Canto IV: The Unchanging/Story Episodes/Part II

Overview

Story Episodes

Battle Chapters

Part I

Part II

Part III

4-28: Hole

Dongbaek’s unexpected attack pierced Yi Sang’s chest. Winding time would heal the wound, but will it really fill the hole in his heart? I had no way to know what dream Yi Sang could have been dreaming, resting with his eyes closed.

Speaker		Dialogue
		Thinking back to those days, I felt as though I had been afloat all the time then.
		Yes, I was enduring life with the feeling of flying in the sky.
		Thus, I had been living without knowing for certain if I truly had wings or if I was a mere half-wit.
	??? Dongrang	Yi Sang, did you stay up all night working on your research again? I keep telling you, skipping sleep will get you killed.
	??? Dongbaek	He’s something else. Remember how he’d forget to eat or sleep when he got into something?
	??? Dongrang	He can’t be helped, Dongbaek. So… what do you plan to show us at this illuminators’ conference?
	??? Dongrang	I can’t help but look forward to something you’ve been working on tirelessly in your room.
	??? Yi Sang	This time… I have made something I call the 'mirror'.
		Thus, it has always remained unclear.
		Unsure if I regret that day, or reminisce it fondly.
Location: Nest K - LC Branch Manager's Office
	Manager DANTE	<…Sang… Yi Sang! You alright?>
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	……
Yi Sang’s eyes slowly opened.
Their lives are so easily light, so easily recoverable.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	I see… You have reversed my death as you always do.
	Manager DANTE	<……>
A flash of light burst out of the Golden Bough right as it pierced his chest, blinding everyone for a moment…
And Dongbaek had disappeared in the meantime.
The smiles the people in the photograph made at each other were nowhere to be seen now.
And Dongrang cast his eyes into emptiness, reviewing the situation we got into.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	…I’m sure Dongbaek’s plan was to stab me.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Shrenne and Ran probably told her that I brought help from the outside…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	But she couldn’t have known that Yi Sang would be one of them.
	Sinner #6 HONG LU	Ah~ So you’ve brought Yi Sang here on purpose?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Mm… Are you asking if I invited him as a meat shield knowing that I’d be ambushed? As excellent as my ability to predict courses of events is, I am no prophet.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Either way, things went in our favor. The assault was clearly made with intent to kill.
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	What did you just…? You can't be serious… A colleague of ours got stabbed to death for your boss, and you’re talking like everything went well…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	It’s not our responsibility to compensate for any injuries, is it? If this has left psychological scars, you are free to demand compensation, but please know that the procedures will be rather complex…
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	No, my problem is with how you’re describing this whole--
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	Leave the matter there.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	I do not feel an ounce of pain. So you have no need to pursue this matter further.
When I turn the clock, every consequence is reversed.
Torn clothing, bloodied stains, even the smallest scars are undone.
But that doesn't make the cause of those damages something that never happened.
Which is why I have to ask.
	Manager DANTE	<Are you sure you’re okay, Yi Sang?>
Yi Sang shut down my last attempt to inquire with a simple "Yes", so I couldn't try again until now…
But that man named Gubo had no problem raising his weapon against Yi Sang while claiming to be his compatriot.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	I see, you must have been rather curious.
This time, he didn’t seem to have any intent to dodge my question.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	I was once part of an organization named the League of Nine. Gubo, Dongrang, and Dongbaek, the one who stabbed my chest. Those faces you have seen were members of it as well, manager.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	However, it disbanded and scattered one day. Each of us was flown away into our own path.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	That was all there was to it.
	Sinner #9 RODION	Aw, what~ Feels like your story’s missing a ton of details, y’know?
	Sinner #9 RODION	You broke up ‘cause things happened and now you’re pointing knives at each other~ Like, is that it?
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	Or maybe they were never friends after all.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	It was no more than a moment. I believe my testimony to be apt for a time as transient as that.
He started talking a lot. He hasn’t turned into a chatterbox just yet, but I had the feeling that he’d soon become more talkative.
I was reminded of Faust mentioning once that he was never really the quiet sort.
	Manager DANTE	<Are you really sure you’re okay, Yi Sang?>
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	I have always been okay.
If that was his true nature, then this might not be a bad thing.
Still, my feelings say that I should care for his well-being.
	Manager DANTE	<From your recent memory, umm… Have you had any particularly happy or painful moments or something like that?>
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	…You are devoting an unusual degree of attention to me today. While it does not please me… I will give you an answer since your demeanor is quite unlike the usual.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	If I were to choose one, the happiest occasion in recent memory would be… when we held an illuminators’ conference.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	And the most hopeless one would be…
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	At the forest where I first met you.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	The very moment my life resumed when I was certain that it had ended there.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	Another such moment is now. I am once again realizing that this regeneration is ever so flawless, unchanging.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	I hope that sates your curiosity.
	Manager DANTE	<……>
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	Now, should we not be on our way? I see a long road ahead of us.
As he walked ahead…
I could almost see it.
Although the wound was perfectly erased, there was still…
A hole in his chest, wide open with no signs of mending.

4-29: Raid

Yi Sang came back to his senses as though nothing happened. Meanwhile, Samjo’s phone starts ringing incessantly.

Speaker		Dialogue
Location: Nest K - LC Branch Manager's Office
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Oh dear…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	It seems a radio communication device was installed in this branch.
His phone was intensely vibrating as though the calls set it on fire.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Yes, I understand. I’ll return right away.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	It seems the laboratory has been raided again.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	There are apparently more terrorists this time, on a fiercer offense than before.
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	So the commotion earlier was a distraction to keep us here.
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	Kgh… This could have easily been prevented if it weren’t for your collusion.
Outis lashed out in frustration.
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	It does feel rather strange… I think this is the first time we’re going through a Lobotomy Corp. branch without facing a single Abnormality.
	Sinner #6 HONG LU	That’s true indeed. Those we did see were resting still in their eggs.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	The bounders from tech liberation whatever must have got some way to put Abnormalities in their eggs without lifting a hand, eh?
	Sinner #2 FAUST	Though we will have to see the details with our own eyes… If they really do have the technology to revert Abnormalities into their inactive forms…
	Sinner #2 FAUST	It’s certain that they possess the technologies to achieve more.
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	Well well, sounds like you’ve gotta look out, Dongrang, bud… Ms. Faust isn’t one to say ominous stuff for nothing, you know.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	It’ll work out somehow. In our group is K Corp’s most successful researcher… and better yet, two of the greatest geniuses in the City.

