Chapter 45
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Reward and Revenge
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Chapter. 1 - Epilogue
The sun is rising in the distance.
The dawn I thought would never come was pushing away the deep, lingering darkness.
I took in the beautiful scenery of the early morning. And so, another day begins.
But something else was more important.
I slowly turned my head back. Dayeon was resting quietly on my back.
She had died ten years ago. I didn't harbor any false hope that she would come back to life.
But I felt a stir from my back. Even as I tried to dismiss it as a delusion, the sensation spreading across my back was distinct.
“...Jin Dayeon?”
I gently lowered Dayeon to the ground. I leaned her against a wall and checked her condition.
“Zzz...”
“What?”
I was stunned.
I hadn't misheard. Dayeon was breathing softly, mumbling faintly in her sleep.
“No way.”
I could hardly believe it.
Far from feeling happy, I began to wonder if I was seeing things.
I carefully caressed Dayeon's face. And I couldn't hide my astonishment.
“...It's warm.”
Dayeon's skin wasn't cold. On the contrary, a gentle warmth radiated from it.
Dumbfounded, I kept touching her. Dayeon furrowed her brow. She seemed annoyed that her peaceful sleep was being disturbed.
Dayeon stirred and opened her eyes. She stared blankly at me with a groggy expression.
“Nngh...?”
Not fully awake, Dayeon blinked her sleepy eyes. She then looked around dazedly.
“...Sleep well?”
“Where are we?”
Dayeon looked bewildered. After staring blankly for a moment, she pointed at the gate.
“Did you do it?”
“As you can see.”
“Congratulations...”
Dayeon was still half-asleep.
She rubbed her hazy eyes and let out a huge yawn.
Watching her, my mind was a mess.
How did Dayeon come back to life?
Suddenly, I recalled the message that appeared right after we escaped the school.
[Congratulations! You have cleared Chapter 1!]
[You have uncovered the school's secret and defeated its cause!]
[A reward for reaching the truth will be given!]
【Reward: ???】
‘Don't tell me the reward for reaching the truth is...’
The reward message, covered in question marks, gradually filled with text, revealing its identity.
【Reward: Jin Dayeon】
I knew it. The reward I obtained after uncovering the school's secret and exorcising the devil was none other than Dayeon.
“Well, I'll be.”
An empty laugh escaped my lips. With this, everything at the school was finally over.
The devil was dead, the school's spirits had passed on, and Dayeon was alive and well beside me.
It was, in every sense, a happy ending.
“That was a good sleep.”
Dayeon stretched, letting out a strange noise like 'Ughyaak'.
It seemed she was finally coming to her senses.
She looked at me with wide, clear eyes.
“What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
Dayeon sidled up to me and placed a hand on my head. Then she patted it gently.
“Good job.”
“What's this?”
“I'm proud of you.”
I managed to pull Dayeon's hand away from my head. To be honest, I had a mountain of things I wanted to say.
But I didn't let it show.
This was Dayeon, after all. She would obviously just tease me relentlessly to get her kicks.
For that reason, I kept my mouth shut.
As I watched Dayeon yawn leisurely, an ominous thought struck me.
This can't be a dream, can it?
What if I actually failed to defeat the devil? If this whole scene is just my dream,
I could almost see the devil laughing, saying, ‘Looks like you're having a nice dream, eh?’
No, that can't happen. Fuck.
This was no time to be complacent.
I pinched my own cheek.
A sharp, stinging pain shot through it. Unable to bear it, I let out a groan.
“Damn, that hurts...”
Still, this was reassuring.
What was happening right now was not a dream.
I shook my hands and collected myself.
Suddenly, I felt Dayeon's gaze on me.
“Are you hurt somewhere?”
“No, I'm fine now.”
“That's a relief. And you shouldn't just pick things up off the ground and eat them.”
Dayeon looked after me with her own brand of concern. Normally, I would have brushed it off, but right now, I even missed this kind of banter.
“Anyway, are you okay?”
“I don't know.”
“No injuries?”
Dayeon tilted her head and felt herself over. Then she rolled up her sleeve. The embroidered scars from self-harm were clearly visible.
“These?”
“They're unsettling, don't do that.”
As I tried to look away, I had a hunch about the secret behind Dayeon's self-harm marks.
“Those scars... did you do that to yourself when you were alive?”
“...What do you think?”
Dayeon didn't give me a straight answer. But she hesitated slightly before speaking. It seemed my guess was spot on.
“Can you tell me what happened ten years ago?”
“Curious?”
Dayeon brought a finger to her lips. With an alluring gesture, she tilted her head.
“It's a secret.”
“...Figured as much.”
Dayeon still had more secrets I didn't know about. But it didn't really matter.
Just the fact that Dayeon, who had faced life and death with me in the school that morning, had returned alive and well was enough.
