Chapter 315
Chapter 315
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: I'll Let You Meet
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I'm flustered.
I don't remember what I said, but everyone else is staring at me intently.
"So, who is that kid?"
Yoo Daon looks at me curiously, and the others are staring at me too.
...
Should I say it or not?
But even if I do, will they believe me?
There's a person inside the manual. And that person is actually my friend.
For starters, it's hard for anyone from the Management Bureau to accept what I'm saying as common sense, and even if they do believe me, that's still a problem.
If I say I ate a friend who lives inside the manual that everyone at the Bureau carries around, they'll start suspecting my background right away. And if rumors spread elsewhere, my life will get even more exhausting.
No, exhausting would be lucky. Probably a ton of other incidents would happen too.
"I must have been a bit worn out and talking nonsense."
In other words, I have no choice but to brush it off like it's nothing.
"Liar."
But the one who responded while looking at me like that was Jang Chaeyeon.
She stares at me intently and blinks.
"You're lying."
"Yes...?"
"You show it when you lie."
Me?
I look at the others with a bewildered expression, and Park Ye-eun shakes her head.
"I don't show it."
"Me."
"Me."
Yoo Daon and Song Arin nod at the same time.
"...Y-Yeah..."
Park Ye-eun responds awkwardly, tilting her head.
She looks completely clueless.
"Anyway, you're lying right now, so spill everything."
"Yeah."
"Right."
"Weren't we in the middle of our game?"
Why did a game suddenly turn into this conversation?
"That's not important right now."
Jang Chaeyeon declares confidently upon hearing me, and the other two nod too.
"Explain."
"No, do you really think I'm lying?"
"Yeah."
In front of Jang Chaeyeon's bold response, I can't dodge it anymore.
...
Do I really have to say it?
I slip my hand into my pocket for a moment and fiddle with the manual.
"Jaeheon."
As I'm pondering, Yoo Daon approaches and speaks to me in a gentle voice.
"I don't know what kind of worries you're having, Jaeheon, but it's okay."
"Yes?"
"No matter what it is, we can listen to it all."
She smiles faintly and glances back.
Song Arin huffs and looks away, while Jang Chaeyeon nods at me.
"So don't worry and tell us."
...
If you put it that way...
"...All right."
I sigh and pull the manual out from my pocket.
Four pairs of eyes turn to the manual, and Jang Chaeyeon looks at me.
"Why the manual?"
"Everyone... if I told you the manual is alive, would you believe me?"
"...We could."
Song Arin nods in response to my question.
"It's annoyingly irritating, and it always picks the most upsetting things to do."
She still seems to hold a grudge from when the manual possessed her during the Extremist Leader incident.
"Hmm, sometimes I think the manual might be alive too."
Yoo Daon places a finger on her cheek and responds.
"You know how it is sometimes. Like last time on the mountain when it wouldn't listen to Jaeheon."
"Ah."
"And not just that—it opens on its own sometimes too."
Jang Chaeyeon backs Yoo Daon up from behind.
Come to think of it, she never even tried to hide it.
"Yeah, well. Assuming you all have a rough idea, I'll explain. The manual is alive."
"I see."
"Yeah."
"I see..."
The three of them nod.
"And my old friend is inside it."
"...That's pretty wild."
"Wha...?"
"Is it a girl?"
Song Arin, Yoo Daon, and Jang Chaeyeon's reactions are all completely different.
"It's a long story, and I don't exactly know how it happened myself, but yeah, that's the gist."
The three exchange glances for a moment at my words.
In the meantime, Park Ye-eun lets out an "Ah" and claps her hands as she looks at me.
"No way, that cute kid we saw back then?"
"Cute kid?"
...
"Wow..."
The three look at me with baffled eyes.
"I don't know exactly what you're all imagining, but no, it's not that."
I hurriedly raise my hands to prove my innocence to the three of them, then slowly continue the explanation.
The manual that started moving on its own one day, and the person who came out of it. Not just any person, but my friend.
The three listening to me gradually grow more serious.
"So when we went to the mountain, the manual was sulking and—"
"Hold on."
As I'm talking, Song Arin raises her hand to cut me off.
"If we assume that's a living manual, then the ones we're carrying are the same thing?"
"Hmm..."
"Because nothing like that has ever happened to me."
"Well, that's because you're not her friend, Arin."
