- 42 minutes ago
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00This was the 33rd time I filed to end my bond with my wolf partner, Arthur.
00:05Everyone knew what would happen next.
00:06I beg him not to divorce, because I always did.
00:10But this time, I had already bought a one-way ticket, determined to leave.
00:14The harsh, pale light glared down on the form, making my eyes ache.
00:18He sat next to me, not even sparing me a glass, as he grabbed the pen and signed his name.
00:24Without hesitation, he stood up and was going to leave.
00:27Then he stopped.
00:29Five days.
00:30Withdraw it yourself.
00:31I looked up at the clerk.
00:32Same look.
00:33Nothing had changed.
00:34Well, Ms. Pererit, when do you plan to withdraw your application this time?
00:38Yes, withdraw it.
00:39They were certain I would do what I did the last 32 times, run home crying before the five-day
00:43cooling-off period ended, begging him to stay.
00:46After all, under today's laws, low-tier humans always have to flatter high-rank beastmen.
00:51But I didn't cry.
00:52I looked at the one-way flight confirmation on my phone.
00:55This is the last time, Arthur.
00:57I will be back in five days to collect the official dissolution certificate.
01:02Three years ago, when I first met Arthur at the administration, he was completely out of control due to post
01:08-war pheromone disorder.
01:09He bit anyone he saw and shut everyone out.
01:11But when he saw me walking towards him, he quietly retracted his claws.
01:15The wild glint left his blue eyes, leaving only vulnerability and tenderness.
01:19Like a pup who had finally found a home, he gently nudged his nose into my hand to please me.
01:24When he buried his giant, fluffy head in my palm and whippered softly, my damn sympathy and desire to save
01:30him exploded.
01:30I thought that by choosing me as his mate, he accepted me from the bottom of his heart.
01:34I took him home, and he gradually calmed down.
01:37But on full moon nights, he would transform into a giant silver wolf, tearing the apartment apart.
01:42To stop him from hurting himself, I ignored his wild claws and fangs, throwing myself onto him, letting blood soak
01:48my shoulders.
01:49I caressed his back over and over, until he quieted down in my arms.
01:54The first time he hurt me, he would cry, apologize, and harm himself.
01:59But after repeated hurt and guilt, he became arrogant, as if my wounds were only natural.
02:04I looked at my wrist, where several claw scars remained.
02:07I thought these were medals of my love for him, but now they seemed like the most ridiculous shame.
02:11Returning to the apartment once called home, Arthur's pheromones still lingered in the air.
02:15I stared at his expensive custom leather shoes at the entrance, then at my own flat shoes with worn-out
02:19soles, suddenly feeling sick.
02:21To care for him, I took out a huge loan, eating cheap near-expire bread every day,
02:26saving every penny to buy him top-grade canned food and fur oil exclusive to high-rank beastmen.
02:31Looking back, did I decide to keep him just out of sympathy?
02:34Maybe there was also a bit of hidden vanity.
02:36A high-rank silver wolf showing his most vulnerable side only to new, relying on me alone.
02:41That feeling of I am special was addictive.
02:43I thought I was saving him, but I was also proving my worth through him.
02:47I believed it.
02:47I thought he was learning to love me.
02:49Later, his wildness was cured, his fur shining like moonlight.
02:52But I didn't get a happy ending.
02:54Instead, I became the prey in his emotional game, and Arthur became the master of this bond.
02:58Canalus, only you can make me calm.
03:00You are my only home.
03:05Since you can't even handle a simple thing like this, let's just dissolve our bond.
03:09Since then, dissolving the bond became the whip he used to tame me.
03:12I remember the first time he proposed, it was simply because I worked late and missed
03:16his bedtime brushing.
03:17I was terrified.
03:18I gave up the promotion I had worked so hard for, knelt on the floor crying, and begged
03:22him not to leave.
03:23As I wept, trembling with every breath, I saw no pity in his eyes.
03:26Through my blurry tears, I only saw a satisfied, arrogant smirk on his lips.
03:29After that, dissolution became his go-to leverage.
03:32Wrong collar color?
03:33Dissolution.
03:33Working late and missing his bedtime brush?
03:35Dissolution.
03:35Just the night before last, his massive wolf body took up the entire bed, and he irritably
03:40swept me onto the cold floor with his tail, banishing me to the guest room.
