Chapter 265.1 |
Baek Saheon sprinted forward, stuffing the coins and the item that had spilled out of the winning slot machine into his arms.
And behind him, the missing persons of the casino ghost story, who had traded away most of their limbs for coins, came charging after him like mad.
Their destination was… us.
‘This little shit.’
It was a spine-chilling sight.
Of course, given the number of people here, if Baek Saheon wanted to live, running toward us was the right move. But how was this any different from that serial killer mountain lodge incident at all.
‘You’re dead later.’
Swallowing hard, I hurriedly prepared to respond.
But facing dozens of deranged long-term missing persons head-on…
“Spread out to a wider area.”
“No.”
“…!”
“If we go outside, they’ll chase us until we die. We have to keep running inside the casino and hold out as long as possible.”
At Go Yeongeun-ssi’s voice, the people who had been trying to secure the entrance hesitated.
“If a disturbance breaks out in the casino, are ‘measures’ taken?”
“…Yes. So we need to avoid them as much as possible, and move in a way that doesn’t damage the casino…”
People who had entered ghost stories more than once grasped the situation in an instant.
‘Just until those insane casino staff come to control the disturbance…’
We just need to endure.
Then among us, the one with the greatest mobility and strength was…
“Section Chief! Pick up that prick Goat!”
“Yes.”
“Ack!”
Baek Saheon let out a short yelp, but we ignored it.
Then we started running like mad, dodging the long-term missing persons.
Where to.
It flashed through my mind.
“Let’s go to the dealer room.”
There’s a fifty-coin requirement, so the long-term missing persons who’d been glued to the slot machine zone probably won’t be able to enter at all.
“This way.”
I ran desperately. The moment I exited the slot machine room and turned the corner.
Thud.
A body of a long-term missing person that had burst out with us grazed past me by a hair’s breadth and slammed into the wall.
“…!”
The sound of dozens of human bodies crashing into the wall as they failed to overcome inertia. The sound of the section chief vaulting over them and landing on the floor with explosive power no human movement should have, then went sprinting. Even the sound of the dilapidated casino breaking apart under the rampage of the missing persons.
“Haah.”
Beside me, I heard Go Yeongeun-ssi, whose stamina had weakened during her time missing, gasping for breath. I urgently supported her and kept running.
The wide-open dealer room door came into view.
“We’re going in.”
The agents stepped into the dealer room while tripping or shoving the long-term missing persons just enough to block them, without getting entangled in a full fight.
And then.
“Is it… blocked?”
“Yes.”
Quite a few of the long-term missing persons stopped at the entrance to the dealer room.
‘I was right.’
But reality doesn’t always follow theory.
More missing persons soon followed, forcing their way into the dealer room.
‘Damn it.’
Crawling, staggering, trampling over those who had stopped, they chased after us again.
But the dealers still didn’t intervene. Why.
“…Roe, is there a chance those guys are all being counted as one party among themselves, and their total exceeded fifty coins?”
There was.
That’s how we were introduced to the dealer room too.
‘Damn it!’
Still, just the fact that the number of pursuers had dropped significantly gave us some breathing room.
“Huuhk.”
With a bit of leeway secured, people started moving between tables, trying to put distance between themselves and the long-term missing persons and prepare defenses.
But there was no need.
The long-term missing persons were only chasing Section Chief Lee Jaheon, who was carrying Baek Saheon.
“…Wait.”
Agent Choi quickly came over, jumped over a broken table, and snatched the coins out of Baek Saheon’s arms.
“No…!”
“Mr. Civilian, just a moment.”
Then he showed those coins from the slot machine to the surroundings once, and jumped over the table again.
“……”
But the long-term missing persons still chased only Lee Jaheon.
“Why aren’t they being drawn away?”
“They’re probably not after the coins.”
Agent Bronze was right.
‘Are they just blindly chasing the jackpot winner?’
Either way, watching the long-term missing persons cling relentlessly to Section Chief Lee Jaheon made my chest tighten.
There was obviously a limit to shaking them off in this confined space.
Then.
“Dear guest.”
The dealer’s voice.
“Dear guest?”
They were paying attention to us.
…!
“Section Chief, please brush past right next to that table over there.”
“Yes.”
I ran ahead. Following me, Section Chief Lee Jaheon moved almost pressed against the table.
The very table where the dealer was standing.
Long-term missing persons chased us through the gap.
But those whose bodily balance was off slammed into the table this time, just like they had piled into the wall moments before…
With a crash, the table overturned. Then it shattered. The long-term missing persons ran over the table, but…
“Please stop.”
The dealer raised a hand and spoke.
While looking at her broken table.
“……”
“……”
What was astonishing was that, in that instant, all the long-term missing persons in the body casino stopped moving.
Like mice before a cat.
“I’m sorry, but violent disturbances inside the casino are prohibited. And…”
The dealer took something out from her chest and raised it.
A single sheet of paper.
An invoice.
“Costs will be charged due to damages.”
Then.
Thunk.
Thud thud thud—
Thud thud thud thud thud…
The long-term missing persons’ limbs and organs fell away.
“…!!”
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