Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Whining Newbie, Teary-Eyed Superiors
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One whining newbie, two teary-eyed superiors.
All three exactly eight years old.
The situation was deteriorating smoothly.
'Damn it!'
This wasn't an explanation; it was overwhelming from the start...!
I bit my tongue in frustration, finally trying to explain the reasons for hitting "dislike and search more," but it was already too late. The two of them were on the verge of being influenced.
Tears spread fast among kids...!
"Ah, there's still time left, but you said the rule is only two days. So I thought that meant there was still safe exploration time without contamination..."
"...Right."
"Then I want to search for at least one more. There might be one we missed!"
Agent Choi's kid sniffled.
"Y-Yeah? Then maybe two more days..."
"Agent!"
Agent Bronze's kid, eyes red-rimmed, stepped forward, glared at Agent Choi, then turned to me and said firmly.
"No."
'Why not?!' I wanted to argue.
"Why not?!"
I'm going crazy.
Agent Bronze shouted too.
"It could be dangerous! An agent's life always comes first. If you push it breaking the rules..."
His voice caught in his nose.
"I've seen agents die like that. Lots of seniors who never returned."
"......"
"So, you shouldn't start in the first place. Following the rules is right."
'...Sigh.'
His words made sense too.
Then Agent Bronze glanced at my arm.
"And don't forget that arm needs recharging every three days."
"I brought the charger separately! H-How about this? Just one more night, one more night."
Agent Choi held up an index finger.
"And if we're not sure about rescuing someone by tomorrow afternoon, we just leave. Okay? Delaying the mission half a day... is just one line in the report."
"......"
Both of us instinctively looked at Agent Bronze.
"Jae-gwan..."
"Agent, um..."
"Do as you please."
And Agent Bronze shut his mouth.
Leaving only those words.
"I never agreed."
I figured as much.
His face was flushed red, unable to hide his grievance and injustice.
But it was also an implicit declaration that he wouldn't argue further, so Agent Choi wrapped it up immediately.
"Great. One more day it is!"
If not, give up right away—the three kids promised.
Then we dispersed to the kids' sleeping areas in our assigned zones.
Agent Choi to near the palace, Agent Bronze to the central fountain, and me... to the village entrance.
The insane part was that our paths overlapped on the way, so I ended up walking with Agent Bronze.
"......"
"......"
"Um, sorry..."
"...It's fine."
Agent Bronze sighed as he spoke.
"Considering other cases where we turned into kids from goblin pranks... this ended rationally enough."
"I-Is that so?"
"Yes. There were agents who cried, fought, and rolled around with each other."
Oh, really.
"...That's why rules are necessary. In supernatural situations, following protocol is key, even if it doesn't make sense at first. You'll confirm it's ultimately right."
Agent Bronze took a deeper breath.
"Of course, Agent Grape isn't at fault. Newbies go through this. But the leader failed to explain properly and sided instead...!"
"......"
Thanks to that leader, the newbie succeeded in negotiating one more day... impressive skill in silencing me.
Anyway, Agent Bronze's expression was still sour, but by the time we parted ways, the mood had recovered enough for him to give advice.
"The kids will all be asleep before midnight anyway. Don't waste stamina, Agent Grape. Get some rest."
"...Yes."
Sparkling Dragon Palace switches day and night based on the city clock tower bells.
At night, sleepiness comes matching the kids' cycles, everyone falls asleep before midnight, and they wake at sunrise to cheerful music.
A properly ghostly supernatural structure.
I walked through the ecstatic red-gold light into the village covered in soft navy and white sparkles, entering my assigned lodging.
The sign at the entrance announced it.
Children's
Dreamland Beds
Inside was a vast space decorated cutely like a kid's bedroom, with over a dozen fluffy canopy beds.
...The kids in the bedroom were already all asleep.
We'd spent every last moment searching for rescuable kids, using up all available time.
Sleepiness poured over me too.
"Hoo."
I picked a vacant bed and lay down. Incredibly soft, warm bedding enveloped my head and body snugly.
And briefly, the embarrassing scene from moments ago flashed in my mind... wow.
Me, throwing a tantrum?
'Even as a real kid, I don't think I was that bad.'
And considering personalities, Agent Choi and Agent Bronze probably weren't either.
Maybe because goblin pranks aren't true regression but deception, it felt like we'd morphed into the concept of "kids" oddly.
So the key now was to proceed calmly without being swayed by this kid body's excessive traits.
