Chapter 11

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 11

Chapter Title: Escape?

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"You're here?"

The girl was still sitting there with her legs elegantly crossed in that old-fashioned way, like some fried fish stick.

A faint smile played on her lips, as if she were pleased, as she spoke to me.

"I never imagined you'd come back to life. I just brought you along out of curiosity, and here you were, catching the eye of ■ and ■■."

■?

■■?

What the hell was this nonsense?

And why the fuck was my mouth sealed shut?

This fried fish stick bitch... Untie this shit!

"In human terms, they call it an investor? This is an investment from an investor. The place you just invested in went bust, so now you're the new bet."

"I hope we meet again. Human who's caught the interest of those two."

The girl, having said her piece,

turned to vanish after spitting out exactly what she wanted.

Crack!

I broke free of the bonds using nothing but sheer mental strength.

Snap!

I gave a good knuckle rap to the arrogant girl who dared call herself an investor.

"You fried fish stick bitch. A knuckle sandwich is just what you deserve."

"???????????"

With the girl's dazed expression,

when I opened my eyes again, I was back in the familiar pure white room.

The pure white room, devoid of any presence.

"Ugh... where the hell is this place now?"

"??????"

I was about to say that when I spotted Shin Yu-na lying next to me.

What the fuck was going on? Right as I was about to speak to her,

What the hell was she doing this for?

She couldn't even give a retirement bonus to a worker who'd slaved away for 10 years—instead, it's like telling them, "You're still young? Then keep working."

As I witnessed the extreme violation of human rights firsthand,

"Kiyaaaaaaaah!!!!!!"

I offered my condolences to her, now trapped in yet another workplace.

She'd been thrilled thinking she'd escaped.

Hmm, I did feel a little bad about this.

Would it have been better to just let her die? Considering she's now a sub-character, she'll probably stick around from here on out.

Shin Yu-na asked, trembling violently.

"Th-then... when can I go back?"

"Hell if I know."

"………So this is what it feels like to really want to kill yourself."

"Calm down. This place is hell where even suicide isn't allowed. Asei."

"Kuaaaaaah!!!!"

I tried asking the empty air about retirement methods, just in case.

But this fucking bastard still refused to answer.

Anyway, when's the next deployment?

Honestly, I busted my ass out there—surely they'd give me a little break?

As if my earnest plea had gotten through,

a specific number appeared in the air: [47 : 55 : 33].

Probably meant I had until that countdown hit zero to pick the next strange tale and spend points.

"This is a dream! A dreeeeam!!"

Ignoring Shin Yu-na's meltdown beside me,

I stared at the screen this time with the mindset to pick a better strange tale.

A new entry called [Mirror Forest] had appeared below the unchanged list.

There was no way to get info here anyway,

so I tried accessing the gallery still floating in the corner to post.

Once I announced I was alive,

the gallery flooded with questions like before.

Of course, I had no time to answer each one individually.

I posted, ignoring everything else.

Since I'd already proven I was human, no more bullshit backlash.

Ding! Ding!

As expected, answers came quick.

I didn't know the total headcount, but

it was clear there were gallery folks in the strange tales I could enter.

So next criterion: 'escape potential'.

A single line that even drew out the lurkers who hadn't shown up before.

Is this what it feels like to be a fashion icon?

I had to clear them anyway, so saving them was a bonus—but being worshipped stirred some heartwarming emotion.

Even the eye-only gallery folks started showing intent,

but

I drew a firm line.

Coldly speaking, if I could solo-escape right now, I'd ditch everyone and bounce.

I only help if they want it themselves.

The gallery split into two camps over the not-full-escape fact:

[Pro] camp saying they'd rather meet people before dying anyway,

and [Anti] insisting on solo escape.

Thus, among the three on the list, only one explicitly asked for help.

Mental Hospital 1st Tier, emphasizing she's a girl.

From what she said, she'd been moved to the psych ward due to pre-existing 'depression'.

Observing other wards,

most turned into replacement organs for other patients, or if faking, got shredded into dolls for the thing called the 'Director'.

Man, really don't wanna rescue her now.

15 years is enough to make even a menhera explode.

Having a straight-up SNS menhera right in front of me...

"It's got its own flavor, I guess."

Next strange tale: [Yeongwol General Hospital]. Confirmed.

Now, time to allocate the hard-earned points covered in blood and shit.

I opened the shop next,

and there it was.

The one true hope was listed there.