Misunderstanding
I hadn't held out much hope for the misunderstanding crew, but unexpectedly, there was a manager who could fix the elevator. He wore a pitch-black crow mask. Sure, he was a manager, but I'd just witnessed the primal, gruesome feast those things had put on. The idea that one of them could handle something as modern as an elevator repair? Not a chance.
"Ooh...!"
Amazed by the surprise windfall, I let out an exclamation and clapped without thinking. The managers, spotting it, started mimicking me like they'd learned from observation.
"Ooh...!"
Clap clap clap—!
Once the applause died down, the security guard guy turned to me.
"O Great King. My essence. Name. Bestow it."
"Huh?"
He was suddenly asking me to name him. I checked the status window to see if their names were listed, but weirdly, no status applied to them at all. Even soulless objects showed info, yet these guys were the exception.
Are they below object level?
I had a thought that might insult them from their perspective, then immediately felt bad. They were my minions now, after all—treating them too lowly wasn't polite.
In the end, after some deliberation, I decided to name them myself. For the security guard guy, just "Security Guard." For the rabbit doll, "Rabbit." Straightforward, based on their mascot getups.
Squirrel, Hippo, Lion, and so on—half-hearted names all around.
And finally, as a special exception for the crow mask who could fix the elevator, I bestowed "Elite Employee."
The surprisingly refined(?) name drew gasps of admiration from the surrounding managers, who burst into applause.
"Ooh...!"
Clap clap clap—!
They were definitely mimicking and learning from my actions. Seizing the momentum, I assigned tasks to each: hallway cleaning, repairing the broken front door, perimeter watch. They should take it easy during normal times but thoroughly eliminate any intruders.
I especially ordered them to defend the first-floor convenience store and hardware shop at all costs. It hadn't even been a full day since the gate appeared, and everyone was still reeling from the shock, so no one had eyed the store yet—but better safe than sorry. With no clue how long we'd be trapped here, securing emergency rations wasn't optional; it was essential.
I pondered what to do with the slain residents' corpses and asked if the managers could dispose of them, but they all shook their heads in unison.
"O Great King. All within domain. Belongs to King. We cannot."
They didn't have the authority to dispose of things on their own, apparently. But leaving bodies in the halls wasn't an option either. For now, I ordered them gathered and moved to the building's storage room.
With the briefing wrapped, I was about to dismiss them when the now-"Elite Employee" crow mask approached me.
"Great King. Problem. Electricity. No in homes."
Oh, right! No power or water except in my place!
My apartment had full utilities, but the other residents didn't. I recalled the PC system showing electricity and water as both 'OFF.'"
"Got it. Hang on a sec. I'll fix it."
I grabbed Jangbi and headed inside.
"Jangbi, you said earlier you're filling in for the water since it wasn't coming out, right?"
"Yes, exactly, my lord! This dilapidated building is utterly unworthy of your station—no proper water supply at all—so this humble one is performing the role in its stead."
"Yeah... but how do you do that?"
"My true body spans multiple dimensions. I draw the necessary resources from those dimensions here."
It was a chillingly cosmic horror kind of answer.
"What about electricity?"
"Power is supplied directly from Miss Caroline's dimension. Surely we can't sully your sacred abode with crude mortal-world electricity."
"Miss Caroline? Who's that? Don't tell me the toad in the breaker box...?"
"Oh, you've already met her! She's a noble lady of a high dimension, specially assigned here to uphold your dignity."
"......"
My gaze drifted naturally to the breaker box. I had no idea what a "high-dimensional noble" meant exactly, but apparently, this esteemed lady was renting space in my toad house. Well, one mystery solved.
Jangbi and Caroline—they were absolute survival essentials for me. I sat at the PC and tried switching the electricity and water 'OFF' buttons to 'ON.' I clicked the 3D-protruding 'OFF' icon with the mouse.
But instead of changing, a foreign alert filled the screen.
27 foreign entities detected in building—not registered as Subjects.
Electricity and water available only to Subjects.
Remove foreign entities or register as Subjects to activate.
Choose: Remove / Register
"Why are they so extreme?"
I got the logic: utilities only for Subjects, current residents weren't registered, so no access. Fine. But non-Subjects automatically became "foreign entities"? Register or remove? Talk about brutal options.
"What, are they all psychopaths?"
Grumbling, I hovered the cursor over 'Register' and clicked.
Click.
27 entities eligible for Subject registration.
Subject registration requires consent from each entity.
Use Community chat to obtain consent.
"Now it's needlessly democratic."
Still grumbling, I followed the monitor's guidance into the Community window.
My eye caught the '1' on the inbox.
Who messaged me? The managers?
But priority was laundering those 27 "foreign entities" into Subjects. They'd consent, no doubt—considering their situation, who'd refuse vital electricity and water?
I clicked 'Group Message.'
⊳ Knight (1)
⊳ Minions (2)
⊳ Managers (16)
⊳ Subject Candidates (27)
⊳ Specific Gate Internals (via PC)
⊳ All Gate Internals
⊳ Gate Alerts (off)
"Subject Candidates... yeah, that's them."
Selecting it activated a new chat window with a prompt.
Hmm... what to write?
With the board set, I blanked. How to phrase it so residents consented without balking? I wasn't the communicative type—IRL or in games, I skipped chit-chat. People just brought disappointment and hassle.
"Wonder how it appears to them? Like my system windows, floating in air?"
Probably similar. No point overthinking—I'd state facts plainly, mimicking stiff system text. My style lacked humanity anyway.
Do you consent to registration as Gate Subjects?
Subjects pay fees for electricity, water, and utilities.
Refusal may result in removal.
Consent / Refuse
If they shared my system, they'd click easily. Or maybe not—PC ops might differ? Who knew. Hope the system handled it.
Before hitting enter, I added a line like instructing my usual AI.
[PC system, adjust wording to persuade all residents.]
Moments later, a new alert popped.
Chat refined to proper format and sent to Subject candidates.
As expected—the system polished and delivered it smoothly.
At the same time, in Room 702, Cheolyoung Lee stared at the sudden floating text, thinking it a hallucination at first. But rubbing his eyes didn't make it vanish.
Common sense was long gone. He'd seen monsters slaughter people, mascot dolls devour them. Tossed into this alien, powerless, terrifying space, floating text was no big shock.
But reading on, dread and unease thickened. The message reeked of hostility and grim curse.