Chapter 310
Chapter 310
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Accounting Team
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It had finally come.
There was no other way to put it.
This wasn't the first time I'd seen this entry. No, in fact, it felt like the very day I started properly working at the Management Bureau, I'd laid eyes on it.
I'd been curious enough to try unfolding it several times, but the T clause was either blank from the start or the manual would flip to some other page no matter how hard I tried.
In other words, it couldn't be viewed under normal circumstances—and if you did see it, you'd probably die or suffer something equivalent.
...
For a split second, I hesitated.
Should I just ignore it and fight?
Could I accept death just like that?
If not, should I at least send Song Arin away—
The moment that thought crossed my mind, something heavy slammed into me, shoving my body back.
"Urk...!"
"Get it together!"
Song Arin had rammed into my side and was now yelling desperately as she grabbed my arm and yanked.
"We have to go!"
The instant she pulled my arm,
-creeeak...
The door behind us swung open, and something emerged.
At the same time, Song Arin—who had seen the monster alongside me—drew in a massive gasp.
"Huh, guh...!"
She clutched her throat as if she couldn't breathe, inhaling and exhaling raggedly several times.
My gaze naturally shifted to what lurked behind the door.
"Damn it."
Instant regret.
I shouldn't have looked.
A single person's body contained several people.
Abnormally so.
But it wasn't a pile of corpses, either.
Where the soles of feet should have been—meant to support the body—hands were attached instead. Conversely, where the head ought to be, another hand protruded, with eyes embedded atop it in a grotesque arrangement.
And that wasn't all.
Where the torso should have been, two legs teetered precariously, propping up a neck—while what should have been the lower body was a full torso, rolling forward across the floor toward us as if crawling.
-thud...! Thud...!
Each time its trembling palms slapped the ground, its body wobbled unsteadily.
I stared at it blankly, and it stared back at me with the eyes on its palms.
How could I even describe it? This wasn't some entity ignorant of humans clumsily imitating one.
Quite the opposite.
This was the work of something that knew humans all too well.
It knew us so intimately that it deliberately assembled us in unnatural ways purely to evoke disgust.
Pure malice.
At the same moment, a translucent window popped up.
[Name: It]
[Age: X]
[Specialty: X]
[Talent: X]
[Background: Made from a single pure emotion, it knows exactly what it must do best.]
[Weakness: There is no way to defeat it within the video.]
...
No helping it.
I had to think.
Use Critical to kill it.
Then—
Before I could finish the thought, someone grabbed my hand and started running in the opposite direction.
"What are you spacing out for! Run!"
Song Arin gripped my hand tight and shouted in a frantic voice.
At the same time, it began pursuing us.
-Bang!
Song Arin kicked the door open and bolted out, and I followed right behind her.
Right. Think while we run for now.
I couldn't just die like this.
Even if I had to go down, I'd do everything I could first.
"Th-think fast! How do we kill that thing!"
"I'm thinking!"
Unlike Song Arin, I glanced back while running.
-thud... thud...
It was following us at a steady pace, maintaining the exact same distance as before.
The exact same distance?
...
A ominous premonition flashed through my mind, but I didn't voice it.
I just kept running, turning my thoughts over as I went.
What was this place?
A video.
So how do you escape a video?
What was the purpose behind creating this video in the first place?
Aestheticism? Or maybe a new group? A church?
What were they trying to achieve by killing people?
The problem was, questions kept piling up without a single answer in sight.
I threw every bizarre idea I could muster into my head, but no translucent windows appeared—as if they were all wrong.
"It's still behind us...!"
Song Arin panted heavily as she ran, shouting out.
I turned and looked.
Maintaining the same distance as before, it advanced grotesquely on its palms, pursuing us.
...
I turned forward again.
No telling when this hallway would end.
"Let's at least make it to a fork in the path."
"What? Did you think of something?"
"Yeah, sort of."
"Alright, if you're pinpointing a fork, there must be a reason."
Relieved, Song Arin let out a sigh and ran on with a slightly lighter expression.
How long had we been running?
I checked the distance again.
