Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Ghost Story, I Have to Go to Work
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Water poured into the laundromat.
Glug... glug...
I backed away to avoid the water seeping through the gap in the glass door.
But there was nowhere to run in an unmanned laundromat. Just a few washers humming away on all sides.
'Damn it.'
"This way!"
I immediately stepped onto a washer and climbed up. At the same time, Section Chief Lee Jaheon stood atop the one next to me.
But that was it.
'Where do we go?'
My eyes scanned the small, high window on the left wall. It had bars, but Section Chief Lee Jaheon could probably pry them off...
♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
"......"
The sound of rushing water crashed in.
A faint, ornate melody echoed in my ears.
A tune I'd heard before.
The theme song from Jolly Theme Park.
♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
The waves filling the laundromat coalesced into a massive blob of water.
A dragon in theme park mascot garb.
A voice suddenly emanated from the mindless water blob before me.
It sounded like it was coming from the other end of a phone line.
Vibrating through the water as a medium...
Cold sweat trickled down my back as I stared at the black water streams and blobs that had taken over the laundromat.
'How did it recognize me?'
I'd taken off my mask and was wearing a hat and face mask besides...
'...It recognized Section Chief Lee Jaheon!'
The black water blob raised a forepaw, pointing at the Lizard standing on the washer beside me.
"No."
"No."
It's just going to keep repeating that forever...!
No, actually, that was a relief. That water blob could have unleashed some truly horrific ghost story power at any moment, and it wouldn't have been surprising!
I still hadn't forgotten. The torrent that had burst from the phone and devoured the alley like a maniac.
'...And since it's water, I'm not even sure physical exorcism would work.'
"......"
Sigh.
Well, at least it was a situation where words might get through.
Na...t boy...
"Not a kidnapper."
I took off my mask and put on my Deer mask.
Then I rolled up my sleeve to reveal the tattoo.
: Socius :
In that state, I faced the water dragon blob as calmly as I could.
"Mascot. Is it me you're looking for?"
The blob's form wavered.
And then...
The voice cleared up.
"Yes, nice to meet you too..."
I gestured for Section Chief Lee Jaheon not to come down, then slowly stepped off the washer.
'Ugh.'
Water splashed underfoot, but aside from the theme song becoming a bit clearer, there were no other insane symptoms.
'Good.'
I can do this.
I approached the water blob...
Co...me...
Vibrations emanated from the tattoo.
It resonated with the form before me.
The dragon's forepaw reached out...
Play... mo...re
I took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry."
Then I gently pushed the paw away.
"I'm not a kid anymore, so I can't stay at the theme park. I have to work."
Silence.
'This is insanely scary.'
But I held steady, calmly meeting the dragon's face as I spoke.
"Still, whenever I want to play or spend time at a fun water park, I'll make sure to visit."
I raised my wrist to show the tattoo.
"That's why you gave me this, right? So I can come whenever I want."
The water blob slowly nodded.
"Thank you. ...Um, but I don't really know how to get to Jolly Theme Park."
From the company, entry to Jolly Theme Park was via board game, and each game led to a differently structured park.
'If I can prevent that, it might actually be safer.'
Somewhere familiar would be better.
"I'm worried about accidentally entering a different theme park without you. Is there a way to avoid that?"
"...Even if I go to another theme park, it's fine?"
"......"
It felt strange.
'...What changes if I play that board game again?'
Well, if that's the case...
Sigh.
I hid my trembling and extended my hand to the water blob.
"Yes. I promise."
And hooked my pinky with it.
The slimy water sent chills down my spine, but nothing happened...
......
The water blob unhooked and pressed a claw from its forepaw onto my tattoo.
As if checking if it was still there. Then, satisfied, it withdrew the paw.
That was when it happened.
Whoosh.
The laundromat door burst open from water pressure, and something flew in to land on the water blob's forepaw.
A black rectangular object.
My broken smartphone.
"......"
I picked up my smartphone with trembling hands.
"...Thank you. I was in a real bind thinking I'd lost it."
The water blob's form collapsed.
The waves receded.
And then, like footage rewound on tape, it was sucked out through the cracks in the laundromat...
Ssshhh...
The torrent reversed through the alley.
Soon, the alley fell silent, without a trace of water.
And inside the laundromat, once filled with black water, a few chocolate bars printed with my face remained like gold dust.
"......"
I survived.
"Huuu..."
I collapsed to the floor.
-My god, friend! You just promised to visit that godforsaken theme park again?
'Yeah.'
No matter how I thought about it, saying something like "I'd rather not promise" might have led to who knows what.
'Maybe I'd end up gutted and working as Blue Dragon Mascot ver. 2.'
Dodging that was a relief...
As long as I had the membership, I'd be treated as a guest there. Better than being dragged off willy-nilly or accepting variables.
