Chapter 333
Chapter 333
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 333. Karma
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-Splash!
"How much longer do we have to get swept away like this!"
Jang Chaeyeon shouted unusually loudly, while Song Arin and Yoo Daon looked too busy just trying to steady themselves.
I turned my head to look at the others.
"Puha...!"
Eirin was floating in the water, her face deathly pale as she kept gasping for breath.
"Eirin!"
I hurriedly swam over and grabbed her.
"Haa...! I-I'm okay...!"
She clung to my arm, panting heavily, and in that instant, a scene flashed through my mind.
The time we were swept away by the river current at the church, me and Eirin, and her with her lost memories.
Maybe she was showing PTSD symptoms because of that memory.
In times like this, I needed to keep my head clear.
I gritted my teeth, grabbed Eirin's arm, and pulled her into my embrace.
"You're okay! I won't let go this time!"
Eirin shouted something amid the rushing water, but I couldn't make it out clearly. More importantly, my eyes were fixed on...
"Keep your promise!"
The animals shouting from far away.
Still, at this distance, it should be fine.
I hurriedly reached into my pocket to check if anything was missing, but...
"No hands."
Just as she said, I was short a hand.
One arm was holding Eirin tight, and the other was holding the Manual above my head.
"Is it waterproof by any chance?"
I looked at the Manual, but it wouldn't open.
Tch. I clicked my tongue and kept watching the animals rushing toward us as I let the current carry me.
The distance was closing fast.
According to the Manual, we absolutely couldn't let them get close. That had to be right.
Just in case.
"Chaeyeon!"
"Yeah!"
Jang Chaeyeon shouted back at my call.
"That thing from before, the iron ball bounce. Do it again!"
"Got it!"
She raised her hand after shouting, and the iron ball shot out from underwater, striking the forehead of one of the animals with a human head.
-Thunk!
With a cracking sound, its head snapped back, and it let out a grotesque scream.
"Good! Keep delaying them like that!"
Hearing me, Jang Chaeyeon kept flicking iron balls from time to time to hinder the animals' advance, while we continued to get swept along by the water.
How much time passed.
"We're here!"
At Song Arin's shout, I looked up and back to see the end of the river stretching out ahead.
"..."
And finally, a window like a picture frame.
Was it the same as before?
"Everyone, brace yourselves!"
I didn't know how each of them prepared themselves at my words, but the moment I finished speaking, we hurtled toward the frame at tremendous speed and crashed into it.
"Aaaah!"
The animals' cries echoed in our ears like a howl.
*
"Ow!"
"Kyaa!"
"Ugh...!"
"Ow, my goodness!"
"..."
With our individual screams, we tumbled messily onto the floor.
"Cough! Cough!"
Jang Chaeyeon spat out water, breaking the silence.
"...Are we out?"
At my mutter, Yoo Daon shook her head vigorously, looked around, and nodded with a bright voice.
"Yeah! Seems like it! Look over here!"
I looked where she pointed.
"..."
The frame was hanging on the wall.
I started reading the description attached to the frame.
[Do not trust promises. Oil painting, canvas, 20XX]
[Believing in something means completely surrendering yourself to it. There are those who hand themselves over to sweet promises and pay the price dearly here.]
"..."
After staring at the painting for a moment, I turned around.
Countless statues lined the area.
"...No way this is—"
"Seems like it."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded at my mutter.
"My sister's here."
"...She's here?"
"Yeah. I know she's here."
"How?"
"Feeling."
She answered my question with a matter-of-fact expression.
"..."
I wasn't sure if I should believe it, but Jang Chaeyeon had never spoken carelessly before.
"...That means two floors left."
"The main body of Aestheticism must be on the fourth or fifth floor."
Song Arin muttered nonchalantly as she wrung out her wet hair with both hands like squeezing a rag.
"Daon, if you smell anything suspicious, let us know."
"Yes!"
Yoo Daon nodded brightly in response, and only after we all somewhat dried our soaked clothes could we finally look around.
The corridor was filled with stone statues and sculptures.
"...Hoo."
Eirin seemed to have come to her senses, letting out a deep breath as she looked at me.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Sorry for worrying you."
Eirin muttered apologetically, lightly grabbing and releasing my sleeve, then began surveying the surroundings with the others.
