Chapter 129: Gold
Yu Daon didn't let go of my sleeve until we arrived at the Gangseo Branch.
And behind me, Jang Chae-yeon and Song A-rin were chattering busily about something.
The Gangseo Branch was also completely empty.
"...Mr. Daon. We're here."
Only then did Yu Daon release my sleeve.
Song A-rin and Jang Chae-yeon were also silent.
Had what they heard been that shocking?
"Still, let's go see for now."
I don't know. Even if it was something the Branch Chief said.
Even though walking through the deserted Gangseo Branch wasn't my first time, the atmosphere felt different than before. Why was that?
By now, I'd even gotten used to entering the empty offices.
I tapped the Branch Chief's desk with the tip of a pencil.
As the desk split open, Song A-rin let out a deep sigh seeing it.
"So. This is what I'd only heard about in rumors."
We went down the old metal staircase.
Soon, a clean basement and a firmly shut iron door greeted us.
[Name: Iron Door]
[Age: X]
[Specialty: X]
[Talent: Selection]
[Background: When the time comes, it will open its door for the last hope of humanity.]
[Weakness: - ]
The firmly shut door greeted us.
A heavy atmosphere settled over us in front of the door that wouldn't open.
"Chae-yeon, the door won't open, right?"
"...Yeah."
Jang Chae-yeon reached out to the door a few times, then shook her head.
"Well, then..."
At Song A-rin's words, Yu Daon flinched and trembled, gripping my sleeve tightly.
"Hey, don't chicken out."
Song A-rin laughed lightly.
"Someone said at least one person was left, right? So... well, we're together until then."
Jang Chae-yeon also nodded in agreement.
"Don't know yet."
"..."
Yu Daon just kept her eyes tightly shut while holding onto my sleeve.
"That's right."
The one person remaining. We had to deal with that one.
But how do we find him?
No, maybe we don't need to find him.
Probably, that person will come to us.
"For now... if we succeed, we'll leave Mr. Daon behind and..."
Going back up the basement stairs and heading to the HR team office didn't take much time.
We entered the HR team office.
What if Team Leader was still alive?
But isn't Team Leader the best at spotting danger?
Then again, if Team Leader is alive, isn't that a problem in itself?
Lost in thought, I opened the HR team door.
"..."
Of course, all my worries were pointless.
Team Leader wasn't there to begin with.
Only the utterly empty HR team greeted us.
"Team Leader isn't here, I see."
"..."
At my words, Jang Chae-yeon silently brushed my back.
-Thud, thud, thud.
A sound began to be heard from afar.
It wasn't a simple sound.
A sound like drums beating from that sky.
Except for Yu Daon, who wasn't in her right mind, the three of us exchanged glances.
"Alright."
Song A-rin, who had somehow already sat down in her chair and was clicking away at the computer, got up.
"I'll take a look first."
"Song A-rin."
"It's fine. It's common sense for the most useless one to die first."
Song A-rin smiled softly and strode confidently out the door. Not long after, she came back into the HR team office with a dazed expression.
"Song A-rin?"
Had she been brainwashed?
"I'm fine."
Still unable to erase the shocked expression, Song A-rin looked at all of us.
"I can hear... music?"
"Music?"
"You'll understand if you see."
Song A-rin gestured for me and Jang Chae-yeon to follow.
Following her, we left the HR team and stood at the entrance of the Gangseo Branch.
From the sky, dyed golden as if by a sunset.
-Boom, boom, boom...
The sound of drums could be heard.
"What is this..."
-Boom, boom, boom...
The drumming sound grew louder.
After staring at the sky for a long time, a semi-transparent window finally came into view.
[Name: -]
[Age: -]
[Specialty: -]
[Talent: -]
[Background: The great day is near. Near and terribly swift. It is the sound of the promised day. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of waste and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness.]
[Weakness: - ]
Unlike usual, the semi-transparent window shook violently.
Soon, as if the power had gone out, the semi-transparent window disappeared with a fizz and a sound.
"...This can't be..."
"...!"
Before I could finish my muttering, Jang Chae-yeon, as if she had realized something, hurriedly shielded my body and thrust her hand forward.
-Thud!
As something covered us,
"...Cough...!"
Jang Chae-yeon snorted blood and took a deep breath.
-Thud! Thud!
What was flying towards us from afar...
"...Rocks?"
-Crash!
The debris of a huge building flew towards us, and Jang Chae-yeon blocked the wreckage several times.
"Cough!"
Jang Chae-yeon spat blood and looked at Song A-rin.
"You know?"
"..."
At her words, Song A-rin nodded.
"Chae-yeon-"
Before I could finish speaking, Song A-rin grabbed my hand and tapped Jang Chae-yeon's shoulder.
As if sending off a comrade, she spoke to Jang Chae-yeon in a solemn tone.
"Hey. I leave it to you."
"...Yeah."
At Song A-rin's words, Jang Chae-yeon wiped her flowing nosebleed and nodded as if she already knew.
"Leave what?"
"...Hey."
Jang Chae-yeon turned her head to look at me and smiled softly.
"...I'll believe in you."
That single sentence was all Jang Chae-yeon said to me.
She reached her hand towards me.
With a whoosh, my and Song A-rin's bodies flew far away as if pushed by a strong wind.
"Ugh!"
