Luck-Skinny (3)

The jelly purchasing process was incredibly simple.

But for Cheong Harin, it was practically a matter of life and death.

This was the path to earning the recognition of the Ga-grade fixer (?), Baek San-a!

'And the simpler the task, the more unpredictable it is. Stay calm...!'

Because she was a Ra-grade who couldn't control the power of an anomaly, she had to be even more thorough.

Besides, didn't she have a talent that shone precisely because she was a Ra-grade?

Her ability to grasp the weaknesses and strategies of even a first-time anomaly was a prime example.

That was how she had secured the number four spot in the Cheong Coalition.

"...Huh?"

When faced with a suspicious situation, she became exceptionally cautious.

She would transform into a beast with razor-sharp instincts, a stark contrast to her usual clumsy self.

Just like right now.

"What is this?"

After signing the ledger at the counter, she followed the person in front of her onto the blood donation bus.

It was supposed to be a bus...

But the corridor stretching before her eyes was far too wide and long to be the inside of a bus.

It felt as though she had stepped right into the middle of an abandoned hospital.

Even the person who had entered just ahead of her was nowhere to be seen.

"Ugh..."

The pungent stench of blood assaulted her nose, and Cheong Harin covered the lower half of her face with her sleeve.

From somewhere, water droplets dripped incessantly, tapping against a metal sink.

Aside from that, not a single sound could be heard.

Not even the chatter of the people waiting in line.

Which meant...

"It hasn't even been that long since I almost died to an anomaly..."

Despite the rising tide of panic, Cheong Harin managed to hold back her scream.

Who knew what would happen if she made a sound?

When caught in an anomaly phenomenon, one had to keep a cool head.

But.

But...

She had finally managed to start working with a Ga-grade fixer.

Even if she couldn't be a proper fixer right away, she could at least be a promising rookie watching greatness from the sidelines.

She wept tears of blood.

It was truly agonizing.

The second most painful moment of her entire life.

"What a dog-shit life...!"

The average time to donate blood was about thirty minutes.

Since I had already waited an hour, waiting another thirty minutes was nothing.

I figured I'd just casually browse the Gallery, wait for Cheong Harin to return in glory with the jelly, and then head back to the office with her.

Thirty minutes passed like that.

It was right around the time Cheong Harin should have been heading back with the jelly.

"—tell me straight. You didn't gather people here just to sell jelly, did you?"

"No, of course not! That is an absurd misunderstanding...!"

"Then why hasn't my friend, who came to buy jelly two hours ago, returned? The people in line said they saw him go in to donate blood! There's clearly something going on here!!"

"I-If you exit through the back door of the blood donation bus, it leads to the back of the store. Naturally, the other customers waiting in line wouldn't have seen your friend leave...!"

I was waiting near the back door of the bus for Cheong Harin to come out when the inside of the convenience store suddenly grew noisy.

Browsing the Gallery is fun and all, but who can resist watching a real-life fight?

I quickly ran over to peek.

"...Huh?"

Isn't that the guy who posted on the Gallery earlier?

The one who said his office colleague hadn't returned.

Looking at his distinct red outfit, there was no mistake.

I watched from the sidelines, not wanting to get dragged into trouble, while the people waiting in line muttered in annoyance.

"Ugh, I'm busy as hell. What is he doing?"

"He obviously took the stuff and ran. Stop bothering the owner and just put out a bounty on him."

"What? I'm telling you, a person has vanished!"

"Thanks to you, my jelly is about to vanish."

"Didn't you just come here because you wanted to buy more jelly anyway?"

"No... *sigh*."

As I quietly observed, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

'Come to think of it, why did that office only send one person?'

Think about it.

This was an event with a purchase limit per person.

Even if Awakened individuals couldn't participate due to the blood donation requirement, wouldn't it be more profitable for the rest of the office staff to line up and buy their individual quotas?

Besides, that office wasn't some broke, bottom-tier place.

It was a stable, mid-sized Da-grade office, well-known for working hard.

"Damn it... this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is driving me crazy..."

Unable to withstand the glaring eyes of the crowd, the man who caused the scene finally stormed out of the store.

I reached out and grabbed his wrist as he tried to run past.

"...Huh?"

"Excuse me, but I have something I'm really curious about. Can I ask you a question?"

"What now...? I'm busy. Let go."

"Please. I'm so curious. Just one question. Pretty please?"

My current body is exceptionally good at getting adults to do what I want.

