Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 89. The Mountain Lodge
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"...It's a person, right?"
"Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon, who had been checking alongside me, slowly nodded.
I looked at the man once more.
His forehead was deeply caved in, and the bones throughout his body were crushed, but it was a person.
Did we just kill someone?
The moment a sinking feeling hit my heart like it was dropping out, Song Arin shook her head in denial.
"It's a person, but he wasn't alive."
"Huh?"
"There was no consciousness."
Consciousness?
"So, like... there was nothing to latch onto in the first place...? Hard to explain, but he was someone immune to hypnosis. He didn't have the intelligence to fall under it."
Song Arin replied ambiguously, hand on her chin.
"Like a zombie or something?"
"Well, different from a zombie in a lot of ways, but if you're just looking at the lack of will and the destructiveness, maybe."
Song Arin examined the clothes closely.
"But these... hmm. Old clothes?"
"Old clothes?"
"The kind from the Management Bureau's old days that you'd only find flipping through photo albums or archives."
Song Arin frowned as she inspected the clothes.
"Oh, right."
Yoo Daon, who had been fiddling with her own forehead behind us, spoke up.
"The bones were soft."
"Huh?"
"I smashed my forehead into him with full force, and I got a concussion while his skull caved in."
"Not because your head's so hard?"
"Mean!"
While Yoo Daon glared at Song Arin, I examined the man again.
Nothing appeared above his head.
Old Management Bureau clothes, and a body no different from a corpse.
Finally, the long scar running from his head down his spine.
"...Daon."
"Yeah?"
"Doesn't this feel familiar?"
When I pointed at the wound, Yoo Daon looked at it too and her eyes widened.
"Huh...?"
"Right?"
"Yeah, it really does."
"...What is it? Don't talk in riddles just between you two—include us."
Song Arin grumbled in dissatisfaction, and Jang Chaeyeon nodded too.
"Oh. It's not exactly the same, but..."
"It's totally like the Butterfly's Dream incident..."
As if we'd rehearsed it, Yoo Daon and I continued each other's words, and Jang Chaeyeon blinked at me upon hearing them.
"Butterfly's Dream... you mean the Kangseo Branch containment object escape incident?"
"Yes."
"Didn't we resolve that?"
"Yeah."
At least as far as I knew.
I recalled the memory of it disappearing into some black maw amid crunching sounds.
"Ugh."
Gives me chills.
"For now... let's go."
"Yeah. No point sticking around here anyway."
I glanced at the corpse.
Still wearing those old clothes, showing nothing.
What had he come here for, and what end had he met?
I looked at Yoo Daon walking ahead as always.
Guess we need to talk.
"Daon."
"Yeah, Jaeheon! Isn't it dangerous to come up front?"
She looked at me worriedly as I stood beside her.
"You'll protect me well, right? Or whatever."
"Heehee."
She laughed happily at my words and met my gaze again.
"About that scar earlier?"
"Yes."
The wound that ran from the head down the spine.
Too similar to pass off as coincidence—it was impossible not to dwell on it.
"But there wasn't anything inside, right?"
"Yeah."
But it should have had something inside using the human as a shell, yet after we took him down, nothing happened. Nothing visible to my eyes either.
"It's weird..."
"Oh, now that you mention it..."
"Yeah?"
An old memory surfaced.
Before Yoo Daon entered the containment room, she'd found the adult form by scent.
She'd described it as a sweet smell.
"Wasn't there a sweet smell?"
"A sweet smell...? Oh."
She seemed to catch on to what I meant, narrowing her eyes before shaking her head.
"No sweet smell that I could detect."
"I see."
Something's off.
"..."
"..."
An uncomfortable silence.
What should I say? The thought had barely crossed my mind when Yoo Daon spoke up.
"Come to think of it, what did you do as a kid, Jaeheon?"
"What did I do? Just played around, I guess."
"Hmm... what kind of kid were you? Mischievous? Quiet?"
"Uh..."
Yeah, what kind was I?
"Curious type?"
"Well, that suits you, Jaeheon."
Yoo Daon nodded.
"Friends?"
"Yeah, had some."
"Do you even remember who?"
"...Hmm."
A girl in a black dress came to mind.
The one who still occasionally talks to me in my head.
Where the hell is she and what is she doing, sending me telepathy?
Unless...
I glanced at the manual in my hand.
"Nah, not really."