03:44That night, shivering alone in the cold room, I found his hidden diary at the bottom of
03:48the cabinet, where his fur care products were kept.
03:50She cried today.
03:50I won.
03:51But when she cried, my pheromones started acting up again.
03:53Impossible.
03:54How could I feel bad because of her?
03:55I am a high-ranked silver wolf.
03:57That high-tier human, Eve, is richer.
03:59But Canaris' undignified worship makes me feel much more comfortable.
04:02Reading those words felt like being plunged into an ice cavern.
04:04The cruelest part wasn't that Arthur didn't love me.
04:07It was that he loved the feeling of me loving him.
04:09Looking at my sad, haggard face in the mirror, I felt my three years of devotion were nothing
04:13but a ridiculous joke.
04:17In the middle of the night, a piercing noise from the living room woke me up.
04:20Arthur had brought a few of his beast man friends home.
04:22I lay in bed.
04:23Arthur, did you propose dissolving the bond with Canaris again?
04:26Pulling the blanket up to my chin.
04:28I bet four days.
04:29She will definitely come back crying and begging you.
04:32Last time, she knelt on the second day.
04:33This time, I bet one day.
04:35My heart beat slowly.
04:36There was no anger, only a numbness from seeing through everything.
04:39The next morning, dragging my feverish body from a severe cold, I walked into the kitchen.
04:43Habitually, I took out fresh meat to heat up, but my hand paused and I silently put the
04:46meat back.
04:47I grilled a piece of chicken breast for myself and brewed some cold medicine.
04:50For the first time in three years, I made myself a decent breakfast.
04:53Arthur rubbed his messy silver hair, stumbling out of the bedroom drunk.
04:56When he saw the microwave completely empty while I was quietly eating toast, his steps
05:00halted abruptly.
05:01He thought that by playing this hard-to-get game, I would give in.
05:04Where is my breakfast?
05:05I am sick.
05:06If you are hungry, make it yourself.
05:08Stop acting pitiful, Canaris.
05:10What, do you think playing this hard-to-get game will make me withdraw the dissolution application?
05:15You are ridiculously derelict as a master.
05:17Didn't Arthur tell you?
05:19My house is being renovated, so I'm staying here for a few days.
05:23Eva moved into our home without a care in the world.
05:27Wearing a new collar, Eva bought him.
05:29Arthur threw the old collars and clothes I had scrimped and saved to buy him into the
05:34trash right in front of me.
05:36He lay lazily on her lap, letting her rub essential oils into his fur, pumpering loudly.
05:41But the tip of his tail was unconscionately tensed.
05:44When she touched his ears, he instinctively flinched and forced himself to relax.
05:49Only I knew that when he was truly relaxed, his tail would dangle completely loose.
05:53He was waiting for me to break down, waiting for me to go mad with jealousy.
05:57But I was already thoroughly disappointed in him.
05:59I had no desire to entangle myself with him further.
06:02That evening was a college class reunion.
06:04I went alone, wearing a newly bought white slip dress, only to run straight into Arthur
06:09and Eve, walking arm in arm into the private room.
06:11The room fell into a dead silence, as everyone stared at me like I was a joke.
06:15Arthur is actually with Eve now?
06:17Anyone with a brain knows how to choose.
06:19How could a low-tier human like Canales ever deserve a silver wolf?
06:23Amid the crowds egging on, Arthur transformed into a giant silver wolf.
06:27In ancient beastmen lore, a wolf's back is an absolute forbidden zone.
06:31He once told me that Spot would forever belong only to me.
06:35But now, he submissively lowered his noble head, voluntarily letting Eve mount his back.
06:40Cheers erupted in the room.
06:41Arthur turned his head, his blue wolf eyes staring dead at me in the corner.
06:45I turned and walked into the kitchen area to grab a glass of water.
06:49I sneered silently, calmly finished my water, and headed out to the hallway.
06:53You know, when I first met Arthur, I offered a million to make him my exclusive partner.
06:58He refused.
06:59So I'm really curious.
07:01What exactly do you have?
07:02You have no money, no status, and you're not even particularly good looking.
07:07I have nothing.
07:08I just loved him.
07:09Love?
07:11How much is love worth?
