Walking a mountain path at night is dangerous.
That was why this 'courage test' itself felt eerie and fundamentally out of place.
A retreat center event that made people go into the mountains in the middle of the night... Why would such a thing exist in reality?
Trudge.
'…Did the kids who died at the retreat center die in accidents during the courage test?'
I began to imagine it.
I tried to shake it off.
Trudge.
Our footsteps echoed over the soil and broken branches as we advanced through the darkness.
After walking about 70m uphill.
'…It's a fork in the road.'
My eyes, now accustomed to the Darkness, spotted something between the trees.
"It's a signpost."
A grimy green metal sign was stuck into a tree.
Looking very closely, I could read it.
{«—Fairy Rock}
Jin Nasol moved left without delay.
'Fairy Rock was one of the places to get a stamp.'
But I ended up noticing another sign behind that one, half-corroded and barely visible….
{«—Fairy Rock
Shinmaru Retreat Center—»}
An inexplicable chill ran down my back.
'Ugh.'
I hurried after Jin Nasol.
The remaining worker also quickly stuck close to my side. He seemed afraid of being left at the very back.
I empathized with that feeling.
"Excuse me."
"…Yes."
Right. I was thinking that walking while talking like this might be less scary.
"I think... someone is following us from behind."
"……."
"I’ve been hearing footsteps for a while now."
Trudge.
I instinctively listened.
Beyond our overlapping footsteps….
…….
Rustle.
Trudge.
Rustle.
"You hear it, right?"
I heard it.
"This, surely…."
"It must be the other people who came in with us."
"Eh?"
I answered without even taking a breath.
"Since several teams of workers came in, there will naturally be other people ahead and behind us on this path. It must be one of those teams."
…….
"R-right. A lot of people came in."
"Yes. It's definitely that."
Definitely my foot.
'I'm going crazy, seriously.'
The horror torture has begun….
"So let’s walk faster."
"……."
The worker swallowed hard.
I kept my mouth shut again and headed forward.
"Wait! Then wouldn't it be better to wait and go together? Uh, in this situation, the more people the bet—"
"Really? Then you stay behind."
"…!"
"Whether you shut your mouth or stay behind, just shut up."
Jin Nasol said without even looking back.
"How many times are you going to whine about something that’ll be over once we just finish and go back?"
"No…."
"Does your brain not work? Do you have no learning ability?"
"……."
"One moment. Assistant Manager."
This wouldn't do.
I approached Assistant Manager Jin Nasol and whispered in a low voice.
"Speaking in that manner won't work."
"……."
"Isn’t the situation we’re facing different?"
"What's different?"
"Both you and I, Assistant Manager, are currently workers of this branch..."
"Ah."
The corners of Jin Nasol’s mouth curled up crookedly.
"Who would listen to a cripple who can't do anything without painkillers?"
"…!"
A dry voice came out.
"Certainly, there's no way anyone would listen to someone like that telling them what to do."
"No."
I responded calmly.
"It's because you are not their superior right now, Assistant Manager."
"……."
"I believe that to persuade someone in the same position, you must provide enough explanation for them to understand."
A short silence followed.
And then.
"Fine."
Jin Nasol muttered quietly.
"Both are true."
"……Assistant Manager."
"Fine. From now on, you do the talking."
Jin Nasol didn't get angry.
With a somewhat stoic movement, she simply took out another painkiller, chewed, and swallowed it.
"……."
A strange complicated feeling bloomed and then vanished amidst the fear.
'Whew.'
I moved my feet again.
The worker quickly followed again.
"Hey, since it's come to this, how about we do some self-introductions? I'm, what was it, Y463. I'm someone who used to run a tteokbokki shop in Busan..."
"It would be better to do that after we get out. I think even if I heard it now, I wouldn't remember because I'm scared."
"Ah, yes…."
The worker trailed off as if embarrassed.
"Haha…. Once I’m done with work, I'll buy some tteokbokki from the snack bar and set it up properly for you."
