Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 60. Shipboard Theater?
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I heard the cruise circles the country for a week.
It was supposed to be a time to cut ties with the everyday world, soak in the stunning views, and just unwind...
But as I climbed the stairs, only one thought ran through my head.
The Management Bureau needs to go under.
What kind of deranged, exploitative company pulls this? Here I am on a cruise vacation, and I'm stuck dealing with this nonsense again?
If this trip goes south, I'll march straight to the branch chief myself.
I barely reined in my seething rage and kept walking alongside Yoo Daon.
"Lately, things have been a bit too quiet..."
"Yeah... But isn't it nice that we're together at least?"
Yoo Daon walked along, chatting brightly.
I really should try to adopt that positive mindset of hers, but I just couldn't.
"But did something feel off to you?"
"Hmm... There was a fishy smell, and I saw something in my vision too."
"A fishy smell?"
Yoo Daon leaned way forward from behind me and sniffed.
"All I smell is you, Jaeheon."
"I smell?"
At my words, Yoo Daon froze for a second, then widened her eyes and frantically shook her head in denial.
"No! I mean, like... super calming? Reassuring?"
"So, no bad smells, right?"
"Nope!"
She shouted the instant I finished speaking, and I just shrugged.
Yeah. Better than her saying I stink, by a hundredfold.
I looked up again at the person climbing the stairs ahead.
After getting scammed by my eyes once and experiencing all sorts of dangers firsthand, I'd learned one thing: a blank name and a partially visible one are completely different.
For example, the branch chief's name shows as [ - ].
But the one I saw earlier was [ X X Min ], so that person had lost their name for some reason.
In other words, someone whose name had vanished.
I'd rarely seen that before—except for exactly once...
My gaze drifted toward the theater marked [Under Preparation].
No way it's the sequel to the 'Red Lady.' At least that would have a solution.
I racked my brain for any link between the Red Lady and the fishy smell, but nothing clicked. If I had to describe it, the odor was like the rancid stink of the sea.
I climbed the stairs and followed the person.
"...Huh, now I smell it."
Yoo Daon wrinkled her nose as she sniffed.
"Fishy. Faint, but it's there."
"...I don't smell anything."
I sniffed right after her, but nothing.
"Then I'll lead the way."
Yoo Daon took the front, expertly tracking the scent.
What is this, some bloodhound routine?
I followed her, scanning the surroundings.
Past the ornate stairs and hallways, toward the back—the glamour vanished, replaced by pitch-black corridors and rusted walls.
"Looks like the back offices."
"Seems that way."
Yoo Daon crept up beside me, whispering with muffled footsteps.
Now even my nose picked up a faint fishy whiff.
We followed stealthily, guns at the ready at the sound of splashing—Yoo Daon led in her gloves.
The smell intensified around the corner at the end of the long hall.
...
Yoo Daon clenched her fist, paused briefly, then whipped around the corner.
"...Huh?"
She stopped dead and muttered in bewilderment.
"What is it?"
"There... is something? No, maybe not...?"
I stepped behind her dazed muttering and checked it out myself.
"What the...?"
"Yeah..."
The source of the stench was just a foul puddle and the soaked clothes from the person I'd chased earlier, discarded there.
I scanned around quickly, but my eyes caught nothing.
"...The person didn't turn into water, right?"
Yoo Daon squatted by the puddle, sniffing intently.
"What if the water comes alive and attacks?"
"Then I die. Whatever."
I sighed at Yoo Daon casually dropping a line that would terrify anyone else, then stared hard at the clothes.
Should I leave them here? Or take them?
"Just grab the clothes."
"Got it."
Yoo Daon scooped them up and scurried off at my say-so, and I followed.
*
"...The smell."
Jang Chaeyeon pinched her nose and muttered the moment she saw the clothes we'd brought.
Song Arin was still busy warning the Management Bureau staff everywhere.
"Two things are bothering me."
Both women focused intently on me at my words.
"First, this whole situation feels way too contrived."
"Contrived?"
"Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon eyed me curiously.
"It's like the fishy smell hits right on cue, someone brushes past me like they're waiting for it, and they leave these clothes behind like perfect clues."
