Even if I fall into a ghost story, I still have to go to work
Chapter 43
“To think there was a basement floor here…”
Standing before the basement stairs, Go Young-eun’s face was a mixture of fear and anticipation.
Baek Sa-heon sneered.
“Exactly. And I’d love to know how the person next to me knew there was a basement, and why he insisted we go to B1 without giving us a single word of explanation.”
“If you don’t want to go, we can split up here.”
“…….”
Baek Sa-heon fell silent.
Now that the existence of a basement was confirmed, he wasn’t about to miss out on whatever ‘ace up the sleeve’ Kim Sol-eum might have.
I gave Go Young-eun a brief explanation, telling her I’d found a location that might be helpful by using specialized equipment to read the notice by the elevator.
Then, I finally stepped onto the basement stairs.
“…….”
“…….”
The further down we went, the more obvious it became.
‘The architectural style has changed.’
The bronze-colored walls of the mansion darkened to a verdigris hue, and the decorations became more avant-garde. For some reason, it felt like a much deeper descent than the one from the second floor to the first…
“…….”
“…….”
Before long, a sophisticated gate appeared beside the stairs.
—Basement Level 1. That’s what it said.
We had arrived.
I cautiously gripped one of the door handles. Only after confirming there were no mechanical sounds outside did I pull it open.
What revealed itself was… neither an exhibition hall nor a corridor.
Go Young-eun’s eyes widened.
“This is…”
“It’s likely a visitor lounge.”
It was a sort of rest area.
The vast hall was furnished quite comfortably with plush armchairs, vintage tables, and even a fireplace burning with a bronze-colored flame in one corner.
“Did… did you read about this in the elevator?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, since these places are usually in the lobby, does that mean there’s an exit nearby…?”
“I’m not sure about that. However…”
“However?”
“The manual listed several things prohibited in the exhibition halls. I figured the restrictions would be lighter in a ‘rest area.’”
Exactly.
I came here targeting the fact that certain forbidden acts might be permitted in this space.
“Things you can’t do… Oh, like eating or drinking!”
“Yes.”
2. Consumption of food and beverages is prohibited within the exhibition halls.
“…But it doesn’t seem like we need to eat anything right now.”
True.
“To be precise, I came here to perform an action that’s prohibited because it falls under the category of consumption.”
“…And what would that be?”
I pulled the items I’d prepared out of my bag.
[Easy and Fast Candle Making Kit]
“The ban on open flames.”
I was going to craft an escape item right now.
Go Young-eun swallowed hard.
Before her eyes, her impossibly capable colleague was doing something truly absurd.
“Is it like this?”
Kim Sol-eum pulled a strange box from his briefcase and was quickly scanning the enclosed instructions.
The box looked far from ordinary. Why on earth had he packed a candle-making kit?
‘I’ve never seen that brand before.’
A logo for something called ‘Pleasant Lab’ shimmered with a tacky smile mark, but the instructions Sol-eum held were handwritten in a messy scrawl of dark red ink.
…It felt extremely eerie.
Like a prop one might encounter within a ghost story…
At that moment, Baek Sa-heon muttered.
“…An item?”
An item?
When she reflexively turned to Kim Sol-eum, he answered quite kindly.
“Yes. It’s an object with supernatural properties.”
… !
“Then, isn’t it a Darkness?”
“It depends on the classification system, but… if the anomaly is stable, portable, and lacks a fixed domain, it seems they’re referred to as items rather than Darknesses.”
“…….”
How does Sol-eum know that…?
‘Aren’t we… both new recruits?’
Why is there such a gap in our information?
And where on earth did he get that…?
Go Young-eun, who considered herself one of the top three recruits in terms of adapting to company life, couldn’t help but be flustered.
‘No, he looks incredibly skilled at handling it…?!’
Sensing her gaze, Kim Sol-eum turned to her and spoke as if making an excuse.
“It’s my first time making one, too.”
It was the truth!
While he had pondered the usage methods while reading the instructions a few times, this was indeed his first time actually crafting it.
However, his colleague had no way of knowing he had already performed similar rituals about three times, so she was simply left reeling…
Honestly, shouldn’t a person like this start a business for the good of society instead of just getting a job?
Shouldn’t he avoid getting tangled up in a horror-show company like this??
But soon, a cold sense of reality snapped her out of it.
‘…It’s probably because of the Wishright.’
Because of a wish he couldn’t give up on.
Go Young-eun almost sank into a brief depression out of sympathy for their shared lot, but she quickly pulled herself together.
For now, she had to focus entirely on escaping.
