The World is Not Equal
Do you know, rice balls like this don't show any signs of spoilage if you just store them properly for a day, right?
Especially in this humid water park interior, it would be even more so.
I can't tell exactly what month and day it is, so I can only judge based on the expiration date on the packaging, but it's hard to deceive about the state of the food.
It hasn't been a few days...
No, just a few hours ago, this place might have been operating normally.
I had a conviction that it wasn't just my wishful thinking.
The good thing is that it seems I can take whatever food I want without discrimination.
I no longer have to worry about food for a while.
The bad thing is...
'Does it even exist?'
I thought about it for a moment but nothing came to mind.
It was just that I had been thinking this place was a water park that closed a very long time ago on my own.
Just that my expectation was off.
'Will I be able to hold out until the sun rises?'
Naturally, such thoughts came to mind.
But it probably wouldn't be that simple.
It would be too optimistic.
I gave up on the pointless hope and reached out to the display shelves again.
Then.
......Thud.
The sound of footsteps suddenly heard made all movements stop.
I felt that Yuna, who had been a bit away, also stopped moving.
It wasn't the clattering footsteps, but the sound when the sneaker soles touched the floor.
So, it sounded like a person's footsteps.
Without using the lantern, I stared at the convenience store entrance with my breath held.
And in the darkness, something revealed itself.
"...."
It was really a person. It looked like an ordinary-built man. Wearing a short-sleeve t-shirt and pants that could be seen anywhere.
But the moment I saw it, my spine went cold.
'....What?'
It was the eyes.
The position of the two eyes was strange.
More precisely, the pupils were unnatural, as if they were strangely spread out towards the temples on both sides.
The left eye was looking at the left end, and the right eye was looking at the right end.
He was like that, lifting the corner of his mouth as if he was sure someone was in the convenience store, and opened his mouth.
"Hello."
The voice and the words themselves were normal, but... the expression and tone didn't match this situation at all.
I didn't answer, and from the side, I felt Yuna's slight movement, so I immediately grabbed her arm.
Yuna glanced at me and nodded her head slightly. She must have understood the meaning not to speak.
Then.
"Hello."
"...."
When there was no answer, the man tilted his head.
To the left.
Thud.
A small joint sound came from the neck.
"Are you two alone?"
My eyebrows naturally furrowed.
'....What the hell is this guy.'
It was obviously an odd thing to say.
The man didn't seem like he was going to leave.
Rather, he was approaching the inside of the convenience store by about half a step.
And he repeated the same words.
"Are you two alone?"
...What kind of nonsense is this.
I didn't answer and lifted the baseball bat tightly, ready to swing at any time.
Then, the man's pupils that were spread out at both ends of his body moved.
Swoosh.
The pupils slid smoothly to the center.
And exactly stared at me.
"....!"
A chill ran down my neck instantly.
The guy said while pulling the corner of his mouth long.
"This world is not equal."
Now, he was muttering words that didn't make sense at all.
And as soon as I heard those words, Yuna moved to the side as if she had made a decision.
It felt like she had noticed that my gaze was on me and moved to the side to attack secretly.
The man's eyes were still looking at me.
His lips moved again.
"Ga... ningei a."
At that moment.
A hammer flew towards the side of his head.
Yuna had perfectly positioned herself to the side and attacked in the gap where my gaze was directed.
But the man's upper body strangely leaned back.
Only the neck and chest bent back, and the hammer passed right in front of his nose.
In that state where the body was bent back, he straightened his body again and immediately rushed towards me.
"Seokhun!"
The man's hand reached towards me ahead of Yuna's shout.
That hand was already changing into a monster's hand.
The arm was becoming abnormally long, the skin cracking, and additional finger joints were appearing one by one.
Soon, the segmented fingers like insect legs spread out like a fan and grabbed my face.
"...Tsk!"
I didn't have time to think.
I swung the bat I was holding straight down towards the guy's arm.
Thud!
The arm of the guy hit by the bat dropped down.
The elbow below was hanging loosely, but the man didn't scream, and instead opened his mouth wide.
"Bi hyeong euk pal sip yuk ge mu bo sa sip chil baek ki se sam sip sa seong nam su yong kim."
"Get out of here!"
I gritted my teeth and swung the bat sideways.