07:13Once I tame him, I'll prove to you that there's nothing money can't buy.
07:17Arthur, returning to his human form, chased after me and cornered me against the wall.
07:22He was absolutely infuriated by my complete lack of reaction.
07:25I looked at him and smiled softly.
07:28What kind of game are you playing?
07:29If you beg me now, I might still show some mercy and go with you to withdraw the application tomorrow.
07:36I prepared a gift for you.
07:37You'll find out very soon.
07:40The fifth day, the final day of the cooling off period, Arthur and I drove to the Beastman administration.
07:45Just as the car pulled over, his phone rang.
07:48Eve, what's wrong?
07:49You fell?
07:50He unbuckled his seatbelt without hesitation.
07:52Don't cry.
07:53I'm coming over right now.
07:54Absolutely certain I would wait for him like a loyal dog wagging my tail.
07:58Eve is in the hospital.
07:59I have to go there.
08:00You wait here until the paperwork is done.
08:01If you haven't withdrawn the application by the time I get back, you will lose me forever.
08:06Okay.
08:07I lowered my head to hide the curl of my lip.
08:09I watched him run off in a hurry until his figure vanished.
08:13Then, I turned and walked firmly into the administration.
08:18You finally came to your senses.
08:20A few minutes later, I received the certificate stamped with the red seal.
08:24I had finally, officially dissolved my bond with him.
08:27Arthur tried to call my phone frantically, but I hung up immediately and threw the phone into the sewer.
08:32A few hours later, after basking in Eve's flattery at the hospital, Arthur returned to the apartment.
08:37Canaries, I'm back.
08:38I brought you a gift.
08:39He pushed the door open, but his smile froze instantly.
08:42There was no dinner ready.
08:43My old shoes at the entrance were gone, and the closet was half empty.
08:46The air had been completely stripped of my scent, wiped clean by deodorant.
08:49A suffocating panic seized him.
08:53This is the 33rd time, Arthur.
08:55And the last time.
08:56Wish you freedom.
08:58Inside the velvet box on the coffee table, I lay the dissolution of partnership certificates stamped with the crimson seal.
09:03No.
09:04Without my permission, you can't even think of leaving me!
09:07Right next to the worn comb I had used for three years, there was no scent of what had left
09:11of the room.
09:11Not a single trace.
09:15The wind in Canada was even more biting than I had imagined.
09:19As I dragged my single suitcase out of the Toronto airport, the sub-zero wind slashed my cheeks like blades.
09:25Yet, I took a greedy, deep breath, feeling it was the cleanest, most liberating air I had breathed in three
09:31years.
09:31Passing by the luxury duty-free shops at the airport, my eyes lingered for a second on those expensive Beastman
09:37fur care products.
09:38Before, more than half of my monthly salary was spent on those bottles and jars, just to keep Arthur's silver
09:43-gray fur shining.
09:44But I turned my head, walked into the human clothing store next door, and used the last bit of money
09:49in my account to buy myself a thick, warm cashmere coat.
09:52Wrapping it tightly around me, I felt a long-lost sense of security.
09:56It turned out that not spending money and energy on an endless abyss was such a warm thing.
10:01On the first night of the full moon, I woke up with a start at three in the morning.
10:05For three years, I had never slept peefully on full moon nights.
10:08My body had formed a reflex.
10:10I sat up a muddily, reflexively reaching out to feel beside me it was empty.
10:13For a split second, I panicked, even wanting to call him to ask how he was and if he had
10:18hurt anyone.
10:19But looking at the unfamiliar snow outside, I suddenly realized how he was had nothing to do with me anymore.
10:25I laid back down and stared at the ceiling until dawn.
10:28It was my withdrawal phase, but I survived it.
10:30The next day, I successfully joined the world's leading beastman research institute.
10:35For the past three years, I had lived like a nanny with no dignity.
10:39Now, I just wanted to focus on my research.
10:41I didn't need a new shackle to prove my worth in this world.
10:44Ms. Parabad, the system shows that you have just dissolved a high-rank bond.
10:49If you need, we can remap you with a gentle, low-tier beastman.
10:53Thank you, but I don't need it.
10:55I made the same choice back then.
10:58I poured all my energy into the institute's core project, Beastman Mania Acoustic Soothing.
