Chapter 159

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Kim Sol-eum thought.

He could roughly guess what ‘Good Friend’ would have said if he had been accompanying him in this absurd situation.

-‘Oh! Deception, indeed. It has been a very effective technique of governance since ancient times. I am getting more and more excited to see which scene you will lead the masses to….’

He would have said something like that.

‘Come to think of it, since I am walking on all fours, there isn’t even any room to carry a rabbit doll.’

Kim Sol-eum had such blank thoughts. No, he desperately pretended to look away like that.

It was because the gazes from behind were too intense….

‘Aaaah.’

Behind him, the Daydream Co. employees and the Disaster Management Bureau agents were following him as if possessed.

No, even the baby mermaids… that is, the children, were also following.

‘To this extent?’

He felt like he would break out in a cold sweat.

It was true that he had deliberately induced the two factions to witness each other. Only when they were conscious of each other and the situation became chaotic would the psychological effect of the fake Necronomicon work better!

But he had not expected it to work so well that not a single person withdrew, and everyone ended up following him.

‘If I get caught, I’m utterly screwed….’

His soles grew damp at the mere thought of what on earth would happen if he were caught by those veterans….

Remarkably, however, Kim Sol-eum succeeded in not showing any of this. It was thanks to his survival instinct working ever since he was a rookie employee at the ghost story company.

Thanks to that, he was perceived as an avatar of some cosmic horror entity that caused the terrible and powerful phenomenon they had just experienced.

Even to the person who guessed the identity of this cat!

“Excuse me.”

Baek Sa-heon.

The employee in the goat mask, who was walking beside the cat, barely managed to open his mouth only after a few hellish minutes had passed.

“What on earth are you…”

The cat stared.

Halting its steps, it mutely stared at the black goat with its crimson eyes without saying a word.

“…….”

“…….”

“……Ugh.”

Ultimately, Baek Sa-heon covered his mouth and began walking again while sweating profusely with spinning eyes….

‘He’s not killing me.’

‘He’s not killing us, is he?’

‘For now, it’s certain that he has a purpose.’

The moment their brains slowly began to function again and rational thinking was about to kick in.

The giant terror in the form of a cat began to speak again.

A different word.

[10]

…A countdown.

“…!”

[9]

And the cat’s pace quickened.

[8]

The cat grew smaller toward the far side of the city streets.

If they did not follow immediately, they did not know what would happen….

[7]

With cold sweat forming on the backs of their necks, the people shut their mouths for now and moved to follow the cat that had started walking again.

It was a rare situation that occurred because everyone had considerable experience in ghost story exploration.

This was because they all knew this unwritten rule.

-If you scream and flee without thinking in a ghost story, you usually die.

Like that, the logic of the ghost story was protecting Kim Sol-eum!

In addition, by having a bizarre existence intervene between the two factions that had an extremely poor relationship, it even had the effect of making them keep each other in check and prevent them from acting rashly.

‘Thank you, Baek Sa-heon…!’

Thanks to this, unlike his cold-sweating paws, Kim Sol-eum was able to properly create terror and pressure as he guided them.

The black cat of ominous presence continued to move its paws, heading somewhere in the city in an instant.

The employees avoided the mucus sprayed by the ulcers from time to time, the agents hurriedly carried the children who said their legs hurt on their backs, and they walked urgently.

Before long, passing the city streets, a bizarre building appeared….

“Huh?”

“It looks like… a cathedral.”

It was the stained glass building located at the very eastern end.

Even though all the glass was shattered and the symbols were completely destroyed.

The cat quietly went to the collapsed building and headed toward a strangely hidden space beyond the collapsed main beam.

Surprisingly, there was a small annex.

“…!”

“I’ve never been here before.”

Because it was hidden by the fully collapsed building, it was a place that the Daydream employees had not noticed until now and had absolutely no knowledge of its existence.

However, although the children looking at the Twinkling Dragon Palace did see the appearance of a proper, beautiful building….

“Is this the place we searched last time?”

“Yes. There were no unusual findings.”

