Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Horrifica's Hideout
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“Hngh... Kuuh.”
A man without legs was crawling across the floor on his hands.
The path behind him was dyed red.
“Damn. Feels like all my ribs are busted.”
Blood as precious as his very life poured from his severed legs, while his crushed ribs stabbed relentlessly into his organs.
“Good thing I held onto this.”
In his hand was a small, half-smashed button.
For some reason, the Bureau had stopped using it after past experiments, but anyone involved in illicit tale-related dealings carried a “Phantom Cutter” like this.
The cost of escape was the loss of body parts.
A small price compared to its effect, but regardless, Jeong Jun-il's situation was dire.
“Still, if I can just get back to base... get some treatment...”
His suit was turning into a red tailcoat in real time.
“No time.”
He mustered every last bit of strength to rummage through his pocket.
“Huh?”
The movement of his hand inside the pocket grew frantic.
“No way...”
He turned the pocket inside out and dumped out everything inside, but all that spilled out were the defective goods he'd sold cheap to dark merchants and a few dollar bills.
“The key... it's gone.”
His hand movements came to a stop.
No one could tell if it was because he'd given up on everything or because his body could no longer move his arm.
“Our grand dream... We have to let them know about the Merchant...”
With those words, Jeong Jun-il's shallow breaths faded away, lonely in the dark shadows of the back alley.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Slipping past the clown and out the exit was a piece of cake.
How many idiots in the world can't burst through an exit right in front of them?
At least, the only one I'd seen lately was that Jeong Jun-il guy from moments ago.
“So, what now?”
The key to their base.
It was called a key, but it wasn't some ordinary thing you hung on a door to unlock it.
It had something to do with twisting an existing tale, or whatever the concept was.
As a result, the base itself was a tale, and getting in without the key was incredibly complicated and annoying.
This was one reason the Bureau hadn't detected their existence until now.
Which meant Jeong Jun-il probably wouldn't make it back to base.
At least, that bought me plenty of time before any info on me leaked out.
Judging by his condition right before he vanished, he might've even dropped dead somewhere.
“Hmm.”
Tough call.
As the scale so far showed, Horrifica wasn't some pushover organization.
I'd gotten stronger lately from selling goods, but not strong enough to charge in solo.
Probably my limit would be wrecking them halfway and going out in a blaze of glory.
In times like these, using my dear friends at the Bureau seemed like a smart move.
I didn't like their methods one bit, and they seemed to hate my guts, but no other group had their level of firepower right now.
“First, make a door.”
I inserted the key into thin air.
In a world governed by gravity, it should've fallen straight to the floor, but in this tale-influenced realm, it hung suspended in midair.
I twisted the stiff key with some force, and with a satisfying click of gears meshing, a door materialized in the air.
If I closed it now, it'd vanish like it was never there—but I wasn't one of Horrifica's members, so no need to bother.
In fact, leaving it open was key to my plan.
“Now... how to summon the Bureau.”
I didn't have a phone, so calling was out. No payphones around either, and directly telling people was too risky for me.
That left only a more... aggressive approach.
Boom—!
Collapse the building next door.
Sorry to the workers who'd have to clear debris and restore it, but better than another Horrifica terror attack, right?
People would check out the commotion, spot the eerie door floating in the air, and report it to the Bureau.
Then Bureau agents would get dispatched to inspect inside, and Horrifica would face the hammer of justice.
Figuring the time for them to finish procedures and enter... about an hour?
Not ideal if they reached the base before I wrapped up my business.
And one hour was plenty of time to get stuff done.
“Alright, let's go.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The door delivered a slight dizziness and headache before revealing a new space.
Behind me, the unnaturally open door still connected the outside to here, while ahead stretched a maze-like expanse under dim, yellowish lights that faded into infinity.
A place of endless repetition.
The so-called liminal space, or Backrooms.
These lunatics had built their base inside the Backrooms.
