LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 202
We all leap over the window after the Branch Chief.
The ground below was a sky laid out, but surprisingly, we were walking upright in mid-air.
“Now, now, everyone, it’s your first time walking on the sky, isn’t it?”
“Is it really my first time?”
“Was it?”
“…I can’t remember.”
At the Branch Chief’s words, Yu Da On, Song Ah Rin, and Jang Chae Yeon tilted their heads in response. The Branch Chief sighed as she stared at them and then turned her gaze to all of us.
“There’s absolutely no romance here. Shouldn’t there be exclamations like ‘Wow’ or ‘This is so cool!’ at a moment like this?”
“Branch Chief, if you bring people to a place resembling a wedge and say such things, nobody’s going to feel any sense of beauty.”
Eileen spoke the truth.
“No, we should live even more positively in times like this! Wow, how pretty! I can make it through with that! Right everyone?”
Maybe it’s because she’s lived a long time. Her perspective is quite different from ordinary folks.
As we stared at her blankly, the Branch Chief let out a deep sigh and then looked at us.
“Everyone just stares at the ground. It’s fine for me, Kim Jae Heon, and Song Ah Rin, but…”
At the Branch Chief’s words, everyone except me and Song Ah Rin started staring at the ground.
“…”
Song Ah Rin stood next to me.
“Are your legs okay?”
“No.”
Song Ah Rin answered while poking her thigh with her fist.
“I thought I was really going to die.”
“Chae Yeon would’ve actually died.”
“Don’t even start. The whole time you’re walking, acting all tough and never admitting it’s hard, but as you get slower, I have to take care of you while you pretend like it’s nothing—ow!”
-Thud!
Something thudded onto Song Ah Rin’s head, and she grabbed her hair with an annoyed expression.
She glared at Jang Chae Yeon.
“Are you trying to die, you crazy white-haired idiot?”
“You were the one who started it.”
Jang Chae Yeon coolly replied while still looking at the ground.
Watching the two of them growl at each other, I shifted my gaze back to the Branch Chief.
“Ah, Kim Jae Heon.”
“Branch Chief.”
The Branch Chief approached me with a big smile on her face.
“What exactly are we going to do now?”
“We’re going to stop the moon, right?”
“…”
I knew that well enough.
As I stared intently at the Branch Chief, she smiled slightly.
“Don’t look at me like that. I want to explain too, but explanations don’t tend to go well here.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Jae Heon.”
The Branch Chief looked up at the blue moon.
I too looked at the moon.
-Zap!
A sudden migraine swept over me, and afterward, I felt nothing.
“Up until now, the containment objects you’ve dealt with have usually been self-aware or groups with specific purposes, right?”
“…That’s right.”
“But there are some that aren’t like that.”
The Branch Chief gazed up at the moon.
Receiving the blue moonlight, she didn’t flinch at all.
“There are entities that merely exist but can harm people.”
“…”
-Zap!
The headache kept teasing my brain.
“This one is similar. We just need to prevent it from having a fit periodically.”
“…”
“But once we stop it, there won’t be such a beautiful place again! It’s perfect for a date, you know?”
The Branch Chief laughed as she looked at the moon.
“Human Resources Team must be so famous for having lovely friends. Let’s find a nice lady to hang out with over there, okay? If you don’t do it at this age, then when?”
“…I’ll take care of that part myself.”
“No, after the work is done, there are some nice places inside, and the mood is great. When else will you get to date on the moon?”
“Branch Chief, have you ever done that?”
“…”
The Branch Chief closed her mouth as if she lost her words.
She probably hasn’t experienced it but is still telling others to go on a date.
With the feeling of returning to my family’s home during the holidays, I kept moving forward.
The once distant moon now filled my entire sight.
“…This feels a bit odd.”
Song Ah Rin muttered as she stared at the moon.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, typically, mental attacks tend to come continuously.”
Song Ah Rin continued, keeping her gaze locked on the moon.
“But this feels like a wave. It attacks once and then after a set time, another wave comes.”
