Settlement (2)

Whirring—the red light blinked, and the cold metal rod extended once more. Yoo Se-rin squeezed her eyes shut. There wasn't anything as useful as what Lee Kanghyeok had used! Still, she'd trusted that brainiac Han Yujin and stayed put, but the anxiety was unavoidable.

"Whoa."

An insanely low charge! Seeing it at a quarter of Lee Kanghyeok's, Yoo Se-rin let out a sigh of relief. Wait. Did that mean her own value was only half of half of Lee Kanghyeok's? She nearly shed a tear but held it back admirably.

Of course. A low charge didn't mean it wouldn't take some random body part. Having stuck by Han Yujin's side through this whole horror story, Yoo Se-rin had learned one key thing: horrors couldn't be understood with human common sense! And when death loomed, her brain spun ten times faster ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than usual.

"Ch-charge! I'll pay with something else! Confidential Unique Company info! About this logistics center! Top-secret level!"

Yoo Se-rin was gambling. Memories and info stored in the brain had to have value. But it wouldn't accept just any info, so why not something about this horror story!

The scanner's red light paused briefly. Watching from the side, Lee Kanghyeok's brow furrowed slightly.

A thin beam shot from the scanner's end, sweeping across Yoo Se-rin's forehead. Her body shuddered, and her eyes briefly lost focus.

"Hah… haa…"

Yoo Se-rin's legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor. Pure relief at surviving flooded her.

"Foolish stunt."

Lee Kanghyeok clicked his tongue, but Yoo Se-rin just laughed with her head pressed to the ground. Getting chewed out at the company was one thing—surviving came first! Han Yujin's sharp eyes narrowed at the sight.

Info counts as payment, huh.

Since it's stored in the brain, it worked? Han Yujin reached the same conclusion as Yoo Se-rin. Truth be told, when it came to petty tricks, their levels were about equal.

She's a total sycophant, alright. But that quick thinking means she's useful somewhere.

Han Yujin's evaluation of Yoo Se-rin plummeted, then bounced ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right back.

Meanwhile, the next turn proceeded smoothly.

Kruru didn't complicate things like Lee Kanghyeok or Yoo Se-rin. She just boldly stood before the scanner, her legs trembling a bit.

Whirring—the red light swept over Kruru. Then, the system seemed to hit an immediate error.

"Nyang?!"

As Kruru panicked and tried to back away, a red laser targeted one of her tentacles—visible only to Han Yujin's eyes.

—Crunch!

With a sharp cutting sound, one of Kruru's tentacles was neatly severed. Black smoke, not blood, rose from the stump.

"Kyaayaaang!"

Kruru screamed and rolled on the floor. Yoo Se-rin and the mother stared in confusion. To them, it just looked like Kruru overreacting after a single strand of hair was cut.

"Quiet down. You aren't even hurt."

Han Yujin nudged Kruru's butt with her foot.

"It hurts! A sacred part of this body was severed!"

"If you make it that obvious, Lee Kanghyeok might get suspicious."

"Th-that can't happen! This body isn't hurt!"

Han Yujin stroked Kruru's head like one would a cat. Hmm, this is healing for me too? She savored the soft fur for a moment.

Now it was Han Yujin's turn.

Truth be told, from the moment I'd first encountered this reception desk horror, one thought had dominated my mind.

Let's scam our way out.

Starting observations from the horror's lowest level had let me roughly grasp how it operated. Once loaded onto the conveyor as cargo, I was confident I could handle whatever came next. So, my focus was singular: the charge collection. Scam, cheat, whatever—just minimize the charge here. That would exponentially boost survival odds, and I'd deal with later problems as they arose.

That was why I'd listed a single strand of hair as the item on the delivery note. Keeping the overall category while specifying far less than a full body would surely appraise cheaper.

But.

Seeing it demand over ten times Lee Kanghyeok's charge, I blurted out without thinking.

