Chapter 338: Farewell
-Crash! Bang!
Eileen tumbled across the floor, letting out a scream-like sound.
"How am I supposed to block something like that!"
"Just block it! Why are you whining so much!"
"Is this the daily life of the HR team?!"
"Hold on!"
Song A-rin answered her question with a voice full of irritation, swinging her hand. At the same time, threads shot out from her hand, blocking the attacks.
"Do you think you can survive by just whining like that!"
"I'm your sen-"
-Thud!
Eileen dodged a flying kick by dropping to the ground, shouting in a fierce voice.
"-ior!"
"Oh, really! You're so full of yourself for a kid!"
"Seeing the two of you fight while dodging makes it seem less dangerous than I thought!"
Aren't they even the same age?
I, too, dodged alongside Yu Daon and turned my gaze forward.
The Masterpiece, swinging its legs at us with a smile.
Yu Daon stretched out her hand, twisting the attack away. With a Crack! sound, her arm bent in a bizarre direction.
"Ugh...!"
"Ms. Daon! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!"
At my words, Yu Daon shook her head with a smile.
"You're not hurt, are you, Mr. Jae-heon?"
"Don't worry about m-"
-Thud!
With a tremendous sound, the Masterpiece that was charging at me collapsed to the ground.
"Be careful."
"Thank you, Ms. Chae-yeon."
Jang Chae-yeon nodded, then looked at me.
"Do you have a reason for doing this?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"Well, you see."
-Whoosh!
As Song A-rin stretched both arms back, the Masterpiece, still connected by threads, performed a grotesque movement before collapsing.
"The art that Aestheticism envisions ultimately ends up being taxidermied."
"Huh?"
"No, not you and Ms. Daon."
Yu Daon thought I was calling her and looked at me, but I quickly stopped her and continued.
"Because Aestheticism is a more stubborn artist than you'd think."
"She's also lived a long time."
"Right."
She only used humans as materials; her methods of painting, sculpting, and even her artistic style couldn't be called progressive.
Seeing how she interacts so familiarly with the Branch Chief, she must have lived a very long time.
"So?"
"Ultimately, we're fighting an isolation object created by another isolation object, right?"
"Yeah."
"In other words, thinking conversely, if we understand the properties of the art Aestheticism creates, we can handle this."
The Masterpiece ultimately cannot escape Aestheticism's influence.
Whether that's positive or negative.
"Hmm... So?"
Jang Chae-yeon glared at me as if telling me to stop beating around the bush and just say it.
Hey, explaining the premise like this makes it easier to understand later!
Swallowing my sense of injustice, I continued the explanation.
"Ultimately, you see."
"Uh, it seems to have slowed down a bit too."
Hearing Yu Daon's words, I looked at Jang Chae-yeon and then smirked.
"If you look closely, as you can see, the perfect art that Aestheticism envisions is..."
-Crunch!
[Chronos's Shield: 8 seconds remaining]
Yu Daon stretched out her hand and blocked the Masterpiece's attack.
The Masterpiece's leg grazed the shield at a significantly slower speed than before.
"It's not moving."
Hearing my words, Jang Chae-yeon raised her head and looked at the Masterpiece. The Masterpiece also looked at Jang Chae-yeon.
Simultaneously, it swung its leg even more fiercely, and Jang Chae-yeon squeezed her eyes shut before sending the Masterpiece flying again.
"...Then, unnie..."
"Correct."
"..."
She looked at the floor with a bitter expression.
"...Is that thing a bit slow?"
"Yeah."
And it wasn't just us who noticed the situation.
Song A-rin and Eileen were also staring intently at the Masterpiece right in front of them.
"Hey, am I seeing this right?"
"Yes. You are."
"..."
-Creak...
A creaking sound flowed from the Masterpiece's joints as it twisted its body.
"Unnie."
"..."
Jang Chae-yeon looked at the Masterpiece. The Masterpiece looked at Jang Chae-yeon and laughed.
"Chae-yeon-ah."
"Yeah."
"This feels really good. You should do it too."
"..."
Jang Chae-yeon lowered her gaze to the floor. Song A-rin passed by her and stared intently at the Masterpiece.
"Oh my, A-rin is here too?"
"...You."
She looked at the Masterpiece, then at Jang Chae-yeon. The Masterpiece immediately swung its claws at Song A-rin.
-Screech!
Of course, Yu Daon and I blocked that attack.
"But this kid was really worried about you."
"Really?"
Song A-rin muttered, pointing her thumb at Jang Chae-yeon behind her. Hearing this, the Masterpiece smiled brightly.
"I'm so happy. You thought of me that much. In that case, this time for sure-"
"So the time has come to cut off that worry."
Song A-rin walked forward without a moment's hesitation.
It swung its hand.
"Ms. A-rin!"
-Swish!
Again, Yu Daon and I blocked its claws.
"Sorry. Just block it for a bit."
"Suddenly, what are you-"
"It's going to stop soon anyway, right?"
She looked up at me.
"..."
"Well then, I'm really sorry, but I have something to say too."
Then she faced the Masterpiece.
