Chapter 345
Chapter 345
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Art and Art
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Fortunately, Yoo Daon, Song Arin, and Ailin quickly came back to their senses.
"I've thought from the moment I saw that thing that nothing good would come of it."
"But Jaeheon saved us, right?"
"...Sigh."
Their reactions varied, but in any case, the situation was finally starting to turn in our favor.
The three of them regained their stances.
"But how exactly did you do it?"
"I smashed the main body."
"You're talking about smashing Aestheticism's main body like it's no big deal?"
Song Arin muttered in disbelief, while Yoo Daon tapped her own head with her fist.
"But it's great that no weird thoughts are creeping in anymore!"
"Good. Then let's fight again."
As I said that,
-Crash!
With the sound of something crumbling, the Branch Chief and Aestheticism tumbled across the floor.
The Branch Chief, even more bloodied than before, gritted his teeth, and Aestheticism smiled as she watched him.
"It's tough, huh?"
"It's just like catching up on overdue homework. Can't be helped."
The Branch Chief spat blood onto the floor with a "Ptoo!" at Aestheticism's words, then looked at me and Jang Chaeyeon and smiled.
"Did good?"
"Ah, yes. We did well."
"Looks like it."
The Branch Chief smiled as he gazed at Aestheticism, who stared straight at me.
"Found you."
She murmured, and the Branch Chief waved his hand with a laugh.
"Wow, you're the first one to make it this far."
Aestheticism, watching that scene, murmured in genuine surprise and clapped her hands.
There was no fear or anger on her face.
Just pure astonishment and joy.
"..."
I looked at Aestheticism, and she smiled faintly.
"Isn't it cool?"
"What?"
"You surpassing me, your parent."
She kept smiling as she looked at me.
"Children are meant to surpass their parents, after all."
"I've never had parents like you."
At my mutter, Aestheticism shook her head.
"Of course. But I created your essence, didn't I?"
"What are you talking about?"
I had no idea what she was saying.
I looked at her with a puzzled expression, and she nodded.
"Your goal."
"..."
"Every living being has a goal."
She looked at me.
"What's your goal?"
"..."
"Watching you made me think a lot."
The Branch Chief charged at her with a clenched fist, and she blocked his attack with one hand while still looking at me.
"For a straightforward example, in Okbuni's case here, it's responsibility. Responsibility for what he's seen and what he's been through."
"I've told you not to call me by that name how many times-"
The Branch Chief muttered through gritted teeth, but Aestheticism continued without a care.
"But you're different."
"..."
"You have no goal."
She stated it definitively.
"You're just always responding to the situations given to you. The funny thing is, despite that, your thoughts are never like an ordinary person's."
If anything, they're closer to those of an ascetic. She muttered as she looked at me.
"Do you remember what I said?"
"What?"
"Come on. You're so cold to me after all we've been through."
She stuck out her tongue, and a small doll slick with saliva emerged.
"This saved your life."
"..."
Aestheticism's Doll.
My Joker card against the Regressor. And the words I'd heard when I used it.
'That gaze.'
'The gaze that, knowing full well it couldn't even protect its own life with its paltry power, desperately sought the right answer without losing hope. I love that.'
"I owe you big time back then."
"Oh my. I saved your life once, so we should settle accounts, right?"
"In that process, you don't feel any injustice or anger toward the sacrifices and devotion happening, nor do you feel fear."
"What does that-"
"I was curious about that."
She cut me off and looked at me.
The Branch Chief swung his fist again,
-Crack!
And with the sound of something breaking from its arm, pieces of Aestheticism's mannequin began to fall away.
"What's your goal?"
"..."
"Why go through all this? You have no goal, yet you act like someone with tremendous conviction."
"..."
"Is someone making you? Or do you have some conviction even you don't know about?"
Her gaze shifted to my chest.
Where the Manual was.
"But you don't seem led by some grand conviction either, and you have no goal for that. So I got curious."
"About what."
"Whether I could give you a goal."
"How could you give me one?"
Aestheticism and I weren't friends—we were enemies.
"What are you talking about."
She licked her lips and smiled.
"You want to kill me. You get angry seeing me."
"..."
"That's why you came here. And why you're trying to kill me."
