Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Instant Maze Horror Tale - Rules (1)
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The moment she finished speaking, text alerts chimed simultaneously.
[New Employee Training Location: Anomaly Management Bureau Test Site]
[Assembly Time: 9 AM]
[Note: Tardiness will result in penalties]
...It's really starting now.
I stared at my phone screen for a long while before slowly exhaling.
***
The next morning.
I took the bus to the test site.
I gazed blankly at the scenery flowing past the window.
As we left the city outskirts, signs of human presence gradually faded.
Only utility poles dotted the landscape at intervals.
The bus interior was quiet.
Only the faint jolting vibrations drummed against my ears.
A short while later, the bus came to a slow stop.
The doors opened, and cold air seeped inside.
I stood from my seat and stepped out.
I looked around.
A narrow path stretched ahead, flanked on both sides by tall trees standing in rows.
Pale white mist drifted faintly between them.
Following the direction in the message, I walked until I spotted a sign not far away.
White background with bold black letters.
[Anomaly Management Bureau Test Site]
"Please board the bus over there."
A guide spoke in a calm voice.
Following his instructions, I boarded the black bus.
About half the seats were empty.
After a bit of time passed and the seats filled up, the departure signal sounded.
Soon after, the bus racing down the road entered a tunnel.
Into the long stretch of darkness.
Fluorescent lights flickered intermittently, flashing past inside the bus.
Even those lights went out.
All that remained were short breaths and the low hum of the engine.
The world turned pitch black.
My vision submerged in blackness, and a silence so profound it clogged my ears descended.
And then—
Light began to seep in from afar.
Faintly, as if rising through water.
That light grew steadily until, in an instant, it rushed right up to my eyes.
Blindingly bright.
I involuntarily closed my eyes.
When I opened them again—
I was already standing in the center of some nameless auditorium.
It was packed with people on all sides.
Everyone wore the same uniform.
Black suits and black shoes.
As my sense of reality slowly returned, the murmurs began to burrow into my ears.
" #$% he%%#"
"...this $@# time, please $@$$"
"$@@#, I heard they were here last batch too."
The garbled voices tangled and scattered.
As the ringing in my ears faded, people's voices came through clearly.
"Did you hear?...People from the other foundation are joining too. And that one."
"Ha, why this batch of all times?"
The murmurs filled the air.
I instinctively scanned my surroundings.
Everyone was absorbed in their own conversations.
No one seemed startled by my sudden appearance.
Here and there, I saw others wearing equally bewildered expressions, so it must have been a familiar sight by now.
More than that.
There was a presence inside the auditorium that had captured everyone's attention completely.
The moment I saw her, I understood.
Why all eyes were drawn there.
A beautiful girl.
But it wasn't just her appearance that held their gazes.
Behind her shoulders, darkness flowed unnaturally.
Beneath her pale skin, thin black lines writhed faintly.
As if something alive crawled inside her veins instead of blood.
At a glance, it resembled a human shadow, but it wasn't.
A black mass that devoured all light.
That grotesquery clung tightly to the girl's body, moving whenever she turned her head.
A little delayed.
At a mismatched angle.
In that fleeting gap, some people noticed it and unconsciously held their breath.
Short, deep breaths.
Tension spread through the air.
'...An anomaly.'
Their gazes soured, mirroring my own thoughts.
No one here felt fondly toward anomalies or horror tales.
What was peculiar.
Was that the girl herself gave off no unusual vibe.
She seemed perfectly ordinary.
As if the anomaly were merely parasitizing her body.
Just then, a low whisper came from behind me.
"Did you hear about that kid?"
"They say she contracted with a horror tale. That black mass... apparently it's the proof. Probably asked for power or something."
"A contractor? Power? Then she shouldn't be here."
"Right. Normally it'd be life imprisonment. Contracting with a horror tale is a serious crime."
The whispers grew deeper.
"I heard from a friend at the other foundation..."
He continued.
"...They've been using something called a 'special pardon' over there for a while."
"...Pardon?"
"You throw them into horror tales, and if they clear it, the sentence gets reduced based on the tale's grade."
"Isn't that insanely dangerous?"
"It's at least two hundred years to start with."
"Two hundred years?"