4-30: Constellations

The K Corp. laboratory was unexpectedly attacked. It seems that the technology liberation alliance has acquired the ability to revert Abnormalities to eggs. We hurried back to the building.

Speaker		Dialogue
Location: K Corp. Laboratory Lobby
As soon as we got back to the lobby, we could see panic-struck employees run before Dongrang and Samjo.
	K Corp. Laboratory Hurrying Researcher	Mr. Dongrang… A moment, please…!
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Haha, you’ve all turned pale. Ah, pardon me for a moment.
	Manager DANTE	<The situation looks pretty tense. It’s kinda awkward to stand still like this…>
As I meandered in the lobby murmuring meaningless things to myself, Don Quixote scuttled to a shelf.
	Sinner #3 DON QUIXOTE	Oho, what manner of books are these? The pictures glitter brightly!
Sounding a merry hum, she picked up a storybook.
I peeked at the book she opened.
Yi Sang also turned his gaze toward the book, possibly bothered by something about it…
Soon, a golden haze unfolded.
Once upon a time, when everyone had their heads down and eyes fixed on the ground, there was a person who looked up into the sky.
In their eyes were twinkling stars.
Connecting the nameless stars no one else would look at,
The person gave them names, and made up stories for them as they liked.
Stories are like skeins of thread without an end;
They’re drawn and woven together in an effort to find meaning from meaninglessness.
All kinds of stories in the world, happy and sad, circled in the night sky.
Then one day, the person’s family fell deeply sick, their life nearing its end.
Like any other day, the person spoke into the sky about the grief they felt.
And then…
A droplet of water fell onto the person’s head.
Looking up, the person found the constellation talking to them.
'Dear person who named me and gave me a story, thanks to you, I was cast onto the land and pushed by the flow of time, feeling he world in full.'
'Did you know that stars can grant wishes?'
'The tears I shed will clear you of your pain.'
Afterwards, a rain fell onto the world for a day and a half.
Everyone caught in the rain was all healed up.
The person’s ill family recovered to health, too.
Since then, the person and their family, as well as all the residents of the city, have looked up at the sky and talked about happiness every night.
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	That explains it. I read that Nest K has a custom of walking outside without an umbrella to stand in the rain on the night of a certain month every year…
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	…Don’t tell me, am I alone in this again? Have none of you checked out the pamphlet guide to K Corp’s Nest and Backstreets until now? No one?
	Sinner #9 RODION	Oh, that thing… I used mine to whack some bugs… So I gotta get a… new one…
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	Does this look like the time to be joking around, Rodya?!
Rodya didn’t look like she was joking at all, but Ishmael seemed unaware of it.
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	By the way, that story… It feels similar to what the regeneration ampule does, doesn’t it?
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	That rain that restores you to health…
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	Yeah, so… You trying to say it was made from rains dropped by stars?
	Sinner #9 RODION	Wait, wasn’t it nanobots and not watery stuff in the first place?
	Manager DANTE	<What do you think, Faust?>
	Sinner #2 FAUST	I am a woman of science. I prefer judgement based on facts over metaphors.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	This… so-called analysis and interpretation of stars and clouds might be an area Yi Sang is more familiar with.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	He’s a researcher like me, but we’re not quite the same.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	……
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	We’d better hurry. The situation seems pretty serious.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	I hear they managed to storm all the way into rooms where experiments are conducted this time.
	Sinner #3 DON QUIXOTE	Hmm? Does this place not seem too peaceful for such a dire predicament? I see nary a man running away!
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	It does appear that there's been an evacuation order. However, as you witnessed last time, this is not the first emergency that occurred this week. They might be worried that evacuating again could disrupt the 70-hour workweek policy.
	Manager DANTE	<Working in this kind of place is not easy, huh…>
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	I don’t get it. How was this attack possible? It didn’t seem like a structure that allowed intruders to sneak into the room undetected.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	We’re running short of time, so I’ll explain as we go up.
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	Object.
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	Give one reason we should go with you.
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	Indeed. The contract has been fulfilled.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	That’s true. But, as much as I want to give the Bough to you, it’s been taken before our eyes.
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	Hmgh… TRASHES…
	Sinner #9 RODION	Is this… really right? Hey… What does the contract exactly say?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Hm… I couldn’t say, I’m not all too knowledgeable when it comes to legal matters…
Instead of arguing back as usual, Samjo suddenly got busy wiping his glasses.
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	S.A.
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	Mister Samjo… She wants answers…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Mm?
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	S.A.…!
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	S-Samjo… She says she’ll assail you this time…!
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	Wrong. I said I’ll assail him right now.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	T-This is an emergency, an emergency!!! You should go upstairs, quickly!
	Manager DANTE	<L-Let’s hurry along for now, Ryōshū…>
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	I’ll show SANGRIA… I swear it.
Samjo urgently sent us upstairs.
Location: Ruined K Corp. Laboratory Hallway
The hallway that was clean and calm hours ago…
Has now turned into complete mayhem, filled with screams and fleeing people.
A researcher was crying and clinging to someone who appeared to be a liberation alliance member.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dying Researcher	Help me… Mr. Dongrang… Please, save me…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	My staff member… is begging for help, wouldn’t you consider letting them go?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	If it’s intelligence you want, I’ll give it to you. We were planning to go out for a staff dinner tomorrow, and the restaurant we booked serves such delicious meat.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	It’d be rather unfortunate if the smell awaiting us tomorrow came from incense sticks at a funeral instead of meat on a grill. Wouldn’t you agree?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Alliance Member	Intelligence? We have no need for it.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	Huh, you’re walking in unarmed now? What happened to your robots that did the fighting for you wimps?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Alliance Member	We have no need to bring our robots, either.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Alliance Member	I see plenty of useful-looking ones here.
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	…Are you trying to…?
	K Corp. Class 2 Excision Staff	We were ordered to excise terrorists. Target: all parts.
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	Huff. We outnumber them by a wide margin. It might be a little unfair, but… it seems like we won’t have any trouble beating them.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Alliance Member	Ms. Ran’s expertise was hijacking machines.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Alliance Member	She was more experienced in hacking than fighting.
	K Corp. Ampule Helper	Welcome. Here at K Corp, we value your safety above all else.
	K Corp. Class 2 Excision Staff	Huh, wait… What’s…
	K Corp. Ampule Helper	For everyone’s safety, deserters attempting to flee from battle will be injected with a decay ampule according to regulatory rules. The ampule will be launched if you leave the 120-meter radius of the combat area; you are 49 meters away from the perimeter.
	K Corp. Class 2 Excision Staff	…Shoot…
	K Corp. Ampule Helper	If you do not attack the enemy within the next 5 seconds, the decay ampule will be administered according to regulatory rules. You have 4 seconds remaining.
	Manager DANTE	<Wait, are we… the "enemy" now?>
	K Corp. Class 2 Excision Staff	Damn it… I’ve got no choice…
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	…!
	Sinner #3 DON QUIXOTE	Why…!
	K Corp. Class 2 Excision Staff	I… don’t wanna get hit by the decay ampule. I want to live…
	K Corp. Ampule Helper	Current status: no deserters detected, all status green. Please stand in line for regeneration ampules.
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	…I see.
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	They’re weighing their lives with ours, not unlike what we do. Please permit us to engage.
	Manager DANTE	<…Got it.>

