Chapter 50

The

i

young

i

man put his head on the floor and started to get down on his knees.

It

i

was

i

evident that he was in dire need of help, no kidding.

According

i

to the details, he was trapped by a large collapsed tree and owing to the immense impact, his spirit was detached from his body, leaving him in an ongoing state of suspended animation. While

i

he was narrowly holding on to life, his death would be imminent if the situation were left

i

unattended.

Therefore, he

i

requested me to go with him into the sea of trees to search for the location of his

i

body.

“Are

i

you

i

kidding

i

me?”

This

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development was not in the least amusing. The

i

sea of trees, we were talking about that sea of trees.

He

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went further in through the copse around the convenience store. It was said to be a boundless labyrinth that an amateur would never be able to return to if ventured into thoughtlessly.

Moreover… it

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was a suicide spot, where

i

it was reputed that many people came to abandon their lives every year. And

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he wanted me to go there?

The

i

mere thought of it made me shudder. Simply

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being in that convenience store alone was overwhelming, so what would happen to me if I went to a place with such a dense aura of negativity? There

i

would probably be tens, if not hundreds of them. Not only that, perhaps inside there might be… real ones lying around or hanging besides spirits and the

i

like.

“D-Don’t be

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ridiculous! How

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can I go to that place! F-First of all, why the hell did you go into that place! Normal people wouldn’t do that! Are you

i

suicidal!?”

“It’s

i

not like that! I had to enter it for work, and it took me longer than I thought it would… and I got retaliated against… No, I mean! I screwed up! Yeah, I screwed

i

up!”

You

i

screwed up and nearly died… More importantly, what kind of job required you to enter the sea

i

of trees?

“Well, I

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run my own business and work behind the scenes… so I don’t want anything too out in the open, like cops.”

Seriously, what

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kind of job would that be?

“Even

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if it’s your own life on the line!? You

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can’t afford to be so modest about it!”

“But… it doesn’t guarantee that I’m going to die yet.”

“If you’re going

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to seek help from a civilian, go to the police, they’ll save you for sure. I’ll call them.”

“Whoa, hold

i

on! Hold

i

on! If the police are involved, trouble will follow… or rather, even if I make it back alive, I won’t be able to go

i

home.”

…Were

i

you a criminal?

“If you don’t like it, give

i

it up. My bad, I won’t move even a muscle. I

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seriously don’t want to put myself in danger.”

“Ah.” Translator: MadHatter

I

i

was

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nothing but a convenience store staff member and not benevolent enough to willingly extend my hand to a customer I once met who requested me to enter the sea of trees with

i

him.

“I

i

am

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sorry but… don’t get me embroiled in anything strange.”

I

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wondered if that was a roundabout way of telling him to die. Even though he was a total stranger, I felt like a wicked guy for saying this to

i

him.

I lit

i

a cigarette and smoked it to compose myself. If I could, I would save him, but the conditions were too adverse. At this hour of the night, and with

i

him in a state of astral projection, it would be suicidal for me to go into the sea of trees with him. In case I messed up, I likewise would end up lying in the sea of trees as a

i

corpse.

Even

i

I feared for my own safety. Too many incidents in the past few days had driven me to the point where I strongly felt that I had to protect myself. While I did understand that this young man in front of me was facing a crisis and needed someone’s help, there was no way that it had to be me to

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help him.

There

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would be others who would be willing to offer their help instead of me. Though, he had to choose the way to present himself.

“I-I

i

guess so…”

Instead

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of reacting furiously to my denial, as I had anticipated, the young man looked up apologetically with a small smile on his face.

“Indeed… I

i

showed up out of the blue and asked you to accompany me into the sea of trees. What I said was too outrageous. I messed up on my own, and I

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was too naive to ask someone else to help me out. Sorry, sonny, for the trouble I caused you, and I hope

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you forgive me…”

“You…”Not shared on aggregator sites

“During

i

the

i

day, I

i

was desperately trying to find my body but I couldn’t locate it. I have a friend but that guy has no sense of direction and I have

i

no idea where they are right now, so I was brainstorming about who might be able to help me instead, and your face came to mind, the same sonny who gave me

i

a towel yesterday…”

I couldn’t help myself, I had no idea where to turn. I thought you might be able to help me,

he

i

said.

“Yeah. But

i

you know, it’s your thing, and you have to clean up your own mess.”

Iihave disturbed you―

After

i

saying this, the young man began to become thinner and thinner and more transparent. It was as if he was fading away.

“Hey…”

“Tomorrow

i

night, I’m going

i

to go to the convenience store again. If I don’t show up at the convenience store then… please call the cops.”

“T-That

i

means…”

Before I could

i

say anything else, the young

i

man grinned at me.

“What? That

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possibility is highly unlikely. I’ll see you tomorrow night

i

at the convenience store, sonny.”

“Are

i

you

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certain you’ll be fine on your own?”

“I

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have

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no one else to rely on, well, I’ll manage! I’ll get myself out of this mess!”

Even

i

though

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he was dying, what was he saying so self-confidently? As I was about to tell him so, I found that the young man was indeed trying to disappear from the spot, or rather, he had already completely vanished, down to his upper body.

“Hey!”23SX

“See

i

you later, sonny.”

“Hey! You…”2X

Hold

i

on. By the time I said that, it was already too late. Like

i

mist, no trace

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of him lingered. The young man’s figure was utterly out

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of sight.

Was

i

he

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gone?

“Is

i

he really gone?”

I

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called out to him, yet received no

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response. There

i

was no presence.

I knew it. It seemed that the young man had returned alone to the sea of trees to search for his body.

What

i

had just ensued was so unrealistic that I was dazed for a while, but no matter how long I waited, there was no sign of the young man emerging

i

again.

“…”2wq

For

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now… For a change of mood, I decided to open the window and have another smoke.

A

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slight yet

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cool night breeze was flowing in.

While

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blowing out the smoke at random, I

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gazed up at the night

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sky.

I

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wondered

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what was going to become of that guy… Would he make it back alive and actually visit

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the convenience store tomorrow night?