Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Egg Has No Mouth
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This time, it was different from the kids' cafe.
There, I'd ripped everything apart because the program wasn't up to snuff, but this was an unavoidable situation.
"Whoa. What a total mess!"
"This is serious."
As soon as Seyeon and Yuna stepped out of the gift shop, they took one look outside and let that slip.
And they had every reason to.
The aquarium, which had looked reasonably intact when we'd entered the gift shop, was now a complete disaster.
Merfolk were flopping around everywhere, and parts of the walls and ceiling were weirdly warped.
"Hmm."
So, how should I clean up this mess?
Just smashing everything in sight was amateur hour.
The root cause of all this was a lack of 'control' in the first place.
"Alright."
I decided what to do and reached out toward one side.
BOOM!
A white wall shuddered, and a red door formed on it.
I opened it.
"Joey!"
I called out loudly, and the door swung open on its own.
-Yes! You called for me?
The one who appeared from inside was, of course, Joey.
Joey approached with her usual bright smile and bouncy steps.
I said to her,
"From now on, this is Joey Aquarium!"
-Oh! A new territory! What should I do?
"First, deal with these troublemakers! Bring some other staff over to handle it!"
-Got it! Please wait just a moment!
Joey said that and ducked back through the door.
Before long, she returned with a bunch of staff in tow.
-Hello! Hello!
-Nice to meet you!
-We'll start cleaning right now!
The staff were all wearing doll masks.
During the kids' cafe remodel, I'd shoved the original staff into the customer pool.
But hands were still needed!
So I'd picked out a few model ones to keep as staff.
They had experience, and having enjoyed the kids' cafe as customers, they were super enthusiastic!
-We'll work hard!
-We'll do our best!
And a few weren't wearing masks—they were actual animals in shape.
They were friends from Eden.
I hadn't renamed that place, but I'd connected it to the kids' cafe.
"Wow."
"Ah..."
Seyeon and Yuna stood there with their mouths agape, watching the scene.
They must have been distracted by how cute and adorable the staff looked!
"Is that it?"
But Seyeon soon snapped out of it and asked.
I shook my head.
"Nah! This isn't enough!"
"Then what should we do?"
"We gotta seal off the source for good! I'm gonna track the traces!"
"Ah, I see."
The merfolk didn't just pop out of thin air, right?
Even if we took out every one we saw, without plugging the holes they were coming from, the problems would keep popping up.
"Let's go!"
I immediately set off to follow the traces.
Tracking them was easy.
The merfolk had appeared soaking wet, leaving clear water trails on the floor.
All I had to do was follow those.
Yuna and Seyeon trailed behind me, saying,
"The paths are insanely complicated."
"Right? It's like a maze, all twisted up. The map's a nightmare too."
That was true enough.
To get from the first floor to the third, we climbed stairs five times, went down twice, then up once more.
I'd have to tear up and redo all these paths later.
"Hmm."
We'd been walking for a while when I paused, blocked by a wall, and thought it over.
"What's wrong?"
"The trail stops here."
The water marks scattered in several directions, but following the main flow led right here.
Yet there was no hole or anything visible.
I pondered for a moment, then snapped my fingers.
Sssshhh—.
My shadow writhed to life.
It spread across the floor, walls, and ceiling without regard for boundaries.
To the eye, it looked like a dead-end wall, but probing with shadow revealed the truth right away.
"Here it is!"
A gap between walls.
I thrust my hand into it.
My body got sucked right in.
"Whoa, hold on...!"
I heard Seyeon and Yuna from behind, but I ignored them this time.
What came next wasn't really for their eyes.
"Hmmm."
I looked around.
Beyond the wall wasn't a passage.
Just water, filled to the brim.
Seeing that, I smiled.
"I knew something felt off."
I hadn't noticed at first, but the more I thought about it, something had been nagging at me.
Gazes. Gazes. Gazes.
Following me no matter where I went.
It wasn't people gawking at things trapped in tanks.
The opposite.
Things outside were peering in at the captives inside.
"They were in the water."
In other words, the trapped ones were humans.
This was an aquarium displaying people.
-Grrr.
That's when I spotted a horde of merfolk swarming from up ahead.
No staff to keep them in check? Nah, that didn't matter.
Humans weren't really guests here—they were exhibits for visitors to this aquarium.
The merfolk were closer to actual customers.
