Chapter 15
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Chapter 15
-----------------------------------------------------------------
```html
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The Price
-----------------------------------------------------------------
202■/■■/■■ 6:35
No. ■ Internal Exploration Record
This time, two particularly agile P-Class personnel were deployed. Based on previous experiment records, they were informed of the guards' existence.
The deployed P-Class personnel adapted to the situation relatively quickly.
The interior of 'Underground Mall' was confirmed to contain an endless supply of goods. All resources necessary for two weeks of survival were procured on-site.
Confirmed no anomalous properties in Underground Mall's goods.
*Note 1
On deployment day 1, after consuming Underground Mall goods, pursuit by the 'guards' completely ceased. Individuals occasionally encountered passed by completely ignoring the two P-Class personnel.
*Note 2
Based on the above incident, requesting downgrade of CA-4E-01 'Underground Mall' rating.
*Note 3
Request for rating adjustment of CA-4E-01 'Underground Mall' approved.
202■/■■/■■ 7:18
CA-4E-01 hazard rating downgraded from 'Phenomenon' level to 'Incident' level.
202■/■■/■■ 23:01
No. ■ Internal Exploration Record, Day 15
Vital signs of the two P-Class personnel have disappeared.
Below is the last recorded conversation of the P-Class personnel.
— Bro, emergency exit!
— Ha, I told you to trust only me? Even looking like this, I've survived three urban legends?
— As expected of you, bro!
*Sound of emergency door opening*
— Huh?
— What is this...
[As the two P-Class personnel pass through the emergency exit door, the camera zooms in]
[Instead of stairs, a mart checkout counter appears right in front of them]
*Sound of door closing*
— Clearly the researchers said stairs would appear when opening the emergency exit...
— No way... those bastards tricked us?
— Nah, no way...
*Machine operating sound*
*Announcement plays*
— Customer Kim■■, total value of goods used: 1,427.053
— Customer Park■■, total value of goods used: 1,843.119
— How will you pay the price?
*Static noise*
*Communication terminated*
202■/■■/■■ 17:34
CA-4E-01 hazard rating restored from 'Incident' level to 'Phenomenon' level.
Report completed.
Let me sort out the situation.
For starters... regrettably, Peanut isn't much help in this scenario.
It's a one-on-one fight with the monster, sure, but there's not just one patrolling guard. If another guard ambushes me while one's aggroed on Peanut, I'm dead meat.
Fortunately, Rene seems useful.
It's not a statue or some living, moving entity... well, not exactly.
So I can't use my strongest ability, brainwashing, but phasing alone is plenty. It lets me dodge those guards' eyes for a bit, right?
"...Yeah, this is manageable."
I muttered softly to myself and continued thinking.
The inside of this 'Underground Mall' is a place where space and time are twisted.
Even if a day passes here, there's no way to know how many days have gone by in reality.
Damn, it's vicious.
How is an anomaly that warps space-time anywhere near 'Phenomenon' level?
It's nothing but a space packed with intent to fleece newbies.
"Ahem..."
I cleared my throat quietly and steered my thoughts back on track.
First things first, grasp my current position.
It wasn't hard to figure out.
The building was dark, but moonlight let me make out the various foodstuffs on display.
"Hmm..."
Food with no anomalous properties whatsoever. Eating it won't cause weird mutations or anything.
Still, there's a simple reason I can't touch it carelessly.
Because you'd go from 'customer' to 'buyer.'
The moment my status changes to 'buyer,' the guards stop chasing me. This space's purpose is to get customers to touch the goods, after all.
And once that happens, you can't leave.
A customer eats the goods and leaves without paying? That's shoplifting.
And in this 'Underground Mall' where human currency doesn't work, the price is exacted very dearly.
How dearly, you ask?
If you don't have money, you pay with your body.
By becoming a guard and patrolling here.
"...I pass on that kind of ending."
I don't want to end up in that horrific form, trapped here for thousands of years.
Sure enough, there are two ways to escape.
One. Follow the rules, find the emergency exit, and leave.
Two. Take out the boss directly.
"I'd prefer the first method for now..."
I'm still weak.
So I'd like to go with the safest option if possible.
But... that's not up to me.
Finding an emergency exit that appears randomly in this ridiculously vast space? That's pure luck.
As time passes, this child's body won't hold out. At that point, whether it's poison or food, I'll have to eat the goods to survive.
And there's only one way to survive after eating the goods.
"Eliminate the culprit."
But that's a true last resort.
To pull that off, I'd have to wreak absolute havoc.
So I'll think about it when the time comes...
"For now... let's wander."
Time's not on my side.
A child's body can move properly without eating or drinking for about two days.
Theoretically three, but that's if you're lying still doing nothing. In a situation like mine where I'm walking all day, better to be conservative.
"Peanut, can you help me out?"
