Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Speedrun
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-Uwaaahk!
In an instant, the hair all over my body stood on end. A scream echoed through the warehouse.
The bottle of almond water I was holding almost slipped from my grasp. I barely managed to hold on, and a lukewarm warmth was transmitted from it. Strangely, that warmth gave me a strange sense of stability.
My mind became a tangled mess.
Should I go help, or should I not? I hesitated for a long time under the faint light seeping through the gaps between the warehouse shelves.
It might be another new employee...
If that's the case, should I help?
But...
Hesitation washed over me. My serum-enhanced memory was blaring a constant warning.
In the Backrooms, there are entities that mimic human voices. To lure humans, they mimic voices asking for help.
In other words, that scream could be a trap.
What if it ends up like the Monkey Dream...
Memories from the subway flashed through my mind. The moment the Dwarves' blades glinted, the sight of flesh being torn apart, the ear-splitting screams... The trauma from that time came rushing back.
Cold sweat ran down my back. My heart began to beat rapidly. A voice telling me to run echoed in my head. I never wanted to see something like that again.
But...
My feet moved on their own. Was it my conscience, or just simple curiosity?
Either way, I was taking one step at a time toward the direction the scream came from.
I'd rather regret it later than not check at all...
I might as well check it out.
Even if it's an entity, at least I need to know what it is to prepare for next time.
I approached the direction of the scream as quietly as possible, making sure not to make a sound. As I passed between the walls, I checked for hiding spots in advance. In case I needed to run.
This place was structured with non-Euclidean geometry. Some shelves stood vertically, while others were tilted at an angle. This structure, which seemed to defy the laws of physics, was actually a relief. It would help block the entity's line of sight when running away.
As I reached the corner of the hallway, my tension reached its peak. My heart was pounding as if it would burst. My breathing became ragged.
I pressed my body tightly against the wall. Faint light was seeping through the warehouse shelves. Dust was visible, floating in that light.
Slowly, very slowly, I poked my head out.
For a moment, it felt like my breath was caught in my throat.
At the end of the hallway, two white eyes flashed.
Two eyes that glowed like a nocturnal animal.
Those were definitely not human.
A Howler…!
Thanks to the Ruminative Thought Enhancement Serum, related information flooded my mind like a waterfall.
A massive body measuring 4.2 meters tall. More than twice the size of a human. Its legs, over 3 meters long, were grotesquely bent like a spider's legs. Its glowing white eyes shone brightly even in the dark, and its sharp claws were powerful enough to tear through steel rebar.
The red circular patterns on its torso looked like a target. But in reality, it was a warning signal to intimidate enemies. Just like venomous animals with flashy patterns that signal their danger.
The most terrifying thing was its non-reflective skin. Its pitch-black skin, which didn't reflect light, looked as if it absorbed light. On top of that, it could freely change its skin color to match its surroundings, allowing it to hide and camouflage itself.
As the information surfaced, a cold sweat ran down my spine.
This was one of the worst-case scenarios I had imagined.
At that moment, the Howler screamed again. A desperate, human-like scream that felt as if its throat was tearing.
That sound echoed down the hallway and burrowed into my ears. The scream, heard from within the deep darkness, sounded even more chilling.
It's trying to lure me...
This monster was hunting its prey. Just like an anglerfish in the deep sea, it was using a scream to find a sacrifice, luring it in with light.
I slowly, as carefully as possible, backed away. The Howler could pounce at the sound of a single footstep or a single breath.
I clenched my mouth shut, trying not to even make a sound with my breath. My heart was pounding as if it would burst, but I even tried not to let that make a sound.
Then, it happened.
"Is everything okay over there?"
A man's voice was heard. When I turned around, a young man in a suit was running this way. It was another new employee.
No!
I quickly blocked his path. Covering his mouth with my hand, I pulled him toward the wall.
"Shh! Be quiet."
The man opened his eyes wide in confusion. He tried to say something under my hand, but I shook my head and put a finger to my lips.
Another scream came from ahead. It was the Howler's lure.
"It's a trap. It's not a person, it's a monster."
I whispered in the smallest voice possible. The man's eyes filled with fear.
We quietly retreated from the spot. Only after we had put enough distance between us did I let him go.
"Thank you. I almost..."
"Be careful. It's dangerous to walk around alone here."
The man nodded. We looked at each other for a moment. It was time to decide whether to travel together or not.
But I shook my head. In his hand, I didn't see any tools like a marker. He seemed to know nothing about the structure of the Backrooms or the existence of entities. He was probably just a regular new employee who didn't even know about the Foundation.
In this situation, traveling together could be a poison. An ignorant companion could end up getting both of us killed.
There were likely more entities here besides the Howler I saw, and I didn't have the time to stop and explain everything to him every time.
"Excuse me, but I'll be going alone."
The man looked disappointed but nodded as if he understood. In return, I gave him some advice.
"If you see a water bottle, be sure to take it. And it's a good idea to mark the walls as you move. So you don't end up going in circles."
We each chose our own path. As I watched him walk away, I felt a pang of guilt for a moment, but right now, my survival was the priority.
When I arrived at a place with bright fluorescent lights, I finally let out a sigh of relief. My legs went weak, and I almost collapsed on the spot.
My throat was parched, so I chugged the almond water I was holding. The sweet, almond-flavored liquid slid down my throat.
I can't go on like this.
I calmly organized the situation. Trying to find the exit by leveling up one by one was a suicidal act.
The higher the level, the stronger the entities become, and the more dangerous the environment.
The Howler I just saw was already at this level; I didn't even want to imagine what kind of monsters were at higher levels.
