Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
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2nd floor.
Go Yeongeun asked the guide machine with growing familiarity.
"After finishing the viewing and heading home, did the guests go down from this 2nd floor above ground?"
Nod.
"...!"
Done.
This practically gave them the answer sheet.
'The exit is somewhere on the ground levels, and below the 2nd floor...'
That left only the 1st floor.
"Then, all we have to do is head to the 1st floor and ask about the entrance!"
"Let's hurry!"
"Right!"
Baek Saheon and Go Yeongeun were in agreement for the first time.
'Who would've thought the exit was right there on the 1st floor like plain common sense. What a coincidence.'
A twinge of emptiness hit me from feeling like we'd taken the long way around, but the greater anticipation pushed my feet forward.
Now all that remained was to find the entrance, tell the bosses waiting on the terrace, and we'd be set.
Heh heh. If you linger longer, your friend's eyes, nose, and mouth might vanish.
Or they might faint before that!
'Even now, we're barely holding on with three people carrying lights.'
I patted the pocket holding Brown reassuringly before moving my feet.
Go Yeongeun's steps, candle in hand, grew brisk.
Her momentum didn't falter even upon encountering a guide machine on the 1st floor. The desire to get out fast had overwhelmed all fear.
"Hello!"
Once again, the machine responded politely under the candle's influence, and Go Yeongeun took a deep breath before making her spirited request.
"Please guide us to the entrance!"
But.
...
Silence.
The machine stood utterly still.
"...?"
No response.
"N-No way."
Go Yeongeun's face drained white as she peered into the candle flame, worried it might not be working.
The flame burned steadily.
After checking it several more times, she spoke again in a trembling voice.
"Please... guide us to the entrance."
Silence again.
"..."
"..."
The mood froze cold.
'Damn it.'
I opened my mouth.
"...Go Yeongeun."
"Y-Yes...?"
"Ask it like this."
I recited the familiar phrase, and as Go Yeongeun repeated it, her eyes went dead black.
"After finishing the viewing and heading home, did the guests go down from this ground 1st floor...? If yes, please nod."
Nod.
"...!!"
The guide machine's testimony contradicted.
"Why...?"
Go Yeongeun swallowed hard.
"The basement guide machine clearly said people leaving went up...!"
"Correct."
A chill ran up my spine.
'What the hell is going on?'
It didn't add up.
The basement directed upward, the ground level downward.
Even if there were multiple exits nearby, this made no sense. The signals crossed into outright contradiction.
'No wonder there were so few survivors in the [Darkness Exploration Records] despite the exit seemingly being on the obvious 1st floor.'
"Instead of wasting time repeating ourselves, why not go back to the basement and ask directly? We've got candle left—let's not waste it."
"...Ah."
At Baek Saheon's urging, we headed for the stairs down to the basement.
The path downward felt strangely long and heavy...
And the result was.
Nod.
"Up? Ha...".
The same response as when I'd asked.
According to the guide machine, guests finishing on basement 1 clearly went upward.
"..."
"..."
Even Baek Saheon fell silent.
Everyone's minds grew tangled.
"Um."
Go Yeongeun hung her head.
"Actually... maybe there is no entrance at all."
"...!"
"It's just a place that deceives and torments you, giving false hope to make it more painful... There are tons of ghost stories like that."
True.
But not this time.
"The exit definitely exists."
This wasn't me speaking from having read the [Darkness Exploration Records].
"Remember? Before entering here, you received the simplified manual."
Even if the info was corrupted into an exhibition invite.
"Survivors who escaped via the entrance got logged and registered with Daydream Corporation through the Darkness."
"Ah...!"
Go Yeongeun lifted her head.
"Right. Yeah."
She took a deep breath, her voice clearing up as she continued.
"Whew! Sorry. At times like this, I shouldn't get swept up in emotions. There must be an answer."
"Yes."
It looked contradictory, but there was something we hadn't considered...
That was when, lost in thought.
"Hey."
Baek Saheon looked at me with a strange expression.
"Your doll."
"Brown?"
"Yeah. What does Brown... say?"
Of course, he wasn't asking because he thought the doll actually spoke. He just figured I was crazy enough to talk to it...
'I get he wants fresh ideas.'
I stared pointedly at Baek Saheon before replying.
"Dolls don't talk."
"..."
"Think before you speak."
Baek Saheon clenched his fist!
"But tossing out ideas isn't a bad instinct."
"...!"
"Go Yeongeun, any thoughts?"
"Uh, um..."
"As positively as possible. Assuming the exit is definitely nearby."
"Then... a secret space."
Go Yeongeun squinted.
"Like an attic above the top floor, maybe there's something between the basement and ground level? Like a parking lot..."
I'd never read records of secret spaces like that in this exhibition hall.
Of course, possibility existed. Experiencing it firsthand differed from reading descriptions.
Sometimes you overlook matches even knowing them.
'We didn't realize the windows were doors to the terrace.'
But... the entrance felt more obviously placed than that.
'Conceptually, a formal entrance in a secret space would be odd.'
So, the entrance was there in plain sight, but we weren't noticing.
Due to bias, mindset, cultural factors...
"...!"
Wait.
