Chapter 268
Chapter 268
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 268. Title
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Grotesqueness.
That was the emotion I felt upon seeing the Observer right before my eyes.
Not the grotesqueness of its appearance.
It wore a bright smile and spoke in a lively tone, but an indescribable grotesqueness lurked within.
"What's this? Why is everyone staring at me like I'm some kind of freak?"
Jang Chaeyeon stood before me with long hair, smiling at me. No, the Observer.
Jang Chaeyeon stared at the Observer with a face full of tension.
"Come on, don't be like that. Let's smile!"
As it swung its hand,
"Ugh...!"
My mouth corners began to move on their own.
More precisely, some unknown force was forcibly lifting both sides of my mouth.
"Now that's much better to look at."
The Observer smiled as it gazed at me, then turned its eyes to Jang Chaeyeon.
"Come on, you who looks just like me—lift those mouth corners too!"
"..."
Jang Chaeyeon looked at me.
I could tell just from her gaze now.
Her eyes that said, 'Should we fight?'
We might be able to catch it off guard if we did...
I slowly shook my head.
It wasn't just the two of us right now.
Yoo Daon and Song Arin were behind us, and those two weren't even in any state to fight.
"..."
Jang Chaeyeon stared at the Observer, then slowly lifted her mouth corners.
"This one's not great at smiling, huh?"
Seeing that, the Observer placed a hand on its chin and muttered. Then Jang Chaeyeon's mouth corners shot up at an eerie angle.
"..."
The Observer smiled at Jang Chaeyeon, who now wore a grin.
"Perfect. Just perfect!"
Only then did the Observer turn its gaze to Yoo Daon and Song Arin.
"Hmm... Haven't seen this one before."
As the Observer passed by, tapping the now-still Yoo Daon's head, there was a crunch! and Yoo Daon toppled over.
Her head looked smashed.
"..."
Would she be okay? Worry surged, but I couldn't move right now.
"Oh? And this one..."
The Observer stood before Song Arin and slowly stroked her cheek.
"I've seen this one somewhere before..."
"..."
Naturally, Song Arin said nothing.
"Hmm... Uh-huh..."
The Observer kept furrowing its brow, just staring at Song Arin.
"A long, long time ago... maybe?"
It muttered to itself incoherently, then nodded.
"No idea. But I like this one."
It snapped its fingers, and Song Arin vanished.
"..."
I exchanged glances with Jang Chaeyeon.
"You two want to come along?"
The Observer beamed at us.
What should we do?
With Song Arin taken, we couldn't just leave. Besides, I didn't even know how to get out.
"...Sure."
I nodded slowly, and it grinned widely, nodding back.
"Great! I'm glad you're coming! Our friend who looks just like me is coming too, right?"
"...Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded.
"Alright! This way then! I'll loosen you up so it's easy to follow!"
It skipped ahead with a cheerful smile, and Jang Chaeyeon looked at me.
"Let's follow."
My body felt a bit better than before.
But I still couldn't move it freely.
We couldn't just go like this, though.
I pulled the manual from my pocket and tossed it toward the fallen Yoo Daon.
"Take care of it."
I trusted the manual would understand what I meant.
"Done?"
"Let's go."
Jang Chaeyeon and I slowly followed behind the Observer, looking around.
It was a city bathed entirely in gray.
There were people, but most—no, everyone—was frozen like Song Arin.
"...This scene."
Jang Chaeyeon muttered.
"It's familiar."
"...Yeah. It is."
Surprisingly, it stuck in my memory. Probably because we'd been here so long.
"It's just like inside the Cube?"
"Yeah."
The Cube where I'd first met Jang Chaeyeon.
We'd spent quite a long time there together.
I couldn't recall exactly what we'd done, though.
"..."
Come to think of it, I really couldn't remember what we'd done.
Note to self.
I marked it in my mind and scanned the surroundings.
"It's exactly the same."
"Yeah."
It was impossibly identical to the inside of the Cube where Jang Chaeyeon and I had been trapped.
We'd wandered around in there for so long.
"Oh, there's that rock over there."
"Ah, yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon dodged the rock in front of her at my words.
"...How did you remember that?"
"Good question...?"
It had just popped into my head.
"We're here!"
The Observer spoke up, interrupting my thoughts.
-Tap! Tap!
Every time its footsteps hit a rock, an unpleasant mannequin-like sound echoed.
The frozen Song Arin was carefully set down, and the Observer looked at her fondly before moving on.
It sat on a pile of rubble and gazed at the two of us.
"So. Can I ask you just one thing?"
With a lively voice, it eyed us brightly, wearing Jang Chaeyeon's face.
"...Ask."
It beamed as I spoke.
"Where are you from?"
"...Where we're from?"
It nodded at my question.
"Yeah! I've been here forever!"
Forever?
"...No one made you?"
"Made? Me? Who?"
It tilted its head curiously, its long hair swaying with the motion.
"I'm me! I've been here since I can remember!"
"...What's your name?"
It blinked several times at my question.
"I don't have a name?"
"..."
"Now answer me! Where are you from?"
"...We came from that cave."
"Ah! That cave just now!"
I nodded slowly in response, and it smiled delightedly at me and Jang Chaeyeon.
"There was nothing in that cave? I wander around there all the time!"
"...We haven't been here long."
"Aha! Got it! You're the new neighbors!"
It smiled.
An odd sense of dissonance.
It felt like looking at an innocent child.
Jang Chaeyeon's expression darkened as she watched it.
"Then, us new neighbors—"
"Cube."
Jang Chaeyeon cut it off and spoke. The Observer turned to her.
"Yeah?"
"You know the Cube?"
"...Cube..."
