NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Once upon a time, such questions circulated on the internet.
Here’s a button.
If you press this button, instead of spending 100 million years in the void, you’ll receive a fortune.
However, the moment you press that button, you will suffer infinite torment in a room you can never leave for 100 million years, but that period will completely vanish from your memory.
I think the situation I’m experiencing now isn’t much different from that.
But this time, the key point is that someone is orchestrating this.
It’s more fitting to say I’m not trapped by some unavoidable force, but rather by a big, strong friend who has locked me in a solitary room and is currently holding onto the doorknob.
I need to break the game.
What does it mean to break the game?
To do that, there were two things I needed to prepare and show.
“…”
“…”
Jang Chae Yeon glanced at me and quickly turned her head away.
I had been on a few blind dates in my life.
And I had never succeeded, repetitively experiencing awkward goodbyes, the main reason being my eyes.
“It’s a bit scary how well you know me despite being on our first meeting.”
“Sometimes it feels like you’re reading people’s hearts, and it’s creepy.”
“Not my type.”
“Looks like someone worn out by work.”
Anyway, I had faced a lot of bias related to my eyes.
Thanks to that, every time I went on a blind date, things never ended well.
But on the flip side, I had my share of experiences meeting women.
“The weather is nice, isn’t it?”
“It’s raining.”
“Indeed. What’s your hobby?”
“None.”
“Ahaha.”
Yet somehow, that experience seemed insufficient.
As I racked my brain for more questions, she sighed softly while looking at me.
“Um… why are you doing this?”
“What do you mean?”
“What’s the reason for this meaningless stuff?”
“To get out?”
“Does this pointless activity help with that?”
“If I said it’s necessary, would you go along with it?”
Jang Chae Yeon stared at me intently.
Her emotionless eyes met mine several times before she let out a deep sigh, turning her body to face me.
“My hobby is walking. As I said, I’m an only child, and both my parents have passed away.”
“I see.”
“What about you?”
“As I mentioned, I have a younger sister… and both my parents are perfectly fine.”
“Is your younger sister a normal person?”
“Eh? Well… I guess so.”
“What are her hobbies?”
“None in particular. As you know, working at the Management Agency leaves little time for hobbies.”
With many deaths on record, I’d almost feel guilty sending money to the bereaved families.
“…That’s true.”
Jang Chae Yeon gazed off into the distance.
“By the way, why did you go into office work instead of joining the Isolation Team? With your skills, you could easily jump into the Isolation Team right now.”
“I received my assignment that way. I don’t mind, though; there’s no danger to my life.”
“The Management Agency doesn’t know how to evaluate people.”
“Please don’t say stuff like that elsewhere. I’m already in this mess because I stood out to the Management Agency.”
If it weren’t for the Dream of the Butterfly incident, I would have probably been living a quiet life. I wonder how this mess happened.
“’How did that happen?’”
Jang Chae Yeon tilted her head.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t told her about my abilities. The Dream of the Butterfly incident was the same.
“Well… a lot has happened.”
After all, time is all I have.
I plopped down beside Yu Da On, frozen in her pose, and started talking, while Jang Chae Yeon sat modestly across from me, listening to my story.
“Fortunately, I could see those guys—”
“Hmm…”
“And I shot them with a gun—”
“Oh…”
“But actually, that gas canister was nothing—”
“…”
Joyful at times, alert during dangerous moments, and relieved upon solving issues; I couldn’t honestly say she was good at conversation, but her willingness to listen was a talent that allowed the speaker to enjoy storytelling even more. Thanks to that, I got more into my tale.
Once I finished my story, she stared at me intently.
Her eyes seemed a bit brighter than before.
“…You’re a really cool person.”
“Well… um… thank you.”
Compliments coming in so straightforwardly made me feel a bit shy, I guess?
“…I should share my story too.”
She placed her hands gently on her knees and began to speak.
“I got a job at the Management Agency right after awakening my abilities. …You could say I was recruited.”
“Recruited?”
“The Management Agency is always short on manpower. People like me, with useful abilities, are brought in one way or another. In my case, I came in relatively gently.”
