Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Mountain Lord
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Most ominous and unsettling among the [Darkness Exploration Records].
It was exactly as described.
The printed ghost story left such a sticky, uneasy aftertaste that even I, who handles text-based tales decently, paused several times while reading it.
Its similarity to a trendy ghost story that felt all too familiar probably contributed too.
Everyone's probably heard it at least once.
"The ghost story where someone eaten by a tiger comes back as a spirit to visit a close friend..."
Commonly known as the Window Ghost.
This ghost must find another victim to pass on its role to before its soul can move on to the afterlife—a chilling tale.
"Definitely unsettling just thinking about it."
But rationally speaking, there's a way to survive.
"C-Grade means there are still standard escape records for this level."
Not easy by any means, but there is a method to escape this darkness.
The problem... is that the method is profoundly bizarre and forces an unfair choice, squeezing the victim's psyche with mental anguish and pressure.
It's the type of ghost story that revels in making readers immerse and shiver.
...Something like that.
The worst part was how it made you imagine the mental torment of those ensnared by this ghost story.
And something even more unsettling.
"...We've come too far."
Already lured and dragged here by the Window Ghost.
Situations suggesting responses to the calls several times.
Amulet that's nearly fallen off.
This was the kind of description that only appeared at the desperate end of long exploration records, right before total annihilation.
It meant we were backed into the absolute corner.
"This is maddening."
I ran a hand through my hair.
Trouble didn't even begin to cover it. I felt like taking a cold sweat bath.
Huh?
I looked down at my pocket.
"...!"
I recalled the astonishing ability this plush doll had shown at the theme park.
The strange power that made my presence vanish, letting me move without detection by the blue mascot.
"......"
I had a high chance of deducing the proper escape route based on the [Darkness Exploration Records].
So, if I could just avoid the Window Ghost's detection, I might really escape this ghost story easily!
"But..."
Isn't that single-player only?
"I wonder if you could do it for others too."
Brown's voice twisted briefly like it had received an unwelcome proposal, but it responded in its usual jovial broadcaster tone.
Seems like using it on others too would shorten its duration or weaken its effect.
"Probably safest as single-player then."
Still, abandoning the kids went against the conscience of someone educated in modern public schooling...
Besides.
"Brown. If we can't take Manager Lee Byung-jin over there... our budget's in big trouble."
"Then we can't buy the bloodbath set..."
Capitalism grabs the ankle.
Exactly.
"So I'll look for another way."
Of course, if push comes to shove, I'd SOS Brown and bail at least one out.
"Let's try as far as we can."
I rummaged through my pocket first.
Fortunately, the must-have items I always carried to work were still there, even after changing into the security uniform.
Smile Sticker, Alice buff/debuff foods, and even the Snow White apple.
The vampiric fork was just lost, but...
"It's a pair originally."
Right, the knife remained.
I pulled the remaining vampiric utensil from my opposite thigh pocket.
And was surprised.
"...It's grown!"
The revealed knife was no longer dessert cutlery size.
Delicate engravings adorned the handle, with a tiny red gem elegantly embedded as decoration.
It had clearly evolved at a glance.
"Could the blood the fork absorbed have been shared with this one?"
Since they're a pair.
"!! Th-that's the security team's suppression gear?"
I didn't respond. Let Manager Lee Byung-jin misunderstand.
I carefully wiped the now cutter-knife-sized blade on my clothes and slipped it into my jacket's front pocket for easy access.
Please don't need to use it.
"Then I'll search this house."
"Ah... Yes!"
As I moved, the manager hurriedly cleared my path.
I stared blankly at the halted Lee Byung-jin.
"...?"
"Please accompany me."
"Y-yes!? Ah, no. I-I already checked everywhere..."
"Since you've seen it, guide me."
"Uh, uh... Yes."
Lee Byung-jin looked reluctant but followed, watching my expression.
Good. Avoided wandering alone, panicking, fainting, or collapsing.
"This is, uh... probably the kitchen. No food."
The dilapidated house everywhere was rusty, dusty, moldy, filled only with talismans.
Like those abandoned houses visible on distant mountainsides from highways, long uninhabited.
"You stayed a week here without discomfort?"
"Well... I never got thirsty or hungry..."
The manager's face paled.
"Wh-when the ghost came every night, that's when I strangely felt drained..."
"Did you go out during the day?"
"...Yes, but no matter how far I walked, only forest... I got scared the sun would set outside, so I kept returning here."
Matched other exploration records.
Then...
"Wh-where are you going?"
I headed to the corridor's dead end, no door.
And stopped.
"Seems like an upstairs."
"Yes?? No, there are no stairs! I searched a week, no trace of—"
I summoned the remote hand.
Gripped the remaining vampiric knife and hurled it at empty air.
Precisely, the ceiling.
"Gasp!"
