Chapter 247: For You
A gunshot rings out.
Through the brightly lit stained glass, a muzzle spits fire.
-Clang!
A cogwheel falls with a loud noise.
The church shakes as if an earthquake has hit.
Small cogwheels begin to fall, and in their wake, the larger ones start falling too.
The red light disappears, and the world returns to normal.
Eileen stood frozen, holding the gun.
"Wh-what was that?"
She stammered as she looked at me.
"What did I just see?"
"Huh?"
"Th-the world turned black like this. And there was a red light..."
"You fired your gun towards that light?"
"Yeah. I mean, no?"
"Is 'yeah, no' a yes or a no?"
"I did fire, but it wasn't really me."
Eileen shook her head with a bewildered expression.
"I could see your gaze."
"What does that mean?"
"Well."
Eileen closed her eyes and made a thoughtful sound.
-Crash!
As a giant cogwheel fell, a sound echoed in my head.
<Danger Eliminated.>
As if by prior agreement, Eileen and I rolled across the floor to avoid the falling cogs.
"How do we get out!"
"Just a moment!"
How do we get out?
In the vision I saw earlier, it seemed the church expelled people to the village—
"Danger!"
Eileen shouted and tackled me.
Her small frame covered me as we rolled across the floor.
We rolled across the floor hard enough to kick up dust, then both looked up at the ceiling.
An enormous cogwheel was falling right above our heads.
Eileen grabbed my arm tightly.
"We can't avoid...!"
She cried out desperately, and I hastily covered Eileen while activating Critical.
[Critical : 2 -> 1]
The world slowed down, and the giant cogwheel was already right before my eyes.
I drew my gun.
Then, as if entranced, someone next to me also drew a pistol from their holster.
It was Eileen.
She was staring blankly at a spot slightly off from my line of sight.
I followed her gaze.
A red light was shining from the ceiling.
To be precise, red light was emanating from two spots.
I pulled the trigger, and then Eileen pulled her trigger, hitting the red light on the opposite side.
Two bullets pierced through the church ceiling.
-Rumble!
It was too late.
Before I could even pull my hand back, the giant cogwheel fell onto my head.
"Guh-huk!"
I opened my eyes inside a small house.
"Huh? Huh?"
Eileen muttered in a dazed voice.
We were inside a dark house.
We knew this house.
"...It's the village."
Eileen muttered as if she couldn't believe it.
"Were we really expelled?"
"It might actually be for the best."
I recalled the church with its turning cogwheels.
I had no idea how to even begin escaping from there, so if this turned out well, then it was indeed for the best.
I looked out the window.
A deep darkness had settled.
"...What we just did."
"Huh?"
"Firing the gun."
"Ah, yeah."
Eileen nodded at my words.
"You don't remember exactly how you did it, right?"
"Not exactly, no. I just... saw what you were seeing."
"And then?"
"Just... well, so I fired the gun, but it felt like the bullet was being... sucked in, I guess?"
It was Critical.
Eileen had just used Critical alongside me.
This was a first for me too.
I closed my eyes for a moment, lost in thought at Eileen's words.
Until now, Joint Techniques had been like a fusion of my ability and someone else's.
Method Acting was like that, and Coordinate Tearing was too.
Yu Daon was a bit of a strange case, though. I still have no idea what regeneration and fixing someone on the time axis have to do with each other.
I thought about Eileen's case instead.
She is a non-ability user.
In other words, she has no inherent ability.
Thinking of it that way, since Eileen's and my abilities can't mix, only my ability remains, and it seems like Eileen and I shared it.
So that allowed Eileen to use Critical alongside me?
"..."
Is that right? Then if I go around raising the Understanding of other ordinary people, I could create a Critical army. Is that really possible?
I'll test it later. I just need to find someone... compatible somewhere.
Having finished my thoughts, I looked at Eileen.
"Eileen-"
-Bang!
Before I could even finish, Eileen had pulled out her rifle, aimed at the door, and fired.
With a tremendous roar, the door swung wide open, and Eileen opened it and looked at me.
"It was locked."
"Ah, yes. Well then-"
Before I could finish my sentence, a sound of something tearing echoed.
I looked up at the sky.
"Let's go."
"Okay."
I started running with Eileen.
The sky was full of static noise.
*
We ran through the streets of the dark village.
If I recalled what I saw earlier, the people sent down from the church to the village were soon swept away by the river.
If we stay here, we could be swept away by the river and die.
Running beside me, Eileen kept looking back.
"..."
She looked back again and again, and after a short while, she looked back once more.
"Why do you keep doing that?"
"...It's nothing."
She answered in a voice full of hesitation, and then—
-Swooosh...!
A sound of something pouring down reached us.
Eileen gasped.
"This way!"
She shouted loudly and pulled me along.
Soon, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
The angel that Yu Daon and I had barely held back suddenly came to mind.
If that thing comes too, I have no confidence that we can stop it.
I desperately racked my memory as we raced through the streets, but with mere human legs, I saw no way to stop the rising water.
But if we go inside a house here to avoid the water, it seems like we'd be slaughtered by the angel before the water even passes.
There is one way to escape quickly...
But it's too much of a gamble. Especially for Eileen, it could be a terrible thing to do.
Just as I was thinking desperately, Eileen grabbed my hand.
"Wait a second."
"Yes?"
