Chapter 401
Chapter 401
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 401. The Spring
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I quietly watch Yoo Daon's parents.
Even in a situation like this, their faces show anger rather than bewilderment or fear.
Do they have something they're counting on?
As long as they don't die, if we just restrain them...
But how are we supposed to restrain them?
"Chaeyeon."
"Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon nods at my words, reaches out her hand, and the two of them are suddenly fixed in midair, as if bound by something invisible.
The two stare blankly at Jang Chaeyeon for a moment, then let out an "ah" and gaze at her with what looks like curiosity.
"This kid's peculiar too."
"Yeah, it's like her thought process or mental state is a bit beyond human."
They mutter in calm voices as they look at Jang Chaeyeon.
They're talking like observers...
Jang Chaeyeon glares at them unpleasantly after hearing that, and Song Arin mutters irritably too.
"It's a relief they didn't say anything about me, but it still pisses me off."
"Do you want to be special?"
"I like Arin the way she is!"
"Your words piss me off too."
Yoo Daon laughs happily at her words.
"Jaeheon will tell us a good way, so it's fine!"
"..."
Can't we just take them like this?
I think that while watching the two of them, but suddenly,
-Splosh!
They melt away like liquid and then reform.
"...You can't catch us that easily."
The two giggle.
At the same time, monsters burst out again.
Surprisingly, they all bore my name.
How much effort did they put into copying me?
I think that as the monsters charge at us, and I draw my gun.
"I'll think of something."
-Bang!
I pull the trigger in response and shoot at the two of them. Jang Chaeyeon attacks them.
"We're!"
"Arin, check if mental attacks or brainwashing work on her. Daon, help me hold off the monsters!"
"Got it!"
"Okay!"
Song Arin stands next to Jang Chaeyeon and closes her eyes. Yoo Daon steps in front of me and grips an awl.
"Besides."
She mutters calmly as she grips the awl.
"I've been a little pissed off anyway."
"Huh?"
"They don't look anything like you, don't talk like you, and haven't shown any abilities."
"..."
One monster lunges at her just like that, and Yoo Daon grips the awl in reverse and slams it down.
Crunch! The awl pierces the monster's neck,
"...Hyah!"
-Krrrrunch!
Yoo Daon yells and swings her hand, tearing the monster's neck open. Blood flows as it collapses to the floor.
"It pisses me off that they call themselves you."
She mutters as she inhales.
"..."
I watch her do that and raise my gun.
"You're not the type to get angry easily, Daon, so to keep it that way, we should wrap this up quickly."
"Ahaha!"
Yoo Daon laughs happily and shakes her head.
"I'm so happy and having fun with this situation right now... it's fine."
"I don't want to drag this out."
I'm not an expert at this stuff. Even if others say it's fine, if it's not me, it's not fine.
Yoo Daon laughs happily at my response and nods.
"Okay, I'll go with that!"
She says that and raises her awl.
"Once this is over, I have a lot I want to say to you too, Jaeheon!"
*
"Agh! It works, but something's off!"
Song Arin grinds her teeth and mutters. Jang Chaeyeon sighs in response.
"Yeah, it works, but not really."
Jang Chaeyeon stares at the two in front of her, lost in thought.
How should she explain it?
It feels like handling rubber that won't tear no matter what.
No matter how much you stretch and rip it, it snaps right back to where it was.
Song Arin feels the same.
Her mental attacks land, but they wear off quickly.
It's like if she hit the black-haired one with a mental attack, and it immediately suicides on the spot to reset—exactly that kind of feeling.
"...This won't work like this."
Song Arin mutters calmly as she looks at the two.
"I hate to admit it, but the two of us can't do it right now."
"Would it be different if the Ringmaster was here?"
"Sorry, but even if you brought the monster hiding in you, it wouldn't help."
Song Arin mutters irritably in response to Jang Chaeyeon's musing.
The others are helping like that, so why isn't the Ringmaster helping at all?
"Is there some way?"
"...Try catching them."
Song Arin looks at Jang Chaeyeon at her words, and Jang Chaeyeon continues.
"You know, spit out your threads and grab them."
"You see me as a spider or something?"
Song Arin grumbles and extends threads like she's manipulating a puppet's strings to grab the two of them. Their bodies stiffen as if caught again, then dissolve into liquid and break free.
"It doesn't work!"
