am-books Chapter 89.2
Chapter 89.2
Chapter 89.2
“Well, let’s move as well and make our way out of this street vendor alley.”
“Yes...!”
“Ah, yes-yes.”
I began walking with my two fellow rookies.
Don’t give up on your body!
Remaining steps : 9,130
Walking through the eerie, brightly lit vendor alley while keeping the app running turned out to be more mentally draining than expected.
Especially since you couldn’t afford to let your guard down for even a moment.
“Huu.”
Jang Heo-un began to lift his mask slightly to wipe away the sweat that had accumulated underneath.
Wait.
“Be careful.”
“......!”
I stopped him immediately.
“It’s best to strictly follow the anonymity manual here... Mr. Buffalo.”
“......Yes.”
Jang Heo-un slowly lowered his hand and wiped the sweat off without removing his mask.
......
One of the street vendors, who had been observing him closely, resumed their sales pitch.
Whisper, whisper.
‘Phew.’
The vendors in this alley have an aggressive tendency to sell their goods and claim payment by any means.
To avoid getting caught up in this, it’s crucial not to reveal any personal information, appearance, or vulnerabilities.
The company’s manual was precise.
‘The moment you fail to follow this, you’ll be passively drawn into their sales trap.’
Like those people hovering at the far end of the alley.
“This place is incredible—I had no idea it was here.”
“Huh? What’s that? It looks so real... real, real, real, real... REAL! I’ll buy it!”
“That’s the one! Yes! It’s a real person!”
The problem was that they had no masks or information to hide their identities.
“Huh? W-wait... why does that person have three eyes? Huh? Oh, right! Humans always had three eyes! My bad, I must’ve been mistaken. I’ll go buy another eye, honey.”
“Sure! Trade it for an ear!”
They followed the vendor into the alley and disappeared.
‘...It’s too late.’
That’s how they go missing.
A chilling fear ran down my spine.
But I couldn’t show it—not in front of my fellow rookies.
Instead, I clenched my teeth and feigned composure as I kept walking.
“For now, let’s just get out of this stree—”
“Mr. Roe Deer, over there...!”
Jang Heo-un pointed with a trembling hand.
It was...
A ‘person’ walking right past us.
A high school student with a nervous expression, glancing around anxiously.
‘Damn it.’
Beyond it, the street vendors disappeared, replaced by formal shops selling various daily necessities...
“We’ll turn here.”
At that moment—
“Oh, since we’re entering a new alley... how about we try to be even more natural now?” Kang Yihak chimed in.
Hmm.
“Could you elaborate a bit more on what you mean?”
Kang Yihak grinned.
“Let’s try to score some rare finds!”
“......!”
“There are a lot of exploration records about finding good ‘items’ here, so why not do a little market browsing ourselves? It’s the most natural thing to do, after all!”
Shopping, plain and simple.
“......! But the manual specifically advises against that...”
Jang Heo-un was right.
While purchasing items deemed useful for exploration wasn’t outright prohibited, it wasn’t encouraged either.
Any risks associated with such purchases wouldn’t be eligible for workplace injury compensation.
That bottom line sounded shady, but there was a clear reason why the manual discouraged it:
The likelihood of impulsive buying was high.
The longer you walked, the more this street would tempt you with appealing shops and goods.
Employees, gradually losing their reason in this bizarre place, often ended up snatching up dangerous items without a second thought.
Even when payment didn’t involve ordinary currency.
And yet, Kang Yihak brought this up anyway...
‘What’s her angle?’
She definitely had some hidden motive.
– Ah, politics! Life’s unscripted variety show.
– But if you back down, it turns into a documentary. We can’t have that. Let’s go, Mr. Roe Deer!
Sigh.
I’d hoped meeting new people might be refreshing, but here we are again...
‘Well, no choice.’
I flashed Kang Yihak a grin.
“Sure.”
“......!”
“Browsing sounds fun.”
“Oh! You’re on the same page, Supervisor! I knew you’d agree!”
“Yes.”
Then I casually raised my hand and pointed toward a certain shop I was all too familiar with.
“How about that one?”
Fresh Meat Butcher Shop
: A shop displaying live organs and body parts.
Identifiable by its red and blue lights and the bloodstained apron of the shopkeeper seated in front of the glass window.
“......”
“......”
“The goods look promising. Let’s head inside.”
I took a step toward the butcher shop.
“......?!”
This is what you call the ‘You can’t reason with a lunatic’ strat......!