The goal hadn't changed, after all.
With a hazy mind, I resolved slowly.
'...Wake up early and search right away.'
At least one.
Maybe one, somehow, I could take out...
......
......
...Hm?
Oh, right.
Come to think of it, I had fallen asleep.
Behind closed eyes, shimmering light rippled. Like a warm flame...
......
Things that don't come to mind in reality.
Sure, since we've been doing rescue missions as kids to meet entry conditions, I can review overlooked points now.
In the dream, I calmly recalled several doubts.
Adult suspicions.
For example...
'Why do more than half the kids we meet change every time agents enter?'
If all kids changed completely, I could rationally assume "multiple similar locations due to this supernatural phenomenon."
But more than half changing is totally different.
In other words, that half disappears from here.
At least in a form agents can't meet.
And...
'Why don't agents question that?'
Chilling, but two simple, certain possibilities surfaced simultaneously.
They're influenced by this ghost story too.
......Or they're deliberately hiding facts from newbie me.
Or both.
'Then...'
...Don't I have something useful in this situation?
Something to supplement insight.
Without needing to ask the other two.
A wrinkled hand seemed to pat my head encouragingly.
Ah, thank you, elder.
......
......
"Ah."
Kyarrururur!
Bell chimes and kids' laughter rang out.
A new golden morning began.
"Let's go see the Little Mermaid!"
"I wanna play tag."
The kids chattered energetically, getting up from the bedroom and leaving.
Normally, I'd chase them to gather info, but my mind clearly recalled one idea.
Something I'd concluded from last night's dream.
"......"
I slipped my hand into my thick coat's inner pocket, carefully pulling out what I'd brought unbroken.
The "Kids' Detective Syrup." Made in the dream incubator by pressing the emoticon button.
Daydream Corporation called it this.
Eating the detective syrup would make a rescuable kid immediately visible.
My mission goal now was kid rescue, so "most needed" would be that.
'Good.'
Normally I'd calculate pros and cons, but for kid rescue, overthinking felt inhuman.
'Also needed to test its effect.'
I opened the sealed lid and gulped down the syrup.
As labeled, artificial cherry flavor and sweetness slid down my throat...
"...Hoo."
I pocketed the empty bottle.
No dramatic visual change like regen potions, but my heart raced and I calmed.
'Now, check.'
I scanned kids left in the living room and those running outside the window.
Searching for the "visible kid."
But...
"......"
Why none?
Running kids, those laughing by the fountain far away.
Just kids. Nothing stood out.
Just as my spine chilled thinking maybe truly no targets, then.
'...Huh?'
Presence from somewhere else.
In my peripheral vision, something clear and bright caught.
"......"
I turned my eyes to confirm it.
My coat's opposite pocket.
Where the item bought from the faceless manhole market was stored.
'Why this...'
I reached in and pulled it out.
Paper printed with four old stamps.
Like cost-cut charity or ad seals, faded stamps depicted old Korean streets.
Looking closer, non-human things in the backgrounds.
Pigeons, rats, stray cats, sparrows, cockroaches.
Creatures coexisting on human streets.
...Brought it for spying escapes or hiding, but Agent Choi recommended it instead, making me sweat.
Sweated more picking non-Daydream origin for exchange.
Anyway, its core ability is that.
'Transform into a non-human street animal.'
Looks decent?
Of course, fatal side effect.
Not becoming the animal cleanly.
Animal traits infect the human body like a biohazard horror game.
Pigeon beak by the jaw or sparrow eyeball sprouting.
'Ugh.'
Horrible just thinking, so redouble vow never exceed time.
But... in a ghost story where kid form is entry condition, animal form is "what I need most"?
Unsettling, yet chilling hunch.
Felt ominous, must check.
'...Daydream might scam on other stuff, but not potions.'
Effects too reliable, no need.
'Alright.'
If vibe wrong, spit stamp immediately, revert to kid.
I deep-breathed lightly, peeled one stamp, put in mouth.
"...!!"
Vision dropped.
Sharper than kid form, to the floor.
Waist bends, stand on all fours.
Fur sensation, ears perk, long whiskers odd feel.
'Cat, huh.'
I lifted head.
Pigeon better for flight. Anyway, dodged roach or rat—psychological relief...
......
'Uh.'
The golden city in vision crumbled.
Ecstatic blue sea, fairy-tale brick houses and boulevards sparkling like heaven, beautiful banners—all lost light, faded, decayed.
