The Anatomy of Despair

It’s a sentiment that feels somewhat out of place given this desperate situation.

But this sudden, impromptu mini-escape room game actually had some surprisingly interesting aspects to it.

Perhaps it’s the satisfaction of moving forward one step at a time.

I don’t really know how far I have to go before it ends.

However, seeing as the structure of the room changes ever so slightly with every step I take, I can roughly predict where the finish line might be.

Left.

Right.

Right.

Left.

Left.

As I passed the fifth stage, ears suddenly began to sprout from the left wall of the room.

...This isn't a metaphor. Ears literally sprouted.

The ears, growing like mold on the wall, numbered at least several hundred even by a rough count, and each one looked different.

A child's ear.

An adult's ear.

An elderly person's ear.

Cauliflower ears, Buddha ears, smooth ears without ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a helix, white ears, black ears—ears of every race imaginable.

The variety of ears was vast.

It was a grotesque sight, but as a Fervent Follower who has already seen all sorts of horrors in haunted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠houses, I didn't need to worry about my sanity crumbling over something like this.

I continued to move forward.

Soon, upon reaching the 10th stage, noses sprouted from the right wall this time.

Just like the ears from the fifth stage, a variety of noses sprouted, regardless of age, gender, or race.

If there was one peculiar thing to note:

The number and placement of the body parts were perfectly identical.

The ear that sprouted in the top-left corner of the left wall was a white person's ear.

The nose that sprouted in the top-left corner of the right wall was also a white person's nose.

"Ugh... blergh."

Sick taste.

Why on earth would they place the body parts of the same person in the exact same spots?

At the 15th stage, eyes sprouted on the ceiling.

The eyes began to watch me.

Depending on the direction I moved, the pupils plastered all over the ceiling shifted.

Let me be honest.

I take back what I said about this escape room being interesting.

At this point, I was starting to feel the nausea rising from within.

Having human sensory organs plastered on the walls like that was beyond horrifying.

...Then again.

I’m not just in some ordinary anomaly right now; I’m inside the Sanctum of a Fervent Follower.

Is it ever easy to raid the Sanctum of a Fervent Follower?

The difficulty of this escape room is easy enough for a normal person to solve, but normal people who have never faced an anomaly probably wouldn't be able to endure this grotesque sight.

It’s not that the difficulty is high, but facing human sensory organs plastered all over the walls for dozens of minutes is no easy task.

Still, I can’t give up now.

By now, Yoo Iseul has probably cleared this childish escape room and is waiting for me in the hallway.

I have to pull my own weight.

The opponent is a Fervent Follower; I can't be a burden when I’m a Fervent Follower myself.

I continued to clear the rooms.

Given the pattern, in the 20th room... mouths will probably sprout on the floor.

Ugh.

J-just thinking about it is terrifying.

They wouldn't actually start talking to me, would they?

Since the hundreds of sensory organs filling the walls are packed so tightly there isn't even room to step, if mouths really do sprout on the floor, I’ll have to mercilessly trample over the mouths of people who are constantly spewing words to move forward.

...I should prepare myself mentally.

No matter what the mouths on the floor babble at me, I’ll just keep moving forward.

"Left, right, right, left, left, right, right, right, left, left."

"Right, left, left, left, right, right, right, left, right, left... ah."

It opened.

The doorknob turned.

I had succeeded in my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠guess at the 20th stage like a dog.

If I had chosen the right door instead of the left here, I would have had to return to the starting point and repeat that tedious process all over again.

Whew.

Take a deep breath.

After offering a short prayer to the Shining Stars.

I squeezed my eyes shut, turned the doorknob, and stepped forward.

Squish.

As I set my right foot on the floor, I began to feel something mushy.

"F*ck."

At that incredibly unpleasant sensation, a string of curses naturally spilled from my lips.

Soon, I slowly opened my eyes.

As expected, what was plastered all over the floor were human mouths.

They were even moving.

Gaping.

Gaping.

The mouths on the floor were gaping like goldfish waiting for food.

At this disgusting and horrifying sight, I felt something rising from the pit of my stomach.

Nevertheless, I kept moving forward.

