The Room You Can't Leave If You Don't Do It
"Ugh, still dizzy as hell."
The moment I snapped out of the poppy tea haze, I circulated mana through my body to clear my head.
But even after running it for quite a while, the throbbing headache and hypersensitive senses showed no sign of letting up.
I'm a pretty high-rank hunter myself—no way a couple of poppies should hit me like this. It had to be concentrated from a ton of them, just like the teabag said.
Once that clicked, the rulebook's warning about the red teabag finally made sense.
If a normal person drank this, they'd be done for.
I only got off lucky because of my level—ending up pleasantly buzzed. An average joe would've dropped dead from tea this potent. The kind of urban legend that threatens your life, like that subway attendant.
Anyway, the fact that these teabags were in the break room meant someone was using them... Who the hell drinks this shit?
And why didn't anyone bother me while I was passed out there for 14 hours?
"Sigh. Better keep investigating."
No point dwelling on it now—I wouldn't get answers anyway. Best to just make the most of the situation at hand.
Let's recap: This loop's a total bust. I blacked out all day and skipped my first day at the company, the big important event. No telling what backlash is coming.
And worst of all... ...they totally caught me on camera, right?
Me sucking down poppy tea, blissed out like feels so gooood♡? That got broadcast nationwide through whatever recording devices they have.
I've already got some recognition around town, and now this? It's a speedrun straight to life in ruins.
No matter what, I'm scrapping this loop...!
Since it's getting tossed anyway, no need to worry about prying eyes. I kicked off my annoying heels and started walking.
Hell, being a throwaway loop means I can investigate the other rules even more aggressively. Next up: the elevator legend.
Deep into the night, after everyone at the company had clocked out.
As the new intern on my first day, I trudged through the pitch-black office without even my phone flashlight.
No need—with Thousand Li Eyes, I could see clear as day even in total darkness. No point turning on lights and giving away my position.
The empty, silent office felt a bit creepy like that, but it was a smart call for smooth intel gathering, so I pushed through.
"Elevator should've been around here... Ah, there it is."
Stepping out the office door, I spotted a white glow down the distant hall.
About 30 meters away, an elevator door was closing with a man and woman inside.
"Hey, that one!"
Through Thousand Li Eyes' insane range, I spotted a red-glowing B8 button amid the panel.
Basement 8—the no-entry zone from the rulebook. My top priority target right now. But once that door shut, no guarantee the B8 button would stick around.
"Wait, hold up!"
I couldn't let that elevator go. I yelled desperately at the people inside, but got dead silence in return.
No choice—I pumped mana to reinforce my body and sprinted toward it.
Hold on, my clothes feel... weird.
Problem was, the poppy high hadn't worn off yet.
Whether it was the drug's natural effect or something special in that teabag, I didn't know, but...
"Hngh?!"
The fabric rubbing against my skin everywhere felt insanely stimulating. Every step sent pleasurable chills scraping down my back like something was dragging across it.
"Stop!"
"Kyaaak!"
I kept charging anyway and slammed the open button just before the doors shut, barely catching the elevator.
"Haa... haa... Body's already fucked, and now this shit...!"
"W-Who are you? Why are you in the office this late...?"
The poppy aftereffects were worse than I thought.
I could grit through the headache, but the heightened senses made every little stimulation a nightmare to endure.
"...Sion?"
"Assistant Manager Kim?"
As I caught my breath inside, a somewhat familiar face spoke up.
One of the two was Assistant Manager Kim, who'd given me the newbie orientation that morning.
"Sion, where the hell have you been? The office was in an uproar earlier..."
"Get out."
"Huh?"
"I said get out!"
But right now, I had no time to play with Ponytail Woman and her chest-staring bullshit.
No clue when that button might vanish, and more importantly, my body's state was too fucked to hold out much longer.
One slip, and I'd collapse.
"Hey! Who the hell do you think you are, being so rude?!"
"Don't make me talk, it's hard enough..."
"What kind of crazy bitch are you?!"
"Babe, calm down first..."
The woman shook her black ponytail furiously, venting her rage at me.
From the vibe, she seemed like Kim's office girlfriend or something... Poor girl, stuck with a guy like that.
As we bickered and time ticked away, I made my call.
"You gonna get out or not?"
