Escape Room Cafe (2) — The Suspicious Guide... and the Choices
"Welcome—"
At the low voice that rolled through the room, I turned from the closed door I'd been staring at.
Beyond the shoulders of the club members and the president standing in a neat line ahead of me, I saw a man in a tailored suit and a fedora.
The fedora was pulled low. The light spilling down from the vintage fixtures overhead cast a shadow that swallowed nearly his entire face.
I was still studying that carefully arranged darkness — so complete you could barely make out a feature — when the president at the front spoke up.
"Ah! Hello! Um… we have a reservation! Under Jeong Su-jeong, party of seven!"
The Suspicious Guide seemed to smile for a fraction of a second, then, as if the expression had never existed, began his briefing in a low, resonant baritone.
"Please take a seat on the sofas over there. I will return once preparations are complete."
He inclined his head in a slow, deliberate bow and vanished behind the antique crimson curtain hanging against the far wall.
Through every motion, the shadow draped across his face stayed fixed in the exact same place — as if it had been taxidermied there.
But was I the only one who felt how wrong that was?
By the time I looked around, the others were already settled into the plush sofas, chatting and laughing among themselves, and the unease I'd felt began to shrink into something I could dismiss. Maybe I'm just being paranoid…
"Hey, this place is actually great! The furniture, the whole vibe — doesn't it feel super old-school vintage?"
Yeom Sang-hyeon, who'd been chattering away with the president a moment ago, slid over and dropped into the seat beside me.
…Please just talk to the other members…
Apparently my silence read as discomfort. Whether he noticed or not, Sang-hyeon leaned in without the slightest hesitation and started whispering in my ear.
Is this guy insane?
The thought flared up — then died just as fast. The words that followed had none of his usual playfulness, and a chill ran through me.
"Hyung, doesn't this place feel off to you?"
I'd had plenty of questions of my own on the way here. For a second I considered playing dumb.
I dropped my voice to match his.
"…Like what?"
"Well, for starters, there's no sign. And the whole atmosphere and interior are nothing like a normal escape room cafe. Even if it's an escape room, it's still a business, right? But there's no counter here. No card reader. No cash register.
"And more than anything — escape rooms are supposed to have neon vibes and Polaroids all over the walls. That's the golden rule. Not this old vintage look."
Dark wooden walls and floors on every side. As Sang-hyeon's eyes swept the room, I thought it over and answered.
"…Maybe it's reservation-only? Like they only take prepayment."
He shook his head.
"Sure, maybe. But I don't see how a place could stay open like that. It's hard to even find, and to keep something this size running in a building like this, you'd need serious revenue, right?
"So either they get a ton of customers, or they're insanely expensive. One or the other.
"Look around — there's nobody here. And on the way in, we didn't see a single person coming or going. So that leaves the price…"
"Ah.? So even if we pay after we finish the room, the bill could still wreck us?"
"Yeah. And we came out budgeting fifty thousand won per person… snacks and food included. But—"
He was about to go on when the crimson curtain stirred at precisely the right moment, and the fedora-wearing guide stepped back out.
In his white-gloved hands were three brown envelopes.
He approached with practiced ease, drew a sheet of paper from the first envelope, and set it on the antique wooden table in front of us.
A dense list of items filled the white page. Escape room concepts, by the look of them — easily more than thirty.
…Far more than I'd expected.
Why are there so many…?
I swallowed a silent gasp at the list that just kept going.
While everyone else was still reading intently, that low baritone returned.
"Ah — any text written in pale gray is currently unavailable. Please select only from the entries in bold."
Ah…
…
..
.?
…Then why not just print the available ones?
As if he'd read my mind, the guide added,
"There are already guests inside. The sessions take time, so we ask for your understanding."
…Even a rough count put more than fifteen teams currently in play.
Sang-hyeon.
Your worry about no customers was completely wasted.
Fifteen teams on a holiday, in a spot this hard to find.
What is this place… an escape room holy grail? Some kind of hot spot?
The president ran a finger down the list, deliberating, then pointed at one.
"How about this?"
1. Witch Gathering in the Forest on the 13th
"Aha! An excellent choice!"
