The Devil's Bargain: Lubricant and Medical Fees #016-5. Swallowing Soap Suds: The Stomach and the Three Keys
A silence descended. The bizarre noises from the floor’s mouths had finally stopped, leaving only the low, steady hum of the refrigerator motor inside the convenience store.
“Babel… the last of humanity…”
Na-bi sat dazed on the floor, repeating those words to herself. They were like some incomprehensible riddle, yet they settled heavily in a corner of her chest. She was the last survivor of a brilliant and arrogant civilization. The inability to find her kin was like a death sentence declaring that in this hell, she was the only human left.
“Huu…”
The feeling of loneliness surged through her, different from the moment the mannequins had torn into her. It was the cold terror of being left alone in this world. But she did not cry. Her tears had already been licked away by the tentacles on the floor. She staggered to her feet. The floor had returned to hard tiles, yet the sensation under her soles remained strangely warm and unpleasant.
“The golden key… and three keys…”
She had to find them. She did not know what they were or what they were for, but her instinct told her they were the only lifeline to escape this giant maw.
Na-bi moved with heavy steps toward the staff warehouse door she had tried to open earlier and failed.
-Kiiik.
The door creaked open with a rusty hinge. She held her breath and peered inside. The fear that something monstrous might be hiding in the darkness. But when she found the switch and turned on the light, what unfolded before her eyes was not a monster but a treasure.
“Ah…?”
Na-bi’s mouth fell open. The warehouse was far larger than she had expected. It easily covered twice the area of the convenience store. And filling that vast space were logistics boxes stacked all the way to the ceiling.
Water, instant ramen, canned goods, toilet paper, hygiene products… She had no idea how much time remained on the expiration dates, but the sheer quantity sleeping there could sustain her alone for decades.
“This is all…”
Na-bi stroked a box filled with water bottles with trembling hands. This was not a simple neighborhood convenience store warehouse. It felt more like a supply depot for a massive facility or a bunker’s food storage. One wall held a large water purification system, and from the faucet came a steady stream of clear water. She had no idea where the pipes led, but it was an inexhaustible spring.
And in a corner of a shelf, she found a small box. [Bandages]. She opened it. Inside were about ten white gauze bandages. It was not much, but Na-bi felt an instinct. These were not ordinary scraps of cloth. The mysterious healing power she had felt when bandaging herself earlier. The sensation of torn flesh knitting back together and pain fading. These bandages were not just a medical tool but something like a permanent recovery item that extended life.
“I can survive. At least I won’t starve to death.”
Hope bloomed, but the unbearable sticky feeling followed. Na-bi’s body was in the worst condition. Traces of filth from the mannequins’ bites, the artificial semen the creatures had ejaculated, the sticky saliva the floor’s tentacles had smeared over everything, and her own blood and sweat. Her entire body glistened as if coated in it, and the stench of rot vibrated through her.
Na-bi dashed to the household goods corner and grabbed shampoo, body wash, and conditioner as fast as she could. She ran to the washroom next to the purifier, sat down on the floor, stripped off her clothes, and turned on the water.
-Swaaaah!
Cold water cascaded from her head down. She pumped the shampoo. It was so much she felt guilty. She lathered it and scrubbed her scalp vigorously. She scratched until her scalp felt raw.
“Dirty… stinks… wash it off, please wash it off…”
She wiped her entire body with the towel and body wash. The marks of the mannequins’ fingers on her breasts, the sticky saliva that had crawled into her armpits and belly button, and even the swollen skin between her legs. The chemical floral scent began to cover the blood stench. White foam covered her body before turning into gray sludge that flowed down to the floor.
-Churrulup. Jjororur.
Na-bi startled and looked down. Before the water from the washroom drain could even flow away, the gaps in the floor tiles were sucking up the foam-mixed water. The harsh chemical components of the cleanser seemed to be a delicacy to the monster.
“Ugh…”
Na-bi shivered and pulled her feet back. The memory of almost being absorbed like that foam resurfaced. Although she had promised not to eat ‘Na-bi’—that promise was only the monster’s whim and whim. This place was not a cozy home but the stomach of a giant monster. Ironically, however, the only place with supplies and protected from the monster (the mannequins) was here.
