Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 257.2

– B-But… his work was pretty helpful, wasn’t it…?

[I hear the sound of someone being erased.]

……

Yeah……

A-Anyway, the tension seemed to have eased somewhat in the grand scheme of things.

‘…Let’s get out of here quickly.’

I needed to separate these two, pronto.

For many reasons, I was exhausted…

– For now, it looks like we can just walk out through the front gate, Section Chief.

The boarding school’s main gate, as if declaring surrender to the live broadcast, had reappeared and been forced wide open to allow the filming crew to move through.

I watched as Section Chief Lee Jaheon first escorted the surviving trainees out, and I let out a sigh of relief.

‘He really does make ethical choices.’

Thank goodness.

Then Section Chief Lee Jaheon also stepped through the gate.

Glimmer.

Through our shared vision, I saw light pouring in beyond the door.

Something never seen in this gloomy academy ghost story.

Sunlight.

We stepped into it, and……

……

“Dear customer.”

I opened my eyes.

A white space. Before I knew it, I was sitting in a strange place made of light and three-dimensional shapes.

And in front of me was…

“We have confirmed the attempt and successful rescue of the entity ‘Lee Jaheon’ from the Space Shopping Mall.”

A lizard from the Space Shopping Mall.

This time, a grayish green one.

It seemed I was facing these alien reptiles through a mechanism similar to the VIP personal shopping session once again.

“So Section Chief Lee Jaheon has returned safely?”

“Yes.”

“I’d like to speak with him directly.”

“Yes. That is why ‘we’ are here.”

It took me a moment to understand the sentence, but then it clicked.

These alien reptiles considered speaking to ‘us’ to be the same as speaking directly to Lee Jaheon.

Because Lee Jaheon is ‘us’.

Because they shared one enormous mental system, one collective experience and judgment.

Which made it sink in even more.

‘They probably have no sense of having ‘cut off’ a specific member named Lee Jaheon at all.’

To them, it’s just… no different from giving up just one part of the whole body.

Like pulling out a broken nail, scraping off burned flesh, severing a festering wound.

They might feel regret, but not guilt.

Because that’s who ‘we’ were.

The feeling was truly uncanny.

“I’m sorry, but I would like to speak with the specific individual known as ‘Section Chief Lee Jaheon’.”

“Our experiences and judgments do not differ.”

“Please, I would still like to request it.”

A brief silence.

“Understood. The Lee Jaheon entity shall contact you directly in the real world.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

It seemed certain that he had returned safely.

“Then, does that mean I can return to my own body now?”

When I went to rescue Section Chief Lee Jaheon, the Space Shopping Mall had explained that this would be the final operational step of their ‘We Can Help!’ item.

– Upon successful rescue of the caller, the mind of the entity who responded to the call shall return to its original coordinates.

“Yes.”

The reception lizard nodded again as expected.

Then I should hurry and return…

“Will you be receiving the reward at a later time?”

“If by reward, you mean…”

“Our compensation for rescuing the Lee Jaheon entity.”

…!

“You mean the Space Shopping Mall is giving me a reward?”

“No.”

The lizard looked at me with an oddly friendly gaze.

Something more… significant.

“’We’ will reward you.”

……

A designation far more encompassing than ‘Space Shopping Mall’.

“What is it that you want?”

My mind snapped sharply awake.

‘This.’

This was no ordinary opportunity.

“…Would it be possible to receive help rescuing someone in Sekwang City?”

“We do not recommend it.”

I expected that.

‘Pressing the ‘We Can Help!’ button back then wasn’t recommended either…’

If I set aside that immediate, urgent matter then would be…

‘…I need to think more carefully.’

I shouldn’t answer rashly.

I thought with painstaking care, then finally chose one.

……

……

Among the goals I set in the Daydream underground containment room, this was the clearest.

“I… want to regain a human body.”

I want to become human.

I want to take back my body.

“When you say ‘a human body’, do you mean the body of a 21st-century contemporary human of Earth?”

“Yes. …Is that possible?”

An immediate answer came.

“It is possible.”

…!

“With what method??”

“Use the body of a human whose sense of self has been lost.”

Wait. So that means…

‘They’re suggesting a body switch?’

Such an alien way of thinking. And for me, nearly impossible to carry out.

…Let me try shifting the nuance.

“Would it be possible to use my current body as if it was human? Like I did when I was a supervisor at Daydream Inc.?”

I swallowed and fixed my eyes on the lizard’s snout.

Its mouth slowly opened and spoke…

“Yes.”

…!

“Then I’d like your help with that.”

“Yes. We will deliver our reward once preparations are complete.”

Great.

Feeling the urge to clench my fist in triumph, I was about to say I would take my leave when…

A thought occurred to me.

Maybe?

“Um, is it true that helping to rescue me also saved ‘us’ the cost of a Sacred Fire bombardment?”

“Yes.”

“In that case… could my assistance also be counted the same way and applied as purchase credit toward Space Shopping Mall rewards?”

The lizard met my gaze, then nodded.

“We have judged your statement to be a rational inference.”

And then.

“Congratulations on your membership upgrade.”

It handed me something.

‘A VIP appreciation card?’

That’s what it looked like.

Could it be that I was upgraded to a tier above VIP?

‘There was a tier higher than that?’

As expected of a shopping mall.

I opened the splendid, gold-colored card…

I Am a Space Shopping Mall VVIP!

Astounding Upgrade!

~ Appreciation Cells Included ~

“……”

“……”

“…About, uh, the shopping mall’s design.”

“Yes.”

“Do you… do it yourselves?”

“Yes.”

Hmm.

I suddenly understood many things…

“Thank you. I’ll be going now.”

“Yes.”

I carefully took the appreciation card.

“Until we meet again.”

And then I was swept out of the shopping space, far into the distance.

* * *

A gentle sensation.

“Grapes-ie.”

I opened my eyes. At some point, I was…

“Are you awake?”

…lying on a wooden porch.

This was the lodging prepared for me by the Disaster Management Bureau.

And with the paper door fully slid open, the agents’ faces were peering in at me.

Black-Tortoise Team 1.

‘Ah.’

I made it back.

I lifted my hand. The thermometer and the heart-rate monitor dropped off with a clatter. It seemed they had been slipped in through a slightly opened zipper.

They must have had a hard time trying to find a spot where a pulse would register. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

‘They prepared so much.’

Feeling a small swell of emotion, I sat up.

And immediately reported.

Gratitude & Report :

→ Returned safely

→ Successfully rescued Section Chief Lizard

A thoroughly satisfying result.

“Oh~ Impressive?”

Agent Choi laughed and patted my shoulder.

“Then can I ask you just one more thing?”

Affirmative

“Okay! Take a look at this, yeah?”

Agent Choi lifted something.

It was the little rabbit doll I kept in my pocket.

“Your friend, Braun.”

Right.

‘Come to think of it, the agents said they delivered it to me.’

I’d meant to thank them at least once. It must have slipped from my pocket again, and they picked it up for me…

“He’s that talk-show host, right?”

……

……!!

Salt Goblin

Latest posts by Salt Goblin (see all)