Song A-rin always had strong opinions, but in situations like this, she usually suppressed her own views and arguments.
-Screech!
"Ms. Daon, sorry, but please bear with it just this once."
"It's okay!"
Hearing Yu Daon's cheerful reply, I also turned my gaze to the Masterpiece.
"I relied on and followed you a lot too. Most people at the Management Bureau have great character, but regardless, you were truly among the most virtuous."
Song A-rin looked at her with a straight gaze.
"So, this is the utmost consideration a junior can give to a senior."
Then she turned her head to look at Jang Chae-yeon, furrowed her brow deeply, and shouted.
"Hey! Are you just going to stand there like a mute with your mouth shut? Hurry up and come say something!"
Jang Chae-yeon heard that, raised her head, looked back and forth between Song A-rin and the Masterpiece,
then stretched out her hand, and the Masterpiece went flying backward.
By then, the Masterpiece could no longer move properly.
She's developing at a truly incredible speed.
-Thud!
The Masterpiece slammed into the wall, and Jang Chae-yeon slowly approached her side.
"Unnie."
"Chae-yeon-ah."
She bent down, reached out, and brushed aside the Masterpiece's hair.
"...Thank you. Thanks to you, I made it this far."
"..."
It said nothing.
It just remained there, frozen.
"It's complete."
Song A-rin muttered. Jang Chae-yeon stared intently at the sight.
She clenched her fist tightly.
-Crumble!
At the same time, the mannequin, which had been absolutely unbreakable until just moments ago, easily turned to powder and crumbled, scattering before us.
Inside it was one more transparent orb.
"...Here."
Jang Chae-yeon picked up the orb and handed it to me.
"Ms. Chae-yeon."
"Yeah."
"Are you okay?"
"No."
In response to my question, she slowly shook her head.
"But I have to go, right?"
"..."
"Let's go. I think it's time for me to get my revenge too."
She muttered in a low voice and started walking. I held up the orb and examined it.
Just the same. This one was also shining transparently.
*
Jang Chae-yeon was walking ahead of all of us.
"What floor is this?"
"It must be the fourth floor."
Just one floor above the last floor.
Aestheticism is probably at the very top.
"..."
Jang Chae-yeon took a deep breath. Eileen looked at me.
"Let's rest for a moment before going."
"...Should we?"
We've been running non-stop from the 1st floor until now.
As soon as she heard my words, Yu Daon plopped down on the spot with a sigh.
"Then let's rest a bit!"
"You're not even tired."
"What are you talking about, Ms. A-rin? I'm human too, you know?"
At Yu Daon's words, Song A-rin snorted and sat down beside her. I approached Jang Chae-yeon.
"Ms. Chae-yeon."
"Yeah."
"Are you okay?"
"...Hmm."
In response to my question, she hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"That's good. Now..."
"We're going to catch Aestheticism, right?"
"...Yes."
"But."
Jang Chae-yeon, who had been listening to me, raised her head and stared straight at me.
"Why are you going this far for me?"
"Huh?"
"In a way, this isn't your business."
"..."
"It's just... You don't even know unnie well, it's just my..."
"Ms. Chae-yeon."
I cut off her muttering and continued.
"You came along when I had to deal with matters related to my younger sister, didn't you?"
"..."
She repeatedly opened and closed her mouth.
"That's just our relationship, I guess. We help each other, do what needs to be done for each other when necessary."
"..."
Jang Chae-yeon remained silent and still.
Then, she grabbed my hand firmly.
"...I... you..."
"Have you rested well?"
Then, cutting off her words, Song A-rin looked at us.
"The Branch Chief is still captured, so we can't rest properly. We need to go in right away."
"..."
Jang Chae-yeon stared intently at Song A-rin. Song A-rin also looked back at her and twisted the corner of her mouth upward.
"What, do you have something to say? I'm just returning the favor?"
What favor are you returning?
"...No. Let's go."
And we all began to climb the stairs.
With expressions much more tense than before, we climbed the stairs.
A sign reading <5th Floor> came into view.
With each step up the stairs, the anxiety grew.
Can we win?
What happened to the Branch Chief?
First of all, what was Aestheticism trying to do that made the Observer ask me for a favor?
And why couldn't my past self ever defeat Aestheticism?
I couldn't know that fact, but
"Someday, it has to be done."
My muttering seemed to make the Manual tremble.
We passed the <5th Floor> sign and entered inside.
It was a place decorated in an antique style.
Furniture was arranged, and sweet classical music was flowing.
It felt like the top floor of a luxury hotel to anyone who saw it.
And.
"Cough...!"
There was the Branch Chief, tied to a pillar, bleeding.
"Branch Chief!"
I shouted, looking at her. The Branch Chief opened her eyes and looked at me.
"Don't come!"
At the same time, the sound of footsteps was heard.
"You took a while."
-Step... step...
The sound of something hard walking on the floor.
I squeezed my eyes shut and looked toward the sound. Aestheticism, with one of its arms broken, was walking toward us.
"Hello. You've become much more beautiful since I last saw you."
She smiled as she looked at us.