Chapter 307
Chapter 307
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Don't Lend an Ear
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-Flash!
With a loud pop, Park Ye-eun vanished from sight, camera in hand, leaving Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon staring at each other.
...
...
After a brief silence, Jang Chaeyeon spoke first.
"Good thing."
"Yeah."
Both of them gazed at the spot where she had disappeared.
It could have been dangerous, but the reason they had both told Park Ye-eun to take the camera was similar.
"This place looked more dangerous."
"Right."
Neither had reached the conclusion through rational judgment. They hadn't even considered it or had the capacity for it.
They had simply acted on instinct honed from surviving countless brushes with death.
"Should Ye-eun call in the support team?"
"They won't come even if she does."
Jang Chaeyeon shook her head in response to Yoo Daon's mutter.
"Short-staffed, and it's the expected outcome."
"You mean they anticipated getting captured?"
"She accepted the mission, so it's not like she got swept up unexpectedly. They probably have confidence they won't all be wiped out."
Yoo Daon let out a small sigh at Jang Chaeyeon's words.
"We can only hope Jaeheon handles it well."
"No, we have to help. You planning to just sit here and wait?"
Jang Chaeyeon stared straight at Yoo Daon, and Yoo Daon stared right back.
After a moment of silence, Yoo Daon nodded expressionlessly.
"...Right. Let's go."
"Yeah, let's move."
The silence was uncomfortable, but neither was the type to mind such situations.
Talking would have been more awkward.
They didn't dislike each other. But naturally, they weren't fond of each other either.
They were connected only through one mutual acquaintance, exchanging words only as needed, with no reason or desire to dig deeper into each other's lives.
There wasn't even a reason to be friendly, so meaningless chatter was unnecessary.
The two set off quietly.
Into the broadcasting station, now devoid of people.
*
Sounds reached my ears.
Not wails from the damned, but the relentless whir of a camera spinning like an auditory hallucination.
And mixed into that camera noise were people's screams.
I furrowed my brow slightly to focus on the screams, and in that instant, Song Arin blocked my ears with both hands from behind.
A warm sensation enveloped me as she leaned her body closer.
"Don't listen."
Song Arin muttered while covering my ears with her hands.
"Hearing dying people's words won't do your mind any good, and besides, there's nothing we can do."
"You're listening too, Arin."
Blocking ears with hands doesn't make the sounds disappear anyway.
"I've heard noises like this plenty of times, so I'm fine."
Song Arin nodded, feigning nonchalance.
A sigh escaped me naturally.
I peeled her hands away from my ears and turned to face her. She looked up at me, raising an eyebrow.
"What."
"Worry about yourself, Arin. Not me."
Why did everyone in HR worry more about others than themselves?
What if she got scammed out there acting like that?
"...I'm not worrying about just anyone, you know?"
Song Arin averted her gaze and grumbled.
"That's true. You're the most empathetic one among us."
"It's not that I'm empathetic—it's that you guys are too inhuman."
"What kind of talk is that?"
In a save-the-most-people contest, I'd lose to Song Arin...
People don't listen to me, but they do to her.
"Fine, let's leave it at that."
"Ugh, that feels off somehow."
Ignoring her mutter, I scanned our surroundings.
It was a corridor bathed in red lighting.
Unknown stains on the walls were dyed black by the crimson glow, and people's voices kept stabbing at my ears.
Hanging from the ceiling were countless video tapes.
I looked up at the tapes.
A translucent window popped up before my eyes.
[Name: Hero and Villain]
[Age: Created 3 months ago]
[Specialty: Regeneration]
[Talent: Regeneration]
[Background: A story of lovers who must kill each other. The man who killed his lover ultimately became a successful hero.]
[Weakness: It's a video tape. Burn it and it disappears.]
There were countless other tapes like it, all fully developed.
That they were fully developed was the problem.
These people either hadn't escaped before the tapes finished, or they died within the stories.
Should I burn them? The thought crossed my mind briefly, but I recalled something from the manual and decided to follow its advice.
If there's nothing you can do, don't force it.
Someday, an opportunity will arise where I can act. It won't be too late then.
