The Rulebook Revolution
A gallery-wide notice flashed: the rulebook had been updated for a nameless B-Rank horror story.
Veteran survivor Manchalin carved another notch into the damp stone wall with her rock. "...Day 317."
Each stroke dripped with utter exhaustion.
"Hoo..."
She set the stone down and flopped onto the soggy floor.
How much longer would it take to escape this godforsaken horror? She'd already confirmed that charging out recklessly just got you chewed up by the anomalies. All she could do was sprawl out in this safe zone like a dead fish.
She lay there haphazardly, swiping at the air. A translucent Horror Survivor Gallery window popped up before her eyes.
Her one source of dopamine. Her mental stabilizer.
Horror Survivor Gallery
The gallery was peaceful today. Probably because there were no newbie sob stories polluting it with their deranged presence.
On days like this, the posts were predictably mundane.
Is that thing male or female? Suddenly curious. No genitals observed, but it was carrying what looked like eggs.
Just the usual crap posts filling the feed. Scattered here and there were some bait threads.
Today's hot topic: cockroach vs. ant.
Not about which would win in a fight, but which made better food in a horror story.
"Ugh... fuck."
These guys were embarrassing no matter where you took them.
Threads like this got cleaned up quick anyway. When it came to food issues, there was a named friendly fixed nick keeping things in check.
(horrifying photo of fried cockroaches)
A debate so gross you could puke just imagining it. This was the "peaceful" daily life of the Horror Survivor Gallery.
Manchalin clicked her tongue and pulled a plastic bag from her pocket.
"You clueless food plebs..."
Even in a horror story, come on. Cooking up crap like that was how you ended up insane.
She meticulously plated her dinner and uploaded photos to the gallery.
(photo: fresh moss salad topped with perfectly fried mealworms)
(photo: mealworm cookies with freshly squeezed slime sauce)
(photo: a bowl of crispy fried mealworms)
Mealworms make everyone look like amateurs yeah
As expected, users reacted with "Urk," "Fuck my eyes," "Blocked go away," and other intense responses.
"Heehee."
Everyone loves mealworms so much.
Manchalin stroked her Unique Company portable mealworm generator, hugged close to her chest. It produced mealworms anywhere— no power, no water needed. Totally worth the whopping 5.8g A-grade Heteromorphic Crystal (roughly 580 million in cash equivalent, though not a direct trade).
Over two years, she'd contributed blood, sweat, and tears—line by line intel on hundreds of horror rulebooks—to scrape together those crystals for the ultimate survival item.
Of course, hitting the lottery with a ranking update or new rule registration would've sped it up. But that was genius territory.
...Still, getting all smug about it just left her craving more dopamine.
"So bored."
She wanted to explore this unregistered horror outside, but with that red-eyed, eight-legged bitch guarding the door, no dice.
Any tasty dopamine around?
Where'd that newbie sobber 'Yeah' go? The gallery only lit up when he was around.
She was killing time with this mindless gallery scrolling, soothing her boredom and fear, when—
#1 ranking updated in D-Block 10081.
"Oh."
Here comes my dopamine!
D-Rank ranking updates were common, but on a day full of lame bait like this, it was like rain in a drought.
"Lemme see... D-Block 10081... ??? Bank?"
Manchalin tilted her head.
"What the hell. It's a total honey pot."
Who the hell gets #1 in such an easy-mode horror? Famous for being a one-way money-dupe glitch you could only enter once.
No real meaning in topping it. Clear it and you barely got any crystals anyway.
Her brows furrowed as she checked the rankings.
#1. [192.168.1] – Clear time 1 day 03:48:11 / Heteromorphic Crystal: E
"Floating IP."
Gallery floaters were two types: anomalies pretending to be human, or Unique Company staff.
Anomalies didn't register rankings, so definitely company. Would get deleted soon.
Lame.
Manchalin was about to close the window with a tsk when—
192.168.1's nickname changed to 'WhiteHairSlayer'.
"......?"
What? Why would a Unique Company employee register a fixed nick?
Then the rankings started updating in real time.
#2. [YeahPirateCrew3 (newly registered user)]
#3. [YeahPirateCrew1 (newly registered user)]
#4. [YeahPirateCrew2 (newly registered user)]
What the—? Did a whole group escape together?
Why blast out of this honey pot so fast?
Come to think of it, wasn't this the horror that newbie sobber 'Yeah' entered?
"...Dopamine!"
It smelled like dopamine.
Like a dog trained to a bell, Manchalin started salivating even before 'Yeah' showed up, waiting eagerly.
