Chapter 188
Chapter 188
Translator: Penny
Chapter 188
The ball was red.
My joy and Gyeon Hajun's despair clashed.
I tore at my hair while Gyeon Hajun clenched his fists, silently cheering—a stark contrast.
Kim Dobin, meanwhile, beamed, delighted both that he didn't have to go in alone and that he was on the same team as me.
"Why... why is this trial befalling me...? I've lived such a virtuous life!" I muttered, dazed.
Ryu Jaehee patted my back, offering words that were either comforting or designed to make me explode with frustration. "Well, Hajun Hyung has lived even more virtuously than you."
"Can you even compare Jun to him?" Seo Yehyeon muttered skeptically beside us, adjusting his angle to avoid the camera's gaze as he glared at me.
"Human Theater interview time!"
The interview time arrived without fail.
"Why were you so despondent about being paired with Dobin?"
"Would you believe me if I said I literally had to carry Dobin on my back?"
Just recalling his over-the-top panic at the pension, where there wasn't even a hint of a ghost, already drained my energy.
"I felt bad for Eden, but I was also relieved. I'd wanted to go alone from the start, unless I could go with Eden."
"Dobin Hyung is genuinely terrified. I'm scared too, but he's on another level."
"Jaehee is better than Dobin. It's a shame I couldn't be with Yoon Eden or Hajun, but at least Jaehee and I can rely on each other. Dobin... if I don't keep my wits about me there, we might end up wandering a 30-minute course for two hours."
The interviews that followed mine were almost festive, except for me.
"How did I end up being treated like this? I'm going to use this Labyrinth of Hell experience to try and reinvent my image."
Yeah, right.
"Our staff has hidden three mission slips inside the Labyrinth of Hell. The team that finds the most slips and completes the missions will receive a small prize."
"Wait a minute! I did my research on this place. Just following the path is terrifying enough—missions? You're joking, right?"
Seo Yehyeon's face paled visibly as he asked the question. The PD smiled kindly, assuring him that completing the missions wasn't mandatory.
"But Hajun Hyung is alone. Shouldn't he get some kind of advantage?"
"It's fine. Since neither team has a clear advantage with just two people, it's fair."
Gyeon Hajun shook his head at Ryu Jaehee's words. Everyone else, having reconsidered the team arrangements, agreed with Ryu Jaehee's assessment. As a result, Gyeon Hajun had to enter the mission alone, without any special advantages.
How envious I am.
The first team to enter the Labyrinth of Hell was Seo Yehyeon and Ryu Jaehee.
With a 30-minute course, the remaining participants were forced to sit still and wait for the preceding team to finish.
"Wow, Hajun Hyung, are you really not scared? They say this place is nothing like a regular haunted house."
"It's a famous place, so it's bound to be scary. But wouldn't it be better to go in alone than with someone who'd amplify my fear tenfold?"
"You're really hitting me with the subtle jabs, aren't you?"
Before long, thirty minutes had passed, and Seo Yehyeon and Ryu Jaehee stumbled back, looking like they'd just survived the Labyrinth of Hell.
"That place is insane! Absolutely insane!" Seo Yehyeon exclaimed, still trembling with residual fear.
"I think I just experienced a lifetime's worth of horror in one go," Ryu Jaehee muttered, his face gaunt and pale, as if he'd aged ten years in the blink of an eye.
Watching their reactions, Kim Dobin felt a creeping dread begin to settle in his stomach.
"How many missions did you guys complete?"
"We couldn't even focus on the missions! Seriously! I only saw one mission card!"
"Right now, I just want to sprinkle salt everywhere, missions be damned..."
"Why are my ears ringing so badly? The Main Vocalist's voice was insane."
"My ears are still ringing. I never knew Yehyeon Hyung could hit such high notes."
As Kim Dobin listened to the reviews, his hands began to tremble violently. My own hands trembled, anticipating how much more he might scream next to me.
The next performance was ours. Before entering the Labyrinth of Hell, I told Dobin, "Dobin, if you get scared, don't cling to me. Just leave me behind, okay?"
At my gentle words, Dobin grabbed me urgently and cried out, "How could I ever abandon you, Hyung?!"
"No, it's okay. I can go alone. I can manage."
As I smiled reassuringly, Dobin gripped me even tighter.
"I'm not okay! I can't go alone!"
"No, Hyung, I can go alone, I told you!"
"I'm telling you, I can't go alone!"
With a thud, I draped my arm over Kim Dobin's shoulder and pulled him close, whispering ominously into his ear, "If a ghost appears and you cling to me, I'll drop you and leave alone. Understand?"
"Yes, sir! I absolutely won't cling to you."
Kim Dobin nodded with an unnecessarily solemn expression.
We finally entered the legendary Labyrinth of Hell, a place I'd only heard about.
Navigating the pitch-black space with only the faint red glow of a flashlight was challenging.
When Kim Dobin subtly tightened his grip on my arm, I let out a sharp tsk, and he quickly released his hold.
If he'd kept holding on, I would have shaken him off and left alone. It was a wise decision on his part.
"Hyung, Eden Hyung, can't we sing as we go?"
"Sing by yourself."
"Singing alone is too creepy. It's less creepy when two melodies mix."
"What kind of logic is that?"
We continued our meaningless banter as we entered a room with an entire wall made of glass.
The lights beyond the glass wall flickered eerily. Through the dim light, we could see what appeared to be a surgical room.
Creak... The ominous sound made Kim Dobin, his face on the verge of tears, urge me to start singing quickly.