My brow furrowed involuntarily, and Jang Chaeyeon beside me stepped forward with a hardened expression.
"Is that why you've tormented this person like this?"
"What do you mean 'that reason'? It might seem trivial to you, but I think it's important."
Aestheticism replied to Jang Chaeyeon with a nonchalant expression.
"It sounds impossible, but you're like a finished gemstone."
"..."
"You have no purpose, yet every action you take is filled with conviction. When you save someone, you give it your all, but there's no separate reason for it."
"Kim Jaeheon, don't listen to her too much."
-Crush!
The Branch Chief muttered as he threw a punch, and at the same time, the last remaining arm of Aestheticism shattered into fragments.
"You shouldn't take a Containment Object's words at face value."
"We're in the middle of creating my final masterpiece here."
At the Branch Chief's words, Aestheticism smiled and swung her leg.
The Branch Chief was kicked away and slammed into the far wall, and just as Yoo Daon leaped forward to take his place, she too was kicked flying far away.
"Then what about Chaeyeon's sister..."
"That's my masterpiece now. Wasn't it beautiful?"
Aestheticism smiled, and flames of rage ignited in Jang Chaeyeon's eyes.
Jang Chaeyeon let out an enraged scream and thrust her hand forward. With a deafening boom, Aestheticism dropped to one knee, yet she looked at me without erasing her smile.
"That was my external masterpiece. Its end wasn't beautiful enough for a masterpiece, but since I made it, only I can love it."
She stared at me intently.
"But why do you hate me?"
"Because what you do torments others."
"But that doesn't torment you, does it?"
Aestheticism smiled.
One might question that.
If it were Aestheticism.
"Yeah."
-Shrrk!
I pulled out the Manual, and the others gathered beside me.
"You're right. To me, those people might as well be total strangers."
No, it'd be weirder if we had met before.
"But that doesn't mean I'll stand by and watch you harm others."
[Employee Manual]
[Aestheticism - HR Team Kim Jaeheon's Record]
Even though I said nothing, as if reading my mind, the Manual flipped open and began writing on its own.
1. This entity is an object with a human head attached to a mannequin body.
2. It can be destroyed with physical force, but it has no meaning, as it will soon find a new body.
3. To destroy the main body, find an object related to Aestheticism and destroy that object.
I'd felt frustrated with myself before too.
If others went through what I did, they'd probably quit the Management Bureau.
Even just the Butterfly's Dream incident would've made me quit in despair.
But I didn't.
More precisely, the thought never crossed my mind.
-Shrrk!
The Manual was still writing on its own.
4. This entity's goal is to create the perfect artwork. The artworks are limited to humans, and their artistic value changes according to Aestheticism's whims.
5. When a perfect artwork is confirmed, Aestheticism undergoes <Censored>.
I recalled the scenes I'd witnessed back then.
Countless people died, and Yoo Daon and I were among the rare survivors who climbed over mountains of corpses.
That's not all. Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin were people who should've died—or faced something even worse.
"Some people can live with a goal."
Having a life goal is important. One could think that.
Just because I aim to become a millionaire doesn't make me one.
My goal is still nothing special.
Just live comfortably and happily.
Of course, in my current state, I'm still flailing about, unable to find a way to counter the impending doom.
"But a goal doesn't define a person."
"Oh."
Aestheticism's smile deepened as she heard me.
"It's the path they've walked."
"..."
What defines and leads me is me, but what judges me is not.
The paths I've walked judge me.
And fortunately.
The others stood silently behind me.
Fortunately, there were others who could judge me in my place.
Yoo Daon smiled and stood to my right, Jang Chaeyeon grabbed my wrist.
And Song Arin let out a long sigh as she stood behind me.
Aestheticism nodded at my words.
"I must've had no eye for materials."
"..."
Aestheticism sighed deeply.
[Your understanding of Aestheticism increases.]
[Critical: 0->2]
"I thought you were a raw gem, but you're an artist."
It bowed at the waist.
"Still, I'm glad to meet a fellow artist after so long."
Then Aestheticism smiled at me.
"But I'm proud, and the world only needs one artist: me."
"I don't have pride in that area."
I drew my gun and aimed at Aestheticism.
"I think artists like you shouldn't exist."