Chapter 130
After hearing that he must be killed, Yu Da On was out of her mind.
Just thinking about it made her stomach churn, and after he had left with Song Ah Rin and Jang Chae Yeon, she found herself clutching the wall, gagging.
“I’m happy right now,” she had once smiled and said to him.
It wasn’t a lie.
She was truly happy.
Though her life had been tough since childhood, it was not just because it was hard.
Because of that, she couldn’t even contemplate the possibility of him dying for her.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.
Jang Chae Yeon had always said to him, “Trust me.”
How could someone say they trust so easily?
What if Jang Chae Yeon’s trust led him to his death?
That was something he could not do.
Because Yu Da On couldn’t comprehend the burden her trust might place on him, she couldn’t say she trusted him.
But that wasn’t all.
Trust was a concept far removed from her.
She couldn’t even trust herself.
How could someone who couldn’t trust themselves trust another person?
Gazing blankly at the man running ahead of her, she kept on thinking.
<Fourth - Progression>
She recalled the phrase she had seen in the room that one can’t exit unless…
What was that phrase again?
She knew even without seeing it. The wish that Yu Da On held was so presumptuous yet continued to linger.
And she didn’t want to abandon that wish.
Thus, there was something she could do.
Yu Da On’s eyes turned towards the man running beside her.
As usual, he pulled out the manual.
“…Help me.”
She had to find what she desired.
[Manual for Office Staff]
[SX – Room that one cannot leave unless XX]
0. If you find yourself alone in the room, there is a way to reflect the wish of the person who put you there.
0-1. The method is as follows.
This time would be different.
*
Yu Da On ran like a madwoman alongside him.
Asking where the others were was momentarily overlooked, as she ran alongside me, trembling despite looking at my face.
Before long, her breath, which had been shaky, stopped.
“…”
“…”
The two of them ran together.
However, simply fleeing wouldn’t solve anything.
The ceiling crumbled like sand.
Gazing vaguely out the window, what appeared was a world glowing in golden light.
[Name: – ]
[Age: – ]
[Specialty: – ]
[Talent: – ]
[Background: The great day approaches. Ghksnan and dafj’s day, the day of golden akdljfa and adjfal’s demise, the dark and adk;fslka day, the day of clouds and darkness.]
[Weakness: – ]
And gradually, my vision began to fail.
– Thud!
A rock burst through the wall and flew.
“Da On!”
[Cronos’ Shield: 10 seconds]
As Yu Da On reached out her hand, a translucent veil unfolded, blocking the rock.
“Just a little longer! Once we return, make sure to tell us what happened!”
The more the management agency fell into ruin, the harder it became to find the way.
Now, we might not be able to use the elevator at all.
I pulled out the manual from my pocket.
[Manual for Office Staff]
[ ]
The manual showed nothing.
– Thud!
I ducked to avoid the incoming rock.
It was still fine.
But a door for one person wouldn’t open.
“Da On.”
At my words, Yu Da On looked at me.
“I’ll buy you some time.”
Without even a critical hit, how long could I hold out against that?
“…”
Yu Da On looked at me.
I couldn’t let her worry.
“I’ll hold on and give it my all.”
I pulled out a pistol from my pocket.
Alright. Let’s do my best.
If I converse and judge him as best as I could, maybe I’d be lucky enough to land a critical hit.
– Squelch…
Before I knew it, the ceiling crumbled, and golden light poured down upon us.
In the light, reminiscent of a sunset, Yu Da On looked at me and nodded.
As if realizing something, her gaze drifted far away.
“I understand.”
“…Thank you.”
Finally, she had made up her mind.
“Then let’s go this way.”
“Da On, did you find the way?”
“I just read the manual.”
“Oh, really?”
“Since it’s dangerous, it’s surprisingly easy to grasp.”
As if nonchalantly replying, Yu Da On started moving.
Leading me, she began to run again.
We move deeper into the management agency, avoiding the light as much as possible.
How long had we run?
Yu Da On halted and looked back at me.
“This is it.”
“Yeah?”
Behind her door stood a single glass door.
This wasn’t an elevator or stairs, though?
“You mean the manual taught you about a place like this?”
“Yeah. I heard it would open if Jae Heon was here?”
Yu Da On said casually.
“If I’m here, then I should be okay.”
Yu Da On smiled at me.
She opened the door.
What appeared before my eyes was…
<Room that one cannot leave unless XX>
“What?”
As I murmured,
– Wham!
Yu Da On forcefully bumped into me from behind.
“Cough!”
Being pushed into the room, I fell face-first, and Yu Da On looked down at me.
The manual unfolded.
[Manual for Office Staff]
[SX – Room that one cannot leave unless XX]
1. The room appears randomly in the Gangseo Branch, and the employees must either wander alone or not together with those they don’t get along with until the room returns to its original position.
2. The room is not an indecent facility. Employees of the management agency desiring secret meetings should seek another room.
3. The room will never open until each person’s achievable level of deepest desires is fulfilled.
4. The sign expresses each person’s deepest desires.
5. Note: Recently, some management agency employees have attempted to commit planned murders using these rooms. If caught, such personnel will be subject to resignation, and the management agency will not take responsibility for it.
“My wish is…”
Yu Da On murmured as she looked at the wall of the room.
