Chapter 260
Chapter 260
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 260. Putting on Airs
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I walked alongside the Branch Manager.
Yoo Daon was right next to me, and the Branch Manager kept striding ahead of us.
"So, what's the reason for your visit here, Branch Manager?"
"Fairness."
She answered my question with a look of mild surprise.
"Fairness?"
Isn't it unfair for her to be tagging along with us?
"You're invincible in every physical sense, Mr. An Sanghyeon. Even I'd find fighting you a hassle."
The Branch Manager called it a hassle. That's the kind of person An Sanghyeon is.
"But this test site has some unfair elements."
"It seems to favor physical abilities a lot."
"Exactly."
She nodded at my observation.
"It'd be weirder if someone like An Sanghyeon failed a test like this from the start."
"Then what's the condition?"
If the Branch Manager is sticking with us and Yoo Daon, there must be a reason.
Assuming raw power is relatively meaningless here, what is she looking for from us?
"I can't tell you that."
She shook her head at my question.
...
Should I just keep following behind her like this?
But the manual weighed on my mind.
"I'll take the lead."
"Ah, that's dangerous...!"
"Daon, stay by my side, and Branch Manager, you take the rear."
"That works for me!"
"Shall we do that?"
Yoo Daon nodded vigorously and positioned herself beside me, while the Branch Manager gave a small smile and fell in behind.
"What should I do?"
"...Daon."
"Yes?"
"What do you want to do?"
Yoo Daon looked at me with a puzzled expression at my question.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, for example. Leading the others from the front. Protecting them. Or wiping every containment object off the face of the earth."
"...Hmm..."
She tilted her head and fell into thought at my question.
"I don't think I have any big ambitions like that. Maybe because I'm always satisfied with life."
She soon lifted her head and met my eyes.
"What about you, Jaeheon?"
"Me?"
"Is there a reason you're aiming for promotion?"
Her serious gaze pierced right through me.
"What is it you want, Jaeheon?"
"...I'm looking for someone."
"I see."
Yoo Daon smiled at my words and nodded.
"Then my goal will be to help you find that person."
"...Daon, this test isn't a game."
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
She stared straight at me.
"...Then what if I find the person I'm looking for?"
"We'll find a new goal then."
She said it so casually, matching her steps to mine as we continued walking.
"I'll always help you, Jaeheon."
...
How long did we walk like that?
Soon, a wide clearing opened up before us.
The path was blocked.
More precisely, it looked like people had blocked it off.
Junk was piled up like a mountain.
I glanced at the Branch Manager, and she spoke up.
"Love Zoo."
...
"An incident from thirty years ago."
She closed her eyes.
"This was the first sight when we arrived. People blocking the road with junk to survive."
...
"But it wasn't just blocking the road. They were containing something."
She murmured, staring at the mountain of debris.
"From here on, consider it the real test. Do whatever feels right, Kim Jaeheon."
In other words, she wouldn't say a word unless absolutely necessary.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and approached the junk pile.
Worn-out dolls, bicycles, old appliances.
The items had nothing in common, but their purpose was clear.
"They blocked it pretty well."
Yoo Daon muttered, lifting a teddy bear with her fingers.
"The smell is awful."
"It's old."
"No... that's not it..."
She frowned awkwardly.
"It's not a human smell. It's beastly. Or... no... like beasts and humans mixed together...?"
She tilted her head repeatedly, mumbling.
"It's weird... the scents are so blended it's hard to tell."
...
I looked at the Branch Manager, but she just stood there with her hands behind her back, silent as ever.
Nothing obvious caught my eye.
No choice but to go through.
"Let's clear it."
"Okay."
Yoo Daon and I started dismantling the junk mountain.
"Ugh..."
Every time we moved something, Yoo Daon wrinkled her nose at the stench, and soon I started to understand what she meant.
It was an eerie smell.
Like perfume and animal musk bizarrely combined.
The more we cleared, the stronger it got, until eventually, Yoo Daon and I paused and exchanged looks amid the debris.
"...This might be dangerous."
"I think you could be in danger too, Jaeheon."
She nodded.
"I'll check it out."
"I'll go with you."
"No."
She shook her head sharply at my words.
"You're in danger."
"...Got it. Come right back if it's risky."
"Yeah."
With that, Yoo Daon squeezed through the gap we'd made, grunting as she crawled inside.
Soon, she slipped into the small hole we'd created and peeked out from the other side, smiling at me.
