A dark vent within a ghost story.
A situation where one must hold their breath to avoid terror.
To make matters worse, I was the one who practically saved Baek Saheon's life.
‘Of all people, it had to be you.’
Furthermore, my companion was now desperately avoiding my gaze.
“……?”
He wasn’t the type of person to act like this…….
‘Ah, wait.’
Something suddenly occurred to me.
—Watch out for the serial killer.
Was it because I had been kindly sending him serial killer alerts every day?
He seemed a bit intimidated. Well, it was certainly creepy enough.
‘This is actually better.’
In fact, it was somewhat intentional. I didn't send them anonymously because I wanted this exact effect.
I seem like a psycho, right? So let’s not get involved with each other.
Given his personality—bold toward the weak and submissive toward the strong— he would likely try to protect himself and avoid me as much as possible rather than looking for a chance to get rid of me.
‘That is more than welcome.’
…The problem was, for now, we had to remain stuck in this vent together.
I held my breath. Fortunately, Baek Saheon was as quiet as a dead mouse.
Outside, the shadows of people who failed to escape were dimly reflected by candlelight in the darkness.
Screeeeech, thud.
The machine stopped.
In front of the shadows of the people cornered in a dead end, something slender poked out.
A shadow with a silhouette like spider legs.
Then, silence.
“…….”
“…….”
Only the noise of the unknown machine echoed.
Fwip.
The spider-leg silhouette spread out wide right before the person’s eyes.
“Hieeeeek!!”
The flickering shadows showed eight sharp, delicate things clutching a human torso.
“Help me, please help me…… Aaaaaargh!!”
Squelch.
A single spider leg dug into the person’s head.
And then, with a pop, it pulled something out of the head.
“…….”
And I already knew what it had pulled out…….
‘…An eyeball.’
That was it.
The reason this exhibition was called the ‘Mansion of the Blind.’
==========
Numerous visitors testified to the Guide that they had lost human body parts, and the part most commonly lost first is said to be the ‘eyeball.’
==========
The ‘Guide’.
If you encounter that machine here, your eyes are gouged out.
The next time you meet it, it’s usually one of your limbs, your tongue, or sometimes your ears.
Thus, it is a twisted tale where people ultimately become blind, mute, and crawl around the dark exhibition hall like slugs….
The fact that this doesn't happen all at once is even more cruel.
Surprisingly, it's because this exhibition is "kind."
To the point where it provides ‘conveniences’ even without being asked.
==========
For the convenience of visitors, sensory correction devices are always available for free rental.
(Currently supported devices: Sight, Smell, Hearing, Touch, Taste, Electro-reception, Chemo-reception)
==========
Gurgle, ugh.
Another spider-leg silhouette approached the eyes of the person whose eyes had been gouged out, moving with elegance and precision.
The shape attached to the end of the leg momentarily cast a vivid shadow under the candlelight.
A slender needle and thread.
‘Fuck.’
I held my breath and waited longer until all the commotion died down.
Cold sweat poured from my entire body.
A moment later.
Thud, thud, thud….
The sound of the machine grew distant.
……Soon, the person whose eyes had been gouged out began to stumble forward.
Of all things, they approached the vent, their blood-soaked face appearing clearly before vanishing.
Instead of eyes, telephoto lenses were attached.
“…!”
I saw Baek Saheon beside me silently mouthing a curse.
I didn't feel like it was someone else's business.
‘If you wear that, you can see for as short as a few hours or as long as a day or two.’
But since it was a rental device, it would gradually lose its function, driving the person further into terror.
And the next time they met the machine, even that would be ‘collected.’
Because it was a rental.
‘This is insane.’
It felt like the prelude to the horrific things I would see from now on, and my eyes snapped shut instinctively….
‘But I can’t let him catch me being a coward, so I have to endure.’
Conscious of Baek Saheon beside me, I came out of the vent as soon as I confirmed that the surroundings were quiet.
‘I can’t stay here forever.’
I had to move quickly and escape. I would organize the Exploration Records and the Manual after parting ways with Baek Saheon….
“Hey.”
Hm?
“Thank you.”
Suddenly, Baek Saheon spoke to me in polite language.
He nodded quite courteously, as if he had always been that way. It was just like when we first met on the subway.
