Chapter 13: Cube, or,
I pressed hard on my temples.
"...Give it back."
Jang Chae-yeon was still holding her hand out toward the cube, and Yu Daon was nowhere to be seen.
Let's think based on the information I've gathered so far.
The moment she lost the cube, Jang Chae-yeon lost her will to fight. Sure, she did throw me off the building, but the fact that she isn't snapping my neck like a wooden chopstick right now must mean there's a reason.
Does simply holding or not holding the cube change a person? But the cube's description didn't mention anything about mental manipulation.
Yet, as the migraine washed over me, I couldn't help but start to feel suspicious.
I'd felt it since the Butterfly Incident; whenever I felt a migraine coming on, something or someone around me would become strange.
The first time was when Yu Daon was seeing something different from me, the second was when Song A-rin tried to hypnotize me.
The problem is, my status window doesn't show any information about this, so it's hard to be sure. It's truly in the realm of speculation.
For now, let's assume my guess is correct—that I have an allergic migraine reaction to some kind of mental influence.
If so, then this cube must be emitting some kind of mental contamination or influence.
Could it be that even I am seeing something wrong?
I looked at the cube again.
[Name : Cube]
[Age : Manufactured in the 1900s]
[Specialty : Reality Alteration]
[Talent : X]
[Background : This is a cube of unknown origin, supposedly made in the 00s. Was it even made in that era to begin with? It's not that you think it was made in the 1900s. This cube can overturn, solidify, and sometimes erase the common sense you believe in. Extreme caution is required when handling it.]
[Weakness : You probably won't be able to destroy this cube. Maybe. No matter what happens, even if you start to doubt its very existence, do not doubt yourself. You are you, as you are.]
No, I shouldn't doubt it. The weakness section even told me not to doubt myself.
So, is Jang Chae-yeon's mind being controlled by this cube?
But if that were the case, her actions earlier were too clever. She didn't seem like someone who had lost their intellect.
I raised the cube in my hand above my head.
Jang Chae-yeon's gaze followed the cube upward.
I lowered the cube.
Her gaze followed it down again.
Watching her do this, she did seem to have lost her intellect.
No, I should stop teasing her with this weird thing.
So, what am I supposed to do with this?
I can't just hand over the cube without any basis. Even though, to my eyes and based on my thoughts, it seems like all the problems stem from this cube.
And for some reason right now, it feels like her combat ability has been neutered.
"...Follow me for now. Then I'll give you the cube."
"...Okay."
Jang Chae-yeon nodded obediently. It was hard to believe this was the same woman who had twisted Yu Daon's neck 180 degrees just moments ago.
"Now... to get the cube back, we first need to find one person."
"Who?"
"Black hair, kinda long... skinny... wearing pink clothes... Um, a face that's kinda cute?"
Trying to describe Yu Daon with my limited vocabulary wasn't working at all.
"...That?"
Jang Chae-yeon pointed to one side.
Flail, flail.
Something presumed to be Yu Daon was stuck upside down with only her lower body visible, vigorously shaking her legs.
Why didn't I see that?
"Can you get her out?"
"If I get her out, will you give me the cube?"
"I'll think about it."
"..."
She looked at me discontentedly but still raised her hand toward Yu Daon.
With the sound of crumbling debris, Yu Daon grunted as she pulled herself up.
"Wow... I really thought I was going to die. Or did I die once?"
Cracking a joke only she could make, she began dusting the dirt off her head and upper body.
"But how- Eek!"
Then, after looking at me, she screamed and quickly stepped in front of me.
"It's dangerous!"
I looked at Yu Daon as if she were an idiot. Jang Chae-yeon looked at her the same way.
"..."
"It's okay, she probably won't harm us. For now, at least."
Yu Daon looked at me with a puzzled expression, then looked back at Jang Chae-yeon.
"What did you do? Did you destroy her brain with a bullet or something?"
"Is there anything you won't say?"
If I had such a dangerous ability, would I have jumped off the hotel?
"If not, then how did you do it?"
I briefly explained the situation to Yu Daon, who was making a puzzled face.
"So, you took the cube and she became an idiot, is that it?"
"...Well, in short, yes."
"But the cube wasn't there originally."
"What do you mean?"
I looked at Yu Daon, who was saying something strange so nonchalantly.
"Mr. Jae-heon, when you first saw her, did you see the cube?"
"...Huh?"
Now that she mentioned it, the Jang Chae-yeon I first met wasn't holding the cube. If she had been, I would have known.
"I saw clearly. Both her hands were empty. And the cube is too big to hide inside her clothes."
There's no way that huge— No. Let's not think that.
Involuntarily, my gaze flickered toward a certain part of Jang Chae-yeon's body that showcased a massive presence. Let's not have crazy thoughts.
Fortunately, she didn't seem to notice my gaze, and Yu Daon started talking excitedly.
"If my memory is correct, the cube popped out when you shot her with the gun. It wasn't visible before that."
Now that I think about it, that might be true.
Even when she grabbed me by the collar and lifted me up, there was no sign of the cube.
In other words, the cube emerged when I shot a bullet into the space between Jang Chae-yeon's eyebrows. I don't know what connection there is, though.
"Anyway, we recovered the cube, and Jang Chae-yeon is docile, so isn't it all good now? Let's just call the Management Bureau."
Yu Daon stated what seemed like an obvious solution. And Jang Chae-yeon was staring intently at me.
"...Will you give me the cube?"
I could just call them now and be done...
But is it right to end it like this?
