The Ninth Basement Floor
“Kehek.”
Back to square one.
No matter how many times I went through the experience of having my limbs torn off and dying, it still felt like absolute shit.
Every Management Bureau branch in the world got hit.
They had collapsed one by one, staggered by time zones. America seemed to have resisted “something” until the very end, but even they eventually fell.
The real problem was that I still had no idea what that “something” even was.
I—I have to get underground first. There’s no other way.
Go down to the basement. Press the unidentified button on B10. That was the only option left.
“Um… Eun-hwa? Would you mind sticking with me?”
This time I approached Seong Eun-hwa carefully. Getting her down to B1 with me was priority number one.
“Huh? Ah, but wouldn’t it be more efficient if we searched separately?”
No. The second we split up, you’re a hundred percent dead. Moving together is better.
Eun-hwa glanced at the CCTV, reading the room.
“No. That would actually be less efficient. What are you going to do if you go upstairs and get taken out?”
“Mmmmm…”
She scrunched up her face and sank into thought. Looking closer, this woman seemed to be treating the entire situation like some kind of test. Ah, so that was it. Her strange calm and eager initiative finally made sense.
Trying to catch a superior’s eye and rack up good points?
Not a tomboy after all—she was a calculating vixen. Not brave, just shrewd. Her true nature, which I had been too terrified to notice last time.
“How about we just wait out today and move together?”
“Mmmmm.”
“Think about it. The current trend is teamwork. We have to show them we’re cooperating. It’ll leave a good impression on the higher-ups.”
“Alright.”
I successfully persuaded Seong Eun-hwa. We boarded the elevator together. I pressed the button for the first floor and looked at her.
“Watch carefully what I do.”
“Huh? Okay.”
I led her over to the reception desk and spoke to the woman there.
“Hello. We’re new hires—could you take us down to the basement?”
“Sure. Follow me.”
The reception desk lady smiled brightly and gestured. I already knew how to get underground, but there was no reason to take risks when a sure method was available.
“Here we are.”
This time she didn’t put anything over our faces. The reception desk lady arrived intact at the B1 work area without breaking down.
“So there were more newbies.”
While the reception desk lady and the B1 manager chatted, I scooped up the name tags that had fallen on the floor. Lee Hong-cheol. Seo In-seo. I pocketed both.
“Welcome. We were short on manpower, so this works out perfectly. The last batch of newbies all died not long ago—what a headache.”
“Excuse me? All the newbies die?”
“Yeah, they’re right down there.”
The B1 manager pointed at the floor in a bright, cheerful voice. Only the shattered remains of a sex doll lay there.
“This…?”
“Ah, those must be the people who were deployed first. Don’t worry—the two of us are different from them.”
I grabbed Eun-hwa’s arm and pulled her close, warning her with my body not to act rashly. Her overflowing enthusiasm could easily ruin everything.
She’ll come back if I regress, but I don’t want to watch her die.
I didn’t want the human version of her to die. An internal intimacy had already formed; seeing Eun-hwa die would hurt a great deal.
“There’s an anomaly perfect for newbies.”
As expected, the place the B1 manager dragged us to was the one called the Smiling Flower.
“Just stab the eyeballs on the flowers.”
“Don’t listen to him. Do exactly what I say.”
I pulled out my phone and played a random ringtone. The flower buds closed their eyes and fell asleep.
“Well done. Impressive.”
“Huh? I didn’t do anything?”
I grabbed the flustered Eun-hwa and pulled her along.
“Think of them as ghosts. Assume that important actions have to be done in reverse.”
“What?”
“Consider every person inside this building a ghost. Especially in the ‘basement,’ take every single word they say as the opposite of what they mean.”
We followed the B1 manager.
“You like piano performances? Want to rest a bit before we go?”
“That’s the Piano of Dancing Madness. Its trait is that if the piano music steals your soul, you dance until you die.”
“O-okay…”
Reality was finally starting to sink in. The color drained from Eun-hwa’s face little by little.
“Never let your mind wander while listening to the piano. Don’t doze off, and don’t look at your phone. Just listen to the performance like a devoted fan.”
“For how many hours?”
“About four?”
“F-four hours.”
All the blood left her face. She would have to sit still for four hours doing absolutely nothing but listening to piano music. Without the Gallery, I might have had my soul stolen and died myself.
“I’m turning my phone completely off and taking a seat.”
I powered the phone down fully and sat in a chair.
“Stay sharp.”
“Bite your lip.”
I woke Eun-hwa several times whenever she started to space out or nod off. The tedious four hours passed surprisingly quickly. After that we handled a few more anomalies, and our shift finally ended.
“Good work today.”
“You did well.”
“Th-thank you for your hard work…”
Seong Eun-hwa answered as if her soul had left her body. I almost imagined I could see it drifting out of her mouth.
“You have to come back on time tomorrow morning without being late.”
“Yeees.”
I parted ways with her and headed home. Impatience only ruins plans. I took a leisurely shower and stepped outside.
