The Assembly Hall
"Do you know what you are?"
"What, like 'know thyself' or something?"
"Something of the sort, one could say. But what I am asking runs deeper than that."
"Do you know, I wonder, what you are made of?"
What the hell is he talking about?
"Uh… blood and flesh?"
"Not the body. The soul."
How am I supposed to know that?
"That look on your face says you have no idea how you would know such a thing."
"…Has the Blade Lineage started teaching mind-reading these days?"
"It is simply that 'I' am always the same."
With that, the Blade Lineage version of me started walking again. I followed after him.
"So you're saying you know what I'm made of?"
"Of course. I took part in making you, after all."
…Made me?
"…What do you mean, made me? Me?"
"Hm? Ah — right. You would not know."
He turned back to face me.
"You are a being forged from the gathered mirrors of every 'me' in this place."
"…What?"
The truth hit me like a wave, and my consciousness reeled.
I was… made?
"Of course, it is not only you. We, too, are beings shaped from mirrors. But our colors had already bled into us so thoroughly that, while we could speak to one another, we could never interfere with each other."
"In that state, we entertained a rather interesting hypothesis."
"'What if we gathered fragments of our mirrors, little by little, and created a new being?'"
Thump—
Something deep in my chest began to thrash.
"The result was a success. Though you fell into a world other than the City, observation remained possible."
Cold sweat ran down my back. The world in front of me wavered.
"Originally, observation was all we could manage — we never expected interference to become possible. But once you entered that 'scenario' of yours, interference became viable in the form of Identities."
My breathing quickened. My heart hammered against my ribs.
"It has been rather entertaining, all this time. Which brings me to what I wished to ask you… You? Are you all right?"
A ringing started in my ears. My fingertips began to tremble.
It was a truth no sane mind could simply accept. Reason refused every attempt at judgment.
"…………!"
And just as my consciousness was about to slip away again—
WHAM—!
"Ghk…!"
"Snap out of it, you bastard!"
Pain lanced through my back and I barely managed to hold on to consciousness. I turned around to find another me standing there — chains draped over a body covered in tattoos.
"Augh… Why does this one keep losing his mind?"
"It seems the revelation that he is a created being struck him harder than expected."
"Ha. Over something that small? He ought to be more worried about—"
Trailing off, he crouched down to meet my eyes.
"—the part where you pointed a spear at Dokja."
"…What?"
Pointed a spear? Me? At Dokja?
"What are you talking about…"
"Tsk. You don't remember that either? You almost killed Dokja."
My eyes went wide. The chain-wrapped me rattled his chains and stood back up.
"Even if you don't remember, you're going to get an earful when you get back."
"Wait — is Dokja okay? What about Heewon and Hyunsung?"
"Do not worry. R Corp's 'me' is with them at present."
…Excuse me?
"Ever since you became aware of us, our ability to interfere has grown freer to a degree. That does not mean we can commandeer your body whenever we please, so rest easy…"
"Hold on."
I pushed myself up and grabbed the Blade Lineage me by the shoulder.
"That observation thing. Can you still do it?"
"I can, but…"
"Connect it. Now."
Something felt wrong. At my urgency, the Blade Lineage me walked over to the circular table at the center of the assembly hall, and a window appeared.
And what I saw was—
—…Ha, Hayeon?
Clench—
It was me, dressed in R Corp's distinctive gear, holding Dokja in my arms.
"Ah, come to think of it, R Corp's me did say he personally disposed of his own lover."
"Whoa~ And the second he sees her, he just goes in for the hug?"
…What the fuck?
"Hm? You look rather pale…"
"(A stream of curses that made the City's worst sound polite.)"
"…?"
Every pair of eyes in the room snapped toward me as the words poured out of my mouth. But every scrap of my attention was locked on the screen in front of me.
"You fucking piece of—!"
"Hey, hey! Somebody shut him up!"
The other mes came at me in a rush.
"Get the fuck off me! That bastard's got Dokja—!"
"Why the hell is this guy so strong?!"
I thrashed, and through the chaos the screen kept playing.
Slowly—
—Ha, Hayeon…?
