008 - What Magicians Do # 5
008 - What Magicians Do # 5
008 - What Magicians Do # 5
The security rules.
There were numerous twists and turns, but I could be certain.
This rule sheet was written to save people.
Let's look at item 4.
4. Survival tips upon encountering Wagijagi-nim in the basement
What to pay attention to here is 'tips for survival'.
In fact, MeTuber Nikon was someone who could see four rules, and even though about a week had passed since he went missing, he was still alive.
His existence proved that this rule sheet wasn't simply meant to feed people to it.
And in my opinion, item 5 is the key to escape.
5.━─━─━───.
Odd numbers must become even numbers, and even numbers must become odd numbers.
Wagijagi-nim, Wagiwagijagijagi─.
Although the details of item 5 were erased,
at least the sentence 'Odd numbers must become even numbers, and even numbers must become odd numbers' was perfectly preserved.
It was damn vague and written ambiguously, but
other than this, I couldn't think of any way to get out of here.
Just in case, though, I checked the entrance I had come through.
"Haa, there really isn't the hole I came through."
"Right? I told you so!"
In the place where the hole and rope should have been, the concrete ceiling was sealed up as if nothing had ever been there.
"Iryeong-ssi, look around to see if there's a ladder on the wall or a door on the ceiling."
"...A door?"
"The entrance you and I came through was just a hole in the floor. Originally, there's a door that leads in and out of this basement. The one I locked with a padlock."
"...Ah! Bolt cutters!"
Bolt cutters?
As I raised an eyebrow, Iryeong-ssi glanced at me and quickly added an explanation.
"That bastard Jang Geunbeom tried to cut the padlock on the basement door with bolt cutters! But it wouldn't cut, so while looking around, he found that hole!"
So that's what happened.
Whatever the case, Iryeong-ssi also grasped what 'door' I was talking about.
We can get out through there─.
Perhaps having that thought, life returned to Iryeong-ssi's eyes as well.
However, there was one problem.
Just as we walked around to look for the door, the sound of bells echoed once more.
Dallang-dallang─.
At that eerie energy, Iryeong-ssi's hair stood on end.
Iryeong-ssi soon barked like a fierce dog.
"F... Fuck! Fuck off! Don't come near me! Fuck off!"
Honestly, it was the first time in my life I'd seen a woman spew such raw profanity.
Given that it was a pretty woman with pink hair, the sight was all the more bizarre.
Boribori, who had been reasonably well-behaved, also grimaced like an angry beast.
"Urrrr-!"
Then, once again, the bell sound couldn't come near us and receded far into the distance.
"I... It went away! I saved your life, ahjeossi! Ever since I was young, people said I had spiritual energy and had to become a shaman to live long! So I guess I can banish ghosts!"
Iryeong-ssi grabbed my arm and shook it wildly back and forth.
Is that really it?
'In my opinion, Boribori chased it away.'
Boribori had previously chased away Ms. Ming, the evil spirit from Thailand, by barking loudly at her.
And earlier as well, he made Wagijagi retreat.
Isn't it the same this time too?
Of course, there was no telling how long Boribori's threats would continue to work.
So I kept moving and finally reached the intended destination.
"I knew it would be somewhere around here."
On the wall was a ladder structure made by bending steel frames.
Toward that ceiling, a massive iron door looked down on us grandly.
"...Hya! A door!"
Iryeong-ssi dashed ahead first.
Then she frantically climbed the rusty ladder and pounded on the iron door─.
Teong-teong-teong-.
Naturally, there was no way it would open.
"Aaaak! This door! It's rusty and won't open!"
Is it really because it's rusty that it won't open?
No, it's probably because of the 'Sealing' magic I placed on the outside.
5.━─━─━───.
Odd numbers must become even numbers, and even numbers must become odd numbers.
Wagijagi-nim, Wagiwagijagijagi─.
Or maybe it was because of this rule 5.
Maybe it's a system where the door only opens once this rule is executed.
However, I had no intention of following this rule 5 as it was.
The thing resembling 'malice' felt from this rule sheet.
I thought that was precisely what emanated from this item 5.
The reason Iryeong-ssi, who claimed to be a shaman with good intuition, evaluated this rule sheet as 'creepy' was probably not because of the other provisions, but because of this item 5.
Isn't this item 5 both the exit to escape this basement and a trap at the same time?
I had my own plausible reasons to back it up.
The statement that even numbers become odd numbers, and odd numbers become even numbers.
That must mean something like this:
If two came, one must die to become an odd number.
Even if three came, one must die to become an even number to leave─.
In short, a bizarre system forcing someone's 'sacrifice'.
For Iryeong-ssi and me, who were an even number, to become an odd number, there were only two methods.
So what should we do now?
Did one of us really have to collapse according to the rule of item 5?
If it were an ordinary person, they would have had to do so.
However.
'We are definitely both getting out.'
I am a magician.
Cheok, cheok-cheok-.
I climbed up the rusty ladder.
And reaching toward the iron door on the ceiling, I extended my arm.
The heavy, solid, rusty feel of the iron door was vividly felt in my palm.
On the other side of this, the 'Sealing' magic circle I had drawn must be standing firm.
Time for an experiment.
What would happen if I overlay a new 'Unsealing' magic circle over the 'Sealing' magic circle I had previously drawn?
Seuk-seuk-seuk-.
To check for myself, I drew a magic circle with my fingertips.
And─.
Jeolgeurak-. Chareureureu-.
The sound of something unlocking came from outside.
It seemed the padlock hanging outside had unlocked.
Is drawing a new magic circle over an existing magic circle an overwrite?
In a way, it was extremely clear-cut, and thus even refreshing.
"Hup!"
I exerted force and pushed the door.
