Chapter 240: Ch 240: Request: Hold Position
Six figures stand here, each with enough story to satisfy the Ascetic in the
Box.
Whom among them will be thrown into the slow, merciless agony that leads
to an inescapable death averaging twenty-seven years?
That absurd choice is now at hand...
"Roe."
I lowered my head.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje, in the guise of an old woman, tapped me on
the shoulder.
"Set me down a bit. I may look like this, but I’m not actually a frail elder."
But.
"I’ll spit out the bead and get my mobility back. From the look of things,
this is about to go sideways."
...
I set Assistant Manager Eun Haje down. She spat out the glass bead and
began returning to her original form.
Agent Bronze’s expression changed.
"That one is..."
"Ee-yah, long time no see, Sir Condescending Geezer."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje grinned.
By coincidence the two had crossed paths here in Jisan Village before, and
now they were meeting again in the same place.
"Oh! Hello, Assistant Manager! Been well since you left the company?"
"Yeah, yeah."
While Assistant Manager Eun Haje exchanged greetings with Assistant
Manager Lee Seonghae, Agent Bronze’s mosaicked face twitched as he
glanced between her and Ho Yoowon.
As if recognizing the entity that had used her body like a puppet.
"Are you currently under threat to your life or under improper coercion
from a supernatural entity?"
"Something like that, but my situation isn’t urgent, so let’s set it aside."
Tap, tap.
She nudged me.
"Roe, you seem to know that bizarre Darkness pretty well. Start by
explaining. If we don’t know what we’re dealing with, we might press some
kind of danger button without realizing it."
...
Dangerous box of the Church of the Luminous Unknown
: Ascetic in the Box
I explained to everyone as quickly as possible.
The box’s danger, the peculiarities of this location, and the simple fact that
we were trying to escape from this cult.
And lastly, the most basic countermeasure.
Victims counted toward the ’quota’
Current quota : 2
Silence fell for a beat among these veterans of ghost stories as they read the
letters I traced in smoke.
"So if you throw in two people, they’ll be tortured for a few decades and
die, and the rest pass through unharmed. That’s the gist of this Darkness,
huh."
Correct.
"If we could extract even a B-grade dream essence in one go, the company
would be ecstatic."
Hypothesis : If one does not enter the box, dream essence extraction cannot
be possible
"Ah, figured as much. It’ll just count as avoiding, not entering the
Darkness."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje shot a sidelong look at Ho Yoowon and
muttered that this was, if anything, a relief.
Anyway, in conclusion.
Request : Do not move
Do not provoke it unnecessarily.
Reasons
► If you move, you may be acquired as a suitable target.
► Chance of escape from inside the box is negligible.
(Item usability cannot be confirmed)
Once the Ascetic in the Box locks onto a suitable candidate for its fixed
number, it keeps following.
This continues for as long as...
The process continues without end until the fixed
number is filled and the box fully closes.
The Ascetic in the Box will never abandon its attempt to
fill any remaining vacant places with suitable individuals.
This is because such pursuit constitutes its doctrine.
As time passes, the box will manifest ever closer to the
intended victim, extending both hands in silent invitation
to join. Eventually, it will appear directly before the victim
whenever they turn their head.
At this stage, if the victim attempts to move, physical
contact with the box becomes inevitable.
► Escape impossible once suitable target is acquired and box has closed
If we slip, someone among us could end up like that...
If my salivary glands and esophagus were in their normal places, my mouth
would be bone-dry.
’I have to check.’
Is the box moving relative to someone here? Exactly which of the six is it
drawing closer to?
’Or else...’
I could preempt it and provoke the box myself.
’It would be easier to respond if it chased me instead.’
If it came to it, before the box swallowed me I might even attempt to ’read-
out’ and erase the setting.
...However chilling the thought of what kind of fatal side effects that might
bring, and no matter how long they might last, it was still better than
spending decades suffering on display inside that box...
"Hold it, Grapes."
...
"...You said don’t move. That includes you."
After confirming I’d stopped moving, Agent Choi glanced around.
"Alright. You all heard that, right? Anyone here absolutely dying to go to
the bathroom? No? Well, misfortune within good fortune, I guess?"
