Chapter 95

Water poured into the laundromat, surging and churning.

I backed away from the water seeping through the gaps around the glass door. But there was nowhere to run in the self-service laundromat. Just a few washing machines spinning around us.

'Damn it.'

“This way!”

I immediately clambered onto a washing machine. At the same time, Section Chief Lee Jaheon mounted the one beside it.

But that was as far as we could go.

'Where do we go now?'

I scanned the small window high on the left wall. It had bars, but Section Chief Lee Jaheon could tear them—

♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪

“...”

A sound rose from the colliding currents.

A faint, elaborate instrumental tune rang in my ears.

A melody I had heard before.

Gaiety Theme Park's theme song.

♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪

The waves filling the laundromat gathered into a mass of water.

A dragon in the form of a theme park mascot costume.

Found you.

A voice suddenly emerged from the mass of water before me, which had seemed devoid of intelligence.

It sounded as if it were coming through a telephone.

Vibrating through the water as its medium...

Found you.

Breaking into a cold sweat, I stared at the black currents and the mass occupying the laundromat...

'How did it recognize me?'

I'd taken off my mask and was wearing a hat and a face mask...

Kidnapper.

'... It recognized Section Chief Lee Jaheon!'

The mass of black water raised a forepaw and pointed at Lizard, standing on the washing machine beside mine.

“I am not.”

Kidnapper.

“I am not.”

They were going to keep this up forever...!

No, that would be a relief. In truth, it wouldn't be surprising if that mass of water unleashed some horrific ghost-story power at any moment!

I still hadn't forgotten the torrent that had erupted from the telephone and swallowed up the alley like mad.

'... And since it's water, I'm not even sure a physical exorcism would work.'

“...”

I exhaled.

All right. If we could at least communicate...

B a d ...

“He isn't a kidnapper.”

I took off my face mask and put on my mask.

Then I rolled up my sleeve to reveal the tattoo.

: Socius :

With it exposed, I faced the watery dragon, keeping my expression as relaxed as possible.

“Mr. Mascot. Am I the one you've been looking for?”

The watery shape wavered.

And then...

G o o d C h i l d !

Its voice grew clear.

“Yes, it's good to see you too...”

After signaling to Section Chief Lee Jaheon to stay up there, I slowly climbed down from the washing machine.

'Ugh.'

Water splashed beneath my feet, but apart from the theme park's song growing a little clearer, there were no other insane symptoms.

'Good.'

I could do this.

I approached the mass of water...

L e t ' s g o

I felt a vibration from my tattoo.

It seemed to resonate with the shape before me.

The dragon's forepaw reached toward me...

P l a y m o r e

I drew a breath.

“I'm sorry.”

Then I gently pushed its forepaw away.

“I'm not a child anymore, so I can't stay at the theme park. I have to work.”

Silence.

'This is terrifying as hell.'

But I endured it, looking calmly into the dragon's face as I spoke.

“But whenever I want to play, or spend some time at a fun water park, I'll be sure to visit.”

I raised my wrist to show the tattoo.

“That's why you gave me this, isn't it? So I could come whenever I wanted.”

The mass of water nodded slowly.

“Thank you. ... Um, but I don't think I really know how to get to Gaiety Theme Park.”

The company's method of entering Gaiety Theme Park was a board game, and each playthrough sent you into a differently structured theme park.

'If I could prevent that, it might actually be safer.'

Somewhere I'd been before would be better.

“I'm worried I might accidentally end up at another theme park where you aren't there. Is there any way to prevent that?”

I t ' s o k a y

“... It's okay even if I go to another theme park?”

I t ' s o k a y

“...”

That was strange.

'... Would something change if I played that board game again?'

Well, if that was the case...

P r o m i s e

I exhaled.

Hiding my trembling, I held out my hand to the mass of water.

“Yes. I promise.”

And we linked pinkies.

The clammy feel of the water sent a chill through me, but nothing went wrong...

...

After releasing my pinkie, the mass of water pressed a claw on its forepaw against my tattoo.

It seemed to be checking that it was firmly attached, then withdrew its paw in apparent satisfaction.

That was when it happened.

Something came flying through the laundromat door as the water pressure forced it open, landing on the creature's forepaw.

A black rectangle.

My broken smartphone.

Yours.

“...”

I picked up my smartphone with a trembling hand.

“... Thank you. I thought I'd lost it. I was at a loss.”

G o o d C h i l d

The watery shape collapsed.

P r o m i s e

The waves subsided.

Then, like footage being rewound, the water was sucked out through the gaps in the laundromat...

It slipped away, the current sweeping backward through the alley.

Before long, the alley was quiet, without a trace of water.

Inside the laundromat that had been filled with black water, a few chocolate bars printed with my likeness remained like flecks of gold.

“...”

I was alive.

“Whew...”

I sank to the floor.

-My goodness, friend! Did you promise to visit that unremarkable theme park again?

'Yeah.'

No matter how I looked at it, there was no telling what would have happened if I'd said something like, “I'd rather not promise.”

'I might have had all my organs scooped out and ended up working at the theme park as blue dragon mascot ver. 2.'

At least I'd avoided that...

With a Membership, I should be treated as a guest there. That would be better than being dragged away right now or accepting unknown complications.

My mind raced.

'... Should I talk to the company and schedule a session with the board game?'

Judging by the interval... I would probably need to go within six months.

'Let's prepare items and equipment in the meantime.'

Good.

For now, what mattered was that I'd made it through this moment. I rose on shaky legs and held back a sigh.

