Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 93. Preservation
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Yoo Daon and I hurriedly ran backward.
The monsters chasing us from close by, and far off in the distance, something that had been Yoo Daon staring right at me and her.
As I ran, I checked on Yoo Daon's condition.
She wasn't saying a word, lost deep in thought.
That was understandable. If it had been me suddenly showing up as a monster, I'd have been shocked and confused too.
But right now, there was no time to comfort her.
*Whish!*
I ducked my head to dodge the claws flying at us from behind.
Even as we barely managed to flee, I had no clue how we could survive this.
We rushed out the door and dashed down the first passageway in sight.
Cold air brushed against my cheeks.
Firing warning shots with the pistol didn't do much, and the butane gas needed to be used up close, so it wasn't helping either.
Wasn't there anything actually useful? Damn it.
While cursing inwardly and rummaging through my pockets, something round caught my hand.
I recalled what the sunglasses guy had said: it'd come in handy sometime.
"Take this!"
I spun around and hurled the round object with all my strength.
The black marble-like thing dropped in front of the monsters,
*Boom!*
And a ferocious explosion erupted along with a plume of smoke.
"Let's go!"
I grabbed Yoo Daon's wrist and started running.
I'd wondered if smoke would even work since they had no eyes, but nothing pursued us while we escaped.
*
"Huff... huff..."
I leaned against the wall, catching my breath.
The damp air of the old underground passage made even my mood feel soggy.
"..."
Yoo Daon stared at the floor without a word, as if it wasn't even tiring for her.
Only after I'd caught my breath could I finally check on her.
"Jaeheon."
She looked at me calmly.
"Yeah."
"There's one thing I'd like to ask of you. Is that okay?"
"..."
She met my eyes.
"That thing—no, 'me'—has to be killed."
"..."
The answer I'd expected.
"But how?"
"...Yeah, exactly."
Yoo Daon gave a hollow smile and gazed up at the ceiling.
"I can't even kill myself. How could we kill an even more perfect version of me?"
"..."
This was the face she rarely showed beneath her constant smile. This must be her true self.
"Of course, if you say it's too hard—"
"Let's do it."
I straightened up and looked at her.
We had to solve this somehow to get out anyway.
Put a definitive end to it and seal off the future.
I had no idea what that end would mean.
It might just mean running away, or maybe cleverly trapping it back in the containment room.
But that wasn't the path we chose.
"Alright then. Let's think about the advantages we have."
"You think we have any...? Well, sure, you've got plenty, Jaeheon, but..."
"Of course we do."
The fully evolved Butterfly's Dream was, in a way, the worst possible outcome Yoo Daon could imagine.
Her mind lost, only her body left to wreak destruction.
But that Yoo Daon was probably different from the current one.
I recalled something like a shell encasing it.
It had enough hardness to deflect bullets.
By contrast, our Yoo Daon had no such shell.
The reason was simple. She didn't need anything to protect herself.
"Why do you think people wear armor, Daon?"
"Uh... to protect their bodies?"
"Exactly."
The other Yoo Daon didn't need thick armor. Even if her heart was pierced or her head blown off, she'd come back.
"Before you got your regeneration ability, what happened when you died?"
"...Uh... It took a while to come back to life. Not as quick as now."
I'd confirmed it with her directly.
Meaning she'd died before I awakened that ability in her.
In other words, a war of attrition favored us.
I explained my reasoning, and she narrowed her eyes, nodding.
"That could be. Before my regeneration kicked in, I was just someone who came back after dying."
"Right."
"But... wouldn't that be much help? It doesn't take critical hits at all, which basically means it's fully immortal."
She was right. Not taking critical hits meant it was a complete immortal.
"Well, that's not the only thing we've got."
"Huh?"
"We're a team."
Yoo Daon closed her mouth for a moment at my words, then nodded with a smile.
"You're right."
"Good."
So, let's think.
How to kill it using everything I have and everything she has.
This was harder than I thought.
As I groaned over it, Yoo Daon spoke up like something had occurred to her.
"...How about using me as bait?"
"Huh?"
"From its perspective, is there a more appetizing host than me?"
"...Probably not."
The current Yoo Daon was perfect, at least in terms of physical recovery. Even I'd drool if I were Butterfly's Dream.
"If I go to the containment room and act as bait..."
"The containment room?"
"Yeah. That time, something went *boom!* in the containment room and everything went wrong..."
"...Oh."
She didn't know what it was, but I did.
That monster.
It could probably go toe-to-toe with the complete form.
"That's it."
"Huh?"
"Let's head underground."
"Sure... but how? We'd need the elevator, but..."
"..."
Come to think of it, we didn't have the luxury of waiting for an elevator with those monsters on our tail.
The stairs, maybe...
No, we could.
I hurriedly opened the manual.
[Office Manual]
[B - Emergency Stairs]
1. The Management Bureau has no emergency stairs. All movement must be via elevator. If you find emergency stairs, do not enter under any circumstances.
2. If you enter emergency stairs by any chance, close your eyes and huddle in a corner. Security Team will come to assist.
3. If you must escape on your own, never go down. Keep going up until you see the exit.
"Hey. Is this different for everyone? Or are the exits separate?"
"Jaeheon?"
"Hey, tell me quick."
Ignoring Yoo Daon's puzzled gaze, I urgently asked the manual.
Soon, the pages fluttered, and new entries appeared.
4. Exits differ for each person, but assigned stair landings may be the same.
5. You usually arrive at the floor you intend to reach. How many stairs you climb is unknown.
I snapped the book shut.
"Stairs it is."
"But Jaeheon, the stairs are dangerous..."
