Chapter 16
Chapter 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: One Night's Shopping (7)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Right."
Team Leader Shin said in a tone full of conviction.
"I had my doubts, but it really is you. You're KEH."
No.
I hadn't even answered...
"No matter how you look at me, Kim I-han, your whole body has already answered. I can tell just from your breathing. Ordinary people can't hide their physical reactions well. Especially when hit with a sudden question like that in a situation like this."
A chill ran down my spine.
Really. Had I been found out?
By some unknown secret organization.
By the group that isolates ghost stories.
That I was the threatening existence creating those ghost stories.
Found out?
What now...
"But that's what makes it so unexpected."
"Y-Yes?"
Pfft. Team Leader Shin laughed.
There was something oddly non-hostile about it.
No. Was she luring me into letting my guard down?
"Look at you even now. You're so transparent. Or rather, you're too much like an ordinary person. If you were an Aberrant Reality Pollution Source, you couldn't possibly be this natural. Ha, I came here all prepared for a showdown with some monstrous freak. And who do I run into? Someone this cute."
I flinched.
Monstrous freak... she thought she'd meet one?
Doesn't that sound weird?
It was like she knew she'd run into me here.
...Should I ask?
But that would be admitting it. That I am KEH.
Screw it. It's already out in the open anyway.
No. There's a difference between them knowing and me admitting it outright.
I'm going insane.
I can't decide. My heart's pounding like a fish skewered on a spear.
"You don't have to be so on guard."
Team Leader Shin said.
"I bet your mind is racing right now. What now that they've found me out? Am I getting kidnapped? Do I have to go on the run from some transnational powerhouse? All sorts of thoughts must be swirling. But don't worry. We're not bad people. If I meant you harm, I wouldn't have asked so directly just now. I could've played dumb and waited for an opening. So why would I say it like this?"
Is... that so...?
Suddenly, Team Leader Shin's voice turned serious.
"I-han. Don't you need help?"
Help?
"From what I see, you're contaminated right now. Your human identity is still strong, sure, but contamination works like that. If you leave it alone, it eats away at you bit by bit. Am I wrong? You've probably already felt something off, right?"
...
That hit home.
Deep.
Experts are experts.
I'd definitely noticed changes in myself.
Like how I'd brushed off the danger while creating ghost stories, trying to gloss over it with rose-tinted glasses.
Or how I'd casually tried to talk to that grotesquely hideous monster after coming here.
But if it got worse...
That would be trouble.
Honestly, it scared me.
"We can help with that. Controlling the contamination. That's our specialty. So trust me once. I'm pretty well-regarded at the company, you know? Good connections too. No matter what, I'll have your back, even stake my life on it. Give me a shot."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. What am I supposed to trust you... about?"
"Ah. You finally spoke."
Team Leader Shin said in a voice laced with amusement.
"Join us as a new recruit. Under me."
"Pardon?"
"I'll take good care of you. For real."
Tap. A stiff piece of paper touched my fingertips. Her business card.
"My name is Shin Na. Team Leader of the World Health Safety League's Korean Branch, Regular Team 2. Shin Na."
"World... Health Organization?"
"That's WHO. We're WHSL. Whistle. The international-sounding name is camouflage, obviously. A name like that doesn't raise suspicions no matter what country we're operating in."
Tap tap. Her hand tapped my elbow.
"I'll explain the details outside. Make sure to call me once you're out."
...
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Maybe I can trust her.
No. I want to trust her.
Just the fact that I wouldn't have to live in anxiety, hostile to some shadowy secret organization.
And even better, I could learn to control my power from within.
Above all, living a life full of these bizarre events might actually be pretty fun...
"Oh, and our salaries are killer, by the way. A doctor who opened their own practice and is doing pretty well? They'd make about half what our newbies pull in."
...Sounds perfect.
So in the end,
"Why... do you think... I'm KEH?"
I said it.
I let it slip.
A desire for peaceful coexistence over conflict with a secret organization.
A wish to trust this woman named Team Leader Shin Na standing before me.
Those feelings won out.
I'd basically confessed with my own mouth.
