Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Wedge
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What does it mean to plant a person into the ground?
"Grraaagh!"
Here was a perfect example.
The man's head was the only part sticking out of the ground, and the one responsible stood there with an expressionless face, meeting my gaze.
"Should I kill him before we go?"
"Wait a minute."
I narrowed my eyes at the man.
Soon, a translucent window appeared above his head.
[Name: Choi Seonghu]
[Age: 30 years old]
[Talents: None]
[Abilities: None]
[Background: He was a member of the Management Team, hastily deployed for the secondary wedge operation, but all that remained was a tattered soul and an empty husk of a body.]
[Weakness: Aside from being a bit tough and lacking pain sensation, he's just like any other human.]
I thought it would say he wasn't human anymore if he had changed. Was this slightly different from the usual human degradation?
I stared at the man, who was still screaming, lost in thought.
Was there no way to reverse it?
A shredded soul and an emptied shell of a body.
...
As the manual said, he had to be thoroughly killed.
In that case—
Before I could voice my dilemma, Jang Chaeyeon reached out, clenched her fist, and the man's neck twisted 180 degrees with a snap, silencing him.
"Killing him is the right call."
She spoke in a flat tone, looking at me.
"This is purely my judgment. Feel free to curse me out for it."
"...No. I would've done the same."
"Yeah."
Was that her way of being considerate? Jang Chaeyeon gave a short reply and turned to walk ahead.
We resumed walking through the darkness, relying on the single lantern's light.
"How many days has it been?"
"Two days as of today."
Jang Chaeyeon answered my question immediately.
"Then we still have some time."
It wouldn't hurt to finish quickly.
Of course, that assumed others were driving wedges into the other areas besides the east.
We had to plan for failure too.
"If the others fail, the four of us might have to head to another sector."
"Hey, don't jinx it. Your bad omens always come true."
Song Arin smacked my arm in horror, while Yoo Daon smiled and nodded at my words.
"No matter what happens, we'll handle it. Right?"
"Right. Everyone, take a look at this for a sec."
I pulled the hammer from my pocket, and Yoo Daon widened her eyes, glancing between me and the hammer.
"Huh? What's that?"
"Well, see..."
As we walked, I slowly explained the hammer to the others.
"Hammer and anvil?"
Song Arin narrowed her eyes, deep in thought with a hum.
"We have the hammer, but no anvil."
"Exactly."
"So we need to find an anvil?"
"That's the thing..."
I recalled the manual.
The one who drives the wedge and the one with strong will.
I had a feeling about how to do it, but I shouldn't say yet.
Jang Chaeyeon and Yoo Daon might worry unnecessarily. Song Arin, not sure.
"Anyway, that's the situation."
"Whatever. If you've got the answer, we just execute it."
Song Arin said that, and silence fell again.
We trudged endlessly through the dark forest.
*
"Huh."
After walking who knows how long, Yoo Daon stopped and pointed at the sky.
"What is it?"
"The sun's rising."
Looking up at her words,
"It's true."
The dark sky was gradually brightening.
At the same time, the forest's end appeared at the edge of our vision.
"That... a clearing, right?"
"Seems like it."
I squinted with Yoo Daon toward the end.
It was a wide clearing. Beyond it stretched an endless plain.
"Everyone, stay back."
Yoo Daon spoke in a serious tone and took the lead out of the forest.
After walking to the center, she checked something, turned back, and waved that it was okay.
"Let's go."
Following her out, a massive cavity lay ahead, just like the one I'd seen earlier.
It was an unsettling cavity.
Like a hole punched in the middle of the forest, this spot was barren—no trees or grass—and red soil scattered in the wind across the ground.
And in the center,
"...Whoa."
"I just checked. Getting close doesn't make it bite my head off or mess with my mind."
Yoo Daon turned around.
Spikes protruded around its base.
The difference was that it was a stone bell, coated entirely in blood on the handle and body.
The handle bore countless handprints, as if many had gripped it here.
Sunlight hit the bell, and soon a translucent window appeared above it.
[Name: Wedge]
[Age: -]
[Talents: Wedge]
[Abilities: Wedge]
[Background: It came at the cost of trillions of sacrifices. And to stop it, humanity perished hundreds more times. The wedge before you is the crystallization of all those sacrifices. Have someone with a strong spirit grip the wedge again and endure the hammering. If you tire, borrow another's strength.]
[Weakness: This wedge has already been pulled out. Destroy it while it's still.]
"This seems to be the wedge."
"Yeah. Even some clueless person would know this is the wedge."
Song Arin muttered, staring at it.
"So, how do we stop it?"
"That's the thing."
I gazed at the bell.
The manual slipped from my pocket, flipping open to a page.
[Office Manual]
Just blank pages greeted me.
What? What are you trying to say?
As I picked it up, I felt an intense gaze and looked aside.
Yoo Daon's eyes were fixed on the manual.
"...Yeah."
As if receiving a message, she nodded.
"Daon?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing."
Yoo Daon shook her head hastily, and Jang Chaeyeon looked back at me.
"What now?"
"I'll do it."
"...You sure?"
Jang Chaeyeon stared at me, then at Yoo Daon.
"I think Yoo Daon should do it."
"I think so too."
Yoo Daon nodded.
