Chapter 342
Chapter 342
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 342. Faith
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To be honest.
Ordinary people seem to develop unexpected courage after experiencing death once or twice—about as many times as they'd get a stomachache.
When was my first death? Was it during the first act with Song Arin and the theater troupe?
Was that the only one? I died on the cruise ship too, and fighting that regressor.
Anyway, I've died a lot.
Maybe that's why it wasn't as bad as I thought.
"Kehok!"
To be honest, these are just words I'm telling myself to forget the pain in my throat right now.
I squat down first and use a twig to scratch out the things I need to do again on the ground.
Final goal.
Find and destroy the main body of Aestheticism, or something equivalent.
Failure condition.
Death? Or failing to find it?
Death is definitely a failure condition...
As I'm muttering to myself and scratching the ground with the twig,
-Shrrrk!
The Manual unfolds.
A blank page appears.
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
Does it mean my head is as empty as this page?
I can't tolerate that kind of personality insult.
-Shrrrk!
As if telling me to cut the nonsense, the Manual's pages turn, and a pen rolls down.
A beautiful ink-black pen.
Then the Manual flips to another page.
[Office Manual]
1. The Manual is, first of all, paper.
2. This means it doesn't have waterproofing except when necessary, but it also means you can write something on the pages.
It's telling me to write on it?
"Won't this leave a record?"
It would feel weird if my bizarre deductions got left for future Kim Jaeheon.
But you can't ignore a friend's goodwill.
In the end, I pick up the pen and start writing my deductions in the Manual.
It wasn't hard to reach a conclusion.
I figured I'd have to clash with it to find out.
Let's go.
I head home, Manual in hand.
[Ahaha!]
[Hahaha!]
The children's laughter still echoes.
That huge figure is probably on this floor again.
...
I slowly open the door and step inside.
This time, I enter more cautiously.
It noticed me and Jang Chaeyeon coming in before.
So, make it seem like I never entered at all, as cleanly as possible...
I erase my footprints and carefully close the door.
Then I take off my shoes and walk inside without leaving tracks.
Just like before, the children don't even glance at me as they laugh.
-Shrrrk!
The Manual unfolds again.
Is there something I don't know?
[Office Manual]
[Laughing Children - Containment Team Hyun Woowon's Record]
1. The Laughing Children are a Containment Object discovered in a remote European village, taking the form of children's heads placed on chairs. Due to the European branch's strong insistence, it was stored at the Gangseo branch.
2. The object shows no special behavior and simply repeats laughing while placed on the chair.
3. The object's laughter continues nonstop and has never once stopped.
4. Those exposed to the laughter show no physical or mental abnormalities, confirmed as ordinary laughter.
5. All attempts to remove the heads from the chair have failed, and no physical force can detach the children's heads from the chair.
"Why show me this now?"
I flick the Manual's cover and read the entry.
It matches exactly what I'm seeing now with the laughing heads.
But there's one difference.
When that monster came down earlier, it easily picked up one of the children's heads and stuck it on the mannequin.
It didn't even seem to strain.
And...
[Ahaha!]
[Hahaha!]
I turn my gaze back to the laughing children.
There was a time when these children weren't laughing.
That was exactly...
-Ssssh... Ssssh...
Right. When this sound happens.
Something's coming down from the upper floor,
<...>
I didn't see it clearly before, but the children look at each other with terrified expressions.
It's coming down.
There's only one place to hide anyway.
I head to the kitchen, where the headless mannequin is blankly chopping the cutting board just like before.
-Thunk thunk thunk...
The sound of it striking the wooden cutting board echoes, and the children fall silent.
So, I only have one option too.
I crawl under the dining table and hide again.
...
-Ssssh... Ssssh...
Something dragging along as it comes down.
This time too, it stops in front of the children, picks something up, and places it on the mannequin's head just like before.
"...Auuugh..."
And the mannequin groans again.
<...>
<...>
The children's silence continues, and the sound of the door opening and closing rings out.
Is it gone?
It didn't leave last time either.