Wait, if this is a fusion of the Catastrophe Foundation and the Backrooms...
A new thought flashed through my mind.
Thinking about it, the ghost story I fell into wasn't just a simple Backrooms. It was a Backrooms under the management of the Catastrophe Foundation.
If it's the Foundation I know, they wouldn't just leave these supernatural phenomena alone.
They must have prepared devices to research and control the anomalies of the Backrooms.
Maybe there's a passage that researchers can use to enter and exit regularly?
And if such a connection exists...
It would be Level 0.
The safest and most accessible place.
Above all, Level 0, which has no entities, would be the optimal location.
Researchers wouldn't risk going to higher levels.
I immediately went back to the stairs I came from.
It wasn't easy to find the stairs in the dark.
It was easy to lose my sense of direction due to the non-Euclidean structure.
Still, thanks to the arrow I had marked with a marker earlier, I didn't lose my way.
I once again entered Level 0, filled with yellow wallpaper and carpet.
The familiar buzzing of fluorescent lights could be heard. Strangely, this monotonous space gave me a sense of stability.
At least there were no monsters like the Howler here.
This time, I opened the Talent Shop app. My smartphone screen emitted a blue light in the darkness.
When I entered 'tracking' in the search bar, countless items were listed.
Most of them were too expensive.
They were mostly items that cost hundreds of thousands of Talents.
But among them, one caught my eye.
『Explorer Jang-geun's Tracking Incense Set』
-Grade: E
-Price: 4,500D
-Description: A stick incense set sold at the 'Thousand-Won Antique Shop'. According to the antique shop owner, it is said to have been used by Explorer Jang-geun from the Three Kingdoms era. Light the incense, think of what you want to find, and turn the incense clockwise three times, and the smoke will flow in the direction of what you are looking for. However, if what you are looking for is too abstract or does not exist in reality, the fire will go out. A total of twenty sticks are included, and each can be used for about 20 minutes.
4,500 Talents.
It was an expensive price for a consumable, but it was the best option in the current situation.
It was the most useful item I could buy with the Talents I had left.
When I pressed the purchase button, a small wooden box appeared in the air.
When I opened the box, twenty incense sticks were arranged intricately.
A heavy incense smell stung my nose.
I took out one incense stick.
It was a worn-out brown incense, but when I held it in my hand, I felt a strange energy.
When I lit it with a lighter, purple smoke rose.
Computer...
If I tried to find the exit of the Backrooms directly, it would be too abstract and would surely fail.
The very concept of an exit is ambiguous.
Instead, I targeted a computer that must exist in the Foundation's research facility.
Thinking of a computer, I turned the incense clockwise three times, and the smoke began to flow in one direction.
A smoke as thin as a thread moved as if dancing in the air.
I chased after its trail.
I ran through the endless yellow wallpaper.
One, two, as each incense stick burned out, I lit a new one.
Every time the direction changed slightly, the smoke faithfully pointed out a new path.
By the time I had burned the tenth incense stick.
I finally found it.
The Foundation's research facility connected to the real world.
A gray metal door was sticking out from between the yellow wallpaper.
A card key reader was installed next to the door, and a small CCTV was mounted on the ceiling.
These realistic objects felt surreal.
As soon as I came out of the Backrooms through the passage, the metal door opened with a sound, and I made eye contact with a researcher in a white coat.
"Wait a minute... You, are you possibly..."
His eyes widened.
The researcher's face, having confirmed my appearance, turned pale.
He almost dropped the coffee cup he was holding.
"No way... It hasn't even been 8 hours since the test started..."
The researcher's voice trembled.
His gaze swept over me and the door I had come out of.
He shook his head as if he couldn't believe it.
Muttering flowed from the researcher's mouth.
"Wow... At this rate, is it a new record for the shortest escape? An escape in under 8 hours... I can't believe it."
Then he suddenly pulled out a walkie-talkie.
"Headquarters, Headquarters. This is Lab S-7... The new employee who entered the Backrooms this morning... has just returned. Yes, it hasn't been 8 hours yet... No, I'm not joking. I'm seeing it right now."
The researcher's voice got higher and higher.
Someone on the other end of the line could be faintly heard excitedly shouting something.
"So... How could they get out so quickly..."
The researcher pressed the walkie-talkie close to his ear, listening for something, then hurriedly nodded.
"Yes, I understand. Escort the new employee to Isolation Room B-23 immediately?... Yes, yes. I'll take care of it right away."
The researcher turned off the walkie-talkie and stared at me for a long time, as if observing me.
It was the look of someone looking at a peculiar specimen in a lab.
"For now... please follow me."
I nodded and followed behind the researcher.
As I followed the researcher, I suddenly thought of the man I had met earlier.
If I could escape this easily, I could have brought him along.
Was I too selfish...?
I had abandoned him, using the excuse that an ignorant person would just be a hindrance.
A sense of guilt washed over me, as if I had gotten on a lifeboat all by myself.
Is he safe?
Or has he been caught by the Howler or another entity...
When my thoughts went that far, I felt nauseous.
But it was already too late to turn back.
Even if I went back in now to find him, there was no way I could meet him.
The structure of the Backrooms is far too complex.
I looked at my smartphone for a moment.
⚔ STATUS ⚔
[You have safely escaped the 'Backrooms' ghost story.]
[You escaped the ghost story faster than anyone else.]
[Basic reward of 100,000 Talents has been granted.]
+100,000D
[Additional reward of 50,000 Talents has been granted.]
+50,000D
The points I earned from the Backrooms amounted to a whopping 150,000.
I was still a long way from the Reset Button, but this brought me one step closer.
I clenched my smartphone tightly and thought. It's just the beginning.