But honestly, who in their right mind would’ve stayed and tried to calmly negotiate instead of running away in that situation?
‘I’d bet a gold bar on nobody.’
Huu.
Just then, Lee Jaheon casually hopped down from the washing machine behind me.
I asked without thinking.
“Squad Leader. If I hadn’t stepped up earlier, would you have tried to obliter… I mean, eliminate that water mass?”
“Yes.”
“……”
As expected.
The timing had been perfect, and if I’d stood there frozen at the stationery store, things would’ve gone disastrously wrong.
‘Guess running away back then was the right call.’
Should I laugh or cry about this?
But let’s focus.
‘We’re still trapped in this alley.’
The only upside was that I had come up with a potential way to escape.
“Squad Leader.”
I dusted off the hem of my suit and stood before the laundromat’s glass door.
“I’ve thought of an escape method. …If a few conditions are met, it might be possible to try it, even in this Death Lane alley.”
“Understood.”
“Yes. And the first condition is…”
I scanned the shops along the alley.
The object the stationery store owner had used to make their call—the one that had put us in this mess.
“A telephone.”
* * *
A little while later.
Clink—
We entered a shop in the shadowed alley, its windows emitting a surprisingly cozy glow.
By coincidence, it was the same shop where my colleagues had enjoyed their shopping spree earlier.
True to its sign, ‘Handmade Knitting’, the shop displayed cozy sweaters, socks, and scarves—but mixed in were odd, tattered, and… damp… fibers.
‘Ugh.’
I tried to ignore those as I examined the shop’s layout.
After hours of dodging the stationery store owner’s wrath and exploring countless shops in the alley, I finally found what I was looking for.
‘There it is!’
Another door.
On the wall opposite the one I had entered, a large door stood.
It was bigger than the one I’d just come through, which meant…
‘That must be the main entrance.’
And beyond it lay an unknown street, not part of Death Lane’s alleys…
This was what the <Dark Exploration Records> often referred to as ‘subsequently marked as missing’.
Occasionally, a door on the opposite side of a Death Lane shop would be discovered. Entering it was strongly discouraged.
※ To date, no return records exist.
The fear evoked by the question, Where do explorers who stray from the path go? is met only with the chilling answer, We do not know.
The terror of vanishing.
‘Huu.’
I quickly averted my eyes to avoid glimpsing the neon sign beyond the frosted glass door.
Meanwhile, Lee Jaheon was scrutinizing the socks, selecting one confirmed to be safe. I took it to the counter.
“Hello.”
The shopkeeper, knitting with six hands, glanced at me through their primitive glasses.
Once again, I subtly kept my gaze on their sweater instead of their face.
I casually handed over the socks and spoke.
“Please ring this up. Oh, and may I use your telephone for a quick call?”
Without stopping there, I casually placed a few extra coins on the counter.
……
The elderly Death Lane shopkeeper picked up their analog telephone and handed it to me.
“……Thank you.”
Huuuu.
‘With this, I’ve secured all the conditions.’
1- A telephone.
2- A door leading out, away from the alley.
And…
3- A means of transport.
I examined the rotary dial of the old phone.
Of course, dialing a real-world number on a Death Lane phone wouldn’t guarantee a connection.
There were sporadic records of calls that seemed to connect, but they always twisted bizarrely, as befitting a ghost story.
Sometimes someone would impersonate a relative and burst out laughing when caught, or the line would connect to a family holding a funeral for the caller due to warped time.
‘Horrifying.’
So, what I intended wasn’t a call for help.
‘If anything… it’s the opposite.’
I raised my finger and clumsily spun the rotary dial.
666666 4444 8282
The number made no logical sense, and ordinarily, the call wouldn’t even ring…
Brrr… click.
Incredibly, it connected.
[……]
I steeled myself against the sound of the other party’s breathing and spoke as calmly as possible.
“Hello. Is this the taxi company? I’d like to request a cab.”
[Location confirmed.]
A husky voice responded, polite yet faintly mocking and condescending.
[Please state your desired time of service.]
“I’d like it to arrive right now.”
[Please state your destination.]
“…Exit 1 of Seoul Station.”
[Understood. Dispatching a driver…]
I moved the receiver away from my ear briefly.
A few seconds later—
[Your ride has been dispatched. Have a safe trip.]
Click…
Beep-beep-beep.
The call ended automatically.
“…Thank you.”
I returned the phone to the shopkeeper with a polite bow and handed the bag of socks to Lee Jaheon, concealing my trembling hands.
‘Huu.’
Done.
As one might guess, that was no ordinary taxi service.
A mysterious taxi number that transcends time and space.
‘It’s a ghost story…!’
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
[Hellfare Taxi]
: A ghost story featured in <Dark Exploration Records>
: Daydream Inc. identification code– Qterw-C-8282
A taxi ghost story that appears when called at night using a specific number.
Anyone who rides this taxi would be cursed without fail.
========================
There’s no normal way out of Death Lane anymore.
In that case…
‘I’ll leave, even if it’s through another ghost story.’Nôv(el)B\\jnn
A few seconds later, a faint honk sounded beyond the shop’s main door.
Honk, honk—
“……”
The taxi had arrived.