Chapter 27: Being of Red

Watching Nica run desperately into the darkness, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Finally... One problem solved.

I could not help but feel a sense of accomplishment.

It seems that with proper preparation and good intellect, survival was quite attainable in a place like this.

I could not help but think about how exaggerated things tended to be in [Arcana].

With her back facing me, Nica suddenly paused and turned around to look in my direction.

I casually waved at her.

For some reason, that seemed to frighten her even more. She immediately turned around and continued running into the darkness without looking back.

"..."

Well, whatever. As long as she escaped safely, that was good enough for me.

Finally... It was about time I left this place as well.

I turned ahead once more and headed toward the entrance, already looking forward to putting as much distance as possible between myself and this damn convenience store.

However, just as I was about to reach the doors, a metallic rattling sound suddenly rang out from above.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

My footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

A metal security shutter was descending over the entrance, its heavy slats sliding down one after another until they completely blocked the exit.

"..."

Huh?

BANG!

I flinched and whipped my head around.

The sound had come from the employee room...!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The pounding continued, each impact shaking the door in its frame.

My brain immediately went into overdrive as I desperately tried to come up with a way to escape.

’Shit! I still have one talisman left...’

Could I use it to destroy the security shutter?

If I could blow a hole through it, perhaps I’d be able to make a run for it before whatever was inside the employee room came out.

But what if the talisman wasn’t strong enough? What if using it only made things worse? And, more importantly, what if I wasted my last chance at survival on a stupid metal shutter?

I gritted my teeth in frustration.

Just as I was about to turn back toward the entrance, something caught my attention.

A poster had appeared on the wall beside the counter.

I was certain it hadn’t been there before...

Curious, I glanced at the words printed across its surface.

[Good evening, sir!

The management of this convenience store would like to express our sincere appreciation for your outstanding professionalism and exceptional ability to deal with troublesome customers.

For years, we have struggled with customers who lack proper decorum, disregard our rules, and show absolutely no respect for our establishment or its hardworking employees.

However, after witnessing your remarkable performance, we have finally found someone who possesses the qualities we have been searching for!

Your composure, decisiveness, and willingness to take action against unruly customers have deeply impressed us.

Therefore, on behalf of the entire management team, we would like to extend an invitation to you.

Would you be interested in joining our team?

We would be delighted to welcome someone as capable as you into our establishment.

Please remain where you are while we finalize the details of your employment.

We look forward to working with you!

Sincerely,

The Management of the Convenience Store.]

"..."

I stared at the poster.

Then, slowly, I turned my head toward the employee room.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The door continued to shake violently.

’...You’re kidding me, right?’

I had come here to save someone, not apply for a paranormal ghost job!

I was a human being! A perfectly normal human being who just wanted to go home!

This time, I didn’t have any second thoughts as I took out the talisman and attached it to the front door.

"Destruction."

I uttered the word again in the language of [Ossyrian].

BOOM!

The talisman burst into flames.

The explosion blew the glass doors apart and sent the metal shutters crashing to the ground. The entrance was completely destroyed, leaving broken glass scattered across the floor and the shutters bent out of shape.

Dust filled the air, making it difficult to see.

I covered my mouth and coughed a few times, struggling to breathe through the dust.

Before I could bolt, I heard the employee room door slowly creaking open.

I didn’t dare turn back. I knew how dangerous the entity inside that room was.

I bolted and ran into the darkness as fast as I could.

I continued running for what felt like an eternity, surrounded by nothing but darkness.

Then, about ten seconds later, I finally spotted a faint source of light in the distance.

Without hesitation, I ran toward it, hoping to find a way out.

However, when I finally arrived, I came to an abrupt stop.

Before me was the entrance to the convenience store.

The very same entrance I had just destroyed.

’It’s looping me?’

No..!

No no...!

I had miscalculated something.

I was being treated as a customer rather than an employee!

In [As Above, So Below], Nica had been demoted from an employee to someone who had been fired.

Since the convenience store had rejected her, she was no longer required to remain inside this supernatural space.

However, I was still considered a customer. I still had ties to the convenience store, and rather than rejecting me, it wanted to hire me!

I had no talismans left, nor did I have any other backup plans.

I had made a mistake in thinking that I could escape this place through wit and basic preparation simply because I knew a lot about this supernatural space.

That arrogance had left me trapped in this situation.

There was nothing else for me to do...

I was going to die here.

Strange. I had thought I’d panic a bit more, but why was the thought of death so easy to accept?

What... is wrong with me...? No... what’s happening to me...?

Creak....

The sound of the employee room door was even clearer this time as it slowly swung all the way open.

There... it stood in front of me....

....what... is... that....?

That... red... entity....

So beautiful, and pristine.... so horrifyingly significant.....

It was as though something of immeasurable importance had descended into a place where it had no right to exist.

There was something strangely beautiful about it, something that made it difficult to look away.

[It was a perfect being, so majestic in its grace, so domineering in its figure, so deeply and impossibly red, like the very essence of blood given form. Its beauty was pristine, yet its existence was stained with a strange malice, a terrible and heinous magnificence that seemed to belong to something far beyond the understanding of mortals.]

[Such a being, so immaculate in its appearance and so dreadful in its presence, had no place within the humble confines of a convenience store. And yet, there it stood, a crimson wonderland trapped within a world that was far too small to contain it.]