Chapter 94

Someone who had lost their smartphone in Death Row and struggled desperately to return to reality, by any means possible.

I could say with certainty that I wasn't the first.

<Records of Dark Exploration> documented quite a variety of their miserable, chilling ends.

For detailed records of employees and civilians who went missing in Death Row, see the document “Attempted Escape via ■■■ Road 16.”

First... let's review the common premises.

1. Simply trying to follow someone receiving directions on their smartphone always ends in failure.

The app's directions couldn't be shared. Every attempt ultimately ended with “At some point, the person being followed had disappeared.”

As these failures accumulated, people abandoned that approach and began trying to find clues to an escape within Death Row itself.

'They tried just about everything.'

A shop that offered to open a back door out of the alley in exchange for just one arm or leg, a passerby who told them to climb into a manhole, a shoe store promising that these shoes would let them see the way out...

The one saving grace was that I could skip straight to the conclusion without trying all those things myself.

Every attempt listed above failed.

... Yes.

A cruel fact established through inductive reasoning.

2. The residents of Death Row have no idea how to get out into reality.

It had all been a con.

It was no different from stopping an office worker walking down a street in Seoul and asking how to enter a ghost story.

The residents here simply didn't have that knowledge.

'I have to abandon any hope or plan of escaping with help from someone here.'

In other words, I had to devise an escape on the assumption that there would be no new clues at all...

I exhaled.

“Team Leader.”

“Yes.”

I forced my reluctant mouth open.

“... I'll brief you on what I've established so far.”

Next, premise number three.

“From this point on, we can't enter new alleys the normal way.”

Normally, a new alley appeared to app users every thousand steps, and they could choose whether to enter it.

But now that my pedometer app was finished, that orderly process was over too.

'We're trapped in this alley.'

The scenery might change at some point as we walked, but we couldn't choose where we went.

Essentially, as nonresidents of this ghost story, we couldn't find our way...

“Therefore, we need to find a means of escape within this alley.”

“Yes.”

And number four.

“... We also need to leave before daybreak.”

A time limit.

Naturally, most members of this company's Field Exploration Team had nerves of steel.

Which meant some lunatics, upon finding themselves in an alley that posed little danger as long as they knew the manual, had tried various things to see whether they could raise the solution's grade.

'The research team has even requested it through official company channels.'

For instance... extending their stay in Death Row by holding out without walking for as long as their smartphone batteries would last.

The result?

Contact lost with every last one.

... And “contact lost” didn't mean disappearances accompanied by sightings of grotesquely transformed victims, like the laborers in the boutique's back alley.

They vanished completely.

There was even a graphic record of an employee who had used Exclusive Equipment to report that they were taking a room at an inn in the alley to spend the night, right up until contact was lost.

Exploration employee: Yes, yes. We've entered a place called the Goldfish Eye Inn. Just in case, Supervisor ■ and I will take turns keeping watch while the other sleeps.

Exploration employee: What did we pay for the room? Oh, well, we found someone who was going to die anyway and put them to good use. Let's leave it at that.

Exploration employee: Anyway, we'll try staying up all night here. If this raises the Dream Essence grade, you'll give us a proper points payout, right?

(Portion omitted)

Exploration employee: The sun's rising.

Exploration employee: The sun's burning the alley! It's on fire! Everything's burning and everyone's running, but I can't get— (Transmission lost)

“...”

I had absolutely no desire to experience anything like that.

'This is driving me insane.'

Walking through Death Row without my smartphone, recalling all of this, the reality of my situation was starting to hit me hard.

I could become one of those records.

“Restrictions on time, space, and methods.”

I barely managed to keep my voice level as I reported to Lee Jaheon.

“... Taken together, I believe whatever plan I come up with will be a risky venture bordering on a gamble.”

“Yes.”

He remained as calm as ever.

“... Aren't you worried about our situation, Team Leader?”

“No. Worry serves no purpose in resolving it.”

“...”

Wow.

'Still, no matter what insane plan I bring him, I suppose he'll go along without complaint as long as it's convincing.'

Just like the fellow recruits I'd been with earlier.

“...”

Wait.

'Where did the other recruits go?'

Section Chief Lee Jaheon had clearly told them to “come out within ten minutes” when they entered the shop next door.

If they really had come out after just ten minutes...

'Does that mean... they were there when the torrent hit the alley?'

Had they been swept away and sucked into the water...?

“Supervisor!”

Ah.

I turned my head, and there were Kang Ihak and Jang Heoun, running toward us and waving.

Judging from the paper bags with yarn illustrations hanging from both their hands, they seemed to have completed their purchases safely too.

“Hey! There you are!”

