Chapter 176
I am something.
It’s a question that everyone wonders about at least once.
In the end, everyone puts off thinking it through when they can’t find an answer.
Tattered pages flutter in the wind.
There was something I had wondered about since the time I fought against the Reincarnator.
Could it be that I am also a Reincarnator?
What if I keep reincarnating, and my memory has been erased without me knowing?
I actually pondered this issue for quite a while and, after much contemplation, I reached a conclusion.
It’s a futile concern.
When determining what constitutes a person, the manual wrote this:
[What constitutes a human are the body, soul, and
I really don’t know what that
It could be something that skips over the body and soul, or perhaps it’s a difficult concept that gives me a headache just thinking about it.
But that’s not what’s important.
What is it that constitutes me?
The body? The soul?
In my opinion, those things are all secondary.
I have no memories of Kim Jae Heon, the one who was in the accounting team. I have no way of knowing who I was with, how I lived, how I died, or how I was sacrificed.
Conversely, does the me from the accounting team really have memories of Yu Da On, Jang Chae Yeon, and Song Ah Rin doing absurd things together, suffering through all of this?
I doubt it.
What constitutes a person could be the soul and the body.
However, what constitutes me is different.
It’s memory.
Even if there is another version of me in a different world, if that memory does not exist for me, then that is not me.
Thus, the other me from another world would, strictly speaking, be nothing more than a stranger to me.
But such thoughts would be beyond their understanding.
The strong do not ponder; everything flows smoothly for them.
On the other hand, the weak tend to worry.
Someone who only receives or loses everything wouldn’t think from the perspective of someone who is losing.
And so.
“I offer.”
– Chwa-ra-ra-rak!
The manual unfolds.
Pages of the manual endlessly flip.
What is it to offer?
Something that an ordinary person cannot offer.
Something only I can offer.
And yet, something that is distinctly different from me.
“What I offer is my past self.”
I recall a phrase I saw in the manual.
[5. I leave behind what I will offer for my future self.]
What can I give to myself?
In the face of death, what was my vow when I couldn’t find something to offer and instead offered my body?
It was predetermined.
The page in my hand shines brightly.
As the wind blows, the manual flips violently, but the page I hold seems to shine unaffected by the wind.
“Offer.”
A familiar voice is heard.
It was my voice.
I let go of the page I was holding.
The page flutters down to the ground,
– Tak!
And the manual closes as if it has completed its task.
And,
– Thud!
The inscription on the gravestone before me begins to change.
< Offered, offered, offered, did not offer. >
< No, I offered. >
< No, this is not an offering. >
< This is an offering. >
< That is not true. >
< That is true. >
As the words begin to change repeatedly,
< Incomprehensible. >
With those words, the inscription on the tombstone disappears.
The sky clears.
The gloomy sky is now brightly lit by sunlight, and,
“Jae Heon!”
Numerous gravestones have also vanished.
[Critical: 0 -> 1]
A translucent window flickers before me and disappears as Yu Da On rushes to me.
“Jae Heon, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
I look at the manual.
As if it had never been torn, the manual is back to a clean state in my hands.
Should I be sad about having torn a page, or was this also planned?
I lower my gaze and examine the manual.
At least the pages were not opened.
– Rumble…
The great gravestone cracks open in the middle, and,
“Wow, what is this?”
As if the gravestone were opening like a door.
Yu Da On mutters in wonder.
“Let’s go.”
I continue to think in my head and move my feet.
Once we enter, there will be someone to welcome us, and it will be a sequence of unknown trials starting from the priest.
Yet it gives tasks that can be solved.
This is completely,
“…a trial.”
Song Ah Rin, who had been quietly beside me, murmured.
“Ah Rin.”
“Yeah.”
Song Ah Rin turns her gaze toward me.
Has she become a bit more accustomed to it than before? Her eyes seem sharper compared to earlier.
“It seems like someone is giving you a trial.”
“That is one way to think about it.”
“Of course, if it’s you, you’d clear it without any issues…”
It’s too strangely familiar to hear such words from someone other than Yu Da On or Jang Chae Yeon.
As if she knows how I feel, Song Ah Rin continues.
“But still, let’s be careful.”
“Understood.”
We step over the gravestone that has turned into a door.
As if nothing had happened, the corridor of the isolation room unfolds before us once again.
“…Ugh.”
At that moment, Jang Chae Yeon groans and writhes.
“Hey, big brother.”
“I’m watching.”
Park Ye Eun carefully sets Jang Chae Yeon down, and soon Jang Chae Yeon opens her eyes.
“…”
Slowly opening her eyes, she looks at me.
“Are you okay, Chae Yeon?”
“…Yeah.”
Her response is a bit delayed, but she weakly nods.
How did this happen?
Song Ah Rin had to forcibly awaken her.
“Is everyone else?”
“They’re all awake.”
Jang Chae Yeon’s gaze shifts to Yu Da On and Song Ah Rin.
“…”
“…”
The eyes of Song Ah Rin and Jang Chae Yeon meet.
Song Ah Rin avoids Jang Chae Yeon’s gaze.
