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In the now completely dark open lot, under a sky pouring down starlight, a massive campfire crackled and spat embers.

Even from a distance, the heat stretched over to warm my face and made the yellow suit shimmer in the light.

It was a campfire too large for such a modest welcoming ceremony.

The warm, golden glow radiating from the burning logs cast flickering shadows, creating the unique atmosphere of a campfire.

Junior No. 1 was munching on chicken skewers with a carefree expression.

With each bite, a satisfied sigh and a mumble of admiration escaped his lips.

The distinctive smoky aroma of charcoal and the crispy sound of the skewered chicken being devoured filled the air.

Junior No. 1 was truly enjoying the campfire.

“Senior? Want one?”

“No, you can eat it all by yourself.”

When I silently stared at him, Junior No. 1, with cheeks puffed out like a hamster from eating, offered me a chicken skewer.

Unlike him, who was engrossed in eating, Junior No. 2 was fulfilling his own role.

Staying close to the client, providing some emotional support.

Just in case, I passed my revolver to Junior No. 2.

While Junior No. 1 feverishly devoured skewers, he suddenly seemed to remember something and asked,

“Oh, right! Senior, why did you give me the revolver?”

“I want to look around a bit. Since you’re coming with me, it’s time to stop eating and get ready.”

Junior No. 1 started scanning me up and down with a cheeky expression.

“Hey, does that outfit even allow for stealth? It’s yellow!”

“Why sneak around? We can just go boldly.”

Using the cover of darkness from the camp, we stealthily slipped out toward the outside of the open lot.

Junior No. 1, with a handful of chicken skewers, followed along.

Plodding along, we walked down the steep stairs, glancing around the camp’s interior.

A quiet camp lit only sporadically by streetlights.

From afar, the glowing light of the campfire felt oddly out of place.

“Hello.”

“Are you here for sightseeing?”

“Yes, my companions are over there.”

“Have fun!”

While wandering around, we frequently encountered the camp residents.

When we asked questions, their demeanor felt a bit off.

Too serious, perhaps?

“Did you not notice anything strange?”

“Not really…?”

“Well, I could just be overly sensitive, so let’s keep looking around.”

Junior No. 1, still carrying the chicken skewers, didn’t seem to feel anything was peculiar.

“Hey, are you a tourist?”

“Oh my, a young tourist?”

“Are you a tourist?”

Tourist, tourist, tourist.

Though the first greetings from everyone we met were slightly different, the meaning was the same.

‘Are you a tourist?’

Everyone kept asking about whether we were tourists.

At this point, Junior No. 1 also started to feel something was off.

“This is getting weirder.”

“Is it really that important to be a tourist?”

“Well, I mean, they could ask you anything, but isn’t this place not really a tourist destination? Everyone asking without fail is strange.”

In a secluded part of the camp.

From that spot where we could see the sky dyed by the campfire flames, a strange sound reached our ears.

It sounded like the whimpering of a dying puppy.

“Shh.”

Lowering ourselves, we slowly approached the source of the sound, and saw a wide open lot filled with children.

Bump, bump, bump.

The village kids were stabbing a wild dog without mercy with forks.

The dog let out a painful scream, squirming, before going limp and dying.

Then they tore apart the corpse with their forks and took pieces into their mouths.

“Gah!”

Junior No. 1 gasped in shock, swallowing hard.

The little ones devoured the wild dog, leaving neither hide nor bone.

And once the dog had vanished without a trace, they got up as if nothing had happened and resumed playing in the open lot.

Even the adults, who seemed to be the children’s parents, showed no reaction.

Well, this is definitely strange.

It’s bizarre enough that my monocle showed no reaction.

“W-what on earth is this?”

Junior No. 1, having witnessed an incomprehensible scene, looked confused.

“Finally witnessed it. Evidence that the camp is indeed strange, as the client mentioned. We should head back soon.”

As we were about to quietly leave the open lot, a loud sound echoed.

Bang!

Gunfire rang out from the direction of the campfire.

Was something happening to Junior No. 2?

“Junior, run!”

We had to reach before anything could happen.

*

[Kayangsansan Camp Market.]

A shabby single-story supermarket.

Just like the exterior of the building showing the marks of time, the inside of the market was decorated with faded product advertisements that had long been discontinued.

The creaking glass door.

Various types of cheap snacks, reminiscent of what you’d find in childhood.

Om nom nom.

Sitting inside the store that vaguely triggered nostalgia, I picked at the snacks I used to eat as a kid.