4-33: Bright Villains

The liberation alliance member was waiting for us instead of retreating. As if they have a secret weapon prepared…

Pre-Battle

Speaker		Dialogue
Location: Ruined K Corp. Laboratory Hallway
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	I take back what I said about you being spineless wimps. I’m surprised you didn’t run away while we were scrapping.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Alliance Member	……
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	You’re so dead now. Bunch of book-smart sods who think using things others made is a talent…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Alliance Member	Fair point.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Alliance Member	Which is why we brought something new from the Lobotomy Corp. branch.

Post-Battle

Speaker		Dialogue
Location: Ruined K Corp. Laboratory Hallway
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	Hey, isn’t something off about this?
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	Was E.G.O something you could keep on all the time and use whenever like that? ‘Cause I didn’t know you could do that.
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	We all know E.G.O isn’t some kind of magic tool. It’s a lot of work… just keeping my sanity from tumbling over.
	Sinner #9 RODION	Besides, didn’t someone say that those people all… used to be lab workers…! How is it possible for them to use E.G.O better than we do?
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	This is not a matter of proficiency in battle.
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	They must have employed some other trick.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	There is one possibility in mind.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	If they reduced Abnormalities to an ovate form and figured out a way to materialize their E.G.O the way Lobotomy Corporation did…
	Sinner #2 FAUST	In other words, repeatedly researched the conditions of corrosion and trained themselves to repress it utilizing the Qliphoth Deterrence emitted by the Golden Bough…
	Sinner #2 FAUST	It could be possible to use E.G.O well without being affected by corrosion even after a short period.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	What they’re using are tools, compressed and repressed into general utility.
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	Does that mean… Lobotomy Corporation did the same…
	Sinner #2 FAUST	Yes, rather than Fixers, regular employees were given the E.G.O to work with.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	Of course, what we have right now isn’t as refined as what the Wing used to have.
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	Wait, hold on. If you’re saying they can do that with the help of the Golden Bough’s deterrence power, that means it’s nearby…
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	…Must be. Along with Dongbaek, who has it in her hands…
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	I cannot help but question the security of this facility. The leader of the terrorists is freely roaming in your building, and not once has her presence been reported.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	As much as I’d like to object… I don’t have much I can say. I didn’t expect them to break in so easily…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	The technology liberation alliance is formed by former researchers of renowned firms, after all.
	Sinner #3 DON QUIXOTE	I see… So they were villains of bright minds. But I must wonder, can individuals of bright minds turn to villainy? Hmm… What a bewildering conundrum…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Don’t let them fascinate you. If they were so wise, they wouldn’t have quit their enviable jobs at large firms for a terrorist organization in the first place.
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	Maybe it wasn’t the life they wanted.

4-35: Urgent Call

Samjo’s phone is ringing like crazy again. Maybe we can try and find useful information we couldn’t get from Dongrang and Samjo while they’re away…

