Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 90. Bell Tolls
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There are generally two types of sleep quality.
The first is sleeping well.
The second is sleeping poorly.
If you sleep well, you wake up feeling good. If you sleep poorly, you wake up feeling bad.
But right now, I was experiencing the contradictory situation of having slept deeply yet waking up in a foul mood.
...
I felt no fatigue at all, but the sharp unpleasantness from a nightmare lingered in my head.
I turned my head to look at the three of them.
Yoo Daon was asleep with her brows deeply furrowed. Jang Chaeyeon was fast asleep, wrapped up tightly in the blanket. And finally, Song Arin was sleeping with the blanket kicked off.
They all slept in such varied ways.
How much time had passed?
I pulled out my phone to check, and it was 3 a.m.
After gazing at the soundly sleeping group, I headed to the drawer.
He said he'd give me the most necessary thing.
So, what was the most necessary thing for me right now?
-Drawer slide!
In the silence, the drawer sound rang out loudly enough, and I glanced back unnecessarily to check if anyone had woken, then looked inside the drawer.
...
Inside the drawer was a single hammer.
What was this?
As I stared blankly at the hammer, a translucent window soon appeared above it.
[Name: Hammer]
[Age: Unknown]
[Traits: Hammering]
[Talents: Hammering]
[Background: If there's an anvil, the hammer can always do the job given to it.]
[Weakness: A hammer without an anvil is nothing.]
Hammer and anvil?
I rummaged through the drawer thoroughly.
Fine, let's say there's a hammer. According to the description, there should be an anvil too.
...
But there was no anvil.
...
"...What's going on?"
Suddenly, a voice from behind made goosebumps rise all over my body, and I hurriedly turned around.
Jang Chaeyeon was standing there, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"Is something wrong?"
"...Ah."
It was Jang Chaeyeon.
"You scared me."
"Ah... ...Sorry."
She looked hurt and bowed her head deeply upon hearing me.
"I didn't mean to scare you."
"No... I'm not blaming you."
It took another few minutes just to console the dejected Jang Chaeyeon.
"...So, what's going on?"
"Nothing—"
"It's not nothing."
Jang Chaeyeon looked up at me.
In the darkness, her eyes gleamed.
"I can tell just from your face."
...
"I might not be able to solve your problem."
Jang Chaeyeon spoke slowly as she took my hand and led me.
She plopped down on the sofa where she'd been sleeping and patted the spot next to her with her palm.
-Tap, tap.
"Sit."
...
I sat next to Jang Chaeyeon, and she leaned in deeply before opening her mouth.
"I probably won't be able to solve it. I know less than you and can't think as sharply."
"That's not what I—"
"I know. You don't think of me that way."
Jang Chaeyeon turned her gaze to the window.
"But I think of myself that way."
...
"I've always made the wrong choices, and I've had to pay the price for them."
Her gaze returned to me.
"But I'm an idiot, so I can listen to you better. I won't give half-baked opinions."
...
"Tell me."
Jang Chaeyeon's gaze fixed on me.
"...It might not be something good to hear."
What was the point of telling her about this manual or the world ending?
"You're right. It might not be good for me to hear. It could just make me worry more."
"Yeah. So..."
"But if it eases your worries, I can listen a hundred times, a thousand times."
...
Jang Chaeyeon always had this talent for leaving me speechless. Ever since we first met.
"...Okay."
In the end, I had no choice but to spill everything to her—my thoughts, what I'd seen.
The lodge and the note, the manual's contents, and even the hammer.
...
After hearing me out, Jang Chaeyeon was silent for a moment before speaking.
"I see."
...
...
"...That's it?"
"Yeah, that's it."
"You're not worried or anything?"
"Nope."
She slowly shook her head.
"You'll point out the right path like always."
...
"And I'll just pave it the most beautifully."
She looked at me with steady eyes.
I could feel her trust.
Why did I suddenly feel like a fool for keeping these thoughts to myself all this time?
"Being with you really warms my heart somehow... Yeah."
"...First time I'm hearing that, but if you say so, then I must be that kind of person."
Jang Chaeyeon smiled softly in response, then looked at the other two.
"Should we wake them?"
...
"We don't have much time. And sleeping here seems to relieve fatigue really well, right?"
"...True."
"So, let's wake them."
The other two woke up quickly too.
"What? What were you two talking about?"
"Huh? Just some..."
"Secret."
As soon as Song Arin woke up, she narrowed her eyes at us, and before I could answer, Jang Chaeyeon pressed her index finger to her lips.
Song Arin's expression twisted subtly, and she started grumbling while packing.
"...No time. Let's go."
"We were up first, though?"
"Don't argue with every word—just get ready!"
Did she really need to yell?
Before leaving, I had everyone search the drawers in case someone found the anvil or something else, but nothing turned up.
After packing, we stepped out the door again.
We walked through the still-dark night.
"Waking up and it's still night—feels like a night hike or something!"
Yoo Daon said as she walked ahead as usual.
"It is a night hike, technically."
It was only 4 a.m.
-Tap tap...!
"Something's coming."