“…”
-Zap!
I felt a sudden pain in my head, only to return to normal.
“See?”
“Truly, you seem like the one who has been here the longest.”
Muttering ‘excluding me’, the Branch Chief nodded.
“Just like Song Ah Rin said, this is a phenomenon.”
“A phenomenon?”
“It’s not like something is trying to reject or fight against it. It merely exists here.”
“…What on earth…”
Since when has this moon been existing above us like this?
The Branch Chief smiled softly as she looked at me.
“From the very beginning.”
“…”
“When the inhabitants of a time even more distant than ours were around. We are just now realizing and responding to it.”
Before we knew it, we were on the moon.
“…”
Since when?
Didn’t we just walk on a transparent ground a moment ago?
“Alright, now that the waves have stopped, it’s fine to look at the moon.”
Ignoring our bewildered expressions, the Branch Chief told us, and we all turned our gazes to the moon.
Scattered dust and occasionally formed craters.
“…”
Eileen remained silent.
“It’s pretty…”
Yu Da On mumbled.
“…”
Jang Chae Yeon simply stared up at the moon in silence.
Turning my gaze to the crater, it felt like something was writhing inside.
Is it just me?
“Now, do you remember what I said earlier?”
To shake us from our thoughts, the Branch Chief clapped her hands and looked at us.
“Someone may need to stay behind.”
“…”
Our gazes turned to the Branch Chief.
“It seems like Jae Heon has noticed.”
The Branch Chief pointed toward the crater.
I stared into the crater.
Something was still writhing inside.
Something black… continuously… dancing…
A buzzing sound rang in my ears.
-Creak!
“Ouch!”
A sharp pain punctured my back.
Song Ah Rin had smacked my back.
“Snap out of it.”
Song Ah Rin stared at me intently.
“…”
“Your expression was blank just now. It seemed like you were entranced.”
So, the mental barrier isn’t working?
“It’s not a mental issue.”
It seemed the Branch Chief had read my expression as she looked at the crater.
-Swish!
At that moment, the manual unfolded.
[Containment Object – Shadows Within the Moon – Written by Branch Chief Lee Ha Neul]
1. This containment object appears during the ‘Blue Moon’ phenomenon.
2. The writhing entities inside actually exist, and someone has to control that writhing.
3. A singular person with strong mental fortitude must remain to continuously ‘observe’ them so they won’t move.
4. If it fails, a [REDACTED] phenomenon occurs, so return to the cabin quickly and proceed to record.
“…”
A person with purely strong mental fortitude.
I looked around at the people.
The Branch Chief.
She has the strongest mental fortitude, but can she stay behind here?
Assuming for a moment that I disregarded the Branch Chief as a guide…
Song Ah Rin.
I can’t say she’s strong in mental fortitude. Disqualified.
Eileen.
I’m not sure yet, but is she strong? Pending.
Jang Chae Yeon.
She’s reasonably strong in mental fortitude. Qualified.
Yu Da On.
Disqualified.
Me.
“…”
In the end, if I think about it, the only ones who could stay are Jang Chae Yeon and me.
“Then I—”
“Jang Chae Yeon will stay.”
Before my words finished, the Branch Chief looked at Jang Chae Yeon and said.
Song Ah Rin gasped, and Eileen lowered her gaze to the ground.
What? Why?
“…”
Jang Chae Yeon nodded slowly at the Branch Chief’s words.
“Chae Yeon, are you alright?”
“Yeah.”
Jang Chae Yeon replied softly, smiling slightly.
“Don’t worry about me.”
“…I could stay too, you know.”
“Of course, you’d do well if you stayed.”
Jang Chae Yeon nodded slowly.
“But if someone truly needs to remain, it will be you. I believe that.”
Her trust in me weighed heavily.
The Branch Chief grabbed Jang Chae Yeon’s shoulders and started moving somewhere.
“Branch Chief?”
“I’ll talk to her for a moment.”
With that, she and the Branch Chief disappeared from view.
