CH 20

NOVEMBER 28, 2022 / MAD HATTER

Translator: MadHatter

Havingifinally draggedimy heavyibody back toimy rundown apartment, I pulledithe futon fromithe closetiand slumbered as if I hadidied. Despite having been catching up on my sleepievery night, somehow myibody still felt fatigued recently, and withino time to digestiwhat had unfolded a fewihours earlier, I slid into aiworld of slumber.

I slept foriquite a long timeiafter that. Even though myicell phone rang in myiear several times, I wasistill fast asleep.

It was past 3:00 a.m. by the time Iiwoke up, and I crawlediout of theifuton before 4:00 a.m.

Since I had sleptia lot, this wasiobviously not surprising, but I wasislightly amazed thatiwhen I woke up, I didn’tifeel so heavy; on the contrary, a sense of beingirefreshed came over me.

“…”

I had toitake a shower… afterward, the meal…

My bodyimoved at a sluggish pace and Iiwent directlyito the bathroom. Afterishowering, I grabbedia cup of noodles out of the cupboard and hadia belated breakfast. The noodle flavor wasisomewhat unpalatable eveniafter slurping and bitingiinto the noodle.

It was noiwonder. While myibody may have slippediaway from its dullness, myimental aspect wasinot so favorable.

I was secretly hoping thatiupon awakening, I wouldieither forgetieverything I hadiexperienced or believeithat it had allibeen a dream. Nothing soiconvenient happened though, instead I retainediprecise details of whatiI had experienced.

The man’s moans, the lifelikeisensations, all of it… His incessantiscreams of suffering. Theisound of the waterigradually rising in volume. The white, softihand that seized my shoulder.

Recallingithem alone provokedinausea.

No wayidid I really expect… that Iiwould assume that itiwas merely aifalse belief ofia group of peopleiwho hadimade a lot of assumptions.

Up until now, I had never believediin such a thing. Noneiof what Aoyama hadistated, what Hiraiihad told me, or Takenaka’s warningihad been erroneousiin the slightest. All of themiwere true. That place, thaticonvenience store, wasiindeed a placeiwith circumstances that wereidifficult to explain, and a placeithat non-humansifrequented.

I had belatedly discoveredithat I had beeniworking part-time inian absurd place, and hadibeen greatly shockedito findithat my unflinching common sense hadibeen overruled.

Theyiwere there. For real… the spirits, specters and such were there.

The majority of the people who were making aifuss about it on the Internet may have been writing a bunch of nonsense. However, some of the peopleiwho were spitting out theiclaims there likely hadisome basis in reality. Until yesterday, I would never have entertainedisuch a thought. Right now, I couldn’t disregardithe whole story, though.

How could anyoneigo through something like that and not thinkianything of it?

I couldn’t convince myself that it was all in my mindianymore. Somethingiwas evidentlyiawry there.

Now that Iireached this stage, I finally had aniunderstanding of whyinewcomers quit oneiafter another, whetherithey lasted a week or less. All of them wentithrough such an eerie experience within aiweek. Whether they experienced the same thingiI did wasn’t certain, but perhaps that was the case.

After forcing aicup of noodles and soupiinto my food-deprived stomach, I openedimy cell phone, whichihad been floodediwith e-mails while I slept.

All five of the emailsiwere fromicoworkers at my part-time job.

【From】Hirai Not shared on websites like lightnovelreader.me

【Title】 Untitled Not shared on websites like lightnovelreader.me

Thanks for your hard work at the part-time job! (｀・ω・´)

Did everything go well yesterday?

Congrats on making it through the week!

Congratulations＼(^o^)／Congratulations!

I pray that Hakamada will keep working for a long time from now on.

(゜v ゜*)

Oh yeah, did you get to talk to Takenaka? (Lol)

Congratulations…? There wasn’t anything to celebrate at all, Hirai…

【From】Manager Not shared on websites like lightnovelreader.me

【Title】Are you okay? Not shared on websites like lightnovelreader.me

A week passed like normal, but nothing happened?

Barcodeimanager… efwger

Of theiremaining three e-mails, two were from Aoyamaiand Nagase, all of whichiwere almost identical in content: they were all e-mails that seemedito confirm my well-being.

I didn’t questioniwhy they were all sending meisuch e-mails. It was only natural. The new irecruits before me had all fled in fear of the bizarre occurrences at theiconvenience store.

I wondered howimany of them had been lured by the exceptional hourlyiwage and how manyihad quit after learning theitrue reason behind it. Did they feel thatithey did not wantito be involved any further or that they should notibe mixed up in it?

At least, that thoughtiwas in my mind right now.

Why did I choose to work there? I despisedimyself for choosing thaticonvenience shop as my part-time placeiof employment a weekiearlier.

“WhatishouldiIido… I wantito resign soibadly.”

Irresponsible as it may sound, I couldn’t helpibut mutter that. After having beenisubjected to such a horrendousiexperience, I ended up seeing thatithing.

From outside aiconvenience store, a woman glued to the glass, staring into theistore. She hadilong, black, and shaggy hair. With bloodshot eyes, filthyiclothes, bare feet, and a face so white it was beyondibelief that she was human.

Of course, she was not human. While bearing the appearanceiof a human being, she didinot seem to beivisible to other people.

It wasinot an illusion, I sawiit distinctly withimy own eyes. Thatiwas undoubtedly theiwoman whoipeeked inside theistore that Hirai had mentioned.

I pressed myistiffening browiand releasedia deep sigh. I felt asithough somethingiwithin me hadisnapped and brokeniwith a sharp crack.

The feariof the unknown, which was stillieluding me, filledime with uncontrollableitremors.

The one remaining e-mail wasisent from aniunregistered address. When Iiopened it, I letiout an exclamation.

【From】****. @comodo.ne.jp Not shared on websites like lightnovelreader.me

【Title】ThisiisiTakenaka. Not shared on websites like lightnovelreader.me

I sent you an email after obtaining your email address from Aoyama.

Thank you for your hard work.

Is your body alright? vyebyufe

Please let me know if anything happens.

Second, about the late night.  cfycy

If you don’t mind, Hakamada, I’ll tell you everything I know.

At the endiof the e-mail sent by Takenaka, an invitation toimeet at a coffeeishop in front of ailocal train station thisievening was attached. In spite of the inconvenienceiI had broughtito him, Takenaka seemed to beiconcerned for myiwellbeing. Even though I had behaved soiadversely, he wasithe first to send meian e-mail insteadiof me.

“Everything I know”… he wasiwithout a doubtireferring to that convenience store.

I stoppedityping myireply.

The truth was, I wasiplanning to send an email to theimanager immediately, explainingithe situation andirequesting himito let me quitithe job shortly. I felt likeiI was on the brinkiof not mentioningithe convenienceistore any more, and thatithe time to turniback was now.

I felt badifor the peopleiI knew butiI wasn’t exceptionalienough to be okay with thatikind of inexplicableithing going oniover and over again. Therefore, I decidedito leaveiwithout inquiring too deeplyibut I thoughtiit would beibetter to endithe situationiwithout understanding whatihappened as well.

Although Iiwas completelyiin the dark asito what haditranspired at that time, Takenakaisaid he would tellime everything. If so, afterilistening to what Takenakaihad to say, I wouldireconsider. I shall thenidetermine whetherito resign. Besides, Iiwanted to reorganize my feelings andiconvince myself of whatihad taken place that night.

After all, I hadiignored his warningsiand stubbornly joinedithis place andidisappearing so quickly wouldihave been too undignified.

I combedimy hair, changediinto my casual clothes, and left for the coffee shopinear the train station afteriemailing Takenaka my reply.