I had a sense of déjà vu. A feeling that it shouldn't end just like this.
It's not that I distrust the Management Bureau. But I don't think they always make the right judgment either.
"Wait a moment."
I raised my hand to stop Yu Daon, who was about to make a call on her phone.
"...Why?"
Yu Daon looked at me with a puzzled expression but lowered her phone as instructed.
"Listen to this."
I handed the cube to Yu Daon.
"...What's this for?"
Holding the cube, she tilted her head and looked at me.
"How does it feel?"
"How does it feel...?"
Yu Daon closed her eyes, went 'Hmm,' and sank into thought.
"...I don't feel anything?"
"Nothing uneasy? Like the world is crumbling? Or doubts about your own identity?"
"...Why would I feel that? Is this cube really like that?"
Yu Daon handed it back to me as if she had touched something ominous.
Meanwhile, I observed Yu Daon.
[Name : Yu Daon]
[Age : 23 years old]
[Specialty : Immortality]
[Talent : Regeneration (Undecided)]
[Background : She who does not die lives her life doing what she must at the Management Bureau. Originally destined to become an outstanding mature entity, due to someone's intervention, she has been able to continue unfolding her own story within the Management Bureau.]
[Weakness : There is nothing more foolish than making an enemy of a regressor and an immortal.]
Putting aside the changed background for a moment, was there anything else different?
"..."
"...You're looking at me right now, aren't you?"
I examined her carefully, but there was nothing particularly noteworthy.
"...I said, what are you looking at!"
Yu Daon covered her body with both arms and let out a shriek.
"You don't need to worry about that area."
"How would I know that!"
I guess she doesn't know.
Leaving the grumbling Yu Daon behind, I sank back into thought.
Holding it for a short time doesn't cause major problems. So what happens if you hold it for a long time?
"...Uh."
Just then, Jang Chae-yeon, who had been quiet until now, pointed expressionlessly at the cube.
"...It moved."
"...What?"
At her words, I looked at the cube.
The cube was moving, aligning itself on its own.
"No, why is this..."
I quickly grabbed the cube tightly and shook it several times to disrupt it, but as if my actions were completely useless, the cube began spinning madly.
"...I hate this!"
A desperate emotion filled the voice of Jang Chae-yeon, who had been speaking emotionlessly until now. She whipped around and started running in the opposite direction.
"Uh, uh?"
Yu Daon and I just stared blankly at her running away.
At that moment, one face of the cube aligned.
A bright light burst from the cube and swallowed me, Yu Daon, and Jang Chae-yeon.
A brightness so intense it felt like it would blind me, and a sensation as if my very existence was being flung somewhere else.
If souls exist, is this what it feels like to have yours sucked away to another place?
The feeling that seemed like it would last forever ended, and as the light disappeared, a landscape completely different from the hotel ruins I saw earlier appeared before my eyes.
Before my eyes was an empty blue sea.
"...What is this."
Where is this? And what is this?
"Ah, ah... Ahhh...!"
Upon seeing this place, Jang Chae-yeon screamed as if wailing and collapsed, hugging her own shoulders with both hands.
"No...! No...! Not twice...!"
"Hey! Get a hold of yourself!"
Watching Yu Daon run toward the wailing Jang Chae-yeon, I also tried to go to her, but—
"...Uh."
Letters began to float on the surface of the sea.
[Name : Cube]
[Age : Manufactured in the XXs]
[Specialty : Reality Alteration]
[Talent : X]
[Background : This is a cube of unknown origin, supposedly made in the 00s. Was it even made in that era to begin with? It's not that you think it was made in the 1900s. Is what you're seeing now really reality? Or is it inside the cube? That is a question only the cube knows.]
[Weakness : An unknown force has cracked the cube, and the cube has entered self-repair mode. Even so, do not forget. You are you, as you are.]
I rubbed my eyes several times.
And looked at the sea again.
The unchanged text floated on the sea.
I looked at the sun floating in the distance.
The same text as before was floating on the sun.
My head began to feel complicated.
"...Mr. Jae-heon."
Yu Daon called my name in a low voice.
"Look over there."
At her words, I turned around and looked where Yu Daon was pointing.
A desolate city spread out before my eyes.
The traces of a civilization where humans once thrived, now half-reclaimed by jungle.
Suddenly, the story I heard this afternoon came to mind.
<Cube: One of the management objects held by the Gangdong Branch Management Bureau. Its appearance is like an unsolved puzzle cube. However, each time a face is aligned, small and large reality alterations occur. When all faces are aligned, a massive reality alteration occurs. The most recent reality alteration resulted in a city turning into an uninhabited island, causing all its citizens to starve to death.>
Ignoring the sound of Jang Chae-yeon sobbing, I gulped.
This might not be a reality alteration.
The thought struck me that it might be something even more dangerous.
Thud.
The office worker manual fell from my pocket.
Soon, as if by magic, the manual opened and revealed text.
It was page 3.
[Manual for Office Workers]
1. While working at the Management Bureau, you may encounter things that defy your imagination and mock your reason.
2. This is not to say you shouldn't be afraid. Do not forget that it was because of fear that humanity survived countless wars.
3. However, do not stop moving forward. Isolation objects, or unknown enemies, are unfamiliar things, but precisely because of that, you must proceed with an attitude of inquiry.
4. Good luck.
"..."
I knelt down and retied my shoelaces.
Yu Daon looked at me curiously.
"...What are you doing?"
"Preparing to go."
"Where to?"
Where else?
I jerked my chin toward the city.
"To find the exit."