Chapter 36
Chapter 36
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Transport Team (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Urk...!"
The man who'd had his escape device taken let out a frustrated groan, but with the ballpoint pen pressed against his neck, he didn't dare resist any further.
And then—
Creak, creeeak.
The sound of monsters approaching from afar reached their ears.
Just as he'd said, sticking around here any longer would mean getting surrounded by monsters for real.
To have a proper talk with this guy, they needed a safe spot first.
"What about the other exploration team members...?"
"...They're all in the freezer. Those people are already..."
In response to my question, Choi Employee shook his head.
It seemed the other exploration team members had already fallen to this man.
"...Follow us. We don't have time to hang around here."
I gave the cash register clutched in the man's arms a quick glance, then nodded to Choi Employee and took the lead.
When Choi Employee yanked him with force, the man had no choice but to trail after them.
They swiftly left the restaurant area where the commotion had occurred and headed down the corridor lined with guest rooms.
The hotel rooms would at least block out external noise to some degree, making them suitable for a conversation.
Creak, creeeak.
"Th-those are..."
They hadn't gone far down the corridor when they ran into two mannequin monsters pushing cleaning carts.
The moment the creatures spotted them, they let out chilling creaks and charged.
"M-Monsters!"
"Minjun, watch out...!"
The man panicked, and Choi Employee shouted urgently, but the situation was over before he could finish.
I threw a light punch at the gut of the first charging mannequin.
It was light from my perspective, but my fist tore through its plastic torso like paper.
With a crunch of rupturing material, the mannequin folded in half and tumbled away.
The second one charged regardless, and I yanked a mop handle from the nearby cleaning caddy, swinging it to decapitate the thing.
Bang!
Thud, thud.
Roll...
With a crisp sound, the head flew off down the hall, bounced off the far wall, and rolled across the floor.
It wasn't anything worth calling a fight.
I dusted off my hands casually.
I didn't forget to grab the name tag that counted as points.
"Let's go in."
"Y-Yes..." The two stared at me blankly before snapping to and sticking close by my side.
They finally stopped in front of a suitable room door and turned the knob.
Creeeak.
As the eerie sound accompanied the door swinging open, a guest monster inside appeared.
"Keeek!"
The monster screeched and lunged at them.
In the blink of an eye, I closed in and struck its nape with the edge of my hand, silencing it for good.
With a faint chiiik, it collapsed motionless to the floor.
At that moment, another guest monster by the bed in the back of the room had been watching the whole scene.
It alternated glances between me and its fallen comrade.
Rather than attack, it seemed ready to back away.
I stared it down for a moment, then approached the downed one and rummaged through its clothes.
A worn wallet with a faint checkmark emerged from its pocket.
It wasn't a staff monster, so no name tag, but guest monsters had their own point-worthy items.
I pocketed the wallet, then approached the frightened other guest monster.
It showed no sign of attacking.
Clack, clack-clack.
Instead, it trembled, its teeth chattering noisily.
I quietly searched its outfit.
This time, I found something like a pocket watch with a checkmark, which I took.
Then, with a glance, I signaled it to get out.
It nodded frantically and fled the room like it was escaping.
"The monster... ran away..."
"What the..."
Choi Employee, standing beside me, gaped in a mix of awe and shock, while the man we'd dragged along turned pale and began shivering.
In his eyes, I must've looked less human and more terrifying than the monsters.
Good. I plopped him down carelessly on a ratty sofa in one corner of the room.
He still clutched the cash register to his chest.
"Now, we can talk in peace."
I dragged over a chair opposite him and sat, addressing him in a calm but firm tone.
"...First, put that down."
I pointed at the battered old cash register he was hugging like treasure.
He clutched it tighter in horror, but such resistance meant nothing to me now.
I casually grabbed his arm, and with a short "Eek!" he surrendered it without a fight.
It was a hefty, antique iron cash register.
"What's so special about this...?"
It looked like something out of an old Western.
Without hesitation, I opened the drawer.
