Chapter 37.3

Chapter 37.3

– Good riddance, a brute right to the core. If this had been my show, I’d never let it on as a guest!

I’d never been so grateful that only I could hear Braun’s voice.

I mustered a calm voice and addressed the sergeant, who was still gripping Go Seonha’s head.

“Thank you, Sergeant.”

“Urrgh...”

– He says he’s tired. How rude!

You’re scarier for translating that monstrous growl...

But then, at that moment.

A faint, muffled sound came from under the sergeant’s hand.

It was a human voice.

“W-Wait, please...”

“......!”

Somehow, Go Seonha’s face had returned to normal, her expression one of pure terror as she moaned weakly.

“P-Please help me... save...”

Leave this child here...

“Uh, ugh...”

Her eyes rolled back, and the changgwi’s voice took over again.

Only you need to die... Hm? Right? You deserve to die. You killed people. You tried to kill the children. I know everything. You deserve to die.

Go Seonha struggled.

“No, no...”

Just leave her behind. Leave her, yes? Hmmmm?

“Please, save me, save me! Aaaah!”

At that moment—

“Tell me,”

The sergeant’s voice, now sounding human, asked,

“Did you formally request emergency rescue from <Daydream Inc.>...?”

I couldn’t see his face beneath the monstrous form, but his voice clearly posed the question directly to Go Seonha.

“This is an official request requiring a signed contract... isn’t that... right?”

Something about it felt off.

Go Seonha, dazed, looked up, then seemed to snap back, responding in a desperate tone.

“Ri—”

Wait.

“No, it isn’t.”

I intervened, forcing the words out.

“This Darkness isn’t under Daydream Inc.’s jurisdiction, we didn’t enter to rescue civilians, and more than that, there was mutual assistance on both sides.”

“Huh...? Weird...”

The sergeant’s voice dropped, dangerously low and growling.

“Wasn’t she trying to prevent us from escaping...?”

Gaaasp.

“...That doesn’t matter, sir. In the end, she helped us.”

I spoke firmly.

“Which makes this cooperation.”

“......”

The sergeant stared at me, then looked down at Go Seonha...

“Ah... is that so...”

“You can let go now.”

“......”

The security sergeant released his grip and, with a faintly amused voice, asked,

“Thinking of switching departments...?”

“No thank you, sir.”

Please, spare me.

After thanking the security sergeant once again, who had thankfully returned to a more human appearance, I went over to check on Section Chief Lee and the kids, who were still tightly shutting their eyes.

“You can open your eyes now. It’s safe.”

“Ah...!”

Relief washed over Section Chief Lee’s face, but he quickly shot a worried glance at the kids and whispered to me with a desperate expression.

“But now what? How are we supposed to find the way out...?”

“......”

“Dawn is almost here!”

I looked up at the sky.

Through the hazy fog, it seemed like a faint light was beginning to filter through...

The full moon was nearly setting.

‘There’s no time to redo the ritual.’

But...

“We’ll be fine.”

“...What?”

“I believe we succeeded in at least half of the ritual.”

I remembered how the path changed with each step as we sang and how the incense burned properly.

‘Everything we prepared was correct.’

The ritual, strictly speaking, had two purposes.

To avoid the changgwi.

And to seek an escape route by appealing to Sangun-nim.

“It seems we fulfilled the second purpose.”

While the first purpose failed due to the changgwi’s possession of one of our group members, bringing us close to the water’s edge...

“Maybe there’s an exit somewhere nearby.”

“......!”

We clustered together and began searching in the dense fog, moving away from the water’s edge toward the open clearing closer to the mountain.

We searched around where the ritual path had ended.

– ‘If you find a small snake hole in a place with no grass, express gratitude for Sangun-nim’s mercy and reach inside. Make sure your hand is coated in well water mixed with salt.’

‘A place with no grass... a place with no grass...’

And then, a few moments later—

“I-I found it!”

“......!!”

One of the middle schoolers spotted a small hole under a tree.

A shaft of moonlight pierced through the fog, shining directly onto the dark hole, as black as ink.

“......”

The snake hole.

I quickly had everyone dip their hands in the saltwater, not caring about the fear or hesitation that gripped us.

“Hurry, hurry.”

Just before dawn, we each reached our hands into the snake hole.