Chapter 271
Chapter 271
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: If You Are There
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A name is an imprint.
When someone calls you by name, you know it's you they're referring to.
For a simple example, if I called Song Arin "Mr. Kim Jaeheon," she'd probably snap at me for talking nonsense.
In that sense, I called the thing in front of me Jang Chaeyeon.
"...What?"
It tilted its head and looked at me.
"Chaeyeon. It's me. Kim Jaeheon."
"...Kim Jaeheon..."
"Don't you remember? From that Cube incident—"
"Stop!"
It reached out a hand to silence me, and I closed my mouth.
It began muttering to itself frantically, as if recalling something.
I glanced over at Jang Chaeyeon and Yoo Daon.
Both were lying down.
Jang Chaeyeon had her eyes squeezed shut, groaning as if in a bad mood, while Yoo Daon's body was gradually stiffening, just like when we'd arrived.
Yoo Daon was in danger right now, even if Jang Chaeyeon wasn't. We had to resolve this quickly.
To do that fast, I desperately needed the Observer's help.
There was no way we could win in a fight like this.
"Kim Jaeheon... Kim Jaeheon... I've heard that name somewhere... Where..."
The Observer kept clutching her head, murmuring my name over and over.
"Chaeyeon."
"Don't... call me by that name."
She reacted convulsively to my words and looked at me.
"Why... why..."
"How long have you been here?"
"Huh...?"
"How long have you been here?"
"A... long time..."
The Observer hesitated in her response.
Her head started shaking.
Now it was starting to make sense.
The scene I'd seen earlier must have been the Observer's past.
A past without Yoo Daon, or maybe one that had unfolded completely differently.
After seeing me die, she'd endured for a long time but eventually surrendered to the Cube.
I couldn't blame her for that. I probably would have too.
Long solitude breaks people down.
If anything, she deserved praise for holding out that long.
Anyway, as she said, she'd endured for ages but finally let the Cube into her mind.
Then, after suffering for another long stretch, she'd decided to remake herself in the image of aestheticism.
The reason...
The Cube's transference?
That was where the real problem began.
If she'd cut off everything below her neck to stop the Cube's transference, then conversely, her head was fully under the Cube's control.
It was like a ticking time bomb. I had no idea how the Observer was keeping it in check right now, but caution was still essential.
...
I looked at the still-hesitant Observer.
What should I say to her?
Soon, she shook her head and began letting out pained groans.
"Chaeyeon?"
"Be quiet."
A low mutter cut me off.
She slowly raised her head and looked at me.
...
The Observer stared at me in silence.
I could tell instinctively.
This wasn't the Observer I'd been talking to until moments ago.
The madness in her eyes calmed to a chilling composure.
For the first time, she looked at me with the eyes of the Jang Chaeyeon I knew.
"How did you get here? No. Who the hell are you?"
She muttered in a voice laced with thorns as she stared at me. No, at her.
"It's me, Chaeyeon."
"...You slipped in?"
She didn't answer, just kept staring at me.
Confusion was building in her eyes.
"How... why... are you threatening me or something...?"
She bowed her head, muttering furiously to herself, then looked back at me.
"Get out. Now."
"There's no way out. And right now, you're holding my colleagues."
...
She fell silent.
"That's something I can't do."
She lifted her head and looked at me.
Unlike before, her expression was calm.
"Waking them up is easy. They're just asleep—shake them awake."
"Ah."
"But I can't help you escape. You'll have to run."
"Understood."
...
She stared at my face intently, then slightly extended her hand.
When the cold mannequin finger touched my cheek, she shook her head and bowed it.
Her face twisted in anguish as she closed her eyes briefly and opened them again.
"I'm going."
She muttered and turned to walk away.
-Thud... tap...
The wooden mannequin's footsteps echoed on the floor.
"Chaeyeon?"
"I'm going as far as I can."
"Chaeyeon."
"That's all I can do for you. ...Sorry."
With that, she trudged away.
It was time bought by Jang Chaeyeon.
I rushed over and shook the two awake.
"Chaeyeon. Daon."
I shook Jang Chaeyeon's shoulder, then Yoo Daon's as well.
"Ugh..."
Fortunately, Jang Chaeyeon woke up right away.
"Are you okay?"
"...The monster?"
"...It's gone."
"I see."
She let out a sigh of relief, looked at me, then at Yoo Daon.
"What about her?"
"We have to wake her. Daon!"
I shook Yoo Daon's shoulder several times.
Unlike Jang Chaeyeon, it took quite a while to rouse Yoo Daon.
"Uh..."
How long had I been shaking her? Finally, she took a breath and sat up.
"Jaeheon?"
"It's me. You okay?"
"Ah... um..."
"Daon?"
Yoo Daon's reaction was a bit off.
"I'm fine..."
She pulled back, giving an awkward smile.
"Don't worry too much... Did you wake me? Thank you."
"No... glad you're up."
It was different.
Her voice was much more subdued and listless than usual.
