Chapter 319
Chapter 319
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Preparation
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-Zzt zzt zzt!
The screen keeps shaking before finally stabilizing.
[It's coming through fine.]
The man nods at the words, then waves at the low-quality camera.
[Great! Let's get started!]
With that, the man mutters in an exaggerated tone as he starts looking around.
[This is the famous spot where paranormal activity happens. They say the mannequins come alive, and sometimes you hear a woman laughing.]
He leans down to peer into the camera.
[And that's not all. Do you know how much effort it took just to get in here?]
[It was tough.]
The voice of the person holding the camera lets out a sigh.
[There was barbed wire, and they even had guard dogs. If they went that far, even if it's not ghosts, there has to be something here.]
The man grins in satisfaction and starts walking forward, the camera following behind him.
[Huh, what's this?]
The man walking ahead stares blankly at the wall.
The camera pans to the wall, revealing text I'd seen many times before.
[Warning. This is an extremely dangerous place. Continuing further greatly increases your chance of death.]
1. This is your only chance to turn back. You won't be able to after this.
[Haha, they've got all kinds of stuff here.]
The man laughs and taps the wall before moving on, heading deeper inside.
The camera glitches with static, and the person holding it lets out an "Huh?"
[What's wrong?]
[Nothing. Let's go.]
Soon, the two resume walking, greeted by the sign of a pristine hotel.
[Inspiration Hotel]
[Inspiration Hotel. This is the place.]
The man mutters emotionally.
Then he strides forward.
[There's something here too.]
Another familiar sheet of paper appears on screen.
The survival manual that's always left behind after the response team visits.
The camera zooms in on the paper.
"...Huh...?"
Jang Chaeyeon, who had been quietly watching the footage up to that point, furrows her brow and makes an odd noise.
"What's wrong, Chaeyeon?"
"...Isn't that writing a bit weird?"
Writing?
"I can't see it."
On my screen, the quality is so poor that I can't make out any letters—just faint black lines.
[...One. Never look at the artwork.]
[...Two. Do not touch the mannequins.]
[What nonsense! Looks like someone's trying to scare us.]
With a hearty "Haha!", the man sets the paper aside, and Jang Chaeyeon, watching him, furrows her brow again.
"What's up?"
"Nothing."
She keeps watching the screen, brow furrowed.
[Alright, let's head in!]
The man makes machine-gun sounds with his mouth—"Du du du"—as he enters, the camera trailing behind.
Soon, a painting appears in front of the man.
It wasn't anything special, surprisingly.
Just a painting of flowers.
Red roses.
Did an aesthetic fanatic really paint something like this?
I narrow my eyes at the screen, wondering if something might pop out, but since it's video, nothing catches my eye.
<...>
Jang Chaeyeon furrows her brow again.
What exactly is she seeing?
[The painting's pretty. It feels like it was just pai...nted...?]
The man mutters while staring at the painting, then draws in a sharp breath.
[What's wrong?]
The camera operator asks curiously, and the man shakes his head.
[No, nothing. Let's go.]
The static grows thicker.
The video cuts out briefly, then resumes with the man looking around a room.
[This is Room 201, apparently. Weird...]
He glances around,
then spots something.
[Oho.]
A mannequin.
[Check this out. A mannequin.]
He taps the mannequin.
Nothing happens.
[See? Nothing happens—]
The video cuts out again.
[Gasp... gasp...!]
It resumes.
The man is running toward something.
[S-something's wrong! Help!]
He shouts at the camera.
The camera drops to the floor, and the man screams in terror.
-CRUNCH!
Something crunches, blood splatters on the camera lens.
Then the video ends.
"No nutritional value."
Song Arin mutters as she watches, but Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon stay silent.
<...>
<...>
The two of them stare at the screen with serious expressions.
"Did you see something?"
Honestly, I didn't see a thing.
I look at them both, and Yoo Daon speaks first.
"The camera shake was different."
"Huh?"
"Everyone has their own breathing rhythm."
Yoo Daon looks at me.
"Jaeheon, your breathing rhythm is different from Chaeyeon's."
"Sure."
Breathing varies from person to person.
"And when you breathe, the camera shakes a bit."
