Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Blinded Mansion
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Thud. Thud.
I'm quietly walking through an exhibition that plucks out people's eyes right now.
With a human trash-type character from the ghost story worldview stuck right beside me, no less.
'If only Baek Saheon would just keep his mouth shut and play human totem pole.'
On the way here, I'd spotted a few crawling horrors slithering across the floor from a distance. Having someone next to me made me more grateful than ever...
'Just don't let your guard down. Don't let your guard down.'
Brown spoke to me in an amused tone.
-Mr. Deer, you have such an interesting way of talking with Mr. Lizard. It's like you're a completely different person.
'Not really?'
-No way! It's fascinating. It's like you've created an exaggerated... persona just for the show.
Hmm. Close enough.
-So, is the goal here to get out of this grand exhibition as quickly as possible?
Bingo.
And...
'I've already got an escape plan.'
I've confirmed it's registered as the seventeenth exploration record in the [Darkness Exploration Records], so I've pieced together an escape method based on that case.
I've even decided which of my items to use.
-Oh!
-But do you really need to call it an 'escape'? You could just grab any employee and ask them to show you the exit. They'd probably tell you kindly!
That's where the problem starts.
'This exhibition uses machines as guides.'
Those monsters swinging spider-like legs around.
-Hmm. And?
'Each machine only knows info about its assigned section.'
What this means is, to ask about the entrance or exit, you have to go to the section where the entrance or exit is and talk to an employee there.
And if too much time has passed by then... you'll end up 'fee collected' and reborn as a human maggot in that horrific state.
Figuring out where the entrance or exit is located is incredibly difficult to begin with.
'But there's a hint.'
I stopped walking.
I'd found what I was looking for.
"...An elevator?"
Right in front of me and Baek Saheon stood a very antique, early modern-style elevator.
A wrought-iron cage enclosed the brass elevator, with a small bulb flickering.
And like any elevator, there was a sign on the side wall explaining the floors and usage.
Except we couldn't read the text at all.
'Just one more thing to ramp up the exploration difficulty.'
Text dissonance.
Baek Saheon furrowed his brow.
"...You planning to take this?"
"Who knows."
"We can't even check the floors? Are you insane?"
I stared at Baek Saheon silently. He hurriedly averted his gaze.
'As if.'
But I had a ghost story talk show host who claimed fluency in all languages!
'Brown. Can you read this elevator sign for me?'
-No problem at all, friend!
-Ahem,
Brown cleared his throat and explained in a friendly voice...
-This elevator has a guide on duty. Tell them the floor you want, and they'll press it for you. Ho ho, quite an old-fashioned service...
Taking the elevator means inevitably meeting a guide—and getting your eyes plucked.
I knew that, but I still swallowed hard involuntarily.
'Any info on the exit?'
-Unfortunately not! It's mostly about floors and exhibits.
-And you're currently on the 2nd floor, Mr. Deer. ...Oh, hold on. There's also a description of the mansion's history.
"...!"
This was info not in the [Darkness Exploration Records].
'Keep going.'
-Of course, friend!
-This is the villa of a very noble... esteemed collector, and thanks to his charitable desire to share his art and philosophy, it's hosting this endless exhibition!
-Also, this historic mansion consists of 7 above-ground floors and 7221 basement floors.
"......"
Wait.
What?
'Basement... 7221 floors?'
-Yes. Hmm, looks like he's been collecting for quite a while!
I froze.
'...I knew there were basement floors.'
They weren't mentioned at first.
The initial exploration records for this ghost story, [Mansion of the Blind], were from people who luckily escaped the above-ground floors or died without getting out.
That's what drew readers in.
Then the records updated wildly, growing longer, expanding the worldview.
One of the explorers realizes it.
The existence of the basement floors.
Thus, records of people unable to find a way out above ground lead to descending below.
Endlessly searching for the exit, going down, further down—that hopeless, eerie dread.
That's when this ghost story got classified as cosmic horror.
Exploration records meant to suffocate and overwhelm the reader.
Some records even have people giving up on escape, half-mad, descending forever.
The deeper the basement, the more bizarre, inhuman collectibles overwhelm. Human language fails, censored endlessly, leaving only hopeless voids...
Thousands of unknowns below...
Slap.
I slapped my own face.
"...?!"
Snap out of it.
'There are multiple exits.'
