Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Instant Maze Horror Tale - Rules (3)
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The air clung damply to my skin.
Every time I inhaled.
The musty office smell mixed with the scent of paper seeped deep into my lungs.
Cold sweat beaded on my skin.
A single trickle ran down the back of my neck.
It didn't move.
In the darkness, keeping a fixed distance, it was 'facing' me.
…No, pretending to face me.
If it were really looking at me, it wouldn't have 'stopped' like that, at least.
It was waiting.
For me to react first.
Aiming for that one moment.
My fingertips tingled in anticipation of the battle that might come any second.
Tension crawled up my arms to my shoulders, then along my spine.
The fluorescent light above its head flickered不安定ly with a tik, tik— sound.
A little time passed.
Finally, the light where it stood went tik- and died.
In that instant, a heavy silence descended.
Darkness.
Brief, but suffocating silence followed.
The next moment—
The fluorescent light flickered back on.
And it was.
Standing much closer than before.
Just a few dozen meters away.
The physical distance between it and me was now almost gone.
Close enough to make out with the naked eye.
Only a few gray partitions blocked the line of sight like obstacles.
Under the light, the thin panels glowed transparently, casting its silhouette fully onto them.
The shadow was humanoid.
But I realized right away.
It was my mistake.
Calling it a 'person' was too much—it was far too strange.
The silhouette alone made curses spill from my lips.
'..Fuck.'
Two legs, two arms.
Purely in form, it was clearly human.
But the proportions were off.
The legs were unnaturally long.
The knees bent backward, slowly scraping the floor as it moved.
The arms dangled almost to the calves.
The joints seemed to have an extra one, bending and straightening repeatedly.
I'd noticed it since the last anomaly, but the horrors created by these tales all lacked normal forms.
Existences that were 'almost human, but not quite.'
That imperfect imitation tore at human instincts.
Revulsion rose from the tip of my tongue, scraping my throat.
A swish- sound came from beyond the partition.
Slowly, it emerged from the partition, parting the darkness.
What appeared first was the face.
…No, could I even call that a face?
A tangled mass of flesh, features slapped on haphazardly.
If it hadn't made a sound, I wouldn't have even realized it was a 'face.'
The center of the face slowly split open—
And a voice emerged from the lump of meat.
“There… you are? Sorry for startling you.”
Not from a neck, but from the slit in the center of the face.
Each time the skin parted, a gritty tearing sound mixed in.
Inside that slit, human teeth—white and even—gleamed brightly, as if smiling.
“It's, it's okay. You can come out. I wasn't trying to scare you. I was just so excited that I… ran right toward you.”
At first, I misunderstood.
But I soon realized.
As its head slowly turned—
That gaze was tracking the 'light' on the ceiling.
It moved toward the light.
Not sound or smell.
It already knew my direction.
It had pinpointed the position of my light from when it charged earlier and was closing in.
That meant it had at least minimal intelligence.
Running away was realistically impossible.
Moving would inevitably turn on the light overhead.
But staying still too long with the light off meant 'erasure.'
This anomaly's rule.
That said, the rule wasn't entirely against me.
Just as it used the lights.
I could use them too.
Keeping an eye on the lights, I cautiously moved my hand to my waist.
I completely dismissed any slim chance that 'it might not find me.'
On this path, it had no choice but to come my way.
And if we had to fight, now was better.
Before my senses dulled further.
The first thing that came to mind from Kang Su-ji's 'favorite weapon' comment.
Reach, distance, weight, familiarity.
It excelled in every aspect.
I'd chosen it over unfamiliar tools.
The Great Mop.
The one tool I could trust right now.
For someone like me who'd never held a weapon in my life, it was the thing I'd spent the most time with.
[Great Mop]
[Description: Might be usable for cleaning something up.]
[Effect: Sturdy and doesn't break easily. Even if broken, it returns after some time.]
The item I'd received in the anomaly instead of 21 hours' part-time pay.
A shallow breath leaked out.
It crawled slowly between the partitions, like a spider.
Each time its two arms slapped the floor, a tak, tak— metallic friction rang out.
The candy I'd just farmed was finally gripped in my hand.
I gauged the distance and slowly rolled the candy in my palm.
I couldn't throw it far.
A long throw required a big motion.
That would light up the overhead light, wasting the effort.
Decision made, I acted immediately.