It's not a tactic I use often, but when I plead with sparkling eyes, nine times out of ten, they listen.

It seems that even in an era like this, people who are cute, pretty, cool, and lovely still get special treatment.

"...Tsk. I don't have time, so make it quick."

"Thank you~"

I bowed politely to show my gratitude, then threw the question I had just thought of at him.

"An event like this is a rare opportunity, so why did you only send one colleague?"

"...Huh?"

"I mean, if there's a purchase limit per person, shouldn't your entire office have mobilized to sweep the shelves? It's not exactly cheap, but it's hard to get a chance to eat it otherwise."

"......."

The man frowned.

His gaze drifted to the side, as if groping for a memory that should exist but didn't.

"Uh... huh?"

Something baffling happened.

He suddenly burst into tears and collapsed onto the ground.

"Th-that's strange. My friend...? His name... I can't, I can't remember..."

But if you react by wondering why he's crying, you clearly lack anomaly sensitivity.

If someone shows this kind of reaction nowadays, you should immediately think of one thing:

'Anomaly-induced amnesia.'

There are anomalies that suck humans into their own pocket dimensions, and this is a type of memory erasure that occurs when their victims are completely digested.

It meant their very existence was being erased from reality.

'Seriously, I just came to buy jelly. What is this nonsense?'

We live in a world where you think you're dreaming, only to find out it's an anomaly phenomenon.

I massaged my temples and asked the trembling man.

"It's been about two hours since you parted ways with your colleague, right?"

"Y-yeah. About that long."

"How much do you remember? You said you don't remember his name, and while you remember he belonged to an office, you probably can't remember which office it was."

"Almost... almost everything. Even his face is blurry..."

He's been digested quite a bit by the anomaly.

Which meant it took about three hours for this anomaly to digest the humans it swallowed.

"Try contacting the Lokhee Office. Tell them the Magic Tower Master is needed."

"They must be very busy right now... Would they accept ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a request like this?"

"She's currently deployed nearby. If you contact her, she'll come."

"I... I see."

The situation was what it was, but business is business.

Instead of asking another office, calling Auntie Lokhee while she was deployed nearby would benefit me.

Half of that reward would be mine!

'The time limit is three hours.'

Of course, while I would hand the mission over to Auntie Lokhee, I wouldn't leave everything to her.

Because the 'achievements' Woo Cheon-yeop mentioned only counted if I was the one who built them.

Even if it wasn't made public, my exploits would be shared with certain key figures at the top.

After all, his handing over full authority of the Ghost Office only happened after I closed Window Da-112.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Even though I only wanted to save Cheong Harin, he had recognized my contribution in closing the Window...

And even if I ran a bit wild, he would clean up the mess.

For someone like me, who could be exiled for stepping out of line just once, what sturdier support could there be?

I'd get the reward, get the recognition,

win a downtown pass, and get this explosive collar off my neck.

'As expected, the most suspicious thing is the blood donation bus...'

Confirmed, since not a single person who entered thirty minutes ago, including Cheong Harin, has come out.

The way they hid the exit at the rear inside the alley, the way they parked several buses tightly together to block the view of the back, and the way they insisted on distributing the jelly—which could have easily been handed out inside the convenience store—specifically inside the blood donation bus.

Every single piece of evidence pointed to the blood donation bus.

'It doesn't hurt to be cautious.'

But just because I had identified the target didn't mean I could just leap straight into the anomaly's mouth.

Anomalies are solitary creatures; unless it's a very rare case, they are enemies to one another.

The moment you enter a domain formed by another anomaly, even a higher-grade anomaly is bound to be at a disadvantage.

You know, like that blue-eyed, white-haired sorcerer who was popular for a while said.

When the opponent expands their domain, you have to expand yours too to counter it.

He wasn't just talking out of his ass.

However, in my case, I have to release multiple crosses to exert influence over a space.

If I release too many? I'll get caught on someone's portable measuring device.

Or maybe even a stationary sensor far away.

'I hate dealing with annoying hassles, so I hope it's a guy I can handle using rules.'

So, I'll go in bare-handed first.

If I absolutely can't figure out a strategy, I'll just pull out a cross.

Still, even though it eats people, it seems to be a passive anomaly, so it shouldn't be too threatening.

But if I just barge into the bus, I'll miss the chance to get crucial clues.

After all, the one who planned this event was the convenience store owner, right?

'There were several fixers in line, yet none of them noticed... which means there must be something more to this.'

