Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 28. Manual
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"You've gotten into a surprising number of incidents in such a short time?"
"It's not like I went looking for them. I just got caught up in them."
Song Arin, who had been listening to my story bit by bit, said it like she was teasing me.
Who the hell wants to get caught up in this stuff? There was a time when I used to happily pull all-nighters and drag myself home.
Clocking out at 11 p.m. every night and back in at 8 a.m. Working weekends too.
Looking back now, it's not nostalgic at all.
In that sense, clocking out on time these days actually feels pretty balanced, doesn't it?
"But it's weird, right? How from some point on, I've suddenly started running into containment objects all the time."
Does the more you see them, the more you encounter them?
Song Arin smirked at my words.
"That's not it."
"Huh?"
"This is just 'daily life.'"
What kind of terrifying nonsense is that?
Song Arin turned around and looked back at me as she walked.
Sunlight made her hair shine.
"How many containment objects do you think are out there in the world?"
"No idea."
"Exactly. Normal people live their lives without even knowing containment objects are containment objects. If you'd been a regular person, you'd have looked at that butane canister and thought, 'Oh, this thing spits out endless fire, but shake it wrong and flames shoot out backward.'"
"...I wouldn't have."
"Right. So saying you 'run into them often' is wrong."
She looked at me as she answered.
"You just never noticed them before."
"..."
So I've just been living in ignorance this whole time?
"But if that's the case, why do my eyes keep spotting more weird stuff lately?"
If not, I'd have seen it all along.
Song Arin sighed at that.
"You're a special case."
"Huh?"
"According to the report, your eyesight improved dramatically during the Butterfly's Dream incident."
"..."
No one ever told me that.
Noticing my suddenly serious expression, Song Arin waved her hand dismissively.
"Don't worry. The people who shouldn't know don't. Only the ones who need to know it do."
That makes me even more worried.
"Anyway."
She clapped her hands with a smack and turned forward again.
By now, we were standing under a moonlit desert, no longer in the wasteland.
"Still, it's impressive. Taking down a Class 3 and subduing then recontaining a Class 2 isn't easy."
"Class 3? Class 2?"
Another thing I'd never heard before.
"...They never told you? It's not in the manual either?"
"It wasn't."
"It should be now. Check."
At Song Arin's words, I opened the manual and started reading.
[Office Manual]
L - Containment Object Classes
1. Containment objects are divided into a total of 5 classes, as follows.
[Class 1] - Passive containment objects, primarily limited to objects or harmless creatures. Nothing out of the ordinary happens unless something extreme occurs.
[Class 2] - Passive, but can cause severe damage if mishandled. Handle with care.
[Class 3] - Active, and failure to contain can damage anywhere from a single village to an entire city. Requires utmost caution.
[Class 4] - Failure to contain can devastate anywhere from a city to an entire nation. Handle with extreme care and always bring Containment Team personnel.
[Class 5] - Can devastate anywhere from a nation to an entire continent. Requires top-priority response, with communication between Management Bureau branches essential.
[Class 6] - Humanity's survival hangs in the balance. Use everything at your disposal to stop it.
"...It's not Class 5?"
"What are you talking about?"
"No, there are six here."
I showed the manual to Song Arin.
She checked it and tilted her head.
"What are you talking about? There are five."
"Huh? You can't see this?"
I pointed to the [Class 6] section, but she furrowed her brow and looked at me.
"Common sense says there's no Class 6. I'm not falling for some senior prank."
She turned away like the absence of Class 6 was obvious.
"..."
What the hell are you hiding from me?
I stared at the manual for a moment, but it gave me no answers.
Wait, so the Cube is only Class 2?
"The Cube is only Class 2?"
"The problem was the guy who took it. Honestly, if it'd just stayed put inside, there wouldn't have been any issues."
I thought of Yoo Daon with the laser piercing her head.
Doesn't seem like it would have stayed quiet.
"Anyway, this phenomenon... it's about Class 3."
"This is Class 3? Not Class 4?"
With people dying like this, and even the presidential office mentioning this play?
"You could mistake it for Class 4 at a glance, but think about the actual damage radius. The presidential office probably just tossed it out there like it was some idol concert."
"Oh."
"In other words, the real scope... is city-level."
She said it like a city was no big deal.
"Anyway, we need to resolve it fast. If it escalates, it'll hit Class 4, and the collateral damage around it will be way too much."
This is Class 3?
I absolutely have to avoid running into Class 4 or 5 containment objects.
As I steeled my resolve, the scenery shifted again.
This time, a dense jungle.
The sounds of insects and animals echoed around.
Footsteps?
I strained my ears, but heard nothing.
By the timeline, it shouldn't be weird if it showed up now.
I checked with Song Arin one more time.
"Song Arin. Anything come to mind about the Red Lady?"
"Nope."
She shook her head.
