Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Do You Need Help?
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[Identification Code: CA-4E-01, 'Underground Mall']
[Danger Level: Phenomenon]
[Special Containment Procedures: Containment Impossible]
[Description]
CA-4E-01 'Underground Mall' is an underground store owned and operated by a famous mart corporation. Entering the entrance of an underground mall that randomly appears in various places around the city leads inside CA-4E-01.
From the outside, it appears as a normal underground mall. It is indistinguishable from a typical underground mall when viewed externally.
The entrance swallows one or more victims, or vanishes immediately if no victims appear for a week or longer. An average of 10 people are reported missing each year.
The locations where CA-4E-01 manifests are randomly determined. The range spans the entirety of Gangwon Province.
The identified internal area of CA-4E-01 measures 15km².
Sealing off the entire Gangwon Province to prevent an average of 10 victims was deemed inefficient. The Management Bureau has abandoned containment of CA-4E-01.
Current response involves isolating the surrounding area where CA-4E-01 appears.
Given the low victim count relative to its danger, it is classified as 'Phenomenon' level.
[Escape Method]
Emergency exits exist throughout the underground mall.
Exiting via an emergency exit returns the victim to the initial entry point of the 'Underground Mall'.
[CA-4E-01 Experiment Report]
200■/■■/■■ 12:03
No. ■ Internal Exploration Record
Three P-Class (Punishment Class) personnel were deployed. They were equipped with a GPS navigation device, flashlight, camera for real-time video transmission, and a special communication device enhanced with anomalous properties.
The following is the recorded conversation of the P-Class personnel:
"I don't want to go in... I don't want to go in..."
"It's okay. The researchers said we can get out if we just find the emergency exit."
"Yeah. Finding an emergency exit in a bright place like this is a piece of cake. Compared to other shitty anomalies, this is..."
*Sound of door opening*
"Then, I'll go in first?"
*Footsteps of three P-Class personnel entering*
"Eh, what is this... nothing special."
"We got scared for no reason. The emergency exit is right there."
"Let's hurry. Before the researchers change their minds."
*Upbeat song abruptly cuts off; glass door slams shut forcefully*
"Huh?"
"Fuck, what's this!?"
"Where'd the emergency exit go?!"
[12:05]
The positions of the P-Class personnel, marked as Jeongseon-gun, vanished from the satellite map.
"*Curses* Let's get out!"
*Sounds of pounding on the glass door*
*Amid a barrage of curses, repeated attempts to break the glass door continue for a while.*
"Wait, doesn't the outside view look a little different...?"
"Are you insane? You wanna sightsee right now!?"
"Ah, no... look closely. We entered right in the middle of the village, but that place looks like..."
*Loud noise echoes from the distance*
*Immediately after, something charges on all fours*
"Wait, what the..."
"Do you... need... help..."
"*Curses*"
"Run!"
*Sound of neck snapping, followed by choking gasps*
*Camera feed goes black*
*Moments later, the store interior falls silent again*
[Results of No. ■ Experiment on CA-4E-01]
The 'Underground Mall' is located in a place absent from any maps.
Entity CA-4E-02 is a humanoid anomaly within CA-4E-01. It resembles a human but possesses a body five times larger.
It moves on all fours in an arched posture.
Upon detecting a human, it asks if assistance is needed. Refusal triggers hostility and attack.
The response to acceptance remains unknown.
Insufficient data exists on survivors inside CA-4E-01 or additional anomalies beyond CA-4E-02.
- Secure CA-4E-01 location for further experiments.
Report completed.
Tatadadak-!
From far down the L-shaped corridor, the sound of something scuttling rapidly on all fours echoed closer. Display items crashed down in a cacophony, and storefront glass shattered.
I must not run into it—my instincts screamed as much, and my hands began to shake uncontrollably.
It was the primal fear buried in every human heart.
"...Hic."
An abandoned underground mall. An unidentified monster charging from the distance. Every last one was an anomaly beyond my power to handle.
