Ch.9Department Store (2)

“I saw it.”

“I saw that thing over there.”

I forcibly held back the scream that was about to escape. Nothing’s happened yet, so I just need to keep moving quietly. Little by little. Slowly.

…Made it.

I passed through the department store entrance and entered the spacious area inside. Now if I can just get to the nearby rest area…

Suddenly.

My breath stopped. I thought I had passed through safely, but there was a pale-faced man standing right in front of me.

“Did you think you could pass by?”

“Did you think you could pass by?”

Ugh.

I clenched my teeth. If this counts as “reacting,” then there’s nothing I can do, but this is the best I can manage right now. It took only seconds for complicated thoughts to fill my head. When I opened my eyes, a metallic afterimage was drawn in the air.

Thud.

Once more. With a crisp impact sound, the twins collapsed to the floor one after another. Park Sungjin stood there holding a crowbar dripping with blood.

“What… did it work?”

“No. It was a mistake. My hand moved reflexively.”

Black blood spread across the department store floor. Flicker. Flicker. The already pale lights flickered. I want to leave this place, but my body won’t move. There’s no movement from the fallen bodies, yet I can hear laughter. The twins jerked and bounced up.

“Saw us.”

“Saw us.”

“You saw us.”

A bubbling sound mixed with their emotionless voices.

“Run.”

“Wait a second.”

“There’s no time, run!”

I barely managed to grab Park Sungjin, who looked ready to bolt at any moment.

“…We can’t run.”

“Why?”

“Shh.”

The department store looks bright, but the areas further away are too dark to see properly. Giggling laughter seeps out from the abyss.

[3. Do not run or shout. Not only is it disrespectful to other customers, but it may unnecessarily provoke the animal dolls.]

“Let’s slowly go that way. Keep your voice down. And try to talk about something.”

“What should I talk about?”

“Anything unrelated to our current situation.”

Behind us, the twins are slowly approaching. Splash. Splash. I didn’t look back, but I could tell. I could hear their voices continuously.

“…Alright.”

Let’s just talk about anything.

“What did you do before coming here, mister?”

“I ran an academy until it went bankrupt.”

“An academy? What kind?”

“Math.”

“Math means…!”

I tried to speak naturally but suddenly lost my breath. Again. As if they had never been far away, the twins appeared right in front of me. Are they actually teleporting? We can’t let the conversation stop…! Fortunately, Park Sungjin smoothly maintained the flow of conversation.

“What did you do?”

“Me… drawing. I drew comics. Yeah.”

“These days that would be webtoons, right?”

“Yes. That’s right…”

We can’t let the conversation stop.

“Actually, I failed too. I don’t know if I lack talent, but things didn’t work out even after years of trying. People around me started suggesting I should quit. At first, I started because I enjoyed it, but now I wonder if I really do like it. Maybe I just vaguely wanted to become a famous artist and gain popularity.”

“At least you don’t have debt.”

We continued talking as we passed by the twins. I could hear footsteps again. The laughter continued behind us. I had to pause frequently to swallow past my tension-stiffened throat. Above all, I wasn’t even sure what I was saying.

“Living off my family is a debt too.”

“You’ve grown up.”

“But I still can’t give up drawing.”

“Keep at it a bit longer. Don’t worry yet, and quit when your debt reaches tens of millions.”

The twins could pounce on us at any moment if they wanted to, but they just followed silently. When the distance grew too large, they would teleport right in front of us. I think my theory is correct. The rules related to the twins repeatedly emphasize:

– Act normal when you see the twins.

– If you’ve reacted, try your best to forget that fact.

The point is to focus on other topics. While conversing, we reached the rest area. It’s a space for tired shoppers to rest their legs. Nothing fancy, just a water dispenser, wooden benches, and decorative bonsai plants. Park Sungjin sat down on a chair with a thud.

“Five minutes here, right?”

“Yes.”

“Wasn’t classical music necessary?”

“I’ve been playing it in my head the whole time.”

“You bastard. Trying to save only yourself.”

“Mister. Everyone has to look after their own life.”

“Got any cigarettes?”

“No.”

This guy seems to have a habit of randomly asking for cigarettes… Anyway, it looks like we’ve successfully evaded those things. But what was chasing us? I’m sure there were two of them. Or was it two creatures? Anyway, I bowed my head from exhaustion. Whoosh—everything suddenly went dark before my eyes. I wasn’t fainting. The hair I had stuffed inside my hood came tumbling down in front of my face.

“Arrrgh this is so annoying!!!”

“Either tie it up or cut it short.”

“Then I’ll really look like a woman!”

“People need to adapt to their situations. Being stubbornly inflexible will only make things worse.”

“Mister. Is this really comparable to your academy business?”

“I may not have money, but at least I still have my dick, you bastard.”

Rustle. Rustle. I gathered up my hair with my hands. This body… even the fingers are so thin. They look like they’d break if I flicked them.

“Hah…”

Tying up hair. Should I ask Daju or Choi Serim about this later? Thinking about it, they both have somewhat creepy sides that damage my mental health in these situations. Daju gets excited to death whenever I show feminine traits. Choi Serim would interrogate me out of curiosity… Normally I’d just look it up online, but my smartphone is broken. No, that’s not it. Becoming a woman in the first place isn’t normal. Either way, it’s depressing. And I’ll have to spend dozens of minutes drying my hair after washing it too.

“It’s been five minutes. Let’s go.”

“Wait. Let’s rest a bit more.”

“You need even more rest?”

“Yes.”

Maybe it’s because I’ve been forcibly suppressing my fear, but my heart keeps pounding. This department store… whatever it is, it attacks viciously if you deviate even slightly from the rules. If we go outside like this, I won’t be able to make proper judgments.

“Oh right, mister.”

“What?”

“Don’t you have another weapon in your bag?”

“Catch.”

Park Sungjin tosses the crowbar toward me. This guy just throws something covered in blood like that, it’ll splatter everywhere. I reached out my hand to catch the weapon.

“…Huh?”

I suddenly felt the heavy weight. Before I could do anything, my fingers lost their strength. Did I really become this weak?

Clang!!!

Without any excuse, the metal rod hit the floor with a metallic sound.