Did the Management Agency really need to go this far?
“Anyway, I was living as a member of the Isolation Team until this incident happened, and my entire team died.”
Jang Chae Yeon continued her story calmly.
“Why did they die?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Right, that makes sense.”
“…”
“…Is that the end?”
“That’s it.”
It’s not easy to tell a bland story like that, but she managed it.
“…So, how can we solve this problem? There’s a way, right?”
“Yes, there is.”
“What is it?”
“We wait.”
“…But waiting won’t get us anywhere. This place won’t move until we break down.”
“I know that.”
“…Do as you please.”
In the end, she hugged her knees and sat there silently.
*
A day passed.
During that day here, I realized that feelings of hunger, drowsiness, and other basic life needs are all absent.
While it was a relief not to worry about hunger, it was problematic that I couldn’t spend my time just sleeping.
“…”
I looked around.
The visible information hadn’t changed, but I wasn’t particularly concerned.
Even without time on our hands, paradoxically, we had an abundance of it.
I approached Jang Chae Yeon and struck up a conversation.
She too briefly engaged with my story.
On the second day.
Not much had changed. Since night didn’t come, I couldn’t tell if it had been one or two days.
The only difference was that Jang Chae Yeon had begun talking to me a little more.
“…Are you okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Aren’t you feeling overwhelmed or afraid of when this will end?”
“Not at all.”
“Why?”
“If I were alone, I think I’d be frightened, desperate, and overwhelmed. I’d’ve gone mad after a short while. But that’s not the case.”
“…”
“Because you’re here with me now. I’m not scared or anything.”
“…”
She stared at me for a moment, then lowered her head and sat back down.
On the third day.
Nothing had changed.
On the fourth day.
Same as before.
Fifth day.
All the same.
Sixth day.
No need to say more.
When it was the seventh day, Jang Chae Yeon came up to me and said,
“…I’m bored.”
“That makes sense.”
She sat beside me.
I didn’t stop her.
It might have been two weeks since we got here.
We decided to be a bit more productive.
“…It’s not coming out nicely.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Jang Chae Yeon was grunting, using a piece of stone to carve something on the wall.
“Just use your abilities.”
“That wouldn’t have any meaning.”
“Wow.”
Eventually, she set down the stone and sat back down beside me.
“I’ll take a break today.”
“Are you sure it’s okay not to do everything?”
“We have tomorrow too.”
“True.”
“So I’ll rest today. Don’t you have any fun stories left?”
“What should I tell today…? …I could talk about the time the Human Resources Team accidentally gave me my severance pay as salary, and I almost got hit by the Team Leader, right?”
“That’s a story from the day before yesterday.”
“Oh, right.”
“But you can tell it again.”
Jang Chae Yeon smiled gently.
“Forget it. Tell me again.”
*
Another week passed.
“I think I’m almost done.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t look.”
As Jang Chae Yeon contentedly mumbled while holding the stone, she tried to look over, but she blocked my view with her hands.
“Show me when it’s complete.”
“Sure, whenever you want.”
“Let’s go somewhere else. Hurry.”
In the end, she pushed right up against my back, guiding me forward with such force… or rather, an irresistible feeling, so I could only be led away.
*
About a month passed.
While I was quietly seated, Jang Chae Yeon casually sat down beside me.
“Tell me a story.”
“I really have nothing left to say. At this rate, I might end up telling you about the time I crawled on the floor when I was a kid.”
“Then tell me that.”
“I need to remember it to tell you. You should share some of your stories too, Jang Chae Yeon.”
“I’ve shared a lot.”
“Still, I’ve shared more.”
“Hurry.”
“…How about the incident on the second day at the Human Resources Team when I spilled coffee on my laptop?”
“You told that last week.”
“No, wait—”
“But you just forgot.”
She looked at me with a gentle smile.
Did she always have this expression?
“Tell me.”
So once again, today passed by as I chatted with Jang Chae Yeon, talking about meaningless things.
It must have been around two months since we arrived.
“…”
“…”
Now, sitting so close to each other with only a hair’s breadth between us, she blankly stared off into the distance.
