Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 260.1

I opened my eyes.

A dark, clean platform. But beyond the screen doors lay the ruined opposite platform.

‘…The scenery of Sekwang Station.’

Entry successful.

I looked down at myself, once again in my human form, and exhaled sharply.

‘This time, everyone will succeed.’

And I reviewed the plans again.

– Ah, right. When you all wake up again, you won’t be opening your eyes at Disaster Management Bureau’s HQ anymore.

– Huh?

– I removed the passageway and pulled it over. You’ll be waking up in a very safe place…

Meaning, the bureau’s headquarters would no longer have agents and Daydream employees suddenly collapsing en masse out of nowhere.

Even if the place is sealed off, it was shocking how Ho Yoowon had found a way to extract a piece of the bureau’s exclusive passageway.

‘…Considering his single-mindedness, maybe it isn’t surprising.’

Still, since my disappearance might cause considerable controversy within the Disaster Management Bureau, for the sake of the staff responsible for me, I left the phrase ‘Stepping out briefly for a stroll in a dream. Scheduled to return.’ carved into the floor of the main hall.

And lastly.

The emergency escape method for the dream, Sekwang Special Metropolitan City.

– Here’s the euthanasia drug you requested, Roe Deer-nim.

– …!

– It guarantees a peaceful death. Among Daydream Inc.’s products, isn’t it the most compassionate one?

Agent Bronze made a face like he would sooner bite through his own tongue than ingest it, but in the end he accepted it.

Considering the nooses, we couldn’t ignore the danger of becoming fully contaminated, unable to escape forever, and falling into a coma.

‘It’s here.’

I checked that the pill was securely in my pocket, then confirmed that all the items I brought were still safely in place.

At the same time, I checked the headcount with my eyes.

Two agents wearing Hahoe masks, now rising to their feet on the platform floor just as I had.

‘…They had some friction during negotiations about infiltrating Sekwang City.’

– For this exploration, government officials should probably sit it out. You never know how long it’ll take.

– Eh-heyy, we cleared all our leave days for this, Mr. Civilian.

It seemed they had somehow arranged enough time off to stay until we rescued Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae.

– And… How could we walk away when there’s someone to rescue.

Agent Choi, grinning in a way that almost seemed natural, and Agent Bronze, with his firm expression, both radiated a heavy sense of responsibility.

Still, Black-Tortoise Team 1 couldn’t keep leaving for explorations that might take several days. If there’s a next time, pulling time off like this won’t be easy.

But for now, the important part was that they agreed to come with us.

“Heave-ho. Grapes-ie, do you feel alright?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

Blue eyes glowing faintly beneath the Hahoe mask looked at me and then nodded slightly.

And the next lineup…

“Is everyone awake?”

“Yes.”

The ones wearing animal masks, dressed in suits.

The current and former members of Daydream Inc.’s Field Exploration Team.

Section Chief Lee Jaheon.

Assistant Manager Eun Haje.

Supervisor Baek Saheon.

And…

“Supervisor Roe Deer.”

Assistant Manager Eun Haje grinned and patted my back.

A previous title I almost felt nostalgic for.

Here I was in a suit, in the intact human form I once had.

[Oh. And of course, I am here as well, Friend.]

Headcount complete.

“Everyone has successfully entered Sekwang City.”

A perfect beginning.

“Let’s go.”

I nodded.

First…

Sekwang Transit Authority

SEKWANG STATION

The platform we stood on was cold and spotless, as if that moment when the noose tightened around our necks had been nothing but a lie. As if everything had been reset.

“Roe, it looks like you were right. Our customer count seems to have been reset.”

“Yes. What a relief.”

Normally, when subway operations end, the system shuts down. Meaning the boarding date stored in a single-use transit card expires after a day and becomes unusable.

Naturally, this meant we wouldn’t be pursued by those bizarre nooses from the concourse.

“……”

But just above that staircase.

“…It seems the fog has expanded.”

We could clearly see, with the naked eye, that the concourse fog was wavering just before spilling down onto the platform.

‘…Is it because we got captured on the platform last time?’

It felt noticeably more threatening and ominous than when we first came.

