Chapter 295
Chapter 295
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 295. The Power of Bonds
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Monster.
That was what everyone who had sparred with Yoo Daon said about her.
It couldn't be helped. She really fought like a monster.
Walking toward them with her joints bent in impossible ways, ignoring all common sense. Even when the instructor called a halt because she looked like she was about to die, she never stopped.
Arm broken, body wrecked—she always did what she had to do.
Everything else was secondary to her anyway.
"...Hoo..."
"What are you doing?"
Yoo Daon glanced at Ailin, who had spoken to her.
Yoo Daon wasn't one to particularly like anyone, but she especially felt that way about Ailin.
Ailin had shown up one day out of nowhere and gotten close to him.
Of course, Yoo Daon hadn't been with him for that long either, but relatively speaking, it was longer than Ailin.
"I'm thinking of going to get Jaeheon."
But she didn't show it.
Especially not the dislike.
Excluding special cases like herself, the ones who survived long in the hospital weren't the strong ones.
They were the ones who smiled a lot.
The irritable ones, the ones who lashed out at others—they didn't last.
When they came looking for test subjects in the hospital, the grumpy ones were always mysteriously at the front of the line.
No one tried to protect them, and that only hastened their deaths.
That's why Yoo Daon always smiled.
She wouldn't die even if betrayed, but pain was still pain.
"Yeah. Need any help?"
"No."
Yoo Daon smiled in response to Ailin's question.
She didn't need any, and she didn't want to drag Ailin into this anyway.
"...Okay."
Ailin stepped back with a sullen expression upon seeing Yoo Daon's smile.
"If you need anything, just say so. I might be able to help."
"No need, so Ailin, please keep an eye on the surroundings."
"...Okay."
Ailin retreated, and Yoo Daon turned to look at the man.
He carried the same sweet scent as her.
Of course, someone smelling like her was plenty enjoyable for Yoo Daon, but she preferred the man's scent even more.
That's why,
"Jaeheon."
She approached him.
He was still choking, gripped by the throat, while the monster that had dug its claws into him had its eyes closed.
"You need to come back."
If he said he was leaving, Yoo Daon would probably let him go.
She hadn't really thought about what came after, though.
But today wasn't that day.
Yoo Daon placed a hand on his cheek, gazing at him tenderly before pressing her forehead to his.
She knew instinctively.
She could do it.
*
Even with my eyes open, there was only darkness.
In the darkness were me, Butterfly's mother, and a few consciousnesses.
And yet it was noisy.
No, beyond noisy—countless sounds tormented my brain.
All of them chanting a single phrase.
[How can we survive?]
[How can we become king?]
"Urgh...!"
It was maddening.
I'd told them no so many times, but they wouldn't listen.
I plugged my ears against the mumbling, but the voices only rang louder in my brain.
Worst of all,
"How—"
My mouth sometimes mouthed the words along with them.
It wasn't mind control.
Just as an individual struggles against the will of the collective, these countless voices were forcing me to conform.
That's why mental barriers didn't work.
It wasn't changing my mind—it was like getting punched every time the masses spouted nonsense.
A matter of mental fortitude, in other words.
I seemed to be holding up pretty well, all things considered.
"Urgh...!"
Wasn't it about time?
As I thought that,
Footsteps began to echo.
-Thud... thud...
An immense presence.
A presence so vast it crushed the collective consciousness, carrying a single thought.
So blindly obsessive that it sowed confusion among the consciousnesses that had been chanting [How can we survive?] until now.
[How to survive...]
[How to become king... Jaeheon.]
[Jaeheon.]
[Jaeheon.]
[Jaeheon.]
Soon, the voices tormenting my head all began calling my name.
"Took you a while, Daon."
"No way!"
A massive presence leaped toward me in response to my mutter, indignantly denying it.
Yoo Daon stood before me.
"I came right after you collapsed, for real?"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
My mental strength must be weaker than I thought.
I reflected inwardly a bit as I looked at her, and Yoo Daon, meeting my eyes, gave an awkward smile.
"W-Why are you looking at me like that...?"
"Well, it's just... surprising."
I'd expected her to appear as Butterfly's Dream or in her adult form, but here she was, perfectly normal Yoo Daon.
"What is?"
"I thought you'd show up as Butterfly's Dream, obviously."
"You're not seeing me as a monster, are you...?"
"Of course not."
I turned my gaze away from her pouting face.
"But how did you get in here?"
"Oh, because we're kin."
"...Pardon?"
"Well, kin in the past tense, technically."
Yoo Daon answered my mutter.
