Ch.172Side Story) Left Alone (Complete)

With one eye covered, I stood still.

There was no point in running anymore. That’s what I thought.

Or perhaps my body had simply frozen in fear.

“Ugh.”

I cowered, but nothing happened.

My mind had been completely blank for a while, but even in that state, I could make a few belated judgments.

The black figure that had killed me twice.

It wasn’t in front of me.

What was in front of me was a reflection in the glass door.

Right behind me. That’s where it was.

I could hear something crawling on the floor.

Splat. Slither. Slither. Splat.

It was like a giant, disgusting slug crawling toward me.

The black figure left a slimy shadow on the floor as it slowly approached.

“Ahh…”

I bit my lip hard.

I need to focus. I need to move.

I need to survive.

It seemed like time was running out.

But I can survive.

I can live.

It’s slow, and there’s still time left.

In a complete state of panic, my thoughts scattered quickly.

Even simple thoughts had to be repeated over and over.

Open the door in front of me.

Go outside.

And never look directly at it.

Click.

“Ah.”

Click click.

My heart froze.

The glass entrance door was locked and wouldn’t open.

If I could just get outside, I could survive.

If I could just leave the apartment, I’d be safe.

But the door wouldn’t open.

“Ah. Ah…”

I made meaningless sounds like a madman.

Not consciously, but involuntarily.

I could tell from the reflection in the glass.

The black figure was still approaching.

I have to survive.

Still.

There must be another way.

Look around.

Please.

I have to live.

I suppressed my fear with all my might.

I mustn’t look at the black figure behind me.

Let me carefully check behind.

I might find a way to survive.

I slowly turned my head.

Since my left eye was cut, I had to survey my surroundings with only my right eye.

My left eye. Can it be fixed?

Judging by the pain, it wasn’t cut too deeply.

Just slightly scratched on the surface.

The bleeding had stopped now, but instead, there was an unbearably stinging sensation and tears kept flowing.

“Come on.”

I muttered, shaking my head.

This was self-reproach.

“Focus.”

This is no time to worry about just one eye.

I need to concentrate.

That’s how I can survive.

Something useful caught my intact eye.

I lifted a heavy object with all my strength and slammed it hard against the glass door.

Crash!

What I was holding was the emergency fire extinguisher placed next to the first floor.

If the door won’t open, I can break it with this and get out.

One more time.

Crash!

The fire extinguisher bounced back, and I almost fell backward.

I had already struck the door with all my might twice, but not even a small crack appeared in the glass.

Something’s wrong.

“Open.”

Crash!

“Open, damn it!!!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Huff. Hah…”

After using all my strength, I collapsed to the floor.

The door remained the same as before.

So flawless and smooth that I could still clearly see what was behind me.

While I had been struggling to break the glass door, the black figure had diligently approached.

Now it was right behind me.

“…”

Is this really the end?

I was determined to survive, but there was nothing I could do.

The way to the stairs had already been passed long ago, and the black figure was blocking it.

There was nowhere to hide.

This was a narrow corridor.

I couldn’t do anything.

I just sat on the floor, clutching the door that wouldn’t open.

“Eeeeee-“

The black figure approached with a bizarre sound, as if it would drill a hole in my head at any moment…

“Huk.”

I almost impulsively looked back.

When people are extremely frightened, their thinking becomes remarkably short and impulsive.

Now the squelching sound was coming from right behind me.

Right behind.

That’s where it was.

My body trembled uncontrollably.

“Cold…”

With my arms wrapped around my body,

I waited for my end.

If I die this time, will I come back to life?

Even though I did during the last two deaths, there’s no guarantee I’ll come back this time.

What if this is really the end?

“I’m scared…”

I’m afraid.

More than the pain of having my head smashed and my breath cut off, the fact that everything could end.

Tears had been flowing for a long time.

My injured eye kept shedding tears to wash away the wound, and my intact right eye was filled with tears of fear.

What did I even do?

Why am I trapped here?

I can’t even remember properly.

What vaguely comes to mind is someone’s white hand.

Someone lying down.

Blood pooling on their chest, with a white hand covering it.

“Serim noona.”

I muttered unconsciously.

The memory is coming back a little.

I killed Serim noona with my own hands.

For my own survival.

Then. Is this the price?

Only my reflection and the black figure are visible in the glass door.

The black figure extends its arm and places it on my shoulder.

