Chapter 261.3 |
“…You said they’re addicts, right, Grapes-ie?”
“Yes.”
“And they react to whistling… What exactly are they addicted to?”
Baek Saheon replied as if it were an obvious question.
“Something that lets them forget the pain of being trapped in this Darkness, or at least makes them happy for a short while. Isn’t that obvious?”
“Oh, someone with experience in cult villages really is different, huh?”
“……!”
Baek Saheon glared at Assistant Manager Eun Haje. Assistant Manager Eun Haje shrugged.
“We met there, didn’t we. When I was a reporter.”
“Oh. I guess from the villagers’ point of view, they can’t know the personal details of a ‘banquet guest’?”
“……”
Baek Saheon gave an implicit affirmation through his silence.
“But still, it’s impressive that Sir Highborn Geezer figured it out too.”
“Obviously. Aside from that occasion, there was no situation where a Disaster Management Bureau agent could have unilaterally recognized us.”
It was quite a solid inference.
[Hmm. It seems Mr. Roe Deer’s ordinary former roommate isn’t completely terrible at using his head after all!]
That was probably true. He wasn’t an employee who would get promoted to section chief and earn a nickname for no reason.
Agent Bronze’s stiff voice was heard.
“Then Agent Grapes is…”
Baek Saheon snorted.
“Yeah, I already know he’s Supervisor Roe Deer.”
“…?”
“What I’m curious about is the agent who went into Jisan Village with you.”
But they’re the same person though?
Agent Bronze is confused!
But I hurriedly signaled with my eyes to deny it, and Agent Bronze closed his mouth.
‘Knew it.’
It seemed Baek Saheon still didn’t know that ‘that agent from Jisan Village’ was ‘Agent Grapes’, and also Kim Soleum…
I sat down and deliberately avoided Agent Choi, whose shoulders were shaking as he held his mask.
Please don’t laugh.
“…I can’t tell you.”
“Whatever.”
Baek Saheon said nothing else.
Still, maybe it was fortunate that talking about things like this lightened the mood a little.
Because I had the sense that finding Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae might turn into a long battle.
‘Did she get off at another station? Or…’
……!
At that moment.
A chill ran down my spine.
‘Wait.’
No way.
‘Is there a possibility that Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae is also sitting somewhere on another train like that…?’
And if she were, endlessly seated there without even being able to die, just like them.
“……”
It was a prospect that turned chilling just from imagining it.
And the discomfort that came flooding in.
‘Why am I realizing how serious this is only now.’
Several days had already passed since the group went missing in this annihilation-sanctioned supernatural disaster.
From the fact that Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae hadn’t woken up, complete contamination was already a problem that could be inferred, and we had in fact reasoned it out in a similar way before…
‘But it didn’t feel this real.’
We had assembled the exploration team as quickly as possible, but none of us had shown extreme impatience.
Even though we were members who couldn’t help but understand the severity of this situation better than anyone else.
We had failed to perceive it.
“……”
A person swallowed by a city rendered ‘unperceivable’ wasn’t forgotten because her body remained behind thanks to entering through the medium of dreams, but the seriousness of her disappearance was swallowed all the same.
I drew in a sharp breath.
“Mr. Roe Deer.”
“Ah, I’m fine, Section Chief.”
Only now were intense impatience, worry, and fear surging up, but I kept my mouth shut so as not to spread this feeling needlessly.
At the same time, I became clearly aware of something else.
‘I need to look into Sekwang City more properly.’
It wasn’t only rescuing Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae that I had ‘naturally’ forgotten the seriousness of.
The well that was used as a passage connecting to Sekwang City.
The thing that activated it was…
It was clearly a Cheerful Research Institute employee ID.
‘…There’s something here.’
Ho Yoowon, Daydream, Cheerful Research Institute, and the Disaster Management Bureau…
I get the sense that within Sekwang City, there’s some hidden incident or truth where organizations and individuals are intricately entangled.
Something like a decisive event in this ghost story’s worldbuilding.
‘…Not only about Director Cheong, I might also be able to dig into this side as well.’
Foundational knowledge that would lead to why I was summoned in the first place.
Things that weren’t properly described even in the <Dark Exploration Records>, and so couldn’t be known.
‘Of course, after rescuing Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae first.’
I shoved aside all the tangled thoughts in my head and recalled our immediate objective.
At that moment.
♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪
“…!”
A cheerful notification sound rang through the train, and text began appearing on the display in place of advertisements.
“We’ve arrived.”
The next station.
[This stop is Midnight, Midnight Station.]
[The ■■ City Royal Casino at Midnight Station is no longer for foreigners only. Passengers wishing to visit, please enjoy the machines at the casino at any time.]
“…Casino?”
[The doors are opening.]
Out of the darkness, a new station began to reveal itself.
And then.
The passengers who had been sitting still began pouring out toward the train doors like a flood, as if they’d gone mad.
“…!”
[Oh, casino and addiction. They really are a well-matched pair of keywords. You could even use them as a word association quiz.]
Wait.
Because of the crowd, I couldn’t see properly beyond the doors. Damn it…!
“Damn it, let’s decide whether we’re getting off or not!”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje shouted.
“Raise your hand if you think we should get off!”
Agent Choi, Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
“Then raise your hand if you think we shouldn’t!”
Agent Bronze, Supervisor Baek Saheon.
“Section Chief! Roe! What are we doing!”
“No particular preference.”
“Shit!”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje gave up on getting an answer from him and looked at me.
“Roe!”
Think.
If she’d boarded a similar train, what action would Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae, an elite member of the Field Exploration Team, have taken?
Would she really have stayed on the train?
‘…Probably not.’
Earlier, my worry had made me overly anxious, and the moment she realized it was a circular line, Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae would definitely have gotten off to look for food supplies and an escape method.
And the way she would choose a station would be…
……
“Roe!”
I opened my mouth.
And ten seconds later.
[The screen doors are closing.]
“Huu!”
We set foot on the platform of Midnight Station.
The casino station.
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