Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Impersonating an Honorable Guest
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"I-is it really okay for just us to go like this? Is this alright?"
"It should be fine."
Probably.
Understanding the unspoken words, Go Yeongeun swallowed a scream.
After convincing their superiors, Kim Sol-eum had led his two fellow new hires out of the terrace room to 'use' the item.
'He did that on purpose to make it seem logical.'
By claiming the item belonged to one of them, it wouldn't look suspicious for that person to take action.
...Though being lumped together with Baek Saheon as 'us' felt a bit uncomfortable...
'Still, he's behaving surprisingly well right now.'
But what was about to happen next weighed far more heavily on his mind.
"Then I'll take out the candle."
Yes!
Go Yeongeun handed back the paper she'd received from Kim Sol-eum, and he unfolded it.
Then something astonishing happened.
A heavy cylindrical lump of light purple wax tumbled into his palm.
It was a real candle.
"...!"
The pattern imprinted from the crayon drawing made it intuitively clear.
The picture of a candle had become reality.
'...Wow.'
He forgot the situation entirely and marveled at it.
Anticipation swelled in his mind now that he'd heard a brief rundown of what this candle would do.
"Please wait just a moment."
Kim Sol-eum took a deep breath, pulled out a lighter, and tried to light the wick.
Whoosh.
The flame passed over the wick...
And nothing happened.
"......"
"......"
Why... won't it light?
He even demonstrated his insane ability to flick a coin into the air and summon a third hand to ignite it, but it still wouldn't catch.
"...Ah."
As if struck by a sudden realization, Kim Sol-eum pulled out the candle kit's instruction manual and quickly reread it.
"Is there a problem?"
"......"
With a somewhat parched expression, he set the manual down.
"No. I have no idea."
In truth, he knew exactly what the issue was.
At the end of the instructions scrawled in messy dark red ink, under 'Handling and Usage Precautions'—one of the phrases listed.
'Recommended User'.
※This toy was created to relieve the fatigue of modern Earthlings.
For safety reasons, aliens, otherworlders, non-sentients, gods, and all other non-human intelligences cannot use it. :)
'...I might not qualify.'
Kim Sol-eum wasn't from this world, after all.
A chill ran down his spine, but he knew that wasn't the priority right now.
He needed to hand it off to someone trustworthy.
Someone unlikely to act rashly, with solid social skills and morals.
"Mountain Goat."
"...!"
"Please."
Go Yeongeun finally swallowed hard and accepted the candle.
She took the lighter with trembling hands and held it to the wick.
Whoosh.
The flame passed over the wick...
And it blazed to life.
"...!"
Then, as if illuminated from within the candle's body, letters began to appear.
The keywords from the card they'd drawn.
-Do you remember the card you drew when making the candle? It reveals what ability the candle will have.
The explanation from Kim Sol-eum resurfaced in her mind, and at the same time, more phrases emerged on the candle.
"The prayer holder must raise this candle toward the honorable target," "borrow the power of interference," "and reveal a false appearance." "Blessing is granted to the prayer holder of the candle."
⟨ Impersonator of Nobility ⟩
Go Yeongeun raised the candle high.
A round orb of fire rose from it like a lantern, circled above her head, then vanished.
Her surroundings softly illuminated, like a faint spotlight.
'Wow......'
"Just as expected."
Kim Sol-eum nodded, a faint smile on his lips as he watched.
"It affects up to two people around you, Mountain Goat, so Viper and Goat will follow from behind."
"Yes."
She wondered if they couldn't have brought someone other than Baek Saheon, but since Kim Sol-eum was the one who'd made the item, Go Yeongeun nodded without protest.
Kim Sol-eum whispered again.
"But pay attention. ...Don't look back at us. We have to stay hidden behind the candle holder for the effect to apply."
"......Yes."
"And don't stare too closely into the candle. ...Your mind could be eroded by it."
Go Yeongeun nodded slowly.
Tension knotted her shoulders, but she somehow regained her composure.
This was her specialty, after all.
