NOVEL WEB Chapter 22 – Main Office
Leaning against the counter with my legs crossed, I was reading the 14th newspaper from the display racks. For the past 15-20 minutes, I’ve been reading the contents of the newspapers.
Crumple... Throw!
Fuuush!
Sigh… I’m a bit tired, so I'll take a break for now. I’ll explore the other parts of the convenience store later. It seems like I got too immersed in reading those weird newspaper articles.
Right now let’s organize what I’ve read so far.
Okay… First, I have to point out the absurdity of the content within the newspapers. All of them were taking place on a variety of fictional worlds. It felt as if I was browsing through a library's fiction section.
So far… The worlds I’ve read spanned from the 1700s to the 4100s. There seemed to be no direct correlations between any of them so far. But that may change if I keep digging more into the newspaper racks.
All of them had something in common… The newspapers had covered mysterious or significant events occurring in those worlds. There doesn’t seem to be any normal newspapers talking about politics, worldly circumstances, or daily life.
Which means the racks were intentionally filled with newspapers covering current problems in those worlds.
And another thing…
The racks themselves… No matter how many newspapers I pulled out, another one would appear out of nowhere. Though, it only did this when it was out of my sight.
However, the rack wasn’t infinitely producing new newspapers. Rather, whenever I finished a newspaper and had intentions of discarding it, black flames would engulf the sheet and turn it into dust. So every time, I had to crumble it and throw it away before it combusted in my hand.
To verify this, I took a random newspaper and, in my mind, established the fact that I finished it.
Crumple... Throw!
Fuuush!
Yep… Just as expected. This also meant that in a supernatural sense… The rack could understand my intentions and would produce another newspaper after I was finished.
Shudder.
Honestly… Reading my inner thoughts felt like an invasion of my privacy. Well… I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was reading them at the moment.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
This time, ignoring the newspaper display racks, I went around the counter. To the left of the counter was another hallway with a hanging sign on the entrance header. It was similar to the one at the back of the store, but this time the sign read something different…
‘Main Office, Restrooms, and Guidance Room’
A Guidance Room..? Out of all the strange things in this place, a guidance room was the most unexpected. Why would a convenience store need a guidance room in the first place?
Well… Since I don’t feel like entering the hallway in the back. I guess I’ll be exploring this area first.
I took my first step into the dark blue hallway. And immediately, my feet were embraced by the softness of the light brown carpet floor. The lined ceiling lights had brightly shone onto my body. Making every step I took feel like my shadow was directly following me from behind.
Seriously, a carpet hallway that leads to the bathroom? I established an important reminder in my mind to never touch the carpet.
The hallway was unnecessarily long. Within my sight were two doors about 4 meters apart on the wall to my right. Waiting at the end of the hallway were twin-entrances into the male and female bathrooms.
Closest to me, was a light blue metal door with a white handle. This door stood out and did not match the aesthetic of the dark and creepy hallway. The upper half of the door had a blurry window that made it almost impossible to see inside. Shifting my eyes upward, above on the door’s header was a wooden plaque engraved with white letters that spelt out, ‘Main Office’.
The boss..? For some reason, that title felt important to me… Words that should’ve been long gone momentarily resurfaced into my mind,
‘I don’t think the Boss would mind if I gave a dead man some hints.’
Right now, there was no context to those spontaneous words. But I knew that they held some significance to an extent. The Boss… Clearly a title given to the owner of this convenience store. Since in front of me is the main office, I can assume that the boss resides here?
Well, let’s go in and find out.
I rested my right hand on the metal lever, and flipped it clockwise over my wrist-
Ku-
Hmmmm… It seems like the door is locked… But there’s no keyhole on the white knob. Perhaps it's locked from the inside? Or maybe there was something inside the room that was obstructing me from entering the room. Let’s try to see if I can get a clearer view on the inside.
I brought my face closely to the metal door’s glass panel. Then I squinted my eyes and laid my hands on the side of my face as walls; to limit my peripheral view just so I could focus my vision on peering into the main office. At first, I could see nothing but darkness; it seemed like there was no visible light inside of the room.
I brought my face closer into the window…
Ahh..! Now things are getting more clearer-
…
Within the darkness… I made eye contact with two veiny-red eyes. It seems like someone was inside there.
Then-
More pairs of eyes began sprouting out of the darkness, varying in colors and shapes. Eventually, the entire dark room was filled with eyes that were staring at me from the other side. I couldn’t look away… Rather, I didn’t want to look away. Is this what it meant about gazing too long into the abyss, until it gazes right back at you?
All at once, they vanished…
BANG!
“Ahhh! Fuck!”
Thud.
I fell backwards, and now I was laying on the carpet floor.
Shit… Just like everything else in this store, there’s something wrong inside of the main office.
I got up from the carpet. The main office was locked from the inside. From what just occurred, it seems like it won’t give me access to enter the room. Of course, I could try again to see if it would change. But I felt like what just happened to me was a warning to stop my inquiries about the main office.
...
It seems like I’m not welcome inside that room… Yet.