"……Thank you."
Please don't do that.
'Stop laying down death flags like "since he was as friendly as a next-door neighbor, his death would be a huge shock"...'
Doesn't he seem like a supporting character in a horror movie who can't survive until the end and exits early...?
"First, let's make it out safely. We can talk more afterwards."
Wait, doesn’t this also sound like a death flag?
'Sigh.'
Let's just shut up.
I barely managed to restrain my urge to run and continued to move slowly.
Trudge.
'…I can't even see silhouettes clearly now.'
The deeper we went into the mountain, the darker it became.
Groping through the pitch-black darkness heightened both tension and frustration.
This was the result of advancing while trying to ignore the footsteps echoing behind us.
"……."
"Stop."
"Yes."
The narrow path had suddenly opened up a bit, revealing what seemed to be a small clearing.
The soil was slightly easier to walk on.
"Is it a clearing?"
"Probably."
And as we walked a little further, I noticed something blocking the mountain path as if to deliberately cut it off.
Something massive.
"The rock. You check it too."
At Assistant Manager Jin Nasol’s words, I cautiously reached out and touched what was in front of me.
The scratchy feeling of an old straw-knotted rope and a cold stone surface was felt….
Grab. Something caught my wrist.
"……!!"
I violently pulled my arm away.
'Crazy!'
The sensation of cold, frozen fingers scraped against my arm as they fell away. The movement caused me to collide with the worker behind me.
"W-what is it?!"
I shouldn't show it to this person.
Fear is contagious.
"…I lost my footing. I'm sorry."
"Ah…."
I mustn't faint, I mustn't….
'Just pretend you don’t know.'
Whew.
I gritted my teeth and slowly stared at the rock.
…I couldn't see it properly.
Within the darkness, the surface of the rock was deeply submerged in shadows, remaining a source of fear in the realm of the unknown and imagination….
I desperately craved light.
"Check behind the rock. There's a stamp."
"…Yes."
I stroked my arm once and moved my trembling legs.
Just as Assistant Manager Jin Nasol said, there was a lonely, old folding desk behind the rock. A plastic model stamp and an explanation were visible on top of it.
{Fairy Rock of Sagyeong Mountain}
There is a legend that a fairy wearing a five-colored winged robe slipped her foot from the clouds and fell, landing on a rock halfway up the mountain.
Traces of where the fairy sat remain on the rock's surface.
It's the first location.
I squeezed my eyes shut and grabbed the stamp.
There was dust piled up around it, and I could feel the texture rubbing off on my palm.
'…But the stamp pad ink hasn't dried.'
What on earth is it made of?
I endured the skin-crawling sensation and quickly pressed the stamp onto the stamp spot on the guidebook.
Refreshing Courage Test
Collect all 43 stamps and receive a prize.
Visit the famous spots of Sagyeong Mountain within the sunless darkness to develop courage and self-discipline, and to train your mind.
Prize Collection Point:
Information desk in front of the 1st floor entrance of the Retreat Center
One complete.
And.
"Stretch out your arms."
"Ye-yes?"
"It didn't say the stamp had to be pressed on paper."
I pressed the stamp onto the clothes of everyone in the group as well. It was in case we lost the paper.
…Perhaps because my hand had been grabbed earlier, touching others felt somewhat eerie.
"Then let's go to the next one."
"…Yes."
Assistant Manager Jin Nasol moved without hesitation once again.
"Since visibility isn't secured, you could go a bit slower..."
"That’s not an issue. Walk."
Yes, ma'am.
Just as I thought that I might actually cry out of gratitude.
Rustle.
"…!"
…The footsteps I’d been hearing earlier echoed again.
But they were incredibly close.
'Right behind us.'
Rustle, rustle. I swallowed hard and prepared to grab the person next to me and run immediately—
"Uh? Aren’t those people?"
"See, I told you I heard footsteps!"
'…!'
I turned my head.
