Chapter 262.3 |
“Just now…!!”
“I, I’m fine.”
I’m not fine. It hurts too much. It hurt so badly I could genuinely cuss out a storm. It wouldn’t have been strange if tears had poured from the eye that was still there.
‘And the assistant manager sold an entire hand?’
Did I think I was Xiahou Dun[1] or something? Please!
I snatched the heavy pouch that came out of the counter and ran through the open door. At the same time, Agent Bronze practically dragged me inside by the arm, and the door closed.
Click.
“Are you insane?!”
“Stop it. That won’t make the eye reattach.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
I hastily swallowed the emergency medication from Daydream’s infirmary to stop the bleeding, then answered.
The pain gradually subsided. I was too scared to try the bold move of checking my reflection on the smartphone screen, so I looked at the others’ severed parts instead.
‘…There are wounds.’
Then why had the long-term missing persons’ cross-sections been so unnaturally smooth.
‘Was it contamination after all?’
Keeping that in mind, I scanned our surroundings.
Agent Bronze looked like he had a lot to say, but when Agent Choi grabbed his shoulder, he pressed down on his mask and turned his head away.
‘Huu.’
“Return all the coins you received from Assistant Manager Falcon to her.”
“Ah, sure. Let’s do that.”
Baek Saheon looked displeased, but perhaps reading the room, he handed back the coins he had received from Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
I also politely handed over the fairy-tale coin with cheap metallic coating that I had been holding.
Then I took in the casino interior.
‘It feels similar to the platform.’
It seemed we were still at the entrance of the casino.
Colorful pea bulbs, the gambling colors typical of a casino. Black, gold, and red overflowed everywhere, and people who had lost body parts sat in corners, muttering to themselves.
There were no staff in sight.
Instead, there were broken slot machines scattered around, and slot machines that were still operating.
It felt bizarre, like someone had turned on a casino that had been abandoned and left to rot.
The sight of long-term missing persons crowding around the still-operating slot machines, feeding in coins, stirred an ominous feeling.
“There’s something like a pawnshop over there too. It’s right next to the door we came in through, so… does that mean the inside of that counter connects over there?”
“…It looks like a place where the body parts exchanged for coins are stored.”
That’s right.
Right next to the door we came in through. Beyond the glass, clouded with grime and dust, countless ‘stored’ body parts could be seen.
And at the only open counter in that glass partition, I confirmed another use for the coins.
Today’s Casino Coin Products
“As expected.”
Items exchangeable for coins were listed.
Water 1 coin
■■ canned food 2 coins
Kitchen knife 4 coins
Pig’s head 7 coins
Left ear 21 coins
Whipped cream cake 53 coins
Gas stove 152 coins
Golden goblet 256 coins
Bathtub of Youth 1,810 coins
※ For other items and premium products, please inquire at the counter.
[I see a nostalgic name on the list. To think they’d handle it in a shabby place like this.]
There was one familiar item that caught my eye. But more important clues were written there as well.
“There’s food.”
Even if the prices were absurdly extortionate, the important thing was that it could be obtained at all.
“…Do you think Assistant Manager Dolphin got off the train expecting this?”
She probably couldn’t have predicted it in detail.
But she likely had some expectations.
“When a lot of people get off, wouldn’t you judge that there’s a high chance there’s something helpful for survival?”
Outside, Sekwang Special Metropolitan City was an annihilation-sanctioned ghost story.
The subway itself was entirely an unknown ghost story.
If contamination couldn’t be avoided, and danger couldn’t be avoided either.
And if the train announcement even mentioned a casino, then choosing a place that at least looked like you could obtain supplies was the best option.
‘No one getting off would be the real danger sign.’
I guessed that Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae must have made the same judgment.
And then.
“…Everyone, take a look over there.”
Agent Choi pointed to a worn banner hanging above the list of coin products.
Royal Casino Exclusive
Premium Product
Emergency Exit 10,000 coins
That much-talked-about product that lets you leave anywhere. A high-end transportation method for busy <del style=”text-decoration-style: double;”>■■</del> contemporary people, a luxury item for the top 0.01 percent.
“Couldn’t that be our escape method?”
“…That’s definitely possible.”
Setting aside the insane part where you’d have to gather 10,000 coins, when even selling an eyeball only gave you 35 coins.
‘Huu.’
I reflexively raised a hand to my empty eye, then met Agent Bronze’s gaze with my remaining eye and spoke as if explaining myself.
“It’s fine. I chose it considering this is a casino.”
Even with only one eye, gambling isn’t a big problem.
‘Depth perception isn’t that critical a factor in gambling.’
That goes doubly so if this place really lives up to the name casino.
‘Casinos are mostly cards and slot machines.’
In that case, losing an ear or a hand would be pose more of a problem. Not being able to distinguish the sound of cards being dealt on both sides, or being unable to perform tasks that require both hands, would be far more fatal.
And besides.
‘If Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae made a judgment similar to mine…’
……
“Found it.”
At last, among the many body fragments displayed in the pawnshop, my attention landed on one item.
A black iris with a clear pupil, gleaming green.
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s eye.
“…Looks like she made the same judgment as you, Roe. Smart ones really are different.”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje said this while clenching and unclenching her left hand, which had been replaced with equipment.
“If you sell a hand, problems bloom when you’re gambling. There’s a reason they chop off hands in gambling movies.”
“…How does a civilian know that?”
“Let’s call it extensive experience for reporting. Anyway, it seems certain that Assistant Manager Dolphin got off at this station.”
……
“The question is whether she’s still here.”
And one more thing.
How many parts she had lost by now.
‘…Let’s search quickly.’
My body moved on its own from impatience.
“Then let’s split into pairs and search—”
“Hellooo.”
……
I froze where I was.
“Is this your first time visiting Royal Casino? Looks like you were checking out the products, dear guest.”
A familiar voice.
“I came out to inform you that since your group’s exchange amount exceeds 50 coins, you can enjoy games other than slot machines.”
I turned my head.
A dealer of this casino, who had come out to greet new customers, was standing behind us.
“This way, please.”
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae.
She was looking at us with a face missing one eye.
Note/s:
[1] Xiaohou Dun – a general and politician during the late Han Dynasty of China who’s known for losing one eye to an arrow. ↵
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