NOVEL NEXT Chapter 220
In the silence, Song Ah Rin’s gaze wandered here and there.
She did say that she would win, but—
“…”
It’s not like a solution to win was coming to mind.
She was confident she wouldn’t lose, but what she truly needed was a method to secure victory, not just stubbornly endure.
However, wasn’t it the same for the person facing her?
The Theater Company Chief, clutching his stomach, furrowed his brow in pain and waved his hand.
One puppet rose.
Song Ah Rin let out a big sigh and raised her hand too.
The man’s puppet, which was in such a state that it could be described as broken, staggered to its feet.
Even though the man’s puppet was broken, the opponent had just dealt a strong blow to the sternum with all their might.
Her head began to spin.
If she fought, she would lose anyway.
The entire Human Resources Team, no, even bringing the Branch Chief, who was called a monster, resulted in just a single hit to the sternum.
Was she supposed to take down such a monster all by herself?
Not a chance.
The only thing she had to focus on was one thing.
Her eyes shifted to the man the Theater Company Chief was holding close.
Watching that scene twisted something inside her strangely.
Now she was even jealous of herself.
“Are you going to keep holding on?”
She naturally spoke in a sharp tone as she looked at the Theater Company Chief.
“…I don’t want to.”
With her words, the Theater Company Chief grabbed the man with one hand.
“If this guy is here,”
“Could you be happier?”
A sneer curled on her lips.
“You can’t.”
Song Ah Rin spoke confidently.
“…I don’t think you and I are the same—”
“That’s not it.”
Ignoring what the Theater Company Chief was saying, Song Ah Rin shook her head.
“It’s not that you’ll succeed, and I won’t.”
She was filled with conviction.
“Neither you nor I are all that different.”
In reality, Song Ah Rin didn’t think she was happy even now.
Of course, she wasn’t unhappy either.
After all, no sane person would be happy their whole life.
And deep down, she believed that being next to the man wouldn’t truly make her happy.
“Greed will arise.”
People who are fun to talk to begin to want more.
Before long, enemies would appear.
The problem was that these enemies weren’t simply straightforward foes; they were, in some ways, well-understood and quite coordinated with each other.
In other words, they were both enemies and allies.
The problem was—
“…you’ll lose there too.”
Just thinking about it raised her stress as moments flashed through her mind.
The black-haired accusations, uncertain if they were malicious or not. And the white-haired, blatant restraints.
She was managing to hold on because she was herself. With a personality like that? The black-haired one would immediately receive a mad accusation disguised as innocence and would be crying in a room.
“…”
The Theater Company Chief was looking at her,
—Creak…
She carefully lowered the man, still clutching her stomach with one hand and raising the other.
One puppet rose with a creak.
Was she really worn out by now?
She wasn’t commanding numerous puppets; she was merely facing off with a single one.
“…Yeah. I know myself.”
She knew she was not someone who could communicate.
Song Ah Rin raised her hand too.
Barely, the man’s puppet stood up.
Now, the damaged man’s puppet was merely able to stand, facing off against the newly created Theater Company Chief’s puppet.
Think.
Just like the man when he was cornered, she began to think fiercely.
A way to bring the man back.
“…”
What she could do, the Theater Company Chief could do as well.
That meant the Theater Company Chief had her shortcomings.
“…”
She realized it.
The two puppets clashed.
With a screeching sound, they began to hit each other.
Of course, the result came out quicker than she expected.
“…”
The man’s puppet, that is, Song Ah Rin’s puppet, lost a leg.
Though the puppet was already heavily damaged, that wasn’t the issue.
“…”
It was the overwhelming difference in control.
The reason she and the man were able to hold their ground against the Theater Company Chief was that the man’s consciousness was in that puppet.
She never had to move in the first place.
She was merely moving where he couldn’t and pulling back when it was dangerous.
—Crack!
The puppet’s leg broke, and it collapsed.
Song Ah Rin released her hand.
Just like that, the Theater Company Chief’s puppet crushed Song Ah Rin’s puppet, scattering wooden shards everywhere.
She knew it too.
She could never win.
“…”
The Theater Company Chief stared at Song Ah Rin and opened his mouth.
“I told you. As I thought, you—”
—Thud!
The Theater Company Chief’s words didn’t finish.
Song Ah Rin, covered in shards, charged at the Theater Company Chief, and they both rolled onto the floor.
“Cough…!”
“Ugh…!”
Seeing the Theater Company Chief stumbling on the floor, Song Ah Rin felt certain.
She believed in herself.
