Chapter 393
Chapter 393
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Words I Want to Say
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A brief silence fell.
Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin looked at Yoo Daon with expressions that said, *What should we do?*
I was probably wearing a similar look as I gazed at her.
Yoo Daon, receiving our stares, smiled softly.
"Thank you for your concern. But..."
She trailed off.
"...No. It's nothing."
She shook her head calmly as she spoke.
"I'm fine."
"...We don't know that yet."
Song Arin muttered in a trembling voice as she stepped into the set, and I followed her inside.
...
It was a splendid set.
I'm not sure if "splendid" is the right word, but the props were neat, and even the wallpaper was pristine.
"It's being maintained."
Jang Chaeyeon murmured, running her hand over the wallpaper.
Not a speck of dust.
"...I don't get it."
Song Arin muttered, her voice laced with anger and a hint of fear.
"...Why go to all this trouble?"
...
"Think about it. If they just wanted an immortal... no, anyway. If they wanted test subjects who moved however they pleased, this would be way too... inefficient."
She furrowed her brow as she muttered.
"The younger you are, the easier it is to brainwash them. Because if you instill good emotions early on, they get bound to those feelings."
...
"From age two to seven, the concept of criticism is vague. So if you treat them like easy-to-handle dolls from then on..."
"Arin, your voice."
"...That's easier."
Hearing me, Song Arin lowered her voice to a whisper, and I had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Let's think about it.
Like Song Arin said, was there any need to go through all this hassle?
Frankly, if they'd just taken Yoo Daon and raised her properly, they could've kept her hostile to the Management Bureau or made her do whatever else they wanted.
Why bother putting her in a hospital, and even infiltrating the Management Bureau with her... well, not exactly infiltrating.
Either way, this method felt off.
"Maybe they orchestrated this on purpose to sow division among us."
"...Could be. But thinking that far..."
"Then is your theory right now reasonable?"
...
Song Arin shut her mouth at my words, and Jang Chaeyeon glanced briefly at Yoo Daon before looking back at me.
"We should be careful."
"...Yeah. She might not be in her right mind."
Song Arin whispered to me as she eyed Yoo Daon, who wore a wry smile, and Jang Chaeyeon, standing beside me, looked at me with eyes full of worry.
"It doesn't matter."
I brushed off their concerns and spoke up.
"No, it does."
"...Hey, just in case..."
It wasn't "just in case."
"You two are misunderstanding."
I slowly looked at Song Arin and Jang Chaeyeon.
"Precisely, Daon’s condition doesn't matter much either way."
Even if Yoo Daon was crazy or out of her mind, I had no intention of doubting or abandoning her from the start.
"Now that we're here, I'm not going to suspect or distrust anyone. Or whatever."
I looked at them both again, one after the other.
"That goes for you two as well. I trust that even if I seem a bit off, you three won't abandon or suspect me."
"...You're special."
Jang Chaeyeon met my gaze, then looked slightly downward as she whispered, and when I glanced at Song Arin, she just stared back with a complicated expression.
"I don't want to treat anyone special. And I don't want to be treated special either."
I replied as I looked at Yoo Daon, who forced a smile upon meeting my eyes.
"Jaeheon, I, I understand fully—"
Ignoring Yoo Daon’s words, I strode toward her, and she slowly backed away.
"Daon."
"...Yes."
Yoo Daon murmured, lowering her gaze at my call, and I took a deep breath before speaking.
"They say the only one who can solve your own problems is yourself."
With every word I spoke, Yoo Daon’s gaze dropped lower.
"Y-Yeah... I guess it is me after all..."
"Please hear me out to the end."
"Ah, um. Yes..."
I cut off Yoo Daon and continued.
I had to say what needed saying.
"You don't see me as that kind of person, do you, Daon?"
"Yes?"
Yoo Daon stiffened slightly at my question, and I pressed on.
"Do I seem like someone who ignores others, doubts them, or rejects them to you?"
"...No, you're not. B-But you are cold, that's a fact."
"...You don't need to suddenly call me cold or say I'm lacking in humanity here."
"I never said you lack humanity..."
"Anyway!"
"Yes!"
As I raised my voice, Yoo Daon snapped to attention and looked at me.
"Betray me? Go ahead."
"No..."
"Sell info? Do it."
"I didn't..."
"Backstab Arin? Go for it."
"I'll kill you if you do."
"I said I won't!"
Yoo Daon frantically shook her head at Song Arin’s sharp words, and I continued.