"...If things continue like this, we'll die."
"...That's right."
She was correct.
If things continue like this, we will die.
We die if we run, and we die if we fight.
"Want to hear my plan?"
"It sounds a bit worrying, but I'll listen."
"Let's ride the river."
"..."
She said the exact same thing I had been thinking.
"Let's ride the river and get to the exit quickly."
"...You know what happens if we get swept away, right?"
Whether it's memories being taken or intelligence being taken. I don't know exactly, but it's certain that something is taken away.
-Fwoosh!
At the same time, the Manual unfolded.
[Manual for Office Workers]
[KLQ - Sacrifice as Needed]
1. To survive, sacrifice as needed may sometimes be necessary.
2. If you are fine and someone else must be sacrificed, you must weigh a person's usefulness.
3. And, there is no one more precious than you.
4. Do not forget. You are the most precious—
-Thump!
I closed the Manual and looked at Eileen. She gave a wry smile.
"Right. But you'll be okay, won't you?"
"...I don't know that either."
"Yeah, well. I see."
She smiled softly.
"I'll try."
"Huh?"
"I don't have that many memories I must not forget."
-Swoosh!
The water rushed in. Before I could look back, Eileen grabbed my hand.
"I won't forget the happiness of my short childhood."
"Eileen-"
"I won't forget the names and sacrifices of our team members who perished."
"Wait a moment!"
The sound of the river water approaching very close could be heard.
"And, I won't forget you."
Eileen held my hand.
And just like that, we were violently swept away by the river.
My body was swept away by the current and began to drift; a splitting headache assaulted me.
"Argh...!"
In the pain that made it impossible to even breathe, someone grabbed both of my hands.
It was Eileen.
Though blurry, she looked at me with eyes full of determination.
She was fervently mouthing something.
It was people's names.
Kim Deok-pil, Lee Eun-ju, Kang Seong-hwan, and countless others.
And.
'Kim Jae-heon.'
Her lips formed my name, and I too gripped her hand tightly.
My memories did not fade.
So I wanted to remember her even more.
To remember more strongly the her who would not forget me.
At the same time, a piece of paper fell out from my pocket.
It was a business card.
The blank business card the Director-General had given me when we met.
Soon, my head hit something, and my memory stopped there.
Only the warm sensation in both hands remained.
*
-Thud!
"Keuh-heuk! U, u-wehek...!"
Waking to a terrible headache and the sensation of someone pounding on my chest, I vomited water.
"You're awake?"
I turned my head at the familiar voice.
The Branch Chief was looking at me, her brown hair swaying.
"The Director-General personally rescued you."
"Is... that so."
"Does your memory serve you well? I heard you rode the River of Oblivion. Do you know who I am?"
"...Yes, Branch Chief. What about the others?"
"I contacted everyone, so I came here. They're on their way now."
"That's a relie—"
Suddenly, Eileen's face came to mind.
"What about Eileen?"
"Eileen?"
The Branch Chief shifted her body slightly, revealing Eileen lying there with her eyes closed.
"Eileen!"
I hurriedly crawled on my knees towards her.
Perhaps hearing my voice, she let out a groan and opened her eyes.
Soon, she looked at me and smiled.
"...Do, do you remember me?"
Eileen blinked and looked at me.
After an illusion of an eternity passing, she opened her mouth.
"I said I would, didn't I? Kim Jae-heon."
"..."
I felt all the tension leave my body.
She remembers.
"Oh my. You managed to retain your memories even in the River of Oblivion. That's amazing!"
The Branch Chief laughed as she looked at us.
"...Who are you?"
"...Oh my."
Eileen looked at the Branch Chief uneasily, and the Branch Chief froze on the spot.
*
"She's resting well now."
A few days later, the Branch Chief came to see me.
"She's undergoing memory rehabilitation. But aside from her childhood memories, the memories of the victims, and lastly, Kim Jae-heon, she doesn't remember anything else."
"..."
In conclusion, Eileen survived.
The others were fine too.
The only problem was that she had truly lost a great deal of her memory.
"To be honest, you are the only living person among the people she remembers now."
"..."
That made sense. She had decided to carry the responsibility for the dead.
"...When she's rested. Please take care of her. She might rest for a long time, or she might come back soon. When she's a bit more stable, I'll send you for a visit first."
"...Thank you."
"...It's a miracle you survived."
The Branch Chief comforted me by patting my shoulder.
"Don't feel responsible."
"...Yes."
And so, the church incident came to a close.
*
A few more days passed.
I still couldn't meet Eileen.
The fortunate thing was that I heard her condition was improving day by day.
I heard that if things continue like this, meeting her would be possible soon.
But that... memory loss.
That was what bothered me.
Even when I told the Branch Chief, she just said, 'Don't worry about it for now.'
Then, one day, during a peaceful day.
"W-well, say something."
Song A-rin was looking at me.
Sitting with her legs crossed, she looked at me.
Noticing the choker on her neck that wasn't there last time, a semi-transparent window appeared.
[Name : Necklace of Truth]
[Age : X ]
[Specialty : Speaking the Truth]
[Talent : Speaking the Truth]
[Background : The person who was always unable to be honest put this on and made a promise. Today, I will finally convey my true feelings.]
[Weakness : Remove the necklace.]
Should I take it off?
"Don't reach for it!"
"Ah, yes."