The silhouettes emerging from the trail… were wearing work clothes.
"Calling themselves a major corporation while making us do all kinds of crazy shit, seriously."
"This is why their stock price is tanking these days."
They were workers.
'It really was another team.'
In an instant, the tension completely drained away.
'Whew.'
To think my excuse turned out to be spot on like this.
"Huh? Over there…."
"We're from a different team."
"Oh, good work then."
Since they don't know who I am, there's no need to adjust my way of speaking.
I could vaguely see dim silhouettes waving their hands after noticing us.
Behind them, three other human figures seemed to be emerging from the trail….
"You guys must be the ones who came just a while ago?"
Wait a minute.
"Are you perhaps the team that entered first?"
"Yeah, that's right. No, don't tell me you guys are still getting that one stamp? We've already gotten one from another place too."
"…Where did you get it?"
"Oh, the mineral spring. We even had a sip of the spring water, gah~ it was refreshing. Felt like my headache and toothache just vanished."
…They even drank the water here while doing a courage test on a wild mountain?
'They've got guts….'
Or maybe I just know too much.
I held back a sigh and roughly checked the movement of those who had completely emerged from the trail.
One, two, three, four.
…Four?
"Where is the other person?"
"What?"
"Weren't there five people in your team?"
"Oh."
One silhouette shrugged its shoulders.
And then made a smoking gesture with its hand.
"Well, they said they were going to have a smoke and were late, so we just left them behind."
…!
To smoke, you have to light a lighter.
'If that's the case, then that person….'
They must have lit the lighter.
While I thought it was a relief it was only one person, it was a bitter and scary thing.
Especially given that the others didn't know at all.
"It’s not like they’re kids, they’ll follow on their own."
Whew.
"In any case, chain-smoking bastards are the worst."
…….
Wait.
No… I might be overreacting, but.
"…'Bastards'?"
"Huh? No, what, you want me to use polite language? Everyone's in a similar situation at rock bottom, so what's with—"
"No. That's not it…."
I swallowed hard.
'Kids', 'bastards'.
"The plural address seems to imply... multiple people."
"Yeah, that's right."
A disinterested voice.
"Two of them went."
…….
…….
I slowly turned my head.
One, two, three, four….
Still,
Four of them.
"Anyway, let’s get a stamp too. The stamp is over there, right? It’s more convenient for everyone now that there are more people."
They approach.
Four people are coming.
They get close enough for their forms to be distinguished.
Three silhouettes wearing work clothes.
And at the very back….
A silhouette not in work clothes.
"……Stop."
One.
"Huh?"
"What did you say?"
I pointed at the person at the very back.
"You, I said stop."
"What is this guy saying?"
"What is your number?"
"Ah~ what the hell is it with asking for a guy's number."
"I mean your work number."
"Work number?"
"……."
"……."
"What's a work number, mister?"
Fuck.
"What the— shit!"
A high-pitched voice squeezed as if forcibly imitating a child.
My body froze. The three companions turned around to the fourth human figure in horror.
"You, you, what are you!"
"Pardon?"
"Are you from another team?! When did you tag along!"
"I've been here the whole time,
can't you see me?"
"What is this guy? His voice…."
"Come this way! Get away from it!"
But the workers from the other team ignored my words and moved haphazardly. The silhouettes mixed violently, wavering in confusion.
"Hey! A lighter, you have a lighter too! Light it!"
"Don't light i—"
Too far.
Too late.
"Hey."
Jin Nasol grabbed the back of my neck and whipped me around.
"Run."
Gritting my teeth, I started running towards the back of the rock.
"Hiek!"
"Wait... uh,"
"Aaaaaagh!"
"Jung-seok!"
The sound of someone losing their footing.
From beyond the rock, I heard something falling, rolling, and the dull sound of something breaking and shattering.
"Uhuuhuuk, uhuk,"
"L-li..."
"....."
"Beautiful."
"Beautiful."
"Wow."
Thump.
