Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 100
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Editor’s Survival Rules Episode 100
ep16. Because I Made You (4)
“I’m going to tear you apart and kill you. Seo Do-un.”
Ryu Dan-a spoke with a melody in her sentence.
“I’m going to tear you to shreds. Wait, don’t touch me now, you devil-like bastard, not yet, I should go back, I’m hungry, I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you. Die, die, die die die die.”
Ryu Dan-a whispered with a smile, and I stopped breathing right there.
It felt like curse-like whispers were licking my skin.
-It’s a concealing lie.
Then, Cha Si-eon’s voice cut through the unpleasant tension.
-She’s only telling partial facts to hide the truth.
A concealing lie that only tells partial facts.
Then what she just said is actually true.
I swallowed my bewilderment and asked back.
“…What does that even mean?”
“How would I know. I just said what I heard.”
-Truth.
I loosened the tie that was choking my neck a little.
“Hyung! I’ll play the filtered recording file for now.”
Jae-gyeom shouted toward me.
When Ryu Dan-a spoke without context like this, we couldn’t understand her.
So we planned to play the problematic recording and ask Ryu Dan-a about the meaning of each section.
But Ryu Dan-a sharply refused.
“No, don’t play it! I don’t want to hear it!”
At the unexpected refusal, we looked toward Ryu Dan-a.
Then Ryu Dan-a said with a haughty expression.
“It’s only 140 seconds anyway. I remember all the content, so don’t play it. If you play that, I won’t cooperate.”
-Truth.
How selfish.
Or does she have some ulterior motive?
But even if Ryu Dan-a was being stubborn, we had no way to force her.
Ryu Dan-a wasn’t a criminal in this case, but rather someone cooperating with us.
“Why don’t you want us to play it? Is there some problem?”
“It gives me the creeps!”
Ryu Dan-a shouted back at my question.
-Truth.
Even though it was filtered, she doesn’t want to hear it again?
This doesn’t look easy from the start.
-Seo Do-un, Manager Oh says to just proceed. Question number 71 without playing the recording.
I have a vague feeling, but there’s no choice.
“Then I’ll listen to the recording separately and continue with questions.”
I got up from my seat and went toward Jae-gyeom.
Then I put on headphones and listened to the problematic recording once more.
The first thing I heard was 20 seconds of silence.
And then the noise that followed.
Chik- chijijijiji-
Jjijik- jjijijk- tztztzt-
Kkididdit- kkididddik-
Chijijjik- chijijit-
Kkiii-! Kkkkkididididdit-!
The increasingly loud sound continued for 36 seconds.
Aaaaaaaak-!
And then a scream echoed.
This was a sound I had made.
It was confirmed through voice analysis.
After that, another 13 seconds of silence.
-How did this happen…?
-Why until now… couldn’t…?
-…what exactly … is…?
-…four times… I already … does that mean?
-Why specifically…?
What filled the section from 69 seconds to 132 seconds was my voice.
I spoke very slowly, with gaps between words.
As if listening to someone’s answers.
And then 12 seconds of silence again.
After that, what could be heard were the sounds of Management Bureau agents who found me.
It’s disturbing to hear again.
Especially the last question.
-Why specifically…?
It seems like this question will follow me for a really long time.
I sighed inwardly and sat back in front of Ryu Dan-a.
“What you said earlier, which part of the content was that from?”
“The very beginning. From there until you screamed.”
-Truth.
She had to point out that I screamed.
I looked at Ryu Dan-a’s mischievous smile and asked back.
“Is this sound what you were afraid of, Ryu Dan-a?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
-Truth.
“Why is this sound scary? To me it just sounds like simple noise.”
“You just said it yourself. It’s just noise to you, so it’s not scary.”
-Evasive words.
“Then are you scared of the content you mentioned earlier? Words like ‘I’ll tear you apart and kill you’?”
“Yeah, because they’re scary words.”
-False.
Right, this is obviously false.
When did she smile brightly while repeating them, and now she says they’re scary.
“Do you know what the identity of these things is, Ryu Dan-a?”
“No, I don’t know.”
-Truth.
“Was this sound made by one thing or multiple things?”
“Multiple.”
“Exactly how many?”
“Three are making sounds for now.”
-Truth.
“What do you think their identity is, Ryu Dan-a?”
“I told you I don’t know?”
“Speculation is fine too, so please tell me your thoughts.”
“There are lots of strange monsters there. Probably that kind?”
-False. She’s making excuses.
How should I interpret this?
Not knowing the identity is true, but when I ask about thoughts, you dodge the question?
I gathered information and requested again.
“If you have any other guesses, please tell me.”
“Can’t say.”
But Ryu Dan-a suddenly refused to give a statement.
When I was flustered by her boldness, Cha Si-eon interjected.
-It’s the truth. Ask her why.
“Why can’t you say?”
“You’re just the same. Do-un, you can’t say either.”
What is this about now…
-It’s the truth.
“…”
Ryu Dan-a’s cryptic words mixed with Cha Si-eon’s verification only made things more confusing.
I clarified precisely before any misunderstanding could arise.
“It’s not that I can’t speak, I just don’t remember anything.”
“Yeah, I know. But even if you remembered, you couldn’t say it, right?”
-Truth. And light teasing.
I frowned at the word “teasing.”
Indeed, Ryu Dan-a was smiling like a cat.
An expression that showed she knew full well she was toying with me.
And eyes that willingly enjoyed doing so.
“…You must have heard the part where my voice was recorded too.”
