The Ghostly Camera
—Seo Ji-woo: Hwa-rim!
The broadcast continues. Offender Seo Ji-woo waves her hand as she approaches Yoon Hwa-rim’s fortress.
—Yoon Hwa-rim: Ji-woo~!
Yoon Hwa-rim also runs over in a single bound and embraces her.
These two are consistently close. Since they are both spellcasters, you’d think there would be some sense of rivalry, but perhaps it’s because their fields are completely different.
—Ryu Yeon-hwa: How is the party?
Meanwhile, Ryu Yeon-hwa encounters Lee Shin-hye and Kang Hyun while heading toward her base.
—Lee Shin-hye: It’s good.
—Kang Hyun: Let’s do that.
Lee Si-ah feels anxious in real-time even while watching the live broadcast.
“…It can’t be.”
Only Seol Ha-woon is isolated in the East. But the defense waves will arrive fairly. The Western teams have multiple bases to share the pressure, but that means Seol Ha-woon has to handle it all by himself in the East….
—Lee Shin-hye: Hey, that’s the base, right?
Lee Shin-hye spots the castle wall.
—Ryu Yeon-hwa: Yes. It certainly looks like it.
—Lee Shin-hye: …Just by looking at it, it’s that person.
The camera pans to the scenery ahead. A very well-constructed village. A watchtower monitoring the surroundings rises up, and the ‘Master of the Base’ standing atop the high castle wall is captured on screen.
—Kate: Nice to see you.
With her as the final shot, the broadcast ends. This is the ending roll for this episode.
Well, it was about time for Kate to get a turn.
[Weekly Voting Rankings]
1. Kang Hyun
2. Kate
3. Lee Jun-ho
4. Seo Ji-woo
5. Seol Ha-woon
6. Ryu Yeon-hwa….
“Oh!”
Seol Ha-woon is 5th in the weekly voting rankings, which will be announced every week from now on.
Lee Jun-ho slipped again.
What about Jun-ho’s team? The psychological pain of sliding down must be quite significant.
“…Ah, but Kate.”
Her firepower on the real-time talk was definitely strong, and now it’s showing in the results.
I feel a sense of crisis for no reason. It’s because they have the biggest conflict with us these days.
[Preview for Next Episode]
Just in time, the preview for episode 13 appears.
Yoon Hwa-rim: Ah, don’t worry~ I’ll protect you all~
Yoon Hwa-rim smiling brightly and the faces of the civilians who trust her.
Ryu Yeon-hwa: Ah, by the way. Were you able to communicate with the S-rank mercenary?
Kate: Nothing happened. It ended well.
Kate lies nonchalantly to Ryu Yeon-hwa’s question.
Ryu Wei: I made it for now. How is it?
Jo Woon: I built it with the adjutants.
Defenders showing off their bases, and Offenders watching as if it’s fascinating.
It’s still peaceful for now.
But.
Swoosh—!
A sword is swung, and half the screen is split.
Lee Jun-ho: Ha, there are seriously so many.
It’s Lee Jun-ho. He shakes the blood off his sword and looks up at the other side. Bizarre-looking monsters are swarming.
From this point on, the atmosphere gradually darkens.
—The enemies are coming!
Boom— Boom— Boom— Boom—!
Along with the sound of drums, urgent music swells as if to burst the ears.
—Fire!
Arrows swarm to pierce the monsters, and Seol Ha-woon on the castle wall is caught in the frame. Countless spells coalesce behind his back.
A barrage that looks like missiles or bombs pours down.
Kugugugu—!
The Flame of Cognition of war, which only Seol Ha-woon possesses among the many spellcasters, makes you stare blankly.
The monsters are swept away by the ultra-high firepower, but the wave is endless.
Seo Ji-woo: Hwa-rim!
The moments become much tighter and more intense.
Yoon Hwa-rim: We have to protect these people!
Between the defensive teams being edited in turn, an unknown ‘clock’ ticks like a timer.
Tick. Tock.
—General!
Jo Woon: I… will protect them.
Jo Woon, covered in blood, mutters desperately. Determination is etched into him.
Tick.
Lee Jong-su: Damn it, I’ll definitely do it…!
Lee Jong-su, sweating profusely. His face is in a full close-up.
Tick.
Kang Hyun: Just a little more, just a little more….
Kang Hyun swinging his sword. The flesh and blood of monsters mix into the lines of his butterfly-like, elegant sword dance.
Tick.
Lee Jun-ho: This is driving me crazy.
Lee Jun-ho covered in purple blood. Has he reached his limit? One of his arms is trembling intermittently.
Greeeee…….
The dark night sky where the gloomy cries of monsters echo.
On the castle wall of the base, Kate is looking at the horizon.