Thus, with one side feeling strange and the other side feeling puzzled, both entered the building full of wariness.

Following the black cat.

[This way]

Only after entering the annex did the cat stop.

It was in front of the left wall.

Right below where a torn little painting was hanging.

Baek Sa-heon hesitated.

“…What do you want us to do with this?”

[This way]

Damn it.

Baek Sa-heon escalated the damaged painting, sweating coldly while looking at it, and turned back and smiled.

“Um, Miss Pony.”

Kang Yi-hak naturally pretended not to hear. Unperturbed, Baek Sa-heon continued to speak.

“I don’t know much about these things, so could you take a look? Somehow, it feels like there is a safe behind this painting….”

“A safe?”

“Yes.”

Kang Yi-hak stepped forward in an instant.

And after peering intently at the painting….

“Aha.”

She reached out to the painting without hesitation and tossed it aside.

Behind it was a genuinely rusted steel lock.

“…!”

It was a bluff, so why is it really there!

For a moment, Baek Sa-heon almost grabbed her by the collar.

‘Had I known it would be like this, I would have personally…’

Kang Yi-hak immediately took action.

“Mr. Cat.”

She had sat down on her knees in front of the cat.

Kim Sol-eum almost toppled backward, but barely froze in a manner fitting a denizen of a ghost story.

Kang Yi-hak’s eyes sparkled.

“The key to the safe! Where is the key to the safe?”

Oh my god.

“Haha, you told us to bow earlier, so I gave it a try. Can we just get a slight hint of how expensive the things inside are…….”

[This way]

The cat (unavoidably) stood firm!

And in the meantime, Baek Sa-heon stealthily reached out and yanked the safe open.

Screeech.

“Ah. It just opens…….!”

And everyone from Daydream Co. froze.

One, two, three…….

Twelve.

Inside the safe, beautiful white conch shells were displayed, tied with golden strings.

A precious item that was barely found anymore, even though they had thoroughly combed the city like catching rats.

“An-Angel’s Sigh!”

Found a total of 13 ‘Angel’s Sighs’ inside a safe in the annex next to the ruined massive religious building in the east of the city. Given the nature of the building, it appeared to be professional stockpiled supplies.

What the cat wanted to show them.

The cat mutely looked at the rejoicing employees with its red eyes.

If this had been an exploration that had already taken place, it could have simply guided them elsewhere, but it had to be here if possible.

…There was a reason.

However, the promised side effects could not be helped.

‘An item!’

Greed swirled in the eyes of the Daydream Co. employees.

‘How much is that if converted to points?’

‘I must take it out no matter what.’

Yet, they were still watching closely due to the terror brought by the Necronomicon.

They seemed to believe that the massive malice reflected in the form of the cat would impose some conditions or bring about terrible consequences.

Thus….

[This way]

The cat moved its steps again.

A suffocating silence flowed.

And… he sat down in front of the Disaster Management Bureau agent children.

“…!”

“It’s a cat doll! So cute!”

“No! It’s dirty!”

Agent Choi stopped the baby mermaid who was trying to pounce on the cat.

Ryu Jae-gwan broke out in a cold sweat.

At any rate, the senses of the cat, which had already perceived the world beneath once, also detected the voices of the Disaster Management Bureau agents in their ‘child’ forms.

And it urged.

[This way]

“…It seems like he is telling us to look inside that safe.”

“…….”

After calming the baby mermaids down, the two of them guarded the surroundings and approached the safe.

The Daydream Co. employees looked as if their hands were itching to grab them, but stayed quiet for now due to the situation.

And when the agents finally peered inside the safe….

“…….”

“…Bronze. Do you see it?”

“No.”

“Right.”

Agent Choi smirked while sweating coldly.

“…There is nothing there.”

Indeed.

To the agents in child forms, the inside of the glittering ivory safe appeared empty.

“But in truth, there is something there, right?”

Agent Choi raised the suncatcher again and looked at the spot where the Daydream Co. people had made a fuss.

