The open lot, now completely shrouded in darkness, lay beneath a sky glittering with stars as a massive campfire crackled loudly, sparks flying everywhere.
Even from a distance, its heat reached us, warming our faces and making the yellow suit gleam under the firelight.
It was an oddly oversized campfire for such a modest welcome party.
The warm golden glow from the burning logs cast flickering shadows, creating the signature atmosphere only a campfire could provide.
Junior No. 1 was happily munching on grilled chicken skewers without a care in the world.
With every bite came satisfying sighs and murmurs of delight.
The sound of perfectly roasted chicken crumbling under each bite mixed with the campfire’s smoky aroma.
Junior No. 1 was thoroughly enjoying the campfire experience.
“Senior? Would you like one?”
“No, you go ahead.”
As I silently observed, Junior No. 1, cheeks puffed up like a hamster while eating, offered me a skewer.
Unlike the busy 1st Junior, 2nd Junior was handling their role – providing mental support to the client just in case.
I had handed over my revolver to Junior No. 2 as a precaution.
While Junior No. 1 was enthusiastically eating, they suddenly asked, “Oh right! Senior, why did you give away the revolver?”
“I’m going to scout around. You should come too, so finish up and get ready.”
Junior No. 1 gave me a skeptical once-over. “Hey, can you really sneak around in that? It’s yellow…”
“Why sneak? We’ll just walk confidently.”
Taking advantage of the camp’s darkness, we quietly made our way toward the edge of the lot, Junior No. 1 carrying an impressive number of skewers.
We patrolled the camp interior, passing by occasional streetlights along steep stairs.
The quiet camp contrasted sharply with the distant campfire’s glow.
“Hello.”
“Here for tourism?”
“Yes, my group is over there.”
“Enjoy your stay.”
As we continued our rounds, we encountered many camp residents.
Their greetings, while varying slightly, all meant the same thing.
“Are you tourists?”
Everyone we met asked if we were tourists.
By this point, even Junior No. 1 started noticing something odd.
“It’s getting weirder.”
“Is being a tourist significant?”
“What’s strange is that everyone asks if we’re tourists when this place isn’t exactly a tourist destination.”
In a secluded corner of the camp…
A strange noise reached our ears, sounding like a dying puppy’s whimper.
“Hush.”
Crouching low, we approached the sound source to find a large group of children gathered in the open lot.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The village kids were mercilessly stabbing a stray dog with forks.
The dog let out painful cries before finally collapsing lifelessly.
Then the children began tearing apart the corpse with their forks and eating it raw.
“Hmph.”
Junior No. 1 seemed shocked, taking a sharp breath.
The children devoured every bit of the dog, leaving not even the skin or bones, then resumed playing in the lot as if nothing happened.
The adults, presumably the children’s parents, showed no reaction whatsoever.
Hmm, definitely strange now.
Even with such bizarre occurrences, my monocle detected nothing unusual.
“Wh- What is this?”
Seeing this incomprehensible scene, Junior No. 1 still appeared confused.
“We’ve finally witnessed it. The evidence supporting the client’s claim that this camp is strange. We should head back now.”
Just as we were sneaking back, a loud gunshot echoed through the camp.
Bang!
Was something happening at Junior No. 2’s position?
“Junior, run!”
We needed to arrive before anything serious happened.
[Mountain Camp Market]
A single-story, run-down supermarket.
The building’s weathered exterior matched the faded product advertisements inside, relics long discontinued.
The creaky glass door.
An assortment of nostalgic junk food varieties from childhood.
Mmm.
Sitting inside this memory-triggering shop, I sampled some old-school snacks.
Not very tasty.
Were my taste buds altered as an object, or was it just heavy nostalgia?
The ghost cat curled up on the market counter, purring softly in slumber.
I watched people pass by outside the supermarket window.
The shopkeepers?
When I entered, the fake humans running the market fled immediately.
Even though I hadn’t intended to do anything, their escape felt odd.
Next time I see them, I should play a prank.
Purr.
The cat slept all day.
I had planned to wake it up to return to the research institute together, but it wouldn’t stir.
Leaving it here would likely result in fake humans attacking with forks.
While snacking on various retro treats and watching TV, night fell unnoticed.
Bang!
A loud gunshot rang out somewhere.
The sound woke the cat.
Meow!
The cat declared, “Adventure has arrived!”
Meow!
“Don’t follow me? It’s dangerous?”
Despite my warnings, the cat insisted I absolutely must not follow.
Apparently it considered this its personal quest to overcome alone.
I waved goodbye as the confident cat marched off.
And naturally…
I ghosted and secretly followed.
Hehe.
After the gunshot, chaos erupted suddenly.
Running toward the clearing where Junior No. 2 was located.
Meanwhile, the camp residents slowly surrounded us.
Almost empty during the late night before, the camp was now filled with people after the gunshot.
“Where are you rushing off to?”
One man approached while asking, seemingly attempting normal conversation.
But I knew better.
“Run!”
Grabbing Junior’s hand, we dashed into an alley.
Once inside, the townspeople revealed their true nature.
“Grrrrr!”
They charged at us like mindless zombies.
“Eek? Why are they doing this?”
Using the alley walls for support, Junior and I evaded the zombie-like villagers.
However, the alleys were complex, and the pursuing townspeople were too numerous.
“Senior! Senior! What do we do?”
Dodging these zombified people was becoming increasingly difficult within this small camp.
“Aaah! What do we do? What do we do?”
“What do you mean ‘what’?”
I swung Watson like a weapon, knocking down a man who jumped out in the alley.
“Just hit them!”
“Yes!”
With my permission, Junior swung their sledgehammer at an incoming person.
Pow!
Instead of a typical collision sound, it sounded like popcorn popping.
Wow, people can fly like bowling pins even without traffic accidents.
We continued running through the maze-like alleys.
The spider web pattern of alleys and sparse streetlamp shadows made the paths seem even narrower and more confusing.
Though we could knock back a few zombies, there were simply too many to handle directly.
Using sound cues, we navigated around the zombies in the dark alleys.
We needed to reach Junior No. 2’s location in the clearing quickly!
But finding a proper route proved impossible.
Sharp turns and dead-end alleys, deceptive shadows!
Bang. Bang.
Two more gunshots echoed.
Three bullets left.
Should I have provided extra ammunition?
That’s when a white cat appeared atop a fence.
A one-eyed glasses-wearing cat identified as an object.
Ability: <Ghosting>.
This intelligent cat communicated through meaningful eye contact.
Looking down at me, it meowed twice then began running along the fence.
Following purely on instinct rather than logic, we chased after the cat.
“Junior! Follow!”
Twists and turns.
An unpredictably complex route.
The cat expertly guided us through the labyrinthine alleys and past the zombie positions, as if it knew everything about the camp layout.
Amazingly, we reached the clearing without encountering a single camp resident, contrary to our previous struggles.
Meow!
The cat proudly extended its neck with a confident expression.
“Wow, you were guiding us? Thank you!”
Junior No. 1 picked up the white cat and petted it affectionately.
Looking toward the welcoming party clearing, its previous appearance was completely gone.
The campfire’s log structure had collapsed, scattering everywhere.
The grill that once cooked various meats now lay overturned on the ground.
At the entrance of a three-story building, zombified camp residents tried opening the closed doors.
Looking up, we spotted Junior No. 2 peeking from the rooftop of the three-story building.
Ah, we made it in time.