"No, it means they're normal humans who can shrug off stuff like your threads."
"You wanna die for real?"
Song Arin mutters in an irritated voice, but Jang Chaeyeon ignores her and walks toward the man.
"I'll go explain."
"Hey, hey!"
Song Arin calls out irritably as Jang Chaeyeon walks away. Song Arin looks at the two.
"..."
They're harmless, but can't be harmed.
It's not that they're hiding something—it's that they're so arrogant it pisses her off.
Because their goal from the start wasn't to take anyone down or anything like that. It was just a means to survive in a situation like this.
While some people think they can't do anything and work their asses off to change that.
That's how Yoo Daon was in Song Arin's eyes.
She hadn't seen it often, but whenever she passed by the training room or something, she'd always see Yoo Daon sweating as she trained her body.
Once she asked how she trained and ended up bedridden the next day from Yoo Daon's insane routine.
Anyway, like it or not, the Yoo Daon Song Arin knew was someone who worked hard.
And though she had no idea how these two were mimicking Yoo Daon's abilities or creating similar phenomena,
"I really fucking hate them."
She mutters irritably as she glares at the two.
*
"...So, yeah, everyone's weak."
"I see."
I shoot my gun while receiving Jang Chaeyeon's calm briefing.
Bang! The bullet pierces another monster's forehead.
"Any ideas?"
"..."
My gaze shifts briefly to Yoo Daon, who tilts her head with a smile.
"Hm?"
"...No, nothing."
I shake my head awkwardly in response to Yoo Daon's question. She looks at me, then opens her mouth as if something occurred to her.
"...Can I try something?"
"Huh?"
"Uh, um. I mean."
Yoo Daon scratches her cheek and mutters.
"I think I can, uh, subdue the two of them."
"..."
Subdue them? How?
I look at her with that sentiment, and she smiles back at me.
"Trust me just once, Jaeheon. Actually, I might need you there too..."
"...Got it. Chaeyeon, can you take over?"
"Sure."
Jang Chaeyeon responds calmly and faces off against the monsters. Song Arin, having overheard us, trots over and stands next to Jang Chaeyeon.
"I'll handle it then."
"Ah, okay."
With that, I head toward Yoo Daon's parents.
*
Yoo Daon walks alongside the man, lost in thought.
One thought rises in her mind.
No, more precisely, it's her experience.
Yoo Daon wasn't originally someone whose body reverted after injury.
Because of that, she'd spent months locked in a containment room with both arms and legs severed, and lived without her sense of taste stolen away.
All that changed after meeting Kim Jaeheon.
After going through the Butterfly's Dream incident with him, her body started to gain directionality.
And that's not all.
When she was kidnapped to the hospital, she acquired the skill to block attacks. When she entered the ruined Management Bureau with him and met another version of herself, she gained a new skill.
Even a fool could tell. Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin probably knew too.
And she knew they weren't saying anything about it.
Because they were scared.
Scared that her relationship with him would devolve from an emotional bond into something based purely on abilities.
Yoo Daon had been scared of that too. Or used to be.
But right now, it didn't matter.
What is love? That's how her parents had answered her question.
Love is devotion.
That's why they said she had to listen to them. But Yoo Daon didn't believe it.
Or rather, she didn't care.
Because she had no intention of forcing her feelings on Kim Jaeheon.
"...Hoo..."
She closes her eyes and thinks.
When he was hospitalized with Song Arin, their bodies swapped, and they searched for the clock—what had she been thinking then?
"..."
Vaguely, but Yoo Daon knows what she can do and what she can't.
That's why she can try.
"..."
Calmly, she walks up to her parents.
"Be careful, Daon."
"It's fine. If you're worried..."
Yoo Daon lightly grabs his arm and pulls.
"...Huh?"
"Stay by my side."
She smiles at his worried words and continues walking.
Their parents' expressions come into view.
The gaze of researchers now devoid of worry, sadness, or anger.
Thinking about it, her parents had always looked at her that way.
"Mom, Dad... I."
Calmly, Yoo Daon speaks.
"I love this man."
"...?"
Kim Jaeheon stares at her in shock, and soon his gaze darts around like he's staring into empty space.
Yoo Daon smiles as she watches him.
See, I'm right.
"...The spring?"
The man mutters in a bewildered voice, and Yoo Daon's smile deepens.