Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: 25-Hour Convenience Store Horror — Rules (8)
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The moment it stepped precisely into my range, two fist-wielding entities charged at me simultaneously.
I gripped the now-familiar Great Mop tightly, the heavy weight of the metal pipe pressing down on my fingers.
The tip of the Great Mop scraped the floor.
I twisted my wrist and spun it around.
The first one's jaw snapped back.
The nose of the one following behind shattered on impact.
—Agent! It's a long-range type!
My body reacted before my mind to the urgent voice.
Far off, a long-range horror was raising its arm.
I could see its shoulder trembling.
Like a faint current running under its skin, my nerves prickled all at once.
Danger.
The next instant—
—!!
A sound like air tearing ripped through my ears.
Its accuracy was trash, but the power was insane.
One solid hit, and it was over.
I slid half a step to the side, lightly brushing the arm's trajectory with the tip of the Great Mop.
Snap—!
I didn't grab it.
Just redirected it.
The arm grazed past me, its path twisting slightly.
Then it pierced straight through the side of a nearby close-range horror.
The flung arm snapped back to position, shoving the body of the first horror that still hadn't recovered.
Crunch—!
The horror's face caved in.
No scream—just the dull sound of breaking bone.
“One.”
One horror slowly collapsed, and the one behind tangled with it and fell.
The sonic type toward me opened its mouth.
The air trembled, my eardrums rang.
A vibration unclear if it was a scream or an attack.
I rolled quickly behind a display shelf.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Consecutive impacts from behind.
Shelves toppled one by one, the vibration traveling through the floor to my toes.
In that gap, a can of coffee rolled into view.
A split-second opening.
Silhouettes of horrors reflected in mirrors at every corner.
They're closing in.
I snatched the can coffee and hurled it.
The spinning can flew straight into the sonic type's mouth—
BOOM!!!
An explosion.
Black blood rained down from above.
The metallic stench of blood filled the air.
“Two.”
Before the echoes faded—
The close-range type that had been in my sight vanished.
‘Behind.’
My body reacted first.
I swung the Great Mop handle backward.
Thud!
A sensation like embedding into flesh.
I heard its breath catch sharply.
It staggered, off-balance.
In that gap, I lowered my center and hooked its leg.
As it fell, I spun the Great Mop and smashed under its jaw.
Crunch—!
Its head smashed into the counter edge and shattered.
Blood and glass sprayed together.
“Three.”
The air rippled heavily.
Three long-range types left.
Their arms shook all at once.
Massive arms slicing air, generating vibrations.
Six arms.
All aimed at me.
Trajectories from unknown angles, impossible to predict.
That unpredictability drew a laugh from me.
‘My turn now.’
Whoosh—!
The arms flew at me together.
Before their paths crossed, I was already charging.
Air tore.
Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!!
Everything in the path of the arms shattered.
Shelves collapsed, items burst like fireworks.
In between, I dove into their midst.
I grabbed a fridge handle.
Dropped low, slowing my momentum.
Boom—!!!!
One arm punched through the fridge door.
Cold steam burst out, liquids spilling everywhere.
The Great Mop tip scraped the floor.
Metal screeching on tile as I adjusted the arc.
The iron pipe rose slightly, grazing and deflecting the second arm's path.
Snap—!
The arm's direction twisted.
That tiny deviation pierced the chest of another horror beside it dead-on.
Crunch—!!
Black blood erupted like a fountain.
Blood hit my cheek, the stench stabbing my nose.
“Four.”
The chest-hit one staggered, lashing out in a final spasm before collapsing.
No special moves.
Its accuracy was already poor.
In this state, wherever it aimed was safer.
And as expected.
The arm missed entirely.
Instead of me, it smashed the horror on the opposite side.
BOOM!!
With the explosion, the two horrors' arms tangled.
One buried in a chest, the other lost its head.
Soon, the one with the pierced chest tilted back and fell.
Blood-splattered face expressionless, I opened my mouth.
“Five.”
One left.
Far away by the counter, a horror was gathering its arm.
Prep already complete.
Air compressed.
I yanked a fallen horror's corpse.
Propped it up and shoved it toward the last one.
The arm exploded outward.
Air tearing—
KABOOM!!
The corpse burst like a firecracker, black blood and fridge glass shards spraying everywhere.
For a moment, my vision went pitch black from the blood.
The horror scanned around, searching for me.
When my sight cleared.
I was behind it.
Great Mop reversed in my grip.
One end pointed down.
The metal's chill pressed my palm.
I inhaled, air going still.
“Six.”
With those words—
The Great Mop tip rocketed upward.
Crunch—!!
Something solid shattered, and its body slowly toppled.
Blood and fluids splattered.
Under the fluorescent lights, the store fell silent again.
Hoo—
I exhaled the hot breath I'd held.
Looks like the lights couldn't hold all ten bulbs.
The convenience store was already a wreck.
Silence settled.
Then, her voice exploded over the intercom.
—Agent! More...! More are coming!!
The door glass rattled.
New shadows overlapped above it.
—Three... four... five?!
—They're keeping coming!
I exhaled one last time.
Slowly.
Propped the Great Mop beside me, tore cloth from a fallen one's shirt, and wrapped it.
Undid the top button of the dress shirt collar.
Breathing eased.
Ding—
The door opened.
