Chapter 135: Involuntary Dismissal
Gold was pouring down.
To be precise, an hourglass with a golden hue was spewing sand as if it had endured immense pressure for a long time and was finally being released.
The spectacular sight only lasted a moment.
-Thud...
A strange sound echoed, and the hourglass vanished from the air as if disintegrating.
Had anything changed?
"...Hey, what is this?"
Song A-rin, who had been watching the scene, muttered in a trembling voice and looked at me.
"You just fired your gun into the air, and then that weird sound happened."
"Weird sound?"
"Yeah. Like something... breaking?"
Yu Daon picked up on Song A-rin's words and murmured.
"And what the hell is this strange thing you're doing now in the first place!"
She hurriedly pointed at Kim Wan-woo with her hand.
"What is this—"
-Fssss...
As she pointed and started to speak,
The hourglass made a strange noise and disappeared,
And simultaneously, the Taxidermy effect was released as if it had fulfilled its purpose.
The man who had been frozen stiff stared at us with a bewildered expression.
"You, what did you just— Gahk!"
-Thud!
The moment he opened his mouth, Jang Chae-yeon immediately reached out and slammed him into the ground.
"A-rin ssi."
As Jang Chae-yeon spread her fingers, his arms and legs were pinned to the floor as if nailed down,
And when Song A-rin glared at him, his mouth opened naturally and he spat something out.
-Tock...
A small capsule fell from his mouth.
"I knew it."
Song A-rin muttered in a cold voice upon seeing the capsule and picked it up.
"What is it?"
"An emergency capsule issued only to the Response Team or the Isolation Team."
"Ah, don't tell me..."
"That 'don't tell me' is exactly right. Since it allows for a painless, instant death, it's essential for field agents to carry one. Actually, I tried to make him spit it out while we were fighting, but he never did."
So this was why he could regress at will.
Because if he dies, everything becomes 'as if it never happened.'
He moved his body around and looked at me.
He had a perplexed expression.
"...You."
Had he realized he couldn't go back?
"What did you do?"
"..."
A semi-transparent window floated above his head.
[Name : Kim Wan-woo ]
[Age : 28]
[Specialty : X ]
[Talent : X ]
[Background : Loop 0]
[Weakness : An ordinary human. Will die if vital points are attacked.]
"What did you do?"
"..."
"Answer me! What trick did you pull, that...!"
He struggled, pinned to the floor, and shouted.
"What have you done!"
"Shall I make him quiet?"
Yu Daon looked at him and muttered coldly to me.
"It's fine."
He's now just an ordinary person with no informational advantage whatsoever.
At my words, bewilderment spread across his face.
"Don't tell me..."
Soon, the bewilderment turned into denial,
"No, it can't be!"
And the denial turned into despair.
"Don't lie!"
He twisted his body grotesquely and screamed.
"...I don't understand."
"You mean you haven't completely reversed it yet!"
Yu Daon murmured while looking at him.
"Isn't being freed from an eternal life an unparalleled blessing?"
"I heard how many times it would take!"
"..."
Against the backdrop of his despair-filled screams, Yu Daon simply looked at the man with complex emotions.
I heard.
And I was remembering each of his words, not letting a single one slip away.
*
"...You've worked hard."
The Branch Chief's return was quicker than expected.
Although she had bruises all over her hands and her clothes were disheveled like last time, she appeared in one piece and greeted us.
"Branch Chief, are you alright?"
"I have time to handle things like this. Using another branch is truly painful, though..."
Her gaze turned to Jang Chae-yeon.
"Thank you. As expected from someone renowned in the Gangdong Branch, you know exactly what your job is."
"..."
Jang Chae-yeon looked at her, nodded slightly, and averted her gaze.
Both Song A-rin and Jang Chae-yeon seemed uncomfortable with the Branch Chief. Was it just my imagination?
"Let's save the stories for later. First..."
The Branch Chief slowly stepped towards the man.
"...Branch Chief..."
The man muttered, and the Branch Chief looked at him.
The smile that usually adorned her face was gone without a trace.
