Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Have to Go to Work
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In the darkness of a ventilation duct within the ghost story.
A situation where we held our breath to avoid the horror.
And the fact that Baek Saheon owed his life to me was utterly insane.
'Of all people, you.'
And now the guy was desperately avoiding my gaze.
"...?"
This wasn't like him at all...
'Ah, don't tell me.'
Something suddenly came to mind.
Maybe it was because I'd been kindly sending him those serial killer warnings every day.
He seemed a bit spooked. Yeah, it was pretty creepy.
'Even better.'
Truth be told, I'd intended it a little. I hadn't sent them anonymously on purpose for exactly this effect.
Psycho, right? So don't get involved with me.
Given his personality—strong against the weak, weak against the strong—he'd rather play it safe and avoid me than try to take me out at the first opportunity.
'Music to my ears.'
...The problem was, we had to hunker down together in this vent for now.
I held my breath. Fortunately, Baek Saheon was dead silent too.
Outside, the shadows of people who'd failed to escape flickered faintly in the candlelight amid the darkness.
Kiiiiik, thud.
The machine stopped.
Something slender slithered out toward the shadows of the people cornered at a dead end.
A silhouette like a spider's leg.
And then silence.
"..."
"..."
Only the unknown mechanical noise echoed.
Whoosh.
The spider-leg silhouette spread wide right in front of the human's eyes.
Hiiiieeeek!!
Eight sharp, delicate somethings gripped the person's torso, visible as a shaking shadow.
"Spare me, please... Aaaagh!!!"
Pfshk.
One spider leg burrowed into the gap in the human's skull.
And then pop, it yanked something out of the head.
"..."
I already knew what it had pulled out...
'...Eyeball.'
That was it.
The reason this exhibition was called the Mansion of the Blind.
'Guides.'
Meet one of those machines here, and you lose an eye.
Meet it again, and it's usually a limb, tongue, or ear.
And finally, people end up blind, mute, and worm-like, crawling and wandering the dark exhibition hall... a utterly mad tale.
The fact that it doesn't happen all at once makes it even crueler.
Surprisingly, this exhibition is considerate.
It provides "convenience" without even being asked.
For visitor convenience, sensory correction devices are always available for free rental.
(Currently supported devices: Vision, Olfaction, Hearing, Touch, Taste, Pain, Color Vision)
Urk, uuuuugh.
Another spider-leg silhouette elegantly approached the eyeless person's empty socket.
The form at the end of its leg cast a clear shadow under the candlelight for a moment.
A thin thread and needle.
'Fuck.'
I held my breath until all the commotion died down.
Cold sweat poured from my entire body.
A moment later.
Tok, tok, tok...
The mechanical sounds faded away.
...Soon, the eyeless person staggered to their feet.
Heading right toward the vent, their blood-smeared face came into sharp, then vanishing view.
A telephoto lens had been fitted in place of the eye.
"...!"
I could see Baek Saheon mouthing a curse beside me.
Didn't look good for him either.
'Wear that, and you can see for a few hours short, a day or two long.'
But since it's a rental device, it gradually loses function, heightening the terror.
And next encounter? It's collected.
Rental, after all.
'Insane.'
It felt like the prelude to more horrors ahead, making my eyes squeeze shut instinctively...
'But I can't let on that I'm scared, so I have to tough it out.'
Minding Baek Saheon next to me, I slipped out as soon as it got quiet.
'Can't stay here forever.'
Had to move and escape fast. Sort out the exploration records and manual after splitting from Baek Saheon...
"Hey."
Hm?
"Thank you."
Baek Saheon suddenly spoke politely.
Nodding courteously, as if that's how it had always been. Just like when we first met on the subway.
And he tried to slip away.
"Well, I'll be going then..."
"Hold up."
Baek Saheon stopped.
I asked.
"How many hours since entry?"
"..."
"Don't wanna answer?"
"...About two hours."
He'd entered way ahead of me.
This ghost story didn't mess with time perception, and as a newbie, Baek Saheon must've been called in from morning too...
'The D Squad bosses pulled me out!'
I almost got emotional for a second.
Motivation to find my teammates and get out quick.
'Lizard Squad Leader was probably one of the seven survivors anyway.'
Still, had to find the other D Squad folks fast.
...Though honestly, stepping out of the vent and seeing the hallway made me sigh first...
'Wow, I have to scour this place alone.'
Search every nook for clues? Play hide-and-seek with the guide monsters?
No wonder they made a horror game out of this darkness—I hadn't played it, but I'd seen YouTube videos.
...With half the screen covered by my hand.
"..."
Hm. Even with his personality issues... wouldn't it be better to have someone along...?
I turned to Baek Saheon.
In the darkness.
Baek Saheon swallowed beside Kim Sol-eum.
'Fuck.'
Of all people, this lunatic.
Nothing had gone right since drawing him as dorm roommate in company housing.
Hearing insane ramblings from that cynical face that no drunk would pick a fight with at night was mind-boggling.
'Do I really have to stick with this guy?'
The other employees who'd entered with him were scattered, regaining their wits in this bizarre mansion, and the civilian he'd just run into got wrecked.
