Chapter 93

The shop smelled faintly of dust, but it was warm. It had that particular coziness of an old space. True to its name, Sweet Stationery also smelled sweet, almost comfortingly so.

The tension in my shoulders began to melt away... No, that wouldn't do!

'Don't let your guard down.'

I bit the inside of my mouth and pressed on.

Metal shelves lined every wall of the cramped, mazelike space, their compartments piled with all kinds of snacks. The names of popular products were written across the front of a fairly large display in the center.

Oblivion Cotton Candy

Softie Cookies

Sun-Flavored Chips Chips

Of Course It's Carrot Cola

Upside-Down Bubble-Bulge Gum

Nostalgia Candy—Sold Out!

I walked quietly along, scanning the snacks. I couldn't see any Good Child Chocolate Bars, but several names and shapes looked familiar. Some were relatively safe and useful.

'Good. Since I'm here, I'll spend my change.'

They would make decent items to use, or I could turn them into some extra income. Things hadn't been too bad when Agent Bronze and I last parted, so perhaps I could reestablish my sales channel for food originating from ghost stories through him...

Now that I'd even spent my gold bar, I needed a way to make money.

-You're choosing quite a lot, my friend! You'll have to watch out for tooth decay.

I quickly picked out a few snacks, then glanced back at Lizard, who had been blankly following me while taking as few steps as possible.

"... Section Chief, is there any snack you need or would like to buy? I'd like to give you something as a token of my gratitude."

"Yes."

To my surprise, Section Chief Lee Jaheon didn't decline. He swept his gaze around and picked up a snack.

Upside-Down Bubble-Bulge Gum

Blow it up like a balloon in your mouth, and your body will grow as big as a building!

Certified Genuine by Gaiety Laboratory

(Beware of defective imitations sold by street vendors!)

"... Are you sure this is what you'd like?"

"Yes."

Did he want to become a giant lizard?

I suppressed that pointless flight of fancy.

'Let's just pay.'

Carrying the snacks I'd chosen in both hands, I headed for the checkout at the back of the shop. I scanned every corner along the way, but still couldn't see the Good Child Chocolate Bars...

'Hmm.'

In the end, I reached the checkout first.

"Hello."

The figure seated at the metal counter nodded slowly. The thing that must have been the owner wore shabby everyday clothes and a hat pulled low. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary middle-aged stationery shop owner, but six arms were tapping on the counter...

'Whew.'

Careful not to try to see its face, I politely placed only the snacks I wanted to buy on the counter. Then I quickly held out my coins.

"Here you are."

I didn't want this to be mistaken for a barter transaction.

I recalled the Records of Dark Exploration entry about the first successful purchase here.

Item purchased: 1 Of Course It's Carrot Cola

Cost: Memory of the second day of a family vacation in 1997

Right. This stationery shop accepted memories as payment. From happy memories that brought a smile just to recall them, to horrific traumas one wanted to forget. The kind of memory you lost depended on which snack you bought.

'Which is why the exploration accounts ranged from quietly heartwarming to chilling.'

I had no desire to gamble on which I'd get. Especially not in this ghost-story universe, where the information in my head was so important.

'Let's just find the Good Child Chocolate Bars.'

Part of me wanted to ask the owner outright where they were. But with something that was presumably me depicted on the wrapper, I didn't want to invite any associations—

"Please tell us where the chocolate bars are displayed."

Team Leader!

I nearly grabbed my immediate superior by the collar.

But the owner simply pointed at a shelf, still reclining deep in its chair as though nothing were amiss...

'Whew.'

Apparently, the picture on the wrapper didn't resemble me enough to be instantly recognizable.

'I wish I had even half that lizard's guts...'

I should have bought some guts at the Raw Food Butcher Shop. Muttering that nonsense, I bent toward the counter to collect the snacks I'd paid for and my remaining coins...

And then I saw it.

'Huh?'

There was something behind the counter. A life-size standee and decorative paper that looked as though they'd been hastily cleared away. A sign, and... a blue box containing chocolate bars.

New Theme Park Collaboration Product!

