Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Just Sightseeing This Time!
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I'd planned to just sightsee and leave this time!
The show dragged on for quite a while.
It was because so many staff members were on hand to ensure the event ran smoothly.
"Aaagh!"
"Back...!"
"Ahahaha!"
The staff were running for their lives, putting on a show that was nothing short of spectacular.
-■■■■!
The guest seemed thrilled with the revamped program.
My instincts were spot on, as always.
Just a slight tweak to the show's format, and both the audience and the guest were delighted!
The staff?
Staff exist to serve the guests, after all. I'm sure they were happy too.
"Wow, I've never seen anything like this."
"Right?"
Seyeon and Yuna had cracked their eyes open midway through and were peeking around as they spoke.
I didn't stop them.
As long as they weren't staring straight at the guest, it wasn't a big deal.
"Looks like they've blocked the doors to keep them from opening until the show's over."
"Ah! That's why they can't escape outside."
Sure enough, the staff were only scrambling around inside—they couldn't flee outdoors.
Their numbers were dropping fast.
Some were even wandering straight toward the guest in a daze.
"Still, it looks like it's wrapping up soon."
"Does it?"
"Yeah. It seems pretty full."
"Ho ho. You can tell that too?"
"Of course."
The guest was massive, so its appetite had to be enormous, but how much it ate depended on what it was eating.
After devouring a bunch of staff packed with anomaly essence, it was probably just about satisfied.
-■■!
And sure enough.
Not long after, the guest wriggled its tentacles contentedly and began slithering back to where it came from.
"Hmmm."
Looking closely, the spot where the guest had emerged wasn't the pool—it was some kind of passage connected to somewhere else.
Pretty intriguing, but since I wasn't alone this time, I held back.
Splash!
With that, the guest departed amid the sound of water.
Click, click, click-click-click!
The lights that had been off flicked on one by one, illuminating the area brightly.
"Huh?"
"What is it?"
The people in the audience seats blinked as if snapping out of a trance.
They must have been wandering inside for so long that they got completely entranced.
Normally, they'd all have been eaten in this show, or if they survived, escaping would have been nearly impossible.
But now that the show was over and the staff had vanished cleanly, they were regaining their senses.
Still, coming to didn't guarantee they'd make it out safely.
We hadn't found the exit yet, after all.
They'd clearly hidden it somewhere weird on purpose to keep visitors lingering!
"Well then, shall we check out somewhere else?"
"Yeah!"
There was nothing left to see here anyway.
I stood up and headed for the exit, with Seyeon and Yuna following behind.
Yuna kept glancing back, like she had some lingering attachment.
But right before we left, Seyeon said to Yuna,
"The exit's probably on the first floor."
"First floor?"
"Yeah. Rule 94. It said the exit and entrance are on the same floor. The rest are fakes."
Seyeon flashed a grin as she said it.
"W-Wait a sec..."
Yuna asked me to hold on, then came out a bit later.
She'd gone back to tell the still-confused people inside that the exit was on the first floor.
Her expression looked much more relieved now.
I asked her,
"If you're worried about them, couldn't you just ask me?"
"Huh? Oh, that... well..."
Yuna gave an awkward smile at my question.
So I asked again.
"Why?"
"It didn't feel right asking a friend for something like that. Worrying about people is my own issue."
"Hmmm."
I'd kinda figured she'd say that.
Yuna had always been reluctant to ask me for favors.
The only time she ever had was once.
When her little sister was kidnapped.
Everything else was just passing on orders from above.
"Alright, special service time!"
"Huh?"
So I gave Yuna a special treat.
I peeled off a shadow and shoved it inside.
"Those people will get out just fine. Don't worry."
"Ah... Thanks."
Yuna thanked me with a complicated expression.
Gratitude. Relief. Fear. Confusion.
That tangled look was just too adorable.
"Hee hee."
It'd be fun to see that face flush a different color, but I held back.
I don't play mean pranks on friends.
"So, where to next?"
Seyeon timed it perfectly and jumped in.
