The Cabin of Terror #1

The old school building at Yeongji High was full of troublemakers. Kwon Su-ho’s crew was one of them. After getting tangled up with Bong Ji-yeon, I’d had some minor contact with his group. I’d been a little nervous they might pick a fight with me before the week was out, but fortunately nothing happened. I managed to enjoy a rare stretch of peaceful days.

Mom was being discharged this weekend and coming home. It meant my daily life was finally returning to normal. Well, if you could even call a life packed with ghosts and nightmares “normal.” Still, the simple fact that no new incidents were exploding and no blood was being spilled was enough for me to feel stable.

Plus, it was the perfect time to start preparing for finals. Fighting ghosts and studying at the same time—what a real horror story that was.

Anyway, that was the mood as Friday night rolled around, right before the weekend. The cooldown on corridor entry had just reset, so it felt like the right time to send in some farming parties. Putting together the entry members was surprisingly fun.

When I checked the player list for the first time in a while, there were quite a few changes.

Both Yang Ju-hui and I, Ha Yeong-won, had leveled up.

Once a promising young man, you have spent your days in meaningless routine, simply killing time. But even a broken clock is right twice a day.

I was now Level 3. Nothing seemed to have changed dramatically, though.

A delinquent girl with an unstable life and many secrets. Her personality is bold, adventurous, and proactive. In dark and treacherous journeys, this girl will usually prove to be a reliable companion.

Tool Expert: You may enter the corridor carrying up to three tools. Tool durability is doubled. You can handle acquired items with greater proficiency. — New

Swift Legs: For 10 seconds, move 1.5 times faster. — New

Yang Ju-hui had reached Level 3 as well. She must have finished her training at the training grounds, because she now possessed the Swift Legs trait. And I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠noticed her previous trait, Tool User, had upgraded to Tool Expert. So traits evolve with levels!

The differences were that tool durability had increased from 1.5 times to 2 times, and the added line “You can handle acquired items with greater proficiency” had appeared. Fascinating.

A young master who has never known hardship. He seeks stability and protects order, yet also dreams of adventure and willingly throws himself into tribulation.

Computer: Thought speed is doubled. You can discover puzzle and secret hints more easily. This trait locks if the user falls into great fear.

Speed Reading: You can read text 1.5 times faster.

Jeong Seok’s entry had been unlocked too. It was exactly what you’d expect from him—perfectly in character. The only surprise was that his disposition was listed as Romantic. Then again, when I thought about it, that wasn’t surprising at all. A knight who can’t forget his first love, Bong Ji-yeon, and throws himself into a horde of ghosts. A man who dreams of becoming the world’s greatest swordsman and eradicating every criminal. That kind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of life is impossible without romance.

Anyway, I was able to update Jeong Seok and Yang Ju-hui’s status windows. Now all that was left was… shoving my friends into the Nightmare Corridor.

Today was the turn of the Farming Party.

The Farming Party was an exploration team led by our class president, Jeong So-jin. It had been Jeong Seok’s suggestion to alternate between a “Farming Party” and a “Conquest Party.” The Conquest Party, of course, was the one centered on me, Ha Yeong-won, focused on conquering the Nightmare Corridor.

Jeong So-jin had to go in, no question. She’d bring back items again. I equipped her with the Luxury Bag, the Map, and a Flashlight.

Good. Very good. Just looking at them made me feel secure. Now, who to fill the remaining slots with?

I thought long and hard before making my decision.

“Oh, shit… What the hell is this?”

Saturday morning, 6 a.m. The words floating in front of my eyes completely chased away any remaining sleep. Someone had survived the Nightmare Corridor.

Park In-bae was one of the bullies in our class. Park Eun-jeong was Kwon Su-ho’s ugly older sister. I had sent both of them into the corridor as part of the exploration team yesterday, and they had died. That part wasn’t surprising. I had expected it.

What made me tense was the two who had survived.

“They survived…?”

This was an event I hadn’t anticipated at all. You could even call it an unfortunate accident. Jeong So-jin, whom I had sent as part of the Farming Party, had survived? How? Had I given her too many items and that somehow kept her alive? Or was Jeong So-jin just insanely competent?

“I’m screwed.”

This could become a variable in the future. It meant Jeong So-jin remembered everything that had happened inside the nightmare. Of course, she had no idea that the one sending her into the nightmare was me, Ha Yeong-won.

I also checked the character sheet of the other survivor I had sent with her.

A beautiful female teacher with stunning looks. She hides many things. It may be impossible for you at this stage to fully understand her.