Pre-Battle

Speaker		Dialogue
Location: Ruined K Corp. Laboratory Hallway
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	This is troubling. I don’t mind other locations, but if that place were to be attacked, it’ll cause a major setback…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Mr. Dongrang, you have an urgent call from Director Alfonso.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Oh boy… She’s about to give me a talking-to. Can’t you take the call for me, Samjo?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	I already have been, but her patience is nearing its limit.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Oh well… I’m not getting away from this. Pardon me for a second.
While Dongrang was away, we spotted an employee who hadn’t evacuated across the hallway, nervously wandering.
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	Watch closely, Executive Manager. If you see a lackey snooping around like that in the middle of danger…
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	It most likely means you’ve found someone with useful information. It would be wise to make good use of them.
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	Hey, we’re agents from a subcontracting firm here to deal with this commotion. What’s going on?
	K Corp. Laboratory Nervous Employee	I-I’ve been looking for Ms. Shrenne, but I can’t find her anywhere. I need to tell her to evacuate…
	K Corp. Laboratory Nervous Employee	She’s left her computer on… Where could she be…
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	Ah… Actually, she-
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	Alright, we’ll find her. You evacuate first.
	K Corp. Laboratory Nervous Employee	Thank you.
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	Now, while the terrorists’ informant has been removed, the staff is still in a muddle, and her computer is left on.
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	We’re in a complete tactical advantage. It didn’t even cost us any strength.
Probably thanks to the pride in this achievement, Outis sounded much more excited than usual… But no one else seemed to care.
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	The computer Shrenne used… Its password was "missyouran", right…
	Manager DANTE	<We were told she was in close relations with Ran, exchanging lots of messages…>
	Manager DANTE	<If we’re lucky, we might find a pending email or some other clue on her computer.>
	Manager DANTE	<It should hopefully give us some insight into the technology liberation alliance, too.>
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	You’re quick to understand. That was unexpe- I mean… very much expected of my executive manager.
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	Alright, good. The problem is how we’re gonna sneak into the office… Who on our team is gonna walk in there bold-faced and get it done without rousing suspicion…
	Manager DANTE	<If I had to choose a Sinner who can keep a still face and avoid suspicion…>
	Sinner #3 DON QUIXOTE	Give this humble knight one more chance, and I shall succeed…!
	Manager DANTE	<Meursault! Think you can handle it?>
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	…As long as you command.
	Manager DANTE	<Yeah, I’m counting on you.>

4-38: Glorious Past

Meursault has returned. Let’s see what information he brought with him.

Pre-Battle

Speaker		Dialogue
Location: Ruined K Corp. Laboratory Hallway
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	I’ve returned.
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	There was one message in Shrenne’s mailbox that was deemed worth reading.
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	The environment did not permit me to print it out, so I memorized the mail’s content.
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	'I hope you're doing well, Miss Ran. Open parenthesis, star, tear, tear, swung dash, caret, caret… closed parenthesis.'
	Manager DANTE	<Y-You can skip those parts…>
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	Understood. I will then dispense with punctuation marks that do not appear important.
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	'I’ve been trying to figure out if what you said was really true, but that sucker is making it hard.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'I’ve been promoted to team manager too, but I wasn’t let in… just because I didn’t win that silly "best" award.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'And he’s now recruited collaborators from the outside, probably to help with whatever he’s plotting.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'I heard they’re from a newly-found company, and I haven’t checked what kind of people they are yet. I bet they’re all haughty and arrogant just like their client.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'Still… Still, the plan will proceed as intended.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'We’ll succeed… and return to a glorious past.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'To tell you the truth, my most dazzling memory was when I first met you after joining the company.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'But our goal is more ambitious than that.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'So, let’s promise to meet again there.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'In a past where no technologies existed, allowing everything that existed to shine brighter.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'There, chickens will freely fly over the meadows, their wings uncut.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'When a person loses their arm, we’ll comfort them…'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'And learn how to live together even if an arm is missing.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'We may not be able to enjoy sumptuous feasts or conveniences of modern civilization, and we won’t have nearly as many resources at our disposal…'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'In that vastness… We’ll be free to walk all day.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'Oh, I’m planning to bring Fixers from the outside for the plan. My juniors have gotten too used to the ampules.'
	K Corp. Laboratory Shrenne	'If rapid development can only be achieved by means that cause pain and suffering to people…'
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	'Then I’m willing to give up on all the prosperity it brings'.
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	'That’s all I have to say for now. Yours in haste…'
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	Star, star, heart heart heart.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	You don’t have to read all that!
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	There’s a possibility that it may have been a sequence or cipher, so I deemed it reasonable to read it out and let the manager determine its significance rather than mull over whether I should dispense with it and discount the possibility that it may be necessary information.
	Manager DANTE	<Good work…>
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	How ironic.
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	I guess it’s fortunate for her that she didn’t get to see liberation alliance members murdering researchers without mercy…
	Sinner #9 RODION	She probably believed she was working for a noble cause to end violence until the end of her life…
	Sinner #9 RODION	But I agree, it was probably best for her that she died holding onto that belief.

4-41: Class 1

We see ominous-looking K Corp. staff on the other side. Dongrang and Samjo rejoined our group; it seems the talk went well enough.

Pre-Battle

Speaker		Dialogue
Location: Ruined K Corp. Laboratory Hallway
I did my best to ignore the fierce glare at my clock from below.
I noticed a group of staff walking this way, carrying an imposing aura, unlike any other K Corp. employee we’ve met.
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	Ah, you must be K Corp. staff. Hey! I saw some researchers that haven’t evacuated over there…
	K Corp. Class 3 Excision Staff	……
They ignored our–or Gregor’s, rather–words and proceeded upstairs.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	They aren’t here to rescue anyone. Their role is eliminating intruders and keeping classified technologies secure.
Dongrang interjected like he’s always been here. I suppose he’s got done with the call.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Rescuing is left to Class 1 staff.
	Sinner #3 DON QUIXOTE	Gasp! Is Class 1 not the highest level an employee can reach, precisely like Grade 1 is for Fixers?! Verily, ‘tis no wonder that they are the noblest…!
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Sorry? In this Nest, Class 1 is the lowest level, and higher numbers indicate better ranks…
	Sinner #3 DON QUIXOTE	Wha, wuh, wah, wha, wai… Whaat?!!!
	Sinner #3 DON QUIXOTE	…Even still, none can be too lordly or lowly to save lives, so how can the roles be divided?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Haha, bigger is better for numbers and riches alike, isn’t that right?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Ah, the conversation dragged on for a bit… But there’s nothing to worry about, I’ve acquired the permission.
	Manager DANTE	<…?>
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	What? Permission? For what?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Normally, it seems to require a bunch of paperwork as well, but since we’re in an emergency, let’s skip the procedures that we can. Should be fine, right, Samjo?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Well… I believe it could be managed with three days and a half of working on the report overtime.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	And strictly speaking, the problem already began when you brought them to your lab without any report.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	Just tell us what that permission is about first!
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	It would seem that Dongbaek has headed that way.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	The screening room.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	The security procedures for entering that place can be… extremely convoluted.
	Sinner #9 RODION	Screening room? The name doesn’t give a very clear idea of what it’s about~
	Sinner #6 HONG LU	Wonder why the security is so tight about it~
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	It’s at the very top of the building.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	There are two ways to make something inaccessible: put it underground, or at the highest point.

