Another two terrifying hours passed, and Nica’s nerves were practically numb from being constantly on edge.
During that time, she had encountered several more abnormal customers.
One had a face on its back, which she only discovered when the customer turned around to retrieve something from a shelf.
Another had spent several minutes running in circles around the convenience store, repeatedly shouting, "My skin burns! My skin burns!" while knocking over quite a few shelves along the way.
Calling these experiences terrifying or frightening would be an understatement. Nica genuinely felt as though she might die from fear alone.
However, none of these customers had frightened her as much as the suited man standing beside her...
At first, she had assumed he would leave after a short while. Who could have expected him to remain by her side for the next several hours?
And that was not even the worst part. Every so often, he would suddenly mutter things like, "This one is normal," "The next customer might harm you," or... "You should ask me how to escape before it’s too late."
What was wrong with this man?
Even just being near him made her mind feel strangely foggy, as though her thoughts were becoming harder to organize...
Worse, the fear she had been struggling to suppress seemed to grow even stronger whenever he spoke.
Could this man be the so-called secret boss of this twisted convenience store?
She had no way of knowing.
In fact, the longer he stayed beside her, the more tempted she became to ask him for a way out. The thought terrified her almost as much as the customers did.
’He said I only have five hours left before things get worse... It’s already been four hours. That means I only have one hour left.’
The pressure of having to choose between two uncertain options only made her more anxious.
Should she trust the mysterious man who had been warning her about the customers, or should she continue following the store’s rules and pretend he wasn’t there?
She didn’t know.
Growl...
Her stomach suddenly rumbled, interrupting her thoughts.
Nica stiffened and instinctively pressed a hand against her stomach, feeling her cheeks grow warm with embarrassment.
Of all the things that could happen right now, did her stomach really have to betray her?
"If you’re hungry, you may take any snack you like."
I spoke after hearing her stomach growl.
Unlike the Neverending Staircase, this place didn’t seem to have the strange effect that prevented people from feeling hungry.
That meant Nica would eventually need to eat, whether she liked it or not.
According to the original novel, she had managed to pathetically endure the hunger for twelve hours before finally giving in and eating some of the food inside the convenience store.
Fortunately, the food itself was perfectly safe. Eating it caused neither physical harm nor any unpleasant side effects.
Thirty minutes passed.
Then, without warning, Nica hurried toward one of the shelves, snatched a chocolate bar, and rushed straight back behind the counter.
"..."
’I thought she’d last at least a couple more hours before getting desperate enough to eat.’
I couldn’t help but feel a little surprised by how quickly she’d given in. Still, I wasn’t about to judge her for it.
If anything, this was exactly what I had been waiting for.
Everything was proceeding according to plan. I just needed to be patient a little longer...
Thirty more minutes...
Ding!
The familiar chime of the entrance bell rang through the convenience store once again.
I immediately turned toward the entrance as a new customer had arrived.
The figure wore a long coat that concealed almost their entire body, including their face.
The fabric hung heavily from their shoulders, obscuring their features so thoroughly that I could not even tell whether they were male or female.
Their clothes were soaking wet...
Water dripped steadily from the hem of their coat, leaving a trail of wet footprints across the floor as they slowly approached the counter.
They did not look around at the shelves or show any interest in the products. They simply walked toward us, toward the counter where Nica and I were standing.
I narrowed my eyes at the approaching figure before glancing at Nica again.
The moment I saw the color above her head, my hair stood on end.
Without thinking, I grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her backward.
"Run! Now!"
My warning came too late.
The [Augury] above Nica’s forehead had turned black.
According to the wiki information, black represented death!
Before I could say anything else, the customer suddenly tilted their head upward and began unbuttoning their coat.
The moment the first button came undone, something shot out from beneath the fabric.
A mass of elongated bones resembling rows of interlocking teeth burst toward us.
Tiny mouths lined the malformed bumps, opening and closing as they tore through the air with a horrible and wet sound.
"Get down!"
I grabbed Nica and forced her to duck.
CRASH!
The bony appendages slammed into the counter and the wall behind us, splintering parts of the furniture and sending debris flying everywhere. The impact was so powerful that I felt the shock travel through the floor beneath my feet.
Neither of us dared to look back.
We scrambled away from the counter as quickly as we could, running toward the aisles while the thing’s appendages scraped against the walls behind us.
Unfortunately, this convenience store wasn’t particularly large.
There were only a few aisles separating us from the entrance, and even fewer places to hide.
We desperately ran between shelves, nearly tripping over scattered products as we tried to put some distance between ourselves and the monster.
Nica was practically running for her life.
And so was I...!