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Yu Da On and I hurriedly ran back.

Monsters were chasing us from close behind, and off in the distance was Yu Da On, staring intently at us.

As we ran, I assessed Yu Da On’s condition.

She seemed lost in thought, not saying a word.

It was understandable. If I suddenly turned into a monster, I would be just as shocked and bewildered.

However, there was no time to calm her down right now.

– Whoosh!

I ducked to evade the claws that flew toward me from behind.

Even while barely managing to escape, I couldn’t even grasp how to survive this situation.

I hastily exited through a door and started sprinting down the first underground passage I spotted.

The cold air brushed against my cheeks.

The pistol was of little help for crowd control, and butane gas would have to be used at closer range, so it wasn’t much use either.

Isn’t there something more useful? Seriously.

While cursing inwardly and rummaging through my pockets, I grasped something round.

I remembered the man in sunglasses saying it would come in handy someday.

“Ugh!”

I turned my body and threw the round object with all my strength.

The black sphere dropped in front of the monsters, and—

– Boom!

A terrifying explosion erupted, sending smoke billowing into the air.

“Let’s go!”

I grabbed Yu Da On’s wrist and began to run.

Initially, I wondered if the smoke would affect them, considering they didn’t have eyes to begin with, but nothing chased after us while we fled.

*

“Ha… ha…”

I leaned against the wall, catching my breath.

The damp air of the old underground passage felt suffocating.

“…”

Yu Da On stared silently at the floor, seemingly unfazed by the chaos around us.

Only after a moment of catching my breath could I check on her.

“Kim Jae Heon.”

She looked at me calmly.

“Yes.”

“I have one request. Is that okay?”

“…”

She locked eyes with me.

“We have to kill that thing, no, ‘me.'”

“…”

I had anticipated that response.

“But how?”

“…That’s the question.”

Yu Da On looked at the ceiling with a despondent smile.

“If I can’t even kill my own self, how could I possibly kill a perfected version of myself?”

“…”

This was a side of her I only saw occasionally, always smiling. Perhaps this was her true feeling.

“Of course, if you find it hard, Kim Jae Heon—”

“Let’s try.”

I straightened my body and faced Yu Da On.

Whatever the case, we had to solve this problem to escape.

We must definitely find a way to end this and close the future.

What that ‘end’ meant, I couldn’t say for sure.

It could mean simply fleeing, or perhaps using my wits to seal that thing back inside the Isolation Room.

However, the path we chose was not either of those.

“Alright. Let’s consider what advantages we have.”

“Do we have any…? No, of course, you have many advantages, Kim Jae Heon…”

“Of course we do.”

In a way, the complete Dream of the Butterfly might be the worst outcome for Yu Da On.

Losing her mind while only her body indulged in destruction.

But that Yu Da On would likely be different from the one we had now.

It reminded me of the shell that surrounded her.

It had enough hardness to deflect bullets.

In contrast, the Yu Da On we had didn’t have any shell at all.

The reason was simple. She didn’t need anything to protect herself.

“Why do you think people wear armor, Yu Da On?”

“Um… to protect their bodies, I guess?”

“Correct.”

Yu Da On didn’t need thick armor. Even if her heart was pierced or her head exploded, she would come back again.

“What happened to you when you died before you got that regenerative power, Yu Da On?”

“…Um… I think it took a while to come back. I couldn’t return as quickly as I can now.”

I confirmed it with her.

That meant I had died before awakening her ability.

In other words, if it came down to a battle of attrition, we would have the upper hand.

Upon sharing my deductions with Yu Da On, she narrowed her eyes and nodded her head.

“That might be true. Before my regenerative ability manifested, I was someone who just came back after dying.”

“Exactly.”

“But… wouldn’t that not be much help?”

Yu Da On was right. The fact that Criticals didn’t work at all meant it had become a perfect immortal.

“Well, there are several other factors to consider.”

“Yes?”

“We’re a team.”

Yu Da On closed her mouth for a moment, then nodded and smiled at my words.

“That’s true.”

“Good.”

Then let’s think.