Good Child Chocolate Bar (Cinnamon Churro Flavor)

My God.

'Found it!'

I examined the chocolate bar wrapper as quickly as I could. The hairstyle, mask, and suit were reproduced far more faithfully than I'd expected. Had they cleared it away because the display promotion was over? It seemed oddly hasty for that—

"..."

Wait a minute.

I looked at the chocolate bar wrapper again. And realized something.

The product wasn't using me as an advertising model, nor was its wrapper decorated with a character who happened to look like me.

It was...

Please Help Us Find This Good Child.

We Await Your Sightings.

It was a missing-child notice.

"..."

Breaking into a cold sweat, I took a step back.

Then that meant...

RINGGG.

...

I stiffly turned my head toward the top of the counter. The owner was holding a telephone. The sound of a call ringing somewhere continued until...

CLICK.

The instant it connected—

"Here they are!"

I spun around, grabbed Section Chief Lee Jaheon, and bolted.

"Here they are! Here they are! Here they are!"

I didn't even have time to swear. Barely breathing, I raced across the shop, putting as much distance as possible between myself and the counter. Then I grabbed the door we'd entered through and pulled—

Huh?

Why was that over there?

CLICK.

The door locked.

"..."

I turned to look at the owner standing at the counter.

"We're leaving now. Please open the door."

After a brief silence—

"It's all right."

The owner's voice rang in my ears...

At some point, black water had begun leaking from the telephone it held, dripping onto the floor. The stream grew thicker and thicker, churning and swelling. What had been a thin trickle became clumps, twisting and piling up in midair as though clay were being molded.

"They've come to pick you up."

... Into the shape of an animal in a mascot costume I'd seen somewhere before...

"...!!"

I desperately spun around and pulled at the shop door. It wouldn't budge. Fucking son of a—

"Take your hands off."

Oh.

The instant I let go, Lee Jaheon brought his left fist down on the door handle.

CRACK, THUD!

The handle fell to the floor as though it were nothing. He immediately kicked the door wide open, revealing the alley outside. Lee Jaheon and I dashed out without a moment's delay.

"My door!!"

A violent sound of water came from behind us.

SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH!

Mixed with the owner's furious voice, the splashing followed us into the alley. A chill shot all the way up to the crown of my head.

'Braun!'

-It appears you need my help, my friend!

Yes!

'Turn off the spotlight! For Section Chief Lee Jaheon too!'

-Him as well? Very well. Consider it my gift!

SNAP-SNAP!

A jaunty finger-snapping sound came from the plush doll, and once again, a heavy shadow fell over me. That sensation of my presence fading.

"!"

Section Chief Lee Jaheon's vertically slit pupils swung toward me.

"Mr. Roe Deer."

"I'll explain afterward. For now, run!"

SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH...

Behind us, water crashed violently into every gap in the alley walls. The sound was getting closer.

'Fuck, fuck!'

... What would happen if I got caught?

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn't know. The unknown outcome made it all the more maddening.

I gritted my teeth.

'Avoiding it was the right answer.'

Coming here to try to find something out had been the mistake in the first place!

This was a ghost story. A universe where confirming the truth could be a shortcut to death rather than the answer.

'I should have just said I didn't know and let it go...!'

No, even this self-recrimination could wait!

Don't Give Up on Your Body!

Remaining Steps: 3441

I had to last another four hundred steps.

'Whatever the next alley is, we have to escape into it...!'

Now I could hear the alley's residents chattering right behind us, the rushing water swirling around their ankles.

"Wow, this is fun! What's this?"

"A mascot came in a parade on the water! How fun! How fun!"

"They say you can ride the log flume at Water Land! Let's eat chocolate, win a prize, and go to Water Land! Let's find the Good Child!"

"Wow, the Good Child..."

"..."

"..."

"Is that them?"

Fuck.

"Who?"

"Where?"

"I don't see anyone..."

Sweating cold, I pushed through the ghostly crowd and continued down the alley.

-Oh, yes. A star remains a star even when every spotlight shining on them goes out. And pursuit by overzealous fans is something they are fated to endure!

