SBTGC 24

Chapter 24

As I blinked and asked with my expression, the middle-aged man glanced at me and added an explanation.

“No, you see, I kept seeing you wandering around here and there from earlier! Our fruit shop has full glass windows, so the entire front is completely visible! Huh? But this young lady here keeps going into a store, coming back out, going in again, and coming back out!”

“……!”

“At first I thought she must have gone into the wrong store, or came out because there were too many customers, but when she just kept going in and immediately coming out, that’s when I started thinking something was weird!”

Crazy. I didn’t expect this.

Honestly, I thought no one would be paying attention to me. It wasn’t like I was the only customer going into stores, and I figured if I went in and quietly slipped out, I wouldn’t draw much notice.

But after hearing what that man said… it really is suspicious beyond measure. A person who goes into every store, comes back out, then goes in again and comes right back out.

In the end, my mistake was assuming that repeatedly doing unusual things and walking around wouldn’t catch anyone’s eye!

As I bit my lip, the man clapped his hands and put force into his voice.

“I’ve got amazing intuition for this kind of stuff, you know! I left the store to my son and followed right away. To see what kind of person she was, whether she was suspicious… and then when I got here, she’s doing it again!”

To some people, what the store owner said might sound like a stretch. Especially since in reality, you wouldn’t bring the police for a reason like this.

But this place is Lacharjat. A place that welcomes souls.

To put it differently… that means it’s sensitive to outside intrusion.

They said I could freely enter and leave Lacharjat, but that only means there’s no restriction on entry and exit. It doesn’t mean I can do whatever I want inside here.

‘I was too careless.’

Still, I should have been more cautious.

The police officer and the man stared at me steadily.

After a moment, I managed to pull myself together and decided to try making some excuse.

Pull yourself together! Even if you’re dragged into a tiger’s den, you’ll survive if you keep your wits!

“I, I only went in and came out. It’s not like I caused any trouble.”

“Miss, that very act of going in and coming out is what’s strange! It’s not that you haven’t caused trouble yet—how do we know you won’t in the future?”

“……”

Correction. The place I’ve been dragged into isn’t a tiger’s den—it’s a ghost city.

I immediately changed my approach. I put my hands together politely and tried to make the kindest face I could.

“I won’t do it again, from now on.”

“I’m sorry, but.”

However, the police officer stepped forward firmly. His cold gaze pierced through me as he stared.

“I’m going to need you to come with me.”

His tone suggested I should follow along obediently. But if I go along obediently here, I’m done.

I desperately shook my head and put on a good-natured expression. Of course, I can’t tell right now whether I actually look good-natured or like I’m about to cry because I’m screwed.

“W-wait a moment… I said I won’t do it anymore! It’s not like I stole anything or caused any trouble! If you’re suspicious, you can search all my belongings!”

“Hmm. I’m sorry, but this isn’t about your belongings right now, and that’s something you can cooperate with at the station.”

“……”

“Let’s go. If after we check and there’s no issue, we’ll send you back.”

Should I just press the button on my wrist right now? It might be better than never being able to go back forever.

However, my hand heading toward the button on my right wrist only carefully traced the surface. Because of the fear ingrained in me. I was already scared at the thought of enduring a shock similar to death.

“Store owner, I’ll take it from here. I’ll contact you once the situation is settled.”

“Y-yes… I’m counting on you. My goodness. In all my years, I’ve never seen someone so strange.”

The store owner left one last suspicious glance and turned away. Leaving that gaze behind, the officer gestured for me to follow, and I forced my unusually heavy steps forward, thinking.

What do I do now?

The officer walked in the opposite direction of the crowd. It seemed he intended to head out through the opposite door, not the front entrance.

Hiding in the departing crowd and sneaking away wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Unfortunately, what I couldn’t do in reality, I also couldn’t do in the ghost city. I simply didn’t have the nerve.

This time, I really have no choice but to press the button. Even though if I run away again, there really will be no solution.

Just as I was about to move my hand back to my right wrist—

*Tap.*

The officer walking ahead suddenly stopped.

“Wow. Finally just the two of us left.”

…Finally?

I stared at the back of his head with frozen eyes. It was from that moment that unbelievable things began to happen in succession.

“It was hard getting here before the police while eavesdropping. The moment I heard, I thought, ‘Ah, that sounds like someone I know?’ And when I came, sure enough, my intuition was right.”

The officer’s stiff, low voice gradually began to change. Into a slightly gentler, more relaxed, smoother voice. So natural that I couldn’t immediately tell it had changed.

“And it’s best to stay as inconspicuous as possible here. In this city, outsiders are practically like viruses. Without special devices like helmets or masks, even just walking around can make you suspicious.”

Following that, the officer turned around to face me.

“Just like how we instinctively detect what’s unfamiliar.”

The face of the officer I met like that had also completely changed—just like the voice.

Into the face of someone I knew all too well.

“Huh? Why are you so frozen?”

The face looking back at me soon filled with puzzlement.

“Are you happy to see me?”

“……”

“Hmm. Not that either?”

He didn’t seem to mind my silence. Instead, he kept talking to me in a playful tone.

“Aren’t you happy to meet like this?”

Perhaps he was the most familiar and accustomed presence I could have in this place.

“I’m really happy to see you, Sena.”

Baek Hwagyeong smiled like a flower.

Staring blankly up at him, I thought.

Why is this person here? No, no. That question is meaningless. It wasn’t strange at all that Baek Hwagyeong, who belongs to Satva, was in Lacharjat.

However, in this situation, a different question takes priority.

“Um…”

“Yeah?”

Baek Hwagyeong bent down and leaned his ear in.

No, don’t come that close…

“How did you just do that?”

“How? …Ah. This?”

Baek Hwagyeong answered with a smile, gesturing as if brushing down his upper body. Like showing a scene from a magic show.

At the same time, the police uniform he was wearing instantly changed into different attire. A coffee-colored trench coat, a pure white sweater, and faded jeans. From head to toe, all of it.

Just like a transformation scene from a cartoon!

“It’s just one of the few little tricks I have.”

Baek Hwagyeong answered as if it was no big deal. But I, who am more perceptive than I look, could understand the hidden meaning in those words.

It wasn’t that he actually thought it was just a little trick—it meant he wouldn’t answer even if I asked further.

“Anyway, Sena.”

While I was dazed by the sight I’d never seen before, Baek Hwagyeong’s fox-like eyes scanned my entire body.

“Are you alone right now?”

“……”

Then he asked in a low voice.

A concise question with a clear meaning.

The moment I nodded, Baek Hwagyeong’s eyes gleamed with interest. With a hint of excitement, he asked.

“Did you happen to figure out how to come to Lacharjat?”

No way. I shook my head.

“No.”

“Ah. Then did you use the management headquarters’ machine?”

“That’s not it either.”

“You said no?”

“…Actually, I don’t really know either.”

By the time I said those last words, I naturally deflated. Even though none of this was my fault.

“Hmm.”