Flushing Out the Fakes (8)
Two bundles of 500ml water bottles, one box of biscuits.
Compared to the fortune I'd spent—a hundred million won—it was a pitifully small amount.
"I'll carry 'em up to the third floor for you. But if these all get snatched, don't come crying to me?"
The Bear Mascot spoke in a voice that was half excited, half uneasy. Making money was all well and good, but he seemed curious what I was planning to do with it.
And so he had the skeletons haul the cargo and insisted on following me up to the third floor himself.
The people on the third floor stirred at the sight of us.
"Take a water and a snack, everyone."
At my words, the bewildered crowd scrambled over in a rush. They didn't bother asking why—they gulped down the water and tore into the biscuits first.
"Oh-ho, a good person."
Watching me hand out food for nothing, the Bear Mascot nodded, apparently relieved.
"Good, good. People should help each other out and live right."
What a relief.
That this creature was a genuine idiot.
The reason that bear held absolute power here came down to two things. One was the freakish strength peculiar to a Contaminated Person. The other was that he monopolized the resources.
And yet he was giving away one of those pillars this easily.
It seemed to stem from the arrogance of believing this zone was the palm of his hand—but as far as I was concerned, I was only grateful.
Humming to himself, the Bear Mascot headed back down to his base in the lobby.
Then I turned to the people who had belatedly come to their senses after freeloaded water and snacks, the ones curious about what was going on, and spoke.
"From now on, I'll distribute water every day, and biscuits every other day."
"Really?"
"Th-thank you...!"
Three or four people were simply delighted.
"......"
And two or three more remained wary.
Choi Sang-eun and the woman from earlier fell into the latter camp. Wise people who knew there was no such thing as a free lunch.
Looking at them, I continued.
"In exchange, there's a condition."
"A condition?"
"Everyone here wants to get out, right?"
Nods all around.
"But going out through that bear costume costs tens of millions of won. Can you all actually afford that?"
"......"
The people's faces sank all over again.
Even if they somehow clawed their way out of this grotesque space, an enormous bill would be waiting outside. To some, it would be a bitter loss; to others, it could become a matter of life and death.
And being unable to escape for this long meant they belonged to the latter group.
Reading the dilemma written on their faces, I said, casually:
"I have a way. So please, come with me."
Day 2.
Ding-dong— ding-dong—
The bell echoing through the entire theater woke me from sleep.
I had shoved two single-seat sofas together and curled up on them, and now my whole body ached with stiffness.
But, well, sad to say, this sensation was a familiar one. It was how I always felt after napping at the publishing house right before a book went to print.
So I suppose you could say my first night in the Special Management Zone wasn't so different from an editor's ordinary all-nighter.
"Oh, you're up?"
As I stretched my creaky body, Choi Sang-eun, seated nearby, greeted me.
"Yes, good morning."
"If you can even call it morning. It's never been night here at all."
Choi Sang-eun replied to my greeting with a helpless smile.
I had asked for his cooperation individually—after all, he'd been dragged in here with me, and I couldn't manage the food and the people on my own. To my gratitude, he'd accepted my request without hesitation.
"Everyone, come take today's water!"
At Choi Sang-eun's call, the people gathered around. Perhaps because they had a little more breathing room now, they even exchanged greetings as they collected their bottles.
"Thank you."
"Really, thank you."
Ding-dong— ding-dong—
The same bell rang again.
Thud— thud— thud—!
Then the wide-open theater doors swung shut on their own.
Screeeech—
And the sound of grinding metal rose from the first floor.
This performance hall was laid out in a lobby level plus three floors. Floors one through three all had seating facing the stage—but newcomers and Fake Humans only ever appeared in the first-floor seats. And from the third-floor lobby railing where I stood, I had a clear view down onto the first.
I rested my arms on the railing and looked down below. The Bear Mascot and the skeletons were dragging out the iron cage and waiting beside the performance hall doors.
"So the show's starting now, right?"
"Yes. They'll wait there until it's over."
The woman answered my question.
I sat back and waited leisurely for the performance to end.
About forty minutes had passed, perhaps.
