Survival and Full-Time Employment
The interrogation room was made entirely of cold metal.
I sat in a chair with my hands and feet restrained. Across from me was an employee from the Field Response Team—the same one who had sent me into the Backrooms.
She had placed before her a steaming bowl of katsudon topped with eggs that would melt in your mouth and thick, juicy pork cutlets, alongside a perfectly seasoned seolleongtang whose broth would make any Korean groan “Kkeueoeoeo, fuck yes” after a single sip. And she was staring straight at me.
My mouth wouldn’t stop watering, as if I’d bitten into a lemon.
Oh please, just let me eat already.
“If you promise to do exactly as we say…”
“I will cooperate obediently. Also, are refills allowed?”
“…Of course. Take your time.”
She nodded at my answer and slid the tray toward me.
Click.
Clang!
At the same time, the handcuffs binding my arms fell to the floor. The moment I was given permission, I devoured the food in front of me like a man possessed.
It wasn’t that the supplies in my bag had been lacking, but they were only energy bars, jerky, and chocolate. Decent for nutrition, but hardly a proper meal.
“You certainly have an appetite,” the employee said, watching me with open fascination.
Of course she was staring. If I saw myself from a third-person perspective right now, I’d probably mistake me for a competitive eater.
While frantically shoveling the sweet rice and refreshing broth into my mouth, I recalled the strategy I had prepared in advance.
On the final day, when the Backrooms had been completely covered in that green pressure zone, I had nothing to do but think about what would happen after I escaped.
It was impossible for an ordinary civilian who knew nothing to survive a week in an environment where two invisible Smilers chased you forever. If the Gallery hadn’t been accessible even inside the Backrooms, I probably would have ended up as a corpse with its entire body chewed apart.
“Haa… I feel alive again.”
Despite my complicated thoughts, happiness rose from my body after eating a real meal for the first time in a while.
…Is this a blood sugar spike?
“Looks like you’re finished. Shall we get to the main topic?”
“Yes.”
The door opened and another employee entered. Black suit, sunglasses. The “I’m obviously an agent” outfit. He didn’t even glance at me, simply collected the dishes with precise movements and left.
“Nine.”
She rested both elbows on the table, laced her fingers, and covered her mouth as she stared at me.
“Out of the ten people deployed this time, nine died.”
So everyone except me really had died. I wasn’t particularly shocked. After barely escaping death myself, other people’s lives didn’t exactly tug at my heartstrings.
“All on the second day, without exception.”
The second day was when the first Smiler had begun its full activity. If I hadn’t uploaded proof photos to the Gallery, I would have met the same end.
My head was spinning, yet on the other hand I felt a small sense of relief knowing that no one had died because of the rules I had changed.
Humans really are such sly creatures.
“Originally, the survival rate in Level 0 zones should have exceeded ninety percent. However, we were told the rules of the Backrooms changed for some unknown reason.”
“I see.”
It seemed the employee didn’t know exactly why the Backrooms had changed.
“So I’m curious. Mr. Park Seong-bin, how did you notice that the Backrooms had changed and use the conditions for the rule shift?”
Correction. She knew everything.
She took out a smartphone and showed me the screen. On it was the NewTube channel the white-hat hacker had created.
“Do you acknowledge that the person in the video is you?”
“…Yes.”
“In spatial-type anomalies, even Bureau terminals cannot communicate with the outside world.”
“Is that so?”
“We confirmed that the terminal issued to you, Mr. Seong-bin, is identical to those given to the other employees.”
“I see.”
As planned beforehand, I kept repeating soulless answers and nodding.
“If you refuse to cooperate, Mr. Park Seong-bin, we have ways of making you open your mouth by force.”
The fact that she was making such threats meant the Human Rights Waiver Admission apparently didn’t count as a full employee.
“That’s not what I mean. It’s just that I genuinely don’t know anything.”
I explained the situation while making the most pitiful expression I could manage.
“I’ve been interested in the Backrooms since before I joined. I had already watched all the videos from the problematic channel.”
