Chapter 133: Human Disqualification
It hurt.
That was the thought in Yu Daon's mind.
Despite having endured pain to a truly sickening degree, the human body never got used to it.
Of course, she had always acted as if it didn't hurt in front of that man.
Thud!
Blood splattered from her shoulder blade, and the agony of her flesh being torn assaulted her.
"Grh...!"
But here, there was no one to look at her with disgust even if she screamed that it hurt.
Gritting her teeth, she thrust out the awl.
The man dodged it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
A sharp pain shot through her abdomen.
Had a knife been lodged there?
But that wasn't particularly important.
Swish!
Stabbing a weapon into someone's body meant that if you just twisted your body, you could disarm them.
Still gritting her teeth, she rotated her body-
"Kyaa, urk...!"
Just then, the man cleanly pulled something out from her abdomen, causing her to scream in pain.
An impeccably clean counter.
Put another way, it meant,
"One more time."
At Yu Daon's words, the man frowned with displeasure and kicked her.
"Gkh...!"
Spitting out the blood rising in her throat, she glared at the man.
Her vision was uncomfortable.
It wasn't that her eyes were injured, but she had bled so much that it was enough to obscure her sight.
And that wasn't all.
The floor was drenched with the blood she had shed, while the man watched her without having shed a single drop himself.
"..."
But Yu Daon had confidence.
The confidence that she would absolutely not lose.
As long as she kept him blocked here until everything was over.
That was the request he had made of her, and the task she had to fulfill.
The moment she pushed herself up,
The man pulled something out from inside his coat.
It was like a wooden stake, with the bottom end sharpened to a point.
"A stake?"
The moment she muttered,
Crunch!
"Argh!"
Something was driven into her solar plexus with swift speed, and she collapsed to the floor.
Hurriedly looking down at her solar plexus, she saw a single wooden stake embedded there.
Yu Daon grabbed the stake with both hands and began pulling with all her might.
"Gkh, gkh!"
Naturally, blood gushed involuntarily from her mouth, but she ignored it and strained to pull out the stake.
"It won't come out."
At her words, the man replied emotionlessly as he stood beside her.
"...Ke, heuk..."
Spitting blood from her mouth, she looked up at him.
"...When we first met, you were in such a state you couldn't even speak like a human, so I didn't even know what kind of person you were."
The man shook his head as if disgusted.
"Still, I guess you did have the talent to destroy a world. I didn't want to use the stake on you."
"...What..."
The talent to destroy the world?
A scene suddenly flashed in her mind.
Herself, turned into a monster, and a world devoid of anyone.
And a hypothesis rose in her mind.
But that wasn't important.
Stopping this man.
That was the request he had made to Yu Daon, and the task she had to accomplish.
Yu Daon continued to exert force, trying to pull out the stake, but it was as if it had been glued to the floor; the stake showed no intention of coming out, keeping her pinned.
"Eeek...!"
"..."
Ignoring her, the man moved his steps towards the secret passage inside the desk.
Clunk.
The door closed, and silence descended.
Fear began to churn within her heart.
What if something happens to him?
Did I block him properly?
If only I had done a little better...
"Eeek...! Urgh...! Please...!"
Each time she tried to pull the stake, excruciating pain hit her body, intense enough to make her scream, but she ignored it and strained to pull the stake.
How much time had passed like that?
"...Hic, hhuuk..."
Tears streamed from Yu Daon's eyes at her own pitiful state.
She had failed again.
She should have reached out and grabbed his ankle before he left.
No, she should have done better from the start.
"If I, if I... had done just a little better...!"
"Better at what?"
A sharp voice cut off her sobbing mutter.
"...Huh?"
She raised her head and looked towards the source of the voice.
Beyond the lazily setting sunset, a woman with a sharp face and purple hair was looking down at her.
"Ms. A-rin?"
"Yeah. It's me."
Song A-rin replied curtly, and following behind her, a white-haired woman entered and looked at Yu Daon.
"Is she... alive?"
And even a blonde-haired woman who was looking at her with a curious expression.
"Ms. Chae-yeon..."
"Stay still."
At Yu Daon's words, Jang Chae-yeon replied expressionlessly and grabbed the stake.
"It'll hurt. Grit your teeth."
Schluck!
"Kyaa-"
And, before Yu Daon could even grit her teeth, Jang Chae-yeon pulled the stake out with force. Unable to even scream, Yu Daon writhed in pain.
"Arg, urgh, ah...!"
"...Didn't you pull too hard?"
"...Does that look like just an ordinary stake to you?"