"I remember looking at her, but everything after is gone. Just the pain lingers."
Can't grasp it at all.
What do I even do to beat something like that?
I recalled Song Arin's words.
'Like it was designed to be unbeatable.'
Why does that stick with me so much?
"Arin."
"Yeah?"
"What's the genre of this musical?"
"What random question is that?"
She stared at me blankly.
"Suppose this musical is about civilians getting massacred indiscriminately by a killer ghost."
"I'm listening."
"Then obviously, you can't beat the ghost, right?"
"Huh?"
She tilted her head.
"So you're saying this is a ghost musical?"
"Just putting it that way."
"Okay, say it is a ghost musical. Then what?"
"So—"
The surroundings changed.
A shopping mall.
People walked past us without a glance, ignoring me and Song Arin completely.
Thud. Thud.
Song Arin's body stiffened.
"Ah, damn it."
Her legs started trembling.
"It must have really scared you."
"Let's go. Now."
She started walking slowly, then broke into a run.
"What are you gonna do?"
She looked at me as we ran.
"If the locations keep changing and we can't escape?"
"We'll figure that out when it happens. Keep talking. Hurry."
"Ugh, seriously."
I let Song Arin lead, glancing back occasionally as we ran.
This time, I didn't look straight ahead. Can't risk my eyes exploding like before.
"So, keep going."
She continued while running.
"It's not designed to be beatable in the first place."
In games, there are enemies you can never win against.
So-called no-win events, designed from the start to be impossible.
If this 'Red Lady' is one of those?
-Boom! Boom! Boom!
Something exploded behind us.
Just like the people bursting in the theater.
I didn't look back anymore.
"So what, we just keep running?"
Song Arin bit her lip.
"No."
I answered as I ran steadily.
There'd be two main ways.
"Find the musical's resolution."
Act out the ending of this musical.
But that's no easy feat. Perform the finale without a script? No way I can.
So, only the next option.
"Or change the genre."
"What's that mean?"
The location shifted.
We sprinted through a dark, empty basement.
What's the fastest way to switch genres?
If this is horror—
"There!"
At Song Arin's urgent shout, I looked ahead.
A door floated in midair.
Obvious as hell that it was the exit.
Song Arin, ahead of me, grabbed the knob.
"Hurry!"
She went through the door, and
"Hey, why'd you go alone—"
The door started vanishing, and Song Arin looked back at me in panic.
She and the door faded like a mirage.
But slower than I'd thought.
I lunged and grabbed the knob, but an invisible force flung me back.
Looks like only one at a time.
She must've tricked it to fit two, and this happened.
"Don't tell me it's meant for one person—!"
Song Arin yelled frantically, reaching out.
The Red Lady approached from behind, and the door ahead vanished too slowly.
What happens if the Red Lady grabs Song Arin?
I spun around fast, blocking the door.
"Hey! What are you doing!"
Song Arin struggled to come back out, but flinched like she couldn't.
Someone had to buy time.
"—Hey, you!"
Did she read my mind? Her face went pale.
My eyes weren't working right. No Critical.
Can't win.
Not now.
Thud. Thud.
The 'Red Lady' appeared.
I pulled the manual from my pocket.
Why did I have the manual, and only me?
I still didn't know, but at least I knew its purpose for me.
The manual flipped open to a blank page on its own.
"Beginning record of Containment Object 'Red Lady.'"
Words engraved themselves into the manual.
[Office Manual]
[PRV - Containment Object 'Red Lady' - Recorded by HR Team's Kim Jaeheon]
Soon, a woman emerged from the shadows.
A bit taller than me, clad in a red dress. Above her mouth, like a mosaic, nothing was visible.
Just the fact that she was smiling.
Blood flowed from my eyes again, burning pain surging through.
'Hang in there. I'm always watching close by.'
For some reason, the child's voice echoed in my head.
"Run!"
Song Arin screamed.
"The object is one of the characters in the musical 'Red Lady' and cannot be defeated by conventional means."
[The object is one of the characters in the musical 'Red Lady' and cannot be defeated by conventional means.]
"However, due to the musical's nature, the Red Lady can be neutralized by changing the genre."
[However, due to the musical's nature, the Red Lady can be neutralized by changing the genre.]
The Red Lady's mouth split open grotesquely wide.
Get swallowed there, and you're done.
[Your understanding of the musical 'Red Lady' increases.]
[Critical: 0->1]
In my fading vision, the line I'd waited for appeared.
"Please—"
Song Arin's voice, growing distant.
Did she escape?
Through blood-red vision, I stared at the glowing translucent panel, then looked up.
Something with a grotesquely gaping mouth stared down at me.
Couldn't see it clearly, but one thing was sure: it was smiling.
I smiled back.
Laugh it up.
"Next time, it's the real finale."
-CRUNCH!
My neck snapped under something, and amid brief pain, I died once more.