They’re not particularly tasty.

I’m pretty sure they used to taste good…

I couldn’t tell if my sense of taste had changed since becoming an object, or if the memories had exaggerated the flavors.

The ghost cat was curled up on the market counter, purring away in a deep sleep.

I watched people passing by through the supermarket’s glass window.

Were they the ones running the supermarket?

As soon as I entered the supermarket, the fake humans who ran it fled.

I hadn’t even done anything, yet it felt weird that they ran off.

I’ll mess with them next time.

Purr.

The cat is asleep.

It had been sleeping all day.

I was planning to wake it up to go back to the research institute together, but it wasn’t waking up.

If I just left it here, the fake humans would probably try to stab it with forks, right?

While munching on various nostalgic treats and watching TV, before I knew it, night had fallen.

Bang!

Gunfire resounded from somewhere.

And the cat awakened at the sound.

Meow!

Upon hearing the gunfire, the cat exclaimed, “Adventure comes!”

Meow!

“Don’t come? It’ll be dangerous?”

The cat inconsiderately said not to follow it at all.

It seemed to have its own reasons, insisting on overcoming its own adventure alone.

I waved goodbye to the confidently striding cat.

And of course, I—

Activated ghosting and began to stealthily follow the cat.

Hehe.

*

After the gunfire, an unusual series of events unfolded.

We were running toward the open lot where Junior No. 2 was.

And approaching us as if surrounding us were the camp residents.

Whether it was due to the gunshot, there were suddenly throngs of people in the camp that had barely any movement at late night.

“Where are you rushing off to?”

A man inquired as he walked slowly toward us.

It seemed like he was trying to engage in casual conversation, but I could tell otherwise.

“Run!”

I grabbed my junior’s hand and dashed into the alley.

As we fled into the alley, the camp residents revealed their true colors.

“Uuaaah!”

Like zombies lost in reason, they began to charge at us mindlessly.

“Wha? Why are these people acting like this all of a sudden?”

Relying on the alley, Junior No. 1 and I ran to evade the zombies.

But the alley was complicated, and the number of camp residents chasing us was overwhelming.

“Senior. Senior. Senior. Senior! What should we do?”

While dodging the zombie-like people, Junior No. 1 asked.

There were so many people in this narrow camp that escaping was becoming increasingly difficult.

“Ahhhh, what do we do? What do we do? What do we do?”

“What do you mean, what do we do?”

I swung Watson like a weapon, striking down a man that came out of the alley.

“Just smack them!”

“Yes!”

After receiving my permission, Junior No. 1 swung the sledgehammer at the approaching people.

Boom.

When the person collided with the hammer, the sound of a puffed snack exploding rang out.

Wow, it turns out a person can fly like a bowling pin not just in a traffic accident.

We kept running through the maze-like alleys.

The alleys twisted like spider webs, and the sporadic streetlights cast looming shadows, making the path appear even narrower and more complicated.

I could knock away a couple of zombies with my junior’s acrobatics, but with too many, I had no choice but to dodge.

Relying on sound, I weaved through the alleys to evade the zombies.

We needed to get to the open lot where Junior No. 2 was!

But I couldn’t find a proper route at all.

Sharp turns and dead-end alleys, illusions from shadows!

Bang. Bang.

Gunfire echoed again.

Only three shots left.

Should I have brought extra bullets?

Just then, a white cat appeared on the fence.

It was the cat identified as an object by my monocle.

Its ability was [Ghosting].

Meow.

There was something about its gaze that suggested intelligence.

Looking down at me, it meowed once more and began to run along the fence.

Instinctively, I started running after the cat.

“Junior! Follow me.”

Curvy.

A route so complex it was hard to predict.

The cat seemed to know the maze-like alleyways and the zombies’ locations and guided us perfectly.

What had been so hard to escape felt like a lie as we reached the open lot without crossing paths with any camp residents.

Meow!

The cat stretched its neck, looking confident.

“Wow, you guided us? Thanks!”

Junior No. 1 cuddled the white cat, petting it all over.

Looking at the open lot where the welcoming ceremony was held, the former scene was utterly gone.

The campfire, which had formed from logs, was now scattered everywhere and couldn’t maintain its shape.

The grill that had been roasting various meats lay overturned on the ground.

In front of a three-story small building, the camp residents who had transformed into zombies were trying to force open the closed door.

Looking up, I could see Junior No. 2 peeking out from the rooftop of the three-story building.

Phew, thankfully we weren’t too late.