The monster did not move from that spot for quite some time.
Its vertically slit pupils trembled like aspen leaves.
The mocking smile it had worn was nowhere to be seen.
"Ah. Aah?"
Its jaw hanging slack,
it could only stare blankly into empty space.
"...! N-now! Run, quickly!!"
"Y-yes!!"
Taking advantage of the monster having stopped,
Seoa urgently grabbed the student by the arm and ran.
She had no idea why it was suddenly acting that way, but regardless, this was their only chance to escape.
The two fled, forgetting even that their shoes were being soaked in blood.
"D-don't ruuun awaaay!!!!"
"It’s chasing us...!"
"Huff! If you were going to stop, why not just stay stopped...?!"
Then the monster began pursuing them again.
For some reason, its voice had grown desperate, but they paid that no mind.
They were neither curious nor in any position to be curious.
Patter, patter!
They crossed the hallway and arrived somewhere else.
It was a place where the meat they had seen on the way over was carefully displayed.
It appeared to be a counter for receiving customers.
"S-sis! Over there!"
In the midst of their frantic run, the student urgently pointed somewhere.
Push.
That was what was written on the large door.
"Aaaaaah!!!!"
"That’s the exit! Run, quickly!!"
They ran toward the door with all their strength.
Dodging the tables and chairs blocking their path,
just as both of their arms were about to reach the handle—
Grab!
"Ghk...!!"
"G-got yooouuu."
The monster’s hand snatched Seoa up bodily.
At least one thing was fortunate.
The monster had failed to catch the student.
"Sis...!!"
Still clutching the handle, the student could not bring herself to leave.
Seoa realized it.
Guilt over leaving her behind was keeping the girl from opening the door.
"What are you doing standing there!? Go, now!"
"B-but...!"
"Go call the police or do whatever you have to, just run first!!"
Unable to withstand Seoa’s urging, the student finally shoved the door open and fled.
In the end, the only ones left in the butcher shop were the monster and Han Seoa.
Struggle, struggle!
I have to get away...! I made it all this way!
Seoa struggled with all her might to break free.
But the strength of a woman’s body was not enough to escape the monster’s grip.
The monster’s hand showed no sign of loosening.
"Ghk! L-let me go...!!"
Putting all her determination and resolve into it,
Seoa stared into the monster’s horrifying eyes and spoke.
And then—
"Okaaay."
"...What?"
Whoosh.
The monster lightly tossed Seoa out through the door.
In an instant, the edges of her vision turned white, and the monster’s figure receded far into the distance.
"F-forgive me now."
Ding! Ding!
"P-please, please, please."
The last thing Seoa saw was the monster kneeling toward empty space.
Then she lost consciousness.
**
The counter of the GS26 convenience store.
"...Gasp!"
"Oh. You’re awake."
Our boss had been slumped over the table.
Han Seoa sat up, breathing hard.
"W-what? Was it all a dream?"
"Looks like you had a nightmare. Here, have some citron tea."
"Ah. Thanks. I guess watching the shop alone at dawn gave me a dream like that..."
Freeze.
Han Seoa stopped halfway through taking a sip of tea.
Her head turned mechanically.
Then she jolted in surprise and seized both my shoulders.
"Y-you! Why did you only come back now!?"
"I came looking for you, boss. You were lying out on the street, so I brought you back—"
"You should have contacted me if you were going to be gone this long!! Did something terrible happen? You aren’t hurt anywhere, are you!?"
"Wait, let go. I’m getting dizzy."
After being forcibly headbanged until my soul nearly left my body,
I gathered myself and explained everything that had happened so far.
"About a month ago, I woke up to go to my part-time job, you see."
"Yeah."
"But then I heard an elephant had escaped from the zoo."
"Yeah...?"
"Lava was falling from the sky, and lightning was striking from the ground."
"...Are you messing with me?"
Han Seoa glared at me like she was about to hit me.
What a shame. She didn’t buy it.
That had been my most heartfelt excuse, too.
Avoiding Han Seoa’s gaze, I gave her the real explanation.
"So, you were busy getting your money back from the loan shark?"
"Yes. There was so much going on that I couldn’t tell you."
Of course, I left out the part about the Backrooms.
There was no reason for her to know something that would do her no good.
Like they say, ignorance is bliss. In this case, hiding it was the right answer.
"You must have been through a lot... I’m sorry for getting mad at you on my own."
"It’s nothing. I’m more sorry for missing work."
"Yeah. You really should be sorry for that."
Han Seoa turned away with a pout.
Slide.
She took the pack of cigarettes she always carried,
then walked out from behind the counter.
"Are you heading home?"