4-43: An Age Without Technology

We met a familiar technology liberation alliance member. That’s the one who was with Ran in the last laboratory raid.

Pre-Battle

Speaker		Dialogue
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	As you might have seen earlier… that’s Marile. In fact, I met him once at a job interview for B Corp. once.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Really? Samjo… You applied for B Corp, too?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	…Of course, K Corp. was my primary choice… A man of mediocrity like me has to send an application to every Wing in hopes that one will accept it.
There were corpses around Marile… "Appalling" couldn’t begin to describe their state.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	……
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Oh dear, pardon me, I need to use the restroom…
Samjo turned pale and ran, covering his mouth with a hand.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Our researchers… couldn't have been able to fight back at all.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	K Corp’s employees didn’t seem to have a problem with bludgeoning my colleagues who didn’t so much as swing a fist, either.
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	We’re looking for your boss. Where is she?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	What I want to know is how you’re still alive.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	Oh, you mean those galling murder machines? They weren’t anything we couldn’t deal with. The bomb… did hurt a bit, though.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	No. That bomb wasn’t meant for annihilation. It was a means.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	There’s been an unexpected variable to Ran and Shrenne’s plan. What are you?
Faust broke her silence.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	Even if you were to return to an age without technology, you won’t find the peace you seek.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	Once accustomed to the luxury brought by technology, people won’t be able to withstand life in the past. Think of the time when trips to the Backstreets were trending among the rich.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	They only use the experience to take another look at their own lives and be thankful for everything they have. Hardly any would live in a less opulent era given the opportunity.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	…And? I don’t like talkative people. Not fond of explaining things to you, either.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	I’m not the talkative sort. And I don’t require explanations in any field. I was simply curious to know the difference in perspectives.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	…None of us take WARP trains.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	We don’t eat the meat the City has to offer, either.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	When you know the truth, you wouldn’t even consider something as shallow as Backstreets trips.
	Sinner #6 HONG LU	Hm… The elders in my family, who must know even greater things than I do, didn’t have any problem using them though?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	The masses are ignorant. They won’t believe it even if you show it before their eyes.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	And this is your conclusion?
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	Get rid of everything and make ‘em live in that empty world?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	You wouldn’t get—
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	No, I think I get it just fine.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	There are plenty of blighters out there who just don’t get it if you talk nicely.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	They’d only start empathizing with the likes of me after they get a couple bruises and scars on their faces.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	It gives me the urge to just wreck it all.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	……
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	If we ever recruit new members…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Marile	I’ll try excluding the educational background from the requisites.
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	Although Heathcliff has never told us about what schools he went to… I can see where it’s coming from.
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	Still, you're going way over the line.

4-45: Offer to Join

An unhappy Ryōshū calls Yi Sang. We began talking about our reasons for joining the company.

Pre-Battle

Speaker		Dialogue
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	E.Y.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	…Did you call?
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	That man who keeps clinging to us claiming to be your friend. What’s the relationship?
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	As can be seen, the tie has long been severed.
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	I don’t like butting in, and I hate speaking for long even more…
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	But I’m telling you this since the smile of that ignorance-feigning scoundrel Dongrang is detestable.
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	That one desk, one that was even more disgusting than the others because it was clean and empty.
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	The nametag below it had your name.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	……
	Manager DANTE	<He was planning to give Yi Sang that position all along?>
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	Do you think he’s trying to headhunt him? That’s supposedly a violation of moral principles between firms or something like that, isn’t it?
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	BAFFLED.
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	…What’s that supposed to be an acronym for?
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	It’s not. I’m just baffled.
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	Orange hair, you say you used to work on a ship for a long while? As a Fixer?
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	You have serious delusions about Wings and firms. Did you dump your common sense into the great lake as chum?
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	Bringing up morality in the world we live in… Pretty amusing for a joke.
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	Headhunting and changing jobs between firms are done based on interests and efficiency.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	Heh, so you’re a hillbilly in your own language, eh. Or should I say boatbilly?
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	Erggh…
	Manager DANTE	<Even if that was the case… This really is strange.>
	Manager DANTE	<He’s not taking Yi Sang’s thoughts into account at all…>
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	Pay it no heed. Thoughts are rather meager things.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	I am quite used to the life of being taxidermied.
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	Are you sure you don’t mind? Yi Sang, when you joined the company…
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	No, actually… Didn’t all of us receive the same offer?
The job offer.
In my case, I was promised I’d get my aspect carved.
I could barely remember a thing, but as soon as I heard that word, I nodded as if I was possessed.
They acted like they knew my only choice would be to accept it…
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	If I joined this company…
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	When I do…
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	The thing I wished for dearly…
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	The thing I recited to myself every night…
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	Yes, the thing I thought would be impossible…
	Sinner #2 FAUST	They promised to make it a possibility. Most certainly.
	Sinner #3 DON QUIXOTE	……
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	How thoroughly did they look into our backgrounds?
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	Hah… Guess we had our version of wish-granting tales just like that storybook we read earlier.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	In truth, even that wish was no more than a futile dream.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	What, you weren’t that desperate for it? Why did you join, then?
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	Simply…
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	I walked for so long that my feet hurt. A shower of rain was pouring down as well.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	The bus I saw then appeared rather inviting.
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	Hah. That can’t be it, can it?
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	We all…
	Sinner #2 FAUST	That’s enough of it.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	Our company rules forbid disclosing the contents of the job contract in detail.
	Sinner #4 RYŌSHŪ	Acting all high and mighty when you’re in the same boat with the rest. Foul.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	……
	Sinner #2 FAUST	Let’s proceed.
That’s when a thought struck me.
Unlike most other Sinners, Yi Sang wouldn’t vocalize his pain.
Because of that, I would often discover his injuries late.
Where has he been holding all that pain?
I was reminded of the void in his chest I caught a glimpse of.
Was he keeping it in… or was it spilling out?

