Chapter 156.1

The members of Daydream Inc.’s Field Exploration Team were people who literally staked their lives on the job because they had a single, desperate wish they wanted fulfilled.

In other words, most of them are perfectly willing to use anyone—coworkers, civilians, even deranged ghost stories—to achieve their own goals!

They only care about the welfare points they need for their own wish.

Three prime examples of that kind of person stood right in front of me.

Of course, it’s not just the wishes that made them… who they were.

“Assistant Manager, what about those who lagged behind when we first met the mer-child…?”

“Don’t care.”

“Ms. Pony, it’s tragic that some people were taken, but… that was their fate, right? Should we press on? We have to find our item…”

“Right, right. But maybe they dropped some equipment when they were taken, so I’ll just check real quick… Hahaha!”

“……”

They really never change…

‘Telling those people that the ‘mer-children’ were actual children…’

…wouldn’t make a dent. Rather, they’re the kind of people who’d just find a way to exploit this situation. Having a familiar face among them was useless.

No, to begin with, my current form couldn’t intervene directly anyway, so knowing them only goes so far.

Hiding in the black shadow cast by a collapsed streetlamp, in my street-animal guise, I watched the Daydream Inc. employees scouring the alley.

Then…

“Quiet.”

Jin Nasol stopped and crouched low.

“Merfolk.”

“……”

“A fledgling at that.”

All three held their breath and pressed against the alley wall.

Kyararara…

A sound like a child’s laughter drifted through.

‘Hah.’

My whole body froze, but I had to confirm.

Cautiously, I contracted my four legs and silently climbed onto the wall, peeking over the alley’s edge.

And there, at last, I saw the ‘mer-children’.

Kyarararara…

It was bizarre.

Small, humanoid bodies, emulating people, walking the broken avenues of this infected city.

Some were unnervingly precise—mimicking human expressions with a grin—but others had faces so swollen with ulcers they pulsed grotesquely.

Beneath each face, raw mucous throbbed, leaking air with each pulse, making a sound eerily like a child’s laughter.

Clumps of pink ulceration, greenish flesh, and contaminated masses dripped from their limbs like tails.

They wore discarded belongings and scraps of clothing, haphazardly draped, as if desperately trying to mimic humans.

Even knowing they were innocent children…

“……”

My spine and whiskers bristled in a cold sweat.

My instincts screamed just one thing.

Run.

Upon encounter with infectious fluid:

Avoid detection and evacuate the area immediately, increasing distance as much as possible. In the event of failure, no manual is available. Rescue attempts for personnel who have failed to evade are not recommended.

The infected fluids marched down the avenue like a grotesque parade. Everyone in the alley, Daydream employees and I, held our breath.

Then someone burst out of another alley.

A person, running straight into the infected mass.

“……!”

But they were already covered in the viscous infection, their joints engulfed by ulcerous growths, forced along like a puppet.

It was hopeless.

The infected person was no longer of sound mind, but they could still scream.

The infection hadn’t removed their mouth.

“Ahh!! Aaaah! AAAHHH!”

The infected fluids laughed as they surged forward.

Tentacle-like ulcer clusters lunged at the victim.

The growth on the victim’s belly split open, spewing blood, mucus, and indescribable horrors.

“Ahh, haaah, huuuh……”

They were having their ‘honey’ collected, over and over…

I huddled in place, enduring the spectacle.

Finally, the screams stopped.

“……”

The victim lay dead.

The infected fluids, bellies bulging with blood and mucous, resumed their march.

Toward the mermaid statue.

A tumor of infection, a swarm of biohazard.

Kyarararara…

“……”

Only after the sound fully faded did the three employees move again.

“…If you get caught by that tail, it’s over instantly, right?”

“Yes.”

That was why we had to run.

The tail of the infectious fluid secretes mucus that induces severe paralysis. A single puncture is sufficient to cause immediate and permanent loss of muscle function.

Anyone infected in that state was already as good as dead.

At this point you’d wonder how this ghost story ever earned a Grade C rating.

‘Because there’s a rock‑solid way to clear it.’

And, like two sides of the same coin, the way to clear it actually lies with those mutated creatures.

Thunk, tututung…

A strange sound echoed again on the boulevard.

But this time, it wasn’t the infected fluids.

It was full‑grown, human‑like forms.

Their size had grown so large that the fine details had all but blurred away. These wobbling things had no faces left.

The ulcer‑laced ‘tails’ had transformed into vein‑like cords, interconnecting and stretching high above the avenue… directly linked to the central cluster.

They’d nearly shed any human appearance, looking more like bait the cluster used to lure in prey.

…This must be the final mutated form of the infected fluid.

General infected entities appear to be fully absorbed into the central cluster and function similarly to nerve endings.

They are considered extensions of the cluster rather than independent organisms.

Assistant Manager Butterfly’s eyes brightened slightly.

“They’re out.”

Therefore, if the encountered threat is identified as a general infected entity rather than an infectious fluid—

“Shoot them.”

Terminate the entity and collect evidence material.

The three employees stepped out, luring the creature into the open and firing.

Ordinary infected bodies, once their tendril‑cord is severed from the cluster, wither and die almost instantly.

“……”

Upon presentation of the collected evidence, access to the remaining escape vessel within the city will be granted, allowing for successful clearance of the associated Darkness.

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