Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Act 2 End
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"Whoa!"
A sharp hand chop slices past the edge of my tuxedo.
"You're alive?!"
"I didn't get hit!"
Obviously, but running through water takes way more effort than running on land.
"Song Arin, faster!"
"Damn it... I'm shorter than you...!"
And Song Arin's shorter than me.
She yelled it out while trudging through water up to her waist, looking frustrated.
At this rate, I'll escape alone and she'll get caught.
"No choice. Give me your waist."
"Hey, wait. What are you doing? Hey!"
I hurriedly wrapped my arm around Song Arin's waist and hoisted her onto my shoulder.
My center of gravity shifted for a split second, making me wobble, but I managed to pick her up and started half-running, half-walking with her.
"You think I'm a sack of rice?!"
"Struggle and I'll drop you!"
Finally, she went limp, hanging obediently from me without moving.
"Two behind us!!"
Then, realizing her situation, she hurriedly looked back and started briefing me.
The good news was that the puppets couldn't move well in water either—their pursuit wasn't that fast.
Of course, the distance was still closing.
From afar, it looked like a sluggish chase scene in a lake, and I calmly sorted my thoughts.
First off, I'd grasped the basics of this play.
Unlike the Red Lady, there was no enemy we had to defeat here.
And turning off the lights meant no more actors would appear.
So, Song Arin and I had already succeeded in breaking the play to some extent.
Last, what did we need to do to escape?
Destroy all the puppets?
That felt off.
If the plot was that everyone confesses to her and dies, and our goal was to break that...
"Almost there!"
Song Arin shouted, pointing to the shore, while the puppets charged at us with terrifying speed from behind.
No more time to think.
I hurriedly dropped Song Arin and pulled out the manual to block the attack.
-Thud!
"Eek!"
The sound of the hand chop embedding into the manual, Song Arin's scream as she hit the ground—they rang out together. The moment I confirmed the chop bounced off the manual, I grabbed her arm.
"Let's go, hurry!"
"You crazy bastard!"
Even as she rubbed her butt, Song Arin honestly grabbed my hand.
I started running again, holding her hand.
"So! How do you plan to call for help?!"
"Let's try calling first!"
I hurriedly pulled out my smartphone to check.
No signal.
"No luck on the phone!"
"Ugh!"
A place where those two could find us.
No clues at all.
I stared at the smartphone.
A crow had brought it...
Wait, the crow?
"Come to think of it, Song Arin!"
"I'm tired! Talk and I'll die!"
I called out to Song Arin, who was panting as she ran.
"Where did the crow come from?"
"What does that matter right now—huh?"
Song Arin widened her eyes, realizing something too.
"If the crow brought the smartphone, someone must've come that way!"
She nodded frantically at my words and reached out her hand.
Just like when she opened the door to the lake, the background peeled back, revealing darkness.
"This way!"
"What? How?"
"I remembered!"
I slipped in behind her and blocked the incoming attack with the book.
-Kwachak!
After blocking and fleeing with the book a few more times, Song Arin, who was ahead, suddenly yanked my wrist.
"Here!"
With a clatter, Song Arin and I tumbled into somewhere.
After rolling a few times and stopping, I finally lifted my head.
"...The garden."
It was where I'd first met Song Arin.
A place the crow could reach.
I lined up all the places we'd been in my head.
Garden, Song Arin's room, cathedral, finally the lake.
"...Ah."
"It was only this place from the start."
Song Arin brushed off the dust and spoke.
"The crow came here, so the coordinates are probably pinned here."
"Outdoors."
"Otherwise."
"If it was the lake, they'd already be here."
"You're smart, as expected."
Whoosh—the puppets appeared behind us.
As if on cue, Song Arin and I ducked,
-Kwachak!
The lead puppets lunged at us and twisted with a gruesome sound.
Then something rushed past us and slammed a fist into them.
"Jaeheon!"
"..."
I looked up ahead to see Yoo Daon waving at us, wearing black gloves.
Jang Chaeyeon was glaring at Song Arin and me like she wasn't pleased.
"We're here."
"If you're coming, come faster."
For a moment, I thought I saw flames in Jang Chaeyeon's eyes at Song Arin's words, but as if nothing happened, she stepped forward to guard us.
"It was hard finding you."
"Where's this?"
"The otherworld."
"...How'd you get here?"
Jang Chaeyeon nodded toward the back, and when I looked, a crow was flapping around.
"We borrowed some help from the Containment Team."
"The Containment Team has something like that?"
"They do."
"That person seemed really nice?"
"Don't fall for it."
Yoo Daon chimed in with a cheerful voice, and Jang Chaeyeon sighed, shaking her head.
"We got help in exchange for you seeing them next time."
"Wow. I really hate that."
"I'll go with you!"
Yoo Daon raised her hand brightly.
Meanwhile, Jang Chaeyeon's gaze turned to the staggering figure—or what used to be human.
"What should we do?"
"First, those guys..."
"Kill them?"
"...Please neutralize them."
"Okay."
She stepped forward casually, waving her hand.
A rushing sound filled the air as the puppets writhed, bound in midair.
-Thud!
She pulled her arm back fully, then thrust it forward like a shot, and at the same time, their bodies flew far away.
"Oh right, Jaeheon!"