Words started to appear on the sign.
<Room that will not open until Yu Da On dies>
“Da On!”
– Thud!
The door slammed shut.
Yu Da On looked at me through the glass door.
“Jae Heon.”
“Da On, please don’t do anything crazy and just open the door!”
“…”
Golden light poured down above her head.
Yu Da On clasped her hands together.
Somehow, she was already crying.
“Da On!”
Her eyes met mine.
“I…”
Yu Da On whispered from beyond the door, looking at me.
“I’ve never been afraid of death.”
“…Da On!”
The golden light brighter than the sunset shone on her body.
“But now I think I understand. How terrifying it is to die.”
Her gently clasped hands were trembling.
“To have my existence vanish, is such a frightening thing.”
As the golden light shone down on her shoulder, Yu Da On was looking at me.
“However…”
She lowered her hands and looked at me.
“…”
“What’s scarier than that, I think I might have discovered.”
“…”
In Yu Da On’s watery eyes, I could see my reflection.
“What scares me more is, Jae Heon dying.”
“…”
Yu Da On wiped her tears.
“I might have said this before.”
“Da On, stay calm and just open the door…”
“I once said I could die for you about three hundred times, right?”
Her shoulders kept shifting like sand, returning to their original form repeatedly.
The person called Yu Da On was, in a word, collapsing.
“So I’ll stay here.”
“…”
“Jae Heon.”
“Da On, there’s still a way. We just need to endure here together. Please come inside quickly! We just need to enter together!”
“I read the manual just now, and it said there could be variables.”
I quickly glanced at the manual.
The previously opened manual had closed and was merely showing its cover.
“That’s still uncertain—”
“Do you know, Jae Heon?”
Yu Da On looked at me.
Even as her body shimmered like sand below the golden light, her smile shone brighter than anything else.
“I’m very happy right now.”
– Thud!
A gigantic boulder hit her body, and amidst the dazzling golden light, she turned and sprinted towards someone.
Soon, resonating with the brilliant golden light came the sound of drums.
– Dong, dong, dong…
– Thud! Thud!
Sounds of something falling and breaking, along with screams of people, and I could hear Yu Da On’s voice.
Under the relentless golden light, a familiar man’s face and Yu Da On were facing each other, discussing something.
The man glared at her, his eyes wide open, while she looked at him with the same smile as always.
Finally, as the golden light shone down intensely, that noise vanished into the drumbeats.
“…Open.”
– Thud!
I kicked the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Hurry.”
I gripped the manual with both hands.
“Quickly, tell me.”
[Manual for Office Staff]
“Hurry!”
I shouted as if going mad, holding the manual.
[Manual for Office Staff]
Yet, the manual did not flip to any pages.
I saw nothing.
Regardless, the door remained closed for two hours.
*
– Creak…
The words on the sign faded away.
As the door opened, a sharp smell hit my nose, and the golden light that had descended from the sky vanished, replaced by sand, like a desert spread all around.
Could it be that everyone had turned to sand?
“Chae Yeon!”
There was no answer to calm my heart.
“A-Rin!”
No irritated replies came.
“Da On…!”
That ever-smiling face was also nowhere to be seen.
“…”
Struggling through the suffocating sand, I forced my feet to move.
How long had I walked?
Amidst the countless debris, only the Branch Chief’s desk remained intact in its rightful place.
I slowly tapped the desk.
As the desk opened, the now tedious basement appeared.
Unlike before, I walked down the floor alone.
“…”
And before my eyes, an iron door that had just opened lay.
[Name: Iron Door]
[Age: X ]
[Specialty: X ]
[Talent: Selection]
[Background: The door opened for humanity’s last hope.]
[Weakness: – ]
Humanity’s last hope, huh.
Was there really a need to go this far?
As I stepped inside, a chilling aura welcomed me, accompanied by numerous mechanical devices.
Slowly, I moved forward.
Soon, what lay before me was…
“…A clock?”
A lone pocket watch quietly rested on the desk.
A translucent window appeared above the clock.
[Name: ]
[Age: – ]
[Specialty: Winding]
[Talent: Winding]
[Background: Humanity’s final bastion continues to operate painfully by skipping through numerous times.]
[Weakness: If used a little longer, this clock will meet its end as well.]
“…”
Did I really have to go through all this for such a tiny thing?
I picked up the clock and looked at it.
Where the hour and minute hands should be was only a winding knob.
I grasped the winding knob.
– Creak.
As I turned the knob, the world began to distort.
With a horrifying wave of nausea, the world spun around.
“…Huh?”
I was standing on the Branch Chief’s desk.
For a moment, the Branch Chief stared at me in shock, but her expression quickly turned serious.
“…Did you use the clock?”
After a brief silence, the Branch Chief looked at me.
“Yes.”
“…Let’s talk.”
With a composed expression, she gazed at me.
“Before that, Branch Chief.”
“…Yes.”
I asked her for the date.
Before being taken to the mountain.
Since I had already met Aileen at this time, the fish and vitamins had disappeared.
“Branch Chief.”
“…”
The Branch Chief stared at me with wide eyes.
“I’m fighting against a reincarnator.”
The Branch Chief’s eyes widened in shock.
Time had not reversed.