…She would use her sheer rage toward the R Team leader—who had abandoned her and bolted the moment the mechanical monster approached—as fuel!
She just wanted to retract her past statement about how there was no hazing in her team and how she wouldn’t have to deal with interpersonal stress.
‘Drop dead, Team Leader!’
But then again, thinking that the R Team superiors might actually die miserably with their eyes, noses, and mouths torn out felt a bit strange…
“Done.”
“… !”
Go Young-eun, who had been lost in thought, snapped her eyes back to him at the sound of Kim Sol-eum’s voice.
Before she knew it, Kim Sol-eum had spread a sheet of black paper on the floor and drawn a small image with the enclosed crayon.
It was… well.
‘…A candle?’
Yes. It looked like a candle… to be precise, it was just a 2D outline.
Regardless, Kim Sol-eum gestured with one hand toward the cards he had placed near the drawing.
“You see the cards.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Please pick one of them.”
“…….”
“It determines the attribute of the item.”
Was she being used or dragged into something?
Go Young-eun hesitated for a moment but soon reached out.
Kim Sol-eum had never been unpleasantly suspicious in his words or actions, and judging the situation objectively, he had always treated her with goodwill.
‘Let’s do it.’
She trusted the big data inside her own intelligent brain.
So, she flipped over one of the cards scattered on the floor without much hesitation.
On the front of the card was a vibrant blue drawing of a person raising a hand.
At the very top, a white star sparkled like a jewel.
[Honor]
A faint smile spread across Kim Sol-eum’s face.
“……A good draw.”
Was it?
‘I don’t think I particularly need honor right now…’
Anyway, if the person who read the instructions said it was good, then it was a relief.
Then, Kim Sol-eum turned his head and called out to Baek Sa-heon in a voice that sounded rather reluctant.
“Pick a card.”
“…….”
Baek Sa-heon seemed to be calculating the situation, but he soon narrowed his eyes and reached out.
On the front of the card he flipped was a person’s mouth smiling crookedly and red iron bars.
[Interference]
“Suits you.”
“What?”
Kim Sol-eum ignored him and continued the crafting!
“I’ll flip over all the remaining cards.”
“Yes, okay!”
Whatever it is, just go ahead!
Go Young-eun watched Kim Sol-eum quickly flip the cards with steady hands.
There were ten cards left in total.
Confusion, Healing, Meditation, Wound, Falsehood, Dream, Anger, Protection, Blow, Gaze…
Ten cards were laid out on the floor, revealed.
‘What is this?’
Why did he have them pick cards like a tarot reading, only to reveal them all at the end?
She realized why after seeing Kim Sol-eum’s next move.
The last card was for him to choose personally.
[Falsehood]
Picking the card that depicted a golden gear next to a black heart, Kim Sol-eum used a lighter to burn the three cards they had chosen.
The flames sputtered in various colors, and the cards turned into shimmering ash.
“… !”
Carefully gathering the ash from the cards, he applied it inside the crayon outline of the candle as if painting it, then folded the paper.
“Now we just need to let it set for about 30 minutes.”
With a faint smile, Kim Sol-eum picked up the folded paper and tucked it into his suit’s breast pocket.
“What you just made…”
“This candle will help us get out of here.”
“… !”
“I was planning to try a few more times if it didn’t work, but the keywords came out quite well on the first try—”
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech.
“…….”
“…….”
The three of them turned their heads simultaneously.
From the distance, under the bronze light, a massive shadow revealed itself.
Eight straight lines resembling spider legs.
And…
Screeech.
The mechanical eye, leaking the light of a gas lamp.
“…….”
“…….”
“Run!”
The three of them immediately began sprinting in the opposite direction.
I knew it.
I knew that even if it was a rest area, the machine could appear.
Still, I assumed it would patrol less strictly than the exhibition halls, so I’d decided to take some risks, but…
‘There were no hiding spots like vents there, so it couldn’t be helped, but of all the times!’
I gritted my teeth and dashed across the corridor.
Now that we’d been spotted, it would be able to follow us even if we hid in another vent.
It was a machine with that kind of performance!
“Should we go straight? !”
“For now!”
Going straight led to the main exhibition hall.
I could only hope there would be a higher-priority problem there to draw its aggro, but…
‘I don’t even know how much more dangerous the exhibits have become since we moved to the basement… !’
It was then.
Whoosh.
“… !”
Baek Sa-heon tried to grab my suit.
‘What now, you lunatic!’
The bastard screamed.
“That item! The candle! Let’s offer the candle you made! It’s valuable, isn’t it? !”
I slapped his hand away and shouted.
“No, you idiot!”