"They say confused people appear in confused times."
The Branch Chief murmured as she looked down at him.
"..."
"Why did you do it?"
"..."
The man, still shocked, said nothing.
Was losing his status as a regressor that shocking?
The Branch Chief slightly opened her eyes.
"Seems you have no intention of speaking properly?"
"..."
"Although lately, accidents keep happening left and right, who knows where the bad luck is coming from..."
I had the illusion that the Branch Chief's red eyes were turned towards me.
"The Management Bureau is very strict about procedures, you know."
"..."
"Can't be helpe... No, not really. Honestly, I planned to do this from the start."
The Branch Chief laughed and clapped her hands. Clap.
"Betrayal of the Management Bureau and betrayal of humanity."
The Branch Chief opened her eyes wide, looked at the man, and muttered in a cold voice.
"I will enforce an involuntary dismissal."
The reaction was immediate.
"Dismissal..."
"I expected it... but she's really doing it..."
Jang Chae-yeon's eyes widened, and Song A-rin also turned her eyes with an expression that said the inevitable had arrived.
"Dismissal...?"
And then me and Yu Daon, blinking cluelessly.
And,
"...Dismissal?"
The man's reaction was even more dramatic.
"Oh my, you knew after all?"
"Wait, Branch Chief."
Cold sweat was flowing down the man's forehead.
"Branch Chief, listen. I have information about the future."
He hurriedly opened his mouth.
"Yes, I suppose so?"
"If you use that information, you could..."
"Prevent what will happen in the future, right?"
"That's right. No, first of all, dismissal is a costly and meticulous procedure that isn't favored even within the Bureau..."
The man who had been so authoritative earlier was gone, replaced by a man desperately pleading his case.
"Correct. Not a single word is wrong."
Cutting off the man's speech, the Branch Chief nodded.
"Because involuntary dismissal is the heaviest disciplinary action we can impose."
"Disciplinary action? I'd rather die a hundred times over."
"Yep."
Song A-rin muttered in a small voice, and when Jang Chae-yeon nodded for the first time, affirming Song A-rin's words, the Branch Chief glanced at Song A-rin before looking back at the man.
"Information? You don't need to tell me."
"Branch Chie—"
"Resistance? You can try."
"Branch—"
"Do whatever you want."
"Branch Chief! My words—"
-Grab!
The Branch Chief seized the man's face with one hand,
"Quiet."
"Guh, huk..."
-Crunch...
The man's face crumpled under the shape of the Branch Chief's fingers.
"..."
"...Whoa..."
My spine straightened instinctively from fear, and Yu Daon frowned while watching the scene.
"I won't be listening to your words."
"-"
After muttering in a cold voice, the Branch Chief released her hand, and the man, now unconscious with his face crushed, fell forward. Then the Branch Chief looked at me.
"Kim Jae-heon ssi."
"Yes. Yes, yes?"
At the Branch Chief's words, I unintentionally straightened up and answered her at attention. Seeing this, the Branch Chief laughed and waved her hand dismissively.
"Hey, don't be so scared."
How am I supposed to not be scared of that right now?
She crushed a human face with her grip and tells me not to be scared?
"You've been through a lot. I have a mountain of things I want to say, but..."
The Branch Chief let out a big sigh.
"As you can see, there's too much to handle right now."
As if thinking about it gave her a headache, she groaned and sighed.
"I'll call you soon. With some useful information."
"...Understood."
"You must have heard a few things too, Kim Jae-heon ssi?"
She smiled and looked at me.
At the Branch Chief's words, I recalled a few things I needed to remember, and things that bothered me.
The predetermined future of three people, the Manual, and...
"Now, now! That's enough thinking!"
The Branch Chief, who had somehow appeared beside me, laughed, patted my shoulder, and smiled.
"Too much thinking tires a person out, you know?"
"..."
"I'll give you a vacation."
"...A vacation..."
"Let me say it again?"
The Branch Chief looked at me.
"Please, I hope nothing happens. I heard that if another incident breaks out this time, instead of an incident report, I'd have to attend a mental training camp."