Tick.
Kate: I can’t sleep anyway….
Just as the preview is finishing, suddenly.
Tick.
Seol Ha-woon’s cane.
His symbol falls to the ground. Slowly, even in slow motion.
Thump…… Thuuuump……!
The cane settles completely, and Seol Ha-woon is standing next to some hospital bed.
A cold, desolate angle where no emotion is revealed.
A voice rushes toward him.
—Inspector! It’s a big problem!
Echoes resonate. Like a bell ringing, ding, ding, ding.
—Inspector!
A tone filled with despair. A cry that sounds like a scream.
—Inspector…….
The sounds fade away.
The screen focuses on the vanishing point that is Seol Ha-woon, and everything else is blurred.
In such a breathless silence….
Seol Ha-woon turns his head.
His profile, his blue eyes flash for a moment.
With that scene as the last.
[To be continued next week]
“Ah, seriously, what is this!”
Lee Si-ah clutched her head.
How am I supposed to wait until next week, releasing a preview like this!
She hurriedly went through various communities.
First of all, all the Seol Ha-woon tabs are dying. People are saying they won’t be able to go to work or school this week.
There’s even a high schooler. You should study.
Next, the neutral communities all have similar thoughts. Most are expecting Seol Ha-woon to be eliminated.
Lee Si-ah is also anxious.
For one, there were too many civilians at Je-Mal-Olh’s base, and above all, he was isolated alone in the East.
The reasons Seol Ha-woon will be eliminated in this labyrinth:
1. The phenomenon of Offenders leaning toward the West.
No matter how much of a Je-Mal-Olh he is, he needs Offenders to do anything, but the only one going East right now is Im Hae-jun.
2. There are too many useless civilians. Even if he supplies food with the Snack Box, what are the rest for? What are the elderly and weak really for?
3. The trouble with the S-rank mercenaries hasn’t been resolved yet. It’s not like he fought Kate, so even if Akiman is fine, Smeshion seems to have something up his sleeve.
After the broadcast ends, many speculators always appear. Community activity is real from this point on. They talk about these things almost all day until the next episode comes out.
The problem is that there are as many people who guess right as there are people who guess wrong.
Lee Si-ah chewed her nails and read various speculation posts.
Kate is openly shown in the preview. Looking far away from the castle wall, you can see Min Seok-jae and Kellinic in the corner. Seeing that she reconciled with them, her survival is confirmed, and Jo Woon and Yoon Hwa-rim also seem likely to survive given the state of the base shown in the preview.
Retire expected: Seol Ha-woon, Ryu Wei.
There are two ending rolls for this defense labyrinth. Kate and Seol Ha-woon. So it seems like one of them will definitely be eliminated, and Seol Ha-woon’s elimination seems correct. Seol Ha-woon is even the ending of the preview.
Looking at the hospital bed in the preview, who is lying there? Even though the bed is short, the legs aren’t showing. It means the person is short.
Then who would it be? It’s Im Hae-jun.
Im Hae-jun, the only Offender who went to Seol Ha-woon, retires, and Seol Ha-woon, having no way to destroy the crystal, holds out until the end and dies heroically.
It seems like he will exit by buying time for the civilians to escape at the end, or holding out one more turn in an impossible situation.
It’s such an obvious elimination narrative that it’s the production team’s trick to backstab viewers who think he won’t be eliminated...
It’s a speculation post that catches and synthesizes every single detail, from the moment slightly glimpsed in the broadcast to the tiny details in the preview, and the expectation that Im Hae-jun will be retired feels so real.
Even if it’s Seol Ha-woon, it would be difficult to do it without an Offender.
“Haa.”
Of course, you can’t know the answer until next week.
Even knowing that, I keep looking at it.
“Why do I keep getting goosebumps?”
That’s the reason why Labyrinth Exploration 101 is popular these days.
Because they make you think about nothing but Labyrinth Exploration 101 all day like this….
Pssssss…… Rumble!
Inside the abandoned hospital where rain pours and thunder echoes.
I looked into the camera’s viewfinder.
[Excuse me! Excuse me! By any chance, do you have anything to eat?!]
A strange phenomenon that suddenly appeared in the video and begged for food… no, an explorer.
It’s Seo Ji-woo.
Seo Ji-woo was ‘inside’ the camera.
“…Trapped in a camera.”
Or, sucked into it. Seo Ji-woo seemed to have been hit by that kind of ghost.
[Wh, who are you?]
[I almost had a heart attack…….]
The filming crew, who had been terrified, calmed down.
I closed the viewfinder.
[Ah. I’m… an explorer.]
[Ah…….]
[…Yes? Excuse me?]
The filming crew all stopped, but Seo Ji-woo didn’t.