The instant I checked the contents inside, a low exclamation escaped both me and Choi Employee.
"Th-this is...!"
The drawer brimmed with gleaming gold nuggets and jewels of every color.
Even at a glance, they screamed immense value.
Were they real?
The doubt flickered briefly, but given how desperately the man had guarded it, fakes were unlikely.
The sparkling gold and gems cast the only bright light in the dingy hotel room.
"Hm?"
And beneath those flashy treasures lay a single neatly folded sheet of paper.
I carefully picked it up and unfolded it.
Unknown numbers and letters were scrawled there.
M 20 6. W 20 3.M 30 3. W 30 4.M 40 4. W 40 3.
"Hmm..."
A combination of letters and numbers.
What could it mean?
A code?
As I tilted my head at the paper, Choi Employee, peering over my shoulder, grew icy cold.
His gaze hardened, and in the next moment, he savagely grabbed the man's collar.
"...Wh-what the hell is this!"
"Gah! Wh-what're you doing!"
The man flailed in panic at Choi Employee's sudden move.
I, too, asked in surprise what was wrong.
With a voice trembling in rage, Choi Employee began decoding the cipher on the paper.
"If I'm right... M stands for Man, male.
W for Woman, female."
"...Male, female?"
"And the numbers after are age groups... 20 for twenties, 30 for thirties... The last number's the count!"
Hearing his explanation sent a chilling wave through me, like my blood turning to ice. I double-checked the paper.
Six men in their twenties, three women in their twenties, three men in their thirties, four women in their thirties...
This wasn't just a list of numbers.
It was a transaction ledger. A human trafficking ledger between Dongto and the monsters.
Choi Employee tightened his grip on the man's collar and bellowed in anguish.
"You bastards... You've been selling off humans like this!
And these jewels were the payment?"
Dongto was trading with monsters.
Offering live humans as sacrifices in exchange for gold and riches.
The transport team in the underground hotel, Choi Employee's disciplinary action.
All the pieces fell into place.
Thud, thud.
"...Hm?"
Suddenly, faint noises stirred outside the door, and moments later, the room door creeaked open slowly.
Click-clack, click-clack.
The silence shattered with the rhythmic tap of heels.
Turning toward the door revealed a figure starkly different from the mannequin monsters they'd seen so far.
A mannequin monster in an elegant dress silhouette, holding a vivid green pen in one hand.
It strode in with the poise and dignity of a living person, pulled over an empty chair, and sat naturally.
Overwhelmed by its entrance, the other two tensed warily—Choi Employee backing up, the man shrinking into the sofa corner.
I just watched the monster.
It was the same creepy one I'd seen before.
The one that had checkmarked Rahee's arm.
I stared at it silently for a moment, then sat in the chair opposite.
The monster raised its green pen and began writing something on the table.
The tap-tap of the pen echoed loudly.
Beneath the lifted pen appeared clumsy but clear words.
[Please... just... leave.]
[What do I have to do... to make you go?]
"Oh..."
A monster trading humans with Dongto was proposing a deal to me as well.
I had zero interest in trading with this thing.
But right now, I despised Dongto just as much—if not more—for carrying out such vile acts so casually.
Fixing my gaze on the dressed-up monster, I asked the shivering man in the corner coldly.
"Who's behind this scheme?"
He shuddered harder, sensing the chill in my voice.
At the same time, the monster tapped its pen sharply, turning toward the man as if urging a quick answer.
He glanced between me and the monster across the table, gauging reactions, then finally spoke in resignation.
"Ex-Exploration... Exploration Team 5."
"Exploration Team 5..."
He paused, then added urgently as if struck by a thought.
"And... since I didn't escape, they'll come back here soon under the pretext of a support team to recover the cash register! Don't regret it when they do...!"
Exploration Team 5.
The culprits behind it all, coming here themselves.
I curled my lip slightly.
I turned back to the green-pen monster.
"Deal."
I hoped they'd pay for their crimes.