007 - What Magicians Do # 4
007 - What Magicians Do # 4
007 - What Magicians Do # 4
Holding the doll I had retrieved from the iron cage, I walked between the red doors.
I was terrified that the bats clinging to the ceiling might swoop down at me.
I mean, isn't it common knowledge that bats carry a ridiculous amount of germs?
There was even a news article about someone who accidentally kissed a flying bat after colliding with it and died of sepsis a few days later.
'Please, just stay quiet...'
Praying to the bats in my heart, I focused intently on searching for the altar.
If the basement entrance is open after 10 PM, offering this doll to the altar is the rule.
As I looked around to carry out the rule, something felt a bit strange.
'Was this building always this wide?'
The width of this bizarre basement was easily as spacious as a sports field.
Since the building above ground was only the size of a small commercial building, this discrepancy was clearly unnatural.
In a place like this, waste materials were piled haphazardly to form walls, making it nothing short of a maze.
"Boribori, don't you have something like a pathfinding magic?"
Half-joking and half-serious, I asked Boribori to shake off the tension that clung to me like humidity.
Boribori, who was following behind me, still gave no reply.
I had felt it over the past few days.
Boribori didn't seem to understand what I was saying after all.
Of course, it was just my unfounded guess.
Maybe he understood me perfectly fine and was ignoring me on purpose.
If that were really the case, how demonic of a behavior would that be?
So, let's just go with 'he can't understand me'...
Suddenly, I recalled that I knew almost nothing about 'Boribori'.
What his true identity was. Why others couldn't see him.
Where he lived and what he had been doing.
Why he treasured that dirty padded jacket so damn much.
It was while I was walking around thinking about such things.
"Aaaah!"
Someone screamed from beyond that pitch-black hallway.
And then, cha-cha-chat—the footsteps approached me at high speed.
Just around the time I thought the footsteps sounded strange, a woman began frantically shouting right in front of me.
"A person! H-Help me! Please help me!"
When something entirely unexpected happens, a person is bound to freeze for a few seconds.
Because I was so flustered, that was exactly what happened to me right now.
"Security guard ajusshi! Help me! Let me out! Let me outtt!!!"
I snapped to my senses.
Calling me 'ajusshi' when I'm only twenty-five—such rudeness.
There weren't many people in the world who would do that.
Isn't she the woman who was with Jang Geunbeom earlier?
Now that I looked closely, her hair was vivid pink.
Hair like this was hard to forget once you saw it.
"What happened? What's going on?"
I examined her more closely.
She was shoeless and barefoot, and her upper body was stripped down to just a bra, as if her top had been ripped off.
To sum it up in a single sentence, she looked like a female lead who had barely escaped from a chainsaw killer.
While I swallowed those thoughts down my throat, the woman spoke.
"J-Just promise me you'll get me out of here. Please... My name is Kim Iryeong, and I live over in Cheongdo-dong. I'm twenty years old... I'm not a suspicious person!"
Introducing herself when I didn't even ask.
Perhaps she was terrified that if I considered her a 'suspicious person', I might not help her or leave her behind here.
Kim Iryeong's eyes remained pinned to my 'security vest'.
It seemed like an urgent situation, but there appeared to be a sense of security that a uniform naturally provided.
"...There's something here. I don't know what it is, but there's something. Don't ask me any more about what it is. Ah, ah... I don't even want to imagine it! Everyone must be dead for sure!"
Just by looking at her, she clearly wasn't in her right mind.
However, there were words that pierced into my mind like sharp awls here and there.
"If everyone is dead... did Jang Geunbeom and that other woman enter here too?"
"......"
Kim Iryeong clamped her mouth shut.
At that moment, helplessness and bewilderment spread through my chest like black ink.
A person dying while I'm working a part-time security job—.
Isn't this way too big of an incident for me to handle?
However, unlike my burning chest, my head grew as cold as if submerged in ice water.
Even I was puzzled at how I could remain so calm.