11:03I didn't actively seek news about Arthur, but his farce was so ridiculous that it actually reached the other side
11:08of the ocean.
11:08That late night, while I was checking data in the library, my old phone, whose social eclipse had long been
11:14deactivated, suddenly received a cross-counter voice message from an unknown number.
11:39I leaned back in my chair and listened quietly to his charity.
11:42He actually thought my independence and new life were meant to attract his attention?
11:46Did he believe I wasn't bonding with a new beastman, just to stay celibate for him?
11:50I picked up the hot coffee on the desk and took a small sip.
11:53The deep bitterness was followed by a rich sweetness.
11:56I didn't even have the energy to be angry.
11:57I just found him like a clown lost in his own script.
12:00With a gentle tap of my finger, I hit delete permanent lint and block.
12:05He would never understand that when a woman is completely done, even hating him feels like a waste of time.
12:12The very next day after I deleted Arthur's message, my college roommate, Anna, sent me a private video that was
12:17spreading like wildfire in high society.
12:19Canales, you have to watch this.
12:21Eve is a complete lunatic, and Arthur is finally getting his karma.
12:25I opened the video.
12:26The footage seemed to be from some socialite gathering set against the backdrop of Eve's luxurious villa.
12:31In the dead center of the living room stood a massive, diamond-encrusted, solid gold dog cage.
12:35And that high-ranked silver wolf, who used to be so insulphrably arrogant and would throw a massive fit if
12:41the collar I bought him was even slightly rough, was locked inside that cage right now.
12:45For a brief second in the video, when Eve looked at Arthur in the cage, the smile slipped from her
12:49face for a moment before she instantly masked it with her boastful expression.
12:53Arthur was forced to maintain his half-beast form inside the cage.
12:55A heavy diamond collar was chained around his neck, and his once-sleek silver-gray fur was now dull and
13:00even tangled in places.
13:02His blue eyes were filled with humiliation and fury, but under the suppression of the high-tier human's shock collar,
13:07he could only let out suppressed, low growls.
13:10Let me show everyone my newly-bought rare luxury.
13:13See that? A high-ranked silver wolf, my new pet.
13:16As I watched the screen, not even a single ripple stirred in my heart.
13:20It turned out that once the filter of love was stripped away, he was nothing more than a beast that
13:25could be clearly priced by others.
13:27Are you okay? Do you want me to fly over and keep you company?
13:30I'm fine, Anna, my best friend. Thank goodness you're here.
13:34The latter half of the video made me see the true face of this so-called mutual attraction even more
13:40clearly.
13:40Before, on full moon nights, no matter how tired I was, I would rush forward to hold him tightly.
13:45Even when his wild claws scratched me until I bled, I would hum soothing melodies in his ear over and
13:51over until he calmed down.
13:53But Eve in the video, instead of stepping forward to hug him, wore a mask and hid fearfully behind a
13:59blast-proof glass door.
14:00She coldly pressed a switch, and several cold mechanical tubes instantly extended into the cage, brutally piercing Arthur's nape, the
14:08most vulnerable spot of a beastman.
14:09Under the intense pain of the machine's forced extraction, Arthur convulsed and rolled around in the cage.
14:15A silver wolf's rantaging pheromones are hot items on the black market, selling for a hundred thousand a milliliter.
14:22Extract it. Don't let it go to waste.
14:25His eyes stared dead at the camera, his gaze exploding with despair and regret.
14:30I shut off the video.
14:31He didn't understand that the affection of high-tier humans comes with extremely harsh conditions.
14:36Eve liked a clean-furred pet she could bring out to show off.
14:40She would never hug a wild, craziest monster who did nothing but demand emotional value.
14:46The winter sunlight filtered through the blinds of the Institute's changing room, casting dappled shadows on the floor.
14:52I took off my lab coat and changed into a white professional suit specially tailored for today's international exhibition.
14:57I lowered my head to adjust my cuffs, my eyes accidentally landing on the extremely faint, old scratch marks on
15:03my left wrist.
15:04That was left by Arthur when he ran wild during the second winter.
15:07Back then, I had to watch his every expression carefully just to breathe.
15:10But now, as my fingers gently brushed over those long, painful scars, there was only peace in my heart.
15:17I hadn't dreamed of him in a long time.