Beside him, Agent Bronze pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Just a little! Let’s make a little time. From what I’m hearing, it sounds like
we’ve got a bit of leeway."
Agent Choi, cold sweat on his brow, grinned and lowered himself as he
spoke calmly.
"It hasn’t come right up to our noses yet."
His eyes never left the strange pair of hands jutting from the box.
"First, everyone sit, don’t provoke the box... and let’s think of a way to
break it. Okay, Grapes?"
...
I slowly nodded.
However.
Recommendation : Everyone’s contribution to the box’s tracking
It will keep drawing closer as time passes.
So the six of us sat with the Church of the Luminous Unknown’s
underground bunker entrance between us.
Three inside.
Three outside.
And... the black box with outstretched hands, pressed close beside the open
passageway.
A little closer.
’...It re-positioned.’
The guillotine’s blade is edging in.
Another half-step already.
"Agent Grapes."
I forced my head to turn. As soon as we sat, Agent Bronze casually tossed
something to me.
"Your issued gear you left behind. Please take it."
Only after catching it reflexively did I realize what it was.
...My agent jacket.
’...Why.’
I can’t wear it now anyway. And I already handed in my resignation. Why
go to the trouble of tracking down a corporate spy who walked out?
My stomach lurched. Not knowing what to do with it, I just handled the
jacket.
’For now... stash it in my tattoo?’
I put a hand to the hem to fold it...
But there was something in the pocket.
I sent black smoke to feel inside carefully, and realized what it was.
Strands of color.
Five-colored shoelaces.
[Oh, isn’t that an escape item?]
Right.
An item usually issued one per field agent, letting you emergency-exit a
supernatural disaster while bypassing the normal clear procedure. It was
exactly what I’d been asking Ho Yoowon for a moment ago, something I
badly needed. But...
’...Why this, now?’
In a moment this urgent?
I looked back at Agent Bronze, but that mosaic-blurred face avoided my
gaze and was talking about something with Agent Choi instead.
It was as if they wanted to let slide, smoothly and without comment,
whatever was inside the jacket.
No way...
’Use it now?’
If I used it, I’d jump to a Bureau-designated exit point and my custody
would naturally pass to them.
But then what about the others left here?
What’s the intent? Is this Agent Bronze acting alone?
"Then let’s begin."
And just as Agent Choi moved things forward quickly, regardless of my
confusion—
"First off, the condition for that box counting someone toward the quota is
that they’re a sentient being..."
"Excuse mee!"
A hand shot up. Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s was first.
"I’ve got it. The fastest, simplest way!"
Very much the ’company employee’ line.
"You said this is a cult, right? So we just find the two worst people among
them and throw them in, yess?"
"..."
"Right?"
"Strike firstt. Doesn’t have to be any of us."
Sure.
Agent Choi was trying to proceed sensibly. ’Let’s brainstorm within the
time we have,’ like that.
But there’s a problem.
With this roster, I can already tell how the conversation ends.
’The guillotine’s at our throats. This isn’t a group that can sit and debate...!’
First off, Assistant Manager Lee Songhae will absolutely insist we grab two
bad actors from this base and feed them in. She’s the type who didn’t care
when her own team member died. With ’cult compound’ as a backdrop,
she’ll have no compunctions.
"Ah, that’s a decent proposal. As it happens, that box has already swallowed
one cult official. The other official is back there unconscious."
"Oh, nice! Makes it easier to toss in."
Lee Seonghae beamed, and Ho Yoowon smiled too.
But.
"Bronze-ah, did I just go deaf? I feel like I heard someone, in front of
government agents, say we should haul civilians into a supernatural
disaster."
There’s also someone here who won’t let that slide.
Agent Choi threw it out like a joke, but ended up speaking with a sigh.
"Gosh, of course I understand the sentiment! But that sort of thing should
really only be considered at the very end—"
"C’mon, we’re already short on time. There’s no reason for good people to
try something new, get put in danger, and get scared, rightt?"
"...!"
Huuu.
"I’m not saying we should just toss in any random believer. If it’s a cult
official-level type, I honestly think society’s better off if they diee! And
even if they actually get detained, it’s not like they’ll face any serious
punishment..."