“What are you doing?”
“Just.”
“…”
“…”
A long silence lingered, and once again, we fell quiet.
“…I have something to say.”
“Yeah.”
Tap.
Jang Chae Yeon leaned her head on my shoulder.
“To be honest, at first, I had a lot of regrets.”
“Yeah.”
“I was scared. Memories of the pain I went through flooded back.”
“Yeah.”
“So I resented a lot and blamed myself. Why did it have to be like that?”
“Yeah.”
“But now that I’m here, I think you’re right.”
“What do you mean?”
“Being together means it’s gonna be okay.”
Jang Chae Yeon slightly turned her head to meet my gaze.
Her breath tickled my nose.
“Should I show you what I made last time?”
“Yeah, what is it?”
She stood up, took my hand, and led me, and I followed her.
There, I found myself.
Specifically, it was a picture of me that Jang Chae Yeon had carved out of stone.
The detailed depiction left me gaping in awe.
“…When did you start drawing this?”
“Since I noticed you staring blankly.”
“…Wow.”
Jang Chae Yeon turned to face me, smiling softly.
“It’s done now.”
“Is this the ending?”
“No.”
She approached me again, looking up at me.
“I’m not scared anymore.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
She laughed loudly.
“I just want to stay like this a little longer.”
An air of silence enveloped us.
And then, a window suddenly appeared before my eyes.
[Your understanding of Jang Chae Yeon has increased.]
[Due to the bond with Jang Chae Yeon, you can now use the cooperative skill – Coordinate Tear.]
[Coordinate Tear – 3 uses remaining.]
Seeing Jang Chae Yeon like this, I couldn’t help but smile gently and replied.
“But it’s time to go now.”
“Huh?”
Leaving her stunned, I stood up from my spot.
Soon, explanations began to appear before my eyes.
[Coordinate Tear – You share the chosen coordinate, and she rips it apart. Remember, coordinates only exist in reality.]
They said it’s a coordinate designated eye.
I looked at Jang Chae Yeon.
“Don’t be surprised by whatever happens next.”
“I… will trust you.”
She nodded, and after taking one last glance at her, I silently murmured.
“Coordinate Tear.”
In an instant, the world looked different.
It began to warp, as if a graph paper had been placed over the world I knew.
“…What is this…?”
“Shh.”
Did she start seeing something else too? I hushed her softly while looking around intently.
I saw what was invisible.
Frantically scanning my surroundings, I soon noticed a distortion that was unlike anything normal.
It felt as if that piece of the world had been crumpled.
“Over there!”
I pointed with my finger, and Jang Chae Yeon looked at that spot, reaching out with a clenched fist.
-Crack.
With a sound of something twisting,
-Whiiir…
The wind began to blow.
Sounds started to emerge.
“Huh?”
Yu Da On’s voice began to resonate.
“…She was just by my side a moment ago, when did—”
-Tap tap!
Before Yu Da On could finish her sentence, someone leaped at me and tightly embraced me.
“…We did it.”
Jang Chae Yeon squeezed me tightly, holding me as if she were trying to crush me.
“…We did it…”
“We did it together.”
“…No, when did you two suddenly get so close?”
Yu Da On said with disbelief as she approached us.
“There were a lot of happenings—”
“Shh.”
Jang Chae Yeon placed her index finger on my lips.
“Keep it a secret.”
“…If that’s what you want.”
“…This isn’t bullying, right?”
Leaving Yu Da On, who looked wronged behind, I scanned my surroundings.
Soon, information appeared before my eyes once more.
[Name: Cube]
[Age: Manufactured Year XXXXXXXXXXX]
[Specialty: Reality Alteration and Absorption]
[Talent: X]
[Background: The cube, created from afar, possesses the ability to alter and absorb reality. Whether it absorbs reality to alter it or alters it to absorb reality has yet to be defined. Currently, the city is absorbed within the cube.]
[Weakness: Coordinate // // // // die die die die die die die die die]
[Critical is charging.]
[Critical 0 -> 1]
Someone seemed quite angry.