Chapter 2.3: Automatic Door III

Chapter 2.3: Automatic Door III

Even though he was here earlier, where did he go? The toilet?

Even if that were the case, it was kind of carelessness to leave the store unoccupied no matter how late at night it was with no customers coming in. What if a customer suddenly appeared?

I supposed he was not expecting any customers.

I was the sole one in the empty store. Even so, I wasnt busy. The hands of the clock have already passed 2:30 a.m., and most of the miscellaneous tasks have been settled with the instructions I received.

I wondered if it would go on like this until morning. By the time the sun rose, how many more customers would show up? If this kept up, I could probably memorize the number of customers, their faces, and the items they bought.

Aoyama hadnt come back yet

All of a sudden, I felt a gaze on me and raised my head. It was the glass part of the magazine corner.

Aoyama?

That was what I thought, yet beyond the glass was pitch-dark, and not a soul, not even Aoyama, was standing there. Oh, so it was my imagination

Things like this happened often. Without paying much attention to it, I returned my gaze to the store.

At that time

The automatic door opened with a mundane chime.

Here it came!

Welcome

I said reflexively and directed myself toward the automatic door. A customer arrived after a long time.

Although I was prepared to greet them with my all-out business smile, I froze the following moment with my body turned toward the door.

No what was this?

Nobody was there.

How pathetic, how pitiful. I wasnt spooked at all.

The lack of pedestrian traffic and the fact that the area was surrounded by a sea of trees and a well-known suicide site, all of which compounded the apprehension and terror, led to the illusion that they had witnessed something bizarre.

Unfortunately, I was not a deeply devout person. Stories without visible evidence were my ultimate abhorrence.

I mean, someone in the shadows was definitely having a good time with those kinds of stories. Thinking about it, wouldnt it be extremely ludicrous to be swept along with the rest of the crowd that fussed and fretted about the horrors of such things? If this was the extent of it, a week would be nothing to worry about.

As I was about to return to the counter, the door that had nearly closed opened again, and this time it remained open even after the chime had finished ringing.

I stared at that with icy eyes.

When I was with Aoyama, this didnt happen, right?

Beyond my gaze, the door remained open instead of being closed, constantly sending the warm air from outside into the store.

When a person was left standing in front of a door alone, this same phenomenon could arise.

No, no, it couldnt be

No way

Back at the counter, I spent several minutes observing the bizarre automatic door.

As the automatic door didnt seem to be closing, I got fed up and left the counter once more to examine the door.

Leaving the door open would allow insects to enter the store. I couldnt tolerate it any longer. Its probably just the rail or a piece of trash stuck in there somewhere, I figured.

Nevertheless, I crouched down and inspected the rail from top to bottom and found not a single piece of trash caught in it.

Did it really break down? Ah, about this. What should I do with this door left open?

At any rate, when Aoyama came, I would consult with him I scratched the back of my head and pondered so.