Since it's not a good camera, Yoo Daon adds as she continues.
"But the breathing was different."
"The breathing was different?"
"More like the rhythm was off. It felt like someone else was holding the camera."
<...>
Only someone with Yoo Daon's animal-like senses could pick up on that.
"What about you, Chaeyeon?"
"Did you see the painting?"
She mutters.
"Yeah."
Even though I didn't see anything.
"It moved."
<...>
I have no idea.
I stare at Jang Chaeyeon, and she replies firmly.
"It moved."
[...Got it.]
I look away from Jang Chaeyeon, lost in thought.
She's seeing things we can't—what does that have to do with the Observer?
[...What.]
I happen to glance at Song Arin, who speaks in a voice full of thorns.
"What, I didn't see anything either. What're you gonna say about it?"
"I'm not saying anything. I didn't see it either."
Did I?
Song Arin snorts at my words and smacks my arm.
"Yeah! You and me, we suck, we suck!"
"Yeah, whatever..."
I didn't even say anything. Why's she like this?
Anyway, I get why they sent that.
I clap my hands—clap—and the three look at me.
"Shall we prepare?"
"Not going right away?"
"This time it's a real raid."
We're heading into enemy territory to fight a containment object that even the Management Bureau warns about.
We need to prepare thoroughly.
"So, I'll go talk to the Branch Manager."
"For what?"
"What I can do."
Unfortunately, training or practice won't do much for me.
I'm mostly a combo finisher who lands the final blow with his eyes. What growth can I expect?
On the flip side, there are things only I can do.
"Gonna learn to fight from him?"
"Why would I fight?"
"Huh?"
Song Arin stares at me like I'm crazy at my question.
"We can just use people who fight better than me."
Just recruit the Branch Manager.
If we recruit more people, it might be winnable.
Probably.
*
Yoo Daon stands as the man leaves.
"Where are you going?"
"To practice."
She says only that and heads out the door.
Yoo Daon knew where the other two were headed.
Song Arin had started reeking of the Extremist Leader at some point, and Jang Chaeyeon was giving off the scent of that monster she'd seen.
Compared to them, Yoo Daon had no one to teach her.
There had been someone, but they weren't in their right mind.
<...>
What could she do?
One idea came to mind.
She heads to her own place.
Blending into the crowd, she arrives home and draws the curtains.
She closes the door and strips off her top.
All abilities grow with use.
Hers should be no different.
Yoo Daon closes her eyes and clenches her fist.
Time to forget the pain for a while.
*
"If I taught you this much and you can't learn it, that's on you."
"Don't bruise her pride like that."
Song Arin grinds her teeth at the Extremist Leader's words, shackled in restraints.
"First off, you've got the biggest problem."
"What."
"You know it too—we're decent against people, but we're useless in a real fight."
Song Arin shuts her mouth at the Extremist Leader's words.
She knew it all too well.
"If you can't use your abilities, trick them better."
"I know. You say that every—"
"I mean drop your pride."
The Extremist Leader stares straight at Song Arin, who closes her mouth.
"Admit it. That there are people better than you. And use that inferiority complex."
"What're you talking about."
"Once you admit you're worse than someone, you'll have something to learn."
The Extremist Leader furrows his brow slightly.
"But don't learn from that black-haired guy."
"I hate him too."
"Then copy that other man."
[...Again with the practice.]
Song Arin grumbles, closes her eyes, and the Extremist Leader impassively closes his too.
*
"Are you insane, Kim Jaeheon?"
"No. I'm perfectly sane. Just give me a moment of your time."
I speak to the Branch Manager, who stares at me in disbelief.
"Next week, Inspiration Hotel. All you need to bring is yourself."
[...Can you really catch it?]
The Branch Manager stares at me intently.
<...>
The manuals make me think a lot.
The guy who wrote them down might be better than he thinks.
He jotted down all sorts of bizarre stuff and even fought.
He wrote about things even the current him couldn't handle alone.
But that doesn't mean I think I'm weaker than them.
"If it was just me, no."
I've got people now.
"But with us, I think we can do it."
I stare at the Branch Manager, who lets out a deep sigh.
I could guess his answer without hearing it.