Chapter 117: Answer Edition (3)

"That thing is the Chairman's twin?"

Mrs. Danvers said that the monster who was dismembering people and killing them in horrible ways was 'Cheon Tae-gon', the Chairman's twin brother.

I already knew the Chairman had a twin, and I'd even heard that we might meet him someday, but I couldn't have expected it to be now.

"There were twins in the Cheon family long ago. There was a shy, ordinary older brother and a cheerful, talented younger brother. They were very close. Until the terrible incident happened..."

"No, forget that, how can we really get rid of it? Burn it or shoot it!"

What if it escapes again and kills us all! I don't have many points left, so I can only rewind time a few more times!

As I was almost begging, the ajumma let out a deep sigh.

"Even if he's rotten, he's still a Cheon. Without the Chairman's permission, we can't kill or hurt the young master. But the Chairman will never harm his brother."

This can't be! We all have to die because the Chairman cherishes that crazy twin monster as a brother?

I couldn't stand it. We've literally died several times already.

Swish-

Just then, Mrs. Danvers rubbed my face vigorously with her palm. It felt almost like a ritual.

"If you can take responsibility, I'll help you kill it."

"Responsibility?"

Did she mean I'd have to bear the crime of murder? I couldn't help but feel a bit scared.

After all, I was still just a first-year high school student on summer vacation. I was closer to the age of throwing tantrums than taking responsibility.

"Whatever, we can just win!"

I gritted my molars. I was prepared to do anything if we could all survive together.

And if necessary, there was also the option of rewinding time.

It meant I could extract information from Mrs. Danvers, see how to take down the monster, and then irresponsibly avoid responsibility by rewinding time.

"I hope you won't regret it."

Mrs. Danvers rang a bell attached to the first floor. Soon, the housekeeper noonas quickly came out, and Mrs. Danvers said to them.

"Let's go to Warehouse F."

"There?"

"Are we going to hunt wild boars?"

"There have been wild boars around the mansion these days."

We all headed to a place called "Warehouse F".

In one corner of this mansion, there were many containers and warehouses built, and "Warehouse F" was one of them.

When we opened the door of Warehouse F, which was tightly locked with sturdy, thick chains and padlocks, we saw various guns inside.

"It's like a police armory. Usually, hunting rifles should be kept at the police station. I guess... that's not necessary for the Chairman's mansion."

Jung-seok's eyes sparkled with interest. It was my first time seeing real guns too, so I was a bit curious.

Click-

Mrs. Danvers picked up a hunting rifle with practiced hands. She also gathered ammunition from a square box.

The noonas also took out hunting rifles with familiarity.

Housekeepers armed with guns. I couldn't believe that things that should only happen in my fantasies were becoming reality.

It was surreal.

"Give us some too!"

I shouted, pointing at my friends.

Of course, Mrs. Danvers strictly refused.

"No. This isn't a toy for kids to play with carelessly."

"That's right. You kids stay in the house."

"Have you ever eaten wild boar?"

"I don't like it, it smells too gamey."

It was quite disappointing that we couldn't handle guns, but I felt quite safe with the noonas and ajumma being well-armed.

The ajumma said.

"Let's wait until 10 PM. That thing mainly moves after 10."

There was a rule in this mansion not to go down to the first floor after 10 PM. I felt like I understood the reason for this rule now from our current conversation.

Were they letting that terrible monster loose in the mansion after 10 PM?

It was completely insane. It was amazing that no accidents had happened until now.

No, it was questionable whether there really hadn't been any accidents.

If the Chairman could treat even a big company CEO like a servant, he might have made it seem like nothing happened even if something did occur.

Tick, tick, tick.

Dong dong dong dong- dong dong dong dong- 

The clock installed on the first floor of the mansion struck 10 PM.

"You kids go upstairs."

Mrs. Danvers made us go upstairs. We went up to Yoo Dahee's room.

"It's still unbelievable thinking about it again. Rewinding time with points, and we've already died several times. But with guns, we should be able to kill that monster, right? You said it's human, not a ghost?"

Jung-seok rambled on, probably because he was nervous.

Actually, everyone was tense.

Bang-!

We heard a noise louder than we'd ever heard before. We all jumped in surprise, and Kwon Sua even fell backwards.

"Oh gosh!"

Bang-! Bang-!

Loud noises kept bursting, and there was also a strange smell I'd never smelled before. I learned for the first time that it was the smell of gunpowder.

Bang-! Bang-!

The continuous gunshots. The sound like thunder striking a clear sky suddenly stopped at some point.

"Is it over?"

Yang Juhee, who had been covering her ears, asked cautiously.

Of course, we had no way to answer that question either.

Yoo Dahee said.

"Juhee, when you say things like that in novels, something unfortunate usually happens."

"What did I do!"