15:20He was like a dried specimen, completely stripped from my vivid life.
15:24I heard Eve is under investigation for illegal extraction of high-ranked pheromones, and Arthur got dragged into it.
15:30Now he's a fugitive stray beastman, wanted by the administration.
15:33I heard Eve's dad went bankrupt, and her family is drowning in debt.
15:37She extracted pheromones to sell, not just for fun, but because she was desperate for money.
15:41She took all of Arthur's money and ran.
15:43Probably had no choice.
15:46The exhibition hall was packed to capacity, with hundreds of global medical elites and high-ranked beastmen representatives sitting below.
15:52My high heels clicked sharply and firmly on the wooden stage.
15:56I walked to the microphone in the spotlight, and swept my gaze calmly across the room.
16:00No one in the audience knew how this specific acoustic frequency, which could perfectly soothe post-war beastmen mania, actually
16:06came to be.
16:06It was a melody I had hummed disparately in Arthur's ear, during countless red-eyed nights over the past three
16:12years,
16:13weeping while enduring the pain of being cut by his claws.
16:15I once shattered my dignity and ground it into dust, just to buy him a brief moment of peace.
16:21But destiny is a strange thing.
16:23That past, which was once too painful to look back on, had now become the cornerstone of my breakthrough in
16:30this world-class beastman problem.
16:31I refined the humility I once used to please him into a scientific achievement that saves countless retired beastmen.
16:39I condensed the blood and tears I shed into the most indestructible armor draped over my shoulders at this very
16:46moment.
16:46Today, on behalf of the Institute, I present to you our latest breakthrough, the synthetic soothing acoustic device.
16:55Next, we will proceed with a live testing.
17:00Just as the staff were about to push the high-ranked beast for testing onto the stage,
17:04the heavy doors of the exhibition hall burst open with a loud bang, kicked open brutally from the outside.
17:09A wave of wind with mud and a sickeningly sur, rotten over, rushed into the warm hall.
17:14I frowned slightly, looking past the crowd toward the door.
17:17It was Arthur. I could barely recognize him.
17:19The once sleek silver wolf, whose fur used to gleam like noble moonlight, was now as emaciated as a skeleton.
17:24His cheeks were deeply sunken, sickling dark circles hung under his eyes, and his silver hair was as messy as
17:30dry weeds.
17:34Yet, he still wore a high-fashion suit, whose original color was long lost, stiffening his neck as he tried
17:40to use his residual high-ranked pressure to repel the security guards surrounding him.
17:44If this were half a year ago, seeing him like this would probably have made me burst into tears of
17:50pity.
17:50Sir, please leave immediately. This is a private launch.
17:54But now, my heart beat steadily in my chest.
17:57The scent of cedar that once obsessed me turned out to be so pungent after rotting.
18:04Ignoring the bewildered stares of the entire audience, he dragged his limping leg and strode up the red carpet toward
18:09the stage.
18:10His bloodshot blue eyes locked onto me with the madness of a drowning man grasping at a floating log and
18:16an utterly ridiculous, self-diluting arrogance.
18:18I could smell not just the rot on him, but also the scent of cheap pheromone suppressants.
18:23He had been forcing himself to endure with drugs. His body had long collapsed.
18:27I stood on the stage, looking down at him. I found it pathetic.
18:32This man had spent his entire life living in the illusion of being deeply loved.
18:36He would rather believe I was playing hard to get than admit that I had already discarded him like trash.
18:41Canalis, have you had enough of this tantrum?
18:44You don't have to pretend you're doing so well on your own anymore.
18:47I know your willfulness over the past six months, and your useless research are all just to make me angry.
18:52I am here to take you home.
18:54As long as you personally put this on me, I will forgive all your past mistakes.
19:00I ignored Arthur's affectionate performance.
19:03However, at that exact moment, an accident happened.
19:05Miss Perriot, does the test need to be aborted?
19:09Ignore him. Open the cage.
19:10Triggered by the highly unstable collapsing manic pheromones emitting from Arthur,
19:14the high-ranked test beast in the backstage cage, a mutated saber-toothed tiger, suddenly let out a painful roar.
19:19The steel bars were burst open.
19:21The saber-toothed tiger, hearing a terrifying stetson, leaped across half the hall and lunged frantically at me on the
19:27stage.