‘Half Safety Zone. But the safest and most convenient place for me right now.’
Na-bi rinsed herself off and dried herself with a new towel from the warehouse. It felt refreshing. It was the human-like sensation she had not felt in days. The rotten smell from her skin disappeared, and the shampoo scent made her feel a little better. Her body felt lighter.
Na-bi took the staff uniform (vest) and a loose t-shirt from the warehouse and put them on. She found loose pants and wore them. There was no underwear, but the bandages wrapped tightly around her were enough.
Na-bi decided to rest for a moment and organize her thoughts.
“Think. Organize.”
Na-bi drank a glass of water from the purifier to clear her head. This convenience store was still alive. And she had the authority to open and close the doors. When she had opened the door earlier, hounds and mannequins had come in. And they had been eaten by the floor. That meant the convenience store was not a barrier blocking all entry. Anyone could enter if she opened the door. When she was inside, she had to lock the door.
“And… keys. I don’t know the shape or what they’re for.”
Na-bi’s gaze lingered on the torn map pieces jammed in the corner. The map she had picked up when she first arrived here. Centered on the Central Plaza (convenience store), several zones were marked. The most noticeable one among them was the [Comprehensive Hospital].
“Hospital…”
Na-bi’s body trembled slightly. That place where she had been dragged by the mannequins. The horrifying treatment room where the headless doctor had raped her and blown himself up. Just thinking made her crotch throb.
But her instinct spoke. One of the three keys—or the golden key that would help her escape—was definitely there. The place with the most mannequins and the most systematic facilities.
“I have to go.”
Na-bi clenched her fists. She could not hide here forever. There was plenty of food, but the floor might one day get hungry and digest her. And most importantly, she wanted to find her memories. Who she was and why she was the ‘last’.
“It’s fine. Many of them died.”
Na-bi comforted herself. When she had opened the door to lure them, dozens of mannequins and hounds had become food on the floor. Especially the nurse mannequins that had likely come from the hospital area had been absorbed in large numbers. Now the hospital was probably empty or security was lax.
Na-bi picked up a sturdy-looking hiking backpack from the corner of the warehouse. She opened the zipper and began stuffing items inside. High-calorie energy bars, meat jerky, two water bottles. And the most important [Bandages] box, disinfectant, and tweezers. Just in case, she also grabbed a cutter knife and scissors. They might not become weapons, but it was better than nothing.
The heavy weight pressed against her back as she slung the bag over her shoulder. But that weight was reassuring. She was no longer the weak prey running around naked. She would survive.
“Huu…”
Na-bi took a deep breath and left the warehouse. She crossed the store and stood in front of the glass door. Outside was still dark. But the faces of the mannequins that had been plastered against the glass like before were gone. They had either been scared or all wiped out.
-Cheong.
Na-bi unlocked the lock. Her hand trembled. She was going back to that hell again. The path she had crawled back on, bleeding, with a dildo stuck inside, desperately.
“I can do it. Because I’m… Indomitable.”
Na-bi bit her lip. She decided to trust her own ability. Tear and mend, break and fix. Pain would not become familiar, but she could endure it.
-Jiieing.
The automatic door opened. The cool, musty air of the lobby hit her. Na-bi looked at the floor once. ‘I’ll be back. Don’t eat me.’ The floor answered with silence.
Na-bi stepped out of the convenience store. Darkness rushed to swallow her. She followed the memory of the map and walked toward the corridor leading to the hospital area. Her back looked small and fragile, but her eyes burned with a fiercer light than before.
Treatment room. Rusty chair. Headless doctor corpse. Somewhere in there was my key.
Na-bi walked into the darkness again, alone. The sound of her footsteps echoed lonely in the empty lobby.
As she walked, she thought again.
What exactly had the mouths of the floor meant…? How far should she believe, and how much was truth?
The only thing she was sure of was that they had paid a price to give her that information. Na-bi decided to believe it.