Kang Ihak was beaming.

Whew.

“Your shopping seems to have gone well.”

“Oh, yes, yes. The shopkeeper must've needed money badly. They were so willing to match my price, you'd think they'd sell the hat off their own head. It was very good—yes, very good shopping!”

Then she glanced at Section Chief Lee Jaheon's face, hastily pretended to check her smartphone, and spoke quickly.

“Huh? Oh, look at the time... I'm sorry. You told us to take only ten minutes, but I must've gotten carried away after finding something useful for exploration. I'm terribly sorry, Team Leader!”

“Yes.”

It looked decidedly deliberate, but that was just as well.

Apparently, she'd been so engrossed in haggling that she hadn't even noticed the flood outside.

Beside her, however, Jang Heoun was a little pale as he kept glancing at his paper bag.

“Mr. Bison, is something wrong with your purchase?”

“N-no. Nothing like that... But some of the things they sold weren't made from yarn... There were strange, blood-vessel-like things mixed in too.”

“...”

Good God.

“Oh, of course I didn't buy any of those. Thank you so much for the coins, Mr. Roe Deer. I'll be sure to repay you in gold once we're out...!”

“Speaking of which, isn't it about time for you to leave? Oh, have you been filling your step count here in this alley? Could you share your ‘remaining steps’ through the app?”

Lee Jaheon answered immediately, his face blank.

“No.”

“... Pardon?”

Aaargh!

'You damned lizard!'

I struck Section Chief Lee Jaheon's shin at just the right angle to keep the two in front of us from seeing.

“?”

Then I spoke nonchalantly.

“We're walking a little slowly because there's something we need to check. Have you two finished your steps?”

“Oh, we should be almost done. We walked back and forth so much looking at things in the shop.”

“...”

“It's a shame, though! We could've seen two more alley options!”

Kang Ihak smacked her lips.

On the smartphone she took out, I caught sight of the remaining step count...

Don't Give Up on Your Body!

Remaining steps: 1052

“We've spent all the money you lent us too, so I suppose we'll just check what the next alley is and head back. Haha!”

“... Yes.”

You know what?

There was exactly one way for someone who had lost their smartphone to escape this place successfully.

It had been recorded multiple times, thoroughly verified, and established as fact.

A similar opportunity had nearly come my way just now, too.

Namely...

Taking someone else's smartphone.

Supervisor Park Dojeong became involved in a physical altercation during a transaction with a merchant. Sustained hairline fractures in three left ribs; smartphone destroyed.

Successfully returned after seizing a civilian's smartphone.

“...”

I watched Kang Ihak's smartphone swinging unguarded in the air...

“Yes. Then please head back first. Team Leader, it's all right for these two to return, isn't it?”

“Yes.”

And let my two fellow recruits go.

“We'll be going, then. Thank you...!”

“Haha, see you at work tomorrow. Let's talk more about our spoils then!”

They walked down the alley, then suddenly disappeared.

... They must have entered the next alley.

Let's not do anything I couldn't live with.

'That would be an inexcusable evil.'

It might even leave me unable to use the Silver Heart Badge.

Even if it didn't, if I later thought of a way I could have survived without taking someone's smartphone, my mind wouldn't be able to withstand it...

'Unless it's truly the worst-case scenario, let's not go that far.'

The moment I lost my boundaries, the contamination might accelerate too.

I lightly felt the silver ring I was already wearing and calmed down.

“Oh. Mr. Roe Deer, you've chosen dignity. What admirable restraint!”

“Some guests will stoop to all manner of vulgar acts for attention. That, too, is a noble dedication to one's profession, but isn't it contestants like you who win the public's heart?”

R-right.

'Thanks.'

Though... that wasn't exactly the comparison I would have chosen...

I calmed myself, trying not to recall what had happened on The Tuesday Quiz Show.

Trapped in a ghost story as I was, I didn't want to remember my own experience of nearly dying helplessly in one.

I just diligently searched through the records in my head, comparing them against this alley for anything that might serve as a clue...

“Mr. Roe Deer.”

In one swift motion, Lee Jaheon grabbed the back of my collar, opened a shop door, and threw me inside.

Then he came in himself and lay flat.

“There's water.”

“...!”

I raised my head.

We had entered a self-service laundromat.

Beyond the glass door with its cheap printed lettering, I could see water filling the alley...

SHHHHHH

Black water seeped from a narrow gap between two houses—not an alley—and gathered into a mass, forming one of those animal-mascot shapes.

A swaying dragon character.

'... I don't think it's a real mascot.'

I couldn't sense the distinct intelligence I'd felt when I saw them back then.

But that made it all the more chilling and threatening.