Could it be the strawberry jelly they're selling today?

Is it really not just ordinary jelly?

To see if my suspicions were correct, I first opened the Fixer Gallery.

The very first forum you should open when caught in an anomaly phenomenon.

A survival guide that goes beyond any wiki, built by countless fixers who experienced it firsthand (or died trying). That was the Fixer Gallery.

There are anomalies like me who just post spam all day, but anyway, there's a lot of useful stuff.

Look, here's a post from just a week ago.

Did I not become Ddudda because I'm an anomaly?

Well, some things only work on humans...

Anyway, leaving aside the idiots acting like fools in the comments, let's organize my thoughts based on the facts I've gathered.

First.

The convenience store owner is likely someone who survived and returned from the blood donation bus anomaly.

He probably knows the escape method, and the trigger is likely simpler than one would think.

Since he knew, he must have deliberately used the Ddudda jelly to turn people into mindless fools before sending them in.

To prevent them from escaping within the three-hour time limit.

The question is, why on earth did he plot such a thing...?

'He won't answer if I just ask, so I have no choice but to play a little dirty.'

I'm sorry, Boss.

I didn't expect to run into this kind of trouble when I just came to buy jelly either.

I slithered over to the convenience store entrance and waited for the next customer to enter.

The moment the door opened, I flicked it.

I tossed a droplet, letting it settle onto the convenience store owner's body.

Once a customer signed the ledger and left, there was a gap of a few minutes to account for the blood donation wait time.

During that time, the owner kept scribbling something in a paper ledger, as if checking sales.

'Look at him acting all relaxed while people are being devoured by the bus.'

Though the sight was detestable, I kept my emotions out of it as much as possible.

It was annoying, sure, but getting emotional wouldn't change anything.

I just had to wait for the droplet to bring back the sound.

By detecting the vibrations through the blood of the convenience store owner I had seized and translating them into human speech...

Meeting the criteria.

I'll finally be a fixer too?

'...I think I saw something about this recently.'

Was it a fixer recruitment post? It was probably a newly established office.

I think their joining condition was defeating an anomaly that had caused at least a hundred casualties?

"...Ah."

So that was it.

To think the only reason he held this event using an anomaly whose strategy he knew was for something like this.

It seemed he wanted to quit being a convenience store owner and become a respected, famous fixer...

'He'll get exposed and kicked out soon enough anyway. And he's killing a hundred people just for this?'

If Auntie Lokhee heard this, she might have separated his head from his body on the spot.

That lady absolutely loathes people who sell out humans.

Even if it wasn't murder yet, it was attempted murder.

I, too, felt like administering some vigilante justice before the law could judge him.

More than anything, it made me furious that there was no jelly to begin with in today's event.

Deceiving a person—no, an anomaly—who just purely wanted to eat jelly?

A great idea came to mind.

After all, what do you do when you donate blood? You give blood.

And I happen to be quite close with blood.

"Bad guys always think they're the only ones who can play dirty."

I slithered under the blood donation bus and flicked my fingertip.

Like a tightly wound skein of thread unraveling, red droplets began to spread from my fingertip.

As I spread my palm wide, the blood, now as fine as mist, slipped past the eyes of the crowd and headed toward the owner through the back door of the convenience store warehouse.

'It'll be easy to see if I write it in the ledger, right?'

Hello, human.

I am the blood donation bus.

I am speaking to you.

Scribble, scribble.

The convenience store owner remained silent, frozen in tension.

Taking advantage of the moment, I gave my hips a little bounce.

Even though it was an anomaly, its physical form was still a blood donation bus, and the lined-up buses collided with each other, shaking violently.

Thud, crash! Clang!

When the convenience store owner stumbled out a moment later, his eyes looked ready to pop out of his skull.

"Th-this shouldn't be happening...?"

His expression was so amusing that I couldn't help but bounce my hips once more.

The buses bounced along excitedly.

The convenience store owner jumped in place before suddenly sprinting away.

Where to?

In the exact opposite direction of the blood donation buses.

"Heh, huff, heh...!"

Only after he completely vanished around the corner of the alley did the crowd seem to realize what was happening and began to clamor.

The convenience store owner probably didn't know either.

That the people would go wild because of the Ddudda jelly he had prepared.

"W-what?"

"Hey! Where are you going without selling the jelly?!"

"That motherfucker is running! Catch him!!!"

"Give me my jelly, you bastard!!"