Fluorescent lights flickered as new ones seeped in.
I approached with Great Mop in hand.
The metal pipe tip scraped the floor, a low metallic ring spreading thin.
The sound cut through the space.
The horrors' gazes fixed on me all at once.
That instant—
My stride changed.
Slow, then explosively direct.
The moment my toes hit the floor, my body surged forward.
Numbers kept rising.
Seven, eight, nine.
Thrust.
Ten, eleven, twelve.
Dodge.
Turn attacks against them.
Thirteen.
Fourteen, fifteen.
Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen.
Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two.
Ignore arms grazing my head.
In that moment, before the arms even moved, my body reacted.
Pulled back the Great Mop I held—
And hurled it full force.
BOOM—!!
...
Completely silent convenience store.
Only the click of shoe heels broke the quiet.
Stepping through blood pools.
Snap—
I yanked the deeply embedded Great Mop handle free.
“Twenty-three.”
With the sound, metal withdrew, and the wall-pinned body collapsed.
I shook off the fluids coating the rod in a half-circle arc.
Checked my digital watch.
[23:59:59]
A split-second silence, then time ticked up.
Beep—
[24:00:00]
Evaluation time now.
Shelves destroyed, displayed items mostly swept away.
Cleanup state too.
Three fluorescent lights winked out at once.
‘...Can't be helped.’
Couldn't afford the stamina drain of minding the store's state too.
Still—
Her breathing reached me over the intercom.
—Haa... haa... Is it over?
Trembling with joy and tears mixed.
—We won? Waaah!! You really held out!!
—Agent, Agent!! You're no normal person, right?!
—You must've been some super elite special agent!!
Her excited voice over the radio filled the store.
***
Listening to her cheers, I finished processing the corpses.
Then returned straight to the counter.
No good leaving it empty long.
Under fluorescent lights, the store was quiet again.
Time still frozen at midnight.
Soon, a new ‘game’ would start.
Then.
Something crunched underfoot.
I looked down.
Under the counter, a palm-sized notebook lay on the floor.
One corner torn, cover stained with wear.
Probably fell when the counter broke and couldn't get back.
I picked it up.
To return it to its spot.
Then, the name embossed on the cover caught my eye.
[Han Su-ryeon]
“This...”
About to mention the notebook to her, it slipped from my hand.
I reached reflexively.
Thud—
Stopped it from hitting the floor.
But the notebook flipped fully open.
Inside, dates scrawled in messy handwriting.
My gaze, about to shift away.
Stuck on the dated pages.
‘January?’
January 21
Made a resolution this year to try something.
So I got a part-time job first.
This New Year, I'm changing.
February 10
First day at the convenience store part-time!
Lucky few customers.
Boss is quiet, seems manageable.
February 25
Getting the hang of it.
Night shifts tiring, but good for blasting music and sorting thoughts alone.
Love the dawn air lately.
Nothing special.
Just an ordinary diary.
I'd heard from past loops she was this store's part-timer.
But—
Something felt off.
No particular reason.
Just.
In the end.
My hand slowly turned the page.
March 9
Jerk customer came.
Yelled about wrong cigarettes...
Laughed it off, but shook inside.
March 28
Smiling less these days.
Customers snapping so casually—wild.
Just wait for payday.
April 14
Boss suddenly wants more hours.
Other part-timer quit.
Body aches, but one more month.
The diary showed her personality plain.
But the once-bright tone and content darkened bit by bit.
Writing pressed harder, ink smudges occasional.
April 29
Drunk customer yelled at dawn.
Just ring him up.
That voice still echoes.
May 10
Can't sleep well lately.
Hard to smile at work.
Mirror shows... not me.
Really weird. Hate everything.
...
December 18
...Decided.
Tell boss tomorrow I'm quitting.
Hit cram school, study again.
Nothing after.
Notebook's last page.
An old bookmark tucked in.
I hesitated.
Her words resurfaced.
—When I said part-time, Mom worried a lot.
—Think she'd buy a short trip? Like Japan? What do you think, Agent?
—Actually, got snippy with Mom that day over the job stress.
—So! Planned to sneak a cake home after shift, hehe.
Last page opened.
Stars and hearts circling it repeatedly.
[December 31 — ♡♡♡Mommy Kim Suk-ja's Birthday♡♡♡]
Memories kept resurfacing.
—I actually contracted with the horror tale.
—If someone survives and leaves, it'll free me and all the dead too!
—No one's believed me so far though.
—But this time... feels different!
Only now did her words strike as odd.
Phone screen date before entering flashed back.
‘It's... summer now.’
...
But the notebook stopped at winter December.
Yet she spoke like trapped just days.
Diary dates and her timeline mismatched.
If the record was true.
She'd been trapped here at least six months.
Then, her voice came.
—This is really the last one!
Not a flashback—real-time, her voice.
Maybe from nearing the horror tale's end.
Excitement, hope, anticipation laced her tone.
—Agent!
—Late, but... thank you in advance! You said no to gifts earlier.
—Instead, heehee—look forward! I'll treat you to something delicious!
—I got tons of money! Haven't spent a dime of part-time pay!
—So, anything expensive's fine! Totally serious!
Was the horror tale properly preserving her body.
Bad feeling crept in.
Beep—
[00:00:01]
The stopwatch, stalled so long, ticked again.