Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: One Night's Shopping (6)
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"Execution Platform?"
A question shot back immediately.
Our current group consisted of the middle-aged man, Park Bong-su; a man in his early thirties who had just been dehydrated but had regained some strength after drinking water; a female college student who said she'd been wandering here for about half a day; and the woman in her mid-twenties whom I'd just rescued. Add Shin Team Leader and me, making six in total.
The one who had just voiced the doubt was Park Bong-su.
"How could the Execution Platform be the exit?"
His voice was heated, as if he were angry.
But Shin Team Leader answered without a hint of agitation.
"Assuming we can't find the exit by wandering around like this, the only places left are those two: the Execution Platform and the stairs."
"Then it must be the stairs."
"What's your basis?"
"Come on. Do you have any basis for it being the Execution Platform? Obviously, it can't be that place."
Park Bong-su.
I understood his feelings, but he seemed overly excited from fear. Perhaps that anxiety was contagious, as everyone started chiming in one by one.
"No way. Shin Team Leader, you don't actually think the Execution Platform is the exit, do you?"
The man in his early thirties.
"I saw the stairs too... They're ominous, sure. But the Execution Platform can't be it, right?"
The female college student.
"The stairs... We haven't seen the people who went down them again. But maybe that's because it was the exit... Ah. Still, the stairs are really scary... There's this inexplicable weird feeling."
The woman in her late twenties I'd just saved.
Everyone looked anxious.
No. Terrified, probably.
Glances flicking nervously toward the Execution Platform.
There were always monsters near the Execution Platform.
Even now, under the dim lighting, monsters with dozens of needle-like legs could be glimpsed scuttling about.
Thinking that place was the exit... Yeah, it felt truly hopeless.
What was Shin Team Leader thinking?
"Everyone, quiet."
Her voice cut low through the darkness.
There's a moment when a master actor delivers a single line and instantly seizes the audience's full attention.
It's human nature to fall silent and focus before something extraordinary.
This was exactly that.
Just "quiet." That one word, and the chaotic bubbling anxiety settled like cold water poured over it.
In the silence, Shin Team Leader spoke softly.
"To be honest... Yes. I'm drawn to the Execution Platform. In my experience, places that look like dead ends have often been the way out. More importantly, in polluted spaces like this, you have to be cautious about stairs. No one knows where they lead."
"...But that alone doesn't make the Execution Platform the exit..."
Park Bong-su... I get you're scared, but come on.
Speaking in that trembling voice just makes the rest of us more anxious.
I bit my lip nervously, and Shin Team Leader cut Park Bong-su off sharply.
"Of course. That's why we need plausibility now. Ghost stories thrive on plausibility. For example, this place is an art gallery or museum, right? Kim I-han said earlier that art gallery exits often have gift shops nearby, so finding one might lead to the exit. That's plausibility. So let's think together: between the stairs and the Execution Platform, which has higher plausibility as the exit."
Exit. Plausibility.
Ghost stories really do hinge on plausibility...
But it felt so vague. I had no clue.
As everyone stayed silent, perhaps feeling the same, Shin Team Leader added,
"The key here is not thinking from a human perspective. Imagine from the pollution source's viewpoint—what might it look like? Use your imagination together. To me, either the stairs or the Execution Platform seems like something you'd have to risk your life twice to approach... So we need a more convincing answer."
Ah.
Hold on.
Pollution source's perspective?
A spark flashed in my mind!
Wait, then from those monsters' perspective, what is the Execution Platform, and what are the stairs?
Various thoughts clicked together in my head.
First off,
The Shadow Office called this place a "market."
So, in a market, what is it when something is hoisted up and blood is drawn?
...Showing off merchandise? Like in a Chinese restaurant demonstrating hand-pulled noodles, or at a market where they slice open a watermelon right in front of you to reveal the red flesh.
So, those monsters dragging people away, hoisting them up on the Execution Platform, and drawing blood—couldn't that be a kind of market showmanship, a hawking technique?
If so,
Then the place to buy merchandise in this art gallery is right on top of that Execution Platform, meaning it's not an execution platform at all—it's essentially a stall... Wait, doesn't that make it the gift shop?
The place with the exit!
...
"I-han? Got any ideas?"
Shin Team Leader noticed me deep in thought and asked.
"Just a moment..."
I rasped out the words and pushed my thinking further.
There was potential. Definitely potential.
But I couldn't explain it directly. This being a market was info only I knew.