"You said the exit is on the ground level... so we start from the middle floor, 4th floor? That narrows down the possibilities the most."
"Yes. Good plan."
They set off.
Just thinking about what lay ahead sent chills down the spine, but Go Yeongeun gritted her teeth.
I'm the biggest coward here, and I have to hold the candle.
'I have to do my best.'
Unaware that the real biggest scaredy-cat among them was right behind her!
Thud thud.
The footsteps of three echoed through the brass hall. Eerily, no guide machine announcements sounded until they reached the 4th floor...
But it brought no comfort.
Because their destination was...
"Found it."
The guide machine itself.
"......"
The Daydream Corporation new hires who'd climbed to the 4th floor followed the machine's sounds to the end and finally located the guide machine overseeing the 4th-floor corridor.
Screeeeech.
"If you bolt now and step outside the candle's range, it'll come chasing."
"I know that?"
The icy exchange between Kim Sol-eum and Baek Saheon chilled Go Yeongeun's heart too.
The needle-like appendages looked ready to pluck out eyes at any moment...
But Go Yeongeun swallowed hard and advanced.
One step at a time.
With each approach, the machine's silhouette flickered in the candlelight.
Standing before the grotesque spider-like contraption, Go Yeongeun gave a slight nod.
"Hello."
Screeeeech.
The guide machine stirred.
Its eight needles shot up into the air...
Then aligned neatly and gently settled around its body.
It lifted its head and politely directed its gas lamp toward Go Yeongeun's feet.
"...!"
It worked.
Go Yeongeun swallowed.
The candle's blessing had successfully taken hold.
The blessing to impersonate an honorable being.
-The first card sets the purpose of the effect, the second the method, and the last its essence.
-Combined well, it creates a falsehood to interfere with something honorable...
-Probably an ability related to impersonation or deception.
And right now, Go Yeongeun was impersonating the most fitting 'honorable' figure.
The target most friendly to the guide machine.
Namely...
'A customer who's paid the full fare!'
In the calmest tone she could manage, Go Yeongeun addressed the guide machine.
"Stay still if the answer is no. Nod if yes."
Silence.
"......Did the customers who finished viewing and are heading home go up from this ground 4th floor?"
...
"Did the customers who finished viewing and are heading home go down from this ground 4th floor?"
Nod.
"...!"
It worked!
Euphoria swept over the candle bearer, but she barely managed to wrap up the exchange.
"Thank you. I'll go view the exhibits now."
The guide machine stood placidly in place.
Until the three within the candlelight departed.
The moment they rounded the corner, Go Yeongeun couldn't help but cry out.
"It worked...!"
"Take it slow. The candle burns for about two hours—don't let it go out midway."
"Yes!"
And it repeated.
"Did the customers who finished viewing and are heading home go down from this ground 3rd floor?"
Nod.
"Thank you!"
It worked again. Buoyed by the thrill of escape, the three new hires quickened their pace.
If this kept up.
'1st floor or 2nd...!'
The same prediction filled everyone's mind.
Go Yeongeun bit her tongue to keep from getting carried away.
'Carefully, carefully!'
Spilling the candle would end it all.
She didn't want to escape minus eyes, tongue, or limbs—calm was essential.
Calmly taking that next step.
Grab.
Something seized her ankle.
Frozen, Go Yeongeun looked down.
There lay a human with telescope lenses jammed into eye sockets in place of eyes.
In ragged clothes, crawling across the floor, thrashing and clutching her pant leg.
"Mountain Goat! Mountain Goat!!"
"...!!"
"Take me with you!"
R Squad Leader.
Go Yeongeun's direct superior.
I halted and looked at the person ahead.
I knew why.
Someone was desperately shouting while clinging to her pant leg!
"Mountain Goat! Take me out and I'll make you gear! Deputy manager-level gear, right away! Huh?!"
'Go Yeongeun was R Squad.'
Probably R Squad's leader.
But for a Field Exploration Team squad leader, he looked far too pathetic.
His limbs hadn't even been collected as fare—yet he couldn't rise, as if they'd all been snapped.