'I don't think we can talk to it.'

“Quite right. Attempting a conversation with an inflatable parade figure would be foolish, my friend!”

The mass of water moved its limbs in a grotesque gait and began roaming the alley again.

Fortunately, it didn't look into the laundromat.

'Whew.'

Chocolate bars tumbled onto the wet ground in the water creature's wake.

They seemed to be goods that had been swept out through the stationery shop's door by the earlier torrent.

And the residents of Death Row, who had followed the parade as if entranced, rushed toward them.

“It's mine! It's mine!”

“Send me to Gaiety Theme Park!! Let me win!!”

“Let's find the Good Child! Let's find the Good Child!”

All manner of passersby and merchants crowded in, roughly tearing open the chocolate bars and eating them while searching for a “theme park winning ticket” inside.

Apparently, there were admission tickets or Memberships in those bars.

... Something like my tattoo.

: Socius :

'... The moment they find out, I feel like they'll tear it off, skin and all.'

That classic ghost-story development came to mind, sending goose bumps across my skin.

But the moment the mass of water disappeared from view down the alley again, I cracked open the glass door.

JINGLE

... Fortunately, the Death Row passersby frantically rummaging through the chocolate didn't turn our way.

Swallowing, I flipped a coin and summoned The Third Hand into the air.

The translucent hand carefully passed through the narrow opening in the glass door and picked up a chocolate bar that had bounced from the alley toward the laundromat...

The moment The Third Hand returned inside, I snatched the chocolate bar from it and stuffed it into my other tattoo.

'Whew.'

Since I'd already stirred up trouble, I might as well come away with some information to analyze.

Fortunately, perhaps because the silver ring was doing its job admirably, I experienced no strange hallucinations, noises, or ardent desire for the theme park.

'Let's examine it more closely once I'm back in reality.'

It was as I withdrew my hand from my tattoo inventory and dismissed The Third Hand that I remembered a certain item I'd been carrying around inside it all this time without ever trying to use.

The most expensive item in the Alien Shop.

We Help! - ₩66,666,666

“...!”

I took out the item.

A small red button.

... Yes, Braun had said this.

[“Hmm. Yes. You can think of it as an ‘emergency escape,’ Mr. Roe Deer!”]

An emergency escape.

'Should I press it?'

Considering the price, I felt as though I ought to save it for a higher-grade Darkness. But with disappearance imminent, perhaps it was better to use it quickly than land myself in serious trouble by trying to get more value out of it.

'All right.'

Let's see what happens.

Before using it, I showed the button to Section Chief Lee Jaheon.

“Team Leader, this is...”

“Do you need advice?”

“...”

Huh?

“Do you need advice?”

“... Yes.”

“Do not use it.”

“...”

An ominous premonition ran down my spine.

“Is this button an item you're familiar with, Team Leader?”

“Yes.”

“... Will something bad happen?”

“That depends on your criteria.”

“... I'd like a more detailed explanation.”

“That is impossible.”

“...”

“However, I do not recommend using it in our current situation.”

“...”

'Whew.'

In the end, I put the button away.

Section Chief Lee Jaheon might inform me that he couldn't speak about something, but he didn't lie.

Besides, the fact that his rank was high enough to purchase things from the Alien Shop made his warning all the more concerning.

'I got the link to the Alien Shop through his account in the first place.'

All in all, insisting on using this item now felt like foreshadowing for my disappearance, leaving behind a single horrific line in an Exploration Record.

“Oh dear, you're not pressing it? What a shame. I was curious what would happen.”

Were you?

An overwhelming weariness washed over me.

It felt as if I'd discovered that the lifeline that had suddenly appeared was only a drawing, not real.

“...”

I leaned against the laundromat wall and held back a sigh.

“Then every option left is a gamble.”

Section Chief Lee Jaheon looked at me. I tapped my arm anxiously with my fingers.

“Something like demolishing a house to create a gap in the very concept of an alley so we can get out... Wait. Don't break it!”

“Yes.”

This was driving me insane.

After stopping the lizard from pounding the wall with his bare hands, I sank to the floor.

'Is this really all we've got?'

Get f***ed, or escape.

Was there really nothing more certain than staking everything on such an extreme game of chance?

A sure way to leave a ghost story...

...

Ah.

“...!”

I sprang to my feet.

“Mr. Roe Deer.”

“Team Leader!”

This—this just might work, couldn't it?

“There's something we can try. First, we need to get out of here and move...”

Lee Jaheon grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.

“Stand back.”

“...”

I turned my head.

Outside the laundromat's glass door was a black shape.

Peering in at us.

A mass of black water.

“Found you.”