch, the HR Team members waiting for us greet us.
"That old man didn't do anything weird to you?"
Song Arin pokes and prods at my body, then places her index finger on my forehead.
"...Damn, something feels off."
"Kim Jaeheon got something fed to him by the Gangbuk Branch Chief."
The branch manager answers in her place.
"Fed something?"
The finger prodding my forehead stops, and Jang Chaeyeon and Yoo Daon's expressions turn fierce.
"What did he feed you? Memories? Hey, do you know who I am?"
"It's me, Jaeheon! Yoo Daon, the first person you met!"
"...Jang Chaeyeon. The second person you met."
"Stop acting so pitiful!"
Song Arin yells at Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon while groping my forehead.
"It's nothing like that."
I brush away Song Arin's fingers from my forehead and look at the branch manager.
"Do you know what he fed me, Branch Manager?"
"I don't know exactly. I'm only good at breaking things."
The branch manager shakes her head.
"But it has something to do with what the mirror showed."
The setting sun, the dead people, and the river.
My memories are connected to that?
...
"For now, it's not an urgent issue. I don't know what it is, and the Gangbuk Branch Chief just fed it to you."
"Is there a chance the branch manager is in on it—"
"...I'd like to believe not. If she really is colluding, headquarters would probably rush over and cut her head off before I could."
The branch manager nods.
"For now, let's think it over, discuss it briefly, and... take a breather while you recall what happened."
...
What would happen if this river flooded?
Just thinking about it already makes me a bit scared.
The branch manager smiles and pats my shoulder.
"Don't worry too much. You've been caught up in incidents for so long, you need some time to sort your thoughts."
"...Ah, yeah."
Usually, saying that means getting dragged into another incident right away?
The others seem to think the same, staring at the branch manager with anxious expressions.
"Anyway, there's nothing we can do right now. Don't stress too much. I'm off."
With that, the branch manager strides away like a storm.
Despite her words, she's probably worried too. Her steps are faster than usual.
"You really okay?"
Jang Chaeyeon examines my face, and Yoo Daon pokes my back.
"You smell like Jaeheon..."
"It's me. I haven't forgotten anyone."
I reassure the three and sink into thought.
Yeah. Worrying now won't change anything.
So, time to run an experiment.
Eileen's face comes to mind.
Maybe because she has no abilities, she was able to share mine once linked with me.
So, what if someone without abilities gets linked with me?
No need to agonize.
The three turn to head back to the office.
"Wait, go on ahead."
"Take your time!"
Yoo Daon waves, and after they disappear, I pull out my smartphone and make a call.
It's been a while since I called this old college friend.
The call connects quickly, and his gravelly voice rings out after ages.
[Hey, calling out of the blue? What's up?]
"Yeah, long time no talk. Got a favor to ask."
[First words after ages are a favor? Geez.]
Laughter comes through.
[What is it? Spill.]
"That blind date you tried setting up before, remember?"
[Oh, the one you turned down saying you were busy?]
Yeah, the Management Bureau work was hectic then.
"Yeah. That blind date."
[Okay. Why?]
"Think I could take it up again?"
[Suddenly? Feeling lonely these days?]
"Uh, well... let's say."
As I trail off, my friend laughs again.
[Hold on. I'll ask real quick.]
"Yeah, thanks."
[Sure.]
The call ends.
Won't take long to wait.
As I fiddle with my smartphone to kill time, it soon rings.
"Yeah."
[Yeah, it's me. She's good with it? Said this weekend work?]
It was proposed ages ago, and a spot opens up just like that?
She's not problematic or anything, right?
A slight worry arises, but I can't back out now.
"Yeah, sure."
[Hey. Making money's great, but don't burn yourself out. Take care.]
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks. Hanging up. Dinner's on me next time."
...
If possible, it'll be a chance to learn more about my eyes and Critical.
And if things click, dating too.
Thinking that, I turn around,
...
...
...
and the three stare at me with wide eyes.
Jang Chaeyeon in shock, Song Arin with blank eyes, and.
"D-Daon, are you crying?"
"N-No! I'm not...!"
Yoo Daon, who is crying.
It feels like I just did something terribly wrong.