Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 225.1

I slumped back down on the bed.

The bell was still in my hand.

A marker to guide me back into thinking like myself.

Jingle.

[Oh, I suppose now it’s safe to ask you again.]

[Mr. Roe Deer, how does it feel to realize you’ve regained your ability to think?]

I lifted my head.

‘…My head feels clear.’

Surprisingly, I felt like myself.

[That’s truly excellent news!]

‘Right. But…’

That in itself felt strange.

[Hm?]

That I wasn’t overwhelmed or moved to tears by the realization that I was back in my right mind.

I felt a little dazed.

And so I noticed the sense of dissonance.

For example.

‘…Why am I not scared?’

[My word, there’s nothing frightening in this bedroom at all. Of course, this pink merchandise plushie is frighteningly charming!]

Y-Yeah.

But that’s not what I meant…

‘Given everything that happened, I should absolutely be terrified.’

My body was some grotesque thing, my future was a dumpster fire, and right now, I was locked alone in a ghost story containment cell. Normally, wouldn’t I be silently screaming, choking back sobs…

But all I felt was ‘uneasy’.

When I used Nostalgia Kitty and briefly became Supervisor Roe Deer again, I’d regained and then lost my body and mind, feeling terror and an unbearable despair.

It had been a situation where panic was justified.

But now, even though I’d regained clarity, I was oddly calm.

Sure, I was a little scared, but it was as though something like a fear switch was turned off. Like I’d taken some kind of tranquilizer.

‘Is it because this bell was designed for agents?’ 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Does it simply block out extreme or negative emotions?

But if that was the case, then any subtle or nuanced feelings should be dulled as well.

[Ah. In ancient times, a Greek philosopher divided the human mind into layers: reason, will, and emotion.]

[An antiquated theory, yes, but intuitive for an era with no real scientific grounding. Shall we apply it here?]

Hm. In that case.

‘So I’ve only recovered part of my reason and will… something like that?’

A state where I can’t fully feel emotions.

Since emotions are closely tied to the body, it makes sense, in a way.

[As quick-witted as ever, Mr. Roe Deer. Of course, it’s just speculation, but from your perspective, that seems like a fair assessment, Friend.]

[Once you adapt and get used to things again, the rest might return over time, perhaps?]

…If that’s the case, maybe this is actually better for now.

‘In this insane world of ghost stories, being numb to panic and fear could be an advantage…’

What happens later, I don’t know.

I stifled a sigh.

Then realized sighing would only release smoke from my body, which was a bit depressing.

‘Let’s just be grateful I only feel a little depressed…’

I turned my focus to something productive.

Jingle.

For the rest of my ‘rest period’, I shook the bell at different intervals to measure how long its effect would last in keeping me ‘clear-headed’.

The result.

‘…Around four hours.’

After four hours, it became difficult to maintain coherent thought.

If I wanted to stay rational, I’d have to hear the bell’s chime every four hours. At least for now.

‘Hmm.’

I stared thoughtfully at the small bell.

Would using it too much wear it out?

[All things are consumables, except in very rare cases.]

[But it seems perfectly fine for now. Looks like something crafted by a skilled artisan.]

In that case, I could use it for a while without issue.

‘Thank you, Team Leader Haegeum…’

I sighed again, then tucked the bell securely between the base of the horns sprouting from my head.

I could move my skull and, by extension, my horns.

This way, I could ring it only when needed. And it would stay out of sight.

With that, the urgent tasks were finished.

Until work resumed… I could finally let myself drift into thought.

‘Hmm.’

…I lay down as comfortably as I could.

And deliberately steered my mind away from topics that might shake me, instead reflecting on everything I’d experienced so far.

Mostly, the faces of people I’d met flashed through my mind.

Kwak Jekang, J3, Supervisor Park Minseong, Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae, Kang Yihak… Agent Choi.

And as my memory traced back to the very first scene,

I realized something.

‘…!’

Jang Heowoon.

One of the new employees who visited me in Room 666 in Basement Floor 13 of the Annex, during that ‘special recruitment’ experiment.

Back then, I’d felt only a faint joy finding out that Jang Heowoon was alive… but now that I could think, I realized it wasn’t something to pass over lightly.

‘He would have recognized me.’

Jang Heowoon entered the Cheerful Theme Park resort alongside me, knowing full well that I was Kim Soleum, and in that process, he also saw the Security Team costume that I wore.

Which meant he could easily connect the dots between the current me and the Kim Soleum he knew.

Of course, that came with one big assumption.

If that really was Jang Heowoon.

‘I see human faces as melted mosaics…’

Voices are also hard to identify, so I rely mostly on mannerisms and tone to tell people apart. Expressions are somewhat visible, at least.

‘But if his Wish Ticket worked properly, why would he come back to this place?’

And he wasn’t marked as missing or dead like me, but simply reassigned to a branch office. He could have just stayed there instead of returning to the main office.

Did he not contact Director Ho? Why…

……

……!

[Hm?]

A chilling thought passed through my mind.

Salt Goblin

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