And he confirmed it.

“…!”

There were indeed twelve ‘conch shells’.

Agent Choi hurriedly asked a baby mermaid.

“Hey, can you see that?”

“What? Is there something there?”

“I see the cat.”

The children answered innocently.

The agents realized.

This object was invisible only to children.

No, to be precise… they could not perceive it at all!

‘Wait a minute.’

Agent Bronze felt a shiver down his spine.

‘Then… there was a crucial item that the Bureau has failed to identify until now…….’

They always infiltrated ghost stories in child forms.

Therefore, they could not even perceive it in that form, and they had no choice but to fail to grasp the conch shells, which could only be discovered if they searched for them by force.

But at this very moment, the Disaster Management Bureau agents had learned of the existence of this item….

Agent Choi quickly turned back to look at the cat, but the cat mutely stared at him and continued to speak the same will.

[This way]

“Agent.”

“No, no, it’s fine.”

Agent Choi responded to the call.

And he reached out, trying to touch the spot where the conch shell had been inside the safe….

But he could not touch it at all.

“…….”

It wouldn’t even let him touch it.

The hallucination of the Twinkling Dragon Palace created by the culprit and infection source of this ghost story was rejecting the conch shell.

“Then…”

[This way]

“…….”

Agent Choi closed his mouth.

The cat moved again as if his turn was over.

The place its steps headed toward… was in front of Baek Sa-heon.

‘Why me again!’

Baek Sa-heon screamed internally. But the next moment, he realized.

“Ah. …Should I pack these conch shells?”

Indeed.

‘He’s telling me to pack the items!’

For the first time, Baek Sa-heon listened to the cat bastard with joy and quickly reached his hand inside the safe.

[10]

Even in his joy, his brain diligently ran calculations.

‘How do I pack all twelve in this situation?’

If he had only told me, I could have just packed them right away, but since it turned out like this, I’ll have to give a few to my bad-tempered boss and money-crazy peer to settle the situation.

‘Damn it.’

[9]

He must have gathered people on purpose to create a more interesting and stimulating scene. As expected, that cat is the psychopath Kim Sol-eum….

‘…Wait a minute.’

Baek Sa-heon paused.

But that crazy, strange, bizarre, and terrifying pressure just now, that existence… isn’t that something a mere human psychopath couldn’t possibly do?

The red halo visible on Kim Sol-eum was the same.

Of course, Baek Sa-heon had confirmed a few times that halos signaling danger were visible on humans as well, but Kim Sol-eum’s felt like… something, a different feeling.

[8]

Rather than a human, closer to what he had seen in ghost stories….

The feeling of an anomalous phenomenon.

‘Could it be.’

Could it be that his former roommate wasn’t just a psychopath who didn’t seem human, but…

[7]

‘He was simply not a real-world human from the very beginning…….’

A chill ran down his spine.

But the ship had already sailed, and he had to pack the items.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

[6]

The countdown was ending.

Baek Sa-heon gritted his teeth and quickly packed the conch shells tied with golden strings, ignoring Kang Yi-hak’s peeking and the intense gazes of his boss and the agents.

And when he swept all twelve of them into his bag.

“Huh?”

He additionally discovered one conch shell that had been hidden at the very bottom.

It was not tied with a golden string, but it was indeed ‘Angel’s Sigh’.

‘A gain.’

Pondering a way to secretly pack it separately, Baek Sa-heon reached out his hand, but….

[This way]

Something burst out from inside.

“…!”

By a hair’s breadth, Baek Sa-heon tripped over the cat and fell.

The slimy infection source shot out from the conch shell sliced through the empty air, losing its target.

“Argh!”

Baek Sa-heon quickly threw the conch shell in his hand.

Agent Bronze, who was watching the situation while holding the suncatcher, rushed over and struck the conch shell that had sprayed mucus with his Glass Hand Cannon.

With a short thud, the conch shell shattered, and a tick-like chunk of flesh inside convulsed, crawling out like a bug, before getting hit by another bullet and sticking to the floor.