"Hmm, what's around?"
"Lots! There's a special exhibition hall and a souvenir shop."
"Let's hit both!"
"Got it. Shall we go in order? I think there was a map around here."
Seyeon looked around and quickly found the map.
According to it, we were on the second floor.
That was weird.
Thinking back on how we got here, this couldn't be the second floor.
Well, spaces in places like this being all jumbled up was par for the course!
"The special exhibition is closest. Oh, the souvenir shop's near the exit!"
"Exhibition first, then!"
"Sounds good!"
And so, our next stop was the special exhibition hall.
We walked side by side toward it.
Tanks lined the path there too, so the trip wasn't boring.
A moment later.
[Special Exhibition of the Extraterrestrial Seas]
[We've got tons of special creatures from the Extraterrestrial Seas on display for the reopening. Come take a look!]
We'd arrived at the special exhibition hall.
Inside, smaller tanks were lined up compared to outside, but these were even more bizarre.
"Whoa. Insane."
"Don't. Don't make eye contact. You'll get contaminated 100%."
"Isn't it fun? Look! What about that one?"
"Oh... That's where the seawater fish turn gray. So the circles dive through the sky above, while outside, calm elephants laugh happily. We leap in between and laugh rainbows together. In between the tanks, herons stand on their heads, traveling between squares and triangles, singing melancholic paintings..."
Hmm.
This wasn't good.
I had no choice but to knock Seyeon out.
If I left her like that, she might never recover her sanity. I thought she could hold out longer!
Surprisingly, Yuna seemed much better off.
Even with her eyes and ears covered, she still seemed in her right mind!
"La la la, I can't hear anything. Can't hear it. Can't hear it."
But sharing this wonder with her seemed impossible.
So regrettably, we wrapped up the exhibition quickly.
Once outside, Yuna lowered her hands from her ears, and Seyeon woke up not long after.
I asked them,
"Fun, right?"
"Yeah, super fun! Though I don't remember much!"
"There were at least level 2 contamination factors everywhere... If we'd gone in alone, we wouldn't have escaped 100%."
"Don't worry about that! We probably would've been fine!"
If it got dangerous, I would've dragged you out by force.
Anyway, the exhibition ended sooner than expected, so we headed straight to the souvenir shop without a break.
"A souvenir shop here won't be normal, right?"
"High chance."
"Can't wait!"
Seyeon still looked in great spirits.
She really was fascinating.
The type you never get tired of watching. With Yuna, just being together as friends was fun enough!
Coming with them was definitely the right call.
I skipped down the stairs with a grin, through the hallway, and up another staircase.
Thus, we reached the souvenir shop.
The shop was close to the exit, but something felt off.
"No people... I mean, no staff anywhere?"
"Yeah."
A souvenir shop should have at least someone at the register, but there was no one in sight.
As we wondered about it,
Squelch, squelch.
We heard a watery sound and looked over to see a walking fish.
Squelch-squelch-squelch-squelch-squelch-squelch!
The moment it spotted us, it charged like mad.
Chomp!
I pulled out a shadow and swallowed it whole.
"Wow."
Seyeon clapped at the sight.
Meanwhile, Yuna glanced around and said with a knowing look,
"There are water stains everywhere. Doesn't seem like just one."
"Did those fish eat the staff?"
"Yeah. Probably."
I tilted my head as I listened.
"What happened?"
At that, Yuna and Seyeon exchanged glances, looking like they wanted to say something.
"Dunno!"
"I-I don't know either. Maybe something happened and the staff suddenly thinned out drast—ow!"
Yuna was mid-sentence when Seyeon elbowed her side, and she shut up.
Hmm, still no clue!
But I had no idea what to do about it.
"So, the aquarium's operations have hit a snag!"
"Right?"
"Can't be helped. In that case, I'll take over this place too!"
"Pardon?"
"What do you mean, 'this place too'...? Wait, hold on—"
I ignored the questions and raised my hand.
"Let's go!"
Joey franchise expansion opportunity!