Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 114. Porter
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When I was a kid, I remembered watching a children's movie.
It was about kids entering a living house and exorcising the evil spirits inside.
My young heart trembled so much watching it.
But now, seeing the house devour humans right in front of me, I could finally understand why I'd been so scared back then.
...
The walls. And the people turned into lamps.
Yoo Daon stepped up beside Eileen, who was walking ahead.
"I'll go with you."
"It could be dangerous."
"That's why I'm coming along."
Yoo Daon smiled, clenched her fist, and thumped her chest.
"I'm always at the front even in the HR Team."
"Such a spirited girl."
"Shouldn't you be the spirited one, Eileen, based on age?"
Yoo Daon was actually older. But the way Eileen talked, she sounded almost forty.
...
She stared at me blankly at my words.
"Are you picking on my age right now?"
"I'm not picking on you."
"Really?"
She let out a deep sigh.
"Sorry. So many guys around me pick on me for being young."
"No, it's fine."
It felt weird hearing the word "pick on" from a blonde foreigner younger than me.
"Who wants to pull the elder card when dealing with monsters or containment objects."
"I feel the same."
Song Arin picked up after Eileen, who sighed in sympathy.
"Can't they just focus on work? They always drag in personal stuff to wear you out."
"Does it happen often?"
"All the time. The real stress at work comes from people, not the job itself."
Song Arin sighed, and Eileen nodded in agreement.
"Our Team Leader doesn't do that."
"He's exceptionally cool."
"He doesn't crave power in the first place."
Song Arin nodded at my words, and Eileen nodded too, like she got it.
So that's why the Team Leader wasn't into that stuff.
-Creak, creeeak...
We moved slowly, looking around.
A lamp that didn't fit the modern building swayed.
Every time I looked,
[Name: WJDDBSALS]
[Age: X]
[Specialty: X]
[Talent: Absorption]
[Background: This is alive.]
[Weakness: Being alive means it can be killed.]
Lamps with the same description, differing only in name, asserted their presence.
If my guess was right, these were people turned into furniture.
I turned to Yoo Daon.
"Daon, sorry to ask this."
"Should I grab that lamp?"
"...How did you know?"
"You kept staring at it."
Yoo Daon said it casually, grabbed the lamp's handle, then immediately frowned like it felt gross.
"Ugh..."
"Something wrong?"
"No, it's just..."
Yoo Daon muttered, unable to smooth her brow.
"The texture is so weird. Like touching human flesh. The temperature too."
"...Should we put it somewhere safe for now?"
If these things followed the house's will and exploded or attacked us like before, it'd be a big problem.
And these furniture people were innocent, anyway.
"Somewhere safe..."
Yoo Daon muttered, then hurried to the entrance and set the lantern down.
"This way, we can grab it and run if needed. Not sure if we'll call for backup or not."
"Backup..."
The most reliable backup that wouldn't cause issues.
I pulled out my smartphone and called right away.
"What."
After a short ring, the Team Leader's gruff voice hit my ear. I quickly explained everything.
"Damn it, I told them to keep me out of crap like this-"
"It's an orphanage, seems like kids are here too. Please, Team Leader."
"...I'll get there as fast as I can."
He sighed at my words, said that, and hung up.
"Team Leader says he'll handle it, so we're good."
No matter what, he's a pro at looking out for himself.
"Song Arin, there really are living people here, right?"
"...Yeah."
Song Arin closed her eyes, focused, and nodded.
"Not chaotic emotions, but pure fear. Only someone with an intact mind can feel that."
"Then let's hurry."
And so we ventured deeper into the darkness.
*
"I can feel it from inside here."
In front of the door marked 101, Song Arin muttered with a serious look and glanced at me.
"Jaeheon, see anything?"
Yoo Daon gripped the handle and looked at me.
...
I focused on the door, but saw nothing special, so I shook my head. Yoo Daon immediately pushed it open.
-Creak...
As soon as the door opened, rapid footsteps pattered, and someone spread their arms to block us.
She looked high school age. Fresh from school? She wore a uniform, and her black hair with pink highlights fell to her shoulders.
Her eyes glowed an eerie blue, wide open as she glared at me.
"Sis!"
I looked behind her to see kids gazing at us and her worriedly.
...
A translucent window floated above her head.