And then he tried to slip away.
“Well then, I’ll be going now….”
“Wait.”
Baek Saheon stopped in his tracks.
I asked him.
“How many hours has it been since you entered?”
“…….”
“Don’t want to answer?”
“…About two hours have passed.”
He had entered quite a bit ahead of me.
Since this wasn't a ghost story where the concept of time became distorted, it meant that even Saheon, a newcomer, had been called in since the morning…….
‘The superiors of Team D must have left me out!’
For a moment, I almost felt touched.
It was enough motivation to find my team members and get out quickly.
‘Lizard, the team leader, would have been among the 7 final survivors anyway.’
I had to find the other Team D members quickly.
…To be honest, looking at the hallway after coming out of the vent made me sigh instinctively…….
‘Wow, I have to poke around this place all by myself.’
I have to look into every nook and cranny for clues? While playing hide-and-seek with that Guide monster?
There was even a horror game based on this darkness; I hadn't played it, but I had seen videos on W-Tube.
…With my hands covering half the screen.
“…….”
Hmm. As expected, even if someone has a personality problem… wouldn't it be better… to go with someone?
I turned back to Baek Saheon.
Within the darkness.
Beside Kim Soleum, Baek Saheon swallowed hard.
‘Fuck.’
Of all people, I had to get stuck with this lunatic.
Nothing had gone right since this fucking psycho ended up as my roommate at the company housing.
Listening to him say such crazy things with that cynical face—the kind that wouldn't even get picked on by a drunkard at night—made my head spin.
‘Do I really have to stick with this guy?’
The employees who entered with him seemed to have woken up scattered all over this strange mansion, and the other civilian he had encountered had just been wrecked by that incident.
Still, maybe wandering alone was better than going with this nutcase….
He was frantically weighing his options.
Suddenly, Kim Soleum spoke.
“You’re using polite language? All of a sudden.”
Fuck.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
“…Before, it was an emergency, so I happened to speak casually… but I thought it was right to be respectful to each other again.”
Kim Soleum stared at him intently, then answered nonchalantly.
“I see. Understood.”
“…Yes.”
Should I… run?
Baek Saheon scanned Kim Soleum.
He had already heard all the ridiculous, grand rumors about the man within the company.
The unbelievable monster rookie of the Field Exploration team.
—He cleared an A-Grade Darkness all by himself.
—He was almost recruited by the Elite Team. But he turned it down?
—Whoa, I heard he even brought back a missing Section Chief. Is he really a rookie?
—Two revisions to the Manual Review? This is just some propaganda rookie meant to swindle the employees….
Later on, the rumors were so grand that some people even murmured that he was just company propaganda.
However, Baek Saheon did not doubt the rumors.
‘Isn't it because he's a madman?’
The reason that bastard's performance was monstrously good… was probably because his way of thinking resembled a monster’s.
Since his way of thinking was different from normal people, he must have come up with ideas that a human couldn't possibly conceive of even within a ghost story!
Baek Saheon knew he was a person obsessed with personal gain and an egoist.
But the pressure given by an unpredictable opponent was different.
The fear of the unknown.
‘I’d believe it even if someone told me that bastard himself was a ghost story.’
Baek Saheon broke into a cold sweat.
Still, he wanted to obtain information, so he spoke up.
He should at least hear as much as he could.
“Where are you going? Judging by how that monster attacks people, this seems like a Darkness where we’re treated as Uninvited Guests….”
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
“This exhibition definitely treats us as visitors.”
What kind of bullshit was this now?
Baek Saheon looked at Kim Soleum.
The other man spoke with casual certainty.
“That’s why it comes to collect the fee. It only takes the eyes. It’s just collecting the usage fee.”
“…….”
“Didn’t you read the manual?”
He had.
That bizarre document contaminated by the exhibition invitation.
“It’s an invitation. Why would someone who was invited be an uninvited guest?”
“……But there was no mention of a fee.”
“Read it again. Near the end of page 3.”
Baek Saheon unfolded the paper.
+++
This exhibition will be held free of charge for one hour, with an open heart that admires art.
+++
“The fact that it's a one-hour free viewing implies that a fee will be collected or you'll be kicked out after that.”