Even if their positions change each exhibition cycle, that doesn't.
I've seen records of people escaping from different floors in the same run.
'I can do this.'
No matter how astronomically vast this place is, how the space defies human logic.
There might be an exit nearby.
With over a hundred runs' worth of exploration info—and this run's records—I'd be an idiot to despair.
'Even without specific floor numbers, I know all the hints.'
Don't get overwhelmed by the scale. Move fast.
No more fooling around... Pull it together!
'...Alright.'
I took a deep breath and started walking again.
Toward the stairs next to the elevator.
"Wait, so we're not taking the elevator... How do you even know where we are to move like that?!"
"2nd floor."
"...?"
"Heading to Basement 1 from now."
"Basement? There's a base— Wait, this is the 2nd floor? How are you sure?"
"Brown told me."
"......"
"You're welcome?"
"......"
-You're welcome!
Surprisingly, Baek Saheon didn't bolt this time either.
Hmm. Guess this level of snark works from now on.
Even descending the stairs, the grand mansion remained unchanged—no different decorations, same lighting.
The dim brass-shadowed landscape dragged on. Like repeating the same floor endlessly.
Until the stairs vanished one floor down.
'...These stairs don't go to the basement.'
For now, search for new stairs or transport on B1.
No more chit-chat with Baek Saheon, of course.
Mechanical noises were growing more frequent around us.
'Getting close to the main exhibition hall, where guides are practically always on shift.'
While crawling along mostly silently,
I looked up and spotted a massive sign right under the ceiling.
'Here it is.'
Main exhibition hall marker.
Engraved with ornate sculptures in elegant... unreadable text.
-'The Power of Emotion.' Quite a unique exhibition title!
"...!"
The exhibition from the [Darkness Exploration Records]. Chills just from reading the text...
'This is insane.'
I desperately fought the urge to turn back immediately.
'If I'm scouting routes for the exit, I have to see it eventually.'
Avoiding 'safe' exhibits while securing paths would be idiotic.
So I gritted my teeth and approached slowly...
The moment I peered through the open door with its ornate embossed decorations glinting,
The exhibition space unfolded.
Along with a wave of sound.
I saw countless mouths screaming.
More precisely, teeth and tongues.
A massive wall filled floor-to-ceiling with beautiful Baroque frames containing human mouths.
Fitted with artificial vocal cords, each recited poetry in its own voice, language, style.
Hundreds, thousands of frames harmonizing into a bizarrely surreal chord and scale.
And...
On the floor below, writhing maggots.
People who'd lost the power of speech, with lightless buttons jammed in their eye sockets, convulsing.
Fee-collected multiple times, barely human anymore.
Contrasting the neatly displayed, elegant mouth frames...
Even more... even more...
'Ah.'
I'm gonna puke.
Dizzy with chills, I stared at the floor.
Calm down. Calm down.
'They're not company employees.'
People caught up here days ago, probably.
Those poor... No, don't dwell. Push it out of my mind as much as possible...
Kiki-gee-gee-gik.
Soon, a guide machine's shadow approached from afar.
Me and Baek Saheon held our breath, crawling into a nearby vent and lying flat.
The guide machine's shadow waded through the maggots.
Seemed to be picking up and moving motionless corpses...
Dragging sounds mixed with mechanical whirs.
"......"
"......"
After suffocating minutes passed.
"Hey."
"......"
"It took the corpses. Corpses have value too? As fees?"
What's wrong with this guy?
"If they had no value as fees, it'd have left them until death without collecting. It didn't."
"Ah, I see."
Having to hear this crap now? Exhaustion surges.
On top of making up lies.
'Honestly... Of course they have value!'
It treats us as 'guests,' so while alive, it only collects non-lethal parts like eyes, nose, mouth!
Brain or spine might count too. There were floors displaying those.
But I can't tell him that. He'd probably suggest paying fees with those corpses if things got dire.
As I kept my mouth shut,
"...!"
The guide machines vanished, leaving the empty 1st floor main exhibition hall.
People hidden in shadows under corner tables emerged quickly, whispered, then scattered running.
Wearing masks.
'Employees...!'
Mask styles, suits—definite.
Our company's Field Exploration Team, dropped in together. Smartly hiding off-route, barely dodging machines.
"Hey."
Why.
"If we spot a newbie among them, let's team up. Better with one or two more."
"Why?"
