Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 154

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Editor’s Survival Manual Episode 154

ep21. Fog-Shrouded (4)
I moved my hand as if dreaming.
A small hand that trembled smoothly in response to signals from my brain.
Why was this fern-like thing moving according to my will?
Unable to believe what I was seeing, I kept moving my hand, and the rings that had been slipping off tumbled from my fingers one after another.
“Gasp!”
The moment I reached out my arm to pick up the rings, the smartwatch also slipped right off my wrist.
“Agh!”
But there was no way I could attempt to pick anything else up.
“……!”
It was more urgent to grab at the pants that were slipping off.
While I was flustered, Cha Si-eon gathered the rings rolling across the floor first.
I hurriedly asked Cha Si-eon as he picked up the Big Cat’s ring.
“Um, um—how old do I look right now?”
“Probably around seven or eight.”
“What?”
I repeated in shock, and Cha Si-eon took out his tablet.
He took a picture of me with it and showed me the screen directly.
“Ah……!”
I cried out without thinking.
On the tablet screen was a small child—one who had either just graduated kindergarten or just started elementary school—with wide, startled eyes.
And that child was undeniably me.
“Why…….”
I stared at Cha Si-eon, lost in confusion.
Cha Si-eon with much longer hair.
He looked somewhat more grown, but I couldn’t tell if this was an objective change or an optical illusion created by my shrinking.
Either way, he definitely looked to be in his mid-thirties.
He’d aged eight years by the existing rules.
But why had I grown younger instead? By twenty years, no less.
“This is a first case, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Could it be… reincarnation……?”
“That’s unlikely.”
Cha Si-eon shook his head at the words I’d muttered absently.
“People with less than eight years of remaining lifespan simply died the moment they encountered the Monks, and not a single one has ever appeared in a younger form. Besides, right now you’re only younger in age, but you’re unmistakably yourself.”
He was right.
If I’d died and been reborn, I wouldn’t have the exact same face as my current self.
Then what could it be?
I wasn’t a newborn, so how could this…….
“Huh.”
I swallowed a hollow breath at the thought that crossed my mind.
What if I really was zero years old, and now I’ve become eight?
What if the Special Zone was counting my age as zero for some reason?
The moment I thought this, goosebumps raced down my spine.
It felt like cold fingernails scraping up my backbone.
Of course, this wasn’t particularly surprising.
My suspicion that something had happened to me was already entering the realm of certainty.
I was gradually learning how to live with that chaos.
So I could accept this phenomenon as an extension of that without rejecting it.
But I felt a tempest stirring in my chest.
I felt the injustice of it, and my eyes burned with heat.
“Uh……?”
I was startled by my own physical reaction.
Then our eyes met, and I desperately swallowed hard, covering my eyes with my palms.
This is maddening.
Eight-year-old Seo Do-un was about to burst into tears.
I can’t lose my dignity like this, I can’t……!
In the middle of the brink of a flood of tears, I thought of my late director.
It worked.
Using the memory of the late director as a touchstone, I finally swallowed my sobbing and managed to calm down before lifting my head.
“I’m fine.”
“That’s admirable.”
“……?”
I thought I’d heard something odd, so I looked at Cha Si-eon.
Then I was taken aback in another way.
“Only your appearance has changed.”
Looking at the somewhat gentler light in Cha Si-eon’s eyes, I sobered up.
Then Cha Si-eon took something out of his vest pocket.
It was candy.
Cha Si-eon held out the candy wordlessly, and without thinking, I reached out and took it.
“Your cognitive and reasoning abilities should remain the same as before, but your body and psyche will likely be at an eight-year-old level.”
“…….”
I couldn’t bring myself to deny it.
The candy was too delicious.
More than anything, the moment I saw the candy, everything else seemed less important than putting it in my mouth.
“Emotional states aligning with physical age is a commonly reported symptom. So I hope you understand that you’re currently in the psychological state of a child.”
I accepted this too.
Almost crying just now and being unable to refuse candy were unmistakably the acts of an eight-year-old.
I nodded dejectedly and asked Cha Si-eon in return.
“Are you experiencing changes as well?”
“To some extent.”
Cha Si-eon answered my question calmly.
The atmosphere did seem more relaxed than before.
The thirty-something Cha Si-eon, whose sharpness had diminished considerably, asked me.
“Can you move about?”
Move about……?
I thought it was an odd way to phrase it, but I grabbed the waistband of my pants and tried to walk.
Flop—
But it wasn’t just the pants that were a problem.
The shoes were too large for me to walk properly.
“Remove your shoes and try to gather your clothing as best you can.”
Cha Si-eon said this and then began issuing instructions to the agents.
-Pattern 29 confirmed
-Agents moving
-1, 12 converging
-2, 3 converging
-4, 5 converging
-6, 7 converging
-Report after convergence
Even if I don’t move now, River Crossers will appear.
So waiting alone would be worse than quickly converging with other agents nearby.
While Cha Si-eon signaled, I rolled up my sleeves and tightened my belt.
I also tightened the drawstring at the legs of my pants and managed to free my bare feet outside.