Instead, grotesqueries appeared. Rusted metal pipes, broken flickering streetlights, half-collapsed buildings, graffiti of blood and filth. Lumpy grotesque ulcer masses bulging between bricks and lampposts, pulsating! The whole space infected! Weird! Weird! Everywhere! I'm contaminated—
Spit!
Spit the stamp. Something wrong...
......
No.
'That's... not it.'
Shock from ecstatic paradise plummeting to horror.
I'm not contaminated.
"Hngh."
I caught my breath.
Panic ended adapting to environment. Body shuddered, cold post-kid mind surveyed surroundings.
Grotesquely ruined civilization and cities, bio-tissue clusters infected everywhere.
This matches what I know.
Right. "Sparkling Dragon Palace" wasn't an unrecorded ghost story in Darkness Exploration Records.
Just not the form I knew.
What I knew was...
......Daydream Corporation's horrific ghost story.
This.
City already ruins, records suggest extinction from biohazard infection.
Contrast of once-beautiful city's traces with current miserable apocalyptic biohazard—quite the treat.
Records call the biohazard "mermaids," hence database "Mermaid Graveyard."
So... Sparkling Dragon Palace's kids are...
City's heart has core cluster of "biohazard-mermaid" infection source, grotesque mass; endless infection fluids from it chase explorers.
Caught, become infected mermaid host.
I staggered on all fours through shattered streets.
Dark deep-sea streets: corpses frozen in odd poses, drawn to weird ulcer masses, half alive half dead moving jerkily like dolls.
'Those water fountain doll decorations.'
Kids,
Take some honey!
Dolls from soldier to elephant shapes.
'They were human.'
People pulled into this mad ghost story, infected.
Then honey from belly faucets was...
Actually blood extracted from human bellies by those ulcer masses.
'...Urk.'
I ran.
All fours pounding, through this grotesque sunken ancient city ruin wrapped in contaminated life around rusted machines.
Arrived at city's heart.
...What appeared beautiful Dragon Palace was...
A massive cluster of ulcer masses.
Thump, thump.
Pulsing transmitted here, filthy crimson, green, pinkish pale flesh lumps hanging on collapsed giant buildings like avant-garde sculptures, towering hugely.
And front: bumpy egg sac with tentacles.
Known eyes see familiar silhouette.
Little Mermaid statue.
Infection fluids extract explorers' blood/mucosa as hosts, supply city heart cluster; cluster spits infectious mucus and debris.
Debris confirmed indigestible fiber/plastic etc.
Yes.
...In "Sparkling Dragon Palace," toys/clothes/fairy tales from "honey" offerings to statue... were worn relics of missing people.
Just deluding kids to see that way.
This ghost story.
And infecting the kids. The horrific infection fluids commonly called "baby mermaids" in this Mermaid Graveyard Darkness Exploration Records were ultimately...
Ultimately...
"......"
No.
'This... this.'
Return first; can't meet kids like this. I barely turned staggering.
That instant.
Woooong!
Odd noise, floor ulcer mass shot mucus at me.
"...!"
Infectious mucus.
If it sticks, I'll get a faucet too...!
'Damn.'
Luckily, cats run nimbly.
Perfectly adapted cat body, paws darted through dust-rusted alleys. Was that why Agent Choi recommended?
'Anyway!'
So, so.
How the hell to handle this?
Tell agents? If so, how much?
How to proceed rescue? No, agents staying kids in this situation right?
Kid form really safe?
Judgment living here better than bubbles bursting... now...
"This way. No baby mermaids."
...!
"Move."
"Yes, Deputy!"
I halted paws.
Three figures entered the alley now.
Calm tone. Familiar terms from exploration records. Rank-based address.
...Daydream Corporation.
'Field Exploration Team entered...!'
Yes, most registered Darkness long records written by their employees, natural to spot company folks inside.
...Then.
Maybe usable.
'Daydream employees usually have at least one or two special gear.'
Might see breakthrough. Or ideas...!
Even if not, more cards always needed.
'Go.'
I held breath, approached alley where mask and suit passed.
"...like that."
"Ah. This."
Their voices caught sensitive cat ears; rounding corner, three figures revealed...
......
Familiar masks.
"...Hm. Doesn't look useful."
"Eh? Looks profitable. I'll take it."
Goat Baek Saheon, pony Kang Ihak.
And...
"Quiet."
Butterfly, Team A deputy Jin Naso.
"......"
'Damn.'
Perfect lineup to kill me.