Chapter 11
Chapter 11
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Toy Well (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It didn't take long for Mr. Shin Young-moon to come back to his senses.
“Ugh! Ack! S-stop! M-Mr. Seung-hoon! I'm sane now!”
The saying “the stick is medicine” might only apply to beasts, but Mr. Shin Young-moon, whose eyes had gone completely black, was beast-like enough that a few solid whacks brought him right back to his senses.
“Who's that guy? What's his deal?”
“He's nuts. Ignore him.”
“Hey, steer clear. Let's take another route. He might have a knife.”
Dodging the wary pedestrians, I dragged Mr. Shin Young-moon away from the scene.
“Have you come to your senses now?”
“Y-yes! Crystal clear!”
“And do you still think you're all that hot shit?”
“N-no! I'm a total fraud! A gullible pushover! A complete moron who sucks at mahjong!”
“You don't need to beat yourself up that much. More importantly, what about that urge to ascend to the afterlife?”
“Urgh...”
Mr. Shin Young-moon groaned and shook his head.
“I dunno? Doesn't feel like I'm gonna ascend or anything. No sensation at all.”
“Hmm, I see. Well, then follow me.”
“Huh? W-where to?”
“To my place.”
“Why?”
“We need to run some experiments. Figure out how to make you ascend.”
That's when I learned for the first time that a ghost's face could go pale.
“...Can't I just skip that?”
My knowledge had expanded.
“No, you can't.”
In conclusion, the experiment to make Mr. Shin Young-moon ascend failed.
“Ugh, sob, sob... No more experiments, please...”
I tried slapping on talismans from a renowned shaman, sprinkling salt. Dragged him to a temple with a famous monk, shoved a cross in his face, took him to church. Tossed red beans at him, drew exorcism circles, read from the Bible—but nothing worked.
“It hurts too much!”
That said, it wasn't completely ineffective; Mr. Shin Young-moon writhed in agony each time, his form flickering and fading until even I couldn't touch him for a while.
‘A state of total external stimulus isolation.’
A sort of protective measure. Like how a living creature reflexively pulls its hand from something hot, ghosts had survival instincts too.
‘Death isn't the end.’
Not all that strange when you thought about certain entities.
“No more experiments.”
“R-really?”
“Yes. So you're free to go wherever you want now.”
“Yahoo!”
I grabbed Mr. Shin Young-moon just as he bolted for the door.
“You said I could go!”
“One small favor first.”
“W-what!?”
“If you spot anything weird out there while wandering, let me know.”
“...Weird stuff?”
“Anything. Ghosts, monsters, psychics, aliens, holes in the air, books that eat people—whatever.”
“D-do those things exist in the world?”
“Yes.”
With a smile, I bid farewell to Mr. Shin Young-moon, who'd grown on me over the past few days.
“They do.”
‘That makes two.’
My one-room apartment, warm with life these past few days, grew chilly again.
‘Knowledge of entities via the notebook in my head.’
Not complete, but I'd acquired all the knowledge I had on every entity.
‘Minimum combat ability for survival, via the girl with closed eyes.’
Enough physical prowess to at least escape, plus the power to resist spirits.
‘Three left.’
A way to foresee future dangers.
A status allowing unrestricted travel anywhere.
And the wealth to sustain a living and acquire necessities easily.
‘Skip the means for now.’
Foresight meant precognition. Such entities existed—more than one—but most were too dangerous to handle easily.
‘The safer ones appear randomly, so unavailable now.’
I'd been scouring every online marketplace and community, but who knew when one might pop up.
‘Focus on the other two.’
I'd already figured out how to get status and wealth.
‘But the easy ways are risky.’
They all involved entities—neither safe ones nor symbiotic or benign; symbiotic or hazardous ones carried massive risk. Trying to escape doom could doom me instead.
‘And among safe entities, nothing particularly useful.’
A duck plush that occasionally quacks if you don't watch it.
A tree bearing random fruit of random flavors once a month.
Nail polish that heals ingrown nails. Safe entities from fixed locations were basically collectibles with little utility.
‘The useful ones appear randomly, locations unknown.’
Nothing more foolish than obsessing over what you can't solve right now.
‘What I can do now.’
Thinking of safe entities reminded me of one from a fixed spot that might actually be useful.
“Toy Portal.”
I geared up to head out.
“Worth testing.”
This outing wasn't long. Not like trekking to Gangwon-do for two entities last time—just locating the failed daycare in Osan, Gyeonggi-do. A bit of digging online, and I found it in under a day.
‘Here it is.’
Late at night, flashlight in hand, I vaulted the fence of the ruined daycare.
‘Heard it shut down three years ago.’
Tangled in ownership disputes, left as an eyesore without demolition. Name: Sehua Kindergarten. Matched my knowledge perfectly.
‘Where is it?’
Inside the playroom, amid scattered toys, I found what I sought.
“This it?”
A small well assembled from toy blocks. Built on a large base block, just big enough for my face to fit inside.
To confirm, I chucked it on the ground. Normal blocks would've shattered, but it didn't.
Punched it next—my fist hurt. No toy block could withstand my enhanced strength, so this was definitely the entity.
“Time to test.”
Taxi home, then stared at the toy well, recalling its info.
[Grade: Safe]
[A toy block well, 45cm wide, 45cm long, 20cm high. Anything dropped in vanishes somewhere unknown.]
An early-game entity, more creepy mystery than threat. Sparse lore, short wiki entry—classic safe grade.
‘Probably made for collection.’
Peered inside. Palm-deep bottom, unnaturally black, like staring into an abyss.
“Hand won't go in.”
Finger met solid block floor.
“Next: living things.”
Fetched an ant from the flower bed outside; it scurried up the wall and out.
“Living things can't pass.”
As expected. Tried dirt, pebbles, twigs from the bed next.
“Non-living can.”
They vanished without trace.
“Cut twigs count as non-living? Microbes in soil stay behind? Or do microbes and severed bits pass?”
Intriguing. Kept testing.
Fridge egg: passes.
Cake: passes.
Nails, hair: pass.
12 fruits/veggies from store: pass.
Unfrozen fertile egg: no.
Moldy bread: bread passes, mold stays.
Frozen goldfish in suspended animation: no.
“Conclusion: Life forms larger than mold can't pass.”
Suspended animation counts as alive too. Only non-life or microbes.
‘Not even sure about microbes. Might just linger.’
Experiment over, deep in thought. I'd grabbed it hoping to dispose of small hazardous entities.
‘If it works on them, perfect.’
But would it work on entities?
“Testable, but...”
Glanced at the notebook on my desk. Tear a page from the one in my head and try? Risky?
“Won't know till I try.”
Did it. Tore a bit, wrote on it.
Mind-notebook saved it. Proved it works even torn.
‘Maybe the notebook has ego and would've warned if harmed.’
Checked all pages: no warnings. Back to full, tear restored.
‘No issue.’
Checked first page doodle.
No answer yet.
‘In it goes.’
Torn piece retained entity traits—part of it. Dropped in: gone in a blink.
‘Jackpot!’
Means to dispose of small threats secured.
“?”
Then, junk erupted from the well.
Pebbles, copper, iron, zinc—minerals flooded out, littering my room.
‘Wiki never mentioned this.’
New phenomenon. Tested with note.
My writing, recycled on the back.
Korean pencil script—not my ballpoint. Scrapped entity disposal plan.
Tore fresh note.
Waited. Note returned—back of mine.
I had just become the first human to converse with someone from another world.