In fact, she believed in her own incompetence.
No matter how much of a trained Management Agency agent she was, there was a reason she hadn’t engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
—Puh!
“Ahhh!”
After grabbing the Theater Company Chief by the collar while he was clutching his sternum and climbing on top of him, Song Ah Rin punched him in the face, feeling firm in her belief.
“You barely listened during hand-to-hand combat class, didn’t you?”
“W-What…!”
“It’s okay. I didn’t listen either.”
—Puh!
“Ah, ugh…!”
The moment they connected, it was nothing more than a mud fight between two people who had neither learned hand-to-hand combat correctly.
To not give the Theater Company Chief time to concentrate, Song Ah Rin kept hitting him while starting to focus.
What she had to look at was the Theater Company Chief. What she had to follow was her own ability.
But how?
What she came up with was her theory.
Always. When Song Ah Rin hypnotized or controlled the puppet thread, she had to concentrate.
There had never been a time when she didn’t.
The white-haired person felt the same way, and so did she.
To do anything, she always had to focus.
That would likely be the case for the Theater Company Chief too.
Because the Theater Company Chief was also her.
—Smack!
“Stop…!”
—Thud!
“Ugh…!”
Forcing herself to ignore the faint pain from her fist, Song Ah Rin continued to swing her arms.
She was hitting a person for the first time, and what’s more, it was herself.
“Eek…!”
—Puh!
“Aaaah…!”
Please just pass out. she shouted in her mind, swinging her arms.
Whether her prayer was answered or not, the Theater Company Chief’s eyes began to close slowly,
“…Huff!”
As she lifted the Theater Company Chief’s collar, Song Ah Rin pulled her head as far back as possible.
She recalled the time when she fought the white-haired person.
The intense shock that made her faint instantly when it hit her head.
By that logic.
After pulling her head back, Song Ah Rin pressed her forehead against the Theater Company Chief’s forehead with her eyes tightly closed.
—Smack!
A tremendous sound reverberated.
“…”
Just like that, the Theater Company Chief fell, eyes rolled back.
“…Ugh…”
Song Ah Rin, holding her forehead, rolled on the floor.
“…”
Even while rolling with her hands on her forehead, her gaze turned toward the man.
He had to wake up.
*
There was a time when I dreamt of endlessly falling.
It’s oddly a pattern of nightmare I have frequently.
But to experience it so vividly like this…
“…”
Both fear and thrill. Intense emotions don’t last long.
Humans are creatures of adaptation; if exposed to prolonged fear, they either go crazy or become accustomed to it.
Fortunately, just falling doesn’t induce enough fear to drive me mad.
“…”
Thinking about it.
With the Theater Company Chief now vanished, pondering became much easier.
Maybe now I could think a bit better.
Resting my chin on my hands, deep in thought—
Wait.
I quickly looked at my body.
It was not the body of a wooden puppet.
That meant…
—Flap!
Before long, the pages of the manual in my hand began to unfold.
As if it had been waiting for the Theater Company Chief to disappear, the manual unfolded, revealing its contents.
[Manual for Office Staff]
[RL – Reality Check – Gangdong Branch Choi Soo Cheol]
If it’s Choi Soo Cheol from Gangdong Branch…
The sound of a pen clicking echoed in my ears like an illusion.
I hastily began to read.
1. The foundation of the reality check is to distinguish between dreams and reality.
2. Here, ‘dream’ refers not to the dreams we have while sleeping, but to reality and the virtual.
3. If you cannot tell whether you are in reality or in a virtual world, the first step you should take is to inflict a wound. The level of pain is the most effective device to distinguish between reality and the virtual.
4. If you can’t wake up, you must find an exit.
5. Every illusion has an exit. Moreover, that exit usually takes on the form you desire the least.
6. Seek the end.
—Thud!
I closed the book.
The way I least desired.
The thing that the falling people fear the most.
Death from a fall.
“…”
I clenched my eyes shut.
Yeah. There’s no choice.
“…Please just fall to your death… please just fall to your death…”
Muttering as I squeezed my eyes shut.
The manual in my hand gently slipped into my pocket.
—Crack!
With the pain of my ankle snapping something upon landing.
“Huff!”
I woke up from my slumber.
“…!”
I hurriedly felt my body.
The warmth and sensation were palpable.
I had returned to a human body.
Wait. What about the others—
I swiftly turned my head.
Before my eyes was Song Ah Rin, collapsed with a gigantic bump on her head, and the Theater Company Chief, unconscious with bruised lips, was the first thing I saw.