Still creeping along slowly, neither closing nor widening the gap—it followed us relentlessly.
The eyes on the palms stared right at me.
And unfortunately, none of my hypotheses earned validation from the translucent windows.
"W-we're here...!"
Song Arin gasped, looking at me.
"Wh-what now...?"
...
This time, I had a reason not to say it.
She wouldn't listen anyway.
"Press your back against the wall."
"...I-I trust you."
Song Arin backed up to the wall, and I did the same, facing it.
...
...
Song Arin breathed raggedly, steadying herself, as it slowly approached.
-thud... thud...
As if nothing had happened, it drew near unsteadily on its two palms—slowly.
My hunch had been right after all.
...
"It was toying with us from the start."
"...What?"
"Did you notice? It never once closed or widened the distance between us."
From the moment it followed us through the door—aside from right now—it had kept the exact same gap.
"That means it doesn't see us as much of a threat."
...
Song Arin furrowed her brow at my words and glared at it. Its body twitched and collapsed.
...
"That's a human."
"Yeah. The parts it's made of are human, at least. Will hypnosis work?"
"It... sort of does."
She muttered as if surprised.
"Wait..."
Then, as she scowled again, the fallen thing flailed its legs and toppled into the air.
"See! It's working properly!"
"It's really working?"
What? Had Song Arin actually pulled it off?
As I stared at her and she beamed back triumphantly,
-grrr...
A grotesque noise emanated as it rose back up.
"...Huh?"
Song Arin blinked in confusion.
"Huh, what? It was definitely working just now...?"
...
"Probably... because it's human but not human."
"What nonsense is that...!"
Song Arin stomped her feet.
But I got the gist.
Its background had said as much from the start.
In other words, it was human—but it didn't move of its own will.
Its eyes pierced right through me.
It had never once looked at Song Arin.
Only me.
Suppressing a natural sigh, I looked at her.
...
"Song Arin, check the manual and find the exit."
"Wait, let me try again—"
"Song Arin."
She froze and met my eyes.
"Having you here right now won't help."
Of course, anyone else might not have made much difference either.
Still, they could've bought some physical buffer.
...
"So go—"
...
"Should I fetch Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon?"
Song Arin murmured flatly.
"Yeah."
She'd suddenly named them.
Song Arin stared hard at me, then bit her lip.
"Got it."
"Yeah, I'll buy us time."
...
"Don't you dare die, no matter what."
"Yeah."
With that, she darted left.
...
I drew my gun to stop it from lunging at her if needed, but it never even glanced her way—eyes fixed solely on me.
"Good."
Confirming she'd gone, I turned and started running again.
-thud...! Thud...!
Listening to the slapping of its hands on the floor, I sank into thought.
I'd known the endgame anyway.
Why urge suicide in the first place?
Usually one of two reasons.
Either dying is better, or you mustn't be killed.
Either way, it was the last choice: end it on your own terms.
And why had the manual shown it to me?
To let me rest and pass the baton to the next me?
That could be it.
But it didn't feel right.
...
-Shrrrip!
I flipped open the manual.
No particular reason.
Just that the kid's words to me resurfaced.
Whenever I did something dangerous, they'd tear up, scold me—that child wouldn't abandon me so easily.
And above all.
[Employee Manual]
[T - Suicide Methods]
1. Seeing this entry means you've judged that, whatever the threat, death is preferable.
2. Look at the illustration below. It will lead to immediate death.
...
What the hell?
The moment I thought that,
The illustration blurred and faded away.
...
Soon, a new entry appeared in the manual.
[Employee Manual]
[T - ]
3. For success, transcendence, pioneering—I leave you my vast experiences, knowledge, and heart.
4. This time, you will succeed.
5. 3.
...
What?
At the same time, the manual glowed, and the page flipped open.
[Employee Manual - The Doll That Scratches Its Belly - Accounting Team Kim Jaeheon's Record]
The page floated into the air, crumbling to dust,
[You have realized information about the Doll That Scratches Its Belly.]
[Critical: 0->1]
A translucent window appeared.