Even in this situation, are Yang Juhee and Yoo Dahee bickering? Seeing that, I felt a bit less tense too. I stood up and suggested to my friends.

"Should we go check?"

If it was human, it must be dead. However, Jung-seok shook his head.

"There were multiple gunshots. I heard at least nine. If they fired a gun that can take down a bear nine times, it means it's that hard to kill. Instead... there's a chance the ajumma and housekeeper noonas were taken out."

It was an ominous suggestion, but it made sense when you thought about it.

Firing a bear-hunting gun nine times. Whatever it was, we had to check it out.

"I'll go."

Swish-

The brave Yang Juhee stood up. We decided to follow her.

It seemed dangerous for her to be alone.

When we went down to the first floor, we found the noonas cruelly collapsed and scattered all over the floor.

They were dead as if a child had grabbed cicadas and torn them apart with pure malice. I had to turn away from the horrific scene and feel utterly defeated.

"...Damn it, even guns don't work?"

That monster bastard.

Grrrr-

Eyes glinted in the darkness.

Soon, a blood-covered, furry thing appeared from an empty room. In its right hand was Mrs. Danvers' head.

Strangely, all the fingers on that right hand except the thumb and index finger were bizarrely twisted and broken. 

Did it get hurt in the fight? Can it be injured?

"Eek!"

Kwon Sua collapsed. Soon, the pitch-black monster ran towards us and grabbed Jung-seok's head.

"Agh!"

Jung-seok let out a short scream and died with his head split open like a watermelon.

Splat-

My friend's brains splattered, covering my clothes.

"Hey! Run away! Ha Young-won! You run away! You need to stay alive, right!"

Yang Juhee shouted, picking up a gun from the floor.

Click click-

But Yang Juhee didn't know how to shoot.

"Damn it!"

The monster reached out to grab Yang Juhee, but she was dodging here and there using her fast legs.

The monster ran on all fours like a beast, not a human. Its movement was so bizarre and alien that I wanted to look away.

"Aaaaaaagh!"

Finally caught, Yang Juhee had her neck bitten. Blood spurted like a fountain.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

***

Click, flash-!

"Sua, you were going to say it's been a while since you took a photo with friends, right?"

"Huh? How did you know?"

We're back.

"《Sloppy Clock》 is rewinding its spring."

"100P consumed."

"224 points remaining"

224 points left.

Points were running low, but there was no sign of a way to take down that monster. I explained what just happened to everyone.

This was becoming familiar now. In terms of time, we've spent about four days in this mansion already.

"How do we catch something that even guns can't handle?"

Jung-seok clicked his tongue with a slightly disgusted expression. This was too cruel for us, who were just high school students.

Then Yoo Dahee said.

"Maybe our approach was wrong? If we find out how the Chairman's brother became such a monster, we might discover a way to defeat it. Let's look at the essence more. Everything has a cause."

It sounded reasonable.

But even in the last round, Mrs. Danvers didn't tell us why Cheon Tae-gon became like that.

No matter how much I insisted or threw tantrums, even if she were to die, it didn't seem like she would tell us.

Yoo Dahee clenched her fist and shouted.

"Let's raid Grandfather's study. We might find something. The problem is that while we're searching the study, that monster could attack the ajumma and noonas in the mansion..."

If even one person died, it would be as good as our defeat.

"I think I can handle that somehow! I can ask the ajumma and noonas to come back late in the evening. We went to the market together before. We came back really late. We can do that today too."

Alright, then we'll leave that to Yoo Dahee.

We decided to infiltrate the study through the space behind the bathroom mirror.

Crash-

When we broke the mirror, the space behind appeared.

"There really was a space behind. This kind of thing is usually planned during construction."

Jung-seok marveled. I was impressed that Jung-seok had a similar observation as last time.

Step step.

We walked for about 5 minutes and were able to infiltrate the Chairman's study. We decided to gather as much information as possible there.

"Give me any books you find."

Rustle rustle-

Jung-seok opened a book and flipped through the pages rapidly. It looked like he was messing around, but he said it was speed reading.

Then Jung-seok picked up one book.

"This is it. A diary. Cheon Tae-gon's diary."

Cheon Tae-gon, that monster? 

We all opened the diary together and we were able to confirm quite a surprising story there.

「A-yeon was a woman full of life. Both I and Dae-gon came to like her naturally, like spring turning to summer.」

「A-yeon treated us brothers the same, but I could see traces of affection seeping into her eyes when she looked at Dae-gon.」

「A-yeon and Dae-gon bought a strange object from the market. My younger brother Dae-gon said this. 'Brother, you like collecting gloomy antiques, right? This is your birthday present that A-yeon and I chose. They say if you make a wish on this, it grants your wish.」

「It was an arm that could have been from a beast or a human. It had six fingers and was twisted like a mummy, dried and emaciated. But despite its shabby appearance, no matter how much strength I used, I couldn't bend or break the fingers.」