"That happens."
Yoo Daon spoke lightly as she walked on.
"They say not remembering can be a blessing sometimes."
"..."
Just as I opened my mouth, wondering if she knew something,
Ignoring my gaze, Yoo Daon looked ahead and stretched out her hand.
"Isn't that a mountain lodge?"
"Huh?"
Following her hand, I saw a lodge indeed.
"...Why's something like that out here?"
Reminds me of the workshop nightmare.
"But if it's a place to rest, great!"
Yoo Daon smiled and strode ahead, soon joined by Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin at my side.
"That's a lodge, right?"
"Seems like it."
"Why's something like that out there?"
I agreed with Song Arin.
"Chaeyeon, what time is it?"
"...8 PM."
Jang Chaeyeon checked her watch.
Already?
Walking in the dark had completely warped my sense of time.
"Then let's regroup a bit. Might be useful stuff inside the lodge too."
"Fine by me. My legs were starting to hurt anyway."
"I'm good."
"Liar. Your stamina's the worst of the four."
"..."
"Glare all you want—what're you gonna do, turn me into a dog again?"
"Now, now, let's head in."
How do they fight like this after just one day.
I opened the lodge door.
"Look at this! Way cleaner than I thought!"
Yoo Daon had already set down her bag and was looking around.
"It is clean."
"...Aside from it being a bit old."
"..."
Song Arin was right.
Like a mountain lodge from 100 years ago, impeccably tidy.
Curtains full of unnecessary frills, a bed big enough for two that had sunk in a bit, four mold-free sofas even if sagging, and finally a wooden desk.
Not bad, aside from the musty smell.
A desk.
Passing the others chattering happily as they unpacked, I headed to the desk.
On aged yellowed paper, various handwriting scrawled messages.
[Management Bureau Mountain Lodge Log]
[1952, Park Youngho. Reached the forest for the first time. All my comrades died except me.]
[1961, Kim Jaeho. Reached the lodge during the 9th forest exploration. Could only lie in bed and sleep.]
[1972, Lee Seonghun. Deployed for second wedge operation. I miss Mom.]
[1985, Namgoong Hyunwoo. Deployed for 17th wedge operation. Things aren't going well. Ye-eun, sorry I couldn't protect you.]
[1994, Park Jongdeok. Deployed for 30th wedge operation. This op's a failure. I hear bells.]
[2007, Lee Sooyoung. Deployed for 46th wedge operation. I don't want to die. I want to go home.]
[2013, Choi Hyundong. Deployed for 51st wedge operation. Humanity is doomed. Sorry.]
"..."
Records from predecessors.
All uniformly failures, though.
"Clothes here too!"
I turned at Yoo Daon's voice.
She had the wardrobe open, buzzing with the other two over the clothes.
"..."
The clothes were folded with reverent neatness, not a speck of dust.
"Look, old military uniforms to... suits... no dust at all?"
"Even stuff from Grandpa's generation. How's it so well-preserved?"
The three huddled, murmuring.
I opened the manual.
[Employee Manual]
[Kangseo Branch, Mountain Lodge]
1. If you're on the way to the wedge, lie on the sofa and sleep. Pray that luck and will be with you.
2. After a good sleep, if you open the drawer, you'll find what you need most. Take it and go.
3. Good luck.
After a bit of space, item 4 unfolded.
4. If you return here from the wedge, lie in bed and sleep. No need for self-reproach. You did your best.
5. Before sleeping, if you can, write what you want on the paper on the desk. There were others like you, and there will be.
6. Lie in bed and close your eyes. Listen to the warm voice that comes. Don't fear. There will be no pain.
7. Good work.
-Slam!
I shut the manual loudly, and the three turned to me.
"...What?"
"No sleeping in the beds."
"Why? They look nice."
"..."
"What'd the manual say-"
"Better not to know."
Song Arin glanced at me and looked down.
"Okay. No need to look so grave."
"...What was in the manual?"
Jang Chaeyeon looked at me worriedly.
"Something, but I don't wanna say."
I shook my head at her words, and as always, she didn't pry further.
After that, bedding was prepared in an eerie silence.
"..."
Lying on the sofa, I stared at the ceiling.
-Tap, tap, tap...
Strange sounds echoed, and my clear head felt dragged into sleep against my will.
Soon, my eyes closed, and I fell asleep.
I had no dreams.