It furrowed its brow and muttered.
"Kind of rings a bell... but not really..."
"..."
Jang Chaeyeon lowered her gaze.
"Why? You're the one who looks just like me?"
"Thirty minutes."
Jang Chaeyeon interrupted the Observer again.
"I spent countless days inside the Cube. But when I got out, only thirty minutes had passed."
She stared at it.
"I gave up counting, literally. There was nothing I could do anyway."
"Aha, I see! That must've been tough!"
"People go mad when they're alone."
Jang Chaeyeon muttered.
"That's where I lost my voice."
"Lost your voice? No idea what that means!"
It laughed in response,
"I shouldn't know what that means."
Then suddenly dropped its head and muttered.
"...What?"
"Huh? What did I say?"
It tilted its head again, refocusing on us.
I stared at the Observer that had just spoken.
It grinned nonstop, eyes fixed on us.
Jang Chaeyeon looked at me.
She gave me a signal with her eyes.
I slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out my gun.
"When words lose meaning, people lose language."
"...Right."
"A bit longer, and I'd have gone mad."
Jang Chaeyeon closed and opened her eyes, staring at it.
"You're alone, aren't you."
"Huh? No clue what you're talking about."
"People alone go mad."
The Observer tilted its head, then lowered it again and muttered. Jang Chaeyeon watched it, then looked at me.
"It's weird."
"Yeah?"
"That doesn't explain why its torso is a mannequin."
She was deliberately talking to me.
Why?
"You're right."
But if she was acting this way, there had to be a reason.
I played along, and sure enough.
"You two have been talking over me this whole time!"
It stomped its foot, and a thud echoed.
"Boring!"
"Yeah. It's boring."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded.
"So tell us. Tell us your story."
"I told you, I don't have one!"
It yelled and stomped again.
At the same time, my heart began to slow once more.
"Wait...!"
Jang Chaeyeon looked at me in panic, but I didn't know what to do either.
I hurriedly looked up at it.
[Name: --]
[Age: --/--]
[Specialty: Observation]
[Talent: Observation]
[Background: This is perfect art.]
[Weakness: -]
Nothing had changed.
"No waiting! You need to talk to me more!"
Its eyes flashed as it raised its hand.
"Gah!"
Pain like something stabbing my chest sent my body flying back.
"Hk... Hah..."
My breath stopped.
My body grew cold, vision blurring.
Hot. No, cold.
No Critical, so nothing I could—
-Bang!
At that moment, Jang Chaeyeon thrust her hand out, sending the Observer flying far away.
Its body soared into the air before crashing down.
"Let's go."
Jang Chaeyeon grabbed my arm.
"Where to!"
"I know the place. You know the way."
What did that even mean?
I stared at her in confusion, and she met my eyes steadily.
"The place is the Cube. You know the way. Lead us."
"But even if you say that—"
"...Trust me."
Her gaze was eerily calm, unlike usual.
"...Where to?"
"Forward."
She muttered and pulled my arm.
I followed behind Jang Chaeyeon, and soon a babbling scream erupted.
"It's you! No it's not! No! It is you! Please!"
"I can't be in two places at once anyway."
It reached out while shrieking nonsense, and my body slowed again.
"Urk...!"
Jang Chaeyeon spun and hurled a rock fragment at it. It rolled on the ground after getting hit, and my body returned to normal.
"Keep it pinned while we go!"
"Got it!"
We fled, tossing rocks several times. It rolled on the ground each time it got hit.
"Which way!"
Jang Chaeyeon called urgently. I looked around.
She was right. This path felt familiar somehow.
From long ago... Memories of walking it with Jang Chaeyeon...
"Uh, um. This way!"
I pointed right, and she dashed that way without hesitation. I followed.
"Don't run— Aaaah!"
Then someone burst from the debris and tackled the Observer chasing us.
"Whoa! I really thought I was gonna die! Wait, I did die once!"
Yoo Daon was straddling the Observer, manual in hand.
"Jaeheon! I followed using the manual! There you are!"
"Daon! Get out of there now!"
"That's gonna be tough!"
Yoo Daon shook her head and began stabbing it with a spike.
"Go! I'll buy time here—"
"Die!"
-Kwach!
Before Yoo Daon could finish, her body twisted grotesquely and was flung away.
"No! Stop! I hate this!"
The Observer sobbed like a child, chasing after us.
I glanced at Yoo Daon—her twisted body reverted, and she charged the Observer again.
"Jaeheon! Go!"
"This way!"
We kept running through the ruins.
My body seemed to remember the path; at forks, I turned without hesitation, navigating the maze-like streets.
I didn't know the destination, but I knew the direction.
Gasping, I stopped.
"...Hk... Hah..."
I looked up ahead.
A massive Cube-shaped building loomed.
"...This..."
Jang Chaeyeon, who'd followed, panted as she stared at the building.
"That time..."
"Yeah."
"Don't interfere!"
Its scream echoed from afar, followed by something breaking in the quiet ruins.
"...Let's go. Hurry."
"...Yeah."
Yoo Daon had given us this chance. We couldn't waste it.
We rushed inside the building.
Darkness. No light.
And it didn't seem to follow us here.
"...Good."
"No, we have to go back anyway."
Yoo Daon was out there. Song Arin too. We couldn't stay.
"If it didn't come in, there's a reason."
I turned on my smartphone light and scanned around.
Dust-covered interior. Nothing special inside.
Or so I thought.
"...What is this."
Jang Chaeyeon muttered, looking around.
Countless mannequins hung on the walls.
None had heads.
In the center, Jang Chaeyeon's body was displayed in a glass case.
[Title: Observer]
An inorganic title greeted us.