Silent Steps: While holding your breath, you can completely eliminate all footstep noise in any situation.

???: ???

“Oh, shit…”

The variable in this run had been right here. I had put Teacher Hong Miri into this farming expedition on a whim. I wanted to test what would happen if the ghost known as the Red Woman entered the corridor as a player. I had been curious about the results, but…

Teacher Hong Miri had casually escaped the corridor, and in doing so had apparently dragged Jeong So-jin out with her. That was the only guess I could make.

“What’s with all the question marks?”

Her player sheet was full of them. No level, no disposition, and one trait was hidden. Just then—

My alarm rang. It was already 7 a.m. I quickly washed up so I wouldn’t be late for the meeting I had arranged with everyone.

Ding-dong—.

While I was drying my hair, someone rang the doorbell.

“Is that you, Jeong Seok? You know the passcode. Just come in.”

Beep-beep-beep—.

Jeong Seok knew the door code just like Yang Ju-hui did, but because he was a polite friend, he never just let himself in.

“Hey, Yeong-won. What happened with the farming party you sent yesterday? That was the day for the farming run, right? Did they bring back anything useful?”

Jeong Seok asked, clearly curious. I told him everything I had just learned. He looked genuinely shocked.

“…They survived? How?”

It was the face of Schrödinger staring at a cat that had somehow lived through a box full of poison gas. I probably wore the exact same expression until a few minutes ago. Still, Jeong Seok quickly regained his composure.

“It’s not like we never considered that something like this might happen eventually. The important thing is that we can never, ever let anyone know we’re the ones sending people into the corridor.”

Right. Even if people survived, as long as we pretended we knew nothing, there was no immediate danger. I also showed him the memo I had written about Hong Miri’s status window on my computer.

“Lots of question marks. I’ve memorized it, so I’ll delete this.”

Click. Jeong Seok deleted the memo containing the information.

“It’s probably because of the level difference, right? In RPG games, monsters way higher level than you often show up as bright red or with question marks. Maybe Teacher’s level is higher than yours?”

That made sense. I had suspected the same thing about the question marks on Hong Miri’s sheet.

“Which means once I surpass Teacher Hong Miri’s level, I’ll be able to see more information. To raise my level… I’ll have to enter the corridor myself or fight ghosts.”

The desire to level up suddenly flared inside me. Even though the thought of having to face ghosts was terrifying and horrifying!

“So, did we get any items? You know how important items are, Yeong-won.”

At Jeong Seok’s question, I recalled the new item we had obtained.

“Hmm.”

Jeong Seok frowned and let out a low groan as he read the text I had copied into the memo. I had made the exact same face when I first saw this item.

“It doesn’t seem very useful to take into the corridor. But it contains a lot of information. So this ‘Dancing Ghost’ must be the one on the second floor? A type of ghost we don’t know about yet.”

“No clue. Doesn’t ring any bells. A dancing ghost, seriously?”

Suddenly I remembered the Placebo Ghost that had possessed Yang Ju-hui saying that the Dancing Ghost was scarier than regular ghosts. It seemed the second floor of the corridor, which we hadn’t opened yet, was home to even more terrifying entities.

But why had a ghost that belonged on the second floor come down to the first?

“What do you think Aquaman and Darth Vader are, Yeong-won?” Jeong Seok asked.

I thought for a moment.

“Movie characters? But they can’t be the actual movie characters. I think they’re probably nicknames. Maybe the people who left behind the Map item we obtained?”

As we explored the corridor, one outline was becoming clearer and clearer. There had been people who explored the corridor before us. ‘Aquaman,’ ‘Darth Vader,’ and ‘the person who wrote this journal’ were probably them.

Beep, beep-beep—.

Just then, the sound of our front door unlocking came from the entryway.

“Hey. Are you guys ready? Let’s hurry up and go. To Gaeryong Mountain. And Yeong-won, why are you still only wearing underwear? Put some clothes on already. Jeez, what the hell are you showing me?”

It was Yang Ju-hui. She was wearing a yellow tracksuit like Bruce Lee, and it actually looked good on her. Bong Ji-yeon was with her, dressed in a pink hiking outfit.

“Da-hui hasn’t arrived yet?”

Today was the day the entire pirate crew would climb Gaeryong Mountain together.

The rotting flesh was buried in the rocky ground of Gaeryong Mountain. All that is needed is the head. I am the warden and the liberator. I will faithfully carry out my assigned duty.

It was because of this hint we had obtained in the corridor long ago. Something was buried in the rocky terrain of Gaeryong Mountain. If we could just find it…