"I think I should. Maybe it’s because of that bad dream, but I don’t feel well at all."
Han Seoa looked at me with a playful smile.
She meant for me to watch the shop in her place.
Considering how long I had been absent, I nodded to show I understood.
"Phew! That’s our Rookie. I’ll leave it to you, then!"
"I’ve been here three years. Am I still a rookie?"
"You don’t have anyone junior to you, so you’re still a rookie. Oh, right."
Whirr.
As she headed toward the automatic door, Han Seoa turned only her head back and spoke carefully.
"...I’m really glad you came back safe."
Han Seoa rushed outside as if fleeing.
The last glimpse I got of her showed her ears turned red.
Maybe she was embarrassed by what she had said herself.
"You’re still so kind. If it were me, I think I’d have told him to get the hell out and asked why he came back only now."
Our boss hadn’t fired me even though I had skipped my part-time job for an entire month.
After offering my gratitude to the greatest boss of my life,
I went behind the counter to mind the shop.
Of course, I didn’t forget to open the gallery.
Not because I was trying to slack off.
I wanted to have a word with the bastard who had kidnapped our boss.
Anonymous (999.1): Hey.
└Anonymous (99.2): Eeeekekekekek
└Anonymous (99.2): Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry
A reply came less than ten seconds after I sent it.
"Quick, just like when you kidnapped our boss."
It was a posture of submission so abject it was hard to imagine anything more pathetic.
But I had no intention of forgiving this thing.
Why would I forgive an enemy who had laid hands on my benefactor?
Unless I was locking it up in the Backrooms, that is.
Anonymous (999.1): Say it yourself.
└Anonymous (999.1): Why did you try to eat people when there were perfectly good energy bars right there?
└Anonymous (99.2): I-I-I-it was because...
└Anonymous (99.2): Their reactions were f-f-fun.
└Anonymous (999.1): Hah.
"That’s more horrible than I imagined."
I had figured there would be anomalies like this.
They were monsters that ate people by nature, so it was easy enough to assume they had bad personalities.
But this was not for survival.
Not even because of instinct or a desire for destruction.
It was hard to understand killing people simply for amusement.
Not that I needed to understand it.
"What do I do with this bastard? If I leave it alone, it’ll go around killing people again."
I wanted to throw it into the Backrooms, but
there was no way a mere human like me would know where it was.
As I browsed the gallery, wondering whether I had to let it go like this—
"Oh, I think this one might know."
[EightSpiderLegs]
Found her.
Someone who seemed capable of making a ghost story manifest in reality,
and who could come if I called.
No, an anomaly.
**
"Tsk, why hasn’t he called me yet?"
"My queen, by Earth’s standards, only one day has passed."
The sovereign of all spiders.
Arachne.
Arachne sat reverently atop a rock, staring intently at the gallery screen.
There was only one thing she waited for.
A message from Rookie asking to meet.
"No, but isn’t that strange!"
"What is, exactly?"
"Whenever I asked to meet, everyone else accepted within an hour!"
Her subordinate spider Alfonso said this as he tapped the ground with a foreleg.
"That was true of ordinary ghost stories. But isn’t Rookie far from ordinary?"
"...That’s true."
Arachne puffed out her cheeks as she conceded the point.
Rookie was the gallery’s rising star and hottest topic.
She had never in her life seen an anomaly more exceptional or conspicuous than him.
"Hah, anyway, I hope I get to meet him soon."
"..."
Without saying anything, Alfonso looked at Arachne with all six of his eyes.
His body was lowered, but his gaze was turned upward.
Anyone could tell from his expression that he had something to say.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"My queen... are you thinking of making Rookie your king?"
"W-what!?"
Arachne nearly lost her balance and fell backward.
After barely steadying herself,
she cleared her throat and asked Alfonso,
"Ahem! Hm, what makes you think that?"
"Our colony has no king. Since Rookie is about on the same level as you, my queen, I thought I would ask just in case."
"Hmm. A king..."
Glance.
Hugging her knees, Arachne looked down at the ground.
"Well, I’m not sure."
"What do you mean, you’re not sure?"
"It’s true that I’m grateful to Rookie, but I wouldn’t say I feel anything romantic. Besides, it’s not like I absolutely need a king."
"That is true."
"Right, and above all, if I get a king—"
Just as they were having their profound discussion—
Ding!
A bright notification sound echoed through the cave.
"Oh! Rookie contacted me!!"
"Are you going now?"
"Of course! Take good care of the babies while I’m gone!"
Arachne’s expression immediately brightened as she ran outside.
"...How strange."
Watching her disappear into the distance,
Alfonso tilted his head.
"For someone who says she does not feel that way, she looked very happy."
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