R Corp's me raised a hand to Dokja's face now, gazing at her with tender eyes.
"FUCKING—!"
"This bastard's panicking! Hey, Middle — restrain him with those!"
Sounds that no longer resembled human language tore out of my throat as the Middle's chains wrapped around my body.
"I'll kill him! R Corp or not, I'll kill every last one of them!!"
"This bastard never even got the procedures and he's this strong?!"
Most of the mes in the assembly hall threw their strength into holding me down.
But then—
⚡ Strength:Lv 20 → Lv 30
5,000 Coins have been used.
Coins Remaining: 21,550C
"What the— why is this bastard getting even stronger?!"
"Out of my way!!!"
BOOM—!
I flung aside every 'me' that had been holding me down and seized the Blade Lineage me by the collar.
"Call that bastard back. Right now. And send me back."
"H-however…"
"Now."
"A-all right…"
Faced with a presence that looked ready to kill him on the spot, the Blade Lineage me hurried to the central table and began operating something. My vision started to blur.
"You will be back shortly. Please… I beg of you… do not do this again next time…"
Listening to the thoroughly exhausted voice of the Blade Lineage me, my consciousness sank once more.
"That bastard… is he gone…?"
"He is…"
The assembly hall that Park Hayeon had torn through was a wreck. Chairs and tables that had been neatly arranged now lay smashed and scattered across the floor, and countless Park Hayeons groaned as they pushed themselves upright.
"Haa… What the hell was that guy…"
"Well. We did agree not to touch each other's lovers, did we not?"
At the Blade Lineage Park Hayeon's words, the Middle Finger Park Hayeon cleared his throat and fell silent.
They shared information freely among themselves, but they had set a few hard rules. First: do not interfere with each other's ways of life. Second: do not meddle in matters concerning each other's lovers.
By those standards, what R Corp's Park Hayeon had done was a clear violation of the rules.
Footsteps—
"You're back, Crow? Do you have any idea what happened because of that stunt you pulled—"
The Middle Finger Park Hayeon never finished the sentence.
Because R Corp's Park Hayeon was smiling.
R Corp's Park Hayeon belonged to the Crow team. For a team whose job was to dispose of other teams, any interference from something like sympathy was unacceptable — so Crow operatives received emotion-suppression procedures as standard. To keep their feelings under control. To ensure the culling went off without a hitch.
And yet the Park Hayeon who had received those procedures was smiling.
"Hey… you…"
"…I found her. She was still alive…"
And then R Corp's Park Hayeon began to cry, and the other Park Hayeons' eyes went wide.
"…Is he crying right now? A Crow?"
"Seems… like it?"
R Corp's Park Hayeon had killed his own lover with his own hands. Under the banner of disposal, he had erased his other half.
…I told you to transfer to another department.
I couldn't. In the end, this was where I belonged.
That place is trying to erase your life right now…!
Even so — I'm glad it was you.
A Rabbit, smiling under a Crow's gaze.
If it's you, I can die willingly.
…
BANG—!
The trigger was pulled, and the Crow screamed. Swept under a wave of emotion that no procedure could suppress, the Crow could not breathe.
And just as he was drowning in that abyss of feeling—
Ha, Hayeon…?
The Crow found his other half again.
Holding down emotions that threatened to burst at any second, he carefully — so carefully — drew her into his arms. The warmth and breath against his chest threatened to shatter the dam all over again.
But he could not cross that line.
Because the jewel before his eyes was not his.
And so, when he returned to the assembly hall filled with other versions of himself, the Crow poured everything out.
Joy. Relief. Grief. Regret. Despair.
The cracked vessel that had held every kind of feeling shattered, and its contents spilled over.
And the other selves felt what he had poured out.
Thud—
A hand settled carelessly on his shoulder.
"…Hang in there."
It was the kind of thing said by someone who had never offered comfort in his life. But the other Park Hayeons knew it was the best the Middle could manage — and the Crow receiving it knew it too.
"Hic…!"
Once more, the assembly hall filled with the sound of a Crow weeping.
And there was not a single Park Hayeon anywhere who would stop it.