"If it's about my body exploding, I'm fine. I won't die."
"That's probably not it."
"Huh...? Then..."
"It's a mental thing."
Song Arin caught the implication and nodded, chiming in.
"So you're volunteering."
"Yes."
"...Hate to admit it, but out of us four, you're best for that part."
Song Arin squeezed her eyes shut then open, looking at me.
"Need any help from me?"
Quick judgment and decision, just like her.
"For now..."
I looked around at the others.
"Chaeyeon."
"Yeah."
"When I grab that bell, hammer it."
"Got it."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded, took the hammer, and held it.
"Song Arin."
"Listening."
"If a mental attack comes, get everyone out or try hypnosis."
"...I'll try."
Song Arin replied grudgingly.
"Daon."
"Yes."
"If needed, we can switch, or something might come at us, so stay close."
"That's my specialty!"
Yoo Daon hurried to my side.
Holding the manual in my left hand, I reached for the bell's handle.
Nothing happened yet.
"Chaeyeon."
"Yeah."
At my word, she raised her hand, and the hammer floated up, swinging down on the bell.
-Clang!
The clear ring echoed without feeling like stone on stone, and
"Jaeheon!"
I lost consciousness.
*
I wandered in darkness.
I had just been holding the bell's handle.
Was this another realm? Or had my mind shifted?
"Get it together."
Someone tapped my shoulder.
A familiar voice.
I'd heard it when using the manual as a shield, and in the theater.
Turning, a child in a black dress stared at me sternly.
The girl with black hair, gentle expression, beckoning me from the dark.
I opened my mouth to reply, but it felt like a huge thorn blocked my throat—no words came.
"No need to speak."
The girl nodded and took my hand.
Surprisingly, no sensation.
"It's okay."
She held my hand, meeting my eyes directly.
"I'm here."
Then,
-Clang!
The clear bell toll snapped me awake.
A headache crashed over me instantly.
"You're up!"
Yoo Daon's voice came from behind.
"Here it comes!"
Jang Chaeyeon shouted from afar, swinging her hand.
Fierce winds howled around, and Yoo Daon knelt beside me.
Scratches from the wind marred her body and face, healing back instantly, but she met my eyes unfazed.
I, meanwhile, seemed immune to the wind—no injuries.
"Jaeheon!"
"Ugh...!"
Trying to respond, the headache splitting my temples kept my mouth shut until
Yoo Daon placed her hand over mine on the bell.
"...!"
Her eyes widened for a split second, and
-Crack!
Skin piercing flesh.
The headache eased a bit.
What? Was she sharing the burden?
How did she know?
She gripped my hand tightly.
"No need to speak."
Her calm voice opened, and
-Crack!
Flesh tearing again.
As the child and Yoo Daon overlapped in hallucination,
-Clang!
The bell tolled, pounding my head.
"Ugh...!"
Rain began falling from the sky simultaneously.
Time accelerated.
Day turned to night, back to day, repeating endlessly as the bell rang without cease.
"Huff... huff...!"
"It's okay."
Yoo Daon patted me like soothing a child.
-Crack!
Another sound.
I turned to her other hand.
She repeatedly stabbed and pulled it from the spike I'd seen earlier.
-Crack!
"You can do it, Jaeheon."
Blood dripped from her hand as she stabbed again.
-Crack!
Blood splattered the ground.
She wasn't immune to mental attacks.
She was just sharing the burden by inflicting constant pain on herself.
-Clang!
The bell rang again, and Song Arin's voice pierced from afar.
"Hey!! Watch out!"
Watch out?
Ignoring the throbbing head, I looked up.
A pitch-black hole gaped above.
Amid the pain, a translucent window appeared.
[Name: Gate]
[Age: -]
[Talents: Time Shift]
[Abilities: Time Shift]
[Background: Naturally, countless interferences arise when successfully driving the wedge.]
[Weakness: Find and kill whoever's causing this to make it vanish.]
Did we succeed?
-Clang!
The hammer struck roughly, and
-Craaaack!
Something shattered, the hole widening.
A massive pull tugged my body.
"Watch out!"
At the same time, a strong force yanked my nape in opposition.
Chaeyeon using telekinesis?
As my pounding head processed that,
-Riiip!
My collar tore, and my body sucked upward into the air.
[Critical: 1->2]
A translucent window popped up.
We did it.
Sucked into the black hole, that thought crossed my mind when
"Jaeheon!"
Yoo Daon clung to my leg.
We both got pulled into the darkness.
Turning, I saw the other two reaching out with world-ending expressions.
*
"...heon."
"...Jaeheon..."
"Jaeheon!"
"Ugh!"
I snapped my eyes open to Yoo Daon shaking my shoulders on her knees.
"What. How are we alive?"
"Alive or not, we got sucked in and woke up here."
"Where's here?"
"Beats me."
Yoo Daon trailed off, looking around.
Ruins.
Buildings crumbled like after a war, no sign of people.
"What the hell."
I scanned around.
Not a single lifeform.
Like a video of the post-human apocalypse.
That world stretched before my eyes.
"...Isn't that the headquarters?"
Frantically looking around, Yoo Daon tugged my sleeve.
"Huh...?"
Following her finger, a familiar building loomed.
The Management Bureau's Gangseo Branch lay half-destroyed before us.