'If this was how it would turn out, I shouldn't have run earlier...!'

But honestly, would any lunatic in that situation have stayed instead of running, thinking they could calmly talk things out?

'I'd bet a gold bar the answer is no...'

I exhaled.

Just then, Lee Jaheon hopped casually off the washing machine behind me.

Without thinking, I asked,

“Team Leader. If I hadn't stepped in earlier, would you have tried to smash... no, get rid of that mass of water somehow?”

“Yes.”

“...”

As expected.

The timing had been just right this time. If we'd stood dumbly in that stationery store, things would have gone to shit in all sorts of ways.

'So running back then really was the right call.'

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry...

But I needed to pull myself together.

'We're still trapped in this alley.'

The one saving grace was that I'd thought of a way we could try to get out.

“Team Leader.”

Brushing off the bottom of my suit, I stood before the laundromat's glass door.

“I've thought of an escape method. ... If we can meet a few conditions, I think we can attempt it even here in Death Row.”

“I see.”

“Yes. And the first condition is...”

I looked around at the shops in the alley.

The object the owner of the stationery store had used to contact someone, plunging us into that predicament earlier.

“A telephone.”

* * *

Some time later.

DING!

We opened the door of a shop whose windows cast a fairly comforting light into the darkened alley and went inside.

As it happened, it was the very shop where my fellow recruits had enjoyed their shopping earlier.

True to the advertisement proclaiming “Handmade Knitwear,” cozy-looking sweaters, socks, and scarves were on display, but here and there were strangely ragged, damp fibers...

'Ugh.'

Ignoring them as best I could, I turned my attention to the shop's layout.

And after spending the past few hours going in and out of countless shops in this alley while avoiding the angry stationery store owner's voice, I finally found what I was looking for.

'... There it is!'

Another door.

There was a main entrance in the wall opposite the door we'd come through.

It was larger than the one we'd just used. Which meant...

'That's the front door.'

And beyond it would be an unknown street, not a Death Row alley...

The sort of thing commonly described in Records of Dark Exploration as “subsequently classified as missing.”

Doors on the opposite side are occasionally found in shops along the alleys of Death Row. Avoid exiting through them if at all possible.

※No recorded returns to date.

It was akin to the fear you felt when the only answer to “Where do explorers who leave the route go?” was “Unknown.”

The fear of vanishing.

'Whew.'

I quickly looked away to avoid seeing the neon signs shining through the opaque glass door.

Then I picked out one verified-safe item from the socks Section Chief Lizard had been studying and headed to the counter.

“Hello.”

The owner, knitting with six arms, looked at me through farsighted glasses.

Once again, I kept my gaze slightly lowered, looking only at the owner's sweater.

Holding out the socks, I spoke casually.

“I'd like to pay for these. Oh, and would it be all right if I made a phone call here?”

I didn't stop at words. I casually placed a few extra coins on the counter.

...

The elderly-faced Death Row shopkeeper...

CLICK.

Picked up the telephone and handed it to me.

“... Thank you.”

I let out a breath.

'That gives us everything we need.'

1. A telephone.

2. A main entrance facing away from the alley.

And...

3. Transportation.

I looked at the dial of the old-fashioned telephone.

Naturally, dialing a real-world number on a telephone in Death Row didn't guarantee a connection.

There were occasional records of apparent connections, but every one of them had been twisted in some bizarre, ghost-story fashion.

Someone would impersonate a relative, then cackle and hang up the moment they were found out. Or time would warp, connecting the caller to their family in the middle of holding the caller's funeral.

'It was horrible.'

So I wasn't calling for rescue.

'If anything... it's closer to the opposite.'

I raised a finger and dialed the number, turning the dial somewhat clumsily.

666666 4444 8282

Even its format made no sense as a phone number, so it shouldn't have so much as rung...

RING... CLICK.

But, impossibly, it connected.

[“...”]

Struggling not to notice the breathing on the other end, I spoke as nonchalantly as I could.

“Hello. Is this the taxi company? I'd like to call a cab.”

[“... Your location has been confirmed.”]

A husky voice answered.

Its low, haughty tone was polite, yet sounded strangely mocking.

[“Please state your desired pickup time.”]

“I'd like you to come right away.”

[“Please state your destination.”]

“... Seoul Station, Exit 1.”

[“Confirmed. Assigning a driver...”]

I deliberately held the receiver away from my ear for a moment.

A few seconds later...

[“A driver has been assigned. Have a comfortable journey.”]

CLICK. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...

The call disconnected on its own.

“... Thank you.”

I politely returned the telephone to the shopkeeper, took the bag containing the wrapped socks, and passed it to Section Chief Lee Jaheon.

It was to hide my trembling hands.

'Whew.'

Done.

As you may have realized, that hadn't been a normal taxi service.

A suspicious taxi number that could traverse time and space at will.

'It's a ghost story...!'

* * *

Records of Dark Exploration / Ghost Stories

[Hell Surcharge Taxi]

: A ghost story appearing in <Records of Dark Exploration>. Its Daydream Inc. identification code is Qterw-C-8282.

A taxi ghost story in which a cab appears when a particular number is called late at night.

Anyone who rides this taxi is invariably cursed.

* * *

There was no longer any normal way to find a route from Death Row back to reality.

In that case...

'I'll get out through a ghost story if I have to.'

A few seconds later,

A faint horn sounded beyond the shop's front entrance.

HONK, HONK.

“...”

The taxi had arrived.