“What? !”
“Look at the exhibition theme!”
+++
This exhibition is held free of charge for one hour, under an open heart that adores art.
+++
“Art!!”
“… !”
“Specifically, living beings, civilization, and history!!”
I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“What does this item have to do with that? Why would they accept it as payment!”
If items were valuable to them in the first place, our company employees would have given up their equipment instead of having their eyes torn out!
Besides, the candle wasn’t even finished yet!
However, Baek Sa-heon reached out again to snatch my bag, and Go Young-eun let out a frustrated gasp.
“Let’s at least try! Since we’re going to die anyway—!”
“Agh! Hey! Stop it and just ru—”
I turned my head.
Right now, our feet…
Had crossed the threshold of the main exhibition hall.
“…….”
Catching my breath, I looked up.
S t a r s w e r e t w i n k l i n g e v e r y w h e r e.
N o, w e r e t h e y p e b b l e s? C o u n t l e s s p a i r s o f g l o w i n g c i r c l e s o f t h e s a m e c o l o r.
They covered the four walls completely, staring at me. Human gazes…
The eyes the guide machine had plucked out.
“Heugh.”
I stopped and lowered my head. Beside me, I heard the sound of Baek Sa-heon hitting his one remaining eye.
My rattled mind slowly calmed down…
—Ah. It arranged them like stars in the universe. ‘Shining Gaze.’ Quite cliché, but a popular naming choice! It seems the artist was conscious of the donors of the materials.
“…….”
The three walls of the massive black exhibition hall were filled with eyeballs, without a single gap.
There was only one exit: the door we had just entered.
And through that doorway, the guide machine was approaching relentlessly…
We were trapped.
—I’m curious about Roe Deer’s choice! This is a dead end. There’s nowhere to run… hmm, it seems there’s none. Indeed!
—But my
friend
, you can get out anytime, anywhere. Because you have this Brown!
I… knew that too.
‘If it were just me.’
That I could escape safely at any time.
Brown would gladly use the ability he called ‘Turning Off the Lights’ for me, which made my presence disappear.
Then I could just carefully slip out of here while the others drew aggro and had their eyes and ears extracted.
—In that case, how about letting that Baek Sa-heon person pay the fee? His life isn’t going to last long anyway!
Right. I’d successfully crafted the candle, which had a recommended count of three people, so Baek Sa-heon was no longer necessary.
‘I only brought him along to prevent any mental issues.’
Honestly, wouldn’t it be fine if that bastard died? No, it might actually be more beneficial for society if he did.
In the meantime, if she was lucky, Go Young-eun might be able to escape too…
…Huh?
Wait.
“Let’s split up! That way, if even one of us gets out…”
“Mountain Goat-ssi!”
“Yes?”
“You’re safe.”
“… ?!”
“Weren’t you recently charged a fee? There should still be time left until the next term.”
“Ah!!”
Go Young-eun, who had her ear extracted relatively recently, would surely still have ‘usage time’ left!
A spark of hope flickered in Go Young-eun’s eyes.
“Then I’ll go and try to interfere…”
Greeeeeeeeeeeech.
“…….”
“…….”
It had entered.
The guide machine.
Rattle.
In the bronze candlelight, I saw the machine head-on for the first time.
It was ruthlessly sharp and sophisticated.
As if iron had been added as flesh on a spider’s base, the head and thorax were strangely connected, with the abdomen and lower body beneath them.
But it unnervingly touched the uncanny valley, as its form vaguely resembled a bipedal intelligent being. Its creaking, grotesque movements were chilling.
Sharp, needle-like legs moved their joints at will.
And from its head, eight gas lamps glowed yellow through the pale shadows.
“…….”
Go Young-eun, who had been approaching, froze in place.
It seemed the trauma of having her ear torn off just moments ago had pierced through her brain.
It was understandable.
Screeech.
The machine passed right by Go Young-eun.
‘As expected.’
In that case, the ones the machine was chasing were…
Me and Baek Sa-heon.
Greeeeeeeeeeeech.
I hesitated for a very short moment.
To quickly erase my presence and run away while the machine’s attention was on Baek Sa-heon.
It would be difficult if the machine was only focused on me, but since there were still two targets, wouldn’t Brown’s ability work?
—Oh, should I use it now?
And I decided.
‘No.’
Instead, I shoved Baek Sa-heon to the side.
“… !”
“Run.”
Baek Sa-heon already had one eye missing.
In other words, he knew better than anyone that something more than just an eye might be extracted.
‘I don’t know what kind of erratic behavior he might pull.’