19:27The entire hall instantly erupted into screams and chaos.
19:30Canalys, don't be afraid! I'm here to save you!
19:35But I didn't retreat, let alone scream.
19:38Facing the mutated saber-toothed tiger so close that its fongs almost grazed my nose, I didn't even blink.
19:43My heart was incredibly cloned.
19:45Arthur thought I was a vine that had to cling to him, that I would wither without him.
19:48He had no idea that during these six months, I had tempered myself into a cold steel blade for the
19:53wind and snow.
19:54I raised my hand and pressed the activation button of the synthetic soothing acoustic device with my thumb.
19:59A wave of a specific frequency instantly rippled outward.
20:02The saber-toothed tiger in mid-air shuddered violently, the murderous intent in its fierce red eyes dispersing instantly.
20:08Its massive body crashed heavily onto the floor, but it didn't launch any attack.
20:12Instead, it lay submissively by my high heels.
20:14I didn't even look down at it.
20:16I simply looked past its huge body and cast my gaze toward the audience below.
20:22Arthur froze mid-air in his ridiculous semi-beast stance, his action of pwning dead in its tracks.
20:26The hand holding the collar shook violently, his eyes staring dead at me as if he were looking at some
20:31monster that defied the laws of the universe.
20:33He finally realized in despair that Canalys, who would hide in his arms and cry whenever she encountered danger, was
20:37truly dead.
20:38The current name was strong, calm, and independent.
20:41I didn't need his protection, much less his sickeningly cheap charity.
20:45The arrogant mask he had desperately clung to cracked piece by piece on his face.
20:49I picked up the microphone and looked into his eyes.
20:51Security, please escort this stray dog who has lost his mind and is barking everywhere due to his mating season
20:56out of here.
20:57Don't let this stray dog dirty the Institute's carpet and disrupt my work.
21:01There was no anger, no mockery, only an extreme suffocating coldness.
21:09Arthur was roughly pinned behind his back by several heavily armed security guards and dragged toward the exit like a
21:14sack of smelly garbage.
21:15That custom collar, which could leash me again, fell heavily onto the hard marble floor and shattered to pieces.
21:20He struggled frantically, his nails scratching bloodstains on the floor, letting out a despairing, hair-raising, miserable shriek.
21:26I didn't spare him another glance.
21:28I turned around, smiled slightly at the startled experts in the audience, and resused my slide presentation.
21:33The heavy doors of the hall shut with a thud, completely cutting off Arthur's gut-wrenching wails.
21:37Canales, you, let me go.
21:41Canales, look at me.
21:43Just look at me once.
21:46Apologies for the fright, everyone.
21:49As you have just witnessed, this is the absolute control demonstrated by our acoustic device.
21:55Now, let us return to our presentation.
21:58Once, if he even slightly knit his brows, my world would crumble.
22:02Canales!
22:03But now, his collapse, his despair, and his hypocritical affection weren't even as important as the slides page I needed
22:09to turn.
22:11The exhibition was a massive success, and the Institute threw a grand celebratory banquet for me.
22:16While I held my champagne and accepted congratulations from industry giants amidst the glamorous crowd, the cleaning matey walked over
22:22cautiously holding something.
22:23I lowered my head slightly, looking at the dust-covered custom collar in her hand.
22:27Before, to buy Arthur a regular leather collar he would be satisfied with, I had stood in line for four
22:32hours in Sub-Zero Wind, only for him to throw it into the trash right in front of my face,
22:36complaining about the ugly color.
22:37Research Apparel, the crazy guy who was thrown out earlier dropped this on the floor.
22:42These diamonds look very expensive.
22:44What do you think we should do with it?
22:47Ma'am, it's just a cheap dog collar, and it's already dirty.
22:50Throw it in the trash.
22:52All right, then.
22:54But now, looking at this priceless, diamond-studded collar, I smiled gently.
23:00The synthetic, soothing acoustic wave became a medical miracle that shook the globe.
23:04Countless retired, high-ranked beastmen suffering from mania were reborn because of it, and my portrait graced the covers of
23:10major scientific weeklies.
23:12Arthur, however, faced endless nightmares.
23:14He was now a wanted dog hiding in the sewers.
23:17Late one night, as I drove home after working late and waited at a red light,
23:21there happened to be an underground black clinic nearby that had imported my therapy device.
