Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 82. Thriller
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Song Arin stared at the fallen man with a stiff expression.
She couldn't keep up with the situation.
Clearly, I had left the door with Song Arin, and before I knew it, there was a man in front of me who had slit his own throat and collapsed.
"Song Arin."
"..."
"What happened?"
At my words, Song Arin turned her head to look at me.
"What do you mean, what happened?"
"I don't remember."
"...So you're saying that wasn't you standing quietly next to me until just now?"
She squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them, starting to explain the situation.
"Karl confessed to me and died."
"I know that much. Did you maybe reject his confession?"
"No."
A few drops of blood had splattered onto her face.
"This guy suddenly appeared."
She wiped the blood from her face with her sleeve.
Red bloodstains had soaked into the white clothes she was wearing.
"Appeared?"
"Like he teleported right in front of me."
"...And what was I doing?"
"You were just next to me."
"Without saying a word?"
"Yeah. No, actually... I suddenly came to my senses and found myself inside the cathedral."
She replied with her brows furrowed tightly.
I mulled over Song Arin's words.
She suddenly came to her senses inside the cathedral.
In other words, had she gone through something similar to what I experienced?
"Then..."
At my words, she looked at me and nodded.
"Something happened."
"..."
I looked at the man who had died with his throat torn horizontally.
A translucent window appeared above his head.
Wait, what?
I hurriedly looked at the man.
My eyes had never reacted even once when seeing something dead.
[Name: Karl]
[Age: 22]
[Talent: Theater Actor]
[Talent: Theater Actor]
[Background: Having become a sacrifice to the plot, he offered his body, and ultimately even his soul.]
[Weakness: In an amazing play, there are always those who manipulate and those who direct.]
"Song Arin."
Song Arin turned her gaze toward me.
"This guy... no... anyway, he's not dead."
"Does that even make sense? ...You usually die if your throat gets torn like that."
Song Arin furrowed her brows as she looked at Karl, who was bleeding.
"..."
I stared intently at the man as well.
Blood flowed from his torn throat onto his clothes, and his fingers twitched.
Twitching fingers?
A sharp pain stabbed my temple, and at the same time, I grabbed the back of Song Arin's neck and rolled across the floor.
"Kyaa!"
Song Arin screamed as she rolled across the floor.
Something gleaming narrowly missed us.
-Slither,
Suddenly, his body began to writhe.
Soon, his arm rose grotesquely, and his neck twisted.
"Hey, that's weird."
"I know."
Covered in dust, Song Arin stood up, and I shook off my clothes and stood with her.
He straightened his body in a grotesque pose. It looked just like—
"A marionette!"
Song Arin shouted and backed away, and I reached into my pocket—
No gun.
"Damn."
Still, I pulled out the manual, figuring I could use anything as a weapon.
Seeing that, Song Arin yelled in disbelief.
"What are you going to do with that?"
"Smash his head?"
With a creaking motion, Karl swung his hand.
-Whoosh!
His hand sliced through the air, producing a whooshing sound that no ordinary hand could make.
Too late to dodge.
I hurriedly raised the manual to block the hand blade, and with a thud, the manual shook.
A numbing sensation flowed through my body.
How is this human strength?
While blocking the hand blade with both hands,
"Don't treat the manual like this, no matter how urgent it is!"
Suddenly, a familiar scolding voice echoed in my head, the child's voice I'd heard at the theater and often as a kid, ringing once in my mind.
In that instant, it was as if Karl's strings had snapped, and his body slumped.
Before his body hit the ground like a puppet with cut strings,
"...What the."
His body vanished like smoke.
Song Arin muttered in exhaustion, and I hurriedly checked the manual.
Despite being struck with such immense force, the manual didn't even have a scratch on its cover.
After catching my breath, I looked around.
Aside from the blood scattered on the floor, it was as if Karl had never existed.
"...This is enough to make ghosts weep."
Song Arin muttered as she looked up at the church ceiling.
"Maybe someone's watching from up there?"
"Could be."
I followed Song Arin's gaze upward.
Light like illumination shone through the stained glass, but nothing was visible to my eyes.
"At least I can't see anything."
"...Is this really a romance?"
Song Arin looked at me with a serious expression.
"I'm not someone who's read a ton of romance novels, but in the ones I have read, there wasn't a single story where someone suddenly confesses love and slits their throat before hearing the answer."
"Well, of course not."
Even morning dramas wouldn't have that kind of plot.
"So, that's what I was thinking..."