First, I enlarged Peanut. The shelves are too high for my height to spot an emergency exit properly.
Peanut, now two meters tall, knelt on one knee and offered me its hand.
Climbing onto its shoulder, my view extended beyond the high shelves to the endless rows of displays in the mall.
"...Good. Now, let's move."
Feels solid for sure.
As an anomaly, Peanut should detect approaching guards even before I do and respond.
Then I slip through the gap with phasing. That way, I won't get caught and killed by a guard.
Bringing Rene was the right call.
With that thought, I walked forward.
Exactly one day and a half passed since then.
Day once, night once, and day returned again.
The sun hanging in the middle of the sky brightly illuminated the Underground Mall's interior.
"..."
But the scenery I saw remained the same.
Endless stalls. Identical windows. Identical corridors.
The goods on the stalls kept changing, but no green emergency exit light appeared.
"...This sucks."
I've already run into guards nearly ten times.
Couldn't even sleep properly.
Throat parched, stomach empty, head spinning...
At this point, irritation started building.
Come to think of it, I didn't walk in here on my own feet. This Underground Mall kidnapped me. And yet it still charges full price for goods? Is that right?
And it sends guards to force the sale?
Is that fair?
Of course not. That's why it's called an 'anomaly'—for acting outside human common sense.
But... to my half-delirious, starving self, that didn't matter.
What shattered my staggering reason was the guard anomaly approaching from afar.
Cus...
tom...
er?
"Peanut, Rene."
Peanut's head turned toward me, and Rene looked up at me from the status window.
"Don't move. I'll handle this from now on."
Facing an anomaly head-on isn't ideal.
The Advent of Chaos are my enemies right now. If I erase one anomaly, their wariness of me will spike.
Not sure about the anomalous artist community, Pietà's reaction. They're such free spirits.
But... if even one of those free opinions tilts toward kidnapping me, it'll be a hassle.
Not even sure the Management Bureau is fully on my side.
Gangwon branch research director Han Sohee is, but what about the Presidential Office and the Council?
"Who knows."
I'm still weak.
But Rene is disaster-class anomaly.
One that could swallow a city, a region, even a small country.
I don't know what results unleashing something like that would bring.
But at this point, I just wanted out of this damn mall.
Do...
you...
need...
help...
?
To the one raising an arm while asking that, I replied confidently.
"Yes, I need help. There's merchandise I want to buy."
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
The guard that had been charging at me with murderous intent suddenly became polite.
Its massive body slowly shrank, and its upside-down form righted itself. Standing like a normal person, it clasped its hands and asked.
"What assistance do you require, customer?"
Its speech normalized too.
While smiling so wide its mouth seemed—actually, did—tear open.
Staring straight into its maggot-infested eyes, I made my demand.
"I've taken an interest in some artwork."
"Artwork... you say?"
"Yes. Isn't this a mall with everything?"
The Underground Mall has pretty much anything.
Artwork included.
"Please follow me, customer."
The guard bowed politely and guided me.
About thirty minutes following behind it?
A massive wall covered floor-to-ceiling with paintings came into view.
Famous works and ones I'd never seen before.
All looked like forgeries, not originals... but it didn't matter.
If granted life, they'd wield power no different from the real things.
"Guard uncle."
"Yes?"
"...The artwork doesn't suit my taste."
The way to clear 'Underground Mall' in the game was simple.
Get the guard's help, inspect goods in front of the guard, then complain to the guard about the goods.
In a word, 'Get the manager.'
Being a Karen.
That summons this space's owner, and beating it lets you go home.
"No, this mall never suited me from the start. Dragged me in like a kidnapping, tries to force sales, threatens if I refuse. Don't you know that's a violation of consumer protection laws?"
"I... don't understand what you mean."
Normally, you'd press the guard here. Followed by minor physical contact and a long, drawn-out argument.
But... regrettably, my exhausted self had no patience left.
"Ah, did I make it complicated?"
I spread my arms wide with a chuckle.
At the same time, beautiful starlight blanketed the wall.
The dormant paintings awoke all at once, and the air began to quiver uneasily.
"I've got tons of complaints right now?"
"Ah, uh...?"
"So call the person in charge."
A famous painting in the middle of the wall awoke.
Munch's The Scream.
The woman with hands to her cheeks, screaming, rushed right up to the guard's eyes in an instant.
A horrific shriek echoed out.
The guard clamped its hands over its ears, curling up in agony.
"Peanut, grab it."
The human-sized guard couldn't resist the two-meter giant Peanut. Dangling in the air by its collar, the guard looked somehow poignant.
"Call the manager."
But I felt no pity.
It tried to kill me first, after all.
"Before I smash this goddamn mall to pieces."
Even a little goddess is a goddess.
I'll make them pay the price for their insolence.
```