Just as I was savoring the joy of our escape, Dayeon muttered with a serious tone.
“...Thank you.”
For me, it had only been a day. But not for Dayeon.
She had spent ten long years bound to the devil.
I couldn't possibly not know how much this escape meant to her.
I hesitated to reply. I had no idea what to say.
I knew all too well that no words could truly comfort her.
After a moment of thought, I put on a smile and said loudly.
“So, what do you think? Am I not awesome?”
A self-praise completely devoid of consideration for others. This was the answer Dayeon truly wanted from me.
Anyone could offer clichéd words of empathy or comfort. That's why I didn't want to.
That kind of hollow comfort would only lead to a superficial conversation.
Therefore, there was only one thing to say to her.
To once again show her who I am.
That was all. It was also the best expression I could offer.
“...Yeah.”
Dayeon stared at me for a moment, then buried her face.
Was she happy? Relieved? Or was she thinking something else I didn't know?
I couldn't get a read on her at all. Before long, when Dayeon lifted her head,
“Huh.”
Tears were streaming down her face.
“Why am I crying...?”
It was a complete departure from the stoic expression she always wore. Tears flowed uncontrollably from Dayeon's eyes.
As if she were a person with feelings.
“Are you okay?”
“No..., I don't know why I'm like this either. But... I'm happy.”
And she gave me a bright smile.
It was a radiant smile I had never once seen during my time with Dayeon.
“See how much better you look when you smile? You should smile more often.”
Dayeon's emotions, which had only seemed black and white, began to take on vibrant colors.
The emotions used as ingredients for the holy water were returning to their rightful place.
At last, Dayeon was free from being a ghost. She had finally become a proper person, an individual with countless emotions dwelling in her heart.
“Done crying?”
“...Yeah.”
Dayeon nodded, her eyes still brimming with tears. Even as she said it, she seemed unable to fully believe the change in herself.
Even that was something that would resolve itself with time.
“Ready to go now?”
“Go where?”
“Where do you think?”
Without another word, I pointed to the school gate.
The moment we passed through that gate, it would be a final farewell to the cursed school.
“Aren't you sad to leave?”
“Not at all. I'm itching to get out of here as fast as possible.”
“Actually, me too.”
Dayeon gave a faint smile. She no longer maintained a stoic demeanor. Faintly, she was now expressing her true feelings.
It seemed awkward for her, being the first time, but it made me hopeful that she would show a wider range of emotions as time went on.
“Then let's go.”
“Okay!”
And so, we escaped the school.
Barely six hours had passed, but it had been a truly eventful experience.
[Chapter. 1 – The School]
【The End】
[Thank you for playing! You have successfully cleared Chapter 1!]
【Achievement Unlocked! - 「First Step into Unreality」】
**
The school at dawn, where not even a mouse, let alone a person, roamed.
Someone appeared, endlessly coughing up dark red blood.
[Ugh...]
It hurts.
Nausea washes over me.
The shock from before hadn't faded. My whole body still burned from the effects of the holy water.
[Those bastards...]
The devil staggered out of the basement.
Its body was melting away, and all the souls it had absorbed were escaping.
It was in a near-death state.
If just one more drop of holy water had touched her body, she would have truly been annihilated.
The desire to live and the obsession with revenge were barely holding the devil together.
But its condition was abysmal.
It was so precarious that even standing was a struggle.
In this state, it couldn't use its original powers. It had less than one percent of its strength.
The devil clenched its teeth. It thought of the one who had reduced it to this state.
[Lee Hyeon... how dare you reduce me to this?]
His irritating, cunning face came to mind. If it could, it would have folded him in half.
But it lacked the strength to do so now.
Besides, it couldn't leave the school in its true form.
To manifest in the real world, it needed immense power and a new vessel.
But with its current power, it could barely manifest a single finger. Still, there was a method that could be called its trump card.
[You think I'll give up just because of this?]
The devil dragged its broken body somewhere. It was Dayeon's room.
[Jin Dayeon... how dare you repay kindness with betrayal? I will never forgive you either...]
The devil sharpened its blade of vengeance. And it poured out all its malice, casting an indescribable curse upon the two of them.
It was a curse, the greatest and most wicked technique the devil could use. With this, Lee Hyeon and Jin Dayeon were bound by the devil's curse.
[I bestow a curse upon you...!]
Muttering this, the devil picked up a cat doll that had fallen on the floor.
Dolls have long been used as mediums for curses. They are effective at transmitting the power of malice.
The devil placed its hand on the doll. And it carved a magic circle into it.
[This time, I will act myself!]
Soon, the devil's soul scattered into the air and seeped into the doll.
No matter how much power it had lost, if it transferred its vessel and replenished its energy, regaining its original strength would not be a distant prospect.
And so, vowing revenge, the devil manifested directly into the real world.
...in the form of a cat doll.
**
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