Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The Red Orchestra's Pursuit
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15.
【7 minutes until the start of the 1st rehearsal.】
“Haa! …… Haa!”
Screeech-
Screeech screeech-
The bizarre, ripping sounds sent chills crawling up my spine involuntarily.
While running, I glanced back just a bit.
An eerie sight unfolded: empty clothes without their owners were chasing after us.
Not the staff.
These were the bluffers that had started pursuing us 8 minutes ago.
Commonly known as the [Red Orchestra].
The flashy red and white stage costumes they wore, combined with the clicking of their shoe heels, set our nerves on edge.
Click clack.
Among the facts I knew about them, the one bit of good news was:
Even as orchestra members, their physical abilities weren't vastly superior to the staff's.
Meaning, they could still be subdued.
Part of me desperately wanted to hand over the Red Orchestra to R Team.
But, but you see.
There are reasons why certain things haven't been attempted.
Subduing the Red Orchestra only works when they don't have their instruments.
Ow. Ah, it hurts! Hahaha! Hurts hurts hurts hurts hurttt!!
Die? You're dead. You're dead now. Then let's all die together? Streeetch iiiit!!
Our instruments are speaking.
It's the process where beings that were human just moments ago transform into instruments, repeating their final words over and over.
A displeasing cacophony.
For us, hearing that scream-like dissonance in real time, it was truly maddening.
This is exactly why.
The current Ghost Story was upgraded from E-rank to B-rank.
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Those who refused the staff's guidance are pursued by the 'Red Orchestra' as they seek their own instruments.
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Wielding humans who have already become instruments through their hands, they begin collecting more instruments (humans).
The humans turned into instruments continuously scream. (Confirmed as ongoing mental damage.)
*Each individual instrument possesses power surpassing a C-rank item.
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The combat power of the Red Orchestra wielding instruments rivals that of a GRA Deputy Manager-level employee.
For reference, some notable instruments include:
A 'double bass' the size of an adult male, which can crush any living being in one blow like a hammer.
An axe blade attached to a violin body.
A trumpet with a rifle stock, using human fingers as bullets in its grotesque usage.
'These aren't instruments; they're weapons, aren't they?' I wanted to complain, but I kept my mouth shut.
If I voiced that grievance, my body would be smashed to pieces by those 'classical instruments' before I could finish.
【1 minute until the start of the 1st rehearsal.】
Now, this long, grueling chase would end in just one minute.
……Haa!!
I gasped for breath. My lungs were already at their limit, heaving sounds escaping my mouth.
With my piss-poor stamina, Park Yeon-jeong didn't look like he could last even that final minute.
“Th-this damn…… stamina!”
Everyone except me was running ahead, desperately evading the Red Orchestra.
In other words, I was falling behind alone.
I was already in a state where collapsing on the spot wouldn't be surprising.
This won't do.
If things continued like this, I might be the first one turned into an instrument.
Aaah it huuuurts!
Eek!
Too close!
The axe-bladed violin was now right on my tail.
'I was trying to save it as much as possible.'
No more holding back. If I did, I might end up smelling incense from inside my own coffin—a life-or-death crisis.
Knowing this would happen, the moment I tried to light the lighter I'd been clutching in my left hand.
Thud!
'Damn it!'
In that instant, my hand went slack, and I dropped the lighter to the floor.
It was too late to run now.
They're coming.
Of all places, the lighter had fallen right in the direction the orchestra members were approaching from.
I hurriedly reached out my arm.
Grab!
'Got it!'
I barely snatched the lighter.
Flick.
Whoosh!
Fortune smiled; it lit on the first try. I immediately held the incense to the flame, Park Yeon-jeong.
And as it began to burn, I shouted,
“It's do…….”
Slash!
Thud….
The axe blade swung with full force embedded in Park Yeon-jeong's crown, splitting an adult body in half like a watermelon, powerlessly.
Choi Kang-in, who had witnessed the scene with his own two eyes.
【We will now deliver an announcement.】
Everyone froze.
The voice booming from the speakers made every orchestra member halt in unison, as if on cue.
“Everyone, stop!!”
R Team, including Choi Kang-in, stopped in their tracks to assess the situation.
【We will now proceed with the first rehearsal.】
【Orchestra members, please gather in K-2 Room. Thank you.】
Click clack click.
As soon as the announcement identifying the orchestra ended, the Red Orchestra abandoned their pursuit and turned on their heels in unison.
The civilians sighed in relief as the Red Orchestra moved away from them.
But some could not.
R Team members, led by Choi Kang-in, couldn't tear their eyes from the bisected corpse.
They were puzzled by his incomprehensible actions.
'He gave up running and suddenly charged toward the enemies.'
Why?
The 'why' refused to leave his mind.
Just as he couldn't grasp what intent drove such behavior.
……Smoke?
Smoke rising from the gruesomely split body. And the familiar scent tickling his nose.
It was the incense smell he encountered daily at the GRA.
Step.
“……S-sec, Section Chief!”
“It's dangerous!”
Despite everyone's protests.
Choi Kang-in strode boldly toward the bisected corpse.
The R Team employees shouted warnings to stop him, yet none dared step forward.