Whoong- Thud.
The guy retreated very quickly, but the end of the bat hit his chin.
Grit.
The jaw was pushed to the side.
The lower jaw was shaking loosely.
Even though the jaw was broken and couldn't pronounce properly, words kept coming out.
The movement of the tongue actively moving in place of the lower jaw was clearly visible.
"Eu neul neol o bo yeo ji ge eun sik eum neun ha eol si kae jji jang deun sik eum neun ha a jo h il yuk sip wol o nyeon sip cheon i hon gyeol jeong mi bak nae a."
"What?"
"Ga bag geum ge gal ro ba meon na kkeot man geom jeom jang i nol mul."
The man muttering incomprehensible fast words, Yuna approached from behind.
"Ga bag geum ga bag geum ga bag geum ga bag geum ga bag geum ga bag geum ga bag geum ga bag geum ga bag geum ga bag geum—"
Thud.
Yuna's hammer properly hit the man's head.
The body that couldn't withstand the impact flew to the side and hit the bottom of the display shelves.
The man's body rolled on the floor with the items.
The fallen man could no longer move.
One side of his head was completely crushed, and his eyes rolled around.
The unfocused eyes wandered in the air, and finally muttered.
"Hello? Hello... ."
With those words, the man's eyes closed.
...Fuck.
Why did he say it properly at the end?
The man didn't return to the monster's true form even after dying. His arm just changed to a monster and his breath cut off.
"...."
"...."
I thought I was getting used to catching monsters, but we lost our words for a moment.
Suddenly, Yuna said.
"This is something... it's gross."
I nodded in agreement and took my gaze off the corpse.
Beyond the corpse with the arm bent and the jaw dangling and one side of the head tragically crushed, Yuna was visible.
Her long hair was tied tightly back, but even in that, her small and neat face line was cleanly defined.
"Th... isn't the monster imitating the person you saw at first a bit different?"
Yuna looked at the corpse and nodded her head.
"He... was really fluent like a real person. No, he was so meticulous that he could imitate even the vivid emotions of a person......"
Just hearing it, it was completely different from the monster I met just now.
Is there a division of types even for monsters pretending to be human? Or was the monster that approached Yuna just exceptionally evolved?
Then suddenly, Yuna said.
"...For now, let's pack what we can and go up."
"Uh."
We organized the usable things again.
There was only one bag, so we couldn't take everything we wanted, but we did take quite a bit of food that could last for a long time.
If we eat sparingly, it could last for a few days.
Of course, the situation of just stealing food until then would be gloomy.
"Done?"
"Uh."
I closed the bag zipper.
The bag, which had become much heavier than before, was slung over my shoulder. It was quite heavy, but not to the point of not being able to carry it.
Yuna, who had been watching as if waiting for that appearance, said.
"You... are really surprisingly strong."
"Finally admitting it?"
Of course, I had said something similar when I swung the hammer before.
At that time, I had caught it off guard because I was still acting like a monster, but.
"I have some strength."
I added while lifting the bag strap once.
"Much more than you expected."
The corner of Yuna's mouth lifted slightly.
She didn't say anything special.
We finished organizing and left the convenience store.
Now, the place we need to go is the stairs leading to the second floor.
The problem is that the stairs are not in the direction we came from, but on the opposite side.
In the end, it meant we had to cross the center of the first floor again.
Perhaps the most dangerous situation on the first floor.
Yuna looked ahead, and I checked behind and to the side, advancing forward.
Not long after leaving the convenience store, the view opened up and the central pool came into view.
A vast body of water stretched far away, submerged in darkness.
I didn't shine the lantern towards that direction. Yuna didn't either.
In the water... it was better not to pay much attention.
We continued walking while scanning the surroundings. We moved our heads left and right without stopping.
We set our ears on edge and raised our senses to the maximum.
While doing so, we were careful not to make any breathing sounds, holding our breath as much as possible.
Especially when passing around the pool.
After passing by the pool, we didn't get complacent and rather moved our steps a bit faster.
A wall blocking the front appeared.
A bit further, this time a long large glass window appeared on the right.
The outer wall of the water park.
'Thinking about it...'
Since I woke up here, I hadn't seen the outside properly.
At first, I only wandered around the locker room and underground spaces, and after going up to the first floor, the path didn't allow me to check the outside.