My mind raced.
'...Talk to the company about scheduling a board game session.'
Judging by the timing... probably within the next six months.
'Prepare items and gear in the meantime.'
Good.
For now, the important thing was surviving this moment. I stood on shaky legs and held back a sigh.
'Shouldn't have run earlier...!'
But honestly, in that situation, was there any lunatic who wouldn't run and instead stay to calmly talk it out?
'I'd bet gold bars there isn't.'
Sigh.
Just then, Lee Jaheon casually jumped down from the washer behind me.
I asked without thinking.
"Squad Leader. If I hadn't stepped in earlier, would you have tried to smash... no, eliminate that water blob somehow?"
"Yes."
"......"
As expected.
The timing had been perfect this time, but standing there dazed in that stationery store would have led to all sorts of chaos.
'Good thing we ran then.'
Don't know whether to cry or laugh...
But snap out of it.
'We're still trapped in this alley.'
The silver lining: I'd thought of one way to try escaping.
"Squad Leader."
I brushed off the hem of my suit and stood before the laundromat's glass door.
"I have an escape plan in mind. ...If a few conditions are met, we might even try it from this dead-end alley."
"I see."
"Yes. And the first condition is..."
I looked around at the alley shops.
The item the enraged stationery store owner had used to make contact.
"A telephone."
A moment later.
Ding-a-ling-
We opened the door of one shop that emitted a cozy light from its window into the darkened alley.
Coincidentally, it was the very shop where my fellow rookies had been shopping earlier.
True to its "Handmade Knitting" sign, it displayed cozy-looking sweaters, socks, and mufflers, but some fibers looked oddly tattered and damp...
'Ugh.'
I averted my eyes from them and scanned the shop's layout.
And after hours of darting in and out of countless shops in this alley to avoid the furious stationery store owner's voice, I finally found what I'd been looking for.
'...There it is!'
Another door.
On the wall opposite the one I'd entered, there was a large door.
Bigger than the one I'd come in through. Which meant...
'That's the front door.'
And beyond it lay not the dead-end alley, but an unknown street...
The kind often described in Darkness Exploration Records as "subsequently reported missing."
Similar to the terror felt when the answer to "Where do deviated explorers go?" is simply "Unknown."
The horror of vanishing.
'Hoo.'
I quickly looked away to avoid the neon sign reflecting through the opaque glass door.
Then I picked up one sock that Lizard Section Chief had verified as safe from those he'd been eyeing and headed to the counter.
"Hello."
The owner, knitting with six arms, peered at me through primitive glasses.
I subtly kept my gaze low, looking only at the owner's sweater.
And casually extended the socks.
"I'd like to pay. Oh, and would it be okay to use your phone for a quick call?"
I didn't stop at words, idly placing a few coins on the counter as well.
......
Deathrow Alley's shopkeeper, with the face of an elderly person...
Click.
Lifted the phone and handed it to me.
"...Thank you."
Hoo.
'Now all conditions are secured.'
1. A telephone.
2. A large door facing away from the alley.
And...
3. Transportation.
I looked at the rotary dial on the old-fashioned phone.
Of course, dialing a real-world number on a Deathrow Alley phone didn't guarantee connection.
There were sporadic records of seeming connections, but all twisted in true ghost story fashion.
Someone mimicking a relative only to cackle and hang up when caught, or time warping to connect to your family mid-funeral.
'Horrific.'
So what I was doing wasn't a rescue request.
'Maybe... the opposite.'
I awkwardly turned the dial with my finger.
666666 4444 8282
A number that made no sense from the format alone, one that shouldn't even ring...
Riiiing... click.
But it connected like a miracle.
I forced myself not to focus on the breathing on the other end and opened my mouth as casually as possible.
"Hello. Call taxi service, right? I'd like to call a cab."
[Location confirmed.]
A husky voice responded.
Polite, but with a low, arrogant tone that sounded mockingly amused.
[Please state the desired pickup time.]
"Right now, please."
[Please state the destination.]
"...Seoul Station Exit 1."
[Confirmed. Dispatching driver...]
I deliberately pulled the phone away from my ear.
A few seconds later.
[Dispatched. Have a pleasant ride.]
Click, tu-tu-tu...
The call ended automatically.
"...Thank you."
I politely returned the phone to the shopkeeper, received the bagged socks, and handed them to Section Chief Lee Jaheon.
To hide my shaking hands.
'Hoo.'
Done.
You might have noticed, but that wasn't a normal call taxi.
A suspicious call taxi number that crossed space and time at will.
'A ghost story...!'
No normal way out of Deathrow Alley back to reality.
In that case.
'We'll take a ghost story exit.'
And a few seconds later.
A small horn sounded from beyond the shop's front door.
Beep beep.
"......"
The taxi had arrived.