Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 214.3

He turned his head.

He saw the paper in his left hand.

Drip, drip— Water was falling from the paper…

‘Ah.’

That smell of rain. It was coming from here…

Bee-beep.

Creeeak.

“……”

A sound.

The supervisor, stiff with tension, turned his head back forward.

The assistant manager who had been holding the door lock was looking back at him.

No.

It was just his head that had turned.

Thunk.

His neck snapped the other way, and his lifeless body toppled like a toy.

“……”

He froze in shock.

A corpse.

From the assistant manager’s twisted face, fluid began to ooze from every hole.

Tears, mucus, and spit dripped onto the floor.

Like rainwater.

“H-Hic, hiiic, hicc…”

Roll…

A small, round device fell from the dead man’s hand and rolled to the employee’s feet.

Instinctively, he picked it up, even as he thought.

His empty mind buzzed with tinnitus.

What is this?

What… is happening right now?

At that moment.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry! You must have been startled by the sudden blackout.”

“Are you alright?”

The flustered voices of the couple came from above.

It was a bit muffled, as if they were calling from upstairs, but the important thing was they were voices. Human voices.

“Ah…!”

Reality snapped back into place.

Relief, fear, shock, helpless confusion.

Unable to take his eyes off the dead assistant manager, he barely managed to move his lips.

“I’m fine! It’s nothing…”

“Where are you? You’re okay, right?”

“Because this is a single-detached house, sometimes we get blackouts like this… Goodness. That startled me.”

The sales rep, barely managing to catch his breath, stood up. He lifted his hand to throw away the paper he was holdi—

liar, Liar

The words on the paper had changed.

And then.

Something flashed through his mind.

“Are you still there??”

……

“Pardon me.”

His mouth opened.

His voice was shaking.

“You definitely said it earlier. ‘Our eldest already moved out.’”

“Huh? Well, yes. Why…?”

But.

“…The phrase ‘eldest child’ is only used when there’s a ‘younger child’.”

……

“Then where is the younger one?”

A deathly silence.

“Pardon me?”

“Too late.”

“It’s too late.”

The sales rep began to run, desperately, in the opposite direction from the staircase.

“Too late.”

“It’s too late.”

He felt his neck go numb from fear.

His survival instincts screamed.

Something’s wrong.

Need to hide.

But where?

With trembling hands, he unfolded the paper again. Thud. Mud and dust wet from the rain dropped to the floor.

But before he could even flinch at that, the contents were revealed.

The words had changed again.

“……”

bAthROom tub

‘Bathroom?’

He looked up and saw a door labeled ‘Bathroom’ in English.

In a split second of hesitation, the sales rep finally opened the door next to the bathroom, stepped inside, and locked it.

“Hiiek—”

The dark silhouette in the pantry looked terrifying, but for now, he tried to steady his breath.

And held his breath.

…Because he heard something coming down from upstairs.

Step, step.

“Too late.”

It was getting closer.

The footsteps grew louder and louder, closer and closer…

“It’s too late.”

They were standing right outside the door.

The employee stifled both his sobs and his breath, but soon he heard the doorknob turning…

Click.

“……”

“……”

The next moment.

He realized it.

The door hadn’t opened.

It’s just, it had been locked from the outside as well.

“Too late.”

“It’s too late…”

What exactly is this?

What decision was he making right now?

What is this?

“Ah…”

“Please just rest now.”

“There’s nothing to be done now.”

What was he supposed to believe?

In his confusion, the sales rep tried to unfold the paper again with his shaking hands. But then, he realized what was in his other hand.

‘The manager’s talisman.’

With trembling hands, he checked it for the first time…

‘…Pager?’

It was a pager. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

A small, old electronic device called a ‘pager’, which was widely used decades ago.

On it, as if pre-set by his boss, ‘505’ was entered.

That meant…

‘…SOS!’

His desperate mind drew the connection.

‘Where does this connect to?’

Maybe the ‘talisman’ wasn’t a literal charm, but… a means of calling for help?

Clutching at straws, the sales rep hurriedly pressed the button, hitting what looked like a send button over and over.

“Please, please…”

And then.

[Processing your request.]

“…!”

A businesslike voice.

It echoed in his ear like a faint whisper.

[Would you like to call the Security Team? An additional fee will be charged.]

“Y-Yes!!”

Whatever it was, he needed help. Help!! Please!

“W-Who should I trust, I mean, where should I go, pl-please tell me. I don’t know what the answer is.”

[Processing your request.]

The employee rambled incoherently, telling what had happened so far, This strange house, the rainy day, the drawing, the lie.

The child!

“That child who drew this…”

“Is there a little one here in need of care?”

“AAAAAH!”

The sales rep fell backward.

The pager, which had spoken in that bizarre voice, dropped to the floor.

And from the shadow that formed where it landed, a black silhouette began to rise.

[Process complete]

[Security Team assigned]

Employees clad in the uniform of Daydream Inc.’s Security Team.

Salt Goblin

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