Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 234.2

Huu.

‘What to do.’

The grotesque sight no longer stirs me as much, but should I just wait until the Security Team arrives?

‘Better not get entangled with the Church of the Luminous Unknown.’

I think I’ve read a few investigation reports mentioning people in school uniforms from the Happy Ending Sect.

But the Church of the Luminous Unknown has so many insane, varied people that I can’t be sure from the uniform alone. It’s still manageable though.

And.

‘…Someone was killed right in front of me.’

……

Decision made.

‘Subdue them.’

I’ll bear my mind breaking a bit if it comes to that.

I reached out my hand.

At that moment.

“Fine.”

Something grabs my arm.

I turned my head.

Ho Yoowon, who had been riding the elevator with me, answers with a smile…

To the Church of the Luminous Unknown head.

“Sure, let’s go together.”

…!

Wait, you—

Y

o

u

A

n

s

w

e

r

e

d

H

m

?

A tongue slips out of the skull.

The head swells huge and swallows the elevator.

What’s already been answered cannot be undone.

I tried to wrench away the one holding my arm, but I already felt the swallowed body growing distant as it was moved…

……

[Oh dear, it’s already too late to say you need help!]

[And, oh, it pains me to say this but… My friend said the arbitrary judgment of this Braun here isn’t trustworthy! Fine. Let’s see what happens…]

Darkness.

* * *

To begin with.

I didn’t much like the Church of the Luminous Unknown entries on the <Dark Exploration Records>.

Popularity aside.

The church’s appearance was definitely the turning point that made <Dark Exploration Records> explode in popularity and turn into an IP industry.

But… I dunno.

‘It’s just too… raw, primal, I guess.’

Like a feeling without measure.

They mainly amplify features that produce victims and make people feel disgusted as a point of entertainment.

And how that primal disgust feels when encountered in reality… would be…

……

Reality, huh.

“Roe Deer-nim?”

I opened my eyes.

Indoors, darkness, metal.

And Ho Yoowon.

“You’re conscious! Thank goodness. You’re not supposed to be able to sleep in that body, and if you hadn’t come to your senses—”

I grabbed his jaw.

‘You crossed a line.’

As I tightened my grip on Ho Yoowon’s face.

“Roe Deer-nim.”

Yet Ho Yoowon kept talking.

“Don’t you want to get out of Daydream?”

……

“Director Cheong doesn’t treat you well, right? But if you stay locked in the isolation room, you’re unlikely to find a good solution.”

I pressed harder on the hand holding his jaw. Bones crunched, but Ho Yoowon’s smile did not change at all.

And then.

“Sorry I didn’t ask earlier! It seemed the security team would arrive soon, so my mouth moved first… As an apology—”

He made a proposition.

“What if I gave you a little freedom of movement for a moment, Roe Deer-nim?”

“…!”

“I have information I need to look into here. So, each of us… I’ll be searching for information, and Roe Deer-nim, you’ll be looking for a way to break your contract. If you’re inclined, I’d be grateful to receive your help as well…”

Information to look into.

‘…It must be about Sekwang Special Metropolitan City.’

A convincing motive.

And his words didn’t end there.

“The most important thing is that all of this can be done without violating the employment contract. You’re accompanying a company director, aren’t you, Roe Deer-nim.”

Ah.

“Then this can be regarded as official company business. It’ll be recorded as a kind of overtime work.”

……

“What do you think?”

I released my hand from Ho Yoowon’s jaw.

Overtime :

Additional pay to be claimed separately

“Of course, I’ll make sure you’re well compensated.”

The tension eased, like a temporary truce. I stifled a sigh and straightened up.

‘Feels like walking with a bomb.’

Still, unlike before, at least I could treat him as a troll.

And only then, with the chance to properly take in our surroundings, Ho Yoowon and I turned our heads to assess the situation.

“This place…”

A corridor dimly lit, the lights sparse.

What stood out was that the structure was arched, as if a cylinder had been cut in half.

And it was sealed.

Not a single window in sight, the gray space was finished in concrete…

“Doesn’t it look like a basement air-raid shelter to you?”

It’s just as he said.

With its bare, rust-stained walls, the place evoked the image of a disaster bunker.

‘…So they preached to us and just dumped us here?’

I was trying to make sense of the situation, but at that moment.

“Let us share happiness.”

…!

From the far end of the corridor, around the corner, came a sound.

A crowd.

The footsteps of perhaps a hundred people moving.

And voices talking.

“Ah, maybe they’ve come to welcome the new believers?”

Soon, the line of people turning the corner came into view. It was…

“Share happiness.”

Ordinary people.

Smiling, whispering to each other as they walked, people so ordinary they could have been seen in a park on the weekend.

Men and women, young and old mixed together, like a group headed out on an outing.

But in their hands, they carried something.

Every six or so people formed a group, lifting and carrying something fairly large in volume.

Those things.

“Let us share happiness.”

“Share happiness.”

Corpses.

Dozens of bodies were being carried in their hands.

Salt Goblin

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