Chapter 11: 11. Repaying a Debt

Mr. Kim had completely lost it.

He had ripped off the door to extort money.

Only to wind up on the verge of having the Goe Bungs rip chunks of flesh off him.

Let’s hear what he has to say about resolving this situation.

"Mr. Kim. What are you going to do now?"

"Fuck, are you kidding me right now!? Stop talking nonsense and get this monster off me already—"

"You still haven’t come to your senses. Goe Bung, tenderize him a little more."

"Grrrkk—!"

"W-wait! You already bent that part earlier, aaaaargh!!"

With the sight of Mr. Kim’s arm bending at an unnatural angle as my last view,

I turned around and placed my hand on a welcome sight—no, a wall.

"Long time no see, Backrooms. I missed you."

「I T ’ S B E E N T H R E E H O U R S」

"So? You didn’t miss me?"

「N O」

The reply came before I had even finished speaking.

Oh, oh, oh, what a cute little thing.

For a building, it sure was overflowing with estrogen.

Rub, rub!

I pressed both hands against the wall and rubbed it all over.

A smooth, pleasant sensation traveled up my arms.

It felt less like touching a wall and more like touching an enormous mass of flesh.

「……!!」

As I lavishly showered Backrooms with affection,

「T-THAT!」

"Hm?"

「I T H E L P E D !」

Backrooms brought up ‘that.’

I immediately knew what it meant and showed Backrooms the cube in my pocket.

"When did you prepare something like this? You could’ve told me beforehand."

「D E C I D E D J U S T B E F O R E」

The cube that had been rolling around on the floor when I escaped.

It was a [Backrooms Summoning Ticket].

An item that could drag an entire area into the Backrooms whenever I wanted.

Once activated, the cube swept through its surroundings.

It was so fast that avoiding it was practically impossible.

Once exposed to it, a target would be trapped in the Backrooms in the blink of an eye.

"This is basically a Domain Expansion, isn’t it?"

「W H A T ?」

"Never mind. Don’t worry about it."

Anyway, I had activated the ticket without realizing it a moment ago.

That was how the two of us ended up in the Backrooms.

Of course, Mr. Kim had received countless requests for handshakes from the Goe Bungs.

"You gave me something really great. Thanks, as always."

「Y O U ’ R E W E L C O M E」

All right, that was enough heartwarming sentiment.

After stroking the wall a couple more times,

I turned my head and looked at Mr. Kim.

Thud! Wham!!

"Urk! S-stop… Kugh!!"

"Screeeech!!"

He was still being beaten senseless by the Goe Bungs.

His face had swollen up like a deep-sea fish from the repeated blows.

Bruises covered his body, and he looked barely able to support himself.

As I watched from afar,

Mr. Kim noticed my gaze and threw himself facedown right in front of me.

"I-I’m terribly sorry…!! I must have gone crazy for a moment and mistaken you for someone else!"

"I am the person you know. No, I am."

"Y-yes!?"

Plop.

I squatted down and looked at Mr. Kim, whose mouth hung wide open.

I dropped the polite speech.

Why the hell would I show this bastard any respect?

"What? You think the guy you knew couldn’t do something like this?"

"N-no!"

"Don’t give me that. You were the one banging on my door every damn day to extort money from me."

"……"

Mr. Kim silently lowered his eyes to the floor.

…It still didn’t feel real.

Not long ago, I had gone to the convenience store while watching my back in case I ran into this guy.

Now I held his life in my hands.

Perhaps he knew that too, because Mr. Kim was trembling all over.

Just as I was considering what to do with him,

「A R E Y O U G O I N G T O K I L L H I M ?」

Backrooms asked exactly what I had been thinking.

I shrugged.

"Well, part of me does want to kill him."

"Eeeeeek!!"

"But I don’t want to deliberately kill someone."

When I turned that Bureau agent into dalgona, I had regretted it deeply.

How should I put it?

Having crawled up from rock bottom, perhaps I had come to understand pain and the value of life.

Because I had endured every kind of misfortune and pain,

I didn’t want to carelessly mistreat others who had lived while enduring their own suffering.

And more than anything…

I didn’t want to become the same as the parents who abandoned me and ran away.

"Let him go after a little while. The exit is still active, right?"

「Y E S」

"Good."

Wave, wave.

I waved my hand, signaling the Goe Bungs to step back.

"…H-huh?"

As the Goe Bungs began backing away one by one,

Mr. Kim wore a bewildered expression.

I patted his shoulder and spoke.

"I’ll let you out. But there’s a condition."

"W-what is it? I’ll even lick your feet, so please forgive me!"

"No. I don’t need that."

There was only one thing I needed right now.

"You guys have people backing you, don’t you? The ones sucking the marrow out of people who are already struggling."

"Y-yes."

"Tell me where they are."

I was going to eliminate any future trouble.

…And get a little revenge while I was at it.