The guide's voice lifted with the theatrical enthusiasm of an old circus ringmaster. He drew another sheet from the first envelope and laid it before us.
Even this close, the shadow still cloaked his face with uncanny precision — not a single feature visible.
The paper he set down looked like slightly aged parchment, printed with an old woodcut-style illustration and a few lines of text.
1. Witch Gathering in the Forest on the 13th
Have you ever walked through a forest in the dead of night?
Have you ever heard a grotesque cry rise from pitch-black darkness?
Most of the time, it is nothing more than the natural sounds of the woods…
…But on rare — very rare — occasions, you may find yourself walking through a forest thick with ancient sorcery, crawling with phenomena that have been passed down since time immemorial.
You must flee this forest!
Give it everything you have.
"Hmm, I think this one looks pretty good too."
While everyone was still focused on the old parchment, Sang-hyeon picked one of his own.
19. Suspicious Neighbor's Dinner Invitation
Again the guide declared it an excellent choice and smoothly drew another sheet from an envelope, setting it down.
19. Suspicious Neighbor's Dinner Invitation
One ordinary day, as you go about your peaceful routine, someone moves in next door.
But all you ever see are the movers hauling boxes for a brief stretch of time. No one has ever actually laid eyes on the new resident!
Twelve months pass. On the day the thirteenth month begins, your doorbell suddenly rings.
You open the door to find nothing but a single letter.
You pick it up and open it — an invitation to dinner from the neighbor who moved in next door.
Something about the invitation feels wrong, and yet you decide to accept.
As the sun is just beginning to set, you stand before your neighbor's door.
Will you make it home safely?
Oh… for some reason, this one felt like the safer pick. Even I, who barely knew escape rooms, recognized the concept from somewhere.
"Th-this one looks okay too… right…?"
A girl who didn't seem used to speaking up offered her opinion in a trembling voice. The vice president, if I remembered right.
Maybe she felt pressured to contribute something as a club officer?
Her name was… what was it again…
…Yeah, no idea.
I pushed the idle thought aside and looked at the entry her shaking finger was pointing to.
25. Hide-and-Seek in a Strange Village
This time the guide said nothing. He simply drew another sheet from an envelope with the same practiced motion and set it down.
25. Hide-and-Seek in a Strange Village
Wander long enough and you will pass through many regions, many villages.
It is the most ordinary thing in the world — and yet, on the rarest of occasions, a strange danger lies coiled inside that ordinary life.
You were driving along the highway when you noticed your tank was empty. Barely making it onto a side road, you arrived at a village.
You meant to fill up and leave at once — but something about the atmosphere set every instinct on edge.
Before you knew it, a suspicious fog had wrapped the entire village, and a bizarre wailing filled the air.
Strange phenomena closed in. You realized you had come to the wrong place.
You hurried into the nearest empty house and hid — and there, you found a record left behind by a survivor.
From it, you learned the truth: a deadly game of hide-and-seek is underway in this village. Kill or be killed.
Will you make it out of this village alive?
The others kept scanning the list after that, but the consensus quickly settled on choosing from the three already on the table.
…Me?
I just sat there, present and not present at the same time. If it weren't for Sang-hyeon, I doubted I'd have registered as a person at this gathering at all.
All three looked interesting.
Hmm…
Still, thinking about what we'd put in the club activity report — we were an occult club, after all — Witch Gathering in the Forest on the 13th didn't seem like a bad fit.
But if I was being honest about pure enjoyment and production quality, Sang-hyeon's pick — Suspicious Neighbor's Dinner Invitation — looked solid too.
Judging by the parchment the guide had laid out, Witch Gathering in the Forest on the 13th was clearly set in the woods. Wouldn't immersion take a hit? You can't exactly plant a few thousand trees inside a room.
But then again…
I was still turning it over alone when—
"Hyung! Which one do you think looks good?"
"Me…? I…"
I dragged the word out and checked — every single club member was looking at me.
From the vibe alone, all three options had tied.
I was about to speak when my eyes happened to meet the president's.
Was she hoping I'd pick hers…?
I opened my mouth.