One wasn't enough—I threw the rest toward the partition right next to me, using minimal motion.
My grip tightened on the stick.
Crunch-
My fingers clenched hard.
Then—
Tak!
The light flicked on with a sound.
In that split second—
Its head snapped tik- toward it.
By the time I registered, its head had already turned toward the spot right beside me.
The movement was too fast.
Not the speed of any living creature.
In that instant, the air tore apart.
Kwang—!
It burst through the partition.
Partitions toppled in succession.
Papers scattered in the air like raindrops.
A single silhouette.
Its full form came into view.
A form like some canine beast.
Two legs generated explosive power as it moved.
Sounds of metal shattering, fluorescent lights vibrating, debris slowly scattering.
My heart pounded like it would burst.
Time slowed.
No need to stay under cover anymore.
Such explosive power in bursts.
Meant equal force was needed to stop it midway.
I pressed my toes into the floor.
My whole body tensed to the breaking point.
The fluorescent light shook.
The air felt heavy, as if compressed.
At this distance, dodging was impossible.
Tak!
Lights on—our eyes met.
Eyes wide in shock.
Kwang!
The pipe slammed into its body.
I'd aimed for the neck or face.
But its speed was too much—the impact point shifted in a blink.
Just before the monster's body hit the floor from the recoil.
Its trajectory suddenly changed, rolling into the adjacent partition.
Kkiiigik—
Metal bent like tearing flesh.
Then one of its arms slammed the floor.
And the other black arm slid back, lunging toward me.
Kwang!
The force transmitted through my hands.
High durability.
At least equivalent to five convenience store mannequins.
Still, it hadn't absorbed all the impact from before.
With a dull thud, sticky fluid sprayed everywhere from its body.
It twisted its head and retreated.
But only for a moment.
Its arm shot up again.
Second, third—
This time, both arms whipped out simultaneously.
“Fucking hell…”
I twisted my body and barely dodged.
As I shifted position and the light moved away.
The original light went out, and the one at my new spot lit up.
A question surged.
Why?
If it had been standing there, the light shouldn't have gone out.
A brief opening.
In that moment—
One of its faces thrust right in front of my eyes from the side.
The skin split wide on both sides, something wriggling inside.
Human teeth.
Jjeoeok—
Tak! Tak!
It lunged as if to devour me.
Luckily, I jammed the other end of the pipe straight into its throat, stopping it.
A scream-like sound erupted.
But my senses screamed.
Too shallow.
Ignoring the pain, its arm grabbed my arm.
Grip crushing my wrist.
Breath caught.
Slowly, its other arm rose high.
Veins bulging, power concentrating visibly.
Aiming for my head.
Ignoring the pain from my hand, I racked my brain.
Need a way. A method…
Thoughts stalled midway.
What I could do while grabbed like this.
That's when it happened.
━━━━━━━━━Kwang!!!!!
An ear-shattering boom.
The ceiling shook, fluorescent lights swaying wildly.
Fragments of light poured before my eyes.
Its movement halted at the sound.
Its head reflexively turned toward the source.
The downside of crude intelligence.
Prioritizing situational judgment.
For a moment, the massive head fully turned.
I tensed every muscle to the limit.
Its head raised—completely exposed.
I didn't miss the gap.
I braced the opposite end of the Great Mop in my left hand against the floor.
Clap! I clapped my hands.
It realized its mistake late, snapping its head back faster than before.
And—
That was its fatal error.
Pook
The pipe plunged mercilessly deep into the face it hadn't reached before.
Freeze.
My breath came ragged.
My arms trembled slightly from the fight.
I slowly rose from where I'd fallen.
Pulled out the Great Mop.
Something mixed with mucus and blood splattered down.
Seeing the sticky fluid ooze out.
I turned toward the direction of that earlier sound.
Far away, a considerable distance from my current spot.
Light debris bloomed through the darkness.
And toward its center.
Things that looked like the light it had charged toward were swarming in at high speed.
“…Five, six…ten…twenty-three…”
I stopped counting past thirty.
All the ones in this area were being drawn there.
I stood frozen in place for a while.
Regulating my breathing.
Watching until that distant light fully died.
And then.
Nearly thirty minutes later.
The light went out.
And around its center, the horrors scattered one by one, as if on cue.
……What the hell is going on here right now?