"Bodies tainted by horror tales don't age much. Can't kill them physically either. So they lock them underground until they vanish. That's the minimum at two hundred years. Higher depending on the grade, I heard."
"But if they get pardoned...?"
"Most die before pardon. No one's been pardoned yet. Zero loss for the foundation. Saves on wasting personnel."
Even as everyone's eyes fixed on her.
She stared only at the platform.
As if she heard nothing.
The shadow still writhed slowly over her shoulder.
At that moment, a certain thought struck me.
It wasn't mere curiosity or pity.
Hard to put into words.
It was just—
A kind of feeling.
Somehow, from people's gazes.
That shadow... seemed to be protecting the girl.
At that moment—
The clock chimed exactly 9 AM.
And simultaneously.
The door at the back of the auditorium slowly opened.
The grating of metal echoed low and drawn out.
***
The man who emerged from the door was a middle-aged figure in black attire.
Sharp eyes and a stern face.
He crossed the auditorium center without a hint of hesitation.
His footsteps sliced through the silence.
The man who ascended the platform swept his gaze around once.
An oppressive aura.
Every movement pressed down on the crowd.
He slowly took the microphone.
"I am an agent of the Anomalous Phenomena Foundation, in charge of conducting this new recruit test. The original supervisor is absent for personal reasons, so I'm stepping in."
His cold voice filled the auditorium.
"There is only one test this time."
He paused, lifting his gaze.
"Behind me is the simulated horror tale prepared by our foundation, 'Instant Maze Horror Tale.'"
His hand pointed to the rear.
A massive iron door reflected the light quietly.
"The clear condition is simple. Find the correct exit and get out."
He raised his head, slowly scanning the auditorium.
The recruits' gazes settled quietly.
"Never forget your duty as agents."
'Just get out of the maze, huh.'
His words made it sound like the simplest thing.
After a brief pause to catch his breath, he spoke again.
"For reference, anyone who fails the criteria—meaning, doesn't exit in time—will be automatically disqualified."
As his words ended, the air grew heavier once more.
Someone swallowed audibly.
He watched the crowd for a moment, then his lips curled faintly.
"And... if anyone wants to run now, leave."
With that, the auditorium doors clicked open.
But no one left.
They all knew what turning back at this point meant.
He flashed a satisfied smile and spoke.
"Good. That's it then."
The doors closed with a heavy metallic clang echoing through the hall.
"The new recruit test begins now. Enter the maze one by one in order."
People entered one after another.
She, who had drawn all eyes earlier, followed suit.
Briefly, a few gazes flicked my way.
Probably.
Because of what I was holding.
It did stand out a bit.
The person ahead vanished into the door, and soon it reopened.
My turn.
I took a step forward.
Clunk—the door sealed shut behind me.
And in that instant, the world warped.
My vision shook, space folded and unfolded.
When my senses returned.
I was already standing in the space beyond the door.
***
I surveyed my surroundings.
An ordinary office space, or so it appeared.
Somewhat familiar.
I'd entered this type of horror tale before.
But soon, I noticed the differences.
The surface looked like a typical office.
Fundamentally, though, it was different.
The scope of the space.
Gray partitions stretched endlessly.
Between them, conference tables, chairs, copiers, and file cabinets were arrayed in regular patterns.
On one side, a printer beeped as it operated, and faint office noises echoed from afar.
What was missing: people.
As if someone had just been there moments ago, steam still rose faintly from a coffee mug on a desk.
This wasn't the 'maze' I'd imagined.
A normal maze has walls blocking all sides, with paths present.
Given enough time, you could map it out and escape.
But this was different.
There were no walls.
All directions lay open, the only obstructions low gray partitions you could step over anytime.
The problem was that 'stepping over' meant nothing.
Fluorescent lights didn't extend far, and the scenery blurred if you strayed too distant.
I climbed onto a desk and peered out.
Beyond stretched the same desks, copiers, chairs, repeating endlessly.
No way to pinpoint my position.
Everything lacked distinction, just identical spaces arrayed infinitely.
A strong certainty hit me.
This wasn't a place 'to find a path'—it was designed 'so that seeking a path only makes you more lost.'
And finally, the oddity.
[파천황]: Haven't seen this place before?
...The broadcast was on.