“They actually paid me.”
One million won for the test fee, plus three million for the B1 part-time work, had been deposited.
I thought an anomaly wouldn’t bother paying.
Whatever the anomaly’s intentions, one thing was certain: a single day’s work had brought in four million won. Working five days a week for a month would mean eighty million. Once the part-time job turned into a contract position, the money would only increase. Earning a hundred million a month wouldn’t even be a dream anymore.
“Worth risking my life for?”
A hundred million a month. Yeah, that was worth staking my life on.
“Time to buy everything I’ve ever wanted.”
Tonight’s dinner was fried chicken. I freely purchased all the things I had never been able to afford.
“I should try to survive at least until next week.”
The packages wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow. I tore into the chicken with a happy smile.
“Good morning.”
I arrived at the company thirty minutes before work started. Best not to give the anomaly any excuse. Eun-hwa must have thought the same—she was already there far earlier than me.
“Hello.”
Dark circles sat under her eyes; she must not have slept well. Facing death head-on, that reaction made perfect sense.
“Don’t worry. Just proceed the same way we did yesterday.”
I placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. As long as we only listened to the DadJoke Manager, the chance of dying dropped dramatically. Having a Management Bureau veteran—a department-head-level guy—backing me up was reassuring.
We won’t die, right? No new anomalies, right?
Honestly, I was a little nervous. If the DadJoke Manager had later walked into a brand-new anomaly, my life would be completely fucked.
“Huh? O-okay…”
Eun-hwa’s words trailed off. Her previously inflated confidence had shriveled in an instant. She hunched her shoulders and headed for the reception desk.
“Hello. Looking forward to working with you again today.”
The reception desk lady was still beautiful.
“You made it on time again today. What a shame.”
She smacked her lips with genuine regret. One second late and the reception desk lady would take our lives.
I want to do it with the reception desk lady so baaaad. Sex, sex. I want to bury myself in her pussy.
I was completely captivated by the faintly smiling reception desk lady as she approached. My mouth hung open as I stared at her face.
Good thing I wore a mask.
If Eun-hwa had seen my expression, she would have looked at me with pure disgust.
“C-come on, let’s go.”
Eun-hwa tugged at my sleeve. She seemed terrified of the reception desk lady who kept smacking her lips.
“Today you’ll go down to B2. I’ve already spoken to the B2 manager. Just head straight down. The elevator to B2 is over there. Since you’re rookies, I’ll drop by occasionally to check if you’re doing okay. No slacking off.”
The B1 manager pointed to the end of the hallway, explaining that he had deliberately twisted the routes in case of emergencies.
Because the regressions keep repeating, I keep forgetting this shit.
I had completely blanked on explaining the situation to the Gallery.
Am I alright…?
Of course I’m not alright. I’m dying right now. Facing a deranged anomaly that single-handedly toppled the entire Management Bureau by myself—my inner state was pure hell. I wanted to run away that very second.
The Manager repeating the same line.
“Is there no manager on B2?”
We arrived at the work area. Only a bench and a desk sat there forlornly; not a single person was on duty.
Should I just head straight down to B10?
To descend to the next floor, we had to head for the elevator on the opposite side.
“We’re going down to the next floor.”
“Huh?”
“There’s nothing to do on this level.”
I took Eun-hwa and crossed the B2 corridor.
There’s nothing. What the hell? Where did everything go?
Not a single light was on above the thick iron doors. We reached B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8. Same as B2. Not one room that stored anomalies remained.
What the…
Had they all been released? Had every anomaly been set free? Then where the hell had they all disappeared to?
I—I should just get down to B10 first.
The DadJoke Manager had said there would be a method on B10. I brought Eun-hwa to B9.
“We’re heading straight down to B10.”
“Huh? But they said there is no B10.”
“There is. I’m sure of it.”
I sprinted down the corridor toward the opposite side.
We’re reaching B10 this easily?
Strange. Everything was going far too smoothly. It was weird that the anomalies weren’t interfering with me at all.
“It’s not here?”
I reached the opposite end. The place where the elevator should have been was completely empty. Panicking, I pressed my hand against the wall. Only a cool sensation came back.
A path down to B10 had never existed in the first place.
I wasted too much time. If they come to check on us, everything could fall apart.
He had said he would come check whether we were slacking off. We had to return to the B2 site before the anomaly came down.
“Let’s head back for now.”
I approached the elevator that went up.
“Th-th-there. Over there.”
“What is it?”
I looked in the direction Eun-hwa was pointing. An iron door stood wide open. Between the gap, a human head was resting.
“A person?”
It was unmistakably a human head.
Every other door is shut, but only that one is open?
I should check it. A method to resolve the current situation might turn up.
“I’ll go take a look. Wait for me nearby.”
I left Eun-hwa at the end of the corridor and ran toward the room.
“A person? Are you a person?”
A voice came from beyond the open door. It was clearly a human voice capable of conversation.
“Yes, I’m a person. Who are you?”
I stood beside the door and spoke.