Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: One Night's Shopping (4)
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This place was incredibly dark.
So dark that I couldn't even see Team Leader Shin walking right in front of me, holding my hand.
Yet she navigated without the slightest hesitation, leading me forward.
"How do you know the way?"
I whispered as lowly as possible, and she replied.
"Execution Platform. See it?"
I lifted my head slightly. There it was. The Execution Platform. Elevated on the first floor, stairs encircled it completely, with eight faint lights tracing its rim.
Even in this pitch blackness, those eight dim lights ringing it were discernible.
"That's the center. And beneath the scattered lights, exhibits are placed at regular grid intervals if you look closely."
"I see."
"Right. So set an initial reference point, remember how many grids left or right, forward or back from there, and you can always return to your spot. Even better if you memorize what exhibit was there."
"Impressive."
"Professional, remember?"
Team Leader Shin responded confidently to my genuine admiration. She felt incredibly reassuring. Sure, she was an agent from an organization that posed a threat to me, so being too capable could be a problem... but right now, as allies, it was perfect.
Helping an unrelated civilian like me, putting me at ease, answering cooperatively. She even had a solid personality. Maybe their group was like that too...
That thought suddenly struck me.
If so.
Then my Responding Bear Doll...
Did it do those cruel things to good people like this?
Of course, the Responding Bear Doll only returned kindness with kindness and hostility with hostility...
But still. Why did I...
"We're here. We planned to check around this area. Listen closely. In this darkness, to avoid monsters and find people, we have to rely on our hearing."
Her words snapped me out of my reverie. She spoke to me softly and kindly, like a teacher instructing a student.
"The trick to listening well is minimizing your inner noise. Cut down on tiny movements as much as possible, hold your breath, silence your heartbeat, your gut rumbling, the rush of blood, even the ringing in your ears. Become utterly still. Then listen. Quietly, for sounds coming from outside."
Following her low, drowsy voice—like some kind of ASMR—I closed my eyes and quieted the noises within me.
My pounding heart settled, and in that hushed world, I heard the faint rustle of clothing brushing together. Breathing so subtle it was like trembling hairs. Tiny and faint as snow falling on a silent night, but unmistakably there.
I flinched and turned toward the sound without thinking.
"As expected of an ace."
A voice laced with laughter came from beside me. With my hearing heightened to the extreme, it rang crystal clear and ticklish, right in my ear.
"That's the right direction. Let's go. Slowly, without startling them—make just a hint of presence."
I walked alongside her. We'd taken maybe ten steps, deliberately making faint sounds, when a heavily suppressed voice came from ahead.
"T-Team Leader Shin?"
"Yes. It's me."
The presence drew closer.
"I-han, hold his hand here. I need to lead from the front."
Team Leader Shin took a man's hand and placed it in my free one. It was rough and calloused. His voice suggested he was in his forties.
But even someone who seemed that much older wanted to rely on Team Leader Shin, who looked like she was in her twenties, in a place like this.
"T-Team Leader Shin. What now?"
"We keep going like this. Circling around, rescuing people, mapping the terrain to find the exit. Don't worry. Every ghost story has an exit, and I'm the professional here."
Only then did the man's ragged breathing steady a bit.
"Uh... so does this person know something?"
He'd asked Team Leader Shin, but it was about me, so I answered.
"No. I just stumbled in and nearly got caught by a monster right away... The only thing I've seen in this space is that exhibit from earlier."
"Ah..."
A blatantly disappointed sound.
Team Leader Shin jumped in quickly, as if to defend me.
"Still, he shared some great insight. The exit might be near a souvenir shop."
"Souvenir shop...! Ah, right. It's an art gallery concept."
"Exactly. Aberrations like this—especially ones themed around humans—tend to follow those clichés closely. With that in mind, Park Bong-su, have you seen anything like a souvenir shop here?"
"No... Everything I saw in the past day... was just increasingly horrific exhibits. Like I said earlier, I picked one direction to find a wall... but no wall ever came, just more and more twisted body art the further I went... Peeling skin was basic, they even splayed people out into instruments or whatever... Ugh."
Mid-sentence, he seemed nauseous—his hand gripping mine trembled and grew slick with sweat.
Normally it'd feel gross.
But now, nothing.
I brushed off the discomfort from his hand and asked Park Bong-su.
"Hey, what did the description say? It might be a clue..."
"Huh? The description?"
"Yeah. On the metal plate..."
"No way. You read it?"
Read it?
I did. Mine was the Wind-up Device and the madman.
But Park Bong-su's voice was sharp and laced with wariness, so I played dumb.
"No. No chance before the monster came... Why? Can't read it? I thought it might be a clue."
