Kim Soleum melamun, berusaha mengalihkan perhatiannya dari tatapan-tatapan tajam di belakangnya. Di belakangnya, para karyawan Daydream Inc. dan agen Biro Penanggulangan Bencana mengikuti seolah terhipnotis. Dia sengaja mengarahkan kedua kubu itu untuk saling menyaksikan, memperkuat kekacauan sehingga efek psikis dari Necronomicon palsu akan lebih terasa. Tapi dia tidak pernah menyangka ini akan berhasil sebaik ini, tidak ada yang membelot dan semua orang benar-benar mengikutinya. ‘Kalau mereka tahu, aku habis…’ Dia hanya bisa membayangkan apa yang akan dilakukan para veteran itu jika mereka menyadari kebenaran. Cakarnya terasa lembap karena ketakutan. Namun, secara mengejutkan, Kim Soleum berhasil tidak menunjukkan hal itu sama sekali. Naluri bertahan hidupnya sejak masa rookie di perusahaan cerita hantu membantunya. Sehingga mereka menganggapnya sebagai avatar dari entitas kosmik yang mengerikan di balik fenomena mengerikan yang baru saja mereka alami. Bahkan pria yang mencurigai identitas asli kucing itu, Baek Saheon, yang berjalan di samping kucing itu, akhirnya menemukan suaranya setelah merasakan neraka yang terasa seperti selamanya. Ia berhenti, dan dengan mata merah menyala, diam-diam menatap topeng kambing hitam itu. Akhirnya, Baek Saheon menutup mulutnya, keringat bercucuran di matanya yang berputar-putar, dan mulai berjalan lagi. ‘Dia tidak akan membunuhku.’ ‘Dia pasti tidak akan membunuhku.’ ‘Dia pasti punya tujuan.’ Saat pemikiran rasional mulai muncul kembali di kepala semua orang, kucing besar itu berbicara lagi, dalam bahasa yang berbeda. Kaki kucing itu bergerak cepat, mulai menyusut, menuju ke arah seberang kota. Jika tidak segera mengikuti, siapa yang tahu apa yang akan terjadi… Dengan keringat dingin menetes di tengkuk mereka, semua orang terdiam dan mengikuti langkah kucing itu. Pemandangan yang langka bahkan bagi para penyelidik cerita hantu berpengalaman. Karena mereka semua tahu aturan tak tertulis ini: dalam cerita hantu, jika kamu berteriak dan berlari, kamu biasanya mati. Berkat entitas aneh yang berada di antara dua kubu yang bermusuhan itu, mereka saling mengawasi dan tidak bisa bertindak gegabah. Kim Soleum, meskipun cakarnya basah, berhasil menciptakan ketegangan dan tekanan yang nyata saat memandu mereka. Kucing hitam yang tidak menyenangkan itu terus berjalan melewati jalan-jalan kota, menghindari genangan lendir menjijikkan di sepanjang jalan, dan para agen menggendong anak-anak yang kakinya lelah. Mereka semua bergegas. Akhirnya, di ujung timur, muncul sebuah bangunan aneh yang terlihat seperti katedral dengan jendela kaca patri yang pecah dan simbol-simbolnya hancur. Kucing itu diam-diam masuk ke dalam bangunan yang hancur itu, melewati balok yang runtuh, menuju ke ruang tersembunyi. Ternyata ada sebuah annex kecil, tempat yang tidak pernah diketahui oleh karyawan Daydream Inc. Dari mata anak-anak yang terpesona oleh Istana Laut Twinkle Twinkle, tempat itu tampak seperti bangunan yang utuh dan indah. “Ini tempat yang kita cari terakhir kali, kan?” “Ya. Tidak ada anomali yang ditemukan.” Salah satu sisi masuk dengan waspada, sisi yang lain dengan kecurigaan—keduanya mengikuti kucing hitam itu ke dalam. Kucing berhenti di depan dinding bagian dalam kiri, di bawah lukisan kecil yang robek. Baek Saheon ragu-ragu. “…Apa yang harus kulakukan dengan ini?” Baek Saheon memeriksa lukisan yang rusak itu, lalu berbalik dan tersenyum. Meskipun Kang Yihak pura-pura tidak mendengar, Baek Saheon terus mendesak. “Aku tidak terlalu pandai seni… Bisakah kamu melihatnya? Rasanya seperti ada brankas tersembunyi di balik lukisan ini…” Dalam sekejap, Kang Yihak melangkah maju. Dia mengamati lukisan itu dengan saksama, lalu… Dia mengulurkan tangan dengan percaya diri dan menariknya ke samping. Di baliknya, tentu saja, ada mekanisme penguncian besi yang berkarat. Itu seharusnya hanya gertakan, tapi ternyata benar-benar ada! Baek Saheon hampir menyeretnya dengan kerah bajunya. ‘Andai saja aku yang melakukannya sendiri…’ Kang Yihak langsung bertindak. Dia berlutut di depan kucing itu, dan matanya berbinar. “Kunci brankasnya! Di mana?” “Haha, kamu bilang untuk tunduk sebelumnya, jadi aku mencobanya. Petunjuk tentang betapa berharganya isi brankas itu mungkin… akan menyenangkan.” Kucing itu tetap diam (dengan enggan)! Sementara itu, Baek Saheon dengan tenang meraih pintu brankas dan membukanya. “Oh—tidak terkunci…!” Semua orang dari Daydream Inc. membeku. Satu, dua, tiga… dua belas. Di dalam brankas itu ada dua belas cangkang kerang putih yang indah, masing-masing