"We've entered."
"Huh?"
As I muttered while checking the manual, Song Arin gave me a puzzled look.
"No, I was talking to the manual, not you, Arin."
"Seriously, get a mental eval after this incident is over."
Song Arin approached me with a straight face, muttering seriously. I turned my eyes from her back to the manual.
Should I just come clean? Tell her my old friend lives inside the manual without aging, sometimes popping out of the book or appearing in my dreams.
She might believe me, but somehow I had a feeling it'd just tire me out more, so I merely shrugged without a word.
-Flipflipflip!
Whether it read my mind or not, the manual flipped open rapidly.
[Office Manual - Shooting Preparation Area]
1. If you've arrived here without becoming staff, you must accept a certain level of risk.
2. Proceed down the corridor you're seeing. While walking, you will definitely experience hallucinations and auditory illusions. This is not a mental attack, so equip yourself with a sharp tool that can pierce or cut your body.
...
...
"Here it is."
Song Arin and I quickly looked around and picked up a nail scattered on the floor.
I checked for another, but there were no more in sight.
"I'll hold it."
"Why, you gonna stab me?"
"I thought about it, and you might hesitate, Arin."
"That hurts my pride. I can't hand over the chance to stab you and make you cry."
"Never mind."
I gripped the nail tightly.
Given Song Arin's personality, even if she stabbed me, she'd torment herself with guilt.
Better for me to bear that burden instead.
I turned to the next item.
[Office Manual]
3. As you walk, you'll see many rooms. The only ones you can enter are [Supply Room], [Video Room], [Emergency Treatment Room]. There are currently no known survivors from any other rooms.
4. Keep walking, but absolutely do not walk for more than one hour. If you walk over an hour and don't see the room you want, refer to [T - Suicide Methods].
"Arin, what the hell is this T item anyway?"
Can you even see it?
Song Arin shot me an incredulous look at my question.
"If I could see it, I'd be dead by now, right?"
"True. Let's go."
Song Arin and I started walking.
We had to find one of those three rooms within an hour somehow.
'Jaeheon!'
Yoo Daon's voice rang out suddenly. I instinctively looked back, and Song Arin smacked my shoulder with a sigh, the sound sharp.
"Hallucination."
"Sorry."
Hearing a familiar voice made it tougher.
Gripping the nail tightly amid my worry.
*
"Follow me."
Wiping cold sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, Heo Chan trailed after the man.
Had they escaped well?
He didn't want his subordinates coming to rescue him at the cost of their own safety.
It wasn't pride thinking he could escape fine without them.
It was the burden he carried.
With a sigh, he focused his mind.
He tuned into the subtle warning from his instinct.
As always, that's how he'd survive.
Nervously running a hand over his now-bald pate, he concentrated.
He couldn't just follow like this. Instinct told him that.
He couldn't run either. Instinct told him that too.
Follow and die, run and die. The two easiest options were out.
Should he have brought Kim Jaeheon? That guy could think and answer for him instead. Losing his external brain felt more stifling than expected.
As that thought crossed his mind, his instinct blared a sudden warning.
Stay standing like this, and die.
He hurriedly dropped into a prone position, and the man turned back to look at him.
"No, Team Leader. What the—"
-Bam!
Something massive struck him, sending the man flying into the wall.
"It's the Team Leader!"
"For real."
Two familiar voices reached the ears of the frog-like prone man.
He looked up ahead.
"Oof..."
A sturdy voice sounded, and swallowing his involuntary groan, he looked forward.
"Team Leader!"
...
Black hair and white hair swayed before him.
"Oof, kids—"
"Where's Jaeheon?"
"Did he get separated?"
...
Listening to his subordinates worry more about him than their prone boss, he suppressed his boiling sense of injustice and closed his eyes.
Escape.
Hair falls out.
Find exit.
Hair falls out.
Sacrifice.
Hair falls out.
What then, break through with force?
Hair doesn't fall out.
"...Kids."
He opened his eyes with a resolute expression, and Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon looked at him.
"C-can you... br-break it...? No, smash it for me...?"
In the end, he could only plead desperately with his much younger juniors.