'Internal conflict, maybe.'
At squad leader rank, he should've endured to the end with his gear and items, hiding smartly—but ending up like this alone all but confirmed it.
Death's shadow creeping right up to his chin.
And in that moment, spotting his own squad's newbie holding what looked like an extraordinary item—he'd lunged.
Instinct sensing his final lifeline.
"Mountain Goat! That's an item, right! Whoaaa, looks great. Hey, let me tag along, huh?"
"Wow, aren't you scared? Yapping away."
Baek Saheon muttered softly.
Then he said to Go Yeongeun,
"Shall we test if the monster machine comes running at noise? Doubt he can even flee in that state anyway."
"What the hell kind of nonsense...?"
"......"
The R Squad leader, mid-plea to Go Yeongeun, glared up at Baek Saheon.
The telescope lenses glinted.
"Which squad's newbie are you?"
"......"
"Ah. Doesn't matter... Getting out does. But listen... Our squad newbie's item is a candle? Consumable type."
"...!"
"Flame... flame-mediated, yeah, defensive? Seems like it... So if I shake like this! What if the flame snuffs out?"
"Eek."
Go Yeongeun nearly staggered but swiftly steadied the candle.
'This lunatic.'
The instant I prepared to summon my custom gear into thin air and pry the R Squad leader off with three hands, he latched onto her ankle again.
"You think I know less than newbies even in this state?? Take me!"
"...You left me behind, Squad Leader."
Go Yeongeun murmured in an eerily quiet voice.
"When the machine showed, you shoved me aside and ran."
"...!"
The employees had all scattered upon entry, so I'd assumed Go Yeongeun hadn't seen her squadmates since and had been alone...
So that's why.
"No! I did my duty! Can't die saving a newbie—that's why I left! You can take me now! Humans gotta act human when conditions allow!"
The leader wailed desperately, clinging on.
No tears flowed from his lens-shoved eye sockets.
"Don't take me and it's murder! Murder! Try leaving me—I'll wreck that item. Somehow!! Huh...!"
Thwack.
"...!"
Slump.
The R Squad leader's body went limp and toppled sideways.
Baek Saheon reset his left foot, which had struck the temple.
"......"
And I did too.
I retracted the third hand that had clocked the back of his head into my glove.
'H-he's still breathing, right?'
No, only one hit was needed—why'd they overlap?
At any rate, the commotion settled.
I eyed the fallen, shabby 40-something office worker.
'...Field Exploration tenure shows.'
Perfectly balanced newbie-prodding pleas with fearmongering threats into a slick fallacy.
Go Yeongeun gripped the candle steady, but her eyes shook as she gazed down at her direct superior's wretched form...
Then Baek Saheon said lightly,
"There. Now we just rip off the head?"
...What?
"No."
"He'll die soon anyway—that's mercy for him, fare for our Plan B. Zero downsides."
"Think of Mountain Goat's mental strain when severing the neck. Killing an acquaintance firsthand? Tough to stay composed."
The more Baek Saheon and I chimed in from either side, the paler Go Yeongeun grew.
"No, this is insane, no......"
"What're you on about? To survive, people do anything—you can too."
"Can't. Ignore him, Mountain Goat."
"Mountain Goat..."
"Hold on!"
"......"
"......"
"We'll... just do this."
Go Yeongeun clutched the candle tight, then kicked the R Squad leader into a dark sofa nook.
She let out a deep sigh.
"This way, the machines won't spot him right away.... Let's go. Before the candle burns down."
"......"
I nodded.
But Baek Saheon scowled.
"Making it messy. He's dead meat anyway."
"...If a good person's kindness saved your neck, don't talk like that."
"......"
Go Yeongeun sighed at length.
"Still, thanks to both of you. Nearly got swept up with eyes wide open."
"No problem."
Surprisingly, Baek Saheon shut his mouth. I'd expected snark or demands—unexpected.
"Let's move."
"Yes."
We descended the stairs again.
The disturbance was over.
The high ground lay just ahead.