-Thud! Thud! Thud!
Soon, the sound of something clashing could be heard, as if a fierce battle had begun.
Then, without even looking back, Song A-rin started running while holding my hand.
"Wait a minute, Song A-rin...!"
-Crash!
Behind us, the sound of endless collisions continued.
The sound didn't stop until the moment we entered the branch building.
-Boom, boom, boom...
Along with the drumming, the sound stopped as if it had died.
After running for who knows how long, Song A-rin stopped in front of the HR team entrance and looked at me.
Jang Chae-yeon? What was that thing earlier?
Then, that fight just now...
"Listen up!"
Grabbing both my cheeks, Song A-rin made me meet her gaze.
Her purple eyes met mine.
"From now on, you take the black-haired one and go."
"..."
Song A-rin tightly gripped my hands with both of hers, then let go.
"Wait, Song A-rin."
"Think about it carefully."
"..."
Song A-rin raised her eyes and looked at me.
Her purple pupils calmly met my eyes.
"In this era that's properly going to ruin, how many people do you think there are who could openly attack us like that?"
"..."
A certain man came to mind.
"It's okay."
The hand Song A-rin was holding mine with was trembling.
"This isn't because I'm a senior at the Management Bureau, or because I'm a veteran."
"Wait, Song A-rin."
"I don't ask for much."
"..."
"Next time, call me A-rin."
The hand holding mine fell away.
"See you later. I probably struggled a lot. Even if you don't know, be sure to praise me for my hard work."
"Wait, Song A-rin!"
Song A-rin immediately turned her body and started running towards where Jang Chae-yeon was.
She turned the corner and disappeared.
"...Damn it."
I had no choice but to open the HR team door and call Yu Daon.
*
"...Huff... Huff..."
After turning the corner, Song A-rin's legs were trembling endlessly.
It was clear fear, but nevertheless, she had to move forward.
"...Huff... Huff..."
Her gaze turned to the window.
A white-haired woman with a familiar impression was kneeling as if turned to stone.
No life energy could be felt from her anymore.
"...Thank you."
Even if she couldn't hear it. That's why Song A-rin honestly expressed her gratitude to her and looked ahead.
-Step, step...
The sound of footsteps could be heard.
"..."
Soon. A man with a faint impression appeared before her.
Two of his fingers were already twisted grotesquely.
So this is the regressor he mentioned.
He looks really ordinary.
Song A-rin smiled inwardly.
The preparations were already complete.
"Really. You-"
Before Song A-rin could finish her words with a bold laugh.
-Stab!
Something pierced through her solar plexus.
"...Ah, ugh..."
Slowly turning her gaze down to look,
A long something was stuck in her solar plexus.
There was no time to even think, what is this?
With a dull pain, her body collapsed uncontrollably.
"...Last time I let you talk to me, you immediately messed with my head. So I had no choice but to kill you."
The man's voice could be heard.
Song A-rin raised her gaze to look at the man.
Her unfocused eyes had already left her.
"But anyway, it's a fate where you should have died before. Think of it as your life being extended a bit and be grateful as you meet your end."
After saying that, he stepped past her.
"...Keu, heuk..."
She tried to say something, but a bloody lump blocked her throat, preventing her from making a proper sound.
But looking at the man walking away, she couldn't help but smile inwardly.
She recalled the earlier conversation.
'Hey, White-hair.'
'...'
While the man was busy comforting the black-haired one, Song A-rin spoke to the white-haired one.
'Why.'
'How do you trick someone who sees the future?'
'...Well.'
'You have to make them believe until the end that the future they saw is reality, you fool.'
'...Why are you suddenly saying that.'
'Listen carefully.'
In her memory, the white-haired one listened intently to her story, just like in the old days—
"...Stupid, really."
Looking at where the man had gone, Song A-rin twisted one corner of her mouth upwards.
"You, cough...! Lost, huh..."
From the moment Jang Chae-yeon received his attack, Song A-rin had already been casting brainwashing on the man.
But seeing the man break his own fingers to wake from the hypnosis as if he was aware of her brainwashing, Song A-rin immediately changed the direction of her strategy.
Direct brainwashing gets detected.
Then he must be deceived by her until this whole affair is over.
"You... miscounted... the time..."
-Boom, boom, boom...
As Song A-rin muttered that, the sound of drums could be heard behind her.
"...Ha."
And, the man did not return.
We won.
A smile bloomed on Song A-rin's face.
"Ahaha, cough, ahahaha, cough!"
Humans cannot resist alone against a power greater than themselves.
The same goes for abilities.
Just as there are opponents her ability doesn't work on, no ability is omnipotent.
That man who could rewind time, perhaps he was so accustomed to being alone that he didn't know that fact.
Spitting out the gushing blood, she smiled as if pleased.
Turning her head with difficulty to look at the sky, the Management Bureau ceiling that had been visible was gone, and golden beams of light were descending.
The tired-faced man who had met her gaze came to mind.
It would be a lie to say there was no fear, but she had no regrets.
Because any version of her in any timeline would have done the same.
'Just you wait until next time you don't call me A-rin.'
Of course, the her of that time wouldn't remember it, but still.
'I'll have to kick you right in the shin.'
A soft smile spread across Song A-rin's face.
At the same time, the golden light touched her body, and at that same moment, her memories stopped there.