A grimy back alley.
Even within the noisy, bizarre night market filled with non-human entities, this dark and foul-smelling place felt distinctly out of place.
Under the flickering gaslights, strange figures in uniforms fixed their hollow eyes on me as I stood at the mouth of the alley.
– My, this looks like the kind of place you’d rather avoid stepping into with polished shoes.
But I had to go.
And I couldn’t let my teammates notice that I was momentarily frozen by the sight.
Slosh.
I stepped into the back alley.
My teammates followed close behind.
Glop, slosh. Walking between narrow walls under dim gaslights, we passed rows of tightly clustered side doors.
“……”
It was surreal.
The scene felt like stepping into a poorly stitched-together image meant to stretch endlessly with its strange side doors.
As we walked between the doors, eyes stared at us from both sides.
‘Haah.’
Figures in filthy, stained uniforms. Their abnormally thin black bodies stood silently against the walls, their heads turning to follow us.
– A star is always subject to attention! But even stars need a break. As always, this Braun could relieve that burden for you…
I felt like screaming and begging him to do exactly that, but—
‘No. It’s fine.’
I couldn’t use ‘Lights out’ now.
‘I’ll save it for when I truly need it.’
– Of course!
Right. I had to endure this.
‘Stick to the plan.’
I swallowed hard and kept walking.
Just as the chill creeping up my neck made my legs stiffen to the point where walking became difficult—
“…Huh?”
My teammate’s exclamation snapped me out of it.
The endless side doors, the figures in uniforms, and then—
Just one.
A door, slightly ajar.
“……”
The door was protruding slightly.
From the crack came an inky darkness.
‘Wow, seriously.’
It was straight out of a horror movie. My eyelids twitched from the tension.
But I had to say this:
“There’s a door slightly open over there. It seems like a welcoming sign. Let’s go in.”
“Yes!”
“Ah… I see!”
“……”
‘Shouldn’t they be questioning this nonsense?!’
But I had to do what needed to be done.
Taking a deep breath, I approached the single open door.
The closer I got, the stronger the urge to run, but I resisted.
I bent down to peer into the narrow crack of the black door…
And came face to face with a bloodshot eye.
“……!!”
Calm down.
I had anticipated this. No panicking, no stupid moves…
I carefully slid something I had prepared through the door crack.
A pack of cigarettes.
“……”
My hand trembled.
It felt like something icy grazed my fingertips…
Creeeak.
The door creaked open wider.
‘……Phew.’
In this alley, entering shops was generally prohibited, but the use of addictive items like alcohol or cigarettes occasionally allowed for temporary exploration.
I did it.
Retrieving my now-empty hand, I clenched my teeth.
Wow, I could cry… seriously.
“Opening a business contact’s door with a simple 5,000 won investment? You’re amazing, Supervisor!”
“Right?!”
“……”
I’d rather have someone else persuade me to that degree, honestly. I’d be able to just go ahead comfortably like them…
But since I was the one who had done the persuading, I could only trudge forward in regret.
‘Ugh.’
The bloodshot eye was gone, but a faint scent of cigarettes lingered.
‘Better than before.’
I sighed in relief and stepped inside.
“……”
It was pitch black, but I could vaguely make out shapes. Stacks of boxes and items draped in black cloth formed a maze-like space.
The musty scent of a warehouse filled the air.
“Ah, if this is a discount warehouse or overstock store, we could find plenty of valuable items…”
Too bad it wasn’t.
Pushing past the boxes, I finally spotted what I was looking for.
“……! Mr. Roe Deer, over there…”
“Yes.”
A second door stood deeper inside.
It looked similar to the one we’d just entered, but it was less worn and much cleaner.
‘……I guess I’ll have to open this one too.’
At least I wasn’t at the back of the group this time.
I stepped forward, grabbed the doorknob, and pulled hard…
A dazzling, colorful light pierced my eyes.
“……!!”
As my vision gradually recovered from the flood of light, the space before me slowly came into focus.
A dazzling scene filled my eyes.
Elegant chandeliers made of crystal and brass, deep-toned wooden structures forming the interior framework, and walls adorned with golden frames and thick, glossy green velvet curtains.
But the most striking element was the three ivory torsos lining the walls. Each displayed an unfinished suit or dress, with disembodied gloved hands meticulously measuring and tailoring the garments in between.
My teammates gawked, their mouths hanging open.
“Th-this place…?”
How could such a scene suddenly appear after that eerie back alley, one might ask.
To put it simply…
‘That was truly a back alley.’
Confirmed sections of Death Lane:
38- Boutique back alley
We had entered this lavish boutique through the filthy backstreets.
Naturally, we weren’t legitimate customers.
We were nothing more than thieves who’d slipped in through a slum-like area filled with vagrants and dismissed laborers, bribing our way in with a pack of cigarettes.
But irregular methods in ghost stories weren’t exactly new.
‘If things go south, we’ll just bolt.’
If caught trespassing, we’d likely face a gruesome fate, but that’s when I’d rely on Braun to erase our presence and escape.
‘The backdoor exit is ready, after all.’
That’s why I’d saved my request to Braun until now!
I stepped forward.
“Whoa…!”
Please, don’t be impressed, everyone…
Despite my nervousness, the gloves tending to the torsos reacted in unison.
Fweeeep!
With a light whistle, the gloves suddenly attached themselves to the bodies of mannequins clad in sophisticated navy uniforms.
They resembled the figures we saw in the alley but were far cleaner, neater, and more detailed.
Even the heads appeared.
The mannequins’ painted faces stared back at us.