A normal person might have frozen solid right there. This young body of mine, overly sensitive to terror, trembled all on its own.
It felt much like the emotion I'd sensed upon first meeting Peanut. The dread of something incomprehensible.
But this time was a little different.
Peanut and Rene were with me. Loyal devotees who'd protect me even if the world split in two.
Thanks to them, I could shake off some of the fear.
"Rene, please...!"
I barely managed to shout in a quavering voice. Starlight enveloped my entire body, filling the cold, dry silence with warmth.
A sense of relief washed over me as my form turned semi-transparent.
Thud-!
At that instant, something rounded the L-corner in a frenzy and slammed into a display rack.
Moonlight seeped through the transparent glass door, revealing its shape.
"Eek...!"
Bathed in moonlight, it was something vaguely human-shaped.
A grotesquely arched colossal body filled my vision. It crawled on all fours, drooling thick strings of saliva.
Its skin gleamed pitch-black in the bright moonlight. Maggots writhed in open wounds where rotten flesh bubbled up, chunks sloughing off to splat on the floor.
Naturally, no face could remain normal on a body like that.
The 'thing' lodged in the wrecked display stand slowly withdrew its head.
Eyes hollowed out in decay. Matted hair crawling with bugs. Only the security cap dangling precariously at the end betrayed its identity.
After scanning the darkness briefly, its mouth yawned impossibly wide.
you
need
help
here
?
"Hic..."
Chills prickled across my skin once more. My legs buckled without warning, nearly dumping me to the floor.
I clung to my wits and tried to assess the situation.
someone here
who needed
help
?
A sudden underground mall.
An unknown building bathed in moonlight outside.
And... a deranged security guard hunting for people in need of aid.
Unlike the Renaissance Virus incident, piecing together the urban legend wasn't difficult.
"..."
Official designation: CA-4E-01, 'Underground Mall'.
But to me... it was familiar under another name.
"Newbie Shredder..."
The Anomaly Management Control Department classifies containment levels into six tiers.
Incident
Phenomenon
Event
Disaster
Catastrophe
Extinction
The criteria are straightforward.
The scale of incident an anomaly can trigger.
Incidents, Events, and Phenomena cause relatively minimal casualties.
And low casualties usually mean the gimmick or raw power isn't overwhelming.
But exceptions always exist.
Some anomalies rack up few victims yet boast brutally high difficulty.
The 'Underground Mall' was one such case.
help you
out
customer
!!!
That lunatic guard shrieking loud enough to burst eardrums. Despite the looks, CA-4E-02 boasts insane physical resistance.
Its flesh regenerates without end. The top reason clueless newbies charge a 'Phenomenon'-level anomaly and wind up lobby-fodder.
customer
left
?
Fortunately, it couldn't pierce Rene's ghosting.
After patrolling for about five minutes, it departed the entrance area with obvious reluctance.
"Huuu...!"
Only then did I drop the ghosting. Leaning against the display rack, tension drained from my body without me realizing.
Part of me wanted to collapse right there.
But the security guards roaming this underground mall weren't limited to that one. No room to let my guard down just because it left.
Besides, this anomaly dropped no loot. The clear condition was pure escape.
There was a way to summon the space's owner and take it down, but no payoff anyway.
So even in the game, I never bothered. Naturally, I knew squat about the layout.
All I had was one rule: scour the 15km² expanse for an emergency exit and bail.
And my body was that of a thirteen-year-old kid to boot.
Despair loomed from every angle.
What kept me from crumbling was the two anomalies hovering at my side.
"...Peanut, Rene."
Still leaning back, I gazed at the ceiling and asked softly.
"You'll protect me forever, right?"
Nod, nod.
Peanut, perched on my shoulder before I knew it, bobbed its head.
Name:Rene
Status:Nods head
That gave me the confidence I needed.
I had Peanut's brute strength and Rene's ghosting.
More than enough to tackle any anomaly.
"Yeah. Let's do this."
I muttered under my breath and pushed off the wall, standing tall.