-Especially if those fans know the star's distinguishing physical features well, wouldn't they search for those all the more doggedly?

Distinguishing physical features.

I recalled the picture on the wrapper.

'... The mask!'

I practically tore off my mask and stuffed it into my tattoo. Then I took out a face mask and a hat and pulled them on.

Naturally, my pace slowed, bringing the current closer. Looking down, I could see a wave right behind me...

No. The difference in speed was too great.

'In that case...'

I looked in another direction.

Overhead!

"... Team Leader, the utility pole!"

"Yes."

I clung to the pole right beside me and scrambled up it. I'd never climbed anything so desperately fast in my life. Whether my palms scraped raw or not, I had to keep going, keep going...

'... Made it!'

Water surged into the spot where I'd been standing. But I'd successfully climbed to just below the wires.

"Ha..."

I tightened my grip before relief could make my hands slacken.

'Safe for now.'

I twisted around to brace my legs against the alley wall and steady myself. Just then—

TAP.

My smartphone, its screen still lit, slipped out of my suit pocket.

SPLASH.

It fell into the water flooding the ground. Water seeped through the hairline cracks in the screen where it had struck the stone paving, and the app's display flickered.

Don't Give Up on Your Body!

Remaining Steps: 3210

And then...

The screen went dark.

"..."

"Mr. Roe Deer."

Only a black surface remained on the broken smartphone.

Bizarrely moving masses of black water shaped like mascots filled the dark, narrow alley, peering into shop windows here and there. My smartphone was swept up in their current. It drifted toward a corner of the alley, farther and farther... until it disappeared among the crowds following the mascot-shaped masses.

The torrent swept past the pole I clung to and on down the alley...

Taking my ready means of escape with it.

"..."

I was fuck—

"Mr. Roe Deer."

Frozen, I turned my head. Lizard was hanging one-handed from the pole just below me, reaching toward me. He was showing me something.

The screen of his own, perfectly intact smartphone.

Death Row Exit →

Follow the arrow!

At that very moment, Section Chief Lee Jaheon had successfully completed his ten thousand steps. I stared blankly at his smartphone's app, its navigation already activated...

Then—

"Take it."

"... Pardon?"

Lizard held his smartphone out to me.

"Follow the app's directions and escape."

"...!"

A lifeline had been lowered to me.

"The smartphone cannot recognize a change in who is holding it. As long as you do not deviate from the designated route, you can escape."

"..."

I reached for Lee Jaheon's smartphone. And then...

Gritted my teeth and refused.

"I can't do that."

"?"

"Section Chief. That strange black water just now... It was definitely looking for me. It's still searching this alley."

I'd barely evaded it by taking off my mask and concealing my presence.

But—

"If I follow the app's directions, I won't be able to avoid the black water if I run into it. ... Because I can't leave the route."

While following the app's directions, never take your eyes off the screen for more than three seconds or deviate from the designated route.

Failure to comply will result in being classified as missing.

The same rule applied to the way back.

"So... the chances of me getting out of here safely without going missing are extremely low."

For me to be safe, the navigation needed to activate after I'd at least taken refuge in another alley.

'Ha...'

"... I think I'd have a better chance of escaping if I looked for another way instead."

Lee Jaheon gazed at me with his vertically slit pupils.

"I see."

"Yes. So, Team Leader, you should use that to esca—"

Then he switched off his smartphone.

"...!!"

Had this lizard lost his mind?

"What are you doing?"

"Following the manual's recommendation to work in pairs."

That made no sense.

"Then why were you trying to give me your escape route just now?? You'd have been left alone, not in a pair!"

"I followed the manual's order of priorities. If you want a more detailed explanation, request it after we escape."

Lee Jaheon spoke evenly.

"From this point on, all conversations and questions will prioritize survival and return from this Darkness."

"..."

"Mr. Roe Deer, devise a new escape method that you can deduce, even if it is not currently in the manual."

My God.

"... Yes."

I barely managed to answer.

A short while later, we climbed down from the utility pole. And began walking again over the alley floor where the torrent had swept through.

Without directions, or a way out.