Chapter 176
Chapter 176
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: ACT.32 Paradise (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Grrrr.
When I touched one side of the wall, a faint sound echoed as a hidden passage opened.
The children, intrigued, cautiously followed me.
We walked down the passage for a while.
Then, an interior that looked too much like a building to be inside a mine was revealed.
'So it was a laboratory.'
I peered inside through the small window on the laboratory door.
Three researchers could be seen bustling about.
And several people were on operating tables.
"Ugh, ahhhh!!"
"Kuaaack! S-save me!!!!"
Their hands and feet were bound, unable to move, as they screamed their lungs out.
Some were players, some were not.
They were the subjects of Paradise's biological experiments.
The researchers watching them showed no emotion, as if they were looking at lab rats.
This meant it wasn't the first or second time they had done something like this.
"W-what's that sound?"
"Don't look."
I stretched out my arm to block the children's view.
It was not a pleasant sight for children.
Even watching it through a game screen hadn't felt good, but seeing it in person was deeply unsettling.
I flicked my hand, controlling the darkness.
The darkness slipped through the crack in the door and slowly settled beneath the researchers' feet.
"Huh?"
"What is this? ...Gack!"
"Gurgle!"
The researchers, who had been bewildered by the jelly-like darkness at their feet, were all impaled and killed instantly.
After telling the children to wait for a moment, I opened the door and entered the lab.
In that short time, the ones being experimented on had already died.
Too late.
I clicked my tongue softly and took a keycard from a researcher's clothes.
With this, I could go directly to the deeper parts of the mine through another door in the lab.
Swoosh.
I moved the darkness to disintegrate the bodies.
Bloodstains remained here and there, but I couldn't erase those.
Leaving the children outside any longer could lead to unnecessary trouble.
"Come in."
At my words, the two hesitantly and cautiously entered.
The instruments laid out all exuded a sinister aura, and with the people who had been screaming horribly just moments ago now gone, they must have guessed I'd done something.
From their perspective, they probably didn't want to ask.
"What is this place...?"
Instead, Jo Min-ah carefully asked an indirect question.
I told her the clean truth.
"A human experimentation lab."
"..."
"There's someone I need to rescue here. We'll leave once I get them."
"Huh? Is someone you know trapped here?"
"Not someone I know, exactly... More like the family of an acquaintance?"
"We have to save them quickly. Who knows what they've been through, trapped in a place like this... Ugh."
Jo Min-woo shuddered.
I deliberately didn't answer and walked further inside.
Paradise fundamentally dislikes the very existence of players, so they intensively research the principles behind their powers.
How to eliminate a player's power. How to infuse a non-player with a player's power.
They were trying to understand the mechanism by which the system operates.
In the story, they are destroyed before their research is complete, so they don't fully succeed, but it's not a complete failure either.
They were about halfway successful.
The reason I can say that...
"Min Ji-ah-ssi. Is that you?"
...is because of this woman's existence.
"W-who are you?"
A small, single room.
The only window was a tiny one on the door, but even that was barred, making escape impossible.
Inside, a woman with badly damaged hair stood pressed against the wall opposite the bars, her face full of suspicion.
Min Ji-ah.
Min Dan-ah's older sister, and a person who would later awaken as the 'Guide of Madness' and become a powerful enemy.
"You don't look like you're from the research institute..."
Min Ji-ah's eyes, which had been scanning me, landed on the children.
Jo Min-ah and Jo Min-woo, who were also frightened by the lab's atmosphere, were sticking close to my side as if relying on me.
Seeing this, Min Ji-ah's wariness visibly lessened.
'It worked.'
I faintly raised the corners of my mouth.
It was worth bringing the children along.
The mere presence of children has the subtle effect of lowering one's guard.
A person whom such children follow well.
Just appearing that way was enough to lower Min Ji-ah's defenses.
"Oppa, is she the one you were looking for?"
"There's a high chance."
"Uh, wait. She looks like someone... Where have I seen her?"
Jo Min-woo tilted his head.
Of course, she looks familiar.
"I told you earlier. She's an acquaintance's family member."
To others, siblings look alike.
Even if they themselves don't see it.
"Are you perhaps from the outside?"
Min Ji-ah asked cautiously.
'It was never clearly revealed how Min Ji-ah ended up in Paradise, but I could make a rough guess.'
She must have been captured by Paradise long ago.
That's the only way the timing makes sense for her to lose her mind and awaken as the Guide of Madness right after Min Dan-ah's death.
And if she were captured, she would naturally be in this research facility.
Why? Because her first appearance was in this mine.
In the end, my thinking was correct.
"That's right. You are Min Ji-ah-ssi, correct?"
"Y-yes! But how do you know my name...?"
"I was asked by Min Dan-ah-ssi."
Min Ji-ah's eyes widened.
A tear fell without warning.
"She's... alive. My sister. Thank goodness. Thank goodness. *Sob. Sob...*"
Min Ji-ah wiped her tears with her sleeve, but they wouldn't stop.
Moved by the sight, the children's eyes also welled up with tears.
After waiting for Min Ji-ah's tears to stop, I immediately began questioning her.
"Min Ji-ah-ssi. Do you know why they are holding you captive?"
"They say I possess madness... *hic*. They only say strange things. That if they can just unleash the madness I have, I'll become the ultimate weapon."
"Escaping..."
"I can't. They said if I run, they'll find my sister and kill her horribly. And they're the kind of bastards who would do it."
Min Ji-ah, who had been answering clearly, trembled.
The ultimate weapon. That wasn't wrong.
In her Guide of Madness state, Min Ji-ah was difficult enough to deal with to be ranked among the top threats.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to consider her the true boss of the Paradise arc.