"...Hmm."
Yoo Daon made a puzzled face, and our eyes turned to her.
"What is this?"
She reached out and pointed at something. Following her finger, there was a single statue standing oddly alone.
"...Hmm, just a statue."
"Just a statue?"
Yoo Daon tilted her head as she looked at it.
I followed her gaze and looked up at the statue.
It was a statue of a person.
A woman on her knees, diligently picking something up.
"Isn't it just a statue picking something up?"
"But this one's not human."
"Huh?"
What was she talking about.
I stared at Yoo Daon, and she went "Ah" and pulled my wrist, bringing me right up to the statue.
"Look closely, Jaeheon."
"Okay."
"See how the hand looks a bit off like this?"
"...Hmm."
"The bone structure of the hand is weird. Like it's intentionally twisted or something."
"Is it?"
"Yeah."
She nodded with full conviction, so I could only nod along with her words.
"Now look at the ear."
"Okay..."
"No earlobe."
"Hmm... yeah, it doesn't."
I could tell there was no earlobe. The ear was shaped differently, plain and simple.
"Beyond that, the skeletal structure, muscles, or body proportions all show differences from a normal person."
Yoo Daon muttered seriously as she kept examining the statue.
"...How do you know all this?"
"I'm from the medical field."
"They teach that in hospitals?"
"No. But like it or not, you see a lot of things."
"..."
I didn't pry further.
"What about the others?"
"Hang on..."
At my question, Yoo Daon trailed off and began inspecting the other statues.
"...Fascinating."
She muttered with furrowed brows.
"Why?"
"They're all the same. Each one has some part of the body that's off."
"Off how...?"
"Normal people wouldn't notice, but someone knowledgeable in medicine would see exactly what's wrong."
"..."
"It's like someone with extensive knowledge of human anatomy made them."
"Well, yeah, probably."
How many people had Aestheticism sacrificed? Naturally, it would have a ton of info on human anatomy.
But the question was,
"...Why?"
"..."
Eirin voiced my doubt in a grave tone.
"Why bother? What's the point of deliberately omitting human body parts in a way no ordinary person would notice just by looking?"
"Inferiority complex."
Jang Chaeyeon was the one who spoke.
"..."
And I had just thought the exact same thing.
"Seems intentional."
"Yeah."
"Aestheticism has a human head."
"..."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded.
As Aestheticism itself said, it liked humans.
But was that really liking them?
If you like something, you tend to imitate it. At the very least, adopt its culture or behaviors.
But there was an insurmountable wall between Aestheticism and humans. The wall of species.
I didn't know what species Aestheticism was, but anyone could tell it wasn't human.
"In my opinion, this is an expression of inferiority complex."
Of course, I couldn't say it was definite.
"But otherwise, there's no reason to carve these statues so meticulously yet leave them imperfect like this."
This took effort.
Not just sculpting as is, but deliberately using anatomical knowledge to insert flaws into the statues.
Then looking at them with a satisfied smile.
"...Pathetic."
Yoo Daon gave a wry smile after hearing my explanation.
At the same time, a translucent window appeared before my eyes.
[Your understanding of Aestheticism has increased.]
[Critical: 0->1]
"..."
I was right.
I stared at the translucent window for a moment before shifting my gaze back to the other statues.
"Alright. Let's stick together from here."
"So what exactly do we do?"
"First priority: secure an escape route."
We needed a way out if something happened.
"With that as top priority, next is destroying the masterpiece."
The masterpiece. Aestheticism's greatest creation—and Jang Chaeyeon's sister.
She had asked me for a favor, and for that poor soul's sake, we had to destroy it.
"Got it!"
"Yeah."
"Okay!"
"Got it."
The others nodded and voiced their understanding at my words.
"Alright. Then now—"
"...Found it?"
Before I could finish, Eirin's voice made us all whip our heads around.
"..."
Looking where Eirin pointed.
"..."
A familiar statue stood there.
[Name: Masterpiece]
[Age: Created a few months ago]
[Talent: Art]
[Specialty: -]
[Background: This ultimately became a magnificent work.]
[Weakness: -]
A statue—no, a mannequin—stood rigidly before us.
"...Sister."
Jang Chaeyeon muttered.