Lee Seonghae propped her chin on her hand and nodded, solemn.
"This is a good chance to exact retribution!"
A brief moment of silence passed.
"...That’s quite a personal judgment, isn’t it?"
"I won’t make you agents do the pickingg. I’ll go select the other one
myself, so just wait! Even if the box follows, it’ll be nearby, and I’ll just
dodge it and slip them inn!"
"No—"
"Please wait a moment."
Agent Bronze spoke up.
One might think he was about to join in trying to stop Lee Seonghae.
But...
"We will be the ones to make the selection."
"...!!"
The modern Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau is an organization
that can say, ’If someone must die, let it be that one.’
It weighs malice, chooses the evildoer, and sends them to the place of death
to dam a greater loss of life.
The living proof of that is this very agent who once played the killer at the
mountain lodge. As he spoke, he flicked his gaze toward the box, now a
half-step closer, and sounding tense.
"Has anyone here personally witnessed a member of that cult’s leadership
causing numerous fatalities?"
"Well, I did see it, yeah."
The assistant manager spoke up.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje is a realist. Given a situation, if a moderately
gentle option is appropriate, she’ll more or less accept it.
"They killed at least dozens just to brew some liquor."
"Acknowledged."
"Bronze-ah."
"Agent."
Agent Bronze cut off his senior.
"Rules are rules."
And if there is a confirmed malefactor, then that person should be the one to
die.
"Given a proven method, prolonging debate based on conjecture only
makes it harder to decide."
...It was rational.
"And with the passage of time, we might be unable to choose the proven
option even if we want to."
In the meantime, the cult official might come to.
...Or the box might draw too close.
"We should act while we still have room to do so."
Even Agent Choi had no reply to that for a moment.
– An agent’s life always comes first.
The current carried the room past the halfway mark.
[Hm. Coming together more neatly than expected. Sacrificing a third party,
is it. Neatly wriggled out.]
[The guilt-laden twin role will suffer a long torture unto death in the box.
Swapping out an extra means little anyway.]
Braun’s voice sounded deflated.
Agent Choi said nothing back. I saw how Ho Yoowon was smiling as he
watched the others’ discussion settle.
And then, silence.
’...Is this really okay?’
The truth of the Happy Ending Sect tangled my thoughts.
I couldn’t very well subdue all these people who were clearly prone to
sudden moves. I couldn’t bark at them to listen either, and even if I could,
there wasn’t a better special alternative than this. And yet...
’I could maybe buy some time to try other things, by pulling the box in by
going aggro myself...’
"Grapes-ie."
I turned my head.
Agent Choi had been sunk in thought, staring at the floor and then back at
the box, over and over. As if doing the math...
And before I knew it, he had picked up the dokkaebi lantern he’d set down.
"...You were planning to move and lure the box yourself, weren’t you?
Until everyone else could get out safely."
...!
"Still the same. Khh, nailed it again."
He laughed.
"But that’s not for the youngest to do, yeah? There’s an order to things."
Wait.
Agent Choi flashed me a grin.
The eyes of someone who had made up his mind.
"Still, as an agent, I should try at least one thing I can do. ...Thanks."
Hey!
Agent Choi stood and moved. Agent Bronze scrambled up after him at the
sudden motion, but it was too late. The box sensed the agent laden with
stories and moved to follow him...
"By their standards, that’s almost a less hypocritical agent. Not very bureau-
like. Don’t you think so too, Roe Deer-nim?"
Shut up!
"Which is why I’ll make a selection as well, Roe Deer-nim."
Thud.
"One more befitting the bureau."
Agent Bronze was shoved by Ho Yoowon’s hand.
His body struck the box.
Thud.
Agent Bronze.
Vanished.
’...’
I saw Agent Choi’s wide eyes. Ho Yoowon’s smile, Assistant Manager Lee
Seonghae’s blinking eyes, Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s scowl, predictions
skimming through my head...
’No.’
Request : Hold position
I shot toward the box in a rush of smoke.
And disappeared.
Inside.
goblin note:
another choi meltdown in 3... 2...