"…107?"

No way. Does this even make sense? Lee Kanghyeok only lost a finger segment at 7.777. What the hell was 107 supposed to take? I couldn't even argue—the opponent was just a slot embedded in the wall.

"You… what the hell are you?"

Lee Kanghyeok's question made my temper flare unintentionally.

"……."

I ignored him, but honestly, I was curious too. What the fuck did these crazy anomalies think I was?

Whirring—the red light blinked, and the scanner approached. It creepily swept down my body, then stopped at my forearm.

The tattoo-like stamp the employee anomaly had given me.

Honestly, I hadn't planned to use this right now. It was an employee-only stamp, and something told me using it would turn me into an employee of this horror story! I'd rather pay and sleep easy.

But at this point, it's my only hope.

Please. Please recognize it properly.

My desperate prayer must've worked.

Hearing that cold voice, all tension melted away.

"Ha. I survived."

Maybe I owed that employee anomaly who stamped me. …Well, now that I thought about it, if my high appraised value led to the steep charge, the actual body part taken might've been similar to or even less than Lee Kanghyeok's. Whatever—good was good.

As I rationalized it, Yoo Se-rin rushed over in a fuss.

"Wh-what was that just now…?"

"Charge discount."

"N-no, I mean. Why employee?"

"Probably this?"

I waved my arm in front of Yoo Se-rin's eyes, and hers followed the stamp back and forth. Watching, Lee Kanghyeok twisted his scarred face.

"You… you even planned for something like this?"

"……?"

"I was curious about your confidence when you boldly declared we'd scam our way out. But to account for exceptions too… The strategy team would be shocked. That's team leader material in one go. No—please, displace that crazy bitch and become team leader."

Wait, what the hell is this guy saying? Even a genius like me couldn't predict something like this. It was pure luck that the anomaly took a liking to me. Of course, I couldn't say that, so Lee Kanghyeok's misconception only deepened.

"…You're exploiting the horror story's system itself. Impressive. With you, field team survival rates would skyrocket."

His eyes gleamed like he wanted to drag me off right then. I waved my hands frantically.

"Hey, it's just a misunderstanding?"

"How much salary do you want?"

"No."

"I'll negotiate top treatment when we get back to the company."

Hey, your company is dying to kidnap me, you know? …Spouting that naively might make him snatch me up on the spot. So I just turned away silently.

Right on cue, the machine's cold voice rang out.

All eyes turned to one spot. The last in line. The mother.

…Scared?

Her steps toward the slot trembled. But seeing her face proved me wrong. Pure ecstasy at finally arriving here, and grim resolve to end it all. That's all that filled her expression.

The mother's hand dipped into her bosom. It no longer shook. One was [Delivery]. The other, [Pickup].

She shoved both delivery notes into the slot simultaneously.

"I… request two services at once."

Silence fell. Lee Kanghyeok paused mid-bandage.

The machine announced the next step emotionlessly.

The mother drew a deep breath from the depths of her lungs.

"…A person."

Lee Kanghyeok's scarred face twisted. Yoo Se-rin gasped. I just watched her.

The mother recited into the void like a prayer memorized for two years, each word deliberate.

"Human. 21-year-old female."

Her voice was precise, emotionless, mechanical. Yet so human, like endless rehearsals.

"Long black hair. Height 156 centimeters. Slender build. Cat-like eyes."

One word. One word. Immaculately clean.

"Missing… for 2 years."

Finally, her voice cracked. Pent-up despair seeped through the fissure.

"Name… Kim Sia."

Longing. Despair. The very reason she'd endured. An unmistakable name.

"…My daughter."

The reason she'd walked into this hellish horror story on her own two feet. Why she'd been so desperate to reach the first-floor logistics reception. Now all the pieces fell into place.

Rattle. Rattle. Only the machine's whirring filled the space.

Everyone held their breath, waiting.

Hot tears burst from the mother's eyes.