WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 71 - The Disposal Site (2)
"Oppa! This is…!”
Seol Suyeon’s eyes went wide in shock. It was unmistakably Unit 2. She, too, remembered how this mannequin entity had met its end.
"...This is a miracle.”
What were the odds of finding it again in a disposal site this unimaginably vast?
Only then did Seol Suyeon realize what the golden chain she’d seen really was.
'It’s the remnant of a contract.'
As far as she knew, Park Minho had never made a formal contract with the mannequins. But the simple act of drawing faces on them had become a bond stronger than any written agreement.
The chain had been severed, yet traces of it still remained, and by following those traces they had found their way here.
Just then, Seol Suyeon noticed something else.
“There’s another chain!”
"What? Really?”
"Yes. It keeps going deeper inside!”
It had to be Unit 1. Then a realization struck Park Minho.
"Maybe......"
It might be possible to still save them. Reality Manipulation was powerful enough to make that possible.
But at the same time, a warning echoed through his mind.
'I’ve already used the King’s Noose once.’
If he used it again so soon, there was no way his body could withstand the backlash. And this wouldn’t be a simple alteration. It was resurrection.
Park Minho was almost certain it would kill him.
'Even if I possess the power of a god, the one wielding it is still just a fragile human.'
It was impossible. And if he died here, Seol Suyeon and Jung Manchun would never escape the Disposal Site.
'I don’t have a choice. The rational decision is to leave them behind.'
Then why did it hurt so much? Park Minho bit down hard on his lip.
"Hey! We don’t have time to waste!”
Jung Manchun urged him on impatiently.
"Right......."
Just as Park Minho reluctantly began to turn away…
“GRaAAaaaAAAAH!”
Gu Bonjae’s roar thundered from alarmingly close by. It sounded as though some gigantic monstrosity might burst through the fog at any second.
Then something moved beneath his feet.
The fingertips of Unit 2, who was half-buried beneath the trash, trembled weakly. That was all. It didn’t have the strength to rise. It couldn’t even make a sound.
And yet it was still trying to react. It had sensed danger approaching its master.
The instant Park Minho saw that, his heart sank.
'I’m such a piece of trash.'
Even now, all he had been doing was weighing the odds.
Park Minho reached for the King’s Noose.
"Oppa! Don’t! If you use it again, you’ll really might…!”
But Park Minho slowly shook his head.
"I can’t leave them behind.”
Without another moment’s hesitation, he pulled the King’s noose from his shadow and slipped it around his own neck.
"Ghk!”
In an instant, the whole world turned crimson. The accumulated staring made it far worse than before. It felt as though his head weren't merely splitting but about to explode.
"Uuugh...!"
Even so, Park Minho didn’t stop. He rewrote reality. Unit 2 had never been destroyed. It was still alive.
Under the power of a god-tier entity, light blossomed from the body of Unit 2 beneath the mountain of waste. Countless shattered fragments rose into the air, drawing together like iron filings pulled by a magnet. Its severed arm reattached itself and healed. Its body reconstructed itself piece by piece. Reality itself bent, bringing Unit 2 back to life.
But the price was enormous.
-Thud!
A violent shock slammed into his chest. It felt as though his heart had stopped. His consciousness immediately began to fade.
'No…! Not yet! It’s not over yet!’
But his vision mercilessly darkened. No matter how desperately he fought, his awareness slipped away.
'Ah…… So this is the end?'
It seemed he had finally reached the limit of what the King’s Noose demanded. Then something surged through the back of his mind.
'A memory?'
A small memory of Unit 2.
The way it had flailed its arms around, desperately trying to tell him something. The awkward way it had handed the yellow armband to Seol Suyeon. How happily it had bounced after Park Minho praised it. And finally, the moment it threw itself in front of the sickle monster’s attack, black blood spraying everywhere…
Every one of those memories ignited the fading embers of Park Minho’s consciousness. And with them something inside him underwent a profound change.
It felt remarkably similar to the first time he’d created Noise.
Npose, the phenomenon born from powerful emotions fused with anomalous energy. And now that very same process was occurring again, only dozens, no, hundreds of times more intensely.
-Boooom!