Ding-dong— ding-dong—
The bell announcing the end of the show.
And down below, everything I had experienced yesterday played out again, scene for scene.
"Alright, alright! They're here again today! Call the price!"
The Bear Mascot appeared, dragging in two newcomers and two Fake Humans.
In response to his auction pitch, the oldest resident here—the elderly man who'd been trapped the longest—raised his hand.
"1,000 won."
"1,000! Nice, 1,0—... won?"
The Bear Mascot, who had been about to bellow "ten million," faltered in confusion.
The old man repeated, firmly:
"1,000 won!"
The Bear Mascot stood there dazed. When no one else placed a bid, he seemed to read the room and shook his head.
"Aigoo, what's the matter with you lot again? You still haven't come to your senses? Last time you pulled this—"
He was muttering along when he stopped mid-sentence and looked up at me. He'd apparently been about to threaten us over the water again, then remembered that I'd bought the place's water supply in bulk yesterday.
"Whoa... damn... So that's how you want to play it? Fine, I get it. Let's see how long you last on that!"
With a contemptuous snort, the Bear Mascot left with only the Fake Humans in tow.
And the newcomers joined our group.
Day 3.
Ding-dong— ding-dong—
Three people came in today, and two Fake Humans.
The Bear Mascot tried to lure bidders again, but this time nobody even looked at him.
"You won't buy them?!"
Ignored, he flared up and shouted. But when the people still turned away, he whined with a pathetic edge of irritation.
"Fine, keep this shit up! I'll sell 'em for a fuckload more later, just you watch!"
That's exactly what you'd like, isn't it.
But time was on our side, and our numbers had reached just the right point.
Currently, the Bear Mascot's gang numbered eight.
Fake Humans: four.
And we numbered twelve.
Day 4.
Ding-dong— ding-dong—
Another performance began.
And today, we made our move too.
Eleven people—everyone but me—poured down to the first floor. I watched it all from the third.
When the crowd descended en masse, the Bear Mascot and the skeletons flinched, caught off guard. There were only three of them, after all.
"What is this? Try to steal what we caught and you're all dead, got it?"
The Bear Mascot threatened us openly. But Choi Sang-eun and the others ignored him entirely, heading to the entrance opposite the monsters and taking up positions there.
We waited like that for a long while.
Ding-dong— ding-dong—
The performance ended.
And Choi Sang-eun opened the performance hall doors before the Bear Mascot could, calling the people inside to gather.
"Everyone, over here! We'll help you!"
The outcome was obvious. A man in his forties in a rumpled business suit, versus a bratty little runt in a bear costume—which one looked more trustworthy? Ninety-nine percent the former. By the same logic, the terrified newcomers naturally moved toward Choi Sang-eun's side.
Choi Sang-eun scrutinized each new arrival closely, then relayed the situation up to me watching from above.
"Two humans, three fakes!"
The ones who'd caught the Fake Humans were thrilled and started to head up—
—and the Bear Mascot blocked their path.
"What do you think you're doing? This is our turf. Who said you could just take 'em?"
Where was all that finders-keepers talk now? The moment the tide turned against him, the Bear Mascot flip-flopped without a shred of shame.
The people choked on their fury and looked ready to push back—
"Don't fight them."
—but I held them back. Given everything they'd been through, I understood the urge to throw a punch. But if they fought that Contaminated Person, they would lose. Then the mood would swing back to his side. Besides, I had known that bear bastard would pull something like this.
"Take them if you want them."
At my words, the Bear Mascot lit up and tried to snatch the Fake Humans back. The people gaped up at me in confusion. And then I added:
"But can you take all three of them?"
"......Huh?!"
That's right, you idiot. Your gang is down to three people right now. And you're going to cart off three Fake Humans on top of that? The moment our people leave, you'll be attacked on the spot.
"F-fine, just two, then! Give me two!"
"Sure, take two. But take two and from tomorrow you're walking the corridor all by yourself. Got it?"
"Huh? Uh, uhhh...!"
Having to explain even this much... It was like swindling a small child. Honestly, it was almost embarrassing.