'We should have confirmed this at some point.'
I slowed my steps and looked beyond the glass window.
And the steps stopped.
......What.
Outside was dark. There was no problem up to there, but it was too dark even in the dark.
Even though my eyes were adapted to the darkness, it was abnormally dark. Really, pitch black.
It was like the windows were blocked with black cloth.
"......Is it outside?"
Yuna, who had stopped with me, whispered softly.
"It seems like it."
"There isn't a single light."
I didn't approach the glass window closely.
Somehow, I didn't want to.
"...What do you think about going out by finding a door?"
"...."
I couldn't answer easily.
Should I just go out?
The reason couldn't be logically explained, but I felt a warning from instinct.
Whether it was a star, moon, or any faint light beyond the glass window.
If I see the completely black space with nothing in it, only such thoughts come to mind.
I opened my mouth after thinking.
"For now, let's do what we planned first."
"...Okay."
Yuna nodded her head without much objection this time either.
From some point, Yuna was accepting my opinions almost as they were.
That was actually the attitude I kept feeling after saving her from the monster.
I liked getting the right to speak, but...
'It might be a bit too much.'
We again pressed close to the wall and started slowly moving towards the stairs leading to the second floor.
*
*
*
The second floor of the water park, which has a wide hall, isn't very large.
It was a structure that couldn't be otherwise.
When we climbed the stairs, the first thing we saw was the railing stretching long along the central hall of the lower floor.
It wasn't like there were separate facilities spread out widely on the second floor like on the lower floor, but it seemed like corridors and a few management rooms were added to the edge of the vast water park space.
Through the railing, the first floor we had passed a little earlier could be seen clearly.
It wasn't like that.
After we had familiarly dealt with a few monsters, we came to the central control room along the railing.
One pattern we learned in the process was that the gopdeung-i monster mostly stood sticking to the corners like walls.
The door to the central control room was not locked, and there was no monster inside.
However, it was narrow.
A control facility almost filling one side of the wall and several monitors.
On the opposite side, there was a desk and a chair.
And surprisingly, some equipment still had power.
In fact, I had come here, but we wouldn't be able to properly handle this control facility.
But.
"......Here."
Yuna pointed to one side of the control panel.
[Filtration / Circulation Facilities]
Under the large letters, there were several switches and indicators divided by area.
A bit further away, there was one red-covered button.
[Emergency Stop for Circulation Pump]
"......Really there."
"Yeah."
I took out the manual I had and unfolded it again.
I checked the part I had read several times.
After stopping the circulation facilities in emergency.
'The drain valve opening in the basement 2nd floor machine room.'
Yuna looked at me.
"Should I press it?"
I hesitated for a moment.
Now that I was about to try, should I say that the red button bothers me for nothing?
I hadn't seen many cases where pressing a button deliberately made in horror movies or ghost stories in such places brings good results.
But I couldn't not press it after coming this far.
"Press it."
Yuna lifted the transparent cover.
Click.
And pressed the red button with my palm.
Uuuuuung......
As soon as Yuna removed her hand from the button, a small vibration spread along the wall and floor.
Uung... uuuung......
The vibration that had been large once gradually lost its strength.
At the same time, the indicators at various places in the control facility changed.
Thud. Thud thud.
A sound of something breaking came one after another, and one by one the green lights went out.
And.
......Thud.
It completely stopped.
For a moment, it felt like it was enveloped in vibration, but suddenly the entire water park felt enveloped in a great silence.
The machine sounds or vibrations that I hadn't even been conscious of until now disappeared all at once.
"It's done, right?"
"It seems so. There wasn't much of a problem, surprisingly."
"Then let's go to the basement 2nd floor right away."
We scanned the extinguished indicators once more and came out.
And the strangeness was felt when we moved a few steps along the corridor towards the railing.
Swoosh.
"...."
Screech....
A sound of water splashing came from beyond the railing.
The sound of a huge amount of water being pushed at once.
How large an existence moving would make it reach our ears beyond the railing on the second floor.
We looked at each other.
Yuna's pupils were enormously expanded.
I had a similar expression.
Because there was only one reason for this sound to happen.
The monster in the water had started moving.
A stiff voice came out from my mouth.
"Since we violated the use rules?"