Hae-sarang Apartment
Auto-save complete.
The auto-save kicked in as if to prove this was a different anomaly from the last one.
"Might as well search the place while I wait."
First rule of survival when an anomaly snatches you: look around. Find anything that might help you stay alive. Diaries, notes — didn't matter what. Even the smallest scrap of a clue had always paid off for me.
"Nothing."
The apartment was bare. Not a single piece of furniture. A clean, empty unit. Not one clue to be found.
"Come on, not even a TV? How am I supposed to kill time while I figure this thing out?"
Phone was useless, of course. I scratched my head and tried to get my thoughts in order. Water ran fine, and meals showed up every sitting, she'd said. Having to make do with a single bar of soap in the shower was a letdown, but compared to other anomalies, this was still a step up.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
"She's here."
My internet friend had arrived. I hurried over and opened the door.
"Uh… who are you?"
A beautiful woman stood outside. The classic type — that pure-looking shut-in pretty girl, hovering in front of my door.
An anomaly?
There was no way a woman that gorgeous would just be standing at my door for no reason. In-seo and Eun-hwa had each had their own reasons for getting tangled up with me. This one didn't.
"Hey, open the door! Hurry up!"
"Get lost, ghost whore. I'm not falling for it."
"It's me, dumbass. CryingCatIfShit. Open the door before the anomaly shows up."
She said the username exactly right. She was a gallery user after all. I opened the door without a fight.
"Close it. Fast."
I let her in and shut the door behind her.
"Nice to meet you. We don't need real names, right? We can do that once we're out."
"Yeah. Smart call."
Names and personal details were nothing but liabilities. You never knew when an anomaly would overhear and go hunting for your family or anyone close to you.
"So what aliases are we using?"
"Call me Kim Hana."
"Kim Cheol-su."
I went with something plain. Kim Cheol-su — the kind of name that showed up in every textbook.
"Huh. You look surprisingly normal."
"Do I? Thanks."
Surprisingly normal. I decided not to dig into what she'd been imagining me as. Everything I'd posted in the gallery had been pure unhinged garbage, after all.
"These are the rules you have to follow in this apartment."
I took the rulebook from the woman calling herself Kim Hana.
0-1. Our apartment is not a corridor-style structure. It is a stairwell-style apartment. If the building structure appears to be corridor-style, go outside and re-enter until the structure returns to normal.
0-2. This apartment is currently under Management Bureau supervision. If you visit the security office, a Management Bureau agent on duty will receive you.
0-3. This apartment complex was planned for up to Building 110 with a maximum of 30 floors. Due to the construction company's bankruptcy, only Building 101 was completed, up to the 15th floor. Floors 16 and above do not exist.
1. The Hae-sarang Apartment Complex values neighborly goodwill. Please do not startle or scream suddenly. Do not inconvenience your neighbors.
2. The Hae-sarang Apartment Complex holds a regular general meeting every week. Do not miss attendance at the regular general meeting.
3. The most important thing in the Hae-sarang Apartment Complex is neighborly goodwill.
3-1. Even if you occasionally hear screams within the apartment complex, ignore them. This is a common occurrence in the Hae-sarang Apartment Complex.
3-2. Even if you hear a voice from next door crying for help, ignore it. It is only an auditory hallucination — not a voice made by a real person. Even if it is a real person, there is nothing you can do, so ignoring it is the correct answer.
4. Do not wander near the apartment complex at night. With the exception of Building 101, no other sections of this complex were ever constructed. If you see other apartment buildings, close your eyes and take a deep breath. If other pedestrians see you and approach to greet you, greet them warmly in return. They will quietly withdraw.
*Under no circumstances should you show disgust, panic, or look behind you.
5. Both the elevator and the stairs in Hae-sarang Apartment are dangerous. Whether using the stairs or the elevator, observe the rules.
5-1. When the elevator is full, exit immediately. Do not press any buttons. If you have already pressed the button for your floor, follow Rule 6.
5-2. Occasionally, the elevator will move when something other than a human has boarded. A mirror has been installed so you can detect invisible entities. Observe your reflection carefully. Your clothing may be different, your posture may have changed, or your reflected appearance may be slightly altered. Do not return home in that state. We take no responsibility for what happens if you do.