At Song A-rin's words while looking at Yu Daon writhing in pain, Jang Chae-yeon averted her gaze and replied. Eileen looked at the three of them.
"Then, go on in."
"...Aren't you coming with us?"
At Eileen's words, Song A-rin looked at her, and Eileen shook her head.
"I was asked to do something else."
"Huh, what is it?"
"Locking the door."
"...What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know either."
"No, that's-"
As Song A-rin was about to argue, Yu Daon had no choice but to interrupt their conversation loudly.
"That's not it! Down there, that, the Regressor and Mr. Jae-heon are...!"
"Hey! You're only telling us this now?!"
At Yu Daon's words, Song A-rin's eyes widened, and Jang Chae-yeon, with a serious expression, quickly began descending under the desk.
Yu Daon followed them worriedly.
Please let nothing be wrong. Please, let what she had done be of help to him.
From the iron staircase, only a hollow, thud sound echoed.
*
It's over.
The loud noises from above had also ceased, the desk opened, and a human shadow fell.
And, my preparations were also complete.
"..."
I don't have overwhelming combat power like Jang Chae-yeon, I can't handle people like Song A-rin, and I can't fight endlessly like Yu Daon.
I have to fight in my own way.
Thud, thud, thud...
Restrained yet swift footsteps appeared,
Whoosh!
I pulled the string I had prepared.
The cap of the butane gas canister I had placed opened, spewing flames,
And simultaneously, a figure wrapped in something like a blanket tumbled down the staircase.
It shouldn't be a fire that goes out that easily.
But of course, I hadn't prepared just this one thing.
I hurriedly rolled backward and hid inside the wall I had found.
Do I even have a single experience of properly fighting a human?
Having fought non-human things all this time, only to be suddenly thrown into a fight with a human, it's just tough for me.
I checked the gun in my hand.
Now, I just fight.
Anyway, the current me has not a single chance of winning.
I came out from the corner and made eye contact with the man.
A familiar face.
A face whose thoughts were unreadable, and a faint impression.
Soon, a semi-transparent window floated above his head.
[Name: Kim Wan-woo]
[Age: 28]
[Specialty: Regression]
[Talent: - ]
[Background: 2208th Loop]
[Weakness: Think of the Gordian Knot.]
"Looks like Ms. Daon put in some effort."
"..."
At my words, the man looked at me without saying anything.
Now.
Bang!
I drew my gun and fired.
As if it were natural, the man tilted his head slightly, dodging the bullet.
[2209th Loop]
He also drew his gun, and matching his movement, I pulled my body back, but-
Bang!
"Grh...!"
A bullet lodged in my arm, and I lost strength.
Then the man rushed towards me.
Bang! Bang!
I fired my gun several times, but as expected, the man dodged the bullets.
[2210th Loop] [2211st Loop]
The number above his head kept rising.
As expected, he returns and prepares every time he fights.
I kicked the desk beside me and fired,
[2212nd Loop]
The man simply bowed his head again, dodging the bullet.
How am I supposed to win against this?
This really has no chance of-
I hurriedly pulled my body back and drew my gun, but.
Bang!
"Grh...!"
He quickly drew his gun and shot me.
With a pain like my stomach had been pierced, strength drained from my body.
"...Heeek..."
Naturally, I fell to my knees, and when I touched my stomach, it was drenched in blood.
"As expected."
He looked at me and muttered indifferently.
"Looks like the regression was a one-time thing. Seeing as you couldn't dodge this."
"Kh..."
"It wouldn't have hurt to be careful. A lot of plans have been disrupted anyway."
His voice echoed in my ears like tinnitus.
"Kh, h..."
"...You didn't go down this easily in the past."
As I looked at him while on my knees, he muttered in an indifferent voice and looked at me.
"Ultimately, without me, you can't even use containment objects properly. You're no different from a slightly sharp-eyed ordinary person who only knows how to use a manual."
"..."
"I warned you back then about what would happen if you didn't stay with someone who knows the future."
"..."
He looked at me.
"Have you ever missed the past?"
"..."
Swallowing the blood rising in my throat, I thought to myself.
Who wouldn't miss the past? I too, sometimes miss my student days, hard and tough as they were, a life that was enjoyable. I miss my childhood days when I had no worries or anxieties.
"What would you do if you wanted to go back to that past so desperately?"
"...Ke-lok, peo-ple can-not go back to the past..."
"What if there was a way?"
His voice was filled with confidence.
"What if, when everyone in the world is dead and I'm the only one left, I can return to the past I want?"
"..."
"And what if there's a chance to correct all those mistakes?"