Taking a place that could drive you mad in a day as your headquarters—they were something else.
Or maybe they were already insane and didn't care.
Of course, this space itself wasn't their base.
More like an outer filter to weed out intruders.
In the original story, dozens of Bureau agents had entered and gotten shredded in under thirty minutes.
It did its job as a filter perfectly.
“Not my problem, though.”
This maze had a set path, unlike the hamburger joint earlier.
Nothing to worry about.
I pulled up a mental map and followed the route, even drawing black marker arrows on the walls for the Bureau team that'd arrive in about an hour.
Occasional distant entity roars echoed from the Backrooms, but nothing important, so I ignored them and kept walking.
As the relentless yellow lights and creepy wallpaper started inducing neurosis, a faint vent duct appeared in the distance—something I hadn't seen before.
The Backrooms' exit.
Up close, it was big enough for a person to fit through.
Whether a grown adult could squeeze into a vent like that in reality didn't matter—this was a tale, who cared about realism?
Besides, I had no intention of crawling in.
Everyone knew Backrooms “exits” just led to more Backrooms—an infinite maze.
Going in there would've dumped me into another layer, with tougher entities and no path to Horrifica's base.
Escaping ten more layers to reach reality? Straight-up hell.
“That's probably what Horrifica was banking on.”
The rewards for clearing the full Backrooms were sweet, but I could farm those later when I had time.
I slipped through a slightly ajar wall beside the vent.
Of course, I didn't forget to draw a big arrow and circle for the Bureau, plus a massive X over the vent.
The hazy yellow soon faded from view, replaced by a mundane office space like any corporate floor.
I knew there were Backrooms with office themes, but this wasn't one.
The guy sitting in that chair proved it.
“Hello. What brings you here?”
Funny how he pretended to be normal.
One moment of laxity, and he'd ambush you to death.
Worse, the bastard was actually human.
“Oh, hi... Do you know where this is? I tripped on the street and suddenly ended up here...”
Start with the lost lamb act.
“You've had a rough time. This way—”
Strike when his guard drops!
Thwack!
My tentacle pierced his heart in the blink of an eye.
His bewildered expression was priceless.
“Next up.”
This place had tons of rooms, but I knew exactly where to go.
I opened doors and delved deep into the corridors until a pristine white door stood sealed like a sanctuary, distinct from the rest.
But opening it revealed a tiny room that clashed with the solemn vibe.
A bed and tangled medical equipment filled the cramped space.
And atop the bed, where thin wires and tubes from the devices converged, an old man lay weakly, gazing my way.
“Wel... come.”
His skin was so wrinkled it hid his features, his limbs skeletal bones barely holding his frame together.
“My colleague... Ah, he's dead.”
No trace of sorrow in the old man's voice.
“You're the Merchant. Truly... you've helped us immensely. Thanks to you, we've shortened so many paths.”
Jeong Jun-il had needed to see my tentacle to realize; the old man knew without a hint.
“Horrifica's leader.”
“Horrifica? Yes... that's right. But it's not our true name...”
I knew that much.
Horrifica was just the Bureau's nickname for them.
“Neither I nor this community have a name.”
In the story, high-ranking beings rarely had names.
“Names... give birth to tales. I can't become the core of a tale yet...”
They erased their names to avoid mention in stories.
Stories birthed tales, and they were too vital to be consumed by one.
“But yes, it's getting to that point, even if early. We'll use Horrifica as our name.”
For some reason, it pissed me off.
I wanted to smash the old man's face right then.
“Your goal.”
“Obviously. Humanity's salvation.”
The clichéd goal for a chapter one's boss.
“Sorry, but that's not happening. I'm killing you now and looting this place.”
Thwack!
The leader's tenuously clinging life snuffed out in the most pathetic way.
...
Was it always this easy?
Ah! Our holy god! Save humanity!
Holy cries echoed from all directions.
Yeah, no way it'd be that simple.
The real boss fight was just beginning.