4-47: Screening Room

We made our way to the 'screening room'. It was dark, but we could see something at the center hanging down from above, like it was looking down at us.

Pre-Battle

Speaker		Dialogue
Location: Screening Room
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	It’s too dark to see… What is that?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	It’s been stopped for a moment because of the commotion, right?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Yes, as intruders might come up… so Director Alfonso has ordered to halt the operation for the moment…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	No, no, that just won’t do. The losses caused in that brief moment will be tremendous, Samjo.
	Sinner #9 RODION	Scratch that… What IS that thing?!
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Ah, you see… This thing cries in our stead.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	So I always look at it with gratitude and pity.
	??? ???	I see now… That’s what Ran told me about.
The voice of a person we’ve been desperately looking for was heard.
Its source was right in front of us.
Some kind of translucent veil seemed to drop as she rose…
And Dongbaek was looking at us.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Ahh~ I’ve been wondering how, and now I know the answer.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	How our security was so easily breached, how we kept losing track of you, and how you kept vanishing…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	You had the 'veil'. Ah, it was so simple, why couldn’t I think of it sooner?
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	'Veil'? What’s that supposed to be… Gah, you buggers started talking about things only you know again, eh?
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	You might be able to live in the City alright, but you clearly aren’t cut out to be a Fixer.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	Most people will struggle to figure out or understand the source of each technology in their lives, so they give up the endeavor and simply nod along.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	Pretending to know. It’s an essential skill for making your life in the City bearable.
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	…Ahem.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	……
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	It’s an expensive Singularity-based item only famous Fixers, Wing executives, or the richest classes could afford… Even if I asked how you got it, you won’t answer me, will you?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Is what I’m seeing the truth behind regeneration ampules?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	…Yes, that’s right. The source of the ampules you’re hellbent on destroying.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	What do you… Destroy?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Let me ask you a question: Don’t you know how many lives these ampules can save?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	These regeneration ampules don’t simply regenerate the body.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	These tears can kill as easily as they can save.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Hah… Are you trying to suggest that these tears kill people?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	I have nothing more to say to you if you won’t believe me even after seeing it happen several times already.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Fine then, will you concede if I prove their safety by walking into this pool?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	What?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Don’t slander Mr. Dongrang with your baseless claims. Countless people have recovered from life-threatening conditions thanks to this technology.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	I’ve been injected with it once myself.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	My neck broke while diving, but the regeneration ampule helped me recover from the brink of death. It was one of the reasons I applied for K Corp. as soon as I became an adult, but that’s not the point here.
	Sinner #9 RODION	W-What are you doing, Mr. Samjo?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	My childhood dream was to be a competitive swimmer in the Nest. I can dive from this height no problem.
	Sinner #9 RODION	I thought it was being a baseball star…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Haha, you’re overdoing it again, Samjo. You don’t have to go through the trouble. It’s okay, so just stay here.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	It’s no trouble at all. You worked on the ampule yourself.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	Mr. Dongrang, Director Alfonso… and countless other researchers worked for years to perfect K Corp’s regeneration ampules.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	I could only be here because I trust this technology. I’m proud of it.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Samjo	I’ll be back in a minute.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	…Wait, Samjo?
Samjo took his glasses off and jumped into the vat containing the tears.
Small bubbles rose from where he dove, but a few seconds later, no sound could be heard from the vat.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Ah…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Oh dear, what a bother. Samjo never knew about the unrefined tears.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	We won’t be able to salvage his body. Still… It’s fortunate that he remained proud of us until the end.
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	…What did you just say?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Mr. Samjo’s was a case of success from a humble upbringing. I like that sort of person.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Fellows who are hired by Wings even though their qualifications are far below the Wings’ requirements tend to be loyal to their employers.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	What? Wasn’t he a Nest-born…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Right, you do know that being from the Nest doesn’t grant you a free pass to the Wings, right?
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	……
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	What’s happening? Why isn’t Mr. Samjo coming back?
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	What does the unprocessed liquid do, Dongrang?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	The tears’ function is to revert things to how they were originally.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	The regeneration ampules available now are a product of numerous refining processes.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	When a person who has lost an arm takes the ampule, they’ll remember having the arm as its original state.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	When someone with a dent in the head takes the ampule, their head will be restored to the shape they remember to be how it originally was.
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	What about those people in the Lobotomy branch… who died like bugs…
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	They were all under a trance, so to speak.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	By repeatedly playing the voice that says 'you are a bug' in a sealed, otherwise silent room… the image of bugs will be instilled in the subconscious.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Indeed. It becomes more effective with the step of refining and diluting it with ideas of human concepts.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	But, when a drop of tear that lacks any kind of interpretation touches someone…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	They’d be reverted all the way back… to the original form of humanity.
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	The… original form?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Or should I say it helps you go back to that state?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Although it tries… it doesn’t seem to be capable of making a person fully reach that state.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	It consequently removes pain, but, well…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	So, are you satisfied, Dongbaek? You were right, and Samjo probably turned into the original form of humanity or something like that in the vat of tears. Congratulations. Now, what do you really want?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	……
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	The Singularity. Permanently destroying it and everything related by using the concept incinerator.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Concept incinerator, huh. You’ll use it again?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	So, Dongbaek… Let’s say that you do successfully return to an age of nothingness… What comes next?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Chop trees, build huts, make clothes out of leather… Is that the kind of life you want?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Mourning the lost lives of trees and animals you’ve killed?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Look, Dongbaek… With an attitude like that… you’ll be nothing more than a primitive amateur. Are you really sure that’s what you want?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	You… always ask stupid questions, then and now.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	We decided to use vile technology as tools to get rid of their vile creators.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Thus, no one can remain in the future we envision.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	That’s why we could be free. From the obsession with survival.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Haha, what are you talking about? So you weren’t envisioning a future; you just can’t let go of the past.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	Both of you… Stop this.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	I don’t want old feuds repeating before my eyes.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Yi Sang, you look fine.
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	You say it like you're relieved. Didn’t you want him…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	You’re right. I wanted him to die.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	But I’m sure he wished for the same.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	He wouldn’t resist while it dug into his heart.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	It was unpleasant. It felt like I was granting your wish.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	……
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	Seems to me both of you got a few screws loose. You think pushing someone off a cliff can be justified because that person was hesitating?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Hesi— Haah, why don’t we hear it from the person himself, then?
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	…I have no words to say.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	This conversation is over, then.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	I’m frankly glad it is.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	I’ll take this opportunity to kill two of my old companions with my own hands.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Then I‘ll seize and burn the Singularity.