The big ones couldn't enter the interior, but these merfolk could come inside anytime.
"Normally, the staff would've provided some appropriate prey, right?"
Then the merfolk would've enjoyed the aquarium politely and left.
But with no staff around for control, they were rampaging wildly.
And the merfolk were just the start.
I looked up, and far off, massive shapes were approaching.
Enormous in size and presence, incomparable to the merfolk.
They had to be guests here too.
"Heh."
An aquarium for anomalies, huh.
Inspiration was flowing like crazy.
But first, time to deal with what was right in front of me.
Swipe.
I flicked my finger.
The shadow rose and seized the approaching merfolk.
Still holding them, I rummaged through their minds.
Their brains were structured completely differently from humans', but after a few tries, I found what I wanted.
"Fourth floor."
The aquarium's main control room was on the fourth floor.
Once there, I could do whatever I wanted with the place.
I turned with a satisfied step.
I left the merfolk lumped together in one spot. I could play with them later.
Swipe—.
Back in the original spot,
"You okay?"
"Are you alright?"
Seyeon and Yuna hurried over.
I nodded and grabbed their hands.
"Yeah! Let's head to the fourth floor!"
Getting here had been a maze of twists and turns, but no more.
I'd read the minds of merfolk who'd frequented here as 'guests' often.
"This way!"
Straight to the fourth floor.
Walking back along walls, retracing steps in some spots. Hopping lightly in others.
After repeating that a few times, we were at the control room door in no time.
I'd spent quite a while here too, so I didn't drag it out—I just opened the door and went in.
Flash—.
The moment I entered the control room,
Something appeared before me.
-We've finally met. Nice to see you.
It had a bizarre appearance.
Its body was like a suited human's. But atop it was a round egg-like head.
"Hi, hello!"
-What should I call you?
"Dawn. You?"
-I'm Egg. I hold the position of department head at Paradise Corporation.
"What a corny name!"
-Ah. Is it?
The egg tilted side to side.
I'm pretty clued in on anomalies, but I had no idea what emotion that was.
-Might I ask why you're interfering with our business, Dawn?
"Huh? Me?"
I gave it a puzzled look.
"When?"
-Well, here, and at the kids' cafe too, right? There were issues at Eden as well.
"No issues or anything."
-Is that so?
"Yeah! I just reworked stuff I didn't like!"
-Ah! I see.
The egg nodded up and down.
-Then, any chance you'd consider stopping?
"Nah! You guys aren't planning to quit either, right?"
-We're just doing our best to provide enjoyment.
I stepped closer to the egg and said,
"Then we're the same! I was just playing around for fun!"
-Hmm. No interest in negotiating? How about info on the Foundation? Or some intriguing details from that other world?
"Hahaha!"
This time I couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
-Why are you laughing?
"Negotiations are for equals! You don't even know that?"
Ripples like waves spread faintly across the top of the egg.
Meanwhile, I glanced around.
This was an exhibition hall.
Hundreds of transparent glass cases lined up, each holding one person.
Then the egg clapped.
-In that case, regrettably, no choice then.
Right after.
Crack—.
A crack split the egg.
Something inside was struggling to break out.
At the same time, everything around warped, melted, and shifted ambiguously.
From the widening gap rose writhing eyeballs and blinking irregular polyhedrons.
It peered into me. Whatever was inside saw me. It was trying to descend by shattering the egg-world.
I laughed at that.
"Taking your sweet time transforming!"
It flinched, turned back, and looked up.
There I was.
Me, grown massive enough to loom over the egg.
-■■ ■■■ ■….
"Hya!"
CRUNCH!
I swung my hand lightly, and the egg split wide open.
Light returned to the darkened space.
Whatever had been trying to emerge from the egg was gone without a trace.
"Eh. Should've waited?"
I'd been curious what cool thing would pop out, but it got boring.
I looked down at the floor.
The egg in human form was nowhere, just a broken eggshell left behind.
I smirked and swallowed it whole. As expected, it wasn't very filling.
Probably just a detached clone.
I'd see that goofy egg again, no doubt.
"Huh? What was that?"
"Did something just... happen?"
Yuna and Seyeon came to late, looking baffled.
I smiled at them and said,
"All done now!"
"Done?"
"Yep!"
I pointed behind me.
There, big letters read:
"This place is mine now!"
Hostile takeover complete!