I’ve come this far; I can’t turn back now.

Luckily, when I chose the left door, the knob turned.

It was the right door.

Upon reaching the 21st stage.

"Guaaaaaaaaah..."

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!"

"Kiki-kik... Gek... Grk... Gek..."

From the hundreds of mouths sprouted on the floor, eardrum-splitting screams began to leak out.

"..."

I couldn't say a word.

It wasn't because I was too horrified by the sight to speak.

I was angry.

I was so angry that my mind went blank, and my normal thought processes stopped working.

I had believed it wasn't true.

I wanted to believe my guess was wrong.

But I was tired of forcibly denying the situation right in front of my eyes.

I carefully placed my hand on a mouth that was still screaming.

I tried using my ability.

The sacrifices for the advent of the Fervent Follower weren't just those five, including Park Donghyun.

There were hundreds.

...From the start, the idea that there would only be five sacrifices to bring about a high-dimensional existence like a 'Fervent Follower' was absurd.

Should I call it fortunate?

Or not?

Everyone was still alive and well.

Despite this horrific sight, my heart didn't break.

If anything, perhaps because I was in a state of extreme rage, my head felt like it was clearing up.

I’ve decided.

I don't know what the true goal of the Shining Stars is.

But regardless of the Shining Stars' goal.

Regardless of my duties as a True Librarian.

Including that b*tch of a female college student.

I’m going to gift the concept of 'death' to every single Fervent Follower.

Meanwhile.

Yoo Iseul, having entered the room on the right side of the hallway, thought it was a huge relief that she had chosen the right room.

Upon reaching the fifth stage, human arms sprouted from the left wall.

Upon reaching the tenth stage, human feet sprouted from the right wall.

At the 15th stage, human bodies sprouted from the ceiling.

And at the 20th stage, the heads of faceless people sprouted from the floor.

If Lee Jia had seen this sight... even if she were a being with the strong mental fortitude of a Fervent Follower, it would have been a horrific sight enough to leave deep trauma.

However, Yoo Iseul’s expression looked more emotionless than ever.

Shing.

The sound of metal rubbing against metal echoed through the room.

Yoo Iseul had drawn her sword.

Yoo Iseul, who was about to swing her sword at the human heads plastered all over the floor, soon changed her mind and sheathed the sword back into its scabbard.

...It’s a guess, but these are likely living sacrifices who were victimized by that Fervent Follower known as the female college student.

Therefore, she had drawn her sword to gift them eternal rest, but her thoughts changed.

If she dispels the summoning of this Sanctum structure, there might be at least a sliver of a chance for these people to return to normal.

Yoo Iseul continued to move forward.

Then, she arrived at the 25th room.

This time, she was mentally prepared, wondering if human organs might appear, but...

Far from organs, all the human body parts that had been plastered on the walls had disappeared.

In the center of the empty room, 'something' was wriggling, showing off its presence.

Yoo Iseul walked toward that something in the center without a moment's hesitation.

It was a heart that appeared to be human.

Its appearance was very similar to a human heart, but if there ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was one peculiar thing, it was that it was black, not red.

The heart was beating in a steady pattern.

"..."

Looking down at the black heart, Yoo Iseul fell into thought for a moment.

Human imagination is quite helpful when solving anomalies.

Exaggeration is fine, and leaps in logic are fine.

It doesn't matter if you guess without any basis.

In the first place, since an anomaly is a phenomenon that cannot be understood from a human perspective, using one's imagination to the fullest to infer the situation is sometimes more helpful than logical deduction.

Yoo Iseul thought.

'That sacrifice, Park Donghyun, he definitely said his heart was being held hostage.'

Lee Jia had said so.

That person named Park Donghyun had a black hole in his left chest instead of a heart.

Furthermore, Park Donghyun had also said he was the 'last sacrifice' for the advent of the Fervent Follower.

Yoo Iseul lifted the heart from the floor with a rather rough touch.

Thump.

Thump.

The black heart beat.

There was no need to exert any extraordinary imagination.

This heart placed on the floor was, in all likelihood.

The heart of the last sacrifice, Park Donghyun.