Chapter 71

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 70

Chapter Title: Absence of the Gatekeeper

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Inside the One Heart New Will Apartment Complex, everything was cluttered with all sorts of junk and sticky flyers that hadn't been managed in ages.

It looked like they'd replicated the rundown exterior of a decaying apartment building exactly as it was. I'd heard it used to be a popular spot for horror movie shoots, and now I understood why.

"It's gloomy in here."

"It's oppressively dark and excessively humid. The perfect environment for anomalies to spawn."

Even in broad daylight, not a single ray of sunlight penetrated the building's interior.

Pests swarmed everywhere, and mold could easily thrive in such conditions.

I could roughly guess why anomalies had spawned here. Creatures hiding from the outside world had festered and rotted away in this structure, perfectly suited for it.

'And there are ridiculously high numbers of grudge spirits. It's like this place is their natural habitat...'

This apartment was teeming with grudge spirits—what people ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠commonly called "ghosts," born from the resentments and grudges left behind by the dead.

These ghosts had likely haunted this place far longer than the recently emerged anomalies.

In short, the One Heart New Will Apartments had always been a ghost-infested site. But these spirits hadn't outright attacked humans, or they would have become malevolent demons instead of mere vagrant ghosts.

The ghosts clinging to this apartment startled and tormented people but didn't kill them.

Spirits like these are more common around us than you'd think. You encounter them now and then walking city streets at night.

True to their Caution rating, they're not particularly dangerous or important, so they're usually left alone until they fade naturally.

At best, a simple ritual sends them on their way. Otherwise, a passing reaper might drag them off.

In a way, they were the homeless vagrants or illegal immigrants of the anomaly world—neglected petty ghosts. That's the level of weakness for souls of the departed and wandering spirits.

-Everyone... is anxious... I can feel them trembling at the fear of losing their home... their dwelling...

Sowol reacted sympathetically after checking the spirits through the ring.

The apartment was filled with souls who couldn't move on to the afterlife and wandered inside. They all feared losing their home.

For those aimlessly drifting through the living world, the One Heart New Will Apartments must have been their only shelter from the elements. Over time, they'd come to see it as their own house.

Maybe this place was a makeshift afterlife prepared just for them?

From the start, the building seemed designed to lure in and trap wandering spirits.

'Fitting its purpose as a citizens' apartment, it gave homes to the homeless. And a resting place for wandering spirits. Who knows.'

Of course, we couldn't know the true purpose or reason behind an apartment built in the 1970s anymore.

Regardless of the builder's intent, the One Heart New Will Citizens' Apartments had existed without major issues for over 50 years.

That meant it wasn't necessarily built with malicious intent just to gather wandering souls.

'This place was literally a pond drawing in grudge spirits. The building itself is fine. If anything, it's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a shelter for weary ghosts. At the same time, it made them protect the site.'

The so-called haunted hotspot.

The spirits drawn here lingered like stagnant water. They acted like household guardians, protecting the place from outsiders.

'Maybe that was the purpose all along...'

Now I could vaguely read the intent of whoever designed the One Heart New Will Apartments.

They might have built an internal-external purification system to protect residents from outside threats using these spirits.

Residents might experience paranormal phenomena often, but the house-bound spirits would shield them from greater dangers.

The ultimate double-edged sword: hiring ghosts as security guards.

This reeks of yin-yang sorcery. Likely the work of onmyoji. Dig deeper, and we'll probably find one.

Of course, that's not the important part right now. The real question is who poisoned this pond that's been maintained for over 50 years.

'Up until early this year, the bizarre but effective system of using the apartment's house-bound spirits for internal security worked fine. But the problem started last month.'

Stagnant water eventually rots.

The 50-year-old ghost security system was breached. The rice-chest defense failed, allowing intruders. Anomalies laid eggs in the rotting water.

And so, plant-type anomalies were born. Who opened the door? Who turned this into a farm for otherworldly things?

For what reason? What purpose?

I advanced down the hallway with questions swirling. I needed more clues.

"Once you enter the first floor, you can't exit from the first floor. You have to reach at least the fifth floor. Everyone knows that, right?"

The other two agents nodded at Park Jae-hyeon's words as they followed behind.

As he said, entering the first floor meant you couldn't exit from it. You had to reach the fifth floor and use its entrance to get out—a "twisted structure." The reverse was true too.

To reach the fifth floor, you had to follow a specific route.

Agent Seo Yu-na had succeeded in escaping with the team members' body cams before her mental breakdown led to suicide. This was her recorded escape method.

"We'll start recording video from now on."