I pointed at my shoulder wrapped in layers of bandages. The wound where a chunk had been torn off was now completely gone.
“I was also attacked by a Smiler on the second day. Only after barely escaping did I realize from the video that it was a Backrooms Smiler and respond accordingly.”
Even now the urge to grab the phone in front of me and film my surroundings was overwhelming.
“That alone isn’t enough of an explanation. How were you able to access the real internet from inside the Backrooms?”
This was probably today’s most important question. Depending on how I explained this, I would either become a lucky returnee or a brain-sucking candidate.
Stick to the plan. Stick to the plan.
“While wandering around, I picked up a smartphone. That device could connect to the internet.”
“But no such item was found among your belongings?”
“I put it in the bag I received before going to sleep. And when I woke up I had already returned, so I don’t know where the smartphone went.”
“Hah.”
The employee let out a small laugh and stood up.
“How interesting.”
Scrape.
“The interrogation is over. Return to the dormitory and rest.”
Click.
At her words, the shackles around my ankles released.
Whoa, blood is finally circulating again.
“…Aren’t there more questions?”
There were at least a truckload of things I could think of right now. Like how I bought the channel, or why I changed the rules that way…
Perhaps my thoughts showed on my face, because the employee spoke to me with her usual vacant expression.
“Normally we would have used a confession drug and asked everything, but—”
She approached me and held out her hand.
“—I’ve judged that your value as an employee is slightly higher than that.”
The mood made it clear I shouldn’t refuse, so I stood and shook her hand.
“Congratulations on your survival. And welcome to the Field Response Team, Mr. Park Seong-bin.”
The Bureau dormitory was an officetel far too large for one person. Why give me a place with three whole rooms?
Is that how it is… Like an Olympic village? I won’t have time to wander around anyway, but I guess the message is “do whatever you want if you’re going to do it.” Come to think of it, I think I saw a flyer about room remodeling on the way here. Not that it has anything to do with me.
Ding-ding-ding~.
I turned on the new terminal I had received. The one I got before entering the Backrooms hadn’t been returned because they said they needed to investigate it. If the Gallery was discovered it would cause problems, but unfortunately I wasn’t in a situation where I could worry about that. Even when I tried to delete it before escaping the Backrooms, it wouldn’t erase. All I could do was pray to the heavens.
“Still, who would’ve thought that person was the team leader?”
The one who had guided me to the site on the first day and had been interrogating me until a moment ago was my direct superior. Who could have guessed?
Field Response Team Leader Lee Mi-na.
Never mind why the team leader herself was there to receive a new recruit. The way her vacant face had shifted into eyes full of interest the moment the interrogation began made me think, This one’s not going to live long.
My mind was restless.
Let’s think positively. It’s good that my boss is pretty, right?
Brown bob cut, that airheaded charm coming from her vacant face…
I guarantee some of the seniors in the same department definitely have a crush on the team leader.
Ring.
The moment my delusions ended, the terminal’s update completed. On the screen were the usual default apps, and…
[Bureau Bamboo Forest]
There was one different app instead of the Bureau Gallery.
“Finally, a tip for everyone—the Bureau’s anonymous bulletin board is installed as a default app on your phone.”
This must be it.
Expecting what kind of content it might contain, I tapped the app the moment—
Crackle!
“Whoa?!”
Black sparks flew up from the terminal. Startled, I threw it onto the bed and quickly backed away. The device sparked a few more times before finally going quiet.
After waiting ten minutes and confirming nothing else happened, I picked it up again. The screen now displayed—
[Bureau Gallery]
“Oh my god…”
The Bamboo Forest had disappeared, replaced by the familiar app.
Got rejected by Park Geum-ja again today
Fuck, the Backrooms pension is so sweet
Did this guy really ram himself into a containment entity today? Are you insane?
The monster next door escaped again lol
When I tapped it, I was greeted by incredibly familiar posts and familiar nicknames. At this point… I think it’s safe to say I have some kind of strange ability, right?
Not long after I posted in anger, a reply appeared.
The administrator’s summons. He was calling for me.