Using everything that I have and everything Yu Da On has to find a way to kill that thing.

That turned out to be more challenging than I initially thought.

As I was troubled and groaning, Yu Da On seemed to have an idea and opened her mouth.

“…What if I act as bait?”

“Yes?”

“From the monster’s perspective, I’m probably one of the tastiest looking morsels around.”

“…That’s true.”

The current Yu Da On could be considered perfect in terms of physical recovery. Even if I called her the Dream of the Butterfly, I’d drool if I were to face the current version of her.

“So if I go to the Isolation Room and act as bait…”

“The Isolation Room?”

“Yes. That, uh… something exploded suddenly in the Isolation Room that time, and everything went haywire…”

“…Ah.”

Yu Da On might not fully understand what I meant, but I did.

That monster.

Wouldn’t it be able to fight evenly with something fully formed?

“That’s it.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s go to the basement.”

“Sounds good… but how do we get there? We have to take the elevator, of course…”

…”

Then again, we didn’t have the luxury of leisurely waiting for the elevator while being chased by those monsters.

If we could take the stairs…

No, we definitely could.

I hurriedly opened the manual.

[Manual for Office Staff]

[B – Emergency Stairs]

1. The Management Agency does not have emergency stairs. All movement must be done via the elevator, and if you discover any emergency stairs, do not enter under any circumstances.

2. Should you accidentally enter the emergency stairs, close your eyes and curl up in a corner. The Security Team will come to help.

3. If you need to escape on your own, do not go down. Keep going up until you see an exit.

“Hey. Is it different for every person? Or are the exits separate?”

“Kim Jae Heon?”

“Hey, hurry up and tell me.”

Ignoring Yu Da On’s puzzled gaze, I fired questions at the manual.

Soon, I heard the sound of fluttering paper, and a new item appeared.

4. The exits may be different for each person, but the assigned stair landings may be the same.

5. You will usually arrive at the floor you intend to go to. How many stairs you have to climb is uncertain.

I closed the book with a loud clap.

“Let’s take the stairs.”

“But you said taking the stairs would be dangerous…”

“That’s correct. But it’s not just dangerous for us.”

“…Ah…!”

Yu Da On seemed to grasp the meaning behind my words, her eyes wide.

“How come you read the manual so well? It’s honestly amazing.”

“You read it too.”

“I get a headache and feel nauseated just after looking at it for a little while. Other people say the same.”

That was the first time I heard such a thing.

But that’s not what mattered right now.

“Then let’s go.”

With this, our rough plan was established.

We’d climb the stairs as quickly as possible and head to the basement.

“…If I get caught, Kim Jae Heon, please…”

“I won’t abandon you, and you won’t get caught.”

I said firmly as I got to my feet.

“Let’s go.”

Yu Da On matched my gaze and smiled brightly.

“Yes!”

*

– Bang crash!

I burst out of the split desk hastily.

“There are way more than I thought!”

“I’m feeling the same way!”

Our plan was still proceeding perfectly, just with a larger number of followers than expected.

“The stairs!”

“That’s right! Don’t go down at all! Just keep running up!”

“Got it!”

I kicked open the door with stiffened blood, revealing a sign that read “Emergency Exit,” followed by dark stairs.

– Bang!

I dashed into the stairs.

A multitude of monsters rushed in right behind me, and most of them seemed to have teleported into the space.

The term “most” implies that a small number of monsters were still following me, though.

“…Hah… hah…”

I scrambled up.

Wiping the sweat from my brow, I began to ascend the steps.

– Squeak… squeak…

An ominous sound began to echo.

Whispers and laughter.

All of that was clinging to me from behind.

Would Yu Da On be able to endure this?

However, suppressing the rising worry, I kept climbing.

From behind came laughter and what sounded like something chasing us.

The tension and physical exhaustion were almost unbearable.

I felt like I’d climbed at least ten floors, yet still, no exit in sight.

“Isn’t it about time an exit should show up!”

“The exit is right here.”

Ignoring the voice coming from below, I continued on.