"But in turn, any one of us could make a mistake or fail."
...
Yoo Daon looked at me.
"Forgive us generously then, too."
...
Yoo Daon glanced at the others, then back at me.
"That's what a team and family are. You screw up sometimes, and we cover for each other."
Yoo Daon said nothing.
"You get it, right? Don't worry about it."
...
Yoo Daon looked at me, and I smiled back at her.
"But you have to trust me and the others... precisely, the HR Team people."
...
After staring at me quietly, Yoo Daon smiled faintly.
"I will."
"Good. Now then."
I turned to face Song Arin and Jang Chaeyeon.
Both had their arms crossed, staring at me.
"What's with those looks?"
"What's wrong with my face?"
Song Arin, already furrowing her brow, furrowed it even more as she muttered at my question, and with a sigh, I continued.
"Escape is the goal, but we have another one now."
"...What?"
Jang Chaeyeon sighed as if she already knew the answer but asked anyway, and I spoke up.
"Let's find Daon’s parents and sort things out."
"...Fine."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded with a sigh, as if she'd expected it but had no choice, and Yoo Daon’s eyes widened as she stared at me.
"Ah, no, Jaeheon! You don't have to—"
"It's my choice."
I cut off Yoo Daon and looked at her.
"If you object, you can say no. Actually, we'll do whatever makes you comfortable, Daon."
...
Yoo Daon fell silent at my words, glanced at the other two,
"What are you looking at? Do what you want."
Song Arin avoided Yoo Daon’s gaze with her arms still crossed, and Jang Chaeyeon said nothing.
...
Finally, Yoo Daon looked back at me and slowly opened her mouth.
"I, um. Jaeheon..."
"We'll do whatever you want, Daon."
...
"Honestly..."
Yoo Daon opened and closed her mouth several times before looking at me.
"...I want to meet them once."
I nodded at her words, and Song Arin nodded too, eyes closed.
"Yeah, if it were me, I'd want to meet them and slap or bite them at least once."
"No, that's not the reason."
Yoo Daon shook her head with a small laugh.
"I do have words I want to say to them."
"What?"
At Song Arin’s question, Yoo Daon looked at her quietly and smiled.
"It's a secret."
"You're gonna tell that guy only again..."
"No. It's a secret from Jaeheon too."
Song Arin shut her mouth at Yoo Daon’s words, and Jang Chaeyeon spoke up next.
"Let's go."
Calmly, she took the lead, and after exchanging glances, the three of us followed.
There were many sets.
"Ah, this is the playground where I played with my parents. It was a set."
From a massive playground set,
"This is... a restaurant. We ate here often, but no wonder the meat taste never stuck in my memory."
To a family restaurant kids would love.
Yoo Daon murmured in a wistful voice as she looked around the sets, and every time she did, the three of us—excluding her—had no idea what to say, so we just kept quiet.
Speaking up here didn't seem like a good choice.
"...By the way."
Song Arin murmured, scanning the surroundings.
"Why aren't there any failures around?"
"Yeah."
I calmly agreed with Song Arin and looked around.
There were sets, but none of the test subjects or failures the manual warned about.
Then.
"...Huh?"
Yoo Daon, walking at the front, sniffed the air and looked around.
"Daon?"
"Uh, well..."
Yoo Daon looked at us with a puzzled expression.
"There's a really... familiar smell."
"A familiar smell?"
"How to describe it."
She trailed off.
"Like... home..."
The three of us exchanged glances, excluding Yoo Daon, and I spoke.
"Lead the way."
"...Yes."
Yoo Daon slowly started walking again, and we followed.
How long had we walked?
"...Hey, this smell..."
Song Arin muttered, pinching her nose, and Jang Chaeyeon frowned, blocking her own nose.
"...Corpse smell."
Jang Chaeyeon murmured, and I could tell too.
It was the stench of something rotting.
A lot of bodies.
Yoo Daon, either not noticing the smell or focused on something more important, kept leading us forward.
"Ah, here..."
Yoo Daon, who had been ahead, stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening slightly, and as we all followed behind her,
"...Urk..."
Song Arin clamped her mouth and dry-heaved, while Jang Chaeyeon looked at me with a troubled expression.
...
Before our eyes, countless human-like things were piled up like a mountain.
Some retained human shapes, but others were so grotesque they could hardly be called human, and above all.
"...No status windows."
Nothing appeared—no translucent panels.