Having barely secured freedom for my limbs, the clothing was still so oversized that I looked like I was wrapped in a blanket.
Cha Si-eon didn’t say much seeing me like that.
Instead, he took the shoes I’d removed and tied them together by their laces, then hung them around my neck.
Was I supposed to follow along in this state?
Just then, my body was suddenly lifted up.
“Whoa!”
I cried out in surprise and found myself draped over Cha Si-eon’s shoulder.
Cha Si-eon hoisted me like a sack of grain and started running.
“Team Leader!”
“This is fastest. Monitor the situation behind us and the light signals from other agents.”
I was quite startled, then lost for words at Cha Si-eon’s response.
Right—there was no time to be choosy.
Besides, I’d dropped the candy I was holding in my mouth when he hoisted me onto his shoulder.
The fact that I felt loss over the fallen candy rather than anything else was proof that I wasn’t normal.
So converging with the other agents was the priority.
I stayed still and chose to watch the opposite end of the bridge and the lights of the other agents.
The Fog-Shrouded Bridge here shares the same incident as the Bleeding Island—they are sister Special Zones.
But I hadn’t expected blending to be possible in this way.
Perhaps this was because the Island still possessed the fluidity of the Emergent Stage.
The more I saw of what a Special Zone was, the less I understood it.
So all I could do was gather whatever information I had and make educated guesses.
If the Train Station, the Island, and the Bridge were all bound together, what state would this Special Zone be in?
Could all three be in the Emergent Stage, or were some in the Active Stage and others in the Emergent?
Given that communications are down, it’s reasonable to assume this entire sector has entered the Emergent Stage.
Thinking of this, I spoke to Cha Si-eon.
“If our theory about the structure is correct, the Train Station and the Island should be converged in one place right now.”
“…….”
“And if the Island has the characteristics of an Emergent Stage Special Zone, it should be possible to summon different time periods by opening and closing doors.”
The way the Hotel was.
“There are no doors here and no divided spaces, but the Island has both doors and many distinct spaces, so the situation will be different once we get there.”
Cha Si-eon slowed his pace slightly at my words.
Then he finally opened his mouth.
“Your pronunciation is poor—I can’t understand what you’re saying.”
“…….”
“Explain again after we’ve converged with agent 12.”
“Yes…….”
I’d thought I was speaking perfectly clearly.
An eight-year-old turned out to have quite a few limitations.
I closed my mouth and focused on the lights.
The lights continued to flicker in turn.
It seemed the River Crossers kept appearing.
Were they deliberately driving us?
Or was this truly their final struggle?
I was wondering if we were safe when I glanced beyond the fog.
The fog trembled, and a large black shadow loomed up from within it.
“Team Leader, something’s coming from behind!”
At my cry, Cha Si-eon turned back immediately.
Cha Si-eon was about to put me down but flinched and held me tight again.
Then he let go of my hand.
“Hold on yourself!”
Hold on?
I grabbed Cha Si-eon’s upper garment in alarm.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—!
Then came the sound of rifle fire.
My body went rigid from the roar and vibration.
I could feel the child’s body trembling with fear, but I forced myself to stay sharp.
The gunfire continued for a while.
Cha Si-eon pressed the back of my head down with his hand and spun his body rapidly.
Almost simultaneously, something brushed past my side.
No—it scraped across me as it passed.
A damp breath-like sensation touched my cheek for a moment then vanished.
I still couldn’t tell what it was.
All I could be certain of was that it was massive, yet remarkably fast.
And it was targeting me.
Rat-a-tat-tat—!
Cha Si-eon continued returning fire.
But it was impossible to aim properly while holding me by his neck.
As if it was closing the distance again, Cha Si-eon retreated hastily.
But there was nowhere to retreat to.
Soon the bridge railing touched his back, and my eyes filled with the churning water beyond the fog.
Surely not.
He wasn’t actually planning to jump into the river like this, was he?
The moment I thought “surely not,” Cha Si-eon grabbed the railing.
He really is about to jump……!
Then it happened.
Clang—!
Suddenly the sound of metal striking metal rang out, and Cha Si-eon’s movement stopped abruptly.
Clang— Clang—! Screech—!
I couldn’t see what was happening because my back was turned.
But I sensed instinctively that this wasn’t a bad situation.
I felt Cha Si-eon release his tension and catch his breath.
Clang— Splash———!
Then came the sound of water pouring.
After that was silence.
Fluff—
A sound of shaking something dry, followed by footsteps approaching us.
Someone spoke from behind my back.
“Growing old and weak?”
It was a familiar voice.
But I’d never heard this voice speak with such a mocking tone before.
Though clearly mocked, Cha Si-eon didn’t particularly retort or respond.
Instead, he tore me off his shoulder.
Grabbed by the nape of my neck, I was hoisted like a puppy, and Cha Si-eon turned his arm around to show me to the figure behind my back.
As expected.
“Otter?”
The one who’d saved us in that moment of crisis was Baek Sa-ra.
And upon discovering me, Baek Sa-ra’s eyes were growing wider and wider.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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