Even if he were to have an ear ‘collected’ instead, the rejection from someone who had already experienced having an eye extracted would be more intense.
I couldn’t even fathom what kind of extreme, crazy thing he might do.
It was better to let him run away.
“I said run.”
Baek Sa-heon hesitated for a moment.
But soon, he backed away from the machine. Once the machine stood before me, he sprinted toward the door and vanished.
At the same time, Go Young-eun also caught my eye signal, squeezed her eyes shut, and ran out the door.
“…….”
Now then.
—Do you have a question for the guide? Roe Deer.
I looked up.
The machine, which looked like a mosaic half-merging a spider and a woman, faced me, shining its gaslight.
It was a grotesque and spine-chilling sight.
The guide machine then began to twitch its eight legs and arm-needles toward me.
I bowed politely.
“Hello. I’ve just arrived.”
I knew it wouldn’t work.
Sure enough, the machine made an indiscernible noise and twitched one of its massive needles.
—It says that since 1 hour and 54 minutes have passed since your entry, an additional fee will be calculated.
I took a deep breath.
“Wait a moment. May I ask a question before I pay the fee?”
—Of course you may!
“Is the guest room reservation handled at the front desk? …If you agree with my question, please nod your head once; if you do not, please shake it sideways.”
…….
Nod.
“Thank you for the information. Then…”
I held back a sigh and spoke.
I’d asked the previous question just to set up this one.
The key question for escape.
‘Since these machines only remember information about their own zones, they don’t know which floor the exit is on.’
If I asked for the location of the front desk, it probably wouldn’t know.
But.
If I rephrased the question to be about information regarding its own floor, wouldn’t I be able to get an answer?
Like this.
“Did the guests who finished their viewing and wished to return home go from this B1 level to the floor below?”
…….
“Or did they go to the floor above?”
Nod.
“They went to the floor above. Thank you.”
Right.
By asking each guide machine I encountered on each floor the right questions, I would eventually be able to narrow down the location of the exit…
If my eyes, nose, mouth, and limbs weren’t all plucked out before then.
‘If it’s above B1… then it’s on the ground floors.’
Learning just that was a huge achievement. Since there were seven ground floors, it meant the exit was somewhere within them.
‘Good conditions.’
But the joy vanished like a candle flame.
Because the unavoidable moment had arrived.
Greeeeeeeeeeeech.
—It says it will now collect the fee.
Fee collection.
“…….”
Thinking coldly, it wasn’t a huge problem.
‘They’ll stick a rented item into the eye socket instead, so I’ll still have vision until I escape from this Darkness.’
And I knew this world well. I already knew several ways to restore lost body parts, and I was confident I could use them more easily than others…
That was also why I was standing here.
‘I’ve calculated everything and accepted the situation.’
The problem was… this maddening revulsion!
Who on earth could accept this calmly and as if it were nothing?
Having both eyes extracted alive by a monster!
Even in this space where other people’s plucked eyes were displayed all around!
Cold sweat trickled down my chin.
‘Still, I have to confirm it.’
I gritted my teeth.
It wouldn’t hurt even if my eyes were plucked.
‘If I can’t even endure this, I should give up on surviving here.’
Truly, there were no better conditions than now. If I wanted to see if I could endure the injuries of a ghost story with my coward’s heart.
I needed the experience of enduring a restorable loss at least once to build up resistance.
Still, my clenched hands trembled.
‘Dammit…’
Whirrr.
A massive, thin, sharp needle of metal, like a spider leg, approached my eyes.
I held my breath.
Whoosh.
The needle dug into the area around my eye…
Whirrrrrrrrr.
“…….”
I rolled only my eyeballs to look to the side.
From beyond the darkness, a massive, strange, spider-like form was approaching…
Whirrrrrr, screeeeeeech.
It was another guide machine.
“…….”
What was this?
‘There should be a set path for the machines.’
Paths weren’t supposed to overlap… were they?
Sure enough, the machine that was about to extract my eye seemed to experience an operational error for a moment… then it pulled away from me and began to move.
As if it were revising its path on its own.
Screeeeeeech…
“…….”
A sigh of relief didn’t come out.
Because the new machine would just extract my eyeballs instead.
I just held my breath and stared at the newly appeared machine.
The guide machine raised its spider-leg-like appendages right in front of my nose.
Then…
“Phew.”
… !
“Are you okay, Roe Deer-ya?”
The spider form collapsed and vanished, revealing a human wearing a badger mask.
“…Assistant Manager!”
Assistant Manager Park Min-seong, his face drenched in cold sweat, gave a wide grin.
“Phew… that was close!”