“Yeah.”
“Was I talking to myself then, or did I have a conversation partner?”
“You had a conversation partner.”
“That was…”
“Can’t say.”
Ryu Dan-a intercepted the question with a bright smile.
“What it was, what you said – I can’t tell you. I’d die if I spoke.”
-It’s the truth.
The context is a complete mess.
Meanwhile, Cha Si-eon keeps hammering truth and lies directly into my head, so I can’t organize anything.
Unable to think for myself, my lost thoughts become tangled in chaos.
“Frustrated?”
When I kept my mouth shut, Ryu Dan-a furrowed her brows and asked.
“What can you do about being frustrated? I’m being incredibly honest right now. Right?”
“…”
“Oh fine, I get it. Then I’ll teach you just one more thing.”
Ryu Dan-a spoke as if reading my mood, as if doing me a favor.
“You know that last question you asked in that recording?”
“…’Why did it have to be me?'”
“Yeah, that one. The answer to that question was this.”
Ryu Dan-a looked me in the eyes and moved her small lips.
“Because I created you.”
It was nonsense.
No, it had to be nonsense.
But the sound drilling into my ears wouldn’t even allow me to avoid it.
-…It’s the truth.
I felt like the ground was collapsing beneath my feet.
I stared at Ryu Dan-a blankly, as if I’d been struck in the head.
Then I forced myself to speak.
“What does that mean?”
“How would I know? That’s what Do-un talked about with that thing, so how could I know?”
-It’s the truth.
“…Then why are you telling me this?”
“Because I don’t know what it means. What’s the point of keeping something secret when I don’t even understand it, right?”
Ryu Dan-a smiled brightly.
“Surprised? What can I do? That’s why I told you. It’s better not to know.”
Ryu Dan-a kept chattering, but I couldn’t hear her well.
There were too many delusions rushing in to fill the gaps in my memory.
All I could do now was endure without being swept away by them.
As my silence lengthened, Ryu Dan-a whispered sweetly again.
“Do-un, how long have you been here?”
“Hyung, you don’t need to answer.”
Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had been by the wall, interjected.
Ryu Dan-a glanced at Kwak Jae-gyeom and asked me again.
“How much do you trust those people?”
“71, stop talking nonsense.”
“Do-un, don’t trust them too much. The real monsters are those guys. They brand people as criminals or contaminated and treat them like consumables – if you actually saw how ridiculous that is, you’d know.”
“71!”
Clang-!
At Kwak Jae-gyeom’s shout, Ryu Dan-a kicked her chair and stood up.
Then she began glaring at Kwak Jae-gyeom as if she wanted to kill him.
With eyes that looked ready to bite and tear at any moment.
When Jae-gyeom flinched at that fierce gaze, Ryu Dan-a sat back down.
Then she muttered in a cold voice.
“How annoying. It’s not like I wanted to become like this, but they treat people like germs – who do they think they are?”
After venting her irritation, Ryu Dan-a spoke to me again.
“Look at that. Always 71, 71. They don’t even treat you like a person. You might become like this soon too. Number 72, or maybe 73?”
“…”
“What’s that stalker saying? Is he saying I’m lying?”
“No.”
“Then? Don’t tell me he agreed?”
“…He’s not saying anything.”
“Ha, ridiculous. Shouldn’t they be the ones wearing lie detectors?”
Ryu Dan-a snorted coldly.
Then she added as if she pitied me.
“Anyway, only good people suffer. They think everyone else is as good as them and trust anyone blindly, like idiots.”
“I’m not particularly good.”
“No, you are good. Today, you’re the only person who greeted me with ‘Hello’ and called me ‘Ms. Ryu Dan-a.'”
Ryu Dan-a shook her head as she spoke.
Then she smiled forlornly like a cat caught in the rain.
“So don’t trust anyone. You’re in an extremely dangerous situation right now.”
A suffocating feeling, like being strangled.
I slowly turned to look toward Cha Si-eon.
He beyond the glass window remained silent.
“You look tired – should we stop here? I’ve said everything I can say.”
Ryu Dan-a spoke in a much calmer tone.
It was a voice that might make me mistake her for actually caring about me.
But I shook my head and declined.
“It’s fine.”
“I don’t have anything more to say now.”
“I’ll just ask a few more questions.”
At my request, Ryu Dan-a reluctantly nodded.
Ryu Dan-a no longer smiled brightly, as if understanding my confusion.
I watched such Ryu Dan-a for a moment before slowly beginning to speak.
“Ms. Ryu Dan-a, do you know anything about the ones who conversed with me, who answered my questions?”
“No, I don’t know.”
-This is the truth.
“How many of them were there? You used the expression ‘we,’ so were there multiple?”
“…I don’t know.”
-This is the truth.
I nodded at Ryu Dan-a’s answer.
“Are we done now?”
Ryu Dan-a asked while studying my expression.
As if there really was nothing more to talk about.
That recording was only 144 seconds long.
Excluding the silence, the parts with actual sound recorded were at most 1 minute and 30 seconds.
So this was about as much as I could extract.
But there were still some lines I could read between.
“Ms. Ryu Dan-a.”
“Yeah.”
“Earlier, you told that stalker over there to take off his clothes, right?”
“Huh?”
Ryu Dan-a’s eyes widened at my question.
I asked her back, very seriously.
“Did you perhaps want to see that man’s body?”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Ashira
I just have more questions now… Just who exactly was Do Un speaking with and supposedly created him ??