Naturally, in this situation, approaching a dead body without any caution was the bizarre one: Choi Kang-in.
“…….”
He carefully examined the bisected body. Then he spotted the incense in the dead man's left hand.
It was almost entirely burned.
Choi Kang-in's gaze focused not on the sprawled corpse, but on the incense.
“……No way.”
A possibility flashed through Choi Kang-in's mind, but he dismissed it.
-Item.
It was an absurd notion.
'Was it my imagination…….'
That inexplicable survival instinct he felt upon first encountering this guy.
As if he had no choice but to follow him, he'd trailed silently all the way here driven by that instinct.
Yet his death was so futile and pathetic.
Plop.
The incense ash fell to the floor as it fully burned. Frowning and turning his head, Choi Kang-in.
Pondering how to deal with the upcoming orchestra assault.
His head already starting to ache.
“Section Chief! Behind! Look behind!”
“……!!! ”
At one employee's shout, Choi Kang-in twisted his body, hand on the item at his waist.
Rustle.
At the spot with the bisected corpse, something caught his eyes.
“N-no. How…….”
The body that had been split in half just moments ago began crumbling like burned ash.
And the man whose death he had clearly witnessed with his own eyes.
“Ugh… the taste of death is one I never want to feel again.”
Appeared unscathed, standing boldly before us on two feet.
I swallowed dryly.
And Choi Kang-in asked.
“…So that incense. It was an item, wasn't it?”
“……Yes.”
If he already knew, hiding it would just look suspicious.
A shady guy who knows about the GRA and possesses items.
Now they'd wonder what he was beyond someone to be wary of.
“……'Taste of Death.' I've seen a few of our employees use it.”
The first item bought from the Ghost Story Pawnshop.
Taste of Death.
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/Item List
Taste of Death.
(Death is always by our side.)
Highly recommended for those who want to experience 'death'!
While the incense burns, experience various deaths with your body.
Upon use: Astral projection/slight dizziness.
*All physical damage incurred while the incense smoke rises is fully restored once the incense burns out.
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Park Yeon-jeong, who had briefly dipped his toe in the river of death and returned.
The scorching gaze of the middle-aged man observing my every move now that I was back.
……Suffocating.
To hide my tension under the crushing pressure, I cleared my throat.
“…Ahem. Is there a problem…….”
It was just a small move to continue the conversation naturally.
“!!”
Snap!
But ignoring my innocent intent, Choi Kang-in reached for the item at his waist.
Park Yeon-jeong flinched…… no, cowered greatly.
I nearly collapsed on the spot.
Did I make some mistake?
Thinking Choi Kang-in might attack, I prepared to pull out the incense and lighter, lighting it while tensing up.
If all of R Team charged at once.
Then……
I might even have to use 'Thousands of Gazes'—considering the worst-case scenario.
“………Sorry. I think I overreacted.”
“……No, it's fine.”
The sudden apology.
'Choi Kang-in, you…….'
Already at an age prone to mood swings?
But I wouldn't refuse this treatment. Brushing off Choi Kang-in's apology, Park Yeon-jeong promptly handled what he needed to do.
“R Team, keep monitoring the surroundings! There are surely civilians suffering mental damage among them.”
“Yes!”
Choi Kang-in, the section chief, swiftly took charge. Truly the epitome of leadership, the lucky charm raising survival rates in this Ghost Story.
Having quickly rallied the surroundings, Choi Kang-in turned his gaze back to me.
“……I have something to ask you.”
Eyes filled with solemnity.
Looking at Choi Kang-in staring at me, Park Yeon-jeong thought: it's finally here.
“I'll answer within what I can.”
Deep down, I desperately wanted to explain my entire situation in detail and ask for help.
But that would turn me into a GRA lab rat.
Of course, being caught by the current Ghost Story wasn't exactly positive either.
…Still, this place has the 'off-duty' system. Partial freedom exists.
This is probably better…… maybe.
“Why are you helping us?”
The first question was a classic type.
What's the model answer?
“…Because it was necessary. For everyone to escape this place.”
“……That's not a lie.”
Yeah, I didn't lie.
That 'everyone' included me. Everyone's survival leads to mine.
“Then you…….”
“Wait a moment.”
“!!”
Choi Kang-in flinched again as I interrupted.
At this point, I worried if my tone sounded provocative to others. A social newbie, Park Yeon-jeong frets over his future career.
The reason I cut him off was simple.
“Shouldn't questions alternate between us……?”
I had questions too.
“……Sorry. I was rude again.”
Again.
His excessive courtesy and politeness.
Even if he's one of the few named sane characters in this world, he's been overly formal with me despite barely conversing.
That's what bothered me.
“I wanted to ask why you're being so formal with me.”
“…….”
No beating around the bush.
Some formality is needed.
But this precarious dynamic, where it feels like he'll attack any second, could spell trouble someday.
“Please be honest.”
“………….”
Choi Kang-in's silence lasted longer than usual.
But when it ended.
“…Ghost Story.”
“…….”
“You're a Ghost Story.”
“………?”
Me?
…Park Yeon-jeong = Ghost Story?
He's calling me a 'Ghost Story'.