## Chapter 234 – The End
“…Ugh, I’m so tired.”
I pass through the open front door, carelessly kick off my dirt-covered shoes, take off the blood-stained wooden mask, toss it onto the floor, and enter the living room. Even though the sun is still up, gray clouds cover the sky as if it’s about to rain, and the house is dark because the lights aren’t on, except for the brightly lit living room with the TV.
I follow the blue light emanating from the TV in the distance, walking down the hallway connecting the entrance and the living room. As I reach the end of the short hallway and try to turn to the side, someone jumps out from the right.
“Y-you’re back?! Ah, hahaha… W-well, um…”
It was Iria, sitting in front of the hallway leading to the entrance in this wide living room with a sofa. Her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been crying until just now, but she was smiling as if nothing was wrong. She stutters, trying to escape this awkward situation, and bites her lip.
Then, without a word, Iria rests her head on my chest and says softly.
“…I was worried. I’m glad you came back safely.”
“…Yeah.”
“But are you okay?! Your whole body is covered in blood! Your injuries…”
“This isn’t my blood. And I healed all my injuries on the way back, so don’t worry.”
“…Ah, okay.”
I gently push away Iria, who was surprised by the blood of Nigeum on my clothes and was examining every part of my body. Iria, slightly embarrassed by my touch, which was different from usual, smiles awkwardly and steps back.
“S-sorry. You’re right, I guess I overdid it when my body isn’t fully healed yet. I don’t feel so good.”
“Ah, i-is that so! I’m sorry. Then you should rest… Yeah…”
“Yeah, then I have something to talk about with Iran, so… let’s talk later after you rest.”
“O-okay…”
Iria, who’s fidgeting with her hands clasped together, lowers her head at the conversation that feels distant. After finishing the short conversation filled with coldness, I leave Iria and head to the second floor.
…I’m sorry to Iria, but it can’t be helped. I can’t let her find out about ‘this.’
After secretly putting the device I got from the fight with Nigeum in my pocket, I carefully glanced at Iria. Her expression, as she stood there with her head down, wasn’t clearly visible from here. She scratched her head awkwardly and sat next to Nabi, who was sitting on the sofa across the living room.
She must have been worried about me already, and now she must have been hurt quite a bit. I’ll apologize for this later when I get back, and I turn around and go up the stairs again.
On the right side of the duplex is a tightly closed door, where I can feel Iran’s presence. I approach the door and knock lightly three times, and I immediately hear a response.
“You can come in.”
“…Yes.”
Hearing the short answer as if she knew it was me, I slowly pull the doorknob and enter the room.
As I open the door, the light from the computer fills the space, which smells of rubber, an odor that doesn’t suit books. I can see the back of Iran, who doesn’t even turn to look at me and continues to pound away at the keyboard.
“You’re back, Master! Are you hurt anywhere?”
“…You were here too?”
And Theresa, who was sitting in a blind spot and fiddling with a small laptop, was also here. …Iria might be a problem, but these two should be okay. No, these are the only two I can trust.
“…Don’t worry about the code decryption. The maid over there is more helpful than I thought. At this rate, it should be done by tonight or early morning, so if you wait a little longer…”
“No, Iran. Something more urgent has come up.”
“…Huh?”
At my unusual tone, Iran and Theresa slowly turn to look at me. I held out the syringe device filled with the strange liquid that I had hidden from Iria in front of them.
“…What’s this?”
“Wait, Master, that’s…!”
Iran frowned as if asking what it was, and Theresa said the same thing. She looked at me with a raised voice as if she knew what it was.
“…I took it from Nigeum. Theresa, you know what this is, right?”
“…Yes. But how… how did Nigeum have this…”
“Why, what is it? Are you guys the only ones who are so serious about it?”
Theresa is in confusion, and Iran is in a different kind of confusion, and they look back and forth between us.
“…Iran, this is…”
I hand the device to Iran, who doesn’t know anything about the situation, and explain. I tell her that Theresa used this when I first met her at the Seoul Research Lab, and that the drug’s effects and the man who made it was named Jung Ah-woon.
After hearing the story, Iran seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, frowning as she looked down at the device…
“…The fact that Nigeum had this means he went to the Seoul Research Lab. Then Kin went there too. That means he’s hiding there?”