[Name: Park Ye-eun]
[Age: 17]
[Specialty: Porter]
[Talent: -]
[Background: She lost her mother in a car accident and her father in some incident. When she came to, she was at the Management Bureau's orphanage.]
[Weakness: She's a normal human. Stab a vital spot and she dies.]
...
Park Ye-eun.
So this was Park Ye-eun.
As I kept checking above her head, she stared at me and spoke.
"Who are you?"
"Uh, well, you see."
How do I explain the Management Bureau?
"You know... We're here to rescue you..."
"Management Bureau?"
I wondered how she knew about it, but then I remembered the uncle who saved her said it was from Gangseo University Hospital, so yeah.
"...Yeah."
Her face finally relaxed.
"Kids, this uncle's here to save us."
Uncle?
I'm still in my twenties.
"Really?"
"Y-Yeah, yeah. That's right."
Hope lit up the kids' faces.
"Can we go out now?"
"Yeah, we can get out."
Park Ye-eun spoke gently to the kids, then looked at me.
"This place suddenly got weird."
"Weird how?"
"The walls came alive... The teachers were evacuating us when they got taken. Didn't you see any on the way?"
"We came through fine, no issues."
"That's weird..."
Park Ye-eun muttered in wonder, then looked up at me.
"First, can we get the kids out...?"
"Yeah, that's best."
No telling what could happen here. We couldn't stay long.
"You're here to save the kids, right?"
"Yeah."
Technically, we were also here to catch someone.
"There are still kids back there. The teachers moved them to a safe room earlier... We should head there first."
"It'll be dangerous."
"It's fine. I, uh, have my ways."
She fumbled her words several times. I recalled the "Porter" from earlier.
No clue what it meant.
"Alright. Then... someone needs to escort the kids."
Like she said, we couldn't send them alone. Needed someone who could protect them and respond well if things went south.
"Chaeyeon. Team Leader should be outside. Take the kids to him and rejoin if it's safe. Please."
"Got it."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded like she'd expected it and turned to the kids.
"I'll take you."
"Thank you, pretty sis!"
The kids bowed their heads in thanks.
Why was she "sis" and I'm "uncle"?
Unlike my grievance, Jang Chaeyeon gave a faint smile and beckoned the kids.
"Be careful."
"We're good. Still three more here."
"Still."
"Don't worry."
She waved and led the kids the other way.
"This way."
After watching them go, Park Ye-eun pointed and started guiding us.
"I'll tell you what happened first."
"Yeah."
She took a breath and spoke.
"The director said a guest came. Then suddenly everything shrank... Walls swallowed people, teachers grabbed the kids and ran."
"Suddenly?"
"Yeah, if I had to say... He brought some kind of pinwheel."
"That pinwheel's probably the culprit."
"Let's check the safe room first. Teachers said it'd be safest there."
The rest nodded, and Park Ye-eun led the way.
"You're really from the Management Bureau, right, uncle?"
"Yeah."
"What's so great about the Management Bureau?"
"What's great?"
How to explain.
As I pondered, she spoke.
"I want to join the Management Bureau too."
Park Ye-eun muttered as she walked beside me.
"My dad saved me and vanished. Turns out it was Gangseo University Hospital."
"Yeah-"
"And I heard. He died there."
"...I see."
"I want to go to the Management Bureau and get revenge."
...
What to say.
As I thought, I spotted a path piled high with junk.
Junk stacked enough to block a wall.
"...Barricade?"
From what? And how in that short time?
As we stared puzzled, Park Ye-eun rolled up her sleeves with a grunt.
"What are you doing?"
"Moving this."
"How do you know who stacked it?"
"I did it myself?"
"...You had time?"
"Ah..."
She looked embarrassed at my words, coughed awkwardly, and glanced at us.
"Don't tell anyone about this."
-Crack!
A strange sound came from her slender arms,
"Hup!"
And Park Ye-eun lifted the junk pile with both hands, hoisting it onto her back.
Half the junk mountain shifted to her back like luggage.
"Ngh..."
Like a woodcutter loading logs, the massive pile sat on her back.
"...I can carry loads like this?"
The high school girl, younger than me, stared back while bearing a mountain of junk. The dissonance hit hard.
Park Ye-eun was a porter in the truest sense.