Then the door creaked─ and opened upward.
The moment the lukewarm summer breeze seeping through the crack of the door washed over my face.
【AAAA-AAAAA-!!!】
A resentful howl like a beast robbed of its offspring grabbed the back of my neck.
The voices spreading ominously in multiple directions sounded just like a terrible choir.
What, are you pissed off because I didn't leave this place according to the 'rules'?
Serves you right!
My magic works against anomalies too!
It felt immensely exhilarating and refreshing, like washing off a sweat-drenched body with cold water.
A cheerful rhythm added to my steps heading toward the surface.
Before I knew it, the summer dawn as the sun began to rise welcomed me.
"Wooaaaaah! Waaaaah!"
Iryeong-ssi, who came up to the surface holding my hand, rejoiced greatly upon looking at the world.
Could someone really be that happy?
"Thank you so much! Ahjeos─Yuseong-ssi! No, Yuseong oppa! Thank you so much!"
Warag─. Iryeong-ssi's arms embraced me tight.
She must have dripped with sweat while running and falling in the basement, yet she smelled nicely of peaches.
"Oppa, thank you so much! Sob, h-heuh..."
Iryeong-ssi burst into tears while holding me.
It must be that her mentality, which she held onto while pretending to be tough until just now, collapsed with relief, pouring out all she had held back like an opened floodgate.
"Thank you so much. Really..."
In the end, her words turned into incomprehensible sobs.
I pulled her off me and took out my cell phone.
I could finally make calls.
"Yes, is this the police station?"
I have to do what needs to be done.
No trespassing!
# # #
At 5:20 AM, the police arrived.
They went down into the basement.
A strange thing occurred.
"There's nothing here?"
There was nothing.
Not those crimson doors.
Nor those bats the size of my torso.
Nor that monster of unknown identity.
There was only a cramped, unfinished underground parking lot fit for a small commercial building.
As dust piled over abandoned building materials fluttered, the police came out coughing, "Kollok-kollok."
"Sir, you're saying there's someone else? Are you sure?"
At the policeman asking me, I looked at Iryeong-ssi.
Jang Geunbeom, Nikon, Miyeong.
Where on earth did those who were reportedly with Iryeong-ssi go?
Iryeong-ssi couldn't understand it either, merely opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish as she repeated, "But, really, in there..."
'Did the space change?'
At this moment, I formed a hypothesis.
Just like the rules visible only to me, could there be a separate space in this basement that ordinary people cannot reach?
If I think about it that way, everything that happened right now can be explained.
Just then, a man wearing a black suit appeared at the scene.
He seemed to say something to the police officers, then approached me.
"You're Yuseong-ssi, the security guard of Dori Building, right? Let's talk inside first."
The man, who looked to be in his early 30s, strode into the container office.
Then he tore open a coffee stick next to the water dispenser, poured it into a paper cup, and began stirring the coffee around. The series of actions was so natural that he almost looked like someone who had been in this place for a long time.
He offered the coffee to me.
However, what surprised me next was this.
"Urrrrr─!"
Boribori bristled his tail while looking at the man in the suit in front of us.
Though, it seemed a bit different from his usual threatening demeanor.
Because Boribori acted like a cornered rat in the corner of this container.
'...He's scared?'
It was my first time seeing Boribori like that.
So around the time I was astonished in many ways, the man adjusted his glasses and asked.
"Is there something over there?"
"...No, a mosquito..."
For some reason, I ended up lying.
To think there's something Boribori fears.
In an extraordinary situation, I inadvertently...
To cover my embarrassed lips, I slurped the coffee.
It tastes sweet.
"Silicone, cement, industrial adhesive. Do you know what happens when building waste is left in an enclosed space for a long time?"
"Pardon?"
"It emits toxic gases. If inhaled, you see hallucinations or hear auditory delusions. The toluene component in industrial adhesive is the cause."
"Auditory delusions and hallucinations?"
"Yes. Kim Iryeong-ssi and security guard Ha Yuseong-ssi suffered from auditory delusions and hallucinations. It might look like a mild symptom, but it can be fatal. So emergency measures are necessary."
Seueuk─. Tak.
The man pushed a square paper box toward me.
It was white and palm-sized.
「Neuron Clear Tablet 1 Pack」
Medicine? Is it a medicine box?
As I felt puzzled, the man pushed up his glasses with his index finger to adjust them.
He seemed to be insisting with his whole body that I take this medicine.
"Urrrrr-."
Boribori was still cowering in the corner while looking at this man.
"...Do I have to take it right now?"
"The earlier you take it, the better. If the intoxication persists for long, the frequency of seeing hallucinations or hearing auditory delusions will increase. It is even said that hideous monsters or dead people might appear in the middle of daily life."
Does taking that medicine make it better then?
While I was busy guessing in my head, the man let out a sigh, "Huu-."
"─Yuseong-ssi, don't you want to return to your daily life? If you take this pill, things like being targeted by monster hallucinations or getting lost at an intersection will vanish as well."
Although the man spoke businesslike and bureaucratically,
it felt as though a tiny bit of annoyance was laced in his tone.
He clearly seemed to be speaking with full knowledge.
That I was the type who would be targeted by mysterious monsters or get lost at an intersection─.
At that moment, my heart beat louder than ever before.
A single question swelled inside my chest and burst out of my lips.
"...Are you by any chance a magician?"
Pfft─.
The eyes behind the glasses, which had been cold as ice, narrowed.
This emotionless man smiled for the first time.
At that moment, a certain answer descended within me.
...It really is this man!
The type of person who creates rule sheets!
"Urrrrrr...."
Boribori was still on guard against him from the corner.
Even until after he stood up from his seat and completely vanished.