Shipping containers stacked layer upon layer.
From atop them, thugs with vicious expressions glared down at me.
"This is straight out of a classic noir movie scene."
The middle-aged protagonist, infiltrating enemy territory alone.
One by one, the gangsters crawl out and surround him.
This would be perfect if I had a cigarette in my mouth, but I don’t smoke.
"What a shame. If I were a smoker, I’d have brought one to put in my mouth."
"...What the hell is that bastard talking about?"
One of the thugs said, scratching the back of his head.
How could he not understand the vibe?
You were supposed to hold it crookedly between the corner of your lips while you walked. That was the rule.
Just as I was engaged in a tense standoff with the thugs—
"Well, well. Look who it is. Our precious customer."
"Welcome, boss!"
Taking the thug’s greeting as a signal,
an old man with a scraggly beard stepped out from above.
Filthy curly hair that reached his waist, tattoos etched all over his body.
That was him.
The man responsible for dropping me into this hell.
Choi Seongcheol, the loan shark boss.
"So you finally came to pay your interest? Your pockets look awfully light for that, though."
He sneered and thumped his cane against the ground.
He had figured out that I wasn’t here to repay the money.
That was probably why he hadn’t stopped his men and had left them on guard.
"I don’t know what got into you, but you’ll have to pay that interest even if we have to harvest your organs—"
"I did come to pay the interest."
"...What?"
Clatter.
As he dropped his cane in surprise,
I gestured for him to wait and rummaged through my pockets.
"You take bank transfers, right? I don’t have any cash on me."
"Hah. Did you call the cops before coming here? Do you think I’d fall for that?"
"It’s not that. Come over here already. You can take my parents as collateral, too."
"..."
Choi Seongcheol wore a deeply suspicious expression.
Then, together with his thugs, he began climbing down from the containers.
Tap.
They came close enough.
A sharp tension flowed between Choi Seongcheol and me.
"Quit trying to intimidate me and take it out already. Are you going to rummage around all day?"
"Yes, yes, of course."
This should be close enough.
That was what I decided to myself.
"But did you know?"
"...?"
"I don’t have parents to put up as collateral."
Whoosh.
I pulled out the [Backrooms Summoning Ticket] from my pocket and tossed it high into the air.
The thugs hurriedly drew their weapons and rushed toward me to attack.
Crackcrackcrack!!
"Domain Expansion. Backrooms, let’s go."
But it was already too late.
**
Choi Seongcheol and the thugs opened their eyes inside the Backrooms.
They thought something yellow had swallowed them up, but when they regained their senses, they were inside an unfamiliar building.
As everyone looked around in panic—
Step.
Choi Seongcheol stepped forward.
"...What kind of trick is this now?"
"What do you think it is? You’ve all been fooled."
He glared at the man presumed responsible for this situation.
Step. Step.
"I really owe you all a lot. We sure went through all kinds of things together."
As he glared at him with hostility brimming in his eyes,
the man approached Seongcheol with a faint smile.
"I took a wrong turn on a rainy day and got beaten half to death. Oh, and I heard you even tried to mess with my boss last time?"
"..."
"I’m so grateful I could kill you, so I’m here to return the favor."
Creak.
Choi Seongcheol clenched the cane in his hand.
He wanted to bash in that insolent head right this second, but he couldn’t.
...What kind of eyes are those?
Eyes.
Those eyes were not human—eyes he could never believe belonged to a human being—and he felt as though every part of him was being seen through.
Flinch.
Feeling danger, Choi Seongcheol backed away.
He could feel cold sweat trickling down his neck.
From this place—no.
Just as he was about to turn his back and flee from that man—
"Y-you insolent bastard! Return what, exactly—!?"
A voice came from behind him.
It was one of his men, a hot-tempered, reckless thug even under normal circumstances.
Blinded by rage, he had approached the man.
"You don’t even appreciate the favor we did you by lending you money, and now you’re acting all tough?"
"W-wait! Calm down and get back!"
"Don’t be scared, sir! He’s just some punk who didn’t even bring a weapon!!"
Tap!
Ignoring Seongcheol’s attempt to stop him,
he gripped a crowbar with both hands and charged at the man.
Three meters, two meters, one meter.
The distance closed, yet the man did not so much as twitch.
Just as the thug’s crowbar was about to crash down on his head—
Fwoosh—!!
"...Huh?"
A pillar shot out from the wall and collided head-on with the thug.