I shuddered at the cold, slimy touch.

“Look.”

Thoughts flow in as soon as it touches me.

“Look here.”

A rough voice hisses and barks.

“Look. Behind.”

I’m still not dead.

“…”

Finally, my frozen thoughts begin to move a little.

It destroys those who look at it.

In the first round, it was my eye.

In the second round, it was my smartphone.

And now, in the third round.

If I just don’t look at it, maybe I can escape safely.

But escape means?

Thinking about it again, there’s only one way.

I have to pass by it and go back, then head for the stairs.

Since it’s impossible to leave this apartment, I need to go up.

To the second floor.

I closed my eyes.

It was right behind me.

It took tremendous courage just to turn around.

Grind-

My jaw was chattering, making tick, tick sounds from fear.

I clenched my teeth hard to stop the sound.

‘Let’s go.’

Slowly, I walked forward, feeling along the wall.

When the emergency exit with stairs appears, I’ll grasp the handle of the iron door.

“…Open your eyes.”

“I said open your eyes!!!”

Crash!

The wall beside me shattered.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Passing through the corridor.

The emergency exit getting closer.

As the emergency exit got closer, my unstable memories were gradually returning.

I killed everyone to save the world.

But saving the world was impossible.

So at least I had to survive.

That’s why I killed Serim noona too.

I hadn’t heard any sound for a while.

The black figure.

I thought it had given up following me.

Click.

My hand grasped the doorknob.

But something seemed to be blocking it, and it wouldn’t open.

Click.

Click.

No matter how much force I applied, the door wouldn’t open.

To be precise, it opened slightly but immediately closed again.

As if someone was holding it from the other side.

As I tried to pull the door with all my might, I fell backward.

“Uh, uh?”

And.

While falling.

I unconsciously opened my eyes slightly.

“You saw.”

It was in front of the door.

Stuck to the ceiling.

The black figure’s body was grotesquely long.

Its head and neck were attached to the ceiling, looking down at me.

Two legs supported its body on the floor.

Between them. A long arm extending from some point was wrapped around the emergency exit doorknob several times, holding it.

I quietly sat down.

There was no need to close my eyes and look away anymore.

I already knew what to do.

“I was wrong.”

The memory came back.

“I made a mistake.”

I didn’t believe everyone could survive.

So I accepted the professor’s proposal.

To kill everyone and protect the world from the Seven.

If I did that, someday the story would be written again, and everyone would return.

I just had to endure alone until then.

I only now realized why I failed.

No new story is written on a life that has given up everything.

So I was left alone. Forever.

“I’m sorry.”

I knelt down and bowed my head.

The black figure hesitated for a moment.

Drip.

Drip.

Black tears were falling from above.

“But I have no choice.”

I opened the emergency exit door, went in, and slammed it shut from the inside.

The stairs stretched up toward the second floor.

Slowly,

Catching my breath,

I climbed the stairs.

Light was coming in.

More and more intensely.

As if to burn everything.

“Dabin!”

Serim noona’s voice.

Daju’s voice.

And the voices of all the other people.

Calling my name.

“This way.”

And another me was standing in front of the second-floor door.

“Come out this way.”

The me from the worldline that succeeded in saving the world.

Another Lim Dabin.

I touch my injured eye and ask in a complicated voice.

“Can you. Forgive me?”

“Yes.”

The other me nods.

“If it had been me, I might have done the same if I had thought just a little differently.”

“…”

I was saved.

By another me from another worldline.

By myself.

“But your memories will change quite a bit.”

“…I know. As I cross worldlines, various things will change accordingly.”

“Yes. Will you be okay with that?”

“With thinking I was a woman from the beginning?”

“Yes.”

“That’s actually better.”

I smiled slightly and shook my head.

“Having memories of being a man while in a woman’s body would be weird.”

“…Not just that.”

“Is there something else?”

“You’ll forget everything you did in the apartment. You’ll lose memories of living with others too. Your relationship with Serim unnie, Daju, Yebin, everyone—they’ll likely just become people you know casually.”

“…”

Tears welled up again.

My heart ached.

The ‘me’ who survived together with everyone in the apartment would be forgotten by everyone.

But I know well that I don’t deserve to be remembered.

Wanting to be remembered after killing everyone due to a momentary wrong judgment is presumptuous.

“…That’s a relief.”

“I thought you’d say that.”

