Chapter 25

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 25

Chapter Title: Residents' Meeting

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Ye Su-jin climbed the stairs stained red.

Even though the sun had already set, this bizarre space was filled with vivid crimson light.

A message like that floated in the corner of her vision.

It was the status window. The greatest perk rewarded to those who had conquered the tower to the top.

But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right now, she wanted nothing more than to smash that status window to pieces.

'I fucking know that already!'

Of course a human's mind couldn't stay sane in a place like this.

The red light, whose principle she couldn't comprehend, eroded her spirit just by touching it, and the eerie music sounds coming from everywhere felt like they were devouring her brain.

Someone whose mind remained intact in a place like this had to be one of two things.

Either someone as mad as this space itself, or not human to begin with.

And Ye Su-jin saw the human walking ahead of her.

A mage of unknown identity. Yet he still looked perfectly fine.

That fact drove her even madder. In truth, it had been that way since their first encounter.

The events in the subway flashed through her mind.

The moment she had been performing the ritual to summon Ha-baek, the constellation she served, the fallen river god of Taoism.

The mage who appeared out of nowhere had effortlessly destroyed the altar and turned her plans to dust.

Up until then, the emotion Ye Su-jin felt was anger. Fury at the one who toppled her painstakingly built tower, and irritation at the unexpected turn of events.

However, when she finally crawled out from the rubble and faced the opponent, Ye Su-jin could do nothing but bow her head.

There were two reasons. The overwhelming presence that filled the space. And the malfunction of the status window she had trusted and relied on all this time.

In truth, she wasn't sure if "malfunction" was the right way to put it. The status window did display information on the mage before her eyes.

It was just in a form and color she'd never seen before in her life. A black question mark. But that alone was enough to terrify Ye Su-jin.

The status window was the creation of the Architect, the human who challenged God and ultimately became another god by building the tower.

It was a reward from a constellation of such high stature that even Ha-baek, whom she served, couldn't claim the name "god" in comparison.

That's why the status window contained all sorts of unbelievable functions by common sense standards.

It could give simple quests and bestow various abilities, display the name and info of some unknown opponent, or even show the terrain of places she'd never been as a map.

But she'd never seen anything like that in any situation. A being without a name or description. Yet a monster radiating an overwhelming presence.

Ye Su-jin's instincts rang the alarm. That thing was a monster on the same level as the Architect, or even higher.

So Ye Su-jin immediately bowed her head.

It was an action unworthy of her title "Poison Lord," but in truth, that was just a nickname slapped on her carelessly by the public who loved giving them out.

Ye Su-jin had always been this kind of person. An ordinary human who prioritized growth and survival above all.

In fact, it was a trait common to most tower conquerors. That way, they could kill others for survival and commit atrocities without hesitation for growth.

But now, she couldn't help but wonder if that mindset was somehow wrong.

After all, that line of thinking had led her here, to Happiness Apartment, the forbidden of forbiddens.

"Boss!"

At that moment, the human ahead stopped walking and called out to something over there.

It was a bright voice that didn't fit this place at all.

This crazy mage bastard.

What kind of madness did he usually suffer from to produce a voice like that in Happiness Apartment?

Ye Su-jin had such thoughts and unwittingly lifted her head.

And then.

"You've arrived, Han-sik."

What she faced there was something pure white.

In that instant, the world changed.

The surrounding red light vanished in an instant, and this place became an endless field of pure white.

Nothing else was visible. Only the infinite white expanse. Yet she could clearly sense something watching her.

The difference in presence was so vast that she couldn't even tell what she herself was anymore, and in that moment when she felt like she would become part of the white space.

A small window popped up in Ye Su-jin's vision.

Normally, the worst message. But right now, her first thought was that it was actually a good thing.

Because if her mind collapsed upon hitting its limit, she might be freed from this bizarre terror.

But the message that followed thoroughly betrayed her expectations.

What?

With that, the world returned to normal. This place was still the horrific apartment bathed in red light.

"Han-sik, who's this?"

"Yes. The one I mentioned earlier. The terrorist."

"Ah."

Ye Su-jin stared at the being carrying on a normal conversation with the mage.

A woman?

No, this wasn't it. This was... something more...

Ye Su-jin's thoughts cut off abruptly.

"Were you with him?"

"I got a call like that. Figured I'd get some fresh air."

"I'm sorry. Feels like I did something unnecessary."

"No, it's really fine. More importantly, why don't we give her Room 402? She could rest there for a day or so."

"Uh, is that necessary? She's a criminal, after all. I could just let her crash at my place."

"Still, you can't stay up all night guarding her forever, right, Han-sik?"

"Well, that was the plan."

"It's okay. I've taken some measures of my own."

"Is that so? If you say so, Boss."

And her thoughts resumed flowing.

Resistance was impossible.

"Oh, right!"

"What's up?"

"There's the resident rules booklet."

"Pardon? Something like that exists?"

"Hehe, I made it recently. Want to see?"

"It's nothing much. You're not thinking of showing that to her, are you?"

"W-Well, as a bonus? She's a guest, after all."

"She's pretty damn evil for a guest."

"True, but since I already made it..."

"Now that you mention it, seems like a good idea."

In the dreamlike flow of conversation, Ye Su-jin received the rules booklet handed to her.

Unlike what the crazy mage said about it being nothing much, the contents were utterly incomprehensible.

In fact, she couldn't even grasp what any of it meant right now.

At best, she vaguely recalled that the elevator she'd seen earlier wasn't a real one.

But no explanation was needed.

The moment Ye Su-jin entered Room 402 as if entranced by something.

Bang bang bang bang!

She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there dazed, but someone pounded on the door furiously.

"Unnie, it's me, Mirae!"

That alone told her something was wrong.

Ye Su-jin was a newcomer who had just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠arrived here today. No one should come looking for her, and no one should.

Bang bang bang bang!

"Unnie, it's Mirae from next door! Room 401! Open the door, please!"

Ye Su-jin plugged her ears with both hands.

She desperately called her god, but the fallen river god did not respond.

Bang bang bang bang!

"Unnie! It's Mirae, I said!"

She closed her eyes and desperately wished to lose consciousness.

Whether falling asleep or passing out.

"I'm your Mirae, you fucking bitch. Open the door."

That was when it happened.

Flash-!

The TV in the corner turned on, and the noise from the door vanished.

Ye Su-jin's gaze was drawn there involuntarily.

Beyond the screen, an anchor with a blurry face stared straight through her.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

The audience's laughter followed the anchor's words.

Don't laugh, fuck.

...What?

Soon after, footage of Ye Su-jin herself played on the TV.

The video itself was as crude as something from a cheap reenactment show.

But the content was horrific.

In the video, Ye Su-jin met death in all sorts of ways.

She got caught and killed by Mirae from Room 401 after carelessly opening the door, boarded the elevator and never returned, stuck her head out at the noise from the 5th floor and got decapitated, or got trapped in Room 402 forever and turned into a skeleton.

Each time, the audience's laughter filled the surroundings.

She tried to turn off the TV at the gruesome show, but the buttons didn't respond.

Splat!

The blurry-faced professor smashed the anchor's head with his fist.

A wretched scream that didn't sound like any living creature's.

But the anchor, with only half his head left, continued nonchalantly.

"Haha."

An endless festival of madness.

Yet in this extreme pollution zone where she couldn't even lose her mind, Ye Su-jin suddenly looked at the calendar.

Today was October 33rd.

The fourth day since entering Happiness Apartment.

It was bizarre.

It felt like she'd just arrived moments ago.

Moreover, in those four days, Ye Su-jin hadn't eaten, drunk, or slept a wink.

So all Ye Su-jin could do was stare fixedly at the endless murder broadcast and pass the time.

And then, at some point.

Ordinary light seeped into the red-tinted room.

"...Huh."

Who emerged from there was the mage from before.

"...Ye Su-jin? You okay?"

"Ah, uh..."

The moment she saw him, Ye Su-jin made a sound like a child.

He was clearly the crazy mage who had dragged her here.

"I prepared breakfast, at least."

"Hic, hic..."

At the sight of the only normal thing in this red-tinted world.

She burst into tears without realizing it and clung to the mage.

"Waaah!"

"W-Wait a sec! Ye Su-jin! What's gotten into you..."

"Save me, save me, oppa! Please, please..., hic."

Forgetting even the "old man" expression she'd used to match his mood.

"Anything...! I'll do whatever you say."

"Ye Su-jin!"

"Please! I, I can't take it anymore, I really can't..."

"Ye Su-jin! Snap out of it! Here, drink some water first."

"Y-Yes, yes. I'll drink it. I'll drink whatever you tell me to."

"No weird talk! Drink the water!"

Gulp.

Gulp.

Then, suddenly, Ye Su-jin realized one fact.

The room was no longer red now that she was clinging to the mage.

Of course, the calendar still showed a strange date.

The TV still spewed words cursing her.

But just the disappearance of that endless mind-eroding red light was enough for Ye Su-jin to not want to let go of the mage.

And for some reason.

Even the inexplicable messages from the status window felt more subdued.

The day after bringing Ye Su-jin.

I sat in the guard room, wiping my face.

The reason was simple.

'What the hell is going on.'

What kind of change of heart had she gone through overnight?

This morning, when I visited Ye Su-jin, she clung to me and wouldn't let go.

She looked like a puppy with separation anxiety, so at first I thought she was trying some honey trap.

But no.

If it were really a honey trap, she'd have been more blatant about it, but Ye Su-jin just grabbed my sleeve and didn't do anything more for a while.

She just stayed there, holding only my arm.

I had no idea what was going on, so I asked her directly what happened, but she wouldn't give a proper answer.

"...Sorry. Just stay like this a little longer, please."

What the hell?

Was her criminal menhera tendencies finally bursting out?

Maybe it was Happiness Apartment's pollution, but that didn't seem right either.

This woman was one who spread pollution herself, so who was she afraid of?

Plus, yesterday Meow wouldn't leave my side either.

"Sigh."

As I was thinking that, So Boss, who was in front of me, let out a sigh.

Ah, unrelated, but So Boss had come to Happiness Apartment as soon as morning broke.

I asked him as he stood up.

"Done?"

"Yeah."

"Find out anything?"

"No, that Ha-baek bastard cut tail and bolted clean. This woman's basically worthless now."

But the results weren't great.

"Bolted? Does this happen often?"

"Sometimes. Even constellations act just like people. If they're no longer useful, they ditch pawns like chess pieces."

Fair enough.

Most constellations were originally human anyway.

Tail-cutting between criminals was a common tactic.

"So what do we do with this woman, Han-sik? Hand her to the Bureau?"

"Probably, yeah."

"Well, that's the cleanest way."

So Boss stroked his chin with a somewhat subtle expression.

At that sight, I voiced a sudden question that came to mind.

"By the way, how does the Bureau handle wanted criminals?"

"Hm?"

"Like, do they have special ways to restrain ability users?"

I had a feeling they did.

Police just used cells, but the Bureau must have all sorts of weird items.

Like slapping on Haelook Stone handcuffs and tossing them in a basement— even ability users couldn't do shit then, right?

But So Boss let out a hollow laugh like I'd said something ridiculous.

"What are you talking about? They just kill 'em."

"...Pardon?"

What did you say?

"Just kill them. Sure, if they've got some insanely useful ability, they might spare them occasionally to use, but most get summary execution. Restraint magic tools aren't common, and you think they'd bother that much for criminals?"

"..."

"Why the face? You didn't know?"

"Of course not!"

How the hell would I know that!

No, this is too weird to begin with.

Back when I was in middle or high school, weren't there protests about human rights for criminals and shit?

Suspicious that So Boss was joking, I hurriedly pulled out my phone.

But the search results were the opposite of what I expected.

'Summary execution legalized for C-rank and above wanted criminals.'

Fuck, it's real.

And it's been two years. Scroll down a bit and you see this week's execution list.

This is insane.

I unwittingly looked at Ye Su-jin.

Now I thought I knew why she was trembling.

"Then this woman too."

"Definitely her. At best, squeeze some info and kill her. Her abilities are poison and bio-experiments anyway—no review needed."

Of course she'd tremble, not knowing when she'd be executed.

Feeling complicated, I stared hard at Ye Su-jin.

She flinched and turned her head away.

What the...!

What kind of attitude is that for a heinous criminal...!

That was when.

"Knew it."

"...Knew what."

"What do you mean. You're seeing her shake and wondering if handing her to the Bureau is right, aren't you?"

"Well..."

It'd be a lie to say no.

It's not like I should talk, given she buried all those people alive in the subway, but seeing her tremble like this makes it hard to just say kill her.

Though if asked exactly what the difference is, I wouldn't know. It's just my mood.

"Always such a softie."

"...At least call it humane."

"Fine, you humane bastard. Whatever. Half the reason she's here is you anyway."

"Me?"

"Yeah, it's your first time with this stuff. Gotta look after newbies. You think we'd dump it all on a rookie?"

Honestly, I figured they might.

Apparently not.

So Boss continued.

"We usually handle kills too, but she seems fine, so we skipped."

"Got it."

"Standard options for catching wanted criminals like this: three ways. One, sell to the Bureau for cash. But you obviously hate that? You're too chicken— er, humane for it."

"Well, yeah."

"Then use her yourself."

Use what.

"That woman."

"?"

"She's yours now. Use her however."