diikat dengan tali emas. Ini adalah harta langka yang pernah tersebar di seluruh kota, sekarang hampir mustahil ditemukan. “T‑Nafas Malaikat!” Tiga belas item ‘Nafas Malaikat’ ditemukan di brankas annex di samping katedral yang hancur di kota bagian timur. Karena pentingnya bangunan itu, ini kemungkinan besar adalah stok profesional. Ini yang ingin ditunjukkan kucing itu kepada mereka. Kucing itu memperhatikan, dengan mata merah menyala, saat para karyawan tersenyum kegirangan. Jika ini adalah temuan pasca eksplorasi, mereka bisa dengan tenang mengarahkan semua orang ke lokasi lain, tapi ini adalah tempat yang seharusnya. Namun, efek samping yang dijanjikan tidak bisa dihindari. Keserakahan berkilau di mata para karyawan Daydream Inc. ‘Berapa poin nilainya?’ ‘Aku harus mengambil semuanya.’ Namun mereka masih ragu-ragu, di bawah rasa takut yang tersisa dari Necronomicon palsu. Mereka tampaknya yakin bahwa niat jahat kucing yang sebenarnya akan memicu kondisi yang mengerikan jika mereka bertindak gegabah. Kucing itu melanjutkan perjalanannya lagi. Keheningan yang mencekik menyusul. Lalu… ia duduk di depan anak-anak—para agen Biro Penanggulangan Bencana. “Boneka kucing! Lucu!” “Tidak! Jangan, Jiji-ya!” Agen Choi menghalangi anak laut itu untuk menerkam kucing itu. Ryu Jaekwan berkeringat dingin. Lagipula, setelah mengintip dunia lain, kucing itu bisa mendeteksi suara para agen yang masih menyamar sebagai ‘anak-anak’. Dan ia mendesak mereka lagi. “…Sepertinya ia ingin kita melihat ke dalam brankas itu.” Mereka menenangkan anak-anak laut itu, lalu mendekati brankas dengan hati-hati. Tangan para karyawan Daydream Inc. gatal karena keserakahan, tapi mereka tetap diam. Akhirnya, para agen mengintip ke dalam… “…Bronze-ah, kamu bisa melihatnya?” Agen Choi menyeka keringat dingin dari dahinya dan memaksakan senyum. “…Tidak ada apa-apa di sini.” Bagi para agen yang berwujud anak-anak, interior brankas yang berkilau gading itu tampak sepenuhnya kosong. “Tapi sebenarnya, ada sesuatu di sini, kan?”
Bab 718
Kim Soleum thought to himself. If he’d had his ‘Good Friend’ with him in this absurd situation, he could almost guess what he’d say. – Oh! Deception, yes. An effective tool of governance since ancient times. I can’t wait to see how the crowd will be guided. This is getting exciting… ‘Come to think of it, there’s no room to carry a stuffed bunny when you’re on all fours.’ Kim Soleum zoned out on that thought, desperately distracting himself. Because the stares from behind were too intense… Behind him, the Daydream Inc. employees and Disaster Bureau agents followed as if entranced. It felt like he was about to break out in cold sweat. He’d deliberately steered the two factions into witnessing each other, heightening chaos so the fake Necronomicon’s psych effect would hit harder! But he never expected it to work this well, with no one breaking away and everyone actually following him. ‘If they find out, I’m massively screwed…’ He could only imagine what those veterans would do if they realized the truth. His paws felt damp with dread. Yet astonishingly, Kim Soleum managed not to betray any of it. His survivor’s instinct from his rookie days at the ghost‑story company kicked in. As a result, they took him for the avatar of that cosmic‑horror entity behind the horrific phenomenon they’d just experienced. Even that guy who’d suspected this cat’s true identity! The goat‑masked employee walking next to the cat finally found his voice after what felt like an eternity of hell. It halted, and with red‑glowing eyes, silently beheld the black‑goat mask. At last, Baek Saheon covered his mouth, sweat beading on his spinning eyes, and started walking again… ‘He’s not killing me.’ ‘He’s definitely not going to kill me.’ ‘He definitely has a purpose.’ Just as rational thought began to resurface in everyone’s heads, the massive terror in cat form spoke again. In a different tongue. And the cat’s paws quickened. It began shrinking away, toward the far side of town. If you didn’t follow right away, who knew what would happen… With cold sweat dripping down their napes, everyone fell silent and followed the cat’s resumed stride. A rare scene even for seasoned ghost‑story investigators. Because they all knew this unwritten rule. —In a ghost story, if you scream blindly and run, you usually die. Thus the logic of the tale protected Kim Soleum! Moreover, with a bizarre entity planted between these two hostile factions, they now kept each other in check, unable to act rashly. ‘Thanks, Baek Saheon…!’ Thanks to him, despite his sweaty paws, Kim Soleum was able to cultivate real fear and pressure as he guided them. The ominous black cat pressed on, its paws carrying it at lightning speed deeper into the city. The employees dodged patches of ulcerous slime along the way, and the agents hoisted children whose legs ached onto their backs. They all hurried along. Eventually, past the city streets, a strange building appeared… “It looks like… a cathedral?” It was a stained‑glass structure at the eastern edge—though its windows were shattered and its symbols destroyed. The cat silently entered that ruined building and moved beyond a collapsed beam into a strangely concealed space. Amazingly, there lay a small annex. “I’ve never been here before.” Hidden by the collapsed structure, this annex was a place the Daydream Inc. employees had never noticed. Or rather, didn’t even know existed. Through the eyes of children bewitched by Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace, it must have looked like a fully intact, beautiful building… “This is the spot we searched last time, right?” “Yes. No anomalies were found.” So, one side entered warily, the other with puzzled suspicion—both following the black cat inside. The cat stopped only once it reached the annex, in front of the left interior wall. Directly beneath a small, torn painting. Baek Saheon hesitated. “…What am I supposed to do with this?” Baek Saheon broke into a cold sweat as he examined the damaged painting, then spun around and smiled. Despite how Kang Yihak pretended not to hear, Baek Saheon pressed on. “I’m not great at art… Could you take a look? I feel like there’s a safe hidden behind this painting…” In an instant, Kang Yihak stepped forward. She studied the painting intently, then… She reached out confidently and pulled it aside. Behind it was, sure enough, a rusty iron locking mechanism. It was supposed to be a bluff, so why was it actually there?! Baek Saheon nearly grabbed her by the collar. ‘If only I’d done this myself…’ Kang Yihak sprang into action. She knelt before the cat. Kim Soleum nearly toppled backward, but held his form with practiced composure. Kang Yihak’s eyes glittered. “The safe key! Where could it be?” “Haha, you said to bow earlier, so I gave it a try. A hint about how valuable what’s inside might be would be… nice.” The cat remained (unwillingly) resolute! Meanwhile, Baek Saheon quietly reached out, gripped the safe door, and wrenched it open. “Oh—it just unlocked…!” Everyone from Daydream Inc. froze. One, two, three… twelve. Inside the safe were twelve beautiful, white conch shells, each tied with a golden cord. These were rare treasures once scattered across the city, now nearly impossible to find. “T‑The Angel’s Sigh!” Thirteen ‘Angel’s Sigh’ items discovered in the safe of the annex beside the ruined cathedral at the city’s eastern edge. Due to the building’s significance, these were likely professional stockpiles. This was what the cat had wanted to show them. The cat watched, red eyes gleaming, as the employees beamed with joy. If this had been a post‑exploration find, they could’ve quietly led everyone on to another site, but this was the place it had to be. But the promised side effects were unavoidable. Greed flickered in the Daydream Inc. employees’ eyes. ‘How many points is that worth?’ ‘I’ve got to take them all.’ Yet they still hesitated, under the lingering fear summoned by the fake Necronomicon. They seemed certain the cat’s true, immense malice would trigger some terrible condition if they acted rashly. The cat moved on again. A suffocating silence followed. Then… it sat before the children—the agents of the Disaster Management Bureau. “It’s a cat doll! Cute!” “No! You can’t, Jiji-ya!” Agent Choi barred the mer-child from pouncing on the cat. Ryu Jaekwan broke into a cold sweat. In any case, having glimpsed the otherworld, the cat could detect the agents’ voices as they were still disguised as ‘children’. And it urged them, again. “…It looks like it wants us to look inside that safe.” They calmed the mer-children, then approached the safe with caution. The Daydream Inc. employees’ hands itched in greed, but they stayed silent. Finally, the agents peered in… “…Bronze-ah, can you see it?” Agent Choi wiped cold sweat from his brow and forced a grin. “…There’s nothing here.” To the agents in child form, the gleaming ivory interior of the safe appeared completely empty. “But actually, there is something here, right?”
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