# Chapter 24
Nelaim bowed his head at my question, which I had asked without expecting much. A huge burden seemed to weigh on his shoulders. I felt a bitter taste in my mouth, as if I had forced the responsibility on him.
“…I’m sorry. I should have considered this possibility.”
A look of guilt settled on Nelaim’s face. But this wasn’t his fault. Who would have thought that a superpower could cut one’s lifespan?
It was my responsibility for acquiring this ability. I should have thought about it at least once. I should have questioned the Regeneration ability that could be used without any conditions.
But I was so happy to be able to stay by the Boss’s side, so pleased to be of help to him, that I didn’t think about it.
In the end, this result was none other than my own creation.
“How long do I have left to live?”
In the midst of understanding the situation, I asked Nelaim the question I wanted to ask the most. Would I live for half a year? Would I be alive tomorrow?
I couldn’t be certain of anything. From what he said, my body could die at any moment and it wouldn’t be strange. Living for half a year would be a miracle.
Although I asked calmly, Nelaim gritted his teeth as if he couldn’t bring himself to answer this one question. As I had always thought, he was a very compassionate person.
We weren’t even close. How many people would make such a tearful expression over someone they barely knew dying?
“I’m prepared.”
“But…”
I stared directly into Nelaim’s wavering eyes. I was ready to accept whatever he might say.
“I’ll… tell you.”
Reading my determination, Nelaim clenched his fist as if steeling himself. Words finally formed from his trembling lips. It was a faint but clear voice.
“Your remaining time, Kay-nim… is at most one month.”
His voice broke off, and silence fell. For a moment, I was so stunned I forgot to breathe.
“……”
I thought I was prepared. But hearing it directly brought no small shock.
This time, I couldn’t think of it as something that had already happened. A corner of my heart ached, and memories of the past flashed by like a panorama.
Twenty-three years of life shattered indiscriminately before the time frame of one month. It’s the first time I’ve felt this sensation since then.
The feeling of falling into distant despair, which I was experiencing for the first time in 10 years, was still terrible.
My mind was growing cold, but at the same time, all sorts of emotions were burning hot like bundles of fire. It felt as if someone was squeezing my heart.
“…I see.”
I desperately suppressed those emotions. I forced my frozen lips to form a short sentence.
And so, with one month of life remaining, I received my terminal diagnosis.
* * *
When I turned my screen back on, countless notifications had accumulated. Among them were some from the Boss. But I turned off the phone again. This time, I powered it off completely before tossing it onto the bed.
With a faint vibration, silence once again filled the room. I shifted my gaze back to the wall.
From faded photographs to crisp, new ones. Many photos hung on the wall. All of them contained traces of the years gone by.
The long line of photos proved more certainly than anything else that I had been alive.
But these photos are no longer useful to me. After all, I’ll be dead soon. What good are photos to someone who’s dying? For the living, they are memories, but for the dying, they are nothing but an escape.
In my sluggish mind, the word “death” slowly embedded itself. At first, I thought things would be fine.
It can’t be helped. I have to endure and accept reality. If I do that, gradually, these complex feelings will settle down too. That’s what I thought.
It was a day later when I realized how wrong I was. One day out of my remaining month had passed.
Now I had 29 days left.
29 days. It was only after seeing that number that I could truly recognize death. I had no choice but to face death, which I had wanted so much to escape from.
The death I was forced to face was more frightening than I had thought. There was a time when I thought I didn’t care if I died. I even wanted to die.
Now, I didn’t want to let go of this life.
I wanted to live. I wanted to live this ephemeral life with him.
Even if that life wasn’t happy, even if it was filled with despair, that would be fine.
I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to leave him, who had saved me.
But no matter how much I thought about it, it was now just an unattainable dream.
Because miracles don’t exist in this world.
I would eventually die, and my death would mean nothing to the Boss.
It was obvious that I would just be remembered as one of many people, someone who had once existed.
Later, I would be forgotten even from memory.
To him, I was just a subordinate, nothing more, nothing less.
That obvious fact feels especially sad today. It was hard to breathe, as if someone was stabbing my heart. My head felt foggy, as if filled with mist.
