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Observation. Taxidermy.

Lost in thought as a sound of something breaking resonates.

Yu Da On, and Jang Chae Yeon too.

I didn’t know about taxidermy, but I felt I knew about observation just from the name.

What kind of people were the three in another future?

Jang Chae Yeon reaches out and clenches her fist.

-Кwajik!

A crack appears in the glass marble.

<Spatial Tear: 2 times>

-Kung!

Another crack forms in the glass marble.

<Spatial Tear: 1 time>

-Ching!

Finally, as Jang Chae Yeon clenches her fist,

A sound of something shattering coincides with me and her rising upwards.

“Puhaht!”

“Kehlok…!”

With the sound of air whooshing up, our faces emerge above the water’s surface.

“Chae Yeon!”

“…Are we getting out?”

“Seems like it.”

I reach out my hand, and she takes it.

“But we’ve crossed the first hurdle, right?”

At my words, she smiles and grips my hand tightly.

Soon, we rise even higher,

Lost in thought as we ascend.

What is this necklace?

Is it merely crafted to inflict pain?

Yet the things I’ve seen don’t add up.

Duplicating people, and the horrific flesh, and finally, just a necklace that causes suffering.

None of it makes sense.

Even if the flesh and the duplicating people have some correlation, why does this necklace provoke trauma in people?

A dazzling light shines in my eyes—

My consciousness cuts off there.

*

“…”

I jolt awake.

Turning my eyes to the side, I see Jang Chae Yeon sleeping beside me with her eyes closed, but Song Ah Rin is nowhere to be found.

“A-Rin, A-Rin…?”

As I call for Song Ah Rin, I feel an odd discomfort in my throat and place my hand on it.

Quickly putting my hand to my neck, I hear a metallic clink.

My head didn’t hurt.

Am I okay?

I turn my hand to pull the necklace off and look at it.

Soon, a translucent window reappears above my eyes.

[Name: Proof of Love]

[Age: -]

[Special Skill: Enlargement]

[Talent: Propagation]

[Background: No one is perfect. The necklace knows this all too well.]

[Weakness: Do not get too enchanted by their whispers. If not wearing the necklace, ensure there are no people around. If there are many people around, wear the necklace. Only one person needs to be sacrificed.]

The special skill has changed.

It was definitely “whispers” before.

Propagation, propagation.

What does it mean to propagate? And how does the “company” use this necklace?

So much conflicting information.

“Are you awake?”

I lift my head at the voice coming from behind.

“A-Rin.”

Song Ah Rin is walking toward me.

“Where have you been?”

“I was organizing things since I didn’t know when you’d wake up.”

“Organizing?”

“Yeah.”

Song Ah Rin mumbles, looking at me.

A composed expression.

“All the others ran away, right?”

“Probably.”

She mumbles and looks away.

“A-Rin.”

“What?”

“Are you okay?”

Her gaze meets mine as she was looking elsewhere.

“…Yeah. I’m okay.”

She quietly smiles.

It was a smile that felt too calm to fit the chaotic situation.

“I have a lot to say, but…”

“Now’s not the time, is it?”

“Yeah.”

The floor was all scratched up and burnt, and the people who had been there just a moment ago were gone.

“Chae Yeon…”

“She’ll wake up soon.”

Song Ah Rin mutters as she glances at Jang Chae Yeon.

“I think she’s coming to.”

“Ugh…”

As soon as Song Ah Rin finishes her sentence, Jang Chae Yeon groans and sits up.

Once she sits up, she looks around,

“…Oh.”

Our eyes meet, and she smiles gently.

“You’re awake.”

“Chae Yeon, you woke up a bit late.”

“Sorry.”

“I didn’t mean to say you should be sorry.”

Jang Chae Yeon shakes herself off and looks at the necklace I’m holding.

“You took it off?”

“It came off easily.”

“…”

Jang Chae Yeon nods and starts walking, with me and Song Ah Rin following behind.