"Right. But they're not just dangerous for us."
"...Oh...!"
Yoo Daon got it, her eyes widening.
"It's amazing how well you read the manual, Jaeheon. Seriously."
"You can read it too, Daon."
"For me, even a little makes my head hurt and my stomach churn. Everyone else says the same."
First I'd heard of that.
But that wasn't the point.
"Let's go."
Now the plan was set.
Take the stairs as fast as possible to the basement.
"...If I get caught, Jaeheon, just leave me and..."
"No way I'm abandoning you. And you won't get caught."
I said it firmly and stood up.
"Let's move."
Yoo Daon met my eyes and smiled brightly.
"Yeah!"
*
*Crash!*
I leaped over the split desk in a hurry.
"There's way more than I thought!"
"I'm thinking the same!"
Our plan was going perfectly so far. Just more of them chasing us than expected.
"Stairs!"
"Right! Never go down! Only up, no matter what!"
"Got it!"
We kicked open the door crusted with blood, and there was a sign reading [Emergency Exit], beyond which lay a pitch-black stairwell, lights all out.
*Bang!*
We charged into the stairs.
Countless monsters followed me in,
And most vanished as if teleporting.
Most meant a few were still following me.
"...Huff... huff..."
Up we go.
I wiped the streaming sweat and started climbing as I ran.
*Creak... creak...*
An ominous sound began.
Whispers, and laughter.
It all came from behind me.
Could Yoo Daon handle this?
I pushed down the rising worry and kept climbing.
Laughter from behind, and sounds of something pursuing.
Tension and physical exhaustion piled up—it was pure hell.
I'd climbed at least ten floors, but no exit yet.
"The exit should be showing up by now!"
"The exit's right here."
Ignoring the voice from below, I kept moving.
Ignoring the voice answering my mutterings without pause, I climbed another fifteen floors or so before the exit finally appeared.
I burst through the door, and right behind me, Yoo Daon kicked it open.
She was drenched in sweat like a downpour, met my eyes, and then monsters poured out as the door crashed again.
My creaking legs whipped forward as I ran.
My guess was right.
The underground containment area was hell.
Countless corpses strewn about, eerie music playing, and occasionally roars with shadows of unknown creatures flashing in the distance.
"Where are we going!"
"Containment room!"
The one with Butterfly's Dream. It was so vivid even in my dreams from the first incident, so I found it quick.
Sure enough, the empty containment room greeted us.
I pulled out the butane gas from my pocket.
"They're coming!"
"Here they come!"
I shook the can and popped the lid.
*Whoosh!*
Flames shot up, hitting the ceiling,
And every light in the basement went out.
A chilling aura swept over us.
"...Jaeheon."
Yoo Daon must have felt it too; she stuck by my side, murmuring in a voice full of wariness.
Soon, something like black smoke emerged and met my eyes.
A translucent window appeared.
[Name: -]
[Age: -]
[Talent: Stop.]
[Abilities: dkfjalejfldkajfs]
[Background: jakdlsfikaewieuroqi]
[[[[]]]]
The window's text glitched out, and it flew past me toward the monsters.
*Crunch!*
The monsters were bisected in one blow and vanished.
"..."
"...Whoa..."
Yoo Daon gaped and muttered, and the thing that had wiped out all the monsters turned toward me—but halted at a heavy thud.
I locked eyes with Yoo Daon.
Then, the monster Yoo Daon entered our view.
The black smoke instantly lunged at it,
*Crunch!*
Blood sprayed.
Half the monster Yoo Daon's body tore away, but it ignored it and swatted the mist.
[Critical: 2->1]
I drew my pistol.
No red dot yet,
[Critical: 1->2]
*Crunch!*
The monster Yoo Daon opened its mouth to chomp something, and the black mist shredded away.
"..."
"..."
The mist faded.
Lights flickered on, and pandemonium returned to the once-silent basement.
I met the eyes of the monster Yoo Daon.
Wasn't it after Yoo Daon? Why's it looking at me?
Yoo Daon stepped in front of me protectively, thinking the same,
And the monster Yoo Daon opened its mouth again.
"Jaeheon, get out of here now—!"
Before Yoo Daon could finish, her upper body tore away like it was deleted.
Blood scattered, and as she started to kneel,
"Cough, cough!"
Somehow back to normal, Yoo Daon clutched her throat, coughing wildly but forcing herself to stand.
What do I do?
It opened its mouth again,
[Chronos's Shield: 1 second]
A barrier unfolded in front of Yoo Daon, and something thudded against it.
Then the monster Yoo Daon clamped its mouth shut with both hands.
Blood poured from its mouth like mad.
The monster Yoo Daon released its hands.
With its blood-smeared mouth, it clamped shut again.
Yoo Daon's legs vanished, and she rolled on the ground, covering my body.
Every time it closed its mouth, parts of Yoo Daon deleted away.
Sometimes legs, sometimes head, sometimes her whole body.
Yet each time, she spread her arms in front of me like it was nothing.
What do I do?
*Crunch!*
Her head vanished again, her body staggered, but soon returned to normal.
"..."
Yoo Daon spread her arms in front of me.
Intense emotion welled in her eyes.
Hatred, pity, and sorrow.
"Step over my corpse."
She murmured softly, and a translucent window popped up in my vision.
[The emotions directed at you from 'Yoo Daon' have reached their peak, temporarily unlocking a new combined skill.]
['Preservation' can be used.]
[Preservation: Consumes 2 Criticals, fixes the opponent on the time axis.]
No time to hesitate.
[Using Preservation.]
[Critical: 2->0]
The world stopped.