The reason the Bear Mascot's gang was down to three today in the first place was the Fake Humans they were holding. Controlling Fake Humans required more people than the creatures themselves. And the ones they hadn't managed to sell, hoarded away in reserve, totaled four. The five skeletons we couldn't see right now were guarding them.
On top of that, if two more Fake Humans were taken away, seven people would end up with their feet tied down.
"Uh... um...?"
Apparently, until I spelled it out, that thought had genuinely never crossed his mind.
The Bear Mascot stood in place and started fidgeting, and the skeletons beside him stumbled through their own confusion. Seizing the gap, Choi Sang-eun and the others climbed up to the third floor.
Our first successful counterattack—a landmark victory.
The people wanted to celebrate wildly. But at my request, they cheered as quietly as they could manage. There was no need to provoke that bear unnecessarily at this stage—and if all the ruckus summoned Alpha or Delta, things would go very badly indeed.
We had agreed at the start: everyone would cooperate to catch the Fake Humans, and those who'd arrived earliest would leave first.
True to that promise, the three who had been trapped here longest got to leave.
"Thank you. Thank you so much..."
The people wept as they said their goodbyes.
And they left light as air, owing nothing to anyone.
Currently, the Bear Mascot's gang numbered eight.
Fake Humans: four.
And we numbered eleven.
Day 5.
The Bear Mascot hadn't come up with a single countermeasure despite being burned the day before. So he just stood there like an idiot with two skeletons, and we smoothly filtered out two humans and two Fake Humans.
Then Choi Sang-eun took it a step further, addressing the skeleton masks standing at the Bear Mascot's side.
"Hey, you. Can't you see which way things are going?"
The skeletons wavered.
"You're not making any money anymore. No—even if you are making money, is this really how you want to earn it? You've seen the faces of the people you extort, haven't you? Picture those faces on your own family. Your parents. Is that something a human being does? Have you no conscience at all?"
...I'd told him not to act like some finger-wagging moralist, but Choi Sang-eun couldn't hold it in and snapped anyway. Appeal to their conscience? These weren't exactly the types to feel it.
"And he told you he'd let you make money, right? Did you actually ever receive anything? You just stood there watching him rake in millions and hundreds of millions—did so much as a single ten-won coin ever land in your hands? Do you even know his real name or face? If you were him, would you pay you? I wouldn't. Why would I? Just grab the cash and bolt—done."
Yes—this was the kind of talk that got through.
Guilt was something you could only feel once you'd matured a certain amount. So for these kids, pointing out just how badly the odds were stacked against them would be far more effective.
And sure enough, the skeleton kids immediately grew visibly confused.
Then Choi Sang-eun drove the wedge home.
"You two should cut your losses and come over here. I know you didn't have much choice, so I'll let you out after a reasonable stretch. You want to go home too, don't you?"
The skeletons glanced nervously at the Bear Mascot. Then one of them quietly slid a foot toward Choi Sang-eun's side—
CRASH—!
—and the Bear Mascot whipped out that snake-like appendage of his and smashed it into the floor at the skeleton's feet. Then he threatened them in a voice lower and heavier than usual.
"Try it. Just try walking away."
"Hey!"
So I stepped in.
"That's not self-defense you just did—that's threats and coercion. You sure you want to keep going with that?"
When I called down from the third-floor railing, the Bear Mascot flinched. That's right—cause trouble now and you get dragged off. Better be careful.
The skeletons' eyes darted between the Bear Mascot and me. Then, as if they'd made up their minds, both of them pulled off their skeleton masks.
Just as I'd suspected—kids who couldn't have been more than twenty.
As the two came over to our side, the Bear Mascot slammed his fist into the floor for no reason at all and turned his back.
And a short while later, four Fake Humans were roaming the theater corridors. The Bear Mascot had released the ones he'd been holding. Judging that keeping them now was useless and too much trouble to manage, he'd simply dumped them—so we scooped them up and put them to good use.
With that, the Bear Mascot's gang was down to six.
We were nine.
And nine people had escaped without owing a single won.
The Bear Mascot had been right about one thing.
People should help each other out and live right.