"Ah. Don't read it. I saw someone who did. They went mad. It's not even readable... I just glimpsed it once myself and nearly got wrecked. My head all jumbled up..."
The man shuddered violently, like recalling a nightmare.
I clamped my mouth shut.
What the hell.
I read it just fine. Different for each piece?
Either way, better not admit I read it.
After a brief silence, Team Leader Shin picked up the thread.
"Then let's stick to the plan: spiral out from the Execution Platform and find survivors. More efficient to ask them about souvenir shops than search blindly ourselves."
"Yes."
"Y-Yes."
Both my voice and Park Bong-su's trembled slightly. Tension. Rummaging endlessly through this dark, terrifying place...
"Whether unlucky or lucky, we've already gathered three this quickly—it seems like a pretty aggressive people-puller of an aberration. Finding a few more might not be so hard. Alright, let's move. Ears wide open, steps silent. Seek people, evade monsters, stay sharp."
Team Leader Shin tugged my wrist, guiding us into the darkness. I tugged Park Bong-su's, following behind.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Team Leader Shin was every bit the professional she claimed.
In this space lit only by faint, sporadic lights amid total blackness, she never once got lost.
She always led us with utter confidence and spotted anomalies faster than anyone.
"Shh..."
When she pressed her ear to the ground with a hiss, it meant a monster was nearby. We'd follow her into the darkness, crouch low and still, then soon hear the click-clack scrape of dozens of needle-like legs on the floor.
Once it passed and quieted, we'd rise stealthily and move on.
After about three hours of searching, we found two more.
"I've been here less than a day, I think. Souvenir shop? No. Didn't see one. All I saw were... horrific corpses... This area's somewhat okay, but over there, they're all... urk. Multiple people sewn together into weird animals... urk..."
"I've... been here two days. But do you have any water? So... so thirsty... What? Souvenir shop? No, haven't seen it. Stairs... I saw stairs, but the bottom felt too creepy, couldn't go down. Yeah? Oh, all sorts of stuff. Some horrific, but others in that direction were normal. Like... teaching about the human world, eating scenes, lying down staring at phones. Realistic everyday stuff gathered... Yes. But really, no water...?"
A man swallowing dry, desperately parched.
Seeing him made the crisis hit me anew.
No food was one thing, but humans die after three days without water. Especially in a situation like this, constantly walking and searching—dehydration would come even faster.
Could we escape before that?
No one had seen so much as a wall ending this space, or even a pillar, let alone a souvenir shop...
I shoved down the creeping negativity and we'd walked another hour when it happened.
"Ah."
Team Leader Shin reacted first, as always.
Her steps quickened as she led us.
After about a minute, I started hearing it too. One person mumbling to themselves.
And then I saw her.
Under a faint light, a woman.
Wearing comfy workout clothes, a single bag slung over her shoulder.
Neck crooked awkwardly, gaze down.
Seemed like she was reading the metal plate with the exhibit description.
Muttering rapidly to herself, over and over.
"That looks like she's reading..."
Tension rippled through Park Bong-su's hand gripping mine.
Not mere worry—pure fear.
"A-Avoid her. Dangerous."
"W-Why's she doing that?"
The two newcomers voiced their anxiety from behind.
One seemed to know something, the other clueless like me.
Team Leader Shin went silent for a moment before asking one question.
"You said reading that drives you mad?"
"Y-Yes. Team Leader. I saw it once. People who read it—if you approach, they scream and charge. I nearly died."
"I... saw too. Once they're like that, they don't... respond."
Park Bong-su explained hurriedly.
The parched man chimed in hoarsely from behind.
Team Leader Shin fell silent again.
She wanted to save the woman—I could sense her glancing over repeatedly.
I'd felt it the whole way here.
Team Leader Shin. Definitely a good person.
Someone with a sense of duty to protect people, even in terror like this.
Even if she coldly decided to abandon, she'd feel regret over the choice.
Someone I could like.
Enough that I'd want to lend a hand.
But.
Couldn't I?
Suddenly.
Out of nowhere.
A thought flashed through my mind.
A crazy one.
Just thinking it spiked my heart rate and shortened my breath.
"I-han?"
Team Leader Shin noticed my change and squeezed my hand lightly.
I bit my lip.
Crazy idea.
But it wouldn't leave my head.
Maybe.
Maybe I.
Could save that person?
If she's gone mad from reading the metal plate description.
They say you can't even read it.
That even glancing messes up your head.
That they scream.
And charge.
But isn't it different for me?
Can't I do something?
Even if she's already mad, surely. Yeah. Something.
"I-han?"
Well.
I...