“…”

I glance over at Song Ah Rin’s expression.

She’s walking as if nothing happened.

But it’s even more unsettling that she seems so unfazed.

I clear my throat and look at Song Ah Rin.

“A-Rin.”

“Yeah.”

“I have something on my mind.”

“…”

She turns her gaze toward me.

Should I directly mention what happened before?

I recall Song Ah Rin’s face as she looked at me.

Feelings tend to wear down over time.

I can’t say for certain what connection her earlier emotions have with the past, but there’s no need to trigger any sensitive areas now.

Let’s switch to a different topic for now.

“Isn’t there something strange about the necklace?”

“Strange?”

“Right now, we can’t hear any sound at all, can we?”

At my words, Song Ah Rin tilts her head.

“Maybe it’s because you broke it?”

“But the necklace itself didn’t break.”

“Hmm…”

Song Ah Rin rests her chin on her hand, lost in thought.

“It could be in a quiet state.”

“In a quiet state?”

“At the very least, it’s true that people were created through that necklace.”

“How do you know?”

“I found out before you woke up.”

Song Ah Rin holds up her hand.

Something dark and muddy is smeared on it.

“I pulled this weird thing out of that flesh, and they were crafting people with it.”

“…Did you touch that?”

“Yeah.”

“…”

If my memory serves me right, Song Ah Rin was nauseated when she first saw that sight. How could she even touch it?

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah. Once I touched it, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. It just smelled a bit and had some of the people’s screams mixed in.”

Watching Song Ah Rin mumble as if it’s nothing made me uneasy, but that wasn’t the main issue right now.

We have things to resolve first.

“A-Rin.”

“Yeah.”

“What about the presence up ahead?”

“Looks like a person.”

Song Ah Rin mumbles,

“Stop.”

Before her words end, Jang Chae Yeon extends her hand to block us and glares ahead.

“…”

A robot in a suit is seated there.

“Oh dear, this business is a flop too, such a failure.”

It was the robot we saw when we joined the company.

Its face wore a sad expression, but it looked so comically ridiculous like something out of a cartoon that it didn’t evoke any feelings in me.

As Jang Chae Yeon immediately raises her hand, its body rises into the air, and it screams as it crumples.

“Oh no! Just spare my life!”

“Why should I save you?”

At Jang Chae Yeon’s words, it quickly continues.

“This time, I didn’t kill many people!”

“…So how many is ‘not many’?”

“One! It was structured so that only one had to be sacrificed!”

“I’m going to break it.”

“Please spare me!”

“Wait a moment.”

I raise my hand to stop Jang Chae Yeon and turn to the robot.

There was something I wanted to ask.

It gazes at me with a saddened expression.

“Are you going to save me?”

“Giving you a chance based on your answers.”

“Oh, thank you!”

“…”

I subtly jab Jang Chae Yeon’s arm from behind, and only then does she remain silent.

It nods repeatedly.

“What do you want to know?”

“The necklace. What is it?”

“Oh, you’re asking about the necklace.”

The robot begins to explain.

“Desires can soon become principles.”

“What?”

“That necklace makes people enlarge. Not just their bodies, but everything.”

“…”

“If the body, mind, and soul all grew larger, what would happen?”

“Not sure.”

“It would leak out.”

It nods.

“If only the body leaks, or only the mind, or only the soul, that wouldn’t mean much.”

“…”

“But if everything leaks at the same time, and you could contain it in a leather bag…”

“You could create a new person, right?”

“Going deep into it can be different, but it’s similar logic.”

It nods again.

“…”

Did a reincarnator wish for this?

Why?

“Of course, that process involves immense pain.”

“Pain?”

“Adding something is like endlessly feeding someone.”

“…”

“Usually, if you get full, you stop eating. But if you threaten someone, ‘Eat or I’ll kill you’, they will.”

“That method involves tormenting their weakness?”

“That depends on the choices made by the necklace.”

“…”

“You’re impressive.”

“What?”