In the midst of that, all I could do was stare at the meaningless photos.
They had been proof that I was alive, but now they were just paper that would turn to ashes if burned. They couldn’t become anything more to me.
What should I do now? Is there anything I should do? Without my ability, I’m just a useless human. The Wolf Man ability alone isn’t enough to perfectly complete missions.
The Boss kept me by his side because of my ability. Without Regeneration, I’m just a useless piece.
I didn’t know what to do during the time he didn’t need me.
Wouldn’t it be better to just disappear like this?
It was at that moment of thought. Cutting through my reverie, a bell sound rang out.
A refreshing bell sound echoed in my ears, breaking the frozen time. At the sound, my gaze automatically turned toward the entrance. There shouldn’t be anyone coming.
I dragged my lifeless body, muffling my footsteps. Frowning at the continuously ringing bell, I checked the entrance.
I wish they would just leave. I wasn’t in a state to meet anyone right now. I looked at the screen to see who had come all the way here. And I couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath.
Though slightly tangled by the wind, calm black hair, and beneath it, red eyes. The one staring calmly at the screen, with a slight frown, was none other than the Boss.
Why is the Boss here? I was too busy staring blankly at the screen to close my mouth. The thought that I should just check had long disappeared. There was no way I could ignore the fact that the Boss was in front of my house.
I could only twitch my feet, unable to figure out what to do. Then, as if reading my mind, the Boss spoke.
“Kay, you’re in there, right?”
My response was instinct before reason. My lips, which had been moving unconsciously, opened.
“……”
The mouth that was about to speak closed belatedly. Thankfully, I came to my senses; otherwise, I would have been caught. If I said I was here, the Boss would surely try to come inside.
Normally, I would have been happy that he came to see me and opened the door, but not today.
I didn’t want to meet anyone now. That included the Boss. I withdrew my hand that had been reaching for the door.
I answered his voice with silence. I wished he would just leave for today.
“If there’s no answer, I’m opening the door.”
But the Boss spoke once more, as if he had no intention of backing down. His tone was certain that I was here. With his ability, breaking down the door would be an easy task.
Whether I opened it or not, the result would be the same. As always, I had no choice but to follow the Boss’s words.
“What brings you here?”
Finally, I gently opened my stiff lips. A faint sentence was conveyed to him through the thick metal door.
I wasn’t sure if it was accurately delivered to the Boss, but the momentum that had seemed like he would break down the door at any moment subsided.
Instead, the Boss spoke to me in a slightly quicker and lower voice.
“After your report the day before yesterday, there’s been no contact. Isn’t it stranger not to come looking?”
I had nothing to say about that.
“I’m sorry.”
There was no need to make excuses; it was my fault. I was fully aware of it. I had planned to visit when I calmed down, but I didn’t know it would last this long.
After I immediately admitted my mistake, I heard a small sigh from him.
“If you’re sorry, then open the door.”
“I can’t do that.”
There was no way I could. My body was trembling just from hearing the Boss’s voice. If I saw him, I was certain I wouldn’t be able to control my emotions.
Moreover, right now the Wolf Man’s tail and ears had popped out. I couldn’t show this appearance that clearly revealed my collapsed mental state.
“…Kay, it’s an order. Open the door.”
But even such a wish of mine was nothing more than useless in the face of his command. After all, there was no right to refuse the Boss’s orders.
“Could you wait for a moment?”
All I could do was buy as much time as possible.
“Five minutes. I can’t wait any longer than that.”
Fortunately, the Boss gave me a little time. Five minutes. Not a very long time, but I had to completely package up my emotions within that time.
There was no way the Boss would give me more time than that.
I concentrated. I pushed all the bundles of emotions into a corner and continued to brainwash myself that I was fine.
My mind, which had been staying in the endless deep sea, was gradually being pulled up. As my mind came above the surface, my head started to clear.
With my calmly settled mind, the tail and ears disappeared. But this was just a temporary measure that could break at any moment.
My current mental state was no different from having a thin glass patched over it. How long this state would hold up depended on time.
Still, I was fortunate to be able to show the Boss my usual appearance. It would be okay if I finished as quickly as possible.