"Yeah?"
Yoo Daon beamed at me.
"We don't know how to get out!"
"..."
She said it so innocently, like announcing pork cutlets for dinner.
The three of them looked at me.
As if it was obvious I'd know how to leave.
"..."
Where was I up to in my thinking?
Twist the plot.
If the core of this plot was that confessing to Song Arin makes others die, then after the confession, we needed someone who wouldn't die.
Have Yoo Daon confess? She revives even if she dies, so keep confessing.
"Uh, do I have anything to do?"
Yoo Daon tilted her head as our eyes met.
What am I thinking?
That last idea was too inhumane.
And Yoo Daon wasn't part of this play anyway.
Jang Chaeyeon had no resistance to mental attacks to begin with.
So, it had to be someone in the play with mental resistance to confess and not suicide after hearing the answer.
By elimination, only one person.
"Song Arin! Undo the suggestion first!"
"-Ugh! Your speech pattern is so annoying!"
As if the suggestion was lifted, Song Arin scowled and yelled.
"How's your head?"
"It's all better now!"
Maybe turning off the switch earlier helped a lot.
"Good. Then, from now on, we'll end this play."
"How?"
"I'll confess to you, Song Arin."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Silence.
Yoo Daon blinked at me with a blank face,
Jang Chaeyeon stared at me with the most shocked expression I'd ever seen,
"...What?"
And Song Arin gaped at me like she couldn't comprehend.
"Wait, no, uh, what?"
"I'll confess to you, so answer positively. Got it?"
"Hey, wait. What's this? Is this really to escape?"
"Yeah, so I'll do it now."
It's just a play anyway.
"No, I need to prepare myself mentally. Give me a second!"
What mental prep? We don't have time for that.
I approached Song Arin, who clutched her skirt pleadingly, and knelt on one knee.
I'm the butler, she's my lady.
Shouldn't I say it in character?
Ahem, I cleared my throat and opened my mouth.
"Song Arin."
"....................Uh, uh. Um. ...Yeah."
She stammered back like a broken machine.
Let's see, butler-like lines.
"For a long time, I've served you, watched you, and now I realize."
".........."
Song Arin just stared at me, hands over her mouth.
"I like you."
Clunk—like a sound effect come to life, she froze.
And my temples started to ache slowly.
Meaning the mental attack was hitting.
So, confessing to Song Arin gives the characters the impulse to suicide?
The attack comes in the form of the plot like this.
[Critical: 0->1]
As if proving me right, Critical filled up.
Good. Now Song Arin just needs to answer.
I locked eyes with Song Arin.
She met my gaze, covering her face with both hands, peeking through her fingers.
No, answer already? Are you method acting?
I signaled her with my eyes. Hurry up.
I glanced at Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon.
The two stared piercingly at Song Arin.
See, they're urging you too.
"..."
"...Song Arin."
I stared at her like hurry up, and after a bit more time, she lowered her hands from her face, placed one on her chest, and took a deep breath.
"Hoo..."
"..."
She met my eyes.
"...Yeah, I like you too."
She answered with a flawless, radiant smile,
And at the same time, the throbbing headache vanished.
-Crack!
A tearing sound rang out as a rift like a crack appeared in space.
"Good. Let's go now."
"Chaeyeon, Coordinate Rip—"
"..."
"Chaeyeon?"
"I'll do it."
She replied in a tone even more emotionless than usual.
[Coordinate Rip -> 2 uses]
The world turned into graph paper at once,
-Craaack!
The rift widened, revealing my familiar room.
Why my room, of all places.
"Good, let's go!"
We jumped into the rift.
Soon, the four of us were in my room.
"...We escaped."
Somehow I was back in pajamas, and Song Arin was in her purple pajamas too.
The other two were in suits.
A weird smell hung in the room.
"...Sulfur smell?"
"...Haa."
Before I could pinpoint the source, Song Arin let out a strange noise and collapsed.
Did she use up too much energy?
"Song Arin, you oka—"
As I checked on her, I met her bizarre expression.
Her eyes fully relaxed, one corner of her mouth twisted up in a creepy grin.
Like a melted face, or someone on drugs.
"Uh, uh. I'm totally fine."
"From what I see, you got hit by a mental attack."
"No, I'm fine."
Ignoring me, Jang Chaeyeon raised her hand, and Song Arin floated up like luggage.
She's not resisting for once.
"I'm going."
"Wait, no—"
"Heading out, Jaeheon. See you tomorrow..."
And Yoo Daon trailed after her with a dejected look.
Just like that, the three left my place like a storm.
What was that.
In no time, only me and the sulfur smell remained in my house.
*
A few days later,
"Wow, this really is the Containment Team!"
"Daon, don't get too excited."
We stood in front of an iron door that looked like three merged together.
"But it's the Containment Team. Isn't it where the Management Bureau gathers its best?"
"That's why I hate it more."
Why are we looking for HR? I get the reason, but still.
"I'll knock then."
"Yeah!"
I knocked, leaving Yoo Daon—who still looked amazed—behind.
The door opened.
It was a plain white room, empty.
No one in sight.
"..."
"..."
Yoo Daon and I looked at each other, as if on cue.
"...We should go in?"
"Guess so."
Step, step. Footsteps echoed in the empty space.