An explosion erupted inside his mind. Emotion and anomaly intertwined, creating something entirely new. A new circuit was carved into Park Minho’s soul.
"Ah......!"
He understood it instinctively without anyone having to tell him.
He had awakened.
It wasn’t the electrical ability he’d expected. Instead, he had awakened a Reality Manipulation-type ability. Something he’d never imagined.
It was nowhere near the genuine Reality Manipulation wielded by a god-tier entity, but even so, there were only a handful of humans in existence capable of wielding such power. And because of that, Park Minho could now endure and control the Reality Manipulation contained within the King’s Noose far more effectively.
His very nature had changed. His body had become capable of withstanding the power of a god-tier entity more than any other human.
-Flash.
Park Minho opened his eyes. Blood streamed freely from his nose, but his mind was perfectly clear. He was alive. More than that, his heart was pounding with renewed strength.
He immediately removed the King’s Noose and looked up. There, standing before him, was a face he’d missed and one that filled him with nothing but guilt.
( ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ )
His vision blurred once more. Unit 2 tilted its head at him.
"Kwik…?”
It looked completely confused as though it had no idea why it was alive. It glanced around in bewilderment. Then it looked at its own hands. Its own body. Everything seemed fascinating to it. It repeatedly opened and closed its hands over and over.
Then it stopped and looked at Park Minho.
Only for a moment, yet it felt like an eternity.
Park Minho was afraid. What was it going to do?
If it told him that he abandoned it, what excuse could he possibly give?
But instead Unit 2 simply held out both of its hands toward him.
"Kwik."
It was giving him a double thumbs-up.
In its final moments, one of its arms had been destroyed. Back then, it had only managed a one-handed thumbs-up. Now it could finally do it properly with both hands. That alone seemed to make it unbelievably happy.
"Kwik! Kwik! Kikiki.”
Then, Gu Bonjae’s roar exploded from directly behind them.
"There you are! You little rats!”
A colossal black figure burst through the fog. In one hand he gripped an enormous chainsaw. His mouth hung open. A tongue of writhing electrical cables dangled from within.
"GraaaAAAAAH!”
Unit 2 reacted instantly.
"Kwiiilk!”
Before it had even fully grasped the situation, it had already assumed a fighting stance. It had only one instinct, and that was to protect its master.
Interestingly enough, its body now possessed a metallic sheen. After lying buried in the Disposal Site for so long, the dense anomalous energy saturating the area had condensed into its body. It was now faster and stronger.
But Gu Bonjae’s overwhelming presence was terrifying.
As Unit 2 shot forward like an arrow, Gu Bonjae raised his chainsaw. Park Minho cried out instinctively.
"No!”
But in the next instant, Unit 2 moved with astonishing grace. It slipped past the descending chainsaw, leapt into the air, and drove a kick straight into Gu Bonjae’s head.
-Bam!
The heavy impact echoed through the area. Black blood burst from Gu Bonjae’s nose as he staggered backward.
“You insolent thing! A mere puppet dares lay a hand on me?!”
A fierce battle erupted. Unit 2 fought brilliantly. Using its trademark agility, it danced around its opponent. It was nothing like the mannequin that had once been torn apart by the Sickle Monster.
However, Gu Bonjae was the boss-class entity of an entire floor. No matter how brilliantly Unit 2 fought, the tide slowly began to turn against it. At this rate, its defeat was inevitable.
Park Minho couldn’t just stand there and watch.
"Suyeon, the next chain!”
"Oppa! If you do it again, you’ll really die!”
Seol Suyeon was convinced that trying to revive Unit 1 as well would kill him.
Park Minho shook his head.
"I just awakened. I should be able to survive one more time.”
"No, but still…!”
"If we can’t stop Gu Bonjae, we all die here anyway.”
"Fine. This way!”
Park Minho immediately began digging through the mountain of trash where Seol Suyeon pointed. His fingertips were soon torn to pieces, but there was no time to slow down.
'Please! Please! Be here!'
His hands never stopped, clawing through tar, filth, and rotten trash, until something brushed against his fingers.
The moment he felt plastic, his arms began digging more frantically. And then, he found Unit 1.
"Ah......!"