Baek Saheon looked at me like why ask the obvious?
"Need bait if we meet a monster."
Ah, this bastard really.
I deliberately tilted my head innocently.
"We already have some."
"What?"
"You."
Baek Saheon's face hardened, then relaxed.
"Fine. I'll grab another human for bait too."
"Good. Tell them they're bait."
"......"
"I told you, didn't I? Gotta be courteous to my level."
Baek Saheon shut his mouth with a sickened look again.
I'm sick of it too. This exhausting guy...
'I miss you, Lizard Squad Leader.'
One-word answers from a corporate drone sound nice.
But the moment I spotted the last figure emerging from behind a sofa outside the hall and running,
I jolted.
"...!"
I know that employee.
"......"
"...! What are you—"
After agonizing, I crawled out of the vent.
I waved; they spotted me, jolted, then urgently lowered their voice.
"...! Sol— No, Mr. Deer? Is that how I call you?"
"Yes. Ms. Ibex."
Go Yeongeun.
The newbie who'd fully backed me on the subway. The med school dropout, right?
"You got deployed too, Mr. Deer? No, glad you're safe first."
"...Thanks."
Anyway, Go Yeongeun in her assigned sheep mask looked far calmer than when we met.
Though her eyes were bloodshot.
'Adapted to the job...?'
Rational talk even in this madness was almost moving.
Go Yeongeun glanced around sharply, whispering low.
"Um, there's a stuck window nearby I was gonna try opening. See any pry bars on the way? Didn't wanna use exhibits..."
"No."
"Pardon?"
"Trying to exit through a window?"
"...Is that bad?"
Yes.
The [Darkness Exploration Records] mention windows once. Know what it says?
Minefield.
I made up a plausible reason.
"Feels like exiting a window would physically leave the mansion... but not back to our world."
"......Ha."
Go Yeongeun's face paled.
"Right. Not reality here... So find a door recognized as an exit."
"That's what I think."
"But without knowing the floor..."
"Checked. It's 1st floor."
"...! How... Wait, 1st floor?"
Hope sparked in Go Yeongeun's eyes.
"Then high chance of a door nearby! Exhibitions usually have entrances on the first floor, so if we search well..."
I forced my stiff mouth open.
"......Reason usual entrances are on first floor? Because we live on the ground."
"That's,"
"Would this ghost story's original guests?"
"......"
Go Yeongeun clamped her mouth shut.
Got it immediately.
'How do you know monsters put doors on the first floor?'
Soon, hopelessness shadowed her face. Like me minutes ago.
"Then... wh-what do we do? Was asking the machine monster the answer? B-but I can't meet another machine. No more chances..."
"No more chances..."
"......"
Go Yeongeun hesitated, then brushed her hair back slightly.
Where her earlobe should be...
Just crude stitches.
"They took my ears."
"......"
"Ears instead of eyes, ears instead of eyes! Gestured that, and... it accepted? Didn't hurt. Weirdly..."
Go Yeongeun trembled faintly.
"And it stuffed something weird in... I can still hear? D-donno the principle... Artificial cochlea or eardrum?"
Ah, damn.
"You'll be fine."
I stated firmly.
"You will. Focus on getting out."
"...Yes."
Go Yeongeun's breathing steadied. Superhuman mentality for someone who'd just lost her ears.
Honestly, impressive.
But someone wasn't.
"Shall we move? No more time-wasting."
"...! Mr. Baek Saheon."
The moment goat-masked Baek Saheon emerged from the vent, wariness flashed in Go Yeongeun's eyes.
"Wait, you're traveling with him?"
"Circumstances, yeah."
"...Okay."
Go Yeongeun eyed the goat-masked Baek Saheon suspiciously but didn't ditch me and joined.
'Thank you...'
Been so long since a normal companion.
After psychos and possessed freaks, tears well up.
Though Go Yeongeun muttered softly.
"That guy picks a mask just like himself... Know goats symbolize devils in the West?"
"Wow, know sheep symbolize scapegoats?"
"Sheep help humanity more than devils."
Baek Saheon sneered at her, unconvinced; Go Yeongeun ignored him.
-Intermission? Like a skit.
Yeah.
But it's real life, so problem...
'Party synergy's wrecked.'
But the destination drew steadily closer.
'...!'
Found it.
Stairs to the basement at the end of that corridor.