"Like a scripted play, all neat and tidy?"
"Exactly."
"Hmm..."
Jang Chaeyeon scratched her cheek thoughtfully, then nodded.
"Got it. What's next?"
"The second follows from that... Thinking about plays brought up something bad."
"That Red Lady mess we got dragged into?"
"Right."
Jang Chaeyeon's face darkened instantly at my words.
"Should we smash the theater?"
"If wrecking it fixed things, I'd be all for it."
But from the plays I'd experienced, smashing the theater wouldn't help much. It felt more like a 'phenomenon.'
"And if you smash it, you'd literally pulverize the place."
"...Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded slowly at my words.
"If the ship collapses, we're all dead for real... So let's try to wrap this up with as little destruction as possible."
No smashing? Easier said than done.
The Management Bureau can foot the bill. Whatever.
I tucked away the irresponsible thought and glanced around.
People still enjoying themselves.
Song Arin was probably rounding up the Bureau folks just fine.
I pulled walkie-talkies from my pocket and handed them to the two.
"Oh, you brought walkie-talkies?"
"Just in case."
Just in case, I packed walkie-talkies. And guns.
"Here, one each."
I distributed them to Jang Chaeyeon, Yoo Daon, and myself, then for the last one, pulled out a pen and scribbled on a note: [Song Arin, grab this and head to the theater], leaving it in the corner.
"...This work?"
"If it's the Song Arin I know, she'll sniff it out like a ghost."
She's sharp as a tack, after all.
"But where to?"
"There."
I pointed at the theater sign reading [Under Inspection].
"...You sure?"
"Worried?"
"About you getting hurt."
I was reminded yet again how Jang Chaeyeon could lob straight balls that were downright scary sometimes.
"Alright, then—"
-Boom!
A massive thud rocked the ship to a halt.
Murmurs rose, some screams piercing the air in shock.
Soon, a sharply dressed man in a suit appeared, grabbing a wireless mic to speak.
"Everyone, please don't worry! The hull is perfectly fine—no need for concern at all! Relax and enjoy your first day!"
The crowd hushed under his booming voice, then chatter resumed.
But the mood had clearly soured.
Catching on, the man grabbed the mic again and bellowed.
"Everyone! Fresh news just in—the play originally set for midnight is ready early, so we can start ahead of schedule!"
This I didn't see coming.
Unaware of my stunned look, the man clutched the mic, yelling desperately to defuse things.
"The smash hit from recently...! R, R, what was it...? .....Uh. ...Uh... Anyway, it's that one! From a famous troupe! We guarantee it'll satisfy you all!"
-Shrrk!
As if the show were inevitable, the [Under Preparation] sign vanished, leaving only the pitch-black theater entrance welcoming the crowd.
Bewildered folks shrugged and headed toward it.
Any headaches brewing?
I quickly checked myself—no anomalies.
But if the play had already started, we couldn't go in.
I recalled the Red Lady ordeal.
Thinking of that nightmare made me want to hurl.
Should I block the others from entering?
As I thought that and moved to tell the two to hold up—
-Shwoosh!
Water poured from the theater entrance amid screams like the world ending.
People turned toward it in a hubbub, our eyes following.
"No way, what the—"
Before I could finish, a massive fishy stench hit, seawater gushing from the entrance.
"Everyone! Watch out—!"
Before I finished shouting, the wave swept us away.
I plunged into the water.
It rushed past my eyes, my nose, my guts, then back up my throat—I vomited seawater.
Gills sprouted.
I looked up at the sky, but what I saw was the night sky filtered through the depths—not the real one.
I screamed, but with no lungs, only seawater spewed out.
*
Warm morning sunlight tickled my face.
"Gah!"
I clutched my throat and bolted up.
I looked around.
My room.
I'd collapsed on the bed without even changing, soaked in cold sweat, shivering.
A dream? Moments ago, I was waiting for the pre-midnight show at the theater.
Hold on.
I slowly turned to the window.
Far off, the sun rose on the eastern horizon.
Second day of the cruise trip.