[…….]
[Hello?]
Seo Ji-woo’s voice leaks out of the camera.
I opened the viewfinder again.
[An explorer? But why that beard….]
Only then does the filming crew play back. Seo Ji-woo had a fake beard on her face.
[Ah. I picked it up here. My face was cold, so I was wearing it.]
The missing filming crew and Seo Ji-woo, who hadn’t been seen until now.
I examined them closely.
First of all, the filming crew must all be souls.
I don’t know yet if they are spirits or vengeful ghosts. Without acknowledging their deaths, or without realizing it, they are trapped inside this camera, reenacting the time of their disappearance.
If I were to guess, did they also play back the moment I opened the viewfinder?
[You were wearing a beard because you were cold?]
[Yes. It’s surprisingly warm.]
Seo Ji-woo took off the beard.
How did she get inside here, too?
[Ah… you look fine. Then for now… does anyone have anything to eat?]
[No. I don’t have any.]
[Me neither.]
I looked closely at the camera body.
It’s an ENG camera. A product that looks quite expensive, the kind reporters would use.
The information window doesn’t activate. However, a spellcaster’s eyes should be able to recognize how to use an object even without an information window.
More specifically, I need to know how to interpret the magic power smeared all over this camera.
My vision turned blue. Various parts of the camera were captured in my Sequence.
“…Button.”
The record button.
I took out a piece of paper and drew a talisman.
An exorcism talisman. After placing it on the floor of the hallway where they were filming, I pressed the REC button.
Click.
The talisman disappeared.
[Huh? What is that?]
There was a reaction from the camera.
[This. Wasn’t it not there before?]
The camera director zooms in on the talisman. The exorcism talisman I just sent is placed in the exact same spot.
I learned the transmission method itself. Seo Ji-woo probably went through a similar process as me.
Ironically, she is trapped in the camera because she is an excellent spellcaster.
[It’s… a talisman.]
[It was originally there. There were a lot of talismans here.]
[Ah, really?]
I shouldn’t reveal my identity yet. Not only this filming crew but even Seo Ji-woo could be a fake.
Even if Seo Ji-woo is real, I have to be careful.
A soul can turn into a vengeful ghost for any reason. The most dangerous soul is one that cannot acknowledge its own death.
That’s information I read at the used bookstore.
If the entire filming crew realizes they are souls, and if they turn into vengeful ghosts, then Seo Ji-woo will be in danger.
[Well… I am reporter Lee Tae-young.]
[I am Seo Ji-woo.]
[Yes. Ms. Seo Ji-woo. But why didn’t you go outside….]
Seo Ji-woo gave a bitter smile.
[Perhaps, you all won’t be able to go outside either now.]
[Yes?]
[Try going once.]
But Seo Ji-woo’s reaction is somehow strange.
[No matter how much I walked and walked, only this hospital appeared. I even thought it might be a barrier.]
“…Hmm.”
Seo Ji-woo herself seems to be under the illusion that she is trapped in the hospital, not the camera.
[Ah… yes. I see.]
[Haha… yes. We have work to do.]
The filming crew moved, looking at Seo Ji-woo like she was a crazy person.
[Let’s finish filming.]
The reporter stands in front of the elevator, and the camera director films him.
[This is the elevator of the abandoned hospital-]
[It doesn’t work even now.]
[…Excuse me, Ms. Seo Ji-woo? We’re filming, so please understand.]
Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter.
Just in time, the truck arrived. A container filled with lunch boxes was loaded in the cargo bay.
One lunch box is mine, and the rest are….
[Ah, I’m hungry.]
For the one crying because it’s hungry.
Since they said there’s a cafeteria on the 2nd floor, I went up the stairs first.
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
I went into the cafeteria and sat down.
I opened one lunch box and ate it.
Hihehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
I passed the remaining lunch boxes to a corner of the cafeteria.
However, rather than sending them right away, I need a ‘story’.
The souls contained in this camera are somehow special. Not only are there no marks of murder weapons, but they actually mistake themselves for being alive and breathing.
So, I have to provide plausibility and verisimilitude so they don’t suspect anything.
I attached a spell talisman to the lid of the container.
A mysterious talisman that Seok-yul bought for me. He said it keeps food from spoiling for a very long time.
I wrote letters on the outside of the container as if I were spray-painting.
YouTuber Group ‘Jangsong’
This way, it looks natural, like someone who came before forgot it and left it behind.
I filmed it with the camera and sent it as is.
Constellation Seol Ha-woon sponsors a ‘container full of lunch boxes’.
Such a message was drawn in my head. It’s funny for no reason.
Hihehehe
“Shut up.”
Thump—!
I struck the road surface with my cane. The thing ran away in surprise.