“Usually, no. Most can’t endure it.”

The robot gazes at the necklace.

“Thinking about how many employees were lost when we found this… Ugh. The chairman was furious.”

It looks at the necklace with eager excitement.

“So, will you save me?”

“No.”

I signal Jang Chae Yeon, and she tightens her fist.

“Oh no! I knew this would happen!”

The robot’s face turns red.

“But even without me, there are other executives…!”

-Puruhk!

Before it finishes its sentence, Jang Chae Yeon tightens her fist.

Blood splatters out.

Blood?

I unconsciously shift my gaze toward the robot.

Blood is pooling heavily on the floor.

“…I see.”

Song Ah Rin mumbles as she approaches and squats down to look.

“This explains why it still feels sentient, even though it’s a robot.”

“This is human?”

“No. But it used human materials.”

Song Ah Rin mutters as she gazes at the blood.

“It felt like they mixed in some mechanical devices based on a person’s brain.”

“…”

As I stand there speechless staring at the robot,

From a distance, I hear something rolling.

They must be evacuating, and it’s likely coming this way.

“…Let’s return the necklace.”

That unsettling feeling seemed unlikely to disappear.

I slowly open the manual.

[Manual for Office Staff]

RC – Break Time

1. The manual takes a day off.

It left those words, and then nothing was visible in the manual.

Why does the manual need a day off?

“…”

I recall the scenes I witnessed.

Why was that my fear?

I was just someone lacking knowledge.

My gaze slowly shifts back to the manual.

I think of the unsettling sights the manual didn’t really fear.

How can one feel fear over events they never experienced?

If this was the past the manual feared?

“…”

Fiddling with the necklace, I wonder as I trace over the cover of the manual.

“Is this your vision of the future?”

Countless scenes of my death.

Naturally, the manual offers no response.

*

The events following were strangely smooth.

The branch chief accepted the necklace without saying a word, just nodding.

“I’m going to use this on Kim Wan Woo.”

“Use it?”

“It’s better if you don’t know. I’ll let you know after it’s used.”

She said that with a smile and closed the office door again.

The moment I returned to my seat, waiting was Yu Da On, who was only working at her computer with an expressionless face.

Her fingers moved swiftly as she worked.

“…Oh!”

As I opened the door, her emotionless face broke into a bright smile, and she rushed toward me with wide eyes.

“Kim Jae Heon! You’re back early!”

“Early? I did have a business trip for about a day,”

“That’s early!”

Yu Da On smiled as she looked at me, but

“…Huh?”

She blinked at Song Ah Rin behind me.

A shadow of confusion crossed her expression.

“…”

“Da On?”

“Oh, er, yeah?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Um, well…”

Yu Da On stammered, glancing at Song Ah Rin.

“A-Rin seems a bit strange.”

“Strange?”

“…No, it’s nothing for me to worry about…”

“What?”

“Nothing!”

She mumbled and looked back at me with a smile.

“While you were away, um, um… There’s not much to report!”

“Ah, I see.”

“Oh! There is one thing!”

Yu Da On nodded.

“They said we need to take a psychological test?”

“A psychological test?”

“Yes!”

She said with a smile, nodding energetically.

“It’s for the mental health check of the office staff!”

“When?”

“Tomorrow! Other departments have already done it, and we’re the last!”

Tomorrow?

*

That’s strange.

Mental health team member Kim Ji Woo couldn’t believe the sight before her.

A black-haired woman gazing blankly at her.

Was it Yu Da On from the Human Resources Team?

There was no trace of emotion in her eyes.

“You’re really okay.”

“Yes.”

At Kim Ji Woo’s words, the woman identified as Yu Da On nods.

Kim Ji Woo mumbles while looking at the chart.

“…With a trauma score this high…”

“It’s fine, I assure you.”

The black-haired woman smiles at her.

“You seem overly worried, Teacher.”

The smile had no trace of emotion,

“…”

Even that made Kim Ji Woo flinch in fear.