“That one seems a bit strange.”
Jang Chae Yeon mutters.
Truly exceptional observational skills.
“I have Da On connected right now.”
Jang Chae Yeon’s gaze turns to Yu Da On, who awkwardly smiles and avoids her gaze.
“It seems so.”
She nods and begins to move.
“Let’s go.”
We start walking again.
“Are you okay, Ah Rin?”
“…Yeah.”
Song Ah Rin slowly replies, and Jang Chae Yeon looks at her concernedly.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah?”
“You don’t have to worry. I’ve had it worse than this.”
What on earth could have happened?
But since she said it like that, I had nothing to say.
“By the way, Chae Yeon.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you have a bad dream?”
At my question, Jang Chae Yeon paused slightly and looked at me.
“…Yeah.”
“What kind of dream?”
“A bad dream.”
She simply says that and closes her mouth.
She must not want to talk about it.
“Understood.”
Then, I can’t push her to tell me either.
“Then, ahead…”
I turn my gaze forward,
And we all lose our words.
Before us stood the isolation room door.
But it seemed as if someone had forcibly yanked on the isolation room door.
The thick iron door had been bent in half and lay on the ground.
If that were all, it wouldn’t be so bad.
But inside the room was painted a dark red color.
As if someone obsessively painted the white walls in red.
“…The smell.”
Yu Da On frowned and murmured.
“I smelled blood when we were coming down the stairs. I think that was from here.”
“Is it severe?”
“It’s severe… How many did they kill?”
Yu Da On muttered.
“Let’s go.”
I turn around.
The door we passed through has vanished, and a wall blocks our way behind us.
It felt as if there was a determination to send us here no matter what.
Slowly, I step through the door.
“…”
As I pass through, I hear a sound.
“Guide us.”
“Fill us.”
“All of this is your grace.”
Many people were kneeling and praying.
“…”
If the people praying weren’t all dressed in suits like the Management Agency staff, and if the woman who handed me the cross earlier wasn’t kneeling there, I might have thought I had come to the wrong place.
‘The management team is no longer our ally.’
Is that what this means?
“…”
As I step inside, it seems that no one is paying any attention to our presence.
They are solely focused on their prayers, as if we don’t exist.
“…What do we do?”
Jang Chae Yeon murmurs and looks at me.
“…”
We can’t turn back. There’s no way out anyway.
What, am I supposed to fight all of these people?
I could do it.
I look at Song Ah Rin, and she tilts her head.
“Should we brainwash them all? If you want, I could make them commit suicide.”
“Wait.”
I step inside.
None of them seem to care about us.
Thick crimson liquid stains the soles of my shoes, and breathing through my mouth because of the terrible smell, I move forward.
Soon, a gigantic cross comes into view.
A translucent window appears.
[Name: Cross]
[Age: 3̸̡̭͖̪͇̻̝͔̬̯̋̐ͅ]
[Special Skill: Ability to serve the God.]
A translucent window appears, looking scratched.
What the hell is this?
I squint my eyes to see it better, and at that moment—
– Drip!
“Agggg!”
The translucent window flickers and disappears, and at the same time, the thread connecting Song Ah Rin and Yu Da On is severed.
Song Ah Rin screams and clutches her head, sinking to the ground.
“Ah, ugh…!”
“Ah Rin!”
Yu Da On hurriedly covers Song Ah Rin, and Jang Chae Yeon looks around.
But no one seems to care about this commotion at all.
“Jae Heon, Ah Rin is…!”
“I’m coming now!”
My eyes are malfunctioning.
To be precise, it resembles what happened when I saw the Red Lady straightforwardly.
I was just not blind this time.
I rush towards the four of them,
– Step, step…
Footsteps are audible.
Those footsteps belong to…
“That’s it.”
Jang Chae Yeon mutters, looking outside.
Her hand trembles slightly.
“That priest.”
The priest who knocked everyone out as soon as he saw them, except for Yu Da On.
Now, we’re meeting in this corridor?
If I collapse again, there’ll be no way to escape.
Should I use Critical?
I hastily draw my gun from my coat,
“…Huh.”
The translucent window is nowhere to be seen.
“…”
Blinking, I desperately look around, but I can’t see Critical nor any information about other people.
“…Huh…?”
And then, beside me, Jang Chae Yeon mutters in surprise and raises her hand.
“…I’m not moving.”
“…Oh, then I too?”
Yu Da On unconcernedly scratches her arm with her nail,
“…It’s real.”
Blood flows down her arm.
“Oh, big brother.”
Park Ye Eun and Yu Da On look at me in surprise, as does Jang Chae Yeon.
“Aaah…”
And Song Ah Rin, who is breathing heavily.
– Step, step…
The footsteps draw closer.
Think. Think. If I don’t think, we’ll all really die here.
I frantically recall stories I’ve heard, things I’ve seen.
A hand pointing to the ground, and a hand pointing upward.
And,
“…”
I sit beside Song Ah Rin, who is lying down.
“Everyone.”
I open my mouth to the people looking at me with confusion.
“Let’s pray.”