**

[Chat] I think the Rookie really is kind of weird when you think about it

Author: Christmas

I know you probably got mad when you saw the title, but hear me out.

There are quite a few ghost stories that have high recognition from the moment they come into existence.

Most of the gallery regulars, including the head mod, are like that.

But recognition 999? Does that make any sense?

That means any random human you grab off the street would know about it. How could a newly born ghost story possibly manage that?

I was too hyped up to think about it back then,

but now that I’ve thought it over, I can’t shake the feeling that something’s off..

[Total Comments - 9]

DeleteReplay: Now that you mention it, yeah. What’s going on?

└AnalysisIs: This is purely my guess, but

└AnalysisIs: First off, isn’t it certain that the Rookie is Source-rank?

└MadamRabbit: Right, yeah.

└WhiteBear: With recognition 999, it’s more than enough to qualify.

└AnalysisIs: And isn’t he strangely cheerful, too?

└WatchYourStep: What are you trying to say?

AnalysisIs: A Source-rank anomaly that treats us cheerfully.

└AnalysisIs: Isn’t there only one possibility—the First Ghost Story?

"Just as I thought… there are others who think the same way I do."

"Branch Chief? What did you just say?"

"Oh, it was nothing."

An unusually quiet café with barely anyone inside.

Kang Seoyun and Yoon Chaewon sat by the window,

chatting as they sipped strawberry latte and coffee, respectively.

Nom.

After swallowing the strawberry on top of her latte in one bite, Yoon Chaewon set the cup down and asked,

"Where were we? Ah, you asked why I brought you along, didn’t you?"

"Yes, I more or less understand, but I still don’t properly get it…"

Kang Seoyun wore an ambiguous expression.

She had decided to join the operation for practical reasons,

but she couldn’t understand why Chaewon had chosen her.

"I failed the operation, didn’t I? If experience was the issue, you could have called the Exploration Team Leader instead."

Kang Seoyun met Chaewon’s eyes directly.

She should have been intimidated by the difference between a branch chief and an employee, yet she didn’t even blink.

Looking into her eyes, Yoon Chaewon smiled kindly.

"Hehe, is that what you were curious about, my Rookie?"

"…Please give me a proper answer."

"Hmm, let’s see…"

Tap, tap.

Yoon Chaewon tapped the table with her index finger.

"There are about three reasons. The first is experience, just as you said."

"Yes. Only the Team Leader and I returned alive from the Void."

"The second is that I rate your skills highly. I observed your entrance exam, too."

"…Huh."

The day Kang Seoyun hunted an Ominous-rank anomaly.

Yoon Chaewon had been there as well.

She had had her eye on Seoyun ever since she watched her slaughter an anomaly that even a Bureau deputy had failed to defeat.

"It was very impressive. Especially how you cut off the most troublesome beak first, that was—"

"Then what was the last reason?"

Kang Seoyun cut Chaewon off short.

Yoon Chaewon smiled leisurely.

As though Seoyun’s insolence made her all the more adorable.

"The third reason is an acquaintance of yours."

"An acquaintance…?"

"Yes. More precisely, I suppose I should say an acquaintance of your acquaintance."

Screeeech!

Yoon Chaewon pulled her chair closer and straightened herself up.

Then, with a rather serious expression, she said to Seoyun,

"Do you know the young man working part-time at the convenience store your friend runs?"

**

Late at night, out on the street.

I stepped outside wearing my most respectable outfit.

My convenience store clerk uniform.

Everything else I owned was just a white short-sleeved shirt, so they didn’t look nearly as good.

Step, step.

"This is those guys’ hideout?"

I had arrived at an apartment building.

Its walls and windows were caked in graffiti, making it look like a criminal gang’s hideout from every angle.

"Y-yes! There isn’t any work right now, so they should all be in there!"

Mr. Kim answered my question while frantically wringing his hands.

He had been talking about killing me just a while ago, but look how fast he changed his tune.

He reminded me of a certain spider on the gallery.

"I see. That actually works out better for me."

"Um… are you really going in alone?"

"Of course I am. What, do you want to go in with me?"

"No, no!! If those guys get their hands on me, I’m dead!!"

As he recoiled and shook his head furiously,

I put my hands in my pockets and walked toward the apartment building.

"Don’t worry too much. Even if you die, it’ll be by my hand."

"W-what? But you said you’d forgive me! Brother? Brother!?"

Forgive him? What was there to forgive?

I said I wouldn’t kill him. I never said I wouldn’t beat him up.

Snorting at Mr. Kim’s words,

Bam!!

I kicked the front door open with all my strength.

"Tch, maybe I need to work out. I’m the one who kicked it, but my foot hurts more."

"What the hell? What bastard has no respect for the rules and barges in at this hour?"

"We’re under attack! Everybody get up and grab your weapons!!"

As I rubbed my knee and endured the pain,

a whole crowd of thugs rushed over at once and surrounded me.

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