Squish.

Jin Na-sol’s shoe crushed it.

“…….”

Amid the chilling silence, the people looked back at the cat.

The existence inside the ghost story that had forcibly guided them here.

* * *

Whew.

I tried my best to avoid people’s gazes, feeling like sweating cold sweat.

Since I was in a cat’s body, it wasn’t very difficult.

‘I intended to verify this.’

Yes. The reason why I went out of my way to come to this place among several locations where ‘Angel’s Sigh’ could be farmed.

The moment one grabbed the conch shell hidden at the very bottom of the safe, infected mucus would burst out.

The specialty of this place. It was a trap item.

Just like a mimic, it was a spine-chilling and typical horror development where a biohazard was camouflaging itself while parasitizing a useful-looking item.

But if I combine this typical development with the information obtained from the tattooist….

‘It becomes a much clearer clue.’

A clue about the conch shell’s identity.

■■.

In the overwhelming sensory information that the owner of the Moonlight Tattoo Shop had conveyed, the conch shell, ‘Angel’s Sigh,’ was something horrible associated with a negative and fatal incident.

Probably, that incident was this crazy infection and the destruction of the city.

But at the same time, the conch shell also possessed the contrasting images of comfort and cure.

Adding to this the tattooist’s expression, ‘something horrible because it is image-wise filthy even though we know rationally it poses no threat,’ if I thought about it carefully and reconstructed it….

-The conch shell, which was originally a cure, caused a fatal incident, but this is not the conch shell’s original function.

…It comes down to this.

Then who on earth would have contaminated the conch shell?

‘A very obvious candidate.’

-The biohazard ulcer entered inside the conch shell and camouflaged itself as Angel’s Sigh.

It was identical to the biohazard-mermaid creating hallucinations of the Twinkling Dragon Palace to bewitch child hosts.

‘It sneaked into the conch shell at first and spread the infection.’

If the children were infected like that, causing this crazy situation to spread rapidly, and even making the civilization of this city wary of the conch shell so they couldn’t receive emergency treatment in time….

‘Every single piece fits perfectly.’

Kim Sol-eum had driven the people all the way here to deliver this clue directly without raising suspicion.

And….

“Aha.”

Here was someone who grasped the clue precisely.

“…….”

Agent Choi picked up the broken conch shell fragment. Goosebumps began to climb up his hand.

It was close to a tremor.

Those who were sharp and experienced easily noticed clues, approaching the correct answer.

“Is it a cure?”

He looked back at the cat.

“Is this a cure?”

“…!!”

“So that’s why they blocked the kids from seeing or touching it at all, and even mixed in duds to induce misunderstanding? To prevent them from getting cured.”

The cat did not reply, but Agent Choi was already convinced.

He declared in a voice so calm it was hard to believe he was addressing an entity that had exhibited an utterly horrific presence just moments ago.

“Right. This… is a cure.”

“…….”

Tension began to drift through the space.

‘What is it?’

To the Daydream Co. employees, the agent’s words sounded merely like a baby mermaid’s laughter.

Therefore, they could not understand, but they could instinctively sense the unusual atmosphere.

“But you see.”

Agent Choi looked at the bag Baek Sa-heon was holding.

Baek Sa-heon tightly gripped the bag.

“There are twenty-eight children.”

And all of them are in a state where their infection is too severe to escape.

“Yet there are only twelve conch shells… and they happen to be in the hands of some cult company bastards?”

Agent Choi raised his hand.

And his Glass Hand Cannon….

[10]

“…….”

[9]

The cat.

Before anyone knew it, was sitting elsewhere.

[8]

Right in front of Jin Na-sol’s shoe.

“What.”

[7]

“I don’t know what you want me to do.”

[6]

“You mean I should just do what I was going to do?”

[5]

“Then I’ll do just that.”

[4]

Thus, Jin Na-sol did what she had originally intended to do.

[3]

The elite team assistant manager of Daydream Co. shot the offensive wire attached to her nail.

Toward the baby mermaid who was not an agent.