"Why the hell should we?!"
It screamed "creepy destination" from a mile away—I'd wanted to go solo. But no helping it now.
Talking wasn't getting them off, and if they bailed and the B8 button disappeared, I'd be screwed.
Besides, NPCs weren't my problem. Just hit the damn button.
"Fuck it, whatever."
-BAM!
Basement
8̪͈̬̰̲̖̗̱͔̝͎̯̾́̓́̊̃̆̓ F͎̠̝̪̫̩̘͍̥́̔̎̓̋̈́̈́̿͂l͎̪̰̩͈̥͎̒́̈́̽̽̋̆̇o̮͖̗̣͍̯̭̅̅̈́̑̂́͑̋̎͑̚ͅo̫̳̠̤͔̲͚̮̗̥͙̮͒͛̒́͗̑͌̄̋͋́̍r̭̪̜͚͍͖̖̋̐͋̓́̌?
?̪̙͚͚̱͉̙̠̪̬̑̅̒̉͂̆̀̀?͎̞̥͖̓̏͐̌̓̎̅̋̾̽̚ͅ!͎̤͖̞͔̜̪̓̽̔͂̈̄̈͂8͎̜̠̞̄͒̾̿̊̈́̀ͅ8͎̝̰͙̦͚́͐̈̆̂̅?̗͕̜͉̞̤͙͈͍̘͂̑̂͛̏̂̒͂̀̓̓?
"Kyaaaaak!"
"Babe!!"
The elevator plunged the instant I hit the button. Amid the stomach-dropping freefall, the couple screamed and burst into tears.
I did tell them to get out, right?
"Department Head! Big trouble!"
"What? What's going on?"
Daegu Awakener Association Branch.
They'd been tearing their hair out over the surge of dungeons lately, and today they hit a massive crisis.
"We've got three mismeasured dungeons in our area right now!"
"What!? Fuck, what the hell does that mean?!"
"The dungeon mana gauge glitched out..."
"I told you to do secondary checks no matter how busy I am!!"
"S-Sorry!"
Dungeon ranks measure clear difficulty. A mismeasurement could spell disaster for raids—huge problem.
"Haa... So, where and how bad?"
"Fantasy-world C-grade measured as B-grade, martial-world E-grade as D-grade."
"Phew... Not the kind that'd cause accidents, at least..."
"W-Well..."
B-to-C or E-to-D? Minor issue—just slight difficulty variance, no fatalities likely.
Still a fuckup, so Department Head Park Dae-chul figured he'd hand out compensation to the raid teams.
Until the subordinate dropped the bomb.
"Namdong-gu's A-grade dungeon got measured as C-grade..."
"What?!!"
An ultra-high-risk A-grade mistaken for low-tier C-grade? Enough to make you jump out of your skin.
And worse—it was a solo clear dungeon, with only one hunter inside.
"...B-grade, Jeong Sion?"
"Yes..."
A mere B-grade hunter, soloing an A-grade. Even top A-grades hesitate on personal A-grade clears.
Rules matter in this special dungeon, sure, but her survival odds were near zero.
"...She's the one from Seoul support, right?"
"Yes..."
"Call the Seoul branch head. Right now."
High-risk rule dungeons usually got intel from death-row criminals sent in.
But this? Association screwup sending an info-less girl into the jaws of death. And she was an internet celeb hunter, too.
"Haa... Country's gonna flip."
The Daegu branch head despaired at her impending death in advance.
She'd need ten lives to make it out of that deathtrap.
At the same time, inside that death trap of a dungeon.
"What are we gonna do?!"
"You think I saw this coming?"
"My boyfriend got flung somewhere mid-drop!"
The white-haired beauty and the black-ponytailed woman were hashing it out.
The elevator had dumped them in a boring white room—nothing but blank floor all around.
Save for a queen-sized bed plopped dead center.
And beside it, a small note.
-The Room You Can't Leave If You Don't Fuck
Not super detailed, but it seemed to demand some mutual activity.
The ponytail woman stared hard at the note, pondered a moment, then flopped onto the bed.
Her face flushed red from the poppy influence, hair a sweaty mess.
Like she'd made up her mind, she made her pitch.
"Just close our eyes and do it?"
"Fuck off!!"