"Jaeheon. Um. My body clock is different from others'."
"I know."
"Huh?"
"When you regenerate, time rewinds for you, right?"
"H-How did you know?"
I'd seen it with my own eyes.
"Of course I know."
"Jaeheon...!"
Yoo Daon looked at me with moved eyes.
"Anyway, if you got in, you know the way out too, right?"
"Y-Yeah?"
"Then lead the way."
"O-Okay!"
Yoo Daon supported me,
[Jaeheon...]
[Jaeheon...]
As the monsters' voices continued echoing in my head.
"Oh yeah, where's Butterfly's mother?"
"Mother?"
"You know, the one that tried to turn me into a monster."
"Oh, that."
Yoo Daon nodded at my question.
"She's not here."
"She's not?"
"Yeah."
"..."
Something felt off.
I hid my uneasy feeling and followed behind Yoo Daon.
Getting out came first.
"But how do we get out?"
"L-Like how we got in?"
"And how did you get in?"
"Like thaaat..."
Yoo Daon trailed off at my question.
"Anyway, just follow me."
This felt like it wasn't going to work.
Yoo Daon led me this way and that.
Fortunately, the oppressive hive mind from before was gone, replaced by ones blankly calling my name—but it wasn't exactly pleasant.
The sources making those noises...
"Something wrong, Jaeheon?"
"No, nothing."
Yoo Daon looked back at me, and I hurriedly shook my head.
"We'll find the exit soon, so don't worry!"
"Yes. Take your time."
And so we kept searching for the exit with Yoo Daon.
Time passed,
"Hm, I thought it was here."
More time passed.
"Here. Nope."
More time passed.
"Ah, no..."
Time kept passing.
"..."
"I-It really feels like here."
Yoo Daon groped in the darkness and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Ah, nope..."
"...Do you maybe not know the way out?"
At my question, her eyes darted wildly before she slowly nodded.
"S-Seems like it."
"...That can happen."
Getting in and out are different, after all.
I opened my eyes and looked around.
Not that it helped in this bizarre darkness.
"I'll take a look."
In the end, finding the exit fell to me.
I wandered around with my eyes open, searching for the exit.
But the problem was, there wasn't even a trace of one.
"...Hmm."
After who knows how long, I had to admit even I couldn't find it and looked at Yoo Daon.
"Can't find it."
"Should we stay here a bit like you and Chaeyeon did?"
"Pardon? Suddenly?"
I didn't want to do that twice.
"I'm kidding."
Yoo Daon let out a small laugh, then clapped her hands with an "Ah!"
"Oh yeah, when I came in, I was thinking just one thing the whole time."
"Just one...?"
"You, Jaeheon."
"That much I figured without you saying."
The [Jaeheon...] ringing in my ears right now proved it.
"So maybe if we think of you on the way out, it'll work?"
"Pardon?"
What was this, the power of love repelling enemies?
As I stared at her in disbelief, Yoo Daon hurriedly waved her hands.
"But let's try it! Can't hurt, right?"
"...True enough."
If we couldn't get out anyway.
"Then... Jaeheon. Give me your hand."
"Sure."
I offered my hand, and she interlaced her fingers with mine.
"...Hup..."
Yoo Daon took a deep breath.
Like she was sniffing, she breathed in and out several times before her eyes snapped open.
"Found your scent, Jaeheon."
"Pardon?"
"This way."
Then she pulled me along, hand in hand.
She really had containment-object-level senses when it came to smells.
After walking some distance, Yoo Daon stopped.
"Here!"
She said confidently, but it was still just darkness.
"...Yes, Daon. I trust you."
My answer was set.
"Got it!"
Then, as Yoo Daon reached out and touched something,
"Ughhh!"
A sudden urge to vomit surged up, and I braced my hands on the ground, retching.
At the same time, something burst from my mouth.
"Kim Jaeheon!"
Ailin's voice rang out, and as her combat boot stomped something, the headache vanished.
"You're awake?"
"...Yes. What you just stepped on..."
"Larva."
Ailin answered, lifting her boot to reveal the larva's corpse stuck to the sole.
"...And Daon?"
"..."
At my question, Ailin pointed to my back.
Come to think of it, it felt heavy.
Turning, I saw Yoo Daon leaning against my back, eyes closed.
"I see. And the monster?"
"Gone."
Gone here too?
Something was really wrong.
My instincts blared alarms in my head, but there was nothing I could do now.
"Wake the two up first."
"Song Arin and Jang Chaeyeon?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"..."
I looked around.
"Let's get out first. For now."
We had to get out first. My instincts screamed it.