Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Apartment
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Darkness settles.
I hurriedly shift my gaze.
-Ting!
A sound like a coin bouncing echoes.
I look around.
At least, nothing is visible.
"Arin-ssi."
Calling out to Song Arin, I peer into the darkness.
She vanished as if teleporting in an instant.
Did she move to another dimension, perhaps?
I hurriedly pull out my smartphone to check the time and signal, then shine it around.
Time and signal are normal.
The surroundings are the same room where I was with Song Arin moments ago.
"..."
Only Song Arin is gone.
First things first, make contact.
I call the most reliable person right away.
Before the ringtone even sounds, the call connects, and a familiar voice comes through.
"Is something wrong, Jaeheon-ssi?"
"Daon-ssi."
"Where to?"
Yoo Daon's voice comes through the speaker.
"Arin-ssi's house."
"Should I bring Chaeyeon-ssi?"
"For now, come as fast as you can."
"Please wait just a moment."
Click. The call ends.
With reinforcements on the way, I just need to hold out a little.
"Arin-ssi."
I call her name, but no response.
"..."
In the end, there's only one way to check.
I carefully raise my smartphone and shine the light ahead. One painting catches the light and gleams.
A semi-transparent window appears before my eyes again.
[Name: Kunhakkilgye]
[Age: Created one day ago]
[Specialty: High Tide]
[Talent: None]
[Background: If you think your own life is melted into it, then life too is art.]
[Weakness: Erase the light.]
Created one day ago.
Meaning this painting was only recently created.
In fact, when I first visited Song Arin's house, this was just an ordinary painting.
I slowly approach the painting, gun drawn from my pocket.
"..."
I examine the painting closely.
A dark Song Arin amid shining people.
Everyone except one person is looking at Song Arin.
First, I look at Song Arin.
Song Arin stares straight ahead with a dark expression.
Unlike the painting I saw earlier, it feels strangely lifelike.
If the background and other people seem like a painting, she feels like a photograph.
An ominous premonition creases my brow.
I shift my gaze to the other people in the painting.
Strangers.
Black-haired elderly, men and women—people I've never seen before.
As I scrutinize the painting intently, familiar faces come into view.
Clearly, when I saw it before, the shining people were strangers.
Jang Chaeyeon stands near Song Arin, gazing at her expressionlessly.
Yoo Daon smiles beside her.
And,
"..."
I'm the only one with my back to her.
One might think I should be dark too, but no.
If anything, I seem drawn shining brighter than the others.
Which only makes her darkness stand out more.
People like a painting, her like a photograph.
Could it be?
I tentatively reach out toward the painting.
At that moment, the painting ripples, and the colors of the world shift briefly.
I quickly pull my hand back, and the world and painting return to normal as if nothing happened.
"..."
Should I reach out?
As I ponder,
-Clunk!
The sound of a door opening, followed by hurried footsteps heading this way.
"Jaeheon-ssi!"
"You got here really fast."
Yoo Daon pants as she looks at me.
"Chaeyeon-ssi is..."
"She's on her way... but she said it might take some time."
"Did you turn on the lights?"
Yoo Daon shakes her head.
"I saw on the way in that the blackout curtains were down. Should I turn them on?"
"Wait a second."
I reach out to stop Yoo Daon and sink into thought.
Weakness: Erase the light.
Does that mean erasing the light reveals the weakness?
Then shouldn't the weakness be exposed now?
What happens if we turn on the lights instead?
"...Shall we try turning on the lights?"
"Please do."
For now, let's try the lights.
Yoo Daon nods and steps away.
Click. As the lights come on, I look around again.
Still no trace of Song Arin.
"Daon-ssi, do you see anything..."
I step toward the door to call Yoo Daon, poking my head out.
Shining people appear before my eyes.
I can't make out their faces, but they give off the same vibe as the people in the painting.
I hurriedly turn to look at Yoo Daon,
-Kwachik!
A shining person grabs Yoo Daon's head and crushes it.
Blood splatters against the wall.
At the same time, the shining person reaches for me.
-Click!
Headless, Yoo Daon staggers but reaches out and turns off the lights.
The light vanishes, darkness returns, and the shining person reaching for me disappears as if it never was.
"Wow..."
And somehow, Yoo Daon's head is back, as she stands pressing the switch, letting out a sigh of relief.
"My eyes went dark, so I groped blindly, but I managed to turn off the lights! That was close!"
"...Thank you."
"Ugh, blood on the wall... Arin-ssi will get mad if she sees this, right?"
Muttering nonchalantly about her head exploding, Yoo Daon stares at the wall.
"...I'll make sure to mention it. For now, come in here."