*
“…”
Jang Chae Yeon felt uncomfortable around the Branch Chief.
She hadn’t been in the Gangseo Branch for long, and she herself didn’t enjoy getting close to people.
“Listen carefully, Jang Chae Yeon.”
-Swish.
Before she knew it, the two were standing before the crater.
“What you have to do, Jang Chae Yeon, is to look at what’s inside that crater no matter what happens.”
“…”
“Whatever is inside will absolutely ruin your body.”
“…”
“But still, you have to look, Jang Chae Yeon.”
I see.
At the Branch Chief’s words, she nodded slowly.
Seeing her reaction, the Branch Chief hesitated before continuing.
“You will probably, no, definitely die here.”
“…”
Even when the Branch Chief said this to her, Jang Chae Yeon didn’t show surprise.
What had she said?
“On the way, some must stay, and some must move forward.”
Staying behind.
In the field, this is referred to as ‘sacrifice.’
Because when it comes to dealing with containment objects, the person left behind has a literally zero chance of survival.
“But it’s okay.”
The Branch Chief nodded.
“You will absolutely come back alive. I’ll promise you that.”
“Yes.”
Jang Chae Yeon replied dryly as she looked at the crater.
“…Aren’t you scared?”
What is this girl suddenly saying?
Jang Chae Yeon looked at the Branch Chief with a puzzled expression, and the Branch Chief returned her gaze.
“I’ve seen many people who faced death with dignity.”
“…”
“But you, Jang Chae Yeon… you seem less dignified, more like you’re just accepting it.”
“…Well.”
Jang Chae Yeon tilted her head as she answered.
“As long as that person is there, there’s no way we can fail.”
If there’s something to fear, it’s in trembling from the possibility of failure.
She believed in Kim Jae Heon.
That man would surely succeed.
“…What a surprise. The Human Resources Team members aren’t too weak by themselves, but they seem strong together.”
The Branch Chief muttered in astonishment.
“I think the bond among them brings about impressive results.”
“…”
“…I’m sorry.”
The Branch Chief said this apologetically, while Jang Chae Yeon shook her head.
“Go quickly. That person seems unaware.”
“…I’m sorry.”
The Branch Chief kept turning back as she walked away.
With her gaze away from the Branch Chief, Jang Chae Yeon slowly approached the crater.
“…”
Inside the largest crater, shadows were dancing.
No, it wasn’t just shadows.
The writhing sound reached her ears.
It seemed to gnaw at her mind, the sound echoed through her.
-Pop!
Handprints covered the crater.
Dust began to rise.
“Cough!”
She reflexively coughed.
-Blood!
She spat up blood.
“…”
Staring at the dark red blood that fell to the ground,
“…”
Wiping the blood from her lips with her hand, Jang Chae Yeon looked ahead.
No sound was left in her ears now.
Because her eardrums had burst.
But that writhing sound was still reverberating endlessly inside her head.
-Splash!
Her legs turned to sand.
“Ugh.”
Supporting herself with her arms, she gazed into the crater.
“…”
Her vision met what was inside.
“…Ah.”
I see.
Her right peripheral vision turned bright red.
So that was it.
What was inside that crater was this.
The writhing noise continued echoing inside her ears, but despite everything, Jang Chae Yeon didn’t move an inch.
Her one functioning left eye continued to gaze into the crater.
Because that was what she could do.
After all, as long as she waits, the man will resolve it.
And her left eye also began to turn red.
Now she couldn’t see properly.
She slowly crawled and rolled into the crater.
Did her sister feel this pain when she left her behind?
“…”
The writhing sound now threatened to explode her head with its intensity, but she did not scream and continued to crawl forward.
A man rose in her mind.
Then, if so, could she not endure this pain?
If this was the agony her sister had felt, Jang Chae Yeon wanted to experience it too.
And, perhaps it was presumptuous, but she just wanted to hear a word from that man.
You did well.
Though she would willingly have headed toward this place even without hearing such words.
A soft smile formed on her lips.
That was her last thought.