"D-Deer?"
I shot to my feet.
Baek Saheon stared at me in surprise, while Go Yeongeun—candle-bound—couldn't turn but glanced up.
"Do you have the stamina left to go up and down the stairs a few more times?"
"What?"
"I-I do, but."
"Then let's move."
"Pardon?"
I stood.
"We need to go all the way to the top floor."
"...??"
Back to the stairs.
"...We just go up?"
"Yes."
I started counting instead of mindlessly ascending to the next floor.
One floor.
Two floors.
Three floors...
Until no more stairs appeared.
"Huff."
"Pant."
I looked up.
"This is the end."
We'd reached the top of this massive mansion.
Along the way, we'd hit about three guide machines, and my colleagues asked each time, but the results were identical.
They were probably thinking:
'It told us to go down—why are we going up?'
The answer to that doubt lay in the top floor itself.
"Go Yeongeun. How many floors do you think we climbed?"
"Huh? Well...... Huh?"
"..."
"Wait. If my count isn't wrong......"
"6th floor."
Baek Saheon said it.
"Not 7th, but 6th here!"
Exactly.
"You said this mansion has 7 floors!"
This contradicted Brown's explanation.
But Brown was a 'good friend' who didn't lie.
So... if everything was true.
"..."
Just as I thought.
"You deliberately lied about 7 floors..."
"Go Yeongeun, did you know?"
"Hey!"
There were ghost stories like that too.
For some, the rational answer emerged logically; for others, it didn't—unreasonably.
Due to cultural or environmental differences.
Ghost stories that thrilled from that disconnect.
Different type, but like that past Darkness where I spotted the pierrot amid clowns by knowing the difference.
Environmental knowledge.
"How buildings count floors varies by culture."
"...Huh?"
"In America, Korea where we live, and East Asian countries, floors start at 1st."
However.
"Other cultures do it differently."
The reason the stairs from ground 1st to basement 1st felt unusually long.
Not just perception.
"They start from 0th floor."
"...!"
The floor also called Ground Floor.
"This mansion having 7 ground floors is correct... from 0th to 6th."
I peered down the stairs.
"Now we just go to 1st floor and ask for the path to 0th."
And that's what we did.
Follow the path the 1st floor guide machine kindly leads, and surprisingly, on the opposite side of the main exhibition hall, you'll find stairs different from before.
A grand spiral double staircase.
Descend either spiral, and of course, you'll reach the basement 1st floor exhibition hall where brass turns to bronze, like before.
But you can also stop midway and open the massive door.
And I did just that.
I opened the grand door and stepped out.
Creeeak.
A grand, elegant space filled with silver light unfolded.
It wasn't an exhibition hall.
It was... the lobby.
"...!!"
The 0th floor functioned purely as a lobby without exhibits, so the regular stairs between halls skipped it.
Finally, we'd entered via the most legitimate route.
And right before our eyes, the stained-glass door...
"...The main entrance."
Light poured in, obscuring the outside, but it was certain.
We'd finally found the exit.
"We're alive!!"
"Haaa..."
Shouts and sighs of relief echoed through the lobby.
And cheers too.
"Deer! Your deduction was right! Again! Waaah!! Let's get out now!"
I desperately wanted to scream, cheer, and bolt out right then...
"I need to find the bosses and leave together."
"Ah, right!! Then... you'll need this candle."
Go Yeongeun eyed the remaining wax before declaring briskly.
"...Let's go together quick!"
"Yes. Thank you."
Truly, truly thankful...
I'd already exhausted my energy just finding my colleagues...
Thus, Go Yeongeun made the choice befitting her character.
Baek Saheon did too.
Meaning he headed straight for the door without hesitation.
"Do whatever. I'm leaving!"
Or not.
I stared at Baek Saheon.
'Need to check what happens when exiting the door, any reactions.'
But Baek Saheon hesitated.
"..."
"..."
Then subtly backed from the entrance.
'...?'
Why?
"Weren't you leaving?"
"...After confirming someone else does."
Oh.
'It'd be easier all around if he'd just go.'
A bit disappointed, I glanced at Baek Saheon then looked away.
Not amusing to me, but if someone finds it funny, that's comforting...
Yeah.
'Not exactly ordinary people...'
No idea how many more times I'd scour this mansion. Legs about to give out, but let's hurry.
New Ability Unlocked
Show Host Microphone (Range: Same Floor)
...Huh?
'New ability?'
A slightly cocky, boastful tone, yet oddly laced with gratitude.
Anyway, I pulled the stuffed doll from my pocket as instructed.
"Deer?"
"One moment, please."
Snap!
A dull snapping sound rang from the fingertipless doll hand.
And then I...
Felt something like a 'pop' in my chest and mouth, resonating.
A sense of vast space opening up...
"...!!"
"A v-voice..."
I shut my mouth.
The vibration from my vocal cords echoed through the entire lobby.
That was...
'A mic?'
My god.
It'd gotten truly more capable.
I was impressed.
'But regrettably, this ability doesn't quite fit the current situation.'
I only wanted to call the bosses in the terrace room—if everyone on that floor heard...
"..."
Wait.
Isn't that... not so bad?