Before he could even scream, he was hurled far away.
The thugs were left dumbfounded by the scene that defied all common sense.
But it was still too soon to be shocked.
Screeeeech!!
"What... was that sound?"
Several metallic noises rang out from somewhere.
Yet rather than the sound of metal striking metal, it made their hearts feel strangely uneasy.
"...!!"
Then Choi Seongcheol’s expression froze rigid.
Because he saw something emerge from a distant corner.
"Ah, why are you guys so late? Are you trying to make our Backrooms do all the work?"
「Y O U ’ R E L A T E」
"Kieeeek..."
The thug flung far into the distance.
Monsters imitating human forms.
Words inscribed upon a wall where there was nothing at all.
As one incomprehensible phenomenon followed another,
Choi Seongcheol and the thugs struggled to move their frozen bodies.
"Move faster next time. Got it?"
"Grrrk!"
"Good. Then get to work."
But their legs, crushed under overwhelming terror, would not move an inch.
The monsters slowly approached them.
Drip. The floor grew wet with someone’s piss.
"S-save..."
"I’m not going to kill you. Though, well, dying might be preferable."
「W H A T G O E S A R O U N D C O M E S A R O U N D」
A few days later,
the thugs were released back into the apartment where they had originally been.
But gripped by paranoia and anxiety, they confessed to all their crimes and quietly went to prison.
This place is safer.
We can’t let that bastard see us.
Before being admitted, they all said the same thing.
**
Meanwhile, at a GS26 convenience store in Seoul.
The only place with its lights still on in a nighttime street where every other light had gone out.
"Hmm... He’s not coming today either..."
The owner and manager, Han Seoa, rested her chin on her hand and let out a deep sigh.
The part-timer who had always shown up faithfully for work.
He had vanished without a word for an entire month.
"Ugh, the more I think about it, the more worried sick I get! He’s not the kind of kid who’d disappear without saying anything..."
Gulp! Gulp!
Seoa picked up a bottle of soju and took several refreshing swigs.
Drinking on the job was forbidden, of course.
But she felt like she couldn’t bear the worry unless she did something like this.
There were no customers anyway, and this much wouldn’t get her drunk, so it didn’t really matter.
"...Pwah! If he were here right now, gulp, he’d scold me for drinking while I’m working."
Seoa slumped over the table with a tearful expression.
She scratched the floor with her nails, making a rabbit shape.
Even the cat videos she always relied on when she was upset were no help this time.
Her depression only continued to deepen.
"What on earth could he be doing right now...?"
She remembered that winter day.
One night when she had gone out to meet a friend.
A shabbily dressed man sat in front of the convenience store door, holding a flyer for a part-time job.
He had asked her to hire him.
He had come with nothing but himself—not an ID card, not even a bank account—and made the request.
Then he had pushed the matter with astonishing nerve.
At first, I was pretty harsh with him, asking what the hell he thought he was doing showing up out of nowhere.
Maybe it was that boldness she liked.
Or maybe she pitied him because his circumstances were obviously awful.
In the end, Seoa decided to hire him.
His personality was a little flighty, but he looked like the type who would handle work properly.
And he really had done a good job.
As time passed, she came to understand him better.
She realized he was an incredibly strong person inside.
And then, after that incident, in the end...
Ding!
"Y-yes! This is the GS26 convenience store!"
As she was immersed in sentimentality and reminiscing about the past,
the bell suddenly rang, and Seoa rose from the table to greet whoever was at the entrance.
But—
Huh? There’s no one there...?
There was no one by the front door.
The automatic door that had opened simply slid shut again with a mechanical sound.
I guess I imagined it. This is why I shouldn’t fool around while I’m working...
After clearing her throat, embarrassed for no reason,
Seoa sat down again and waited for customers.
Hiss, did the wind blow in? It feels colder than before somehow.
"W-welcome. C-c-come in."
Unaware that someone in a suit was standing behind her.
**
[Chatter]: I-I-I kidnapped the fooooood.
Author: Anonymous (99.2)
(Photo of an unconscious human woman on top of a display counter)
(Photo of countless people tied up and hanging from ropes)
Idiotsidiotsidiotsidiotsidiotsidiotsidiotsidiots
Too much?Too much?Too much?Too much?Too much?Whyeat?Whyeat?Whyeat?Whyeat?Whyeat?Whyeat?
I-I-I’m going to eat themmm.
Hahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahah
Hahaha
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