Something snapped from the knife lodged in the ceiling's faint crack.
With a clamor, the ceiling opened, dropping a rickety ladder.
"Attic found."
"M-my god! As expected of security... Y-you see spaces differently from civilians!"
"......"
No.
Just read the exploration records...
Abandoned houses always have attics.
"Someone who knows what's there sees differently from someone clueless..."
Anyway, circumstances pointed to it being the attic access.
"Wow."
Really didn't want to go.
"Feels like entering the only open room alone in a haunted house."
But I'd impersonated security, essentially volunteering as tank. I feigned calm, grabbed the ladder, and climbed.
Kuhhhh...
"Follow me!"
Unsurprisingly, no.
"Security impersonation will remember this..."
I fought trembling legs, barely reached the attic, quickly searched, and hurried down.
As if efficiently completing reconnaissance.
"Phew."
Looked natural, right?
"H-how was it?"
"Just an old attic. Nothing special, but..."
I held up my sole find.
"It was on a weathered tray."
An antiquated, frayed book.
[活路]
"E-escape route! Is it instructions to get out?!"
Knows hanja well.
I carefully opened the crumbling book.
Inside, all hanja.
"Hanja... Only got level 2 in high school..."
"...!"
Understands hanja too?
Heard something absurd, but the point is.
"...Can you read it for me?"
Good.
A classic broadcaster clearing his throat emanated from Brown, then the voice deepened agedly.
I turned the page.
"......"
I closed the frozen tome.
"...So that's it."
Exploration records mentioned it briefly: "Drew lots for sacrifice, performed rite. Winner refused, dragged bound to pillar per testimony."
Seeing it firsthand... surpassed eerie, crushing with bizarre mental pressure.
Flutter.
Then, something slipped from the book's last page.
"......"
A small paper business card.
Picking it up revealed scrawled hanja on the back.
⧻⧻ Leaving tomorrow.
I flipped the card.
Go Seon-ha
Jukang University History Department
The first to read this book, perhaps.
Meanwhile, hanja-literate Manager Lee Byung-jin was fumbling to read it himself.
And startled badly.
"犧牲物... Th-this! Means one has to die, right?"
"......"
"Right! J-just one dies, everyone else lives!"
I didn't reply.
Lee Byung-jin rolled his eyes, rubbing palms anxiously.
"B-but, uh, if we don't, we all die anyway, so..."
"So?"
"...Someone expendable dies, right? Someone who couldn't escape anyway, like."
Self-introduction?
But seeing his glance downward, I realized.
"That."
He's talking about the kids.
"Honestly! One kid... If security hadn't come, they'd all be dead anyway? We should focus on getting out!"
"......"
"If one of us dies and the rest live, yes! That's still good, right?!"
Never thought I'd hear this in real life.
Considering a week trapped, gripped by death fear and panic... understandable, but...
"Still, can't applaud that."
I glanced at the hanja.
"Sentient being."
"Yes?"
"This book states the sacrifice must be one with intellect—a sentient being."
I tilted my head slightly.
"Can we deem children not yet adults as full sentients?"
"Uh, uh..."
"I don't think so."
I stared quietly at Lee Byung-jin.
"Only full sentients qualify as sacrifices. Then... seems only one here."
"...!"
The eyed manager sweated coldly, pupils shaking, mouth agape.
"Th-that, uh..."
I spoke.
"Me."
"...Yes?"
"I'm the only one who fits. Excluding the kids and you, manager, who's been trapped a week in mental disarray."
"......"
"But I don't want to die. I'll find another way."
I examined the book again.
Silence flowed.
"I, uh... Sorry."
"......"
"Mentioning the kids' lives, how'd I become someone saying that... Ha, hahaha..."
He collapsed to the floor, utterly lost.
"First day, it was my late father..."
Died of cancer in bed; I missed his final moments working.
"But father cried, 'Byung-jin-ah, let me see our Byung-jin's face. Open the door.'"
"......"
"When I banged my head to endure, the ghost mocked and cursed before leaving. In father's voice."
He clutched his head, bowing.
"Every day, voices of dead family, friends, neighbors visit once...!"
Uncle who doted, aunt, cousin dead in accident, college friend, missing neighbor kid kidnapped...
"Now drags out every dead acquaintance. Can't hold sanity anymore... If hell exists, it's here."
"......"
Hm.
Come to think, the middle schoolers didn't even know about the door-knocking ghost outside.
Despite two days here.
"He must've stood guard near the door."
Intentional, coincidence, or bewitched—regardless, it protected the kids' mentality. Felt oddly admirable.
I stared at the manager briefly, then nodded.
"If this is hell, we must escape all the more."
"......"
"Let me study this book more..."
Knock knock knock.
"...!"
Our faces snapped to the door.
"Just now..."
Knock knock knock.
"......"
"......"
Hello?
The voice came again.