Chapter 494
Chapter 494
Around the time Park Moon-dae was suffering in the blood-stained "Afterlife" dorm...
Back above, the game was in full swing once again.
[The Sacrificial Mark has descended upon one of the participants' cards.]
However, the atmosphere had shifted slightly this time.
‘People get bored if you do the same thing twice.’
But if she changed the format entirely, the viewers would have to learn the rules all over again!
So, the writer, Ryu Seo-rin, decided to change the tempo instead.
Specifically, a speedrun.
[Time Limit: 30 Minutes]
[Participants who do not exchange their cards at least once will be immediately sacrificed.]
"Whoa."
If you didn't participate in the game of hot potato with the Sacrificial Mark, you were automatically eliminated!
Unlike the first game, where everyone cautiously and secretly exchanged cards like a covert operation, everyone now openly resorted to blatant machinations.
Since they could choose which occupation to swap with just by tagging their card on the front door machine, they didn't even need the other person's consent anymore.
As a result...
[The occupation currently holding the Sacrificial Mark is...]
[The 'Lawyer.']
[!!!!]
The two people with the same name, who had been tearing their hair out arguing that they were both the Lawyer, were caught together in a stroke of poetic justice.
And then, the comedy exploded during the deduction phase.
[Bae Se-jin: Fine, actually, I’m the Jester...]
[Lee Se-jin: Hyung, you sounded way too pissed off when you were accused of being the Jester to say that now.]
[Bae Se-jin: ...?]
[Lee Se-jin: Yep, actually, I was the Jester, everyone!]
[Bae Se-jin: Hey!]
The moment the Lawyer was revealed as the sacrifice, the two of them immediately flipped their stances and started claiming to be the Jester!
Then, they ended up self-destructing while arguing that the other person must be the Lawyer.
[Bae Se-jin: I’m telling you, I chose the Lawyer during the card exchange! The third record is mine. If I were the Lawyer to begin with, there’s no way I would have chosen myself...]
[Seon A-hyun: Oh.]
[Bae Se-jin: What?!]
[Ryu Cheong-woo: Se-jin, I think you just confessed to swapping with the Lawyer...]
[Bae Se-jin: ...!?]
[Lee Se-jin: That was amazing.]
And so, the Lawyer and the Jester were sent into the coffins side-by-side.
[Lee Se-jin: Hyung-nim, you really talk too much when you're angry.]
[Bae Se-jin: Shut it.]
And thanks to Lee Se-jin, who hadn't forgotten the advice from the walkie-talkie, they pressed the button at the head of the coffin and were delivered "farm-to-table" straight to the Afterlife!
[Park Moon-dae: ....]
Park Moon-dae, who had rushed over excitedly when the coffins descended only to be briefed on this absurd variety-show-style saga...
[Park Moon-dae: (Tibetan fox expression)]
[Park Moon-dae: So, which of you two was actually the Jester? You're already dead, so just be honest.]
He finally asked the question that everyone was curious about.
The two of them finally opened their mouths with serious expressions.
[Bae Se-jin: I was the Jester, but...]
[Lee Se-jin: I was the Jes...]
[Bae Se-jin: ?]
[Lee Se-jin: ??]
[Park Moon-dae: ???]
Even the viewers were confused as one.
Even the captions.
[What is going on here...?]
[◀◀◀]
To explain, a flashback of Lee Se-jin's perspective was shown.
Early in the game.
[Bae Se-jin: I know this because I'm the Lawyer...]
[Lee Se-jin: (Listening while pretending not to)]
In fact, while Bae Se-jin was busy going around talking about his occupation's abilities, Lee Se-jin had already overheard and memorized everything.
And he had thought this!
[Lee Se-jin: No wonder the profile document said not to go around saying I'm the Lawyer! I must be the Jester! I'm the fake one~]
[↑ Self-proclaimed Jester (2)]
That was it.
Both of them thought they were the Jester, so they had tried to frame the other as the Jester...!
