Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: The Endless Staircase
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Everyone has their own reaction when visiting a new place for the first time.
For example, someone visiting a flower garden might find it a beautiful paradise, while a person with a pollen allergy would see it as a hell of coughing and runny noses.
The same goes whether it's a beach or an amusement park.
But if that place is a sewer, then no matter who you are, you'll probably feel the same way I do.
"Gonna puke."
I should have at least worn a disposable mask before coming down into the sewer.
The stench assaulting my nose directly feels like it's shredding my sanity.
And the graphic sewer scenery hitting my eyes through sight...
"Ugh."
Don't think about anything.
Me, yeah.
I'm just walking through a dump that's a little extra smelly right now.
A dump is gross too, no doubt, but it's still better than a sewer.
To shake off the disgust creeping over my body even a little, I reminded myself of why I'd come here.
I'd come to this place where traces might still remain in search of evidence of the altered history.
Someone might ask if that place is the sewer, but naturally, the sewer is merely the passage leading there.
Five minutes had passed since I walked past that eerie spot with a lived-in feel, so it should reveal itself soon.
"Let's see, turn right here first."
The sewer's layout felt surprisingly like a maze.
If you didn't know the internal structure well, anyone could easily get lost.
Even I only knew the path leading to that tale.
"Then through this side passage."
This path stretched out longer than the others.
And if my memory served right, my destination lay at the end of it.
I followed the slowly flowing sewage, taking step after step.
After a hundred paces, and nearly ten minutes more, a hazy wall finally came into view in the distance.
"Looks like I found it without trouble."
As I drew closer to the wall, a door marked "Authorized Personnel Only" came into sight.
I had no idea if such a door normally existed in a sewer, but its awkward position made one thing clear: it didn't belong.
I shoved the stiff door open with force.
What appeared was a staircase.
It gave off the same vibe as the stairs you pass when entering an underground parking garage.
Truth be told, the sour smell rising from the sewer wasn't why I disliked my destination.
It was these stairs.
Unlike the stairs leading to the king's underground vault, these were absurdly long, and with rules that had to be followed meticulously, descending them required tremendous patience.
I didn't mind since I could return instantly with my key, but even in the game, I had to climb back up these stairs to leave.
"If I were just a regular bureau employee, I'd have suffered big time."
Thinking about it this way, maybe it was fortunate I was a tale.
No, if I weren't a tale to begin with, I wouldn't have needed to come here at all!
"Hoo..."
Let me cool my head and head down.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The inside of the staircase was quite dark.
A faint, origin-unknown light periodically illuminated the stairs, but it wasn't enough to descend safely.
I tapped the flashlight I'd brought from the shop to turn it on.
And the moment the flashlight lit up, what entered my eyes was...
"!"
A person's corpse, upper body melted and stuck to the floor.
Judging by its condition, it had been there at least two years.
As I explained earlier, this staircase had certain rules that had to be followed.
If you failed to observe them properly, you'd turn into a corpse in some form in an instant.
It was a Napolitan tale, just like the National Central Library I'd entered to obtain the Label Library.
But starting from this tale, the brain strain began in earnest: first, the overwhelmingly long length, and second, a single mistake leading straight to death.
Let's head down for now.
The stairs illuminated by the flashlight periodically indicated what floor it was.
It started at B1, but now it already read B10.
"No problems so far."
Passing B11 and heading to B12...
What should have said B12 had, without warning, changed to the bizarre number 47.
At this point, I recalled the rules for this staircase.
The rules normally had to be found elsewhere, but they were already firmly etched in my mind.
- First rule: If the floor isn't displayed normally, go up one floor and come back down.
- At the same time, memorize the original floor marking.
There were a few more rules besides these, but for now, just these two mattered.
I engraved the number 57 deep in my mind, went up one floor, then came back down.
Then the normal number 12 welcomed me.
"Let's keep going down."
The destination was B100—an absolutely distant and deep level.
If there was time to dawdle, it would surely be a luxury.
I descended, skipping two steps at a time like the adults forbid.
Occasionally, abnormal floor numbers appeared, so I didn't forget to go up and down accordingly.
So far, the numbers that had shown up were 57, 84, 62, 58, 97—a total of five.
Considering my disastrously bad luck, the current situation wasn't half bad.
A bit confusing, sure, but five numbers were manageable to memorize.
Some genius might think you could just write them down, but no.
You had to memorize the numbers—no exceptions.
Writing them anywhere violated the rules and meant death.
My current position was B48.
Once past B50, a new rule kicked in—the true start of this tale.
A little tense, but it was fine.
I'd been to this tale more than once or twice.
A few more steps, and B51 appeared in my view.
"Ha... right up to the last."
Cancel that about my luck being good.
This should have been B50.
I went up and back down again, and the normal 50 greeted me.
Listing all the numbers that had appeared: 57, 84, 62, 58, 97, 51.
In order: 51, 57, 58, 62, 84, 97.
Now I needed to recall the next rule.
- Beware the floors with the memorized numbers.
That was the only rule applying right now.
Thoroughly perfunctory, yet it instilled just as much dread.
Even for me now, each of those floors posed a danger.
"Next floor is 51, so it starts right away."
I took a deep breath, checked the flashlight, and headed down.
The wall plainly read B51.
It felt no different from the previous floor, so I could relax—but I wouldn't.
This place was dangerous, period.
Suddenly, the flashlight went out.
It had been perfectly fine when I'd checked it just before.
"Hoo... what was the dangerous thing about the light going out again?"
Either way, I needed to get the flashlight working to proceed.
Eyes adapted to the light couldn't adjust to the sudden darkness.
I pulled out the battery, reinserted it, shook the flashlight—every trick in the book—and the light returned.
And what came into my view was...
A person's head.
Literally just the head, severed from the body and lying there like a soccer ball.
"H...hel...lo?"
The head opened its mouth and greeted me.
No sane person in any world would respond to a greeting in this situation.
"Yeah, hello."
But I did.
This was one you had to reply to.
"Your... na...me? What... is it?"
"My name is Shin Jin-seong."
I answered the head's question dutifully.
After a few routine exchanges, the head grinned as if its mouth were tearing open, then rolled down the stairs and vanished.
"Ha... at least the first one was an easy one."
It was simple—just answer the questions.
If you didn't, your head would pop right off your body.
51 was done. Remaining: 57, 58, 62, 84, 97.
That's right.
After passing B50, random events occurred on floors 51, 57, 58, 62, 84, and 97.
I knew how to handle every event, but knowing didn't make them easy to overcome.
"Let's get down as fast as possible."
I didn't know when the "final rule" would start.
Barring anything special, I could reach B56 without issue.
I descended without a moment's pause.
I soon reached B56, but I didn't go straight to B57.
"57 followed immediately by 58..."
The remaining floor lineup was unfavorable.
Consecutive floors like this usually brought tricky ordeals.
"Ha..."
And my prediction was spot on.
A floor massively larger than any before bore the marking B57 & B58.
Unknown liquid bubbled up the walls like a reverse reflux.
I slowly raised my gaze to the ceiling, where a massive sphere of flesh hung suspended.
With sorrow permeating the air, my emotions surged, making it hard to maintain my sanity.
"Ha..."
I forced my breathing steady and mustered my mental strength.
"Gotta... hold onto my mind as best I can!"
As if mocking my efforts, the sphere that had begun vibrating in sync with my breath soon stopped—and opened its eyes.