We held hands and went up to the second floor.

As we climbed the stairs and opened the emergency exit door, light enveloped me.

“Are you awake?”

“…Yes.”

A familiar face was in front of me.

As I got up from the bed, I decided to adapt to the changed setting.

Soon these memories would be erased too, and I would live without knowing anything.

The person who was once myself.

The person who saved me.

And the person who would now become my older sister.

With a slight smile, I called her name.

“Dabin unnie.”

And then I fell back asleep.

***

“Haah…”

And the Lim Dabin of this worldline.

That is, I, sighed while leaning against the wall.

Things worked out well, but my head was complicated.

I succeeded in saving another me from a different worldline.

But it’s impossible for the same person to exist simultaneously in the same worldline.

So, in the process of crossing worldlines, several things changed significantly…

It seemed to be a matter of ‘plausibility.’

“Dabin!”

“Unnie. You worked hard.”

“Yes. I’m glad things worked out well.”

Serim unnie cheerfully smiled as she tidied up the bed.

Bandages and belts that had been used to tie down the other ‘Lim Dabin’ were messily placed on the bed.

“But why does Dabin look so conflicted?”

“I just feel strange.”

“Why? Isn’t it nice to have a new younger sister?”

“Someone who calls me unnie has appeared for the first time.”

“Come to think of it, Daju still calls you oppa, right? And Yebin just calls you Dabin.”

“Yes. That’s right. It’s just… awkward.”

“Ah. Do you still have lingering attachments to being a man?”

“No, that’s not it. I just feel strange, that’s all.”

The ‘Lim Dabin’ from another worldline was peacefully sleeping on the bed.

After waking up, both her body and face would gradually change.

And she would get a new setting to live in this world.

The setting of being my younger sister.

I sighed deeply again and adjusted my position against the wall.

This whole affair had completely exhausted me.

Though Serim unnie seemed quite excited.

“Oh right, Dabin.”

“Yes, unnie.”

“Later when your younger sister wakes up, shall we three go out together? Anywhere is fine.”

“I’m completely exhausted right now.”

“There are two Dabins now! We have to celebrate this!”

“Hmm…”

I think it would be better to just rest.

Meanwhile, the ‘younger sister’ who had been sleeping on the bed woke up.

“…Dabin unnie?”

“Yes. You’re awake.”

“Serim unnie too?”

The newly created ‘sister’ turned her head quickly, looking around busily.

“What were you unnies talking about?”

She doesn’t seem to have gotten much younger.

Instead, her face has changed a bit.

Unlike my fragile impression, her eyes are a bit sharper.

If I’m a puppy type, she’s more of a cat type.

“Nothing much.”

While giving a vague answer, I glanced at Serim unnie.

“By the way, what was your name again?”

As expected of Serim unnie.

Our minds connect just by looking at each other.

“What? Serim unnie, haven’t we met several times?”

“I suddenly can’t remember. Sorry.”

“Sebin. Lim Sebin.”

“Right. It was Sebin?”

Lim Sebin had a dumbfounded look on her face and tilted her head, while I was completely drained, leaning against the wall.

Only Serim unnie was smiling with absolute happiness.

“Hey. Sebin. Shall we all go out together today?”

“What? Where to?”

“The amusement park.”

“I’d love that!”

Even though she was originally me,

Could her personality change this much?

“Dabin, don’t just lie there, let’s go quickly!”

“That’s right! Always just lying around. Let’s go together, unnie!”

“Ah…”

I just want to rest at home.

Unable to resist the pressure from both of them, I finally got up.

“Let’s go!”

“Okay. I’ll buy you all delicious things.”

Me and Sebin.

Serim unnie smiling happily between the two of us.

Yeah. This might not be so bad.

…Actually, it was really nice.

At first I was reluctant, but once we got to the amusement park, it was fun.

There were so many things to see, and my heart was overflowing.

“Next, that one! Let’s go ride that!”

I still had plenty of energy left.

“Dabin. Let’s rest a bit. I’m tired…”

“It’s hot, unnie…”

The two of them were completely exhausted, collapsed on a bench.

“Dabin was so reluctant to come… Now you’re the most excited…”

“What? Unnie, you’re the one who said we should go. Get up quickly. Hurry! We need to go ride the next attraction!”

Fortunately, this time, no one was left alone.

[Side Story: Left Alone] (End).