He really comes up with all sorts of things, I thought, humming the first song that came to mind.
"Born as a man, there's so much to do..."
"Now's the time to start! My journey for my dream!"
"Ugh, my ears already hurt."
"Hyung, don't stop singing! Sniffle My friend Pikachu! Oh, I believe you'll protect me!"
"Alright, alright, just stop shaking my arm. We lived for the glory of defending our nation together."
"Pikachu is always by my side, everywhere! Aaaah! There's a real ghost right here!"
Bang!
Kim Dobin screamed and jumped back when a staff member in ghost makeup suddenly appeared, pressing their hands and face against the glass wall. He turned toward me, then paused.
He seemed to remember my warning about abandoning him if he tried to hug me. Truly commendable.
"Wow, Dobin. If you raise your voice that much during recording, I won't have any reason to scold you."
I picked up the mission sheet lying in front of the glass wall, impressed.
I nodded a greeting to the ghost, its head bent at an unnatural angle, and squinted to read the mission instructions through the glass wall under the dim light:
Take a selfie with the ghost!
※ Make sure all team members are in the photo!
"Dobin, come here for a selfie."
"Ugh..."
Kim Dobin, trembling like a leaf, shuffled over at a snail's pace, desperately avoiding looking behind him as he stood beside me.
Bang!
The staff member's repeated banging on the glass wall nearly sent Dobin fleeing again.
But I had anticipated this. I had already wrapped my arm tightly around his shoulder, pinning him in place, allowing us to take the selfie without incident.
"Oh, it came out great!"
"We're not going to get cursed, are we?"
"Cursed? What kind of curse would you get from taking a picture with someone in costume?"
The second mission was located in a section designed to resemble an old hospital ward.
Find the rabbit hat!
Scanning the ward, which was filled with obvious hiding spots, I searched for places where the rabbit hat might be concealed.
As I approached a bedside table, something grabbed my ankle from under the bed and yanked me down.
"Holy shit! Dobin, don't come over here! There's something here!"
I shook off the grip and warned Kim Dobin, but he seemed oblivious, his frightened face slowly inching closer as he peered around the room.
"Hyung, Eden Hyung! Did you find it? Can't we just leave...?"
Just as I was about to open the drawer, Kim Dobin's ear-splitting scream erupted from behind me.
"Aaaah!"
Suddenly, my body was lifted into the air and securely settled into Kim Dobin's arms.
My mind froze for a moment, unable to process the rapidly unfolding situation. When I blinked, I saw Kim Dobin's chest and the tip of his chin. Glancing upward, I saw the ceiling.
It was the classic princess carry.
The absurdity of the situation struck me as so ridiculous and funny that I couldn't stop laughing, even as Kim Dobin held me. They say people gain superhuman strength when faced with danger, and this was exactly that.
"I told you not to carry me, but you did it anyway. Wow, I'm speechless."
"Hyung, gasp, you're not going to abandon me and leave, pant, are you? But could you please, gasp, stop laughing? You keep squirming while laughing, pant, and it's making it hard to hold you."
Kim Dobin, still carrying me gently as he ran, asked breathlessly.
"Yeah, I'll admit that. Ah, but it's just too funny!"
"Hyung, if I drop you here, gasp, you'll abandon me, right?"
"Of course."
I could feel Kim Dobin's arms tightening around me. We had entered a narrow corridor, with a wall on one side and rusty bars on the other.
As Kim Dobin's pace slowed, I scanned our surroundings and spotted a yellow mission completion slip.
"Dobin, stop for a second. The final mission completion slip is here."
Kim Dobin froze, and the moment I slipped out of his arms, he collapsed to the ground.
As I reached for the slip wedged between the bars, a pale hand suddenly shot out from the other side.
"Mommyyyy!"
Why was Kim Dobin screaming when it was my wrist that had been grabbed?
I gently tapped the hand that had gripped my wrist a couple of times, and it obediently released its hold.
I unfolded the mission briefing and read aloud:
Mission: Take a photo while leaning against the bars!
※ Ensure all team members are visible!
We successfully completed the second mission without incident.
Well, almost. There was a hand tugging at me from behind the bars. And I had to yank Kim Dobin back just as he was about to bolt out screaming before I could even press the camera button.
As soon as the photo was taken, Kim Dobin collapsed back onto the floor.
"Hey, Dobin. I'm going to redo the second mission. Want to stay here?"
"You're just going to abandon me in this hellhole?" Kim Dobin muttered, clutching my ankle like a vengeful spirit.
"You're not alone. The cameraman's here."
"Hyung and the cameraman are different! If you're not here, I'll really collapse!"
Thinking about it, leaving Kim Dobin alone for even a moment could end in one of two ways:
Either he'd be startled by a ghost and run off, disappearing somewhere I'd have to search for him, or I'd have to carry his unconscious body out of there.
Neither option appealed to me, so with a sigh of regret, I decided to abandon the second mission.
"Alright, let's go. Get up."
"Hyung... my legs are too weak to walk after carrying you all this way..."
I hesitated, looking down at Kim Dobin, who was still slumped on the ground, gazing up at me.
Hmm, maybe an unconscious Kim Dobin would be better than one screaming in my ear.
"Who told you to carry me?"
I clicked my tongue and turned to leave, but Kim Dobin grabbed my pant leg and clung to it.
"You're just going to abandon me like this? After I carried you all the way here?"
"No, I never asked you to carry me in the first place!"
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny