The Rules Are About to Change

This was the first fishing post I had seen in the anomaly gallery. No, the title was unavoidable. Yeah.

'...Huh?'

I thought the fishing image would dirty my eyes, but the attached image was a cute selfie of a little one. A girl with white hair and red eyes wearing old Western clothes. The only special point was her pointed ears and cute fangs?

I replied to the comment.

The aesthetic sense of the anomalies seemed twisted compared to humans.

'...But thinking about it, did I click the post too casually?'

If the image I saw had been a cute vampire instead of a fishing image or a tactical nuke...?

There was a possibility that my body would be torn apart from all holes, including my soul, and I would die.

.

.

.

.

.

'Woe... Just imagining it is terrifying.'

From now on, I should refrain from clicking aggro posts.

"Jeon Yul-ssi, what are you doing?"

'Oh, startled.'

The dry voice from beside startled me, and I waved my hand in the air.

Turning my head, Yoo Han-ah was staring at me intently.

"What about you, Han-ah? I thought you had already gone ahead."

Yoo Han-ah hesitated and said.

"That... Walking alone is a bit scary. I was waiting for someone I know to come out."

"Ah, yes. It's safer to move together in places like this, right?"

I pointed to the semi-transparent gallery window floating in the air just in case.

"Does this not show up for you?"

"..."

As expected.

Only I can see the status window, hidden traits, cheats. No such thing, just the ability to gallery anywhere.

...After all, can't you gallery anywhere with your phone?

***

Having become too immersed in the gallery, I had forgotten for a moment. Where I was now was inside an anomaly.

Looked around. The corridor was still excessively bright.

In the distance, the rookie colleagues ahead were staring at the signs on the wall.

It was short for a rule in a horror story. Maybe because it's F-grade?

Under the assumption that Manager Kang had memorized the manual, it seemed easy. It seemed like there was no problem even if I entered without reading the manual.

There must be something in these rules that isn't mentioned.

"Do you have a pre-manual?"

"You didn't come without reading it, did you?"

"I did read it, but I don't remember it exactly. In these 'rule book' type horror stories, every single letter is important, right?"

Yoo Han-ah handed over the notepad with a suspicious expression.

The notepad had the following content written in small, dot-like letters.

1. Step on the center of the yellow guide line drawn on the floor. (Reference 21st batch accident cases)

2. Advance at a constant stride only while the ceiling fluorescent lights are on.

3. Do not touch or lean on the wall surface.

"Is that all?"

Nod.

The content in the manual was not much different from the signs on the wall. It was something that could be known when entering the anomaly...

Did it really need to be told in advance?

"One person has already started."

While touching my chin and thinking, a new employee went to the leader machine with his employee card.

With the sound of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the lock opening, he pushed his body into the turnstile and entered the corridor.

Seeing that there was no problem, the colleagues followed him one by one.

"Should we enter too?"

Yoo Han-ah asked while taking out her employee card.

"Yes, let's go."

In front of me was one male colleague with a particularly ashen complexion. The pungent alcohol smell had been emanating from him since before entering.

He held his employee card to the leader machine and his hands were trembling.

After the man with severe hangover, then Yoo Han-ah, and finally me, we pushed the gate one by one.

Clank—

The heavy metal sound rang behind my back as the last one.

The anti-reversal lock engaged, and the steel bars of the turnstile locked firmly.

A sealed room where I couldn't retreat anymore. I can't go back now.

"U, ugh... My head feels like it's going to break."

The man who had been walking ahead touched his temple and staggered.

The width of the yellow line on the floor was only about 15cm. His toes were precariously stepping on the boundary line because his legs weren't moving as he wished due to the alcohol.

Yoo Han-ah whispered with a worried voice.

"Hey, are you okay? Walk carefully."

"Ah, yes... I'm okay. It's just that my stomach is churning... Uwoong—"

The man who had crouched down while retching suddenly felt severe dizziness and staggered to the side.

His right hand, trying to steady himself, unconsciously reached towards the concrete wall on the side.

"—Ouch."

Rule 3 of the manual.

[Do not touch or lean on the wall surface]

"Wait..."

My palm... touched it.

In an instant, the wall surface became mushy like half-hardened cement paste and slowly swallowed the man's wrist.

The man was startled and tried to pull his hand away, but the wall held his hand tightly and wouldn't let go.

"Eh? Eh, eh...?! Uwaaaak! My hand, my hand!!"

The man screamed in despair.

If he struggled to pull out, he would be sucked deeper into the wall. Arm, shoulder, chest, thigh. Deeper, deeper, even deeper.

The man twisted his body desperately in resistance, but it was too late.

Crack

With the dull sound of bones crushing, blood flowed from the man's mouth.

Before I knew it, what was visible on the wall was only the man's face, panting and crying.

"Sa, save— Uep, kkururuk...!"

The corridor finally swallowed the man completely.

Slurp slurp slurp slurp

Whether it was chewing the man around or something, the corridor grotesquely bulged the concrete walls here and there.

Soon, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it spat out the remaining chewed bits with a "tue—" onto the floor.

A blood fountain spurted out along with the bone chunks.

The blood flowing down from the wall covered the corridor floor in black.

'...!'

The sight of a colleague being eaten alive in front of my eyes made Yoo Han-ah gasp and take a step back.

"Kyaaak...!"

Yoo Han-ah's body, whose legs gave way from fear, swayed outside the yellow line.

If she fell like that, she would tumble over the wall.

I reflexively reached out and grabbed her waist strongly.

Pulling her weight back, I set her two feet firmly back on the center of the yellow line.

Her body was trembling.

I heard her rough breathing.

"Y, Yul-ssi... Just now, that person..."

"Don't look back."

I swallowed hard and forced out a low, firm voice.

"...Just look forward. If you follow the manual, you can survive, so stay calm."

On the surface, I was acting like a veteran who had experienced everything, but in reality, my stomach felt like it was turning upside down.

'Is there any guy in the world who gets drunk to the point of vomiting the night before a corporate interview just because he got a job at a big company?!'

Thanks to that man, I almost became the lunch of the corridor too.

Wiping the sweat gathered on my palm with my pants, I steadied my mind.

"W, we should go... Follow the line on the floor..."

Yoo Han-ah, having caught her breath, was about to step into the blood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠puddle on the floor.

'Wait, blood puddle?'

I suddenly reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

"Why, why are you doing that...?"

Yoo Han-ah was startled and stopped.

I pointed at the floor with my finger.

"Look at the floor. What color is the floor now?"

"Of course, ... ah."

She noticed the unease.

"The manual says not to step outside the 'yellow guide line.' The moment you step on that blood, it will be judged as a rule violation."

The rules of the horror story are merciless. We shouldn't expect human flexibility.

Yoo Han-ah hugged her arms and trembled.

"T, then what should we do... We can't go back either..."

"We have to jump."

I pointed to the yellow line that still had color, about 1m in front of the blood puddle.

"Jump over this blood puddle and land exactly on the yellow line that still has color. Can you do it?"

Yoo Han-ah swallowed dry saliva, put strength in her eyes, and nodded.

It wasn't an impossible distance to jump over, but because of the thought that she might misstep or fall while landing, it would be hard to try easily.

"...I'll try."

She stepped back a little, took a stance, and powerfully stepped on the floor.

Taat—

Yoo Han-ah's body cutting through the air narrowly missed the blood puddle.

She landed exactly in the center of the yellow line with both feet without staggering.

She turned around and breathed heavily.

"L, landed...! Yul-ssi, hurry!"

"Hoo..."

I exhaled deeply.

I hadn't properly done long jump in PE class, but now I had to jump or I might be chewed up by the floor.

'Please!'

Grinding my teeth, I jumped with all my might.

The terrifying blood-colored puddle passed under my vision, and the yellow line approached in front of my eyes.

'Ugh.'

I landed poorly, but my foot didn't go outside the yellow line.

The wall and ceiling didn't react.

'I survived...'

Cold sweat poured down my back like rain.

Yoo Han-ah let out a sigh of relief.

At the far end of the corridor, the exit silhouette began to appear.

The colleagues ahead had probably already opened the door and escaped.

'Good, now just a little over 5 minutes and it's over.'

While wiping my chest and about to take a step,

Ding

'...What?'

The writer username, OneWayLife.

The user in this area.

'It's obvious he's talking about here!'

Is the anomaly in this corridor gallerying in real time?

'Because the dedicated manual is complete, no drops... What is this rule alteration nonsense?'

The blood cooled.

Since I can't go back, the turnstile is locked.

I urgently called Yoo Han-ah who was walking ahead.

"Han-ah."

"What?"

"It seems we should hurry a little."

"What? But the manual says to advance at a constant stride—"

Ding

Before Yoo Han-ah finished speaking,

A new reply was added to the bottom of the post floating in the air in real time.

Crackle!—

The fluorescent lights above started to shake roughly.