“No, the problem is much more serious than that. There’s more than just this at that lab…”
“There was also a file containing the location of where Iria’s body is hidden…”
“…What?”
“Lafius, Nigeum, who could be said to be Kin’s trump card, was killed by Master. No matter how you look at it, would Kin so easily abandon Nigeum, who still has value?”
Silence fell in an instant, Iran’s pupils widened, and cold sweat ran down her forehead.
“…Kin, that trash… is using Nigeum as bait and went to find Iria’s body…!”
“…Yes, the location of Iria’s body is in the center of the Research Society’s headquarters, under the tree that sealed us. It’s buried under the roots. He probably realized that and is heading back to the Research Society’s headquarters.”
Iran is furious at Kin’s cunning, and Theresa is calmly organizing the current situation. I quietly walk into the room and look at Iran’s computer screen. I couldn’t read the screen covered with English, numbers, and various commands, but…
“…Iran, how far along is this?”
“Huh? Only the approval code decryption is left. You can’t enter the island without that code…”
“So everything else is done?”
“…Wait, what are you thinking?”
Feeling something ominous, Iran raises her voice and grabs my wrist, but I had already pulled out the USB that was plugged into the computer with my other hand.
“…Theresa, how long does it take to fly from here to the Research Society’s headquarters?”
“M-Master…”
“Tell me quickly.”
“…It depends on the aircraft, but it usually takes 24 hours with the aircraft provided by the Research Society… But Master, with only the code we’ve decrypted, we can only launch the aircraft! You can go to the Research Society’s headquarters with the entered coordinates, but you can’t without the approval code. There are turrets that automatically attack unapproved aircraft, so you can’t land and you’ll crash!”
“That doesn’t matter. I can handle it myself.”
Theresa clings to me and tries to stop me, and Iran has an expression that says she doesn’t know what kind of expression to make. I approach Iran, who is clenching her fists as if she’s angry at herself for not being able to do anything.
“It’s okay, Iran has done everything she needs to do, so just wait. Make up a good excuse for Iria, and don’t say anything to Chaeyoon or the others.”
“…You bastard, you only told us on purpose, didn’t you?”
Iran’s words are correct as she smiles with a crying face and lightly hits my chest. These two are the only ones who have the only means to chase Kin, and these two are the only ones who can’t stop me after hearing all this.
Theresa can never go against the will of her master, and Iran can’t stop me or follow me for the sake of the new life in her womb and her friend Iria. The two of them are in a terrible state of mind, unable to catch me in front of them, but unable to let me go easily.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have time… I have to leave right now to catch up with him.”
“…Yeah, right… I know that’s the only way… but you’re dead when you get back?”
Using the weakness that they can’t help but be weak and the increasingly urgent flow of time as an excuse, I made Iran worry. I sacrificed these two to reassure everyone else.
“…Take care of yourself. I’ll be back soon.”
After lightly kissing Iran’s forehead, who is smiling while crying, I take out my phone. I immediately find the number in my contacts and make a call, and Minjung answers the phone before I can even hear the ringtone.
‘Yes, Senior. What’s going on? I saw you on the news, and I’m taking care of the aftermath…’
“No, something more urgent has come up. Minjung, I need you to take me somewhere quickly.”
‘…I’ll be right there.’
With a short business, the call is cut off immediately. I put my phone in my pocket and turn around. Iran, who had already turned back and was looking at the internet on the computer, and Theresa, who had her head down.
Leaving the two of them behind, I quietly leave the study, sweep up my sweat-soaked hair, and go down the stairs. After leaving the study, the sky outside the window was even darker and pouring rain, and the light and sound of the TV that Nabi had turned on were emanating from the living room, which had become as dark as night.
“…Oh, where did Iria go?”
“That Unnie seems to be in a bad mood. We watched TV together for a while, but she went into her room.”
Nabi points to the closed door with her finger while looking at the TV screen. I’ve done something a little too much to Iria too. Let’s apologize properly when I get back.
This time, I leave Nabi alone in the living room, leaving without even saying goodbye. I have to get on a plane and fly away without even changing my torn and blood-soaked clothes.
Life is really… not funny at all.