I lead Yoo Daon into the room.
"...Wow, what's this place?"
"It's a hidden room Arin-ssi kept."
"Ah..."
Yoo Daon lets out an exclamation and starts fiddling with the books around, reading their titles.
"It's Okay Not to Be Loved... How to Detach Your Heart from Others..."
Muttering as she scans the titles.
"I see."
Yoo Daon smiles faintly.
Her smiling face looks refreshed, as if she's realized something.
"Yes?"
"No. It's nothing."
She mutters something, sets down the book, comes to my side, and examines the painting.
"Oh, isn't this that painting from before? The one from the art gallery."
"Yes."
"Did you bring it here?"
"No. Seems like a replica."
"..."
Yoo Daon narrows her eyes at the painting, then looks at me.
"I see! So, what should we do?"
"...Earlier, when I touched this painting, it got weird."
"Yes."
"So I was thinking of going into it."
"I'm in!"
Yoo Daon nods eagerly before I even finish.
"You're okay with that?"
"Of course."
She looks at me like I'm asking something obvious.
"If I weren't, I wouldn't have come this far."
"...Then shall we two go? If something happens, Chaeyeon-ssi can handle things outside."
Yoo Daon nods.
"...Here we go?"
I slowly reach out to the painting. The colors of the world begin to shift again.
Darkness spreads as if consuming the room,
And the moment my fingertips touch the painting, darkness engulfs the world, and the background changes.
"...Wow."
Yoo Daon mutters as she stands beside me.
Maybe because she's in a suit. Her clothes are bloodstained, carrying a faint metallic smell.
"This doesn't seem like an art gallery..."
What lies before us is.
"An apartment?"
An apartment.
A completely ordinary apartment you could find anywhere.
I turn around.
Behind us is the single Kunhakkilgye painting I touched.
As I bring my hand close to the painting, the darkness starts to recede.
"This painting acts as both entrance and exit, huh."
"Then we can escape through it if things go south."
Yoo Daon nods and steps forward.
"If something happens, abandon me and run."
"How could I?"
"I can't die even if I want to, so I hold out fine."
"..."
Yoo Daon mutters calmly and pushes open the glass door.
The first floor inside is structured like a typical apartment.
Elevator, stairs, and rows of doors on both sides.
"Could Arin-ssi be here?"
"We can only pray she's not somewhere else."
If she's elsewhere, we can't find her.
-Sharak!
No sooner do I speak than the manual unfolds.
[Manual for Office Workers]
[Myeongil Apartment Manual]
[0. Myeongil Apartment was sealed by the Management Bureau 15 years ago due to some anomalous phenomenon.]
[0-1. This was the doing of [Censored] beneath the river, and the first survivor is currently employed in the Management Bureau.]
"..."
"...This is that place?"
Yoo Daon, reading the manual beside me, mutters and looks at me.
"Then the first survivor is..."
"Arin-ssi, probably."
I continue thinking amid the complexity.
Why is this 'Myeongil Apartment' connected to the monster under the river?
Or maybe it's not a monster.
Doubts flood my mind, but now's not the time.
Next entry.
[1. Take the elevator. Never take the stairs.]
[2. After entering the elevator, you'll see buttons from 1st to 6th floor. If you see a 7th floor button, ignore the intense urge to press it.]
[3. The most common exit is the children's room in 402.]
Yoo Daon, reading beside me, presses the elevator button.
Ding. A cheerful tone sounds, and the heavy doors open.
"Jaeheon-ssi, the elevator's open..."
"Ah, yes."
I look up at Yoo Daon's words,
-Psshik!
Blood sprays onto my face.
Yoo Daon's right arm flies off.
The elevator is crammed with something black and sticky,
-Ding!
Yoo Daon hurriedly presses with her left arm, and the doors close again.
-Whoosh!
Her right arm rewinds through time back to her.
"...Are we really supposed to take the elevator?"
Yoo Daon blinks at me and hands over a handkerchief.
I wipe the blood from my face with the handkerchief and hurriedly open the manual.
[0-1. Advance notice to Management Bureau staff arriving here.]
[0-2. This place has not been updated since the investigation 10 years ago for the response team's final manual entry.]
[0-3. We cannot know how the anomaly has changed over the long time, so please be cautious when escaping.]
"They should've warned about this beforehand."
"Yes?"
"It's nothing."
I sigh and look at the next entry.
[4. If the elevator is unusable for some reason, use the stairs. However, never let go of the stair handrail.]
"Let's go."
I grab the stair handrail and start ascending.
Where on earth is Song Arin?
Holding the handrail, I climb the stairs and look out the window.
In the darkness, only one painting shines brightly.