As we proceeded down the hallway, it grew rapidly darker. We illuminated the path with flashlights and activated the body cams attached to our hazmat suits.

From now on, our words and actions would all be saved inside. They operated up to three days, so if we escaped within that time, we could pass the footage to the next explorers.

"It's eerily quiet."

As we checked rooms on the first floor and ventured deeper, an unnatural silence enveloped us.

The interior was as messy as the cluttered exterior suggested, but the excessive quiet made it feel off.

While searching the first floor with the group, the skill activated.

The skill triggered naturally upon seeing the countless graffiti on the walls.

These were probably drawn by children who lived in the apartment.

But among the simple scribbles were a few that weren't. Those seemed to be the trigger.

"Agent Yoon Ha-seo, record these separately."

"Yes? Huh? This is..."

"Markers. Probably..."

Buddhism?

No. Strictly speaking, these markers were closely linked to Esoteric Buddhism within Buddhism.

Unidentifiable characters inside a circle.

They were drawn at the four directions and center in a cross shape.

It resembled a highly simplified mandala.

The moment I confirmed it was a simplified mandala, information about the characters inside flooded my mind.

These were ancient mantras, a type of dharani now obsolete.

They likely represented something from Buddhist cosmology. Even Ancient Text Deciphering couldn't pinpoint more precisely.

I could only vaguely sense they held very ominous meanings.

"Something definitely happened inside here."

As I'd suspected, the incident at One Heart New Will wasn't just otherworldly anomalies invading reality.

This was connected to Esoteric Buddhism. Someone had deliberately opened a "door" in this apartment.

We found the first trace on the first-floor hallway.

"Looking closely... yeah, this is."

Park Jae-hyeon seemed to have noticed it too.

He'd probably recalled the simplified mandala as well.

"Why would something like this be drawn here?"

"There must be intent behind it. Definitely not good intentions. Especially since Esoteric Buddhism is barely hanging on by a thread these days..."

Park Jae-hyeon explained that Korean Esoteric Buddhism had lost its lineage long ago and now survived only in fragmented ritual forms.

We couldn't definitively say it was the work of an Esoteric Buddhist monk. It could be someone masquerading as one to cause chaos.

"Scattering anomalies in a ghost-gathering apartment and leaving Esoteric markers."

It started as a guess, but with this many clues, certainty was inevitable.

This incident was likely the work of a corrupted shaman or religious figure.

Then why release uncontrollable anomalies to turn this place into a realm beyond human ken?

Could it relate to dreams? Esoteric markers in a grudge spirit hotspot and anomalies called "dream seeds."

Finding the proper connection was still hard. I needed more clues.

"Multiple life signs detected. Heading our way."

Twenty minutes after entering the first floor. Agent An Jae-seong announced via motion detector that something was approaching us.

Blinking dots swarmed on the small screen. Once we were far from the first-floor entrance, they were starting a herding hunt.

They'd probably chase us back to the entrance, then use spatial distortion to fling us to another floor and trap us inside.

We'd already analyzed their tactics from Agent Seo Yu-na's body cam. The advance team's info let us anticipate their intent.

This is why agents wear body cams. Keep feeding them into the field, and eventually, you'll find a strategy... gruesome but reliable.

"Fixer, what should we do?"

The team asked my opinion.

Flee? Or engage the anomalies?

The answer was decided.

No need to retreat.

About ten anomalies approaching. The strongest aura was Incident-class.

Easy. We could handle this.

According to Agent Seo ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yu-na's records, the apartment's anomalies could be killed with physical attacks.

"Prepare for combat."

The team drew weapons in unison, and I summoned Sowol from the ring.

"U-Uwaaah!"

Yoon Ha-seo recoiled in terror as Sowol burst from the ring.

Her mental fortitude must have cracked facing a Disaster-class anomaly suddenly.

At least Sowol wasn't in her "scary face" mode; if she'd emerged in full monstrous form, they'd have fainted.

"Hey! No screaming—maintain formation!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

At Jae-hyeon's shout, Yoon Ha-seo snapped back, shakily picking up her dropped weapon.

And that's when the anomalies appeared in the hallway.

The charging ones were quadrupedal creatures covered in flowers and grass. Like large dogs made of flora.

Mix of Incident and Alert-class, so varying strengths per individual.

They were cuter than expected. Like something out of a fairy tale—dreamy-looking anomalies.

"Those things... are cute..?"

I'd just voiced my honest impression, but Sowol gave me a weird look.

No, they are cute? Aren't they? Or do only I see them that way?

These guys look cute only to me too.

Yoon Ha-seo retching behind suggested their true form was horrific.

"Aaaah-!"

The dream-devoured ones screeched grotesquely, extending stems from their backs.

Cuteness aside, they were highly aggressive. They moved like a hive mind—systematically pressuring us.

All ten acted as one organism.

As the World of Doom Gallery lurkers said, they were controlled by the dream placenta.

The description mentioning it confirmed it.

"Their gastric juices are acidic! Direct hits will melt the hazmat suits—watch out!"

Park Jae-hyeon shouted at me. I already knew that much.

Seo Yu-na's footage had revealed their combat style.

They whipped roots or stems from their backs to pressure, grab, drag, then spew suit-melting juices.

Then infect or dissolve victims and lick them up.

'Just don't get caught.'

I seized the incoming stems from the dream-devoured ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ones and ripped them backward.

With 50 Strength and Agility, I could grab and tear before they caught me.

Sorry to the prepared agents, but Sowol and I alone could handle ten easily.

Still, I let one through deliberately to gauge their power. Assessment matters.

"Urghhh!"

"Eww, that cry is creepy."

I grabbed one relentlessly charging, tore off its head, then back-kicked another's chest, bursting its upper body halfway.

Then crushed the rest. Combat over quickly.

No need to spare any. Too feral to tame, and team reactions suggested human corpse composites. Can't bring those along.

"Sowol, how many'd you get?"

"Two..."

"Agents... hmm."

The three barely got one.

Park Jae-hyeon and Yoon Ha-seo had very low combat prowess.

Makes sense—they'd struggled even against Alert-class Bboong-bboong. I'd expected helplessness against Incident-class.

'Only Agent An Jae-seong is usable in combat. Calm response and confirmed kills. Satisfactory.'

That one was essentially An Jae-seong's solo kill.

"Agents who can't fight... why'd you come in?"

"Well... finding volunteers on short notice was hard. See it as half-forced."

Park Jae-hyeon smiled awkwardly at my question.

Of course, you can't force death on agents.

They're not death row experiments. No forcing entry, but if no volunteers, they draw lots.

Such big incidents are rare, so lots mean accepting death.

"So, 'bad luck'?"

"Exactly. Me and the deputy are specialized in tool-type anomaly searches, mainly market patrols. Ended up here somehow. Haha... but with you here, Fixer, we're lucky."

Though field agents, Park Jae-hyeon and Yoon Ha-seo mainly recovered tool anomalies. Little experience in hellscapes like this.

True to their anomaly hunter class, they excelled at finding circulated tool anomalies, with better records than An Jae-seong.

"Normally, a special team handles this, but the Paju breach pulled everyone there."

"Paju breach?"

"Yes. A sinkhole formed—ah, that's classified. Sorry."

Park Jae-hyeon started spilling about Paju but caught An Jae-seong's glance and clammed up.

Apparently, elite Management Department agents were at Paju, so they scraped together a makeshift team via lots for here.

Short on talent, they'd burn through regular agents to guide anomalies.

The prior recon team volunteered, but after their wipeout, no one wanted in.

I got the gist.

Makeshift response team, and I was their leader.

That explained Park Jae-hyeon's push for non-registered special agent status.

I understood why he accommodated me so much. I was his reliable backup.

"Civil servant life ain't easy."

"Nope. But we knew what we signed up for. Can't complain, especially with the pay..."

Life bonuses and huge payouts, but daily wills since death loomed unknown.

Even knowingly hired, it'd stress anyone out.

"Anyway, until Paju's fixed, we can just stall. Our goal isn't total anomaly extermination here—it's sampling and strategy investigation."

They didn't even know what dream placenta was. I could read exorcism methods instantly, but Management brute-forced it.

So, not eradication—find strategy methods or clues as main objective.

"From what I've seen, this isn't a natural disaster."

"Yeah, the Esoteric markers and all... suspicious parts everywhere."

"Someone deliberately opened a door. The markers we saw, and this one too."

I pointed to another discovered marker.

Similar simplified mandala etched again.

The box-shaped apartment had one on each of its four sides.

Yoon Ha-seo, decoding the text, said it was an inverted basic mandala.

Reverse mandala. And another trace at the pierced center.

Plus approaching spirits trying to speak.

"Think we'll find more at the central courtyard? We need to reach the mandala's center."

"But the twisted paths make it hard..."

Seo Yu-na's footage didn't cover the central courtyard route.

Probably warded to prevent easy access.

We knew the path from first to fifth-floor exit. From there, push to the center.

Good thing I brought the old logbook. Time to use it.

'This isn't mere anomaly phenomenon. A disaster from human malice. To stop it, uncover it.'

Originally, I'd planned to rescue Elevator-chan and bail. No intent to go all-in, especially with no survivors reported.

But traces of human malice grew clearer.

If not natural but man-made calamity, find the culprit.

It might not end here. They could terror elsewhere.

Too many dead here. The guardian spirits' rage pierces the heavens.

"So, if I can guide this place, would you follow me?"

"Huh? guide it ourselves?"

"Yes. Instead of hitting fifth and exiting, loop around and push to the end."

I asked the three agents.

If I had a way to guide the apartment, would they come?

"If guide's possible... I'd follow you, Fixer. It's more horrific inside than thought... can't just leave it."

An Jae-seong pondered briefly then agreed.

He couldn't ignore the apartment's tragedy.

"You two?"

Park Jae-hyeon and Yoon Ha-seo hesitated.

Their combat was lacking. They'd prefer safe fifth-floor exit.

Can't force courage. Personal will matters.

Solve the case or report intel outside. Choice is free.

"No need to follow. I'd go alone anyway. Just asking."

"I... I want to follow too. But scared of burdening the team."

Yoon Ha-seo answered after hesitation. Feared her presence harming the group.

Not an issue. Sowol could protect her from death.

"I... have kids at home. Want to exit. Didn't come to die today."

"Got it. I'll speed you to fifth and get you out. Investigate outside with what I told you."

If scared, can't help it. Can't impose risk on others.

They lack my Baby Mode Pack; small mistakes threaten life.

Can't guarantee 100%, so respect their choice.

"Alright. Let's keep moving."

Blitz to fifth floor.

Exiteers exit; delvers delve deeper into darkness.

Entity EVE-404.

Known as the "Woman in the Elevator."

She had witnessed the catastrophe from her small mistake.

Until now, she'd only saved children lost and drifting to the back world, rarely meddling in human affairs. She had another role.

Her true duty was guarding the door between the back world and reality.

She merely wore the hat of elevator ghost; not limited to one elevator.

More precisely, a back-world watcher and gatekeeper.

Eve had faithfully performed her role until now.

But meeting the Fixer changed her completely.

Clearer emotions emerged.

The human who visited often without fear, talked, and conversed filled the empty anomaly's heart with "joy."

Protecting student Han Ye-rim from the Melody Recorder gave her unprecedented liberation.

Decisively, fulfilling the Fixer's request by sending Black Yao Society devotees to the back world brought pride in bettering the world.

The Fixer recognized her efforts and loneliness. The only human caring for the uncared-for her.

Thus, she forgot momentarily.

Distracted by Fixer-given happiness, she neglected her innate duty from birth.

'I... couldn't stop the door opening... My fault.'

Hardly entirely her fault.

No one ordered or forced her to guard it.

No humans even thanked her efforts.

She'd just guarded because she must.

Guarding the door until now was volunteer work. Lonely, unrecognized service.

Escaping that solitude, she indulged in recognition's joy.

As a result, while exerting power on Black Yao devotees, someone twisted open one of her six guarded doors.

She tried to stop it but failed. Witnessing anomaly massacres brought guilt.

Thus, she appeared where no elevator was and began rescue ops.

Then she found it. The culprit behind it all. Its hiding spot.

Eve alone deciphered the One Heart New Will's warped structure.

Double helix twist, with "central courtyard" at the deepest core.

There lay the source maligning the apartment, opening the door to usher ████'s offspring into our world.

Problem: no solo path to center...

'There... the incident's culprit... the opened door... But can't reach alone...'

No matter how she tried, no path to center.

Impossible solo.

The Woman in the Elevator recalled the double helix structure and began leaving traces throughout the apartment.

'You... will notice, right?'

She sensed the Fixer had entered the building.

He barreled forward, shredding all blocking anomalies like a runaway train.

Problem: they mustn't meet.

From floor 3, paths split.

One to fifth-floor exit; other to sixth, back-world boundary.

Seo Yu-na took fifth exit successfully, but Team Leader Yoon Jae-beom, mind broken by the structure, wandered to sixth and met the Elevator Woman.

'Once entering back boundary... I must stay till end...'

Can't meet him yet.

Must head to double helix apex.

Reality's 10th and back-world's 10th—pulling together from both 10ths opens the central path.

Fixer must take 3-to-5 route. If he took her 6th route, center path fails.

Delays mean Elevator-hidden survivors bloom into spreaders.

'Please... reach it.'

She hoped.

Prayed the Fixer would understand her will again.