For the first time, an emotion resembling fear appeared on her face.
"Anyway, so. Get some rest."
She went up the stairs, leaving the man behind.
"Uh, what about that person..."
"There's someone waiting outside. They'll take him."
When I pointed to the man, the Branch Chief shook her head and started pushing our backs.
"No, wait..."
"From here on out, it's post-processing."
She smiled, opened the door,
"Long time no see."
A man wearing sunglasses greeted us and made eye contact with Song A-rin behind me.
"...What."
"...Just wondering if you're doing well."
"Well, um. Not bad."
"Looks like you're doing very well."
"No, I'm not?"
Passing by Song A-rin and the man who were bickering, I went up the stairs with Yu Daon and Jang Chae-yeon.
Before I knew it, the sun had set, and a dim moon hung in the night sky.
"Then!"
The Branch Chief clapped her hands.
"Knock off!"
*
"..."
"..."
I walked down the street with Yu Daon.
Song A-rin stayed behind, saying she had to help with the interrogation, and Jang Chae-yeon, with a serious expression, muttered something before saying she needed to check on something and disappeared.
The work was over, but there was still too much to think about.
Forget about the Imago, but the Observer and the Troupe Master...
"Jae-heon ssi."
"Yes."
Yu Daon turned her head and looked at me.
A faint smile was on her face.
"When the world ended."
"...Yes."
"Did I do well?"
I was momentarily lost for words at Yu Daon's question.
"I don't know what the situation was like."
Yu Daon passed me and stood in front of a crosswalk.
"If it were me, I definitely would have made a choice for Jae-heon ssi."
"..."
She did do that.
Yu Daon turned around and looked at me.
"Was I right?"
"...You were."
It was her own stubbornness, but it was true that she sacrificed herself for me.
Yu Daon smiled.
"That's good."
"..."
"..."
After a brief silence, Yu Daon opened her mouth.
"That."
"Yes."
"...I, that."
"Yes."
"Tha..."
Yu Daon hesitated, then spoke.
"...Do you want to sleep over at my place?"
You don't have furniture, do you?
"...Do you have a bed? No, you don't have an air conditioner either, right? A television?"
"..."
Yu Daon opened and closed her mouth repeatedly.
What am I supposed to do there?
"Rather than that, how about we go sing—"
"Jae-heon ssi! You're really mean!"
"No, well, sorry..."
At my words, Yu Daon stamped her foot and shouted.
It's the truth, though.
"...Ahem, ahem."
Yu Daon cleared her throat.
"Since work is over today... let's just talk..."
Yu Daon glanced up at me.
"Yes?"
"..."
At the very least, Yu Daon was someone who knew how to utilize the debt she had imposed on me.
*
In the same room as always.
I was sitting blankly on the sofa, wearing pajamas that who-knows-when Yu Daon had bought.
I was tired.
Physically, but mentally too.
What is the Manual, what kind of past did I have, what were the words the regressor heard...
"..."
"...Heon ssi?"
"..."
"Jae-heon ssi?"
"Ah, sorry."
Yu Daon smiled softly and sat next to me.
"It's okay. It's tough, isn't it?"
Yu Daon leaned my head on her shoulder.
"You've been through a lot. Really."
"..."
Drowsiness washed over me.
"And—"
Yu Daon whispered something to me.
"—is..."
"..."
Her final words were too faint to hear,
And when I turned my head, only the image of Yu Daon, shaking her head with a soft smile, remained on my retina.
*
"..."
Sunlight shone in my eyes.
"...Ugh."
I lifted my body.
Somehow, I was lying on a bed.
...I distinctly remember not falling asleep on a bed.
"...Ummm..."
I heard someone stirring next to me.
Slowly turning my head.
"Ah, Jae-heon ssi."
Yu Daon rubbed her sleepy eyes and smiled, her hair messy.
"Did you sleep well?"
Bed, me, Yu Daon.
...No way?
My heart dropped with a thud.
"Jae-heon ssi?"
Yu Daon tilted her head with an innocent expression.
Cold sweat ran down my spine.