Spitting out blood, I looked at the man.
"I don't know how you crossed over the timeline to stop me and prepared all this."
His voice was full of conviction.
"I will go back to the past, correct the mistakes I made."
"Kul, ruk..."
"And I will live for myself."
"Just... for..."
Just for that?
"'Just'?"
He looked at me as if it were a novel idea.
"Isn't the most important thing in the world me?"
His voice began to ring in my ears as if a microphone had been placed there.
My vision blurred.
"To do that, I've eliminated the variables, so I'll start over from the beginning... The objects underground..."
Muttering to himself, he passed by me.
Grab.
I reached out and grabbed his leg.
"..."
He looked at me as if looking at something trivial and shook his leg.
"Get lost."
"..."
He looked at me, stepped on my hand with his foot.
With a dull pain, he removed my hand and moved on.
"..."
I could feel death approaching.
So cold, the endless darkness that comes after the pain.
It was exactly what I had been waiting for.
Crash.
With a small sound, the doll in my pocket broke.
*
I wandered in the darkness.
I remembered someone's voice.
'That look in your eyes. I like that look, where you know you can't even preserve your own life with your meager power, yet you don't lose hope and desperately devise methods to find the correct answer.'
"See, I was right?"
Around the time I was recalling that voice, someone whispered in my ear with a laugh.
"Kkh..."
With a violent pain felt in my chest, I regained consciousness.
I just raised my gaze and looked ahead.
In the distance, the Regressor was walking.
He looked around and closed his eyes for a long time.
Simultaneously, I got up, pulled a gun from my pocket, and-
Bang!
[2213rd Loop]
He dodged the bullet and looked at me with a shocked expression.
"You, how..."
"...You updated it."
As in all games, you save when you're safest.
Song A-rin had the ability to instill that sense of security, but I didn't have such an ability.
If I had brought Song A-rin here, she would have definitely gotten hurt or been in danger. She had her own tasks to begin with.
In the end, I had to give him a sense of security gambled with my own life.
His expression was briefly overcome with bewilderment, then he drew his gun and looked at me.
"Even so, if I just kill you and get out of here-"
Thump!
Before his words even finished, the door above opened and footsteps were heard.
"Mr. Jae-heon!"
Yu Daon's voice rang out, and the footsteps of two other people were also heard.
Bang!
He hastily fired his gun at me,
The bullet passed by me as if it were nothing.
"Be careful."
Jang Chae-yeon stood beside me.
"This crazy bastard, shooting as soon as he sees us."
Song A-rin clicked her tongue and looked at me,
"Where are you hurt?"
Yu Daon checked my body here and there, saw the abdominal area, and her eyes widened.
"Mr. Jae-heon, don't tell me..."
"I'm fine."
Clank!
The sound of the door locking echoed from above.
"..."
He looked at me.
"It's a fight I'll win as long as I spend time anyway."
"I know."
Under normal circumstances, that is.
Before he arrived, I had asked Eileen to just lock the door once three people entered. Good.
I took a deep breath and pulled the manual from my pocket.
"I will now begin recording regarding containment object 'Kim Wan-woo'."
Flipping sounds
The manual opened.
What is a human?
An existence so weak, flailing to survive.
An existence that always distrusts others and seeks to live for itself.
An existence full of fear, regretting the past and afraid of the future.
But.
'Isn't that our job?'
The image of the Branch Chief smiling in the rain came to mind.
[A Manual for Office Workers]
[PRV - Containment Object 'Kim Wan-woo' - Record by Kim Jae-heon, HR Team]
"This object is a regressing entity, possessing thorough countermeasures for the future."
[This object is a regressing entity, possessing thorough countermeasures for the future.]
The image of Song A-rin saving people in the theater and feeling relieved came to mind.
The image of Jang Chae-yeon saving people with telekinesis came to mind.
And.
'I am, so happy right now.'
A bright smile rose in my mind.
"Regression involves designating a specific point to return to, and this can be fulfilled by one's own will."
[Regression involves designating a specific point to return to, and this can be fulfilled by one's own will.]
That act of worrying for and caring for others, stepping over and transcending all that weakness and selfishness.
That act of giving away a part of oneself for others, even in a narrow crack.
"You are."
[Your understanding of the containment object, Kim Wan-woo, increases.]
He fired his gun and threw something.
But Jang Chae-yeon swung her hand, Yu Daon spread her hands, and Song A-rin twisted the sense of direction strangely.
The bullets magically veered away from us and embedded themselves in the wall.
[Critical: 0 -> 2]
"You are disqualified as a human."