Song Arin looked at the blood on her clothes.
"Maybe this is a thriller from the start?"
"...Like with 'Red Lady'?"
Song Arin nodded.
"So, we have to resolve it as a romance this time too?"
"...That's what worries me."
Song Arin looked at the bloodstained floor.
"There's only one reason Karl died."
"...He confessed to you."
"Right."
She nodded.
"What if the story is that confessing to me gets you killed?"
"In other words, you're the cause of death? Like 'Red Lady'?"
"It sounds a bit upsetting when you put it that way."
She furrowed her brows and nodded.
"But it could be seen that way."
"...But it's not wrong."
Under the premise that the Troupe is sharpening its knives, it's not wrong.
Let's think from the Troupe's perspective.
We have two main ways to dismantle the Troupe.
First, change the genre.
They mix genres ambiguously to prevent us from identifying it, making it hard to find the proper answer.
That can confuse me and Song Arin.
Second, subjugate the weakened villain afterward.
In 'Red Lady', the lady herself was the villain and an obvious enemy.
So, how to resolve this?
Simple. Dump the cause of the problem on us.
Soon, a translucent window appeared before my eyes.
[Critical: 0 -> 1]
"...Damn."
"Why?"
"Because my horrific guess was spot on."
I turned my gaze away from Song Arin, who tilted her head questioningly.
The appearance of Critical means my deduction was correct.
But that doesn't mean I can shoot Song Arin.
Unless death and retry are guaranteed, if Song Arin turns into a marionette like Karl after dying, it could lead to an even worse outcome.
Isn't there anything more helpful?
I opened the manual.
[Office Manual for Desk Workers]
[PLZ - Spare the Manual]
1. The manual is delicate. Please handle with care.
2. No matter how sturdy the manual is, refrain from using it as a shield.
3. Treat the manual like an old friend.
It's not alive, right?
With a queasy feeling, I turned the page, and new information appeared.
[Office Manual for Desk Workers]
[KQ - When No Options Other Than Death Are Visible]
1. Many Management Bureau employees will often think that death is the only solution when encountering containment objects.
2. However, you are typically given only one life, and if you die from a wrong choice, you will go to a place from which you cannot return.
3. Choose death carefully—only if it is a false death or if you are fully prepared to come back.
4. Even if none of the above apply and you must die, refer to [T - Suicide Methods].
5. But remember: The human structure consists of body, mind, soul, and <Censored>. Unless all of these die, humans do not die easily.
T section, huh.
I started flipping through the manual.
T section... T section...
[Office Manual for Desk Workers]
[T - Suicide Methods]
[Not Applicable to You.]
What the heck.
"Song Arin."
"Why?"
"Want to see the T section in the manual?"
"Are you telling me to die right now?"
Song Arin glared at me.
"No. It's just... I can't see it."
"Then it's not time for you to die. I—"
As Song Arin grumbled and opened the book,
-Tap tap, tap tap!
We both looked at each other at the sound of something knocking on the window.
"...What's that noise?"
"Someone knocking on the window."
-Tap tap! Tap tap!
The knocking grew stronger.
"...Should we open it?"
"I'll do it."
-Crash!
But before I could open the window, it shattered, and something flew in.
"Kyaa!!"
Song Arin screamed and clung to my side as a black something shot toward us.
It was flapping wings...
"A crow?"
It was a large crow.
The crow dropped something black.
"...Isn't that a smartphone?"
Song Arin muttered in a dazed voice.
It really was a smartphone.
We're in dresses and tuxedos, and suddenly a smartphone.
As I thought that, the smartphone soon rang.
The caller ID showed restricted.
"...I'll take it."
I slowly picked up the smartphone and answered.
"Hello?"
[Oh! Jaeheon got the phone! Chaeyeon!]
[We're right next to each other. I can hear.]
[Jaeheon! Can you hear me? It's Yoo Daon!]
[Are you hurt anywhere?]
The familiar voices of two people noisily filled the phone.
"No, wait. Daon? Chaeyeon?"
"What?"
Song Arin widened her eyes at my words, and soon voices came from the phone again.
[Yes! It's us! Jaeheon!]
"I can hear you!"
[No time! This might cut off soon too...! I'll tell you what we know first!]
Yoo Daon's voice rang in my ear.
[Remember the set!]
The set, and find the moon.
I think I got it.
I hurriedly looked out the broken window.
In the pitch-black darkness where I couldn't see an inch ahead, only a round something that looked like sunlight floated in the sky.