Chapter 159.1

Kim Soleum thought to himself.

If he’d had his ‘Good Friend’ with him in this absurd situation, he could almost guess what he’d say.

– Oh! Deception, yes. An effective tool of governance since ancient times. I can’t wait to see how the crowd will be guided. This is getting exciting…

Something like that.

‘Come to think of it, there’s no room to carry a stuffed bunny when you’re on all fours.’

Kim Soleum zoned out on that thought, desperately distracting himself.

Because the stares from behind were too intense…

‘Gaaah!’

Behind him, the Daydream Inc. employees and Disaster Bureau agents followed as if entranced.

Even the mer-children—rather, the children—were trailing after him.

‘This far?’

It felt like he was about to break out in cold sweat.

He’d deliberately steered the two factions into witnessing each other, heightening chaos so the fake Necronomicon’s psych effect would hit harder!

But he never expected it to work this well, with no one breaking away and everyone actually following him.

‘If they find out, I’m massively screwed…’

He could only imagine what those veterans would do if they realized the truth. His paws felt damp with dread.

Yet astonishingly, Kim Soleum managed not to betray any of it.

His survivor’s instinct from his rookie days at the ghost‑story company kicked in.

As a result, they took him for the avatar of that cosmic‑horror entity behind the horrific phenomenon they’d just experienced.

Even that guy who’d suspected this cat’s true identity!

“Um…”

Baek Saheon.

The goat‑masked employee walking next to the cat finally found his voice after what felt like an eternity of hell.

“What on earth…”

The cat stared.

It halted, and with red‑glowing eyes, silently beheld the black‑goat mask.

“……”

“……”

“……Ugh.”

At last, Baek Saheon covered his mouth, sweat beading on his spinning eyes, and started walking again…

‘He’s not killing me.’

‘He’s definitely not going to kill me.’

‘He definitely has a purpose.’

Just as rational thought began to resurface in everyone’s heads, the massive terror in cat form spoke again.

In a different tongue.

[10]

…A countdown.

“…!”

[9]

And the cat’s paws quickened.

[8]

It began shrinking away, toward the far side of town.

If you didn’t follow right away, who knew what would happen…

[7]

With cold sweat dripping down their napes, everyone fell silent and followed the cat’s resumed stride.

A rare scene even for seasoned ghost‑story investigators.

Because they all knew this unwritten rule.

—In a ghost story, if you scream blindly and run, you usually die.

Thus the logic of the tale protected Kim Soleum!

Moreover, with a bizarre entity planted between these two hostile factions, they now kept each other in check, unable to act rashly.

‘Thanks, Baek Saheon…!’

Thanks to him, despite his sweaty paws, Kim Soleum was able to cultivate real fear and pressure as he guided them.

The ominous black cat pressed on, its paws carrying it at lightning speed deeper into the city.

The employees dodged patches of ulcerous slime along the way, and the agents hoisted children whose legs ached onto their backs. They all hurried along.

Eventually, past the city streets, a strange building appeared…

“Huh?”

“It looks like… a cathedral?”

It was a stained‑glass structure at the eastern edge—though its windows were shattered and its symbols destroyed.

The cat silently entered that ruined building and moved beyond a collapsed beam into a strangely concealed space.

Amazingly, there lay a small annex.

“…!”

“I’ve never been here before.”

Hidden by the collapsed structure, this annex was a place the Daydream Inc. employees had never noticed. Or rather, didn’t even know existed.

Through the eyes of children bewitched by Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace, it must have looked like a fully intact, beautiful building…

“This is the spot we searched last time, right?”

“Yes. No anomalies were found.”

So, one side entered warily, the other with puzzled suspicion—both following the black cat inside.

[This way]

The cat stopped only once it reached the annex, in front of the left interior wall.

Directly beneath a small, torn painting.

Baek Saheon hesitated.

“…What am I supposed to do with this?”

[This way]

Shit.

Baek Saheon broke into a cold sweat as he examined the damaged painting, then spun around and smiled.

“Um, Ms. Pony.”

Despite how Kang Yihak pretended not to hear, Baek Saheon pressed on.

“I’m not great at art… Could you take a look? I feel like there’s a safe hidden behind this painting…”

“A safe?”

“Yes.”

In an instant, Kang Yihak stepped forward. She studied the painting intently, then…

“Aha.”

She reached out confidently and pulled it aside.

Behind it was, sure enough, a rusty iron locking mechanism.

“…!”

It was supposed to be a bluff, so why was it actually there?!

Baek Saheon nearly grabbed her by the collar.

‘If only I’d done this myself…’

Kang Yihak sprang into action.

“Cat-nim.”

She knelt before the cat. Kim Soleum nearly toppled backward, but held his form with practiced composure.

Kang Yihak’s eyes glittered.

“The safe key! Where could it be?”

Good grief.

“Haha, you said to bow earlier, so I gave it a try. A hint about how valuable what’s inside might be would be… nice.”

[This way]

The cat remained (unwillingly) resolute!

Meanwhile, Baek Saheon quietly reached out, gripped the safe door, and wrenched it open.

Creeeeak.

“Oh—it just unlocked…!”

Everyone from Daydream Inc. froze. One, two, three… twelve.

Inside the safe were twelve beautiful, white conch shells, each tied with a golden cord.

These were rare treasures once scattered across the city, now nearly impossible to find.

“T‑The Angel’s Sigh!”

Thirteen ‘Angel’s Sigh’ items discovered in the safe of the annex beside the ruined cathedral at the city’s eastern edge. Due to the building’s significance, these were likely professional stockpiles.

This was what the cat had wanted to show them.

The cat watched, red eyes gleaming, as the employees beamed with joy.

If this had been a post‑exploration find, they could’ve quietly led everyone on to another site, but this was the place it had to be.

There was a reason.

But the promised side effects were unavoidable.

‘Item!’

Greed flickered in the Daydream Inc. employees’ eyes.

‘How many points is that worth?’

‘I’ve got to take them all.’

Yet they still hesitated, under the lingering fear summoned by the fake Necronomicon.

They seemed certain the cat’s true, immense malice would trigger some terrible condition if they acted rashly.

And so…

[This way]

The cat moved on again.

A suffocating silence followed.

Then… it sat before the children—the agents of the Disaster Management Bureau.

“…!”

“It’s a cat doll! Cute!”

“No! You can’t, Jiji-ya!”

Agent Choi barred the mer-child from pouncing on the cat.

Ryu Jaekwan broke into a cold sweat.

In any case, having glimpsed the otherworld, the cat could detect the agents’ voices as they were still disguised as ‘children’.

And it urged them, again.

[This way]

“…It looks like it wants us to look inside that safe.”

“……”

They calmed the mer-children, then approached the safe with caution.

The Daydream Inc. employees’ hands itched in greed, but they stayed silent.

Finally, the agents peered in…

“……”

“…Bronze-ah, can you see it?”

“No.”

“I see.”

Agent Choi wiped cold sweat from his brow and forced a grin.

“…There’s nothing here.”

That’s right.

To the agents in child form, the gleaming ivory interior of the safe appeared completely empty.

“But actually, there is something here, right?”

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