[Lee Se-jin: Wow~ Hyung, your acting is really good! (※ It actually was acting)]
[Bae Se-jin: What? Anyone can see you're the suspicious one! (※ He actually was suspicious)]
It was a variety-show performance fueled by their very souls.
And the story ended with them becoming the Black Sheep and the Sacrifice together and getting burned.
Eventually, after realizing the truth while talking in the Afterlife...
[Park Moon-dae: ....]
[Bae Se-jin: ....]
[Lee Se-jin: ....]
[Park Moon-dae: Shall we move?]
[Lee Se-jin: Yes.]
[LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL]
After a dizzying silence, they solemnly began to follow Park Moon-dae...
However, this laughter-inducing atmosphere didn't last long.
Because the true nature of this place was soon revealed.
[Lee Se-jin: Moon-dae, Moon-dae~ About that walkie-talkie, did you contact us from here?]
[Park Moon-dae: Yeah.]
[Lee Se-jin: Ooh.]
[Bae Se-jin: ...But why did you tell us not to go into the bathroom back then? Why did you say that?]
Park Moon-dae shone his flashlight past the room door.
To the bathroom across the living room.
[Park Moon-dae: Because the bathroom looks like that.]
[Bae Se-jin: Gasp.]
CRASH!
An image of a lightning bolt flashed by in the editing.
The camera zoomed in repeatedly on the blood-splattered bathroom door. The members screamed.
[Bae Se-jin: Bl-blood?!]
[Lee Se-jin: Ugh, what is that? What is that, Moon-dae?!]
[Park Moon-dae: (His face says, 'If I knew, would I be standing here like this?')]
And sure enough, someone pointed it out.
[Lee Se-jin: I mean, we were playing the game upstairs for over 30 minutes~ You didn't even try opening it? As expected, Moon-dae is the most...]
[Park Moon-dae: Then you open it yourself.]
[Lee Se-jin: I'm sorry.]
It was even funnier because none of the members who were brave or acted before thinking had been eliminated yet.
So, the eldest stepped up!
[Bae Se-jin: ...Let's go. I'll open it.]
[Lee Se-jin: ...!!]
[Park Moon-dae: Thank you.]
[Lee Se-jin: ...?!]
Thus, the three of them huddled together and approached the bathroom, equipped with a flashlight, a walkie-talkie, and a body (?), respectively.
The tall Lee Se-jin held the flashlight, Park Moon-dae, who had tested the walkie-talkie, held that, and Bae Se-jin, who took on the role of the leader, had his burden lightened as a sign of respect.
And then...
Creeeeak.
Bae Se-jin opened the bathroom door handle, even wearing rubber gloves he had found in the kitchen.
In that moment, they saw it.
Thump.
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
Thump!!
Accompanied by tense, eerie BGM, the inside of the bathroom was revealed.
On the blood-soaked floor sat...
[The Victim]
In front of the bathroom cabinet.
There was a corpse slumped over.
The members all froze.
[Park Moon-dae: ...It's not moving. Yeah. I think it's okay to take a look.]
The dorm was as quiet as a grave.
And there was a corpse-shaped doll in the darkness.
The members approached cautiously.
Lee Se-jin slowly moved the flashlight.
[Lee Se-jin: ...First of all, it looks like a man. His outfit is... unique.]
The doll was slumped over, clutching a knife in its hand.
Furthermore, perhaps following the cult concept, it was draped in a black robe, and even its face was covered.
‘A mask?’
The bizarre pattern of a lamb's skull was something the members were now familiar with.
[Park Moon-dae: It looks like the one that was on the room door earlier.]
[Lee Se-jin: Yeah. And our... Sacrificial Mark? That symbol is the same.]
And in the meantime, Bae Se-jin confirmed one decisive thing.
[Bae Se-jin: ...There are no wounds here.]
[Lee Se-jin: Huh?]
[Bae Se-jin: Look, there's all this blood, but no wounds. No tears in the clothes either. ......In fact, this corpse is the one holding the knife.]
The atmosphere turned chillingly cold.