"Daon, is something wrong? Did you see something bad?"
"I did see something bad..."
"Whatever it was, don't believe it."
She gave another awkward smile at my words.
"Yeah, I won't."
...
It didn't seem like that would settle it.
The problem was we didn't have time to deal with it now.
"...Let's go."
No helping it. Time was always limited.
Sorry to Yoo Daon, but getting Song Arin out came first.
I stood and started running.
"Where to?"
"Where Arin is."
Fortunately, the Observer Jang Chaeyeon had gone in the opposite direction, so if we hurried, we could wake Song Arin.
Sprinting down the now-familiar path, we soon reached where Song Arin stood frozen in place.
The Observer hadn't touched her yet, it seemed.
I approached Song Arin and checked her condition.
"Arin."
Shake her and she'll wake, right?
I shook her shoulder hard, and after a good long while, Song Arin finally opened her eyes.
"Uh..."
She dropped straight to her knees.
"Uh... ah..."
Then, unable to speak, she began to cry.
"...Wah...!"
Like someone who'd lost the power of speech, she knelt there sobbing uncontrollably.
"Arin. It's me."
"Sorry... sorry..."
I hurriedly checked on her.
She didn't seem to hear me at all—just kept shedding endless tears and muttering the same words.
...
[Oh?]
A bright, cheerful voice began echoing everywhere.
[Where is this?]
No time to waste. It'd find us in no time.
No, the moment that eye in the sky opened, we'd be done for.
"Arin. Sorry."
I hurriedly hoisted the still-crying Song Arin over my shoulder and kept moving.
I'd predicted it, but Song Arin's aftereffects were worse than I'd thought. I knew she'd been exposed longer and would suffer more, but...
We had to get out of here.
The problem: I didn't know the way out.
No choice.
With Song Arin still slung over my shoulder, crying, I turned to Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon.
"Find the exit. And we can fight it head-on."
"...With that?"
Yoo Daon muttered, and Jang Chaeyeon looked down at the ground.
"Yeah. Fighting it's tough."
And fighting while dragging Song Arin and Yoo Daon in this state? Impossible.
But finding the exit was impossible too. We'd have to scour that cave interior eventually.
"Daon."
"...Yeah?"
Her response was much slower than before.
"You and Arin find the exit. Don't get spotted."
"...What about you, Jaeheon?"
"I'll buy time. Or take it down."
The moment that eye in the sky opened again, we might really be wiped out this time.
Only one way to keep it shut.
Stay in its line of sight.
"While we buy time, you and Arin find the exit."
"...Me too..."
"Then no one's watching Arin."
"Ah... r-right..."
Yoo Daon nodded and looked at Song Arin.
She was still crying like a child.
I carefully set Song Arin down, and Yoo Daon supported her.
"We're going. Come on, Chaeyeon."
"Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon and I turned and hurried off, but...
"...Jaeheon."
I stopped at Yoo Daon's call.
"Yes, Daon."
"...Never mind. I'll wait."
"...Got it."
I hurried off again, leaving Yoo Daon behind.
Just as Yoo Daon and Song Arin vanished from sight, Jang Chaeyeon tapped my shoulder.
"She looks rough."
"Yeah."
"If I'd been in there longer... I might've ended up like that too."
Jang Chaeyeon muttered bitterly.
"...What did you see, Chaeyeon?"
"...I saw..."
Jang Chaeyeon began explaining slowly.
What she described was just like what I'd seen.
No, identical.
"...Me too..."
I explained what I'd seen to her.
The surrendered Jang Chaeyeon, my death. And finally, the Cube.
"...Ah."
Jang Chaeyeon closed her eyes after hearing me out.
"...Think you get the gist?"
"...Yeah."
She looked up at the sky.
"I... decided not to trust people easily."
She murmured.
"Because it hurts too much when they die."
...
"If I could see the heart with my own eyes, it'd feel like half of it was ripped out."
Jang Chaeyeon's sister came to mind.
Her sister, now a reverse piece.
"So I concluded: no trust, no pain."
...
Not wrong. Like avoiding heartbreak by never loving.
"But I went and opened up to you again. No. I did."
Jang Chaeyeon looked at me.
"I'm still okay. Because you're alive. You came back even after getting hurt, and you're here with me now."
...
She looked ahead.
Clattering sounds accompanied the staggering footsteps of a mannequin approaching.
"And that me over there... is the me who never once protected her people."
"I see."
"Yeah. So... that me might've given up."
"Found you!"
It shouted, cutting us off.
Silver hair, dirtied by the gray atmosphere, fluttered.
"I thought I'd have to search everywhere again!"
It smiled.
I spoke as I watched the scene.
"What did you give up on?"
Jang Chaeyeon crouched down, looking at it, and spoke.
"Believing that a better tomorrow might come if you wait."
"So the current you believes? That a better tomorrow will come."
...
She turned to look at me.
"Yeah. You've got you."
And she smiled.