Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Laboratory (3)
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Ding-a-ling.
With a cheerful jingle, I stepped into the store, greeted by a space far more expansive than I'd imagined.
Shelves lined every wall, packed with all sorts of doll-related merchandise—stuffed animals, keychains, animal-shaped gloves, you name it.
A claw machine sat in the corner.
On the surface, it was just a slightly larger-than-average, ordinary doll shop.
I pretended to be as casual as possible, browsing the displayed goods like a genuine customer there to buy a doll.
At the same time, I opened my map to check the situation inside.
Fortunately, there wasn't a single red dot in this front shop area. For now, it was just a normal store, free of monsters.
'A normal store, huh.'
Having never set foot in a doll shop my whole life, I wasn't even sure if this was a typical scene.
Just then, one of the store employees approached me with a friendly smile.
"Welcome! Looking for anything in particular?"
I replied to his question as if tossing out a password.
"Yes. I'm looking for something a little... special."
The employee responded with what seemed like genuine innocence, as if he knew nothing.
"Oh, something special? Maybe a collab product? We just got limited-edition keychains from a collab with that anime 'Heart-Pounding☆Critical.' Is it a character from there you're after?"
"What? Uh... Critical...? Yeah?"
I was momentarily speechless at the unfamiliar anime title I'd never heard of in my life.
Was this guy really clueless?
When I stared at him suspiciously, he seemed to pick up on the sharp vibe, his face paling as he stammered awkwardly.
"D-Did I do something wrong...?"
That was when it happened.
A middle-aged man who'd been watching from the counter came rushing over in a fluster.
"Oh dear, sir! I'm so sorry! This guy's only been working here a month—he doesn't know much yet! You, go sort the warehouse!"
"Uh, okay..."
He quickly shooed the young employee away, then turned to me with a practiced smile.
His eyes were completely different from the young one's—sharp and probing.
"You're here for the back room, right?"
Thank goodness I'd found someone who got the message.
I nodded without a word.
Worst case, I'd smash through a wall to get inside, but this was going smoothly.
The middle-aged man led me toward the back of the store.
He chatted amiably, but his gaze kept sizing me up.
"First time here, I take it? Mind if I ask who referred you? We only show our special dolls to regulars."
"I know a guy who—"
I kept my cool.
He'd vouched for the place, but something came up, so here I was instead.
The man seemed convinced by my plausible story, nodding as he guided me into a side room.
Shelves lined the walls, stuffed to the brim with all kinds of dolls, and in the center sat a single worn-out chair.
My map confirmed it: this was the room with the fewest red dots among those teeming with monster markers—the smallest one.
"Have a seat here until we get things ready in the back."
He said that, left the room, and shut the door.
The door had a glass pane, so we could see each other from inside and out.
The next instant came the click, followed by clunk, clunk—the sound of mechanisms locking from outside.
They'd locked me in.
Soon after, from beyond the door, the man's wicked laughter echoed.
"Don't know where you crawled in from, but a lone bug wandered right into the web. Enjoy getting torn apart alive by those special dolls you love so much!"
He shouted like giving an order—not at me, but at someone else in the room.
"Kill him."
The moment his words ended, I instinctively went into combat stance, facing the countless dolls on display.
No telling which one would lunge first.
But...
Nothing happened.
"...?"
Silence filled the room. The dolls just stared from their shelves, unmoving.
The man outside sensed something off and yelled.
"Kill him! I said kill him!"
He shouted over and over, but nothing changed.
Through the glass, the middle-aged man's face shifted from confusion to fury.
He kept yelling, but his voice now carried anxiety and urgency instead of malice.
I smirked at him briefly, then slowly stood and inspected the dolls one by one.
They were all animal plushies—rabbits, cats, bears—and a few were trembling oddly.
Like a tiny earthquake had hit the room.
"..."
I picked up the nearest rabbit doll from the shaking bunch.
It trembled even more violently in my hand, like it was seizing.
Visible to the man outside, I gently stroked its head, feigning ignorance.
"Who're you talking to?"
"That doll you're holding! It's gonna rip your throat out!"
"What? How's this cute little bunny gonna kill anyone? Right?"
As if agreeing, the rabbit in my hand nodded up and down fervently.
A desperate motion.
'Don't nod, you idiot.'
I scolded it inwardly for forgetting to play doll.
Animals have good instincts, they say.
Especially these doll-turned ones—their senses were sharp.
Refusing to fight me.
Or maybe my recent practice handling energy for talismans had subconsciously influenced them?
The man outside, now losing it completely, gnashed his teeth and screamed at the dolls.
"You ungrateful stuffed scum! You'll get what's coming later! And you—rot in there forever!"
"Hmm..."
With his true colors showing, it was time for mine.
I simply walked to the heavy steel door trapping me.
And opened it.
Just like always—with brute force.
Boom! The massive steel door ripped free with a horrific explosion of sound, slamming outward and crushing the man standing there.
"Urk..."
He wasn't dead under the weight of the door I'd torn off, but he looked like he wouldn't be moving anytime soon. He groaned on the floor. I felt no pity. He'd tried to trap and kill a perfectly healthy person—this was his due.
"...Take it like a champ."
I checked my map again and headed deeper into this godforsaken place, glancing at Leo hiding in my hood. Had Leo been here before? Was that why he insisted on tagging along? I gently stroked his small head.
"Purr."
No doll could replicate that fur's texture. Fortunately, Leo wasn't some controlled plush like those in the room—he was a real, living cat. Well, precisely, a real living cat monster. Maybe he'd barely escaped turning into one of them. I set the question aside for now and headed toward the spot on my map densest with red dots. At the end of the hallway stood a door larger and sturdier than the others. I gripped the handle and turned. This time, it opened smoothly without resistance. And finally, the laboratory hidden deepest in the doll shop revealed itself.
"...A laboratory?"
Stepping inside, I paused at the unexpected sight. This wasn't the cold, metallic lab full of glassware I'd imagined. No, it was more like a cluttered workshop. Threads of every kind, colorful fabrics, scissors in various sizes, wrapping paper—all the materials for making dolls strewn about in chaos. Farther back, unidentified animal-shaped monsters were piled in iron cages. Some slumped lifelessly, others stared at me with terrified eyes. And right in the center of it all, separated by a small table, sat a man and a young-looking girl busily sewing. As I entered, the man glared at me openly with displeasure. He turned to the girl, his voice stern.
"Girl. We've got an intruder. Chase him out."
The girl stopped sewing, slowly looked up at him, and spoke. Her voice was pure and childlike.
"Why? Why chase out such a cute human?"
"What? No..."
The man frowned, looking troubled. I glanced at my map. The man seemed like an ordinary human, but a vivid red dot hovered over the girl's head. She was the workshop's true owner—the real monster. And the monsters here really didn't listen to humans. Well, that was more monster-like.
"Welcome."
"..."
Welcomed by the girl monster, I stepped further into the laboratory.