Min Ji-ah is unaware that she has a talent for madness.
Therefore, to awaken the madness within Min Ji-ah, Paradise orchestrates an incident.
They attack, toy with, and then murder Min Ji-ah's sister, Min Dan-ah.
When they deliver a fabricated account of her sister's gruesome end, Min Ji-ah, who had been barely holding on, snaps and descends into darkness, becoming the Guide of Madness.
"I was worried they might have already killed my sister and were just using her as a threat... I'm so glad she's alive."
"They will try to kill her."
"What?"
Min Ji-ah's face, which had brightened for a moment, froze in a smile.
"Think about what they said. 'Unleash your madness and become the ultimate weapon.' 'Find and kill your sister.'"
Min Ji-ah's face turned deathly pale.
The easiest way to drive someone mad is to kill their family.
What Paradise told Min Ji-ah was a threat to keep her from escaping, but it was also something they planned to do anyway, whether she ran or not.
"P-please save my sister! Please!! I don't care if I'm trapped here!!"
"Calm down. It will be fine."
"You just said they're going to kill my sister! How can I possibly calm down!? Huh!?"
"I came with countermeasures in place."
Vvvvmm.
Just then, a regular vibration came from my pocket.
Caller: Jeong Ha-yeon.
There was only one reason Jeong Ha-yeon would be calling.
"This will be good news for you."
I'd set my phone to vibrate so I wouldn't be discovered while infiltrating. I took it out, answered the call, and switched to video mode.
Min Ji-ah, who had been on the verge of a hysterical fit, stared blankly at my smartphone.
-You were right, Se-hyeon-ssi. There were guys trying to target Min Dan-ah-ssi.
Jeong Ha-yeon's voice came through.
At the mention of her sister's name, Min Ji-ah flinched and immediately focused on the call.
"You confirmed the mark, I assume?"
-Of course. They had the mark you told me about. It's definitely Paradise's work. By the way, who is that next to you...?
"This is Min Ji-ah-ssi. Min Dan-ah-ssi's older sister."
-Huh!? Unni? You're there? Unni! I'm here!
On the screen, Min Dan-ah appeared, smiling and waving.
Pressed by this series of events, Paradise had only one option.
Just like in the original game, they would kill Min Dan-ah and then lie, saying 'some players dishonored and then killed her,' to trigger Min Ji-ah's awakening.
After all, there was no other way to instantly plunge Min Ji-ah into madness.
Knowing this, dealing with it was easy.
-You know, I've been trying so hard to find you. Along the way, I became a player and met a lot of good people. Kim Se-hyeon-ssi, the one there with you, helped me so much... and...
Min Dan-ah, visible on the screen, finally burst into tears.
-I'm so glad you're alive, Unni.
"Ah..."
Min Ji-ah's body seemed to crumble.
Then, with a face that didn't know what expression to make, she laughed intermittently.
"Thank goodness. Thank... goodness... Really..."
She muttered like that for only a moment.
Before long, Min Ji-ah's face turned fearsome, and she shot to her feet.
Her emotions were volatile.
"Those sons of bitches...! I'll never forgive them, never!"
"Do you have the strength for that?"
"That's..."
Min Ji-ah bit her lip.
She was trapped here precisely because she didn't have that strength.
I know.
That's why I asked.
I know the solution.
"Just as Paradise said, you possess great power, Min Ji-ah-ssi. However, if you try to use it recklessly, you will lose your sanity. That is the nature of madness."
"...Do I really have... madness inside me?"
I nodded.
Because in Min Ji-ah's status window, as seen through Extreme Eye, the trait 'Madness (B)' was clearly listed.
The Madness trait doesn't activate constantly.
It's a trait that activates when a specific trigger is met, and once activated, it's difficult to deactivate.
The person gets consumed by the trait.
That was one way to describe it.
"Just listening to this conversation, it sounds so chuunibyou."
"Min-woo, shh."
"...However, I know a way to control it."
If used correctly, madness can be a great asset.
A berserker.
A monstrous warrior who rampages on the battlefield.
Not letting one's entire mind be consumed by madness, but being able to draw it out only when needed.
'The troublesome Guide of Madness will become our ally.'
Normally, it would be impossible to come here and resolve this in advance due to quest area restrictions.
But now that the restrictions are lifted, I can use the information I have to resolve future events ahead of time.
'It would be good if she didn't awaken at all, but.'
If her madness is bound to be revealed someday anyway.
It's not bad to proceed in this manner from the start.
Min Ji-ah immediately clung to the bars.
"W-what is it!?"
"I'll tell you after we get out. Ah, but we're not leaving just yet. There's something I need to do."
Now that I think about it, I hadn't let her out.
I used the keycard I picked up earlier to unlock the door.
Min Ji-ah's face looked considerably more at ease as she cautiously stepped out.
"Then..."
"We'll start by blowing up this mine."
Smiling, I used the keycard to open the passage leading deeper into the mine.
I hadn't even given the order yet, but the children immediately moved ahead.
"Hyung! We just have to smash and destroy everything like last time, right!?"
"I'll make sure they can never repair it!"
They're enthusiastic.
I chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah. Destroy everything."
It was late at night, so there were no miners digging for Stigma in the tunnels.
The only ones my detection picked up were those focused on guarding the exterior.
The pumped-up children dashed off after getting my permission, and I also began to move.
"Um, if we destroy the mine, the people outside will come to attack. If someone comes and finds our tracks, they'll heighten security. Won't we be trapped...?"
"That kind of person,"
With a snap of my fingers, Zeta and the assassin squad emerged from the shadows.
Min Ji-ah gasped in surprise, covering her mouth.
"won't exist."
Anyone who enters this area and discovers our tracks simply won't exist.