A bursting sound, like a watermelon splitting.
I tried not to imagine what had broken.
I tried to distance myself from the light and the witnesses.
Just as the sweet taste caused by exhaustion crept into my mouth.
"A-a cabin!"
Something else appeared at the end of the path. That silhouette was...
'A building...!'
Assistant Manager Jin Nasol, who had run ahead, somehow found the doorknob in the dark and opened it.
We immediately jumped into the open door.
"Huff,"
The nameplate brushed past my nose.
{Sagyeong Lodge}
Thump.
The door closed.
Completely blocking any potential light.
'Ha.'
I clenched my fists...
Rustle.
"....."
A sound right in front of the lodge door.
Rustle.
"Ugh..."
I simultaneously covered the worker's mouth and my own. The sound of our strained breaths echoed frantically.
And then...
Rustle.
The sound passed by the lodge.
Rustle…
"..."
"..."
For a while, silence flowed inside the lodge, completely submerged in darkness...
'Whew.'
A terrified voice was heard beside me.
"W-what was that just now? Didn't someone die? Huh?"
"......"
"No, forget the stamps, I think we need to report this, report it... hiek!"
"Here it is. Bring the paper."
In the meantime, Assistant Manager Jin Nasol had walked through the lodge and found the stamp.
'I respect her..'
Of course, she completely ignored the one remaining worker in our team.
"W-wait a minute...!"
"Walk carefully."
Without pushing away the worker clinging to me in terror, I slowly walked toward the direction Jin Nasol's voice had come.
Honestly, what had just happened was so chillingly horrific that being close to another person felt less scary.
Cold sweat ran down my spine. I took another deep breath.
As I got closer, I could feel very faint natural light coming through the window on the lodge’s opposite side. At least I could distinguish the positions of my companions there.
And the silhouette of the stamp hanging on the wall next to the window was faintly visible.
'That's how she found it.'
There was no explanatory note like the one I saw at ‘Sagyeong Mountain Fairy Rock.’
'Let's do this quickly and get out.'
Gritting my teeth, I moved my hand quickly and pressed another stamp.
Refreshing Courage Test
Collect all 43 stamps and receive a prize.
Visit the famous spots of Sagyeong Mountain within the sunless darkness to develop courage and self-discipline, and to train your mind.
Fairy Rock - Sagyeong Lodge - Osaek Mineral Spring
Prize Collection Point:
Information desk in front of the 1st floor entrance of the Retreat Center
Only one left.
'Please let this end quickly...
It was then, as I mused silently.
"Uh?!"
"..?!"
I thought my heart was going to drop.
Fortunately, the worker was fine, but his terrified voice didn't stop.
"Here on the side wall! On the side wall... there are tons of missing person flyers and advertisements, and something written about ghost stories..."
"...."
We're inside a ghost story, so of course there's stuff like that...!
‘Stop it…’
And I already know everything...
I really don't want to see it.
‘Of course it'll be terrifying.’
I wanted to cover the worker's mouth.
I was just about to shout "Stop looking and let's move" like Assistant Manager Jin Nasol.
“.....Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau?"
‘...!!’
My head turned reflexively.
As he said, the worker was pointing his finger at one wall of the lodge, made incongruous by the numerous flyers posted there.
As I approached, I made out a few of the large letters.
{Looking for missing child}
{Phone repairs here!}
{Come to Shinmaru Retreat Center}
The old, worn-out, and tacky flyers stuck together like human faces created an even stranger eeriness.
But among them.
In my vision adapted to the dark, one flyer that must have been colorful entered my eyes, albeit in black and white…
“...!!”
My god.
"Um, aren't we exactly in that situation right now? Shouldn't we contact them?"
"There's no way to contact them..."
But he stopped talking.
Beyond the worker, in the corner where the walls met, a rectangular outline protruded more than the flyers...
{Sagyeong Lodge Public Telephone}
※Please keep calls short for good manners ^^
It was there.
A way to contact them.
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