4-48: Bud

Past bonds thought to be severed have met again; Dongbaek showed obsessive determination to reclaim the Singularity.

Pre-Battle

Speaker		Dialogue
Location: Screening Room
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Kaff… Koff…
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	Hemoptysis. An optimistic sign.
	Sinner #2 FAUST	Even with the repeated training with Qliphoth deterrence, abuse of E.G.O will still push the user’s body to the limit.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Will you return the Golden Bough now, Dongbaek?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	I was supposed to hand it over to my guests over here, signed in some complicated contract with several stamps… So I can’t go back on my words here.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Proudly… boasting your… ignorance… still…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	And you are weak. Still.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Even with the E.G.O from Lobotomy Corp, this was below my expectations, Dongbaek.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Besides… I haven’t even introduced you to the technology I developed. I know, why don’t we hold our first conference in a while?
	K Corp. Announcer	The daily audiovisual feed has been sent.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	So, tell me, Dongbaek…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	How bigger can your despair grow?
	Nest K Running Civilian	Ahhhhh!! Help me!!!
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	What’s up with this sound?
	Sinner #13 GREGOR	Is that the footage those drones filmed while we were fighting the Abnormality on the street…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	I read the threat you sent, Dongbaek. Said you’ll release an Abnormality on the streets if I don’t speak about the Singularity.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	I know you were always fond of radical events… But I didn’t’think you'd actually do it.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Of course… It produced a lot more tears. All thanks to you.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	No… I wasn’t planning to release it. It escaped. You ignored my warning…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	If I responded there, that’d mean admitting that our lab had been experimenting on Abnormalities arbitrarily.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Thank goodness our contractors happened to be near the Nest when it happened.
	Sinner #8 ISHMAEL	So it was all part of your plan to have us run into the breached Abnormality?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	It was closer to an experiment than a plan. The possibility of failure was kept in mind, but I had evidence to trust that you’d make it through.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	I’ve been keeping an eye on your for longer than you might think.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	I told you, didn’t I?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	I’m a fan of yours.
	Nagel und Hammer Kromer	No, Sinclair! It’s always been the other way around… I am the one who grips…!
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	How is this… I don’t think I want to watch…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	We generated record tears that time as well. It played a significant part in securing the award, I might add.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	The employees of a certain department in N Corp. weren’t the best people to talk with, but I was able to procure fresh audiovisual feed thanks to them.
	Sinner #9 RODION	That means… the reason N Corp. could get away with such cruelties in a residential area in Nest K was…
	Sinner #5 MEURSAULT	This is what the deal entailed.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	I think I remember a certain fellow saying this: while Brother Young-ji's 'glass window' was innovative, it was simply too vast to freely wield, especially for a coarse man like me.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	……
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Ah, Dongbaek. Was it you?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	What is… Are you…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	There just were never enough tears.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	I mean, look around you, and see how many people are suffering here.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	So they’ll be doing the crying for us.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	With no time to shut their eyes.
	League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	I only made minor modifications to Brother Young-ji’s work.
	League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	I wanted to show a reflection of any possibility in its unvarnished image.
	League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	That is why I am considering the name for it:
	League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	'Mirror'.
	League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	I wish that this will serve as a tool of entertainment… giving us more joy.
	League of Nine Littérateurs Dongbaek	Is this why I haven't been able to see you lately? To discover this?
	League of Nine Littérateurs Dongbaek	Dongrang, why are you laughing like that?
	League of Nine Littérateurs Dongrang	It’s just funny that you’re talking so ferociously when your eyes are full of curious twinkles.
	League of Nine Littérateurs Dongbaek	Yi Sang, will you tell him to shut it?
	League of Nine Littérateurs Dongrang	Why don’t you hide your astonishment of a child who’s tried ice cream for the first time on your face first?
Mouths unable to hold laughter.
Exclamations of amazeness.
Smiles at each other.
Eyes glowing brighter than stars.
Everyone there felt… pure joy.
I only wished that all this…
Would remain a simple recreation.
	??? ???	Be quiet.
	??? ???	You will simply… live on as you are. As if you know nothing.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	The glass window… wasn’t made for this kind of wicked degeneracy…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	We’re having an important moment. Please mind your language.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	And I know what you’re saying. Brother Young-ji would have scolded me for this.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Ah, but did you know, though? We’re no longer in the time when we used to cheer over toy-like inventions. The applause won’t be as loud with how few of us that remain now.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	……
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	You’re just struggling to let go. Isn’t that right?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	You give your grand speeches about the evil of technology… But that’s no more than a pretext you made up on the way as a means to garner support. To reach your true goal.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	You claim to fight the vile technology, but you yourself are being plenty vile.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	When your group took over the Lobotomy branch facility where I just happened to be conducting my research…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	You probably told your followers that it was to investigate the Singularity, but in reality, you figured out that you could find pieces of technology you could use as weapons, didn’t you? Like E.G.O.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	I wonder who gave you all that precious information. Shrenne couldn’t have known that. How about a game of twenty questions, will you tell me that way?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Don’t talk like you know everything. That attitude of yours…always annoyed me…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Haha, then let me act like I know about just one more thing.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	When we peeked through Brother Young-ji’s glass window… and when we got a glimpse of worlds reflected in Yi Sang’s mirror…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	We felt the euphoria and schism we would never be able to recover from.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	……
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Since the moment the glass window was made…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	All sorts of interest groups came knocking on the door.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Right… While we may think… that we left the League of our own volition…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	We all know what actually happened… We were actually just torn apart and scattered away…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	And that the reason for it came from the inside…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Dongbaek, even if you put my work in the concept incinerator, we won’t be able to go back to those innocent times. You know that, right?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Hmm… Even though you are aware… you still can't give up your obsession…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	……
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Ah, now I get it.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	If someone were to discover the incinerated technologies again…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Other nameless fellows with other dreams… would feel the same euphoria we once felt. That’s what you wanted to happen.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Since we can’t return to the past ourselves…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	You were going to recreate the past for coming generations.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Wow, what a cute and unique idea, Dongbaek.
	Sinner #11 SINCLAIR	M-Miss Dongbaek… Your body…
Dongbaek muttered into emptiness. It was as though she was talking to someone.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Yes… I’ll bury it… deep in the sand… hide them…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	For someone to find… some day…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	We… didn’t discover the technologies because we were better or had exclusive rights to…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	You may be right, I fooled everyone including myself into working for my own goals… It was… the land we tilled… that was fertile…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	That’s disheartening to hear. Are you going to discredit all our efforts that went into plowing the soil, missing out on sights of flowers?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Back then, we were naive amateurs, and the past you refuse to forget is just a fleeting moment seen through rose-tinted glasses.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Did your colleagues who gave their lives to the cause know this, though?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	That the cause you exclaimed was only a specious banner to lure people with. That it was as vain as a cloud on the sky.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	No… And yet… I’m finally seeing myself better now. Which is why I should plant the sprout and cover it with dirt with my own hands, isn’t that right?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	The bud has fallen… and our fruit has long since withered…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	It must be covered with dirt again… let other fruits be borne…
	Sinner #9 RODION	Hey… Is it really okay to let her be?
	Sinner #9 RODION	You know… Your mind doesn’t work right when you’re using E.G.O…
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	Now hold on… Are you doing this on purpose…? Taunt her as much as you can…
	Sinner #12 OUTIS	And wait for her to tire herself out…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	…Back to the innocent times, now without us.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Ah, innocence…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	No words are as embarrassing as that.
	Sinner #7 HEATHCLIFF	Oi, keep it together!
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	No one can shake your mind like I do, then and now. Isn’t that right?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	No, I feel like my mind is blooming wider than ever.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	I’ve always wished to be a bud, soon to burst into bloom.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Shrouded in scent all over the body…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Even if this is my own heart-wrenching path, understood by no one…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	I’ll still leave behind a morrow, strong and fertile like fallen petals.