Jang Chaeyeon, standing next to me, grabbed my arm and whispered at the same time Song Arin narrowed her eyes and replied.
"Wait. That's a person."
"A person?"
"They're conscious."
"Hostile?"
"If I could tell that, I'd be a human radar."
Song Arin muttered as she narrowed her eyes further.
Soon, footsteps approached, and someone appeared.
"Huff... Pant...!"
It was a man breathing heavily.
Around my age.
He carried an old gun, and his clothes looked like something from 40 years ago.
...
Jang Chaeyeon stepped forward and raised her hand, and the man spotted us and widened his eyes.
"People! People!"
He threw his hands up and charged toward us,
"Argh!"
Yoo Daon expertly grabbed his outstretched arm, twisted it, and slammed him to the ground.
"Who are you."
Yoo Daon pinned him down and asked in an uncharacteristically cold voice.
"Wait."
Song Arin slowly approached and placed her finger on the forehead of the man whose head was smashed into the ground.
His trembling body stilled, and he looked at us with calmer eyes than before.
"Explain."
"I've been wandering here for a month."
"A month?"
Song Arin turned to look at me.
I stepped forward to face him.
"...How did the wedge operation go?"
"...Wedge."
At my words, his face filled with despair.
"...We failed."
"...What?"
"The first wedge team failed, and I was part of the second wedge team survivors who went in..."
His expression grew darker.
"We failed. We're done for. We released 'it.'"
"No, what's 'it'?"
"'It' is—"
He started to speak but then stared blankly into space.
"I hear it."
"Huh?"
"The bell tolls."
...
I looked at the other three, but they all met my eyes and shook their heads.
No one else heard the bell.
"What kind of bell?"
"Aah... Sorry... Sorry..."
Soon, he began writhing like a madman.
"Sorry...! Sorry...! Sorry...!"
"Wha, what... strength...!"
Yoo Daon, holding him down, muttered in panic as his form began to change.
"Grrr, sor... ry...!"
His voice distorted,
"Grrr...!"
Like he'd lost his reason, he thrashed and bit Yoo Daon's arm.
"Uh—"
Chunks of Yoo Daon's flesh flew into the air as he shoved her away roughly and stood,
-Thud!
Jang Chaeyeon immediately smashed him into the ground.
"...What?"
Jang Chaeyeon looked at me.
Should we kill him?
What the hell was this? Why did this guy show up out of nowhere, and why did he suddenly turn inhuman like this?
"...Wait."
Before I could nod, Song Arin stopped Jang Chaeyeon.
"...Hey."
"Yeah?"
Song Arin met my eyes, then nodded toward the man.
"Assimilate with him."
...
I doubted my ears.
"What?"
"Assimilate. You know how from last time."
Song Arin took a deep breath.
"That's the only way to know more. Your words, right?"
"Song Arin. We don't know what he's hearing, but—"
"I know. It's a wave strong enough to alter his body. Not some simple effect."
...
"But we need to know."
Song Arin stared at me.
"What this sound is, what it shows, and what the results look like—so we can respond better."
...
Our eyes met.
"Got it."
"Yeah. Weak talk doesn't suit you."
Song Arin smiled at me.
[Method: 1]
Purple threads shot out from above Song Arin's head.
"...Do it?"
"I said do it."
Song Arin nodded, and she directed the thread into the still-struggling man's head.
"...Hngh."
The reaction was immediate.
Song Arin clutched her head and dropped to her knees.
"Song Arin!"
"...Quiet, heh. I'm fine, ugh."
Song Arin muttered as she stood.
Her eyes were now bloodshot, veins burst.
"...I hear it. The bell."
With those words, she began walking as if entranced.
"Daon. East, right?"
"...Yes."
I quickly confirmed with Yoo Daon, who checked her compass and nodded.
I walked beside Song Arin, checking her condition.
"Song Arin."
"Quiet. I'll explain, now."
She continued haltingly, in pain.
"The wedge is a seal."
"A seal."
"Inside it is a person holding a giant bell."
Her eyes, red like a rabbit's, muttered on.
"When the bell rings... we lose... ourselves."
-Drip,
Blood tears fell from her eyes.
"Song Arin!"
"Shut up. I'm fine."
She waved her hand and continued.
"The way to drive the wedge is simple."
She stared blankly into the distance.
"Someone with strong will holds the wedge while another drives it in."
Someone with will and the wedge. And the hammer.
"That's enough."
I quickly severed the thread connected to Song Arin, and she staggered before collapsing to the ground.
"I'm dying..."
"You okay?"
"No, everything's red."
She wiped the blood tears and stood.
"Figure it out?"
...
Hammer and anvil. The driver and the one with strong will.
"Yeah, I think so."
I understood the wedge. But what was that guy, and why did we meet him here?
My gaze turned to the distance.
The manual slipped from my pocket and opened.
[Office Manual]
[AT - Enduring Mental Attacks]
1. Even the strongest minds fall to mental attacks eventually.
2. In that case, divert your mind with pain or focus elsewhere.
3. If that's too hard, hold the manual. It will help you.