If I just blurted it out, Shin Team Leader might go, "A market? How do you know that, I-han? Are you a pollution source too?" and start investigating me. That would be a real problem.
So, I needed to think. A way to explain the plausibility without mentioning "market."
Market. Market. Gift shop. Exit... Ah.
"Shin Team Leader."
"Yes."
"What if... that isn't an Execution Platform... but an experience zone?"
"...An experience zone?"
"Yes."
Back in school, on field trips to museums, it was always like that.
On the way out after seeing the exhibits, the final area near the exit was usually an interactive experience zone. Where you stack blocks, draw simple pictures, or color things.
"From the pollution source's view, in a space exhibiting humans, actually doing something with a real human corpse would be the ultimate experience, right?"
"..."
Did it click?
Did my words get through?
After a silence, Shin Team Leader said,
"That... makes sense."
It clicked.
"Yes. And experience zones are usually near the exit. After the experience zone comes the gift shop."
"..."
Shin Team Leader fell silent again.
"...You're a genius."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing."
She seemed to mutter something...
She raised her voice slightly and addressed everyone.
"It's decided. We'll escape through the Execution Platform."
"Wh-what! How can we go on such shaky grounds...!"
Park Bong-su raised his trembling voice. At that moment.
"Then. You're out."
Shin Team Leader's cold voice cut in.
Her first informal speech since arriving here.
Park Bong-su gasped and shut his mouth.
Shin Team Leader said coldly,
"What's certain in a polluted space? Before a decision, fine. But once the leader decides and you refuse to follow, we split."
Park Bong-su said nothing.
Shin Team Leader ignored him and continued,
"I'll lure those pollution sources and draw them out. Use that opening to escape. However... We'll have to check details up close, but depending on the situation, one more person might need to help with the lure besides me. Prepare yourselves mentally. If needed, you'll have to do it."
"..."
Everyone went mute as if they'd swallowed honey.
Help with the lure.
The mere thought sent pins-and-needles fear through my legs.
"If needed, you'll have to do it."
That meant,
If no volunteers, she'd designate someone.
A stark declaration: for escape, you might have to take risks too.
It was burdensome, but no one said they'd opt out.
Whether it was agent skill or not, no one here was more trustworthy than Shin Team Leader. They all figured sticking with her was the way to escape. Me included.
Right.
But. That lure thing.
Thinking about it calmly.
Among us, excluding Shin Team Leader, who could properly handle it...
+++
We slowly made our way through the darkness to near the Execution Platform.
More monsters roamed there, so we had to be extra cautious.
Shin Team Leader was busy observing the Execution Platform.
How many monsters, their movement patterns, which direction to lure from, where to attempt escape. Something like that.
And I.
Was trembling.
"Shin Team Leader..."
"Yes?"
"Looks like... we'll need it, right? The lure."
"Ah... Yes. I think so. There are more than expected, so we'll need to alternate luring from both sides to create an escape angle."
"I see..."
My breath trembled involuntarily.
Because.
No matter how I thought about it.
That lure.
It was going to be me.
Think about it. Park Bong-su's a middle-aged guy. The other man's early thirties, but was dehydrated until recently, so his stamina's shot. The remaining two are women...
The youngest, a guy, and the most energetic since arriving not long ago.
Me?
Yeah, me. So if Shin Team Leader picks someone for the lure, it'll be me.
A near-certain gut feeling.
So I resolved myself.
Fine. If I'm going to end up doing the lure anyway. Better to volunteer than be forced.
She's from an organization that could be a threat; building rapport might pay off later.
I squeezed my eyes shut and said,
"Shin Team Leader. I'll... I'll do the lure."
Ah.
I tried not to tremble, but my voice shook at the end.
Pfft.
A small laugh echoed from the darkness. What? Laughing? Mocking?
"You know that?"
A voice still tinged with amusement came.
"Pardon? Know what?"
Shin Team Leader's long, slender fingers lightly gripped and released my hand.
"Kim I-han. You give off that vibe. Like Shinji from Evangelion."
What?
Suddenly, an insult?
But,
The very next words from Shin Team Leader made me freeze solid.
"As expected. Kim, right? Kim I-han."
"...Pardon?"
W-wait,
I'd clearly told her without the family name, but earlier she naturally called me Kim I-han too...
Hold on. What does this mean?
From the darkness beyond, a calm yet weighty voice slid in smoothly.
"Kim I-han. By any chance... are your initials KEH?"