Outside, the festival music and noise gradually grew louder and reached a peak, but we couldn’t leave the room.
‘They’re not leaving.’
Even after the festival started, someone would occasionally come to our room to bring heated food and drinks.
And there were always at least two people standing right outside the door.
Persuasion or coaxing had no effect.
They were friendly, but it was clear they had no intention of actually talking to us.
‘They’re going this far?’
‘Just how far did Baek Saheon snitch on us to the villagers?’
Something was seriously off.
At this rate, we really would have no choice but to use the sneaker laces and leave.
I could tell Agent Bronze was leaning more and more toward that decision as well.
We heard a commotion outside.
‘There were people making a fuss over there… Should I tell them here?’
‘Yeah, they were fighting. Threw food around… huh?’
We heard the sounds of people chatting and then the noise of a crowd rushing off somewhere.
The sliding door opened, and a familiar face appeared.
“Knew there’d be people in here.”
It was Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
Agent Bronze’s eyes widened.
She put a finger to her lips.
Then, frowning, she muttered,
“What is this, some kind of human trafficking hub? They’re trying to lock up every family member and problematic outsider. Anyway. You want to get out of this room too, right?”
Assistant Manager Eun started leading us skillfully out of the tile-roofed house.
For some reason, there were barely any people left in the house.
“Why did everyone suddenly disappear?”
“They were already short-handed because of the festival preparations, and then a fight broke out between the villagers outside, so everyone rushed out to break it up.”
“…Did someone incite that fight on purpose?”
Then Assistant Manager Eun winked at me.
I felt a surge of emotions. On one hand, I wanted to yell at her to stop doing dangerous things, but on the other, I felt immensely grateful.
“Anyway, you should get going. This isn’t an ordinary village.”
And then, following the back door Assistant Manager Eun Haje seemed to have scouted, we stepped out into a scene no different from yesterday.
[May the fortune of Jisan be with you!]
The village, with a festival in full swing.
“It’s still total chaos.”
Assistant Manager Eun scratched the back of her head and looked back at us.
“Don’t get caught and dragged back to that room again for no reason. In this mess, you should be able to quietly slip out through the entrance without being noticed…”
Agent Bronze frowned, then said firmly to Assistant Manager Eun,
“Let’s go out together.”
Of course, Assistant Manager Eun looked baffled.
“Hey, I have other business to take care of. I have to work if I want to eat, yeah?”
“I’m the one who just saved you from danger though?”
Agent Bronze sighed, frustrated by the wasted time but still trying to convince her. It was obvious he was worried that someone who’d helped them this much might go missing here, and wanted to bring her out if possible.
‘I am worried, but I can’t be sure which is actually more dangerous.’
If I dragged Assistant Manager Eun out just because this village seemed dangerous, Director Ho might retaliate, saying I neglected my duties.
It was something I’d just gone through not very long ago.
And one more thing was bothering me.
‘Is it really okay to just leave Baek Saheon behind ?’
Of course, Baek Saheon would survive and keep getting promoted all the way to section chief. If this is his hometown, my presence as a variable doesn’t change what was meant to happen, so according to the wiki, he won’t die here.
‘But… that fear he showed was real.’
Is it really okay to leave ?
I looked around on instinct, and then I saw him.
He was still helping out with village chores, carrying food and guiding people.
His eyes were hollow, but his face looked surprisingly calm.
DENG DENG DENG DENG DENG!!
[Everyone! It’s time for the raffle! Come get your prizes and enjoy the fortune of Jisan!]
It was time for the raffle draw again.
The villagers began moving quickly with the raffle boxes, just as before.
Agent Bronze’s urgent words and Assistant Manager Eun’s reply overlapped.
[May the fortune of Jisan be with you!]
Villagers scattered among the outsiders.
‘…At this pace, even if we’d run straight for the entrance, we probably would’ve been caught.’
There was no way to avoid it.
One of them approached us.
And naturally, our turn came quickly.
[May the fortune of Jisan be with you!]
A raffle box was offered to us.
Wouldn’t it look more suspicious not to draw?
There were too many villagers.
‘I don’t think it’d be good to make a scene.’
If we wanted to get out without being noticed by the people from the tile-roofed house, we couldn’t refuse or draw attention by raising our voices.
‘Even if I win, I just won’t take the prize with me when I leave.’
After much anxious deliberation, I finally reached out and grabbed the nearest stick in the box…
I saw the golden tip.
A stick with a golden end.
The same one I had pulled out of Baek Saheon’s pants pocket yesterday.
Suddenly, everything went eerily silent.
Even without looking, I could feel everyone’s gaze on me.
[He’s here! He’s here! the fortune of Jisan has arrived!]
OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks
OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks
OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks
OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks
I tore my eyes away from the stick and looked up.
With the lottery box in his hands, Baek Saheon smiled, his face filled with ecstatic delight.