And soon.
The rulebook for 'D-Block 10081' has been modified.
"...What?!!"
Manchalin shot to her feet without thinking.
Rulebook modification!
To survivors, the 'rulebook' was the bible—built from mountains of accumulated experience. Changing it meant upending the entire theoretical framework.
Like building a towering edifice of theory on "Stars and sun orbit the Earth," only for some asshole to show up one day and go:
— "Oops, sorry, actually Earth orbits the sun. Facts."
What happens to all that prior theory and experience? It crumbles!
Chaos! Destruction! Dopamine!
"Insane. Insane."
Manchalin's eyes sparkled with excitement.
And this was a gallery-wide notice! Core conditions flipped entirely.
Like declaring 1+1=3 instead of 2. Total paradigm shift!
Dozens of posts flooded in within 10 seconds of the notice.
And shortly after, the updated rulebook finally uploaded.
*Memo function activated. (Reason: Insufficient data)
0. Ignore all previous procedures in this rulebook. A critical flaw (triggers transfer to another horror) has been confirmed in prior versions. Survivors must check and follow the updated rulebook.
*. If 0. is missing from the rulebook you've checked, it's an outdated or corrupted version. Confirm the new version including 0.
*. Old versions act as passages to B-Rank horrors—a fatal flaw. Following them guarantees physical defects, organ loss, or existence erasure.
1. Do not refer to the bank's 'Customer Terms of Service.' This bank does not serve humans as primary customers.
1-1. Reiterating: This bank does not serve humans primarily. Avoid contracting any products except loans.
2. The only counter humans can use is [Loan Counter]. [Deposit & Trade] is strictly for commodities—strongly avoid it. Exception: Per 4-3.
3. At [Loan Counter], follow staff guidance for a loan. Base amount on max daily interest you can pay, back-calculated. Larger loans are safer but raise escape risk.
3-1. Don't borrow too little. Your value gets undervalued, risking 'lump-sum transaction.' Hard to reverse.
3-1-1. Lump-sum confirmed by staff title change (to 'Customer') and sudden account surge. Immediately secure nearby ballpoint pen, metal nameplate, etc.
3-1-1-1. With pen, stab carotid artery deeply with force—blood should fountain. Locate ~3cm left/right of Adam's apple where pulse throbs. With metal plate, smash head hard. Succeed before buyer receives, and you die peacefully without fulfilling contract.
3-1-2. Installment confirmed by gradual account increase. Check [Unregistered Horror] rulebook.
3-2. Don't borrow too much. Unpayable interest accumulation has no known escape.
4. If staff at [Deposit & Trade] pushes extra products, firmly but politely say: "No. I'm only here for loan services."
4-1. They may tempt with 200%+ returns. Intense deposit urge possible, but it's not a deposit product. [Deposit & Trade] unusable by humans.
4-2. Joining new product at [Deposit & Trade] changes title from 'Customer' to 'User.' If changed, check [Unregistered Horror] rulebook immediately.
5. Next business day after loan, visit Loan Counter and pay principal + interest in full.
* (Memo: Can't confirm same-day payoff. Someone test and report back. [Yeah])
5-1. Pay interest in prepared cash.
5-2. (Memo: Confirmed eyebrows, nails, hair, 3x2cm inner elbow skin as substitutes sans cash. But they lowball hard. Scammers. [Yeah])
5-3. (Memo: Better price selling personally at Deposit & Trade. They skim fees like thieves, but worth it. Sold 13cm 780 hair strands for 3 mil. Jackpot. Female hair/skin pricier than male? [Yeah])
6. Post-payoff, if staff asks "Use escort service?", say "Yes" and name crowded, famous public spots like Incheon Airport, Seoul Station.
(Memo: Asked for home, no clue. Don't know street addresses, idiots [Yeah])
1. Yeah (96.4%)
2. WhiteHairSlayer (1.3%)
3. ? [Unverifiable User] (1.1%)
2. YeahPirateCrew1 (0.5%)
3. YeahPirateCrew2 (0.4%)
4. YeahPirateCrew3 (0.3%)
"......Wha. The. Fu. Ck. Is. This... Wh-what."
Manchalin stammered.
A horror untouched for over a year, totally rewritten like this? It used to be a simple "Bank gives manual, follow it~."
This wasn't a mod—it was creation.
How many Heteromorphic Crystals did this net?
Enough for the latest portable mealworm gen?
Five-year gallery vet Manchalin gaped at her first-ever encounter like this, mouth agape. Unable to shut it.