Not stopping to answer the voice that persistently replied to my muttering, I finally reached an exit after climbing what felt like 15 more floors.

As I kicked the door open, Yu Da On immediately burst in right after me.

She too was drenched in sweat as our eyes met, and just behind her, monstrous sounds of another door crashing open could be heard.

I pushed my legs beyond their limits and began running.

My predictions were correct.

The Basement Isolation Room was hell.

Countless corpses lay strewn about, eerie music played, and occasionally, shadows of unknown lifeforms rushed past in the distance.

“Where are we going!”

“To the Isolation Room!”

The Isolation Room housing the Dream of the Butterfly. Perhaps because it was the intense first accident I saw in a dream, it was easy to locate.

And as expected, the empty Isolation Room welcomed us.

I pulled out the butane gas from my pocket.

“They’re coming!”

“I know!”

I shook the butane gas and opened the cap.

– Whoosh!

Flames erupted, reaching the ceiling, and all the lights in the basement went out.

A chilling aura enveloped us.

“…Kim Jae Heon.”

Yu Da On also seemed to sense it, approaching me and murmuring in a tense voice.

Soon, a shadow akin to black smoke emerged and locked eyes with me.

A translucent window appeared.

[Name: – ]

[Age: – ]

[Specialty: Stop it.]

[Talent: dkfjalejfldkajfs]

[Background: jakdlsfikaewieuroqi]

[[[[]]]]

As soon as the letters on the translucent window shattered, it shot past me and headed towards the monsters.

– Crash!

The monsters split in half and vanished in an instant.

“…”

“…Wow…”

Yu Da On gasped in awe, and as the last of the monsters were eliminated, something approached me with a heavy thud.

Yu Da On, now turned into a monster, met my gaze.

Instantly, a shadow that looked like black smoke lunged at it.

– Crash!

Blood splattered everywhere.

Yu Da On’s monstrous form was half torn apart, but it ignored it and swiped at the fog.

[Critical: 2->1]

I pulled out my pistol.

The red mark remained absent, and,

[Critical: 1->2]

– Crash!

As the monstrosity that was Yu Da On opened its mouth to absorb something, the black fog that had protected us ripped away.

“…”

“…”

The fog began to dissipate.

The lights came back on, and the quiet basement erupted into chaos once more.

I locked eyes with the monstrous Yu Da On.

Wasn’t it targeting her? Why was it looking at me?

As if thinking the same, Yu Da On stepped forward protectively, and the monster opened its mouth again.

“Kim Jae Heon, get out of here—!”

Before she could finish her sentence, her upper body seemed to be ripped away.

Blood sprayed, and just as Yu Da On was about to kneel,

“Cough, cough!”

Suddenly restored back to her original state, Yu Da On clutched her throat and stood there frantically coughing.

What should I do?

The monster opened its mouth again,

[Chronos’ Shield: 1 second]

A barrier erupted before Yu Da On, followed by a deafening impact sound.

And Yu Da On, covering her mouth with both hands.

Blood poured from its mouth like a fountain.

The monster released its grip.

With her blood-soaked lips, she once more sealed her lips tight.

Yu Da On’s legs vanished, and she rolled on the ground, covering me.

Every time it closed its mouth, part of Yu Da On’s body seemed to be erased.

At times it was her legs, sometimes her head, and other times her whole body.

Despite that, she soon stood before me nonchalantly with her arms open.

What should I do?

– Crash!

Once again, her head vanished, and her body staggered, but before long, she reverted back to her original form.

“…”

Yu Da On stood before me with her arms wide open.

Intense emotions flared in her eyes.

Hatred, regret, and sorrow.

“Step over my corpse.”

She muttered in a soft voice, and a translucent window blossomed before my eyes.

[The emotions of ‘Yu Da On’ directed toward you have maxed out, temporarily unlocking a new joint ability.]

[‘Preservation’ can be used.]

[Preservation: Consumes 2 Criticals, freezes the opponent on the time axis.]

There was no time to hesitate.

[I will use Preservation.]

[Critical: 2->0]

The world came to a standstill.