And right at the edge of the stairs, something trembled as if about to burst out.

Those who had hanged themselves.

The exact same form as when we died last time.

“……”

“Do you think the corpses are still there?”

“It would be best not to check unnecessarily.”

“Oh. I agree, Sir Highborn Geezer.”

Hearing this brutal conversation right beside him, Baek Saheon’s face had gone pale.

Just like someone who’d walked up to a well and then, right before falling in, suddenly said he wanted to think it over again, only to get shoved in by Ho Yoowon, he now seemed to grasp the severity of this annihilation-sanctioned disaster.

“Alright. Then let’s prepare. Supervisor Goat, is your vision working properly?”

“…Yes.”

He even fumbled over his eye mask and answered obediently.

‘He must have calculated it.’

Trolling here wouldn’t help him survive, and the completion reward was far too sweet.

Ho Yoowon had offered Baek Saheon a Wish Ticket as a project reward.

…Even using me as a witness to prove it.

– Those who completed their previous tasks safely have all been granted potions. Right, Mr. Roe Deer?

– Affirmative

…But even so. I had no idea how he’d react to this next part.

“In that case, the ones entering the fog first… Section Chief Lizard, Supervisor Goat, and myself are enough.”

“Wait.”

“The rest of you can give us signals from where the fog doesn’t reach. So you can lead us back to the stairs.”

“Hold on.”

As expected.

“In that case, the reward distribution needs to change. This won’t do. Three people do the work while the rest only signal? We’ll need to renegotiate.”

“Khh-ha. Feels like we’re back home.”

Assistant Manager Eun Haje nodded like someone who truly belonged to the Field Exploration Team.

Baek Saheon appeared to be gauging whether someone would volunteer to hand over part of their items or rewards to smooth this over.

‘Seeing how urgently we recruited him, he must have realized he’s considered essential.’

If anything, this guy really could calculate quickly.

‘He’s not the kind who’ll behave just because the assistant manager reminds him to focus on escape routes or because the agents have to provide cover later.’

If that were the case, his nickname wouldn’t be Viper but Owl.

Hmm. Maybe the atmosphere hadn’t been properly set because he joined too abruptly.

It seemed we needed this, at least once.

I smiled and spoke softly to Baek Saheon.

“Not your style? Then someone else can do it. We already have another method.”

Then I lowered my voice further, smiling gently.

“We can just extract the left eye of another man in his twenties with blood type A.”

“……!”

“Someone else will get the transplant. Don’t worry. Even if someone here dies from blood loss, they’ll just wake up again in reality.”

Baek Saheon instinctively pressed his own eye.

“Want to try?”

“……”

“Think about it. If you intentionally sabotage the exploration, the project suffers. So we might really do it.”

“…N-No.”

“Hmm?”

“I said I’ll just go.”

“I’m worried you’ll get upset and deliberately give us wrong visual information. Speak comfortably.”

“I said I won’t do that.”

“Hmm… You surviving alone only to face all these people again once we leave, well. Sounds like reason enough not to pull a stunt like that, doesn’t it?”

“……”

“But honestly, it would be kind of fun if you lied.”

“No,”

“Yeah. Sounds fun.”

“I won’t.”

“It’d be fun though.”

“I said no…!”

“Alright. Then do well.”

Tap tap.

I patted Baek Saheon’s shoulder.

“Ohh~ What kind of cozy, long conversation are you two having over there.”

“I was encouraging him.”

“——!”

“He says he’ll work hard.”

“Gosh, thank you, Mr. Civilian.”

Baek Saheon wore an expression like he was desperately holding back a string of curses, but in the end he removed his eye mask and stared into the fog.

Huu, good.

‘Troll prevention complete.’

This sweaty process had been so long overdue it almost felt nostalgic.

I deliberately avoided looking at Agent Choi, whose Hahoe mask somehow looked like it was grinning at me…

“We’ll go in now.”

And the reason all of this could proceed smoothly was—

“Please cover the rear, Section Chief.”

“Yes.”

—all thanks to Section Chief Lee Jaheon.

Salt Goblin

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