“…!”
“But seeing as they gouge eyes instead of kicking people out, it means it's a fee collection. That thing earlier… must be a kind of ‘staff member’ of this exhibition.”
Surprisingly, it was persuasive.
Baek Saheon asked reflexively.
“Why do you think human eyes are the fee?”
“Who knows. Maybe because body parts are the most valuable things humans possess?”
“……!”
“I suppose everything else we have is worthless from their perspective.”
“…‘Their’ perspective?”
Kim Soleum shook his head expressionlessly.
“I don't know.”
And likely, no one who had been dragged in would ever know….
A chill ran down his spine.
“Anyway, whoever runs this exhibition seems to think that the human body is the most valuable thing people have.”
“…….”
“And at first, eyes seem to be the most appropriate value.”
Eyes.
He only had one.
Baek Saheon almost reflexively pressed his one eye covered by an eyepatch.
He still remembered.
The image of Kim Soleum staring intently at him as he left the subway, holding up another eyeball that was the ‘answer key.’
That strange calmness and observation as he waited for him to realize his eye had been gouged out for nothing.
That mocking gaze.
This Darkness at least uses them as a fee, but what the hell was that guy raised on to act so eerily?
“But….”
“…!”
Kim Soleum stared directly at Baek Saheon.
“You went back to speaking casually.”
Goosebumps erupted.
Baek Saheon forced his voice to remain calm.
“Yeah. Should we just keep it casual? We’re peers, let's escape together….”
“I don’t want to.”
“…….”
For a moment, he felt a surge of anger, but he forced a smile.
“Don’t be like that. Seeing as you hid me in the vent, didn’t you have the intention of saving a fellow peer?”
“Yeah. So I could use you as bait if necessary.”
“…….”
Baek Saheon completely gave up on gaslighting and switched to a persuasive tone.
Because Kim Soleum seemed to have a better grasp of this horrific exhibition ghost story than he expected.
“If there are two of us, exploration will be easier. In a dark place like this.”
“I don’t particularly need you.”
“…….”
“But let's go together for the dopamine. Things get more unpredictable when there are more people.”
He’s a lunatic.
Baek Saheon was certain.
A madman who was so openly insane was a first even in his own eventful life.
But…….
‘Is that the kind of person you have to be to adapt to this company?’
With a strange sense of defeat, he gritted his teeth under his black Goat mask.
“I’m moving.”
Kim Soleum ignored the stiffened Baek Saheon and began to walk.
Then he suddenly said.
“Thanks. I’m glad to hear that.”
“What?”
Thanks for what?
Just as he was about to ask in confusion, Kim Soleum put a hand to his lips.
“Shh. I’m talking to Braun.”
“…….”
Baek Saheon barely managed to open his mouth.
“Braun?”
“Yeah.”
Kim Soleum reached into his suit pocket and pulled something out.
It was a keychain with a cute, fluffy Rabbit Doll.
“Braun is saying hello to you right now.”
“…….”
Baek Saheon was starting to want to run away now!
Of course, he hadn't the slightest inkling that Braun was actually saying something like, ‘Oh, hello there, Mr. Sacrificial Lamb from the next room who’s about to die!’
And he also didn't know that Kim Soleum was thinking this:
‘Phew. Having another person here makes it a little less scary, at least.’
The thought of wandering around here with just the doll, Braun, had been as chilling as the time with the Changwi.
‘I think I made a good choice!’
“Are you going to search this place to secure more locations like that vent earlier?”
“No.”
Kim Soleum looked at Baek Saheon with eyes that seemed to be looking at someone truly absurd.
“We have to find the exit. Why would we look for a vent?”
“…….”
“If you like the vent so much, you can stay inside. Then when you get caught, just pay the fee.”
Kim Soleum knew.
‘This one, this one is the type you can't let your guard down around.’
That Baek Saheon was the kind of person who would act like a piece of shit the moment he was given an opening!
This was the same Baek Saheon who had suddenly attacked someone he had just met until their eyeball burst, without even blinking.
Let's not forget that his nickname in the <Dark Exploration Record> was Viper.
One must never let their guard down!
‘I should act like a lunatic too.’
And so, the uncomfortable darkness investigation of the two madmen began.
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