Maybe it knew I and Jang Chaeyeon had entered from that point.
I hurriedly pull out the Manual and start jotting down the key points.
[Children -> Stop laughing when someone comes down from above. In other words, if they start laughing again, it's gone far away.]
When the monster on this floor came down, the children stopped laughing.
Meaning, the children are like my final safety beacon.
If the children are laughing, it's safe. If not, it's dangerous.
[Ahaha!]
[Hahaha!]
And the children laugh again.
Good.
I slowly emerge from under the table and look at the mannequin.
I didn't examine it properly last time because I rushed up to this floor.
"...Auuugh..."
It still doesn't seem capable of conversation, and no translucent window appears, but this time, let's try something.
"Excuse me."
"Uuh..."
"Can you hear me?"
"Uuuuh..."
It hears me but doesn't recognize me, or it just keeps shaking its head and groaning.
More precisely, it was the child's head on the mannequin's body.
"Excuse me."
"Uuh..."
No communication, huh.
Just in case, I look around, grab its cheeks, and lift to pull off the head.
"Aaaah!! Oof!"
It screams in pain, so I hurriedly stuff the Manual I was holding into its mouth.
"Shh."
If we're caught, I die too.
I check that it's properly biting the Manual, then inspect the body.
What's the difference from Aestheticism?
...
Texture...
I reach out and touch the mannequin's wrist area.
I've never touched Aestheticism's body, so I don't know.
But its movements seem less smooth than Aestheticism's.
Aestheticism moved like a human.
Compared to that, this feels stiffer.
...Oof!
No clue.
I remove the Manual from its mouth and look up.
Right. There's only one place to go in the end.
-Kreeeak...
I slowly start climbing the stairs again.
...
Same design as before.
A bed that seems made for something bigger than human, and an easel.
The painting on the easel depicts what I assume is Aestheticism.
I destroyed this painting last time and died.
So, destroying this painting is the wrong answer.
What should I look for then?
Feeling like a dwarf in a giant's land, I sweat bullets searching for objects.
Something with Aestheticism's mark, or at least a clue related to it...
...
There were too many.
Art supplies, memos in unknown languages, even documents on placing human heads on mannequins.
Nothing wasn't suspicious.
...
I open a notebook.
Just like the painting I saw, sketches of human heads on mannequins, and scribbles in an unknown language.
A thought strikes me.
Theater troupes or Butterfly's Dream might have simpler origins than I think.
Butterfly's Dream was ultimately a giant butterfly in the Han River.
The theater troupe was something the troupe leader created.
Compared to that, Aestheticism...
...
Has no origin.
Where did it come from?
What is it?
And who made it?
Art is created.
Natural art is just called a spectacle, not art.
So Aestheticism—
A shadow falls over my head.
"...Damn it."
A giant hand covers me.
Come to think of it, how did I die the first time?
Even as the hand approaches my head, I don't stop thinking.
The painting tears, the children laugh, footsteps approach.
"...Footsteps."
Right.
When this thing goes down, there's no footstep sound.
Just ssssh, dragging something.
So then—
The moment I finish the thought.
-Kwachik!
Agonizing pain hits.
*
"Aaaagh!"
My head feels like it's splitting.
"Agh, ugh...!"
As I groan clutching my head, something soft wraps around me and whispers.
"...It's okay."
A voice low on emotion but full of worry.
"Ugh..."
"It's okay."
-Thump... Thump...
I hear a heartbeat.
Not mine.
Jang Chaeyeon has pulled my head into her embrace, whispering to me.
"It's okay. It's okay... Don't worry."
Like soothing a child, she murmurs and strokes my head,
"...Hoo..."
I catch my breath.
"...I failed, huh."
"...I got too reckless."
The pain lingers, but I open my eyes and look at Jang Chaeyeon.
She's draped my coat over her shoulders, looking down at me.
From a distance where our breaths mingle, she shakes her head.
"No. You must have learned something for sure."
...
"Let's try again."
She looks me straight in the eye.
"I'll go with you."