As I tensed up, Shin Na spoke.
"That person you saved earlier. I checked on them. Their condition."
"Ah."
"They had an obsession. That someone was constantly watching them."
"Yeah."
"I asked if they felt a bit better. Guess what they said?"
Shin Na lowered her voice.
"They didn't even understand the question of whether they felt better."
"Huh?"
"They said of course they're always being watched—what kind of nonsense is that? So I asked if they were still being watched now, and they said yes, they're under massive surveillance. Same as before. Isn't that seriously weird?"
"..."
"So I asked: Then why aren't you freaking out like earlier? And they said they could endure it. Because those watchers were just observing, not doing anything—that fact came to mind."
"..."
Shin Na said gravely.
"Who told her that 'fact'? Who added a new 'fact' to an already triggered contamination? No matter how I think about it, it could only be you, Kim I-han. In that situation earlier."
"Yeah... you're right."
"And honestly, the reason I came here today was because of KEH."
"...How?"
"There's this item. It's an Aberrant Reality Pollution Source, but useful. I used it. Fate's Red Thread. It guarantees a connection to KEH. Like all contaminations, it has side effects, but the performance is solid. Proof: I met you."
...There's an item like that too.
A shiver—or was it relief?—ran down my spine. I couldn't tell.
Yeah. Even if I'd tried to hide my identity and run to the end, it wouldn't have been easy against an organization like this Whistle with who-knows-what resources.
"Before the time limit ran out, the only ones I met were you, Kim I-han, and Park Bong-su. Sure, I kept the possibility in mind that this whole contaminated space might be linked to KEH... but then I saw it. You saving someone on the brink of being consumed by contamination by adding a 'fact' that wasn't there. An incredible scene."
"It wasn't that incredible..."
"No. I've never even imagined something like this was possible. And it's not just me. Everyone at the company would be shocked."
Suddenly, Shin Na's expression turned serious.
I started feeling uneasy for no reason, but then she burst into a bright smile.
"So please. Call me. I want to work with you."
"...Okay."
In the end, I answered.
Believing—hoping—that everything would work out.
I decided to join hands with her.
...
That was the future I'd envisioned.
In the unpredictable depths of a ghost story.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After scouting it out, the finalized escape plan was this.
First, me and Team Leader Shin Na lure the monsters.
Second, the other four escape first.
Third, I follow behind them.
Fourth, Team Leader Shin Na holds off the monsters until the end, then escapes.
"...Isn't Team Leader taking on all the risk alone?"
"I'm a pro. Trust me. This isn't my first or second rodeo. I've got secret weapons too."
She answered so straightforwardly that my worries felt unfounded.
Once the plan was set, we moved fast.
Our target: the 'Execution Platform' atop the circular stairs.
Eight dim lights flickered, illuminating the monsters circling around it.
Team Leader Shin Na and I hid in the shadows on opposite sides of the Execution Platform.
The other four hid on the side midway between us, like the base of an isosceles triangle, waiting for their chance.
I moved first.
"Hoo..."
What Team Leader Shin Na gave me was a plastic device—round on top, flat on the bottom.
She called it a firecracker. Hold down the round switch on top, and it explodes ten seconds after you release it.
10. 9. 8... 2. 1.
I counted to ten and set it on the ground. It would blow in 100 seconds.
From here on, no sounds. Monsters were nearby—if I made even a peep, I'd end up exhibited somewhere in this place.
I moved carefully but as quickly as possible. Far enough that I wouldn't get caught by the monsters rushing to the first explosion.
But this wasn't withdrawal.
On the contrary, I stealthily moved even farther from the Execution Platform and set another firecracker. Held it for ten seconds, then placed it.
After setting three in total, the first one went off.
Boom boom boom! Fweeeee!
A deafening explosion echoed through the pitch-black space, bright sparks bursting forth.
Click?
Far away on the Execution Platform. The monsters reacted, stabbing the ground with their dozens of needle-like legs.
Now it begins.
No turning back.
Believing the Execution Platform is the exit, we start the game of tag.
All six of us. We'll escape.