What came to my mind then was—.
"Did you happen to see something like an altar?"
The Dori Building Security Rules.
No matter what situation occurs, the first priority is to follow what is written there.
I had to place this doll on the altar.
Could Kim Iryeong possibly know the location of the altar?
"...Altar."
Indeed, Kim Iryeong's gaze shifted as if she knew something.
However, that was only for a moment—.
"No way! I'm never going back there! Let's just get out of here!"
The force with which she grabbed and yanked my security vest was far greater than I expected.
They say when people face a crisis, they exert more than double their usual strength—was it something like that?
Though the pressure was flustering, it seemed certain that Kim Iryeong knew the location of the altar.
"Iryeong-ssi, please just guide me to the altar's location first. I can't explain the reason in detail, but I really must place this doll there."
"...I-Is it because of the rules?"
"Pardon?"
Rules. I didn't expect that word to come out of Iryeong-ssi's mouth, so I asked back slightly taken aback.
Then, perhaps thinking that talking about anything would calm her nerves, Iryeong-ssi moved her lips frantically.
"Nikon told me. He said there's something like a rulebook! He said we can only survive if we follow what's in there!"
Who the hell is Nikon again?
A situation where the more explanations I heard, the more questions piled up.
It reminded me of when I first got a job at the restaurant.
# # #
"So to summarize, it's like this, right?"
'Nikon' is a ghost story MeTuber.
He went missing while working security at this building.
And Jang Geunbeom and Iryeong-ssi's group came to this building to bite on that clickbait.
And then they were attacked by something in the basement.
"So you don't know what attacked you, right?"
"I... I don't know. Ever since I was little, I've had good intuition, so I can tell at a glance. Whether that person hates me or likes me... Whether it's dangerous or not..."
It seemed Iryeong-ssi had started her MeTuber activities under the name 'College Student Shaman'.
A pretty woman. Ghost stories. Shaman.
With those three elements harmonizing so well, she reached 50,000 subscribers in less than half a year.
"I don't know for sure, but it was dangerous. All I could think about was that I had to run away..."
The dangerous thing existing in this basement.
Could that be 'Wagijagi'?
With the information I currently had, that was the best guess.
"The altar is over there..."
After walking for a while, Iryeong-ssi pointed at something with her finger.
Following the tip of her index finger with my eyes, I saw a stone structure built by stacking wide stone slabs beneath the red doors.
On the top of that flat stone slab, a white plate reflected the light of the lantern.
"...Ajusshi, if you put the doll on the altar, we can get out, right?"
"I hope so."
I placed the doll onto the white plate.
Clack—.
What's going to happen now?
Thump, thump—.
My heart pounded.
Stuck right next to me, Iryeong-ssi also looked around with eyes full of anticipation.
However, even as time passed, there was no real change.
Having anticipated a dramatic shift, I felt a bit embarrassed.
"We can get out of here now, right!?"
Iryeong-ssi trembled all over.
Her voice had grown hysterical with fear.
Wondering what was going on, I decided to pull out the rulebook and read it again.
3. Strictly No Entry into the Basement
Complete closure of the basement entrance and strengthened patrols after 22:00 PM. If the basement door is open, offer the sacrifice to the subterranean altar.
3-1. Sacrifice Management Guidelines
A generous supply of sacrifices is placed in the storage boxes inside the basement.
4. Survival Guidelines Upon Encountering Wagijagi-nim in the Basement
Remove everything with your name written on it.
If you make eye contact, you must say "Komori."
If encountering body parts such as legs or arms, contribute the clothing worn on that respective part.
5.━─━─━───.
Odd numbers must become even, and even numbers must become odd.
Wagijagi-nim, Wagiwagijagijagi—.
I realized one fact.
—If the basement door is open, find the altar and offer the sacrifice—.
It was definitely written like that, but...
Nowhere did it say 'you can escape by doing so'.
It was the moment I felt malice emanating from this rulebook.
Earlier, looking at the basement entrance gaping slightly open between the bushes, I had been reminded of a fish's mouth.
Perhaps my ominous intuition had been accurate.
That was a mouth.
And mouths usually gape open when hungry.
To make a hungry mouth close, one must shove food into it.
Because an entity that swallows food and feels full will naturally close its mouth.
'Don't tell me...'
Making humans enter the basement to offer the doll to the altar.
What if that act itself was 'feeding' all along?
If so, it also explained Iryeong-ssi's words when she said the door shut the moment they came inside.
Since the satiated creature closed its mouth.
The prey that stepped inside would have its exit blocked.
'Were these rules designed without assuming the reader's survival in the first place?'
Thump—.
Right then, Iryeong-ssi collapsed like a person whose fuse had blown.
"...As I thought, we're all going to die here, right? Nikon said so too. He said the four rules written there are ultimately just bait to lure prey in."
"Bait?"
"He said... they just push things like us in to make us sacrifices, just like swapping parts in a broken machine! He said we were shoved in here on purpose to die! Ha... fuck..."
Nikon.
That faceless man must have also been able to read these special rules.
He had also reached a conclusion similar to mine.
That these rules were not created assuming that the 'Dori Building security guard' would survive.
But... is that really true?
Hiring a security guard and handing over a rulebook like this just to throw a person into the basement?
Rules are generally meant for protection and safety.
If I think about it based on that premise, it feels like a crucial screw is missing.
If there really were no way for us to get out of here, there would be no need to use the word 'entrance/exit door'.
Since the word door clearly includes the meaning of 'going out'.
"Iryeong-ssi, did Nikon say there were four rules?"
"I don't know. That guy claimed so. As far as I can see, there are only two. Though it does feel a bit unpleasant."
Sighing as she looked at the opened rulebook, Iryeong-ssi continued.
"That bastard Nikon lost his mind and talked nonsense because he was trapped here."
No, I didn't think he was talking nonsense.
My brain began spinning once again.
Nikon said there were 4 rules.
On the other hand, in Iryeong-ssi's eyes, only up to 2 rules were written.
Then what about me?
5.━─━─━───.
Odd numbers must become even, and even numbers must become odd.
Wagijagi-nim, Wagiwagijagijagi—.
I could see up to the 5th rule.
Could there be a difference in how much of these rules a person can see?
It was a plausible theory.
After all, in this place—
I was the only one who could see 'Boribori'.
Only me.
I was the only one who could see this fifth rule.
Once my thoughts reached that point, I felt like I understood what this 'fifth rule' meant.
This right here was the exit.
The key to survival.
Jingle, jingle—.
A bell sound rang from the distant darkness.
At that moment, Iryeong-ssi's eyes widened frantically as she gasped in horror.
"I-It's coming! That thing is coming! Aaaah! You piece of shit! Fine, come at me! Come on!"
It seemed Iryeong-ssi's fear had reached its peak, driving her to a desperate, spiteful fury.
I never knew a human facing death could become that brave.
Far from being overwhelmed by her spirit, I almost felt infected by her frantic intensity.
Crumple—.
Right then, Boribori—who had been yawning lazily throughout this entire ordeal—furrowed his brow sharply.
"Zil lekh-! Puk-!"
I couldn't understand the language.
However, I could read explicit hostility in his sharply raised tail.
Jingle...
Soon, the clear ringing of the bell echoing from far away slowly stopped.
And then, as if turning back into the darkness, the sound grew smaller and smaller.
Around the time everything fell completely silent—
"...I-I think it ran away because I cursed at it!"
Iryeong-ssi, who had forgotten even to breathe, rejoiced exhaustedly.
I had many things I wanted to say in various ways, but explaining was a bother and there was no time.
"Iryeong-ssi, I'll get us out of here, so stop calling me ajusshi."
"...What?"
I've caught it. The core of the rules!
How to escape from this basement!