"No, that's not what I mean."
Song Arin shakes her head.
"I know all manuals issued by the Management Bureau use the same specs, and updates happen simultaneously."
"Yeah."
"So, is the one you're carrying like the main body for all the other manuals?"
"...Hmm..."
Song Arin's question gives me pause.
Because it's something I can't definitively answer.
Whether this manual is real or the core, there's no way to know.
"I've worked at the Management Bureau for quite a while now, and I've never once seen a manual move on its own. Though reading it on purpose did give me headaches."
Song Arin mutters, and Jang Chaeyeon, who was listening, nods too.
"And not only that—updating the manual isn't supposed to be that easy either, from what I've heard."
Song Arin stares at me intently.
"No wonder I thought you handled the manual and updates way too casually. So that's why."
...
"In a way, you're like the owner of one of the Management Bureau's most important containment objects."
"More like a friend than an owner."
"For now, you're the possessor."
Song Arin shakes her head, muttering that she doesn't really want to acknowledge the "friend" part.
"Anyway, this isn't something to go blabbing about."
"Yeah."
"If word gets out, Jaeheon might attract too much attention."
Who knew I'd live to see the day these three agree on something at the same time.
"Why the face?"
"No, just moved."
"What're you talking about."
Song Arin furrows her brow and mutters with her eyes closed.
"...Still, I won't erase the memory this time. Okay?"
"Ah, yeah. Sure."
I was the one who suggested telling them.
"Yeah. So, what is this friend to you?"
Song Arin stares at me intently, and Jang Chaeyeon and Yoo Daon look up at me too.
"Uh..."
"Someone precious?"
"Precious...? That's kinda vague."
"Vague how? Better than precious?"
"No, Arin, don't read too much into it."
She's just a friend from when I was young—what other feelings could there be?
"Well, just a close friend."
...
...
...
The three stare at me, and Park Ye-eun pokes my arm.
"Oppa."
"Yeah."
"Shall we keep playing the game?"
...
The mood doesn't feel right for gaming anymore.
It might even look like the three of them hate the manual.
"Anyway, she probably won't come out, so don't worry too much..."
"Worry about what."
Song Arin smirks at my words, and Yoo Daon smiles faintly along with her.
"I'd actually like to see her once."
"Yeah, me too."
Really?
I look at the three with a bewildered expression, but they just keep smiling without saying a word.
"Then let's end the game here..."
"You're stopping?"
As soon as I finish, Jang Chaeyeon stares at me intently.
"Uh, yeah..."
I glance at the whack-a-mole hammer, then slowly put it back in the box.
Fortunately, nothing happens.
"Shall we call it here?"
The mood has gotten weird anyway.
The three look at each other, and at that moment, Jang Chaeyeon slowly opens her mouth.
"Then lend me some time."
"Ah, sure. Not a big deal."
"I have something to say."
"What is it."
Actually, the one who asked was Song Arin.
She glares at Jang Chaeyeon with her arms crossed, and Jang Chaeyeon tilts her head back at her.
"You don't need to know."
"Hah, why? What are you planning?"
"You don't need to know."
"Hey, don't go. Why are you meeting someone who won't even tell you what it's about?"
"No, I just asked to borrow some time. Chaeyeon didn't invite me to her place."
"Yeah, not calling you to my place."
Jang Chaeyeon nods at my words, and Song Arin frustratedly thumps her own chest with her fist.
"Ah, seriously! Fine, don't tell me. But if anything happens when you go, I swear I won't let it slide."
"I don't know if anything will happen, but I'll be careful since you won't stay quiet, Arin."
I respond to Song Arin and look at Jang Chaeyeon, who nods.
"Yeah, follow me."
With that, she slowly heads out the door.
"Have a safe trip!"
Leaving Yoo Daon's bright farewell behind, I follow Jang Chaeyeon.
"But where are we going?"
"Follow me."
Jang Chaeyeon walks ahead without a word, and I keep following her.
"Actually, I heard from another me."
The Observer?
"Come to think of it, what happened to her?"
"That's what I'm telling you."
Jang Chaeyeon opens a door familiarly.
A sign I've seen before appears, and the moment an alarm rings in my head, Jang Chaeyeon closes the door.
-Clunk.
...
Jang Chaeyeon sits on the floor and stares at me intently.
"I'll let you meet."
She brushes back her hair as she looks at me.