Still, better alone than with this nutjob...
He was weighing it furiously when Kim Sol-eum suddenly spoke.
"Using polite speech now? Suddenly."
Fuck.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
"...It was an emergency before, so I slipped into casual, but now it seems right to be polite with each other again."
Kim Sol-eum stared, then replied nonchalantly.
"I see. Got it."
"...Yes."
Should I... bolt?
Baek Saheon scanned Kim Sol-eum.
He'd already heard all the absurd rumors about the guy.
The Field Exploration Team's monstrous newbie.
Later, rumors got so wild some whispered it was company propaganda.
But Baek Saheon didn't doubt them.
'It's 'cause he's a lunatic, right?'
This guy's monstrous record... maybe his thinking matched the monsters?
Different from normal people, so he pulled off humanly impossible ideas in ghost stories!
Baek Saheon knew he was pragmatic and selfish.
But the intimidation from an unpredictable foe was different.
Terror of the unknown.
'I'd believe this guy is a ghost story.'
Baek Saheon sweated coldly.
Still, he wanted info, so he spoke.
Had to hear as much as he shared.
"Where to? That thing attacking people means we're intruders in this darkness, right...?"
"No."
"Pardon?"
"This exhibition definitely treats us as visitors."
What nonsense is this?
Baek Saheon looked at Kim Sol-eum.
The guy stated it with utter certainty, nonchalantly.
"That's why it comes to collect the fee. It only takes an eye. Just the usage fee."
"..."
"Didn't read the manual?"
He had.
That bizarre document contaminated as an exhibition invitation.
"It's an invitation. Invited guests aren't intruders."
"...But no mention of fees."
"Read it again. Around the end of page 3."
Baek Saheon unfolded the paper.
"One hour free viewing implies fees after, or ejection."
"...!"
"But instead of ejecting, it takes eyes, so that's the fee. That thing earlier... basically a 'staff' member here."
Astonishingly convincing.
Baek Saheon asked without thinking.
"Why human eyes as the fee?"
"Who knows. Among what humans have, body parts seem most valuable?"
"...!"
"Our stuff must be worthless to them."
"...'Them' being?"
Kim Sol-eum shook his head blankly.
"No idea."
And no one dragged into this would know...
His back chilled.
"Anyway, whoever runs this exhibition values human body parts most among what people have."
"..."
"Eyes first, as the right price."
Eye.
He had only one.
Baek Saheon nearly pressed his eyepatch without thinking.
He still remembered.
Kim Sol-eum staring as he left the subway, holding up another eyeball as the "answer sheet."
That eerie calm and observation, waiting for him to realize his eye loss was meaningless.
That mocking gaze.
This darkness used eyes as fees, yet how did that bastard grow up so chillingly composed?
"But..."
"...!"
Kim Sol-eum stared right at Baek Saheon.
"Back to casual speech."
Chills ran up his spine.
Baek Saheon forced calm.
"Yeah. Might as well be comfy? Fellow newbies, escape together..."
"Nah."
"..."
He bristled but forced a smile.
"Come on. You hid me in the vent to save a teammate, right?"
"Yeah. As bait if needed."
"..."
Baek Saheon dropped gaslighting, switched to persuasion.
Kim Sol-eum seemed to grasp this horrific exhibition ghost story well.
"One more makes scouting easier in this dark."
"Don't need it."
"..."
"But for dopamine, let's tag along. More people, more variables."
Lunatic.
Baek Saheon was convinced.
First outright psycho in his turbulent life.
But...
'Maybe that's what it takes to adapt here.'
Defeat washed over him; he gritted his teeth under the black goat mask.
"Moving."
Ignoring the rigid Baek Saheon, Kim Sol-eum started walking.
And casually said.
"Thanks. Glad to hear it."
"What?"
Thanks for what?
As he nearly asked in confusion.
Kim Sol-eum put a hand to his mouth.
"Quiet. Talking with Brown."
"..."
Baek Saheon barely spoke.
"Brown?"
"Yeah."
Kim Sol-eum reached into his suit pocket, pulling something out.
A keychain with a cute, fluffy rabbit doll.
"Brown's saying hi to you now."
"..."
Baek Saheon wanted to run now!
Of course, he couldn't dream Brown was saying, "Oh, hello, soon-to-be-sacrificed next-door lamb!"
Nor that Kim Sol-eum thought:
'Phew. One more person's a bit less scary.'
Picturing wandering with doll Brown made it less eerie than the ghost limbs.
'Good choice!'
"Gonna search for more vents like that one?"
"No."
Kim Sol-eum gave him a look like he'd seen the dumbest person alive.
"Find the exit. Stay in vents if you like 'em. Get caught, pay the fee."
Kim Sol-eum knew.
'Can't let that type loose.'
Baek Saheon would exploit any gap with his personality!
He'd attacked a stranger's eye without blinking.
Don't forget his [Darkness Exploration Records] nickname: Viper.
No room for complacency!
'Act the lunatic too.'
Thus began the two lunatics' uncomfortable darkness exploration.