[Then what is the source of this blood...?]
It was then.
Park Moon-dae, who had been silently following the flashlight's beam with his eyes, stood up.
Still holding the walkie-talkie.
‘Huh?’
Park Moon-dae turned the walkie-talkie over and asked.
[Park Moon-dae: Before you came down in the coffins. When you were in contact via walkie-talkie, who was holding it and where?]
[Bae Se-jin: Huh? That's...]
[Lee Se-jin: The living room! It rang in the living room, and Rae-bin was the first to check it.]
[Park Moon-dae: ....]
[Lee Se-jin: Why?]
Park Moon-dae was silent for a moment.
But he soon asked another question.
[Park Moon-dae: After that, Rae-bin ran to where the others were while holding the walkie-talkie, right?]
[Bae Se-jin: ...! That's right! He came toward the kitchen.]
At that answer, Park Moon-dae nodded.
As if he had realized something.
[Park Moon-dae: Just a moment.]
Park Moon-dae ran out of the bathroom and soon began running around with the walkie-talkie, shouting.
[Park Moon-dae: Can you hear me?]
[Park Moon-dae: Are you there?]
As if he had forgotten his fear, Park Moon-dae began speaking into every single room in the dorm as he opened the doors.
And after repeating this process, he returned to the place where the coffins were installed to move up and down.
Static.
"Whoa!"
The walkie-talkie turned on, and a response came back.
[Walkie-talkie: Moon-dae? Moon-dae, is that you??]
[!!]
The other members also rushed out of the bathroom.
[Bae Se-jin: How did you do it?]
[Park Moon-dae: I found the location.]
[Bae Se-jin: Huh?]
[Park Moon-dae: It seems this walkie-talkie... only works when it's in the same location as the walkie-talkie held by those who haven't been eliminated.]
A graduate student watching the broadcast held her breath and slapped her thigh.
"Aha!"
That walkie-talkie only worked when the people on the upper floor (who were still alive) and the people on the lower floor (who had died and come down in the coffins) were in the same room.
‘Amazing!!’
This made it feel as though the two groups were physically in the same space but separated by time or dimensions.
Was it expressed this way because this was the Afterlife?
‘What happens now?’
The graduate student watched the screen with excitement.
Moon-dae would probably tell them about the corpse in the bathroom and advise them to be careful again, right?
Just then, Park Moon-dae opened his mouth.
[Park Moon-dae: I told you not to go into the bathroom earlier, but I'm changing my mind.]
[Park Moon-dae: You must go in. There will be a ghost or a person there.]
"...??"
And then Park Moon-dae said something even more shocking.
[Park Moon-dae: It seems I... the 'Undertaker,' killed that ghost. I guess killing it was the right thing to do.]
"...?!"
On the screen, Park Moon-dae spoke calmly.
[Park Moon-dae: Lure the ghost to the coffin and burn it, just like us who were eliminated.]
[Park Moon-dae: That's the only way you'll survive.]
In that moment, the BGM on the screen changed.
[Park Moon-dae: I think that ghost is the leader of the cult.]
In a clean, neutral-toned living room.
The space, which showed signs of life only through a few pet supplies, was equipped with a massive TV for monitoring.
[Ryu Cheong-woo: Wait a minute!]
And right now, that screen was showing TeSTAR in the middle of a walkie-talkie conversation in front of the coffins.
During his self-allotted break time, the idol monitoring his competitors tapped his chin.
"That's a unique attempt."
Woof!
A soft bark was heard near his thigh.
The man, lightly stroking the head of the dog that responded to his monologue, picked up his smartphone.
"Good girl."
Whimper.
Cheong-ryeo's dog, Kong-i, let out a happy sound from her throat before burying herself in her favorite blanket.
And similarly, Cheong-ryeo's smartphone vibrated.
It was only natural.
"Hmm."
Cheong-ryeo smiled as he watched 'that person from TeSTAR' on the TV passionately sending radio messages.
It was seven days before his collaboration with Park Moon-dae.