It was in even worse condition than Unit 2. Most of its body had been blown apart. Only shattered fragments remained. Yet, its face was still intact. The angry expression, the one Unit 1 had drawn onto itself before the end, was still faintly visible.
Its left hand was tightly clutching something.
The marker it had stolen from Park Minho.
With death staring it in the face, what had been going through its mind as it clutched that marker?
"You stupid idiot…”
There was no time to dwell on it. A battle was raging just behind him.
Park Minho slipped the King’s Noose around his neck once more.
"Uuuggh!”
Thanks to his recent awakening, he barely managed to endure it, but after forcing the power out again and again, he had reached his limit. Blood streamed from his nose, his ears, his mouth, and even his eyes.
Still, Park Minho refused to stop.
'Even if it kills me, I’m bringing you back.'
Once again, Reality Manipulation activated. He rewrote Unit 1’s state. From dead to alive. Broken fragments began pulling themselves back together. The shattered remains fused. The missing portions rebuilt themselves from nothing.
And so, Unit 1 was revived as well.
"Kiek?”
Looking completely bewildered, Unit 1 stared at him. Park Minho removed the King’s Noose and smiled.
"...Go help Unit 2.”
Without a second’s hesitation, Unit 1 charged into the battlefield.
* * *
Gu Bonjae was relentlessly overwhelming Unit 2.
"A mannequin dares challenge me?!”
It would pay dearly for daring to surprise him.
-Vrroooom!
The chainsaw barely grazed Unit 2’s shoulder. Unlike before, its body had been reinforced with metallic hardness. Sparks flew from the impact. Unit 2 stumbled. Gu Bonjae believed he had his opening.
Then someone came flying through the air and smashed a kick directly into his face.
-Thud!
Unit 1’s flying kick landed perfectly.
“Gah!”
The impact sent the chainsaw flying from his hand. Gu Bonjae staggered backward in shock.
Another cursed mannequin had appeared.
'What the hell is this?'
Gu Bonjae knew all about the Mannequin Facelings. They were low-ranking entities. Pathetic things that weren’t worth worrying about.
Yet for some reason, the ones with the cheerful, smiling face fought absurdly well. It had already caught him off guard several times. And now another one had appeared. This one was even stronger.
"Damn you!”
Unlike Unit 2, Unit 1 excelled at close combat. Especially after drawing that furious expression onto its own face.
"Kwek!”
Without hesitation, Unit 1 grabbed Gu Bonjae’s cable-like tongue and ripped.
Crack! Snap!
The insulation tore away. Then the bundled copper wires inside snapped apart.
“GraAAAaaah!”
Gu Bonjae screamed in agony. Before he could recover, Unit 1’s fist crashed into his jaw.
-Crack!
The impact shattered it. Several of his yellow, jagged teeth exploded from his mouth at once.
"You filthy little vermin! AaaaAAAAAAgh!”
Things would only get worse if this continued. Of course, he was still capable of cutting both mannequins to pieces, but the damage he’d suffer in the process would be far too great. Wiping the blood from his face, Gu Bonjae decided to retreat.
'I’ll have to change my approach. An ambush might work.’
He had no intention of giving up the chase. Nor of searching for a new weapon. For now, he simply chose a tactical retreat.
"Graaaaaah!”
Gu Bonjae seized a crushed, wrecked car lying nearby and hurled it forward.
-Ruuuumble! Boom!
The mangled vehicle came hurtling toward them with a deafening crash. The instant Unit 1 and Unit 2 dodged aside, Gu Bonjae sprang backward and disappeared into the fog.
The two mannequins immediately started after him.
"Stop! That’s enough!”
Driving him off was enough for now. Besides, if they fought him again, he’d be joining the battle himself. There was no need to take unnecessary risks.
"Kiek!”
"Kwik!”
Unit 1 and Unit 2 hurried back to Park Minho’s side. They bounced excitedly in place, waving their hands as if overjoyed to see him again.
Park Minho couldn’t help smiling. He bent down and picked up the marker Unit 1 had dropped. Then gently wiped Unit 1’s face clean with his sleeve.
"Hold still."
He drew a new face on it and then burst into cheerful laughter.
"Hahahahaha! Yep, this suits you way better.”
( ⚆ .⚆)
"Kiek?”
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