Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 240.1
Six figures stand here, each with enough story to satisfy the Ascetic in the Box.
Whom among them will be thrown into the slow, merciless agony that leads to an inescapable death averaging twenty-seven years?
That absurd choice is now at hand…
“Roe.”
I lowered my head.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje, in the guise of an old woman, tapped me on the shoulder.
“Set me down a bit. I may look like this, but I’m not actually a frail elder.”
But.
“I’ll spit out the bead and get my mobility back. From the look of things, this is about to go sideways.”
……
I set Assistant Manager Eun Haje down. She spat out the glass bead and began returning to her original form.
Agent Bronze’s expression changed.
“That one is…”
“Ee-yah, long time no see, Sir Condescending Geezer.”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje grinned.
By coincidence the two had crossed paths here in Jisan Village before, and now they were meeting again in the same place.
“Oh! Hello, Assistant Manager! Been well since you left the company?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
While Assistant Manager Eun Haje exchanged greetings with Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae, Agent Bronze’s mosaicked face twitched as he glanced between her and Ho Yoowon.
As if recognizing the entity that had used her body like a puppet.
“Are you currently under threat to your life or under improper coercion from a supernatural entity?”
“Something like that, but my situation isn’t urgent, so let’s set it aside.”
Tap, tap.
She nudged me.
“Roe, you seem to know that bizarre Darkness pretty well. Start by explaining. If we don’t know what we’re dealing with, we might press some kind of danger button without realizing it.”
……
Dangerous box of the Church of the Luminous Unknown
: Ascetic in the Box
I explained to everyone as quickly as possible.
The box’s danger, the peculiarities of this location, and the simple fact that we were trying to escape from this cult.
And lastly, the most basic countermeasure.
Victims counted toward the ‘quota’
Current quota : 2
Silence fell for a beat among these veterans of ghost stories as they read the letters I traced in smoke.
“So if you throw in two people, they’ll be tortured for a few decades and die, and the rest pass through unharmed. That’s the gist of this Darkness, huh.”
Correct.
“If we could extract even a B-grade dream essence in one go, the company would be ecstatic.”
Hypothesis : If one does not enter the box, dream essence extraction cannot be possible
“Ah, figured as much. It’ll just count as avoiding, not entering the Darkness.”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje shot a sidelong look at Ho Yoowon and muttered that this was, if anything, a relief.
Anyway, in conclusion.
Request : Do not move
Do not provoke it unnecessarily.
Reasons
→ If you move, you may be acquired as a suitable target.
→ Chance of escape from inside the box is negligible.
(Item usability cannot be confirmed)
Once the Ascetic in the Box locks onto a suitable candidate for its fixed number, it keeps following.
This continues for as long as…
The process continues without end until the fixed number is filled and the box fully closes.
The Ascetic in the Box will never abandon its attempt to fill any remaining vacant places with suitable individuals.
This is because such pursuit constitutes its doctrine.
As time passes, the box will manifest ever closer to the intended victim, extending both hands in silent invitation to join. Eventually, it will appear directly before the victim whenever they turn their head.
At this stage, if the victim attempts to move, physical contact with the box becomes inevitable.
→ Escape impossible once suitable target is acquired and box has closed
If we slip, someone among us could end up like that…
If my salivary glands and esophagus were in their normal places, my mouth would be bone-dry.
‘I have to check.’
Is the box moving relative to someone here? Exactly which of the six is it drawing closer to?
‘Or else…’
I could preempt it and provoke the box myself.
‘It would be easier to respond if it chased me instead.’
If it came to it, before the box swallowed me I might even attempt to ‘read-out’ and erase the setting.
…However chilling the thought of what kind of fatal side effects that might bring, and no matter how long they might last, it was still better than spending decades suffering on display inside that box…
“Hold it, Grapes.”
……
“…You said don’t move. That includes you.”
After confirming I’d stopped moving, Agent Choi glanced around.
“Alright. You all heard that, right? Anyone here absolutely dying to go to the bathroom? No? Well, misfortune within good fortune, I guess?”
Beside him, Agent Bronze pressed a hand to his forehead.
“Just a little! Let’s make a little time. From what I’m hearing, it sounds like we’ve got a bit of leeway.”
Agent Choi, cold sweat on his brow, grinned and lowered himself as he spoke calmly.
“It hasn’t come right up to our noses yet.”
His eyes never left the strange pair of hands jutting from the box.
“First, everyone sit, don’t provoke the box… and let’s think of a way to break it. Okay, Grapes?”
……
I slowly nodded.
However.
Recommendation : Everyone’s contribution to the box’s tracking
It will keep drawing closer as time passes.
So the six of us sat with the Church of the Luminous Unknown’s underground bunker entrance between us.
Three inside.
Three outside.
And… the black box with outstretched hands, pressed close beside the open passageway.
A little closer.
‘…It re-positioned.’
The guillotine’s blade is edging in.
Another half-step already.
“Agent Grapes.”
I forced my head to turn. As soon as we sat, Agent Bronze casually tossed something to me.
“Your issued gear you left behind. Please take it.”
Only after catching it reflexively did I realize what it was.
……My agent jacket.
‘…Why.’
I can’t wear it now anyway. And I already handed in my resignation. Why go to the trouble of tracking down a corporate spy who walked out?
My stomach lurched. Not knowing what to do with it, I just handled the jacket.
‘For now… stash it in my tattoo?’
I put a hand to the hem to fold it…
But there was something in the pocket.
I sent black smoke to feel inside carefully, and realized what it was.
Strands of color.
Five-colored shoelaces.
Salt Goblin
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