23:26What I didn't know was that Arthur had sneaked in there like a ghost that very night.
23:29His body was covered in festering pustules caused by the backlash of his wildness,
23:34holding onto the last sliver of hope in his despair, thinking he could survive as long as he secretly received
23:40my acoustic treatment.
23:42What I didn't know was that Arthur had sneaked into that clinic like a ghost that night.
23:46The hall was littered with rampaging stare beastmen.
23:49But when my sound wave played, a miracle happened, and all the violent beasts calmed down, breathing softly.
23:56Ugh! No! Why is this happening?
23:59Leaning in the corner, Arthur greedily closed his eyes, preparing to receive my long-lost, gentle comfort.
24:06But he was wrong.
24:06The moment the sound wave hit him, there was no comfort, no peace, only 10,000 arrows piercing his heart.
24:13His veins bulged, and thick black blood oozed from his ears and eyes.
24:17He rolled around in agonizing pain, screaming a hundred times worse than madness, even breaking his nails on the concrete.
24:24Scrambling and crawling out of the clinic, he collapsed by the icy sewer, vomiting a large mouthful of blood.
24:30He stared in utter despair at my smiling face on the giant screen, finally realizing a devastating truth.
24:36My sound wave could cure every beastman in the world, but to him, it was a lethal poison.
24:42A week later, a heavy snow fell in Toronto.
24:45I drove my newly bought SUV into the Research Institute's underground garage.
24:49Just as I parked, a black shadow emitting a strong smell of blood and rot slammed onto my hood.
24:55I frowned, seeing the face outside windshield that looked neither human nor ghost.
24:59It was Arthur.
25:00He was so thin he was almost a skeleton, and his once-proud silver hair was withered and tangled.
25:05Yet, he clutched the wipers tightly, staring at me inside the car with bloodshot, desperate eyes.
25:10In his other hand, he tightly gripped a familiar black notebook.
25:13I didn't get out of the car, only coldly rolling down the window just a crack.
25:17Canalys.
25:19Why does your sound wave avoid me?
25:22Did you put poison in it specifically for me?
25:25Do you hate me that much?
25:29Sitting in the warm car and looking at his agonizing state of near-death, I found it extremely laughable.
25:34I looked at him coldly, deciding to make him face reality.
25:36Arthur, I have never targeted you.
25:39The sound wave treats all beastmen equally.
25:42Do you know what the underlying logic of this technology is?
25:47It's trust resonance.
25:48That set of sound waves is the frequency I hummed for you when I loved you with all my heart
25:53for the past three years.
25:54In those thousand-plus days and nights, he voluntarily proposed dissolution 33 times.
25:59His cells, genes, and subconsciousness had long built up a resistance to my love.
26:03It cures others because their bodies crave comfort.
26:05But you, in these three years, you voluntarily proposed to dissolve our bond 33 times.
26:13Every single time you did, your body rejected me.
26:16Your cells, your genes, and your high and mighty subconscious had long formed a resistance to my love.
26:22He personally turned my soothing into his allergy.
26:25My love was once his only antidote.
26:26But now, it has become a lethal poison that causes him unbearable pain.
26:30This was his own choice.
26:31I watched the light in his eyes fade away, bit by bit.
26:34It was you who, over the past thousand-plus days and nights, personally turned my comfort into your allergen.
26:42No.
26:44That's not true.
26:47Canalus, look.
26:48I tore it up.
26:50I tore and burned all those pages where I was put on and intentionally hurt you.
26:55What's left is only what I secretly wrote about how much I love you.
27:01I surrender, Canalus.
27:03I'm exposing my whole heart to you.
27:07I never actually wanted to leave you.
27:09I was just sick.
27:11I was just too terrified of losing you.
27:14Please, accept this diary.
27:16It's the last of everything I have.
27:18Save me.
27:20Hug me like you used to, okay?
27:22Arthur broke down, shaking his head practically as he held the familiar black notebook up to the car window.
27:27That diary, which once recorded how he boastfully manipulated and humiliated me, had been torn in half.
27:32Like a madman presenting a treasure, he pressed the diary against the glass, weeping hysterically.
27:36He pressed his face against the cold window, humbled to the absolute dust.