5-3. When using the stairs, you will find doors that are open. An intense curiosity will seize your mind. Do not let curiosity control you — wait for the door to close. Only then proceed upstairs. Do not allow residents of other units to take an interest in you. In Hae-sarang Apartment, too much attention and neighborly goodwill is poison.
6. How to handle guests visiting your home. If a guest arrives, receive them with full hospitality. If you were eating, invite them to join the meal. If you were going about your day, at least serve them some tea. Do not show any displeasure until they are satisfied and leave.
6-1. This apartment conducts monthly regular inspections. When the inspector arrives for a regular inspection, you must open the door and welcome them. Procedure for when you have violated Rule 5-1: Upon arriving at the corresponding floor, a guest will come to visit. Do not skip the guest reception.
7. There are no children under the age of 10 in the apartment complex. Anyone who appears to be a child is not human. Be especially careful of a child wearing navy pants and a white T-shirt. If you find a child in navy pants and a white T-shirt, be sure to tell them that their parents are looking for them. The child will quietly go to their parents' home.
7-1. If the child says they will not go, take note of the following. Head to Unit 901 and ring the doorbell. Tell the child's parents that you found their child and give them the location. The parents will say they understand. After that, go downstairs without looking back. Under no circumstances look at any open doors.
8. Occasionally, red blood will drip from between the front doors. In such cases, do not pass through. Go down to the security office and report it. A Management Bureau agent will be dispatched.
9. Nothing is leased in the apartment commercial area. If you discover something occupying a commercial unit, do not enter and do not make any purchases. If you do enter, buy nothing and leave. Once should be fine. Probably.
10. The path to the underground parking garage is normally blocked. If the door to the underground parking garage is open, or if you are taken to the underground parking garage without pressing any buttons, take note of the following. A handgun will be provided in the corner. Put the gun to your head and fire. This is your last chance to die as a human. Kill yourself quickly, before something in the darkness of the underground parking garage kills you first.
11. If the apartment structure changes to corridor-style, this is a Code Red situation. Leave the apartment immediately and report to the agent stationed at the security office. Support forces from the Management Bureau will arrive and clear out the anomalies inside the corridor-style apartment.
Ugh. What the hell. Why did I get moved from a townhouse complex into an apartment…
I cross-checked the Mirinae Villa rulebook against the Hae-sarang Apartment Complex rules. There was no connection between them.
"Well? Think you can figure out how to escape?"
"Haa… not yet."
The rulebook alone wasn't enough to crack an exit. Guess I'll have to burn through lives figuring it out again. I already knew. I'd be dying at least a few times. My body trembled with dread.
And I still don't get why the Management Bureau is involved.
I'd never received any intel that the Management Bureau was managing this apartment complex. I couldn't understand why they were showing up here at all.
"Wait — then what about food?"
CryingCatIfShit had said meals showed up in the fridge like clockwork. That was how she'd been surviving, she'd muttered just the other day. But my unit didn't have a fridge at all.
"It's fine. We can share. My mom doesn't eat, anyway."
So she had one at her place. I'd fallen for a narrative trick.
"Hold on — mom? Your mom is in this apartment complex with you?"
CryingCatIfShit's mother. A woman I could never forget was inside this anomaly.
Wait. Didn't she say she'd been trapped in here for a long time already?
The timing didn't add up. I looked at her with open suspicion.
"W-well… there's an anomaly in my place that looks exactly like my mom…"
Kim Hana fidgeted with her fingers.
"Why are you sticking your tongue out?"
"Hey, why are you licking your lips?"
"Hey. You're not thinking something weird, are you?"
"I wasn't thinking anything weird."
I'd just entertained a brief, happy little fantasy. That was all.
"Haa… first, let's hit the security office. What was the Management Bureau agent like?"
"Like an NPC. Only gives scripted answers."
I calmed her down and started laying out a plan. First priority: check the Management Bureau agent.
"Where's the seven-year-old?"
Second priority: secure the safety of the kidnapped chaebol chairman's granddaughter. Get the kid out alive and send her home. I've got an escape item, too. Even if I couldn't resolve the anomaly itself, there was a way to get out breathing. And with three people, the numbers worked fine.
"I'll go grab her real quick."
Kim Hana vanished.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
Less than a minute after she left, the doorbell rang. Back already? I hurried over and opened the door.
"Hello. I'm the building president of Building 101. Do you have a moment?"
No Kim Hana. A tall, elegant beauty in her thirties stood at my front door.