Post-Battle

Speaker		Dialogue
Location: Screening Room
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Why don’t we look at it this way?
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Did you know that a new League of Nine has been formed in N Corp?
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	……
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	They seem to be recruiting the old members and their technologies, similar to what you tried to do.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Though, it looks like they’re trying to erase that past, rather.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	This is purely conjecture, but we’re all doomed to die at the hands of our dear fellow Gubo and be taxidermied, one after another.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	All I did was bring that predetermined death a bit earlier.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Besides… You’ve gone too far for our past friendship to forgive, Dongbaek.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Ahh~ I was looking forward to the staff dinner tomorrow, I really was.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	Come on, then… It’s time you ceased the bloom, Dongbaek.
With the Golden Bough in hand, Dongrang stabs Dongbaek without hesitation.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	But why…
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	… … …
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	……
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	I could state many reasons, but… right, let’s say this is my parting act of compassion.
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	…I knew I’d have to wilt when the time came, but…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	I… always…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Wished to be a bud… soon to bloom, bearing the scent within…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Like you, Yi Sang… How you dreamed… of flying…
	Technology Liberation Alliance Dongbaek	Like that… I just… wanted to be buried… under a piquant scent of flowers… with you all…
	K Corp. Announcer	New feed has been added.
Soon, the screen is filled with yellow petals.
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	……
	League of Nine Littérateurs Dongbaek	Thank you, Yi Sang. For showing me such a moment.
	League of Nine Littérateurs Dongbaek	I would dedicate my entire life to repay you for this favor…
	League of Nine Littérateurs Dongrang	Hey, Yi Sang, what say you to setting up a lab with me? I get the feeling every day spent with you will be a fun one.
	League of Nine Littérateurs Young-ji	Amazing, Yi Sang. Unlike me, you attempted to reflect the true image in all its uprightness.
	League of Nine Littérateurs Young-ji	The images don’t overlap… They aren’t blurry or shaky.
	League of Nine Littérateurs Gubo	Yi Sang, you’re too lax.
	League of Nine Littérateurs Gubo	Why on earth would you leave it as a plaything when it can be so much more?
	??? ???	Be still.
	??? ???	Just be still, and do nothing more than breathe.
	??? ???	For now, that’s how you must live.
	??? ???	You cannot fly.
	??? Gubo	The League has fallen apart! We have to leave this place.
	??? Gubo	Yi Sang, you will come with me.
	??? Gubo	You can close your eyes if you so wish. Since you’re too faint-hearted, I’ll see ahead in your stead.
	K Corp. Dept. of Food Resource Development Dongrang	What are you thinking?
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	……
	Sinner #1 YI SANG	Nothing.
		And the scent of the grave was in full bloom.

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