27:45I quietly stared at the torn black diary outside the glass, seeing his blood and tears smeared on its pages.
27:51Two years ago, if I had seen him shed even a single tear, I would have held him in my
27:54arms, heartbroken.
27:55Arthur, it's too late.
27:58Take your diary and get the hell out of my sight.
28:04Canalus, don't go.
28:06Please, don't.
28:11I used to burn so desperately for his sincere heart, even for a simple I love you.
28:15But now, my heartbeat was as steady as stagnant water.
28:20I pressed the window button, and the glass rolled up mercilessly.
28:22The SUV left him behind on the ground without a trace of hesitation.
28:25He lay in the cold garage, still clutching that diary.
28:28He finally understood this most dramatic, yet unsolvable, dead end.
28:31His only way to survive was to receive my sound wave, but once he did, his body would turn this
28:35very sound wave into a lethal poison because he's passed 33 betrayals.
28:39He had personally stripped away his own right to live.
28:43Toronto welcomed a once-in-a-century blizzard.
28:45The temperature plummeted to minus 30 degrees.
28:47The entire city seemed frozen, and the streets were completely deserted.
28:51After taking a hot bath, I sat by the French window of my second-floor apartment in comfortable loungewear.
28:57But down below in the dark storm, Arthur was crawling inch by inch toward my building.
29:02He no longer had the strength to stand.
29:04His legs had completely lost sensation, his flesh and bones cracking bit by bit from the extreme wildness backlash.
29:11Yet, with his blackened, frostbitten hands, he tightly guarded that torn diary and a stolen mini-acoustic player.
29:17Crawling under the street lamp, he looked up at my window glowing with warm yellow light, and tremblingly pressed play.
29:23My once-gentle humming echoed faintly in the blizzard, and the rejection reaction instantly twisted his organs like knives,
29:29causing him to violently vomit a large mouthful of black blood.
29:33He would rather be tortured to death by the sound wave that represented my past love than turn off that
29:38player.
29:39But late-coming deep affection, who does it touch besides himself?
29:42Canalys. Beautiful. It's so beautiful.
29:48I quietly finished a warm glass of milk by the French window on the second floor.
29:52The sound from below was completely drowned up by the howling blizzard.
29:55I could only faintly see a patch of black twitching in the snow, bleeding into a layering patch of crimson.
30:01He was trying to beg for forgiveness through his death, and I watched silently, without even a nit of my
30:07brow.
30:07I didn't open the window, I didn't call the police, and I certainly didn't rush down to embrace him like
30:12I used to.
30:13I stared at that wriggling, dark shape in the snow for a long time, so long that the warm milk
30:18in my hand turned cold.
30:20I remembered a snowy night three years ago when he was rampaging and shivering in my arms, and I held
30:25him, saying over and over,
30:27it's okay, I'm here.
30:28For a split second, I felt a trace of trance, wondering if I should go down and save him one
30:33last time.
30:33But in the end, I simply pulled the curtain shut.
30:36It wasn't that I was heartless, it was because I knew that going down would mean another three years.
30:41I had no second three years to waste.
30:44The next morning, the blizzard stopped.
30:46Toronto welcomed an incredibly brilliant winter sun.
30:49The municipal snow plows blared their alarms, and the television news was broadcasting the discovery of an unidentified stray beastman's
30:56body on the outskirts of the wealthy district.
30:58The cause of death was severe wildness backlash.
31:01Strangely, the deceased was holding on to a completely dead sound wave player and a tattered, blood-stoked diary.
31:07It took the coroner a great deal of effort to pry them from the stiff hands of the deceased.
31:11At the time of death, the deceased was clutching a dead sound wave player and a blood-stained diary.
31:16A trace of surprise flashed in my eyes, but I quickly suppressed it.
31:20I quietly finished my toasted bread and drank some warm water.
31:23The weather today was exceptionally beautiful, the snow reflecting a blinding, clean radiance under the sun.
31:28I put on my elegant coat and adjusted my hair in front of the mirror.
31:32The person staring back had bright, empowered eyes.
31:36I pushed open the door and stepped into the glorious sunshine.
31:40No forgiveness, no hatred, no regrets.
31:43This three-year Farby had finally come to an absolute close on this quiet morning.
31:47My new life has just begun.
Comments