Chapter 32: The Mysterious Call and the Fearless Raccoon
It’s 5:50 a.m.
Since receiving the message that the motel purchase was finalized from the previous owner.
My old cellphone, which hadn’t rung once, started blaring loudly.
Beep!!
Beep!!
Given that I’m in a body transported into a game, it’s only natural no one would call me.
‘Who could it be? Do I even have anyone who’d call?’
Puzzled, I picked up the noisy phone.
The screen showed a call from [Restricted Number].
Beep!!
Beep!!
‘…Might as well answer.’
It was odd for someone to call at this hour.
But I decided to answer and figure it out, pressing the button.
Click.
“Hello?”
“…”
“Hello, who’s this?”
“…”
After answering and asking who it was a few times, there was no response—not even breathing.
“Did you call the wrong number?”
“…”
“Seems like a wrong number, so I’ll hang up—”
Just as I was about to dismiss it as a wrong call and end it.
SCREECH—!!
“Urk!?”
A piercing, unpleasant mechanical sound blared from the phone.
Hurrying to hang up, I glanced at the screen.
The mysterious restricted call was already disconnected.
‘Who makes such annoying prank calls…?’
Thinking there are all kinds of weirdos out there.
I set the phone down, ready to search the manual for the shower room section.
Beep!!
Beep!!
The phone started ringing loudly again.
‘…This is getting annoying.’
Not wanting to deal with another prank call.
I was about to ignore it if it was another restricted number.
‘This time… it’s an actual number?’
Unlike the previous prank call, this time a proper number was displayed.
But it wasn’t a number saved in this old phone.
Cautiously, I answered again.
“Hello?”
“…Hello.”
A woman’s voice came through the receiver.
“Yes, may I ask who this is?”
Unlike before, I got a response, but it was still an unfamiliar voice, so I asked again.
“…”
Either hesitating or deliberately not answering, the woman fell silent.
“Hello? Wrong number?”
“…”
“Hello??”
“…”
I asked a few more times to figure out who it was or what they wanted, but no reply came.
“Seems like a wrong number. I’m hanging up.”
My patience finally running out, I spoke firmly in a slightly raised voice.
Just as my finger moved to end the call.
“…No, it’s not a wrong number.”
Finally, a clear response came, confirming it wasn’t a mistake.
“Then, may I know your business?”
Relieved to get a proper response for the first time, I sighed deeply and asked again.
After hearing my question, the woman, silent again for a moment, spoke.
“Your side took an android used for customer service from our supply wareh— I mean, from the convenience store I run, according to this note.”
“…Oh!!”
“Now, could you return our store’s android?”
When the woman mentioned the ‘clerk android.’
I suddenly remembered the tin-can android ‘Viata,’ which I’d completely forgotten about.
“I’m really sorry, you’re… the owner of Mimesis Convenience Store?”
“Convenience store… Yes, that’s right. I’m the owner of Mimesis Convenience Store.”
“I apologize for answering rudely. Some ‘weirdo’ made a prank call earlier, so I was a bit on edge.”
“…No need to apologize. Could you explain in more detail what happened at my store?”
At the store owner’s request.
I explained as thoroughly and objectively as possible what happened that day at the convenience store.
1. I visited the store for a meal but had no usable cash.
2. Following the guidance of the customer service android ‘Viata,’ I tried to exchange my ‘gold coin’ for cash, but an ‘error’ occurred, and Viata wouldn’t return the coin.
3. I waited about two hours for the owner to resolve the issue, but it wasn’t fixed.
4. A ‘transport android’ from the storage tried to take Viata, still holding the coin, so I physically stopped them, causing damage to the ‘accessory’ parts.
5. After leaving a note, I carried the customer service android back without any transport tools, ‘bare-handed.’
“…To summarize, that’s what happened, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“…”
After hearing my story, the store owner briefly summarized it.
Then fell silent for a moment.
“…Carrying it bare-handed… and destroying all of T.O.M’s armaments… yet… no reaction to that ‘sound’… definitely human…”
She mumbled something so quietly I could barely hear, even with the phone to my ear.
“Pardon? I couldn’t hear you, ma’am. Could you repeat that?”
Worried I missed something important in her mumbling, I asked again.
“…It’s nothing. Just sorting some personal thoughts, so don’t mind it.”
“Oh, I see. That’s a relief.”
Her response confirmed her mumbling was, thankfully, unrelated to me.
“I understand the situation. Taking the android ‘bare-handed’ is surprising, but considering the value of that ‘gold coin,’ it’s understandable.”
“Oh? Do you know the value of the coin? In terms of cash, how much is it…?”
“…We’ll discuss details in person. Can you come to the convenience store with the android by 7 a.m.?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Alright. See you then.”
Click.
After finishing the call with the owner of the ‘coin-eating vending machine.’
‘Alright, time to prepare to leave!’
To avoid being late for the appointment, I started getting ready to leave even faster today.
Beep!!
Beep!!
6:00 a.m., the bell signaling the motel’s closing and my shift’s end rang.
Overtime check: done.
Neon sign turned off: check.
Lobby lights switched off: check.
With that, the closing tasks were perfectly completed.
‘Alright, all tasks done properly… Time to head out?’
Satisfied with the smoother and faster closing than yesterday’s first day.
I stepped out of the motel.
About an hour remained until the meeting with the convenience store owner.
‘7 a.m.… I’ll go home, wash up, change, grab the android, and head out—should be just right.’
I needed to wash up and grab some things, so I hurried home.
As I walked toward the road in front of the motel.
Skitter…!!
Skitter…!!
A wild raccoon appeared.
“Oh… A raccoon! So it was you who took the meat!!”
Pleased that my deduction was correct.
Skitter…
The plump raccoon, showing no fear of me, slowly approached.
‘A tamed raccoon? It’s not wary at all.’
Intrigued by its lack of fear, I cautiously approached it.
As it reached my feet, the raccoon sniffed my leg with a twitching nose.
‘Cuter than I expected…?’
Charmed by the chubbier-than-expected wild raccoon, I reached out to pet it.
Rip…*
The raccoon’s mouth opened grotesquely, biting my outstretched hand.
“…?”
Of course, I didn’t feel a thing.
Common sense says a mere animal’s ‘blunt’ fangs couldn’t pierce a human hand, right?
“…Hmm, not tamed after all? That’s odd.”
Observing the raccoon, still biting my hand and not moving, I pondered.
Why would an untamed raccoon, unafraid of a large human like me.
Act like a predator targeting me?
But those pointless thoughts didn’t last long.
‘Oh, right, the appointment…!!’
With barely an hour left until the meeting.
Realizing I had no time to waste on a bold raccoon unafraid of humans.
“Go back to nature now.”
Using my fingers, I pried open the raccoon’s jaw from my hand.
And tossed it far into the desolate field.
“Behave next time!! I’ll give you some feed if you do!!”