"I'll be back!"
Then she was gone.
...
An indefinite wait.
As I stood there with my arms crossed, the Branch Manager approached.
"You look worried."
"I am."
How could I not be?
"Even though Yoo Daon can't die?"
"That doesn't mean she doesn't feel pain."
"Then why would Yoo Daon go out of her way to feel that pain?"
The Branch Manager murmured, gazing at the small hole Yoo Daon had entered.
"Sacrifice? Self-satisfaction? Or does she like the pain?"
...
"Be good to Yoo Daon. She's a pitiful one."
"I'd do that even without you telling me."
"I know. That's why she came here with you."
"...But I have one worry. Can Daon really become Team Leader?"
"I wondered the same."
The Branch Manager murmured, looking at me with a troubled smile.
"I don't think she will."
*
It was dark.
That was Yoo Daon's impression upon entering.
The damp air and occasional strange noises didn't stir any emotions in her.
Since she'd come in here, she was prepared for death.
To Yoo Daon, death wasn't even a process. It was a means.
She kept moving, hunched over.
The surest method, but also the most foolish.
She knew that.
If it were Jang Chaeyeon, she'd have used telekinesis to clear the junk easily, making room for two—or three, including the Branch Manager. No need for Yoo Daon to go in alone.
If it were Song Arin, she might have deduced something inside, reasoned it out, or gathered info by talking to the men.
Yoo Daon clenched her fist.
An anomaly. What did that matter?
All she could do was this one thing, worrying the man in the process.
If only she had a bit more talent.
If only she had better situational awareness, or even some combat ability.
Overwhelmed by bitter defeat, as she walked—
"...Ugh."
An indescribably horrific stench pierced her nose.
Yoo Daon drew her awl.
The awl the man had given her as a weapon.
It wasn't the most comfortable to use, but since he'd given it, there was no reason not to.
If anything, she felt a strange sense of superiority every time she wielded it.
Scanning her surroundings with the awl in hand, she soon confronted the source of the smell.
An animal.
No, a person.
Up close, it looked like an animal and human stitched together.
Long, filthy hair, a crocodile's maw where a human face should be, and tiny tag earrings.
Like someone had sewn human and beast together with crude stitches.
Others might scream or gasp in fear, but Yoo Daon just stared at the monster impassively.
She'd seen far too many scenes like this.
What was it I saw again?
That brief moment of recollection gave the monster the first strike.
-Whoosh!
As it lunged low and bit her leg, Yoo Daon's vision flipped.
"...Urk...!"
Her leg had been torn off.
Propped up on her arms on the ground, her leg regrew as if nothing had happened, and she stood.
...
No sense of hassle. No crisis.
Just one thought filled her mind.
Good thing.
No need to fall gracefully, protect her face, or worry about appearances.
Yoo Daon gripped the awl in reverse.
She'd win anyway.
She couldn't die to begin with.
*
Clattering and banging echoed nonstop from inside.
Sometimes wet splatters, sometimes groans no human could make.
"...Branch Manager, help out a bit."
"...Sorry. This isn't my role."
She shook her head.
This was the third time we'd had this exchange.
I couldn't take it anymore.
"Fine. I'll go in."
I stepped toward the hole to enter,
And at that moment, Yoo Daon's face popped out.
"It's over!"
She beamed brightly.
*As much as I hate to admit it, talent exists in this world.
Song Arin knew that well. She had talent herself.
No, more than that.
From the Management Bureau's perspective, she'd walked a smooth path.
Recognized for her abilities, assigned to an elite department, and kept proving herself.
Until she joined HR.
Even in Containment, there was Jang Chaeyeon, always outshining her.
And...
...
Song Arin's gaze turned to Yoo Daon on the CCTV feed.
Not dying—whatever Yoo Daon thought of it—was beyond a blessing in the Bureau. It was the most essential ability.
Everyone had only one life, but she could spend it multiple times, fearlessly. The Bureau needed that so badly they went all out to recruit her.
Someone with what she lacked.
A bitter taste rose in her throat.
"Ugh..."
Song Arin gagged, covering her mouth, as Jang Chaeyeon and the sunglassed man looked at her curiously.
"You okay?"
"...Forget it."
Swallowing the bitterness, she stared at the screen.
The woman on it smiled radiantly at the man.
The contrast with herself, watching through a screen, was stark.
...
It felt utterly wretched.