Step, step.
I am currently walking quietly through an exhibition where people's eyes are being gouged out.
And I even have a human-trash type character from this ghost story worldview by my side.
'I wish Baek Saheon would just keep his mouth shut and act like a human totem.'
On the way here, I saw shadows of horrific figures crawling on the floor several times in the distance. Every time I did, I couldn't be more grateful that there was another person beside me….
'Just don't let your guard down. Just don't let your guard down.'
Braun spoke to me in a tone that suggested he found it somewhat amusing.
-Mr. Roe Deer, you converse with this person in a very interesting way. It's as if you're a different person.
'Is it bad?'
-Not at all! It is quite intriguing. It is as if you have created a more exaggerated... persona for the sake of a show.
Hmm. That's close enough.
-So, is your goal to leave this magnificent exhibition as quickly as possible?
Exactly.
And….
'I've already set an escape plan.'
Since I confirmed it was listed as the seventeenth exploration record in the <Dark Exploration Record>, I structured my escape method according to that case.
I've also decided which of the items I have to use.
-Oh!
-But is it necessary to use the word "escape"? I feel like if you just grabbed any employee and asked them to guide you to the exit, they would kindly let you know!
That's where the problem starts.
'In this exhibition, they use machines as guides.'
That monster that swings things like spider legs.
-Hmm. And?
'And each machine only knows information about the area it is in charge of.'
==========
In this exhibition, guides are stationed in each zone for the convenience of our visitors.
Among the testimonies of past visitors, there are frequent instances where these guides are referred to as 'monsters,' but they are actually Metril-Kiosk Automatic Steam Dolls.
As vintage models from the year 62627 of the Imperial Calendar, their memory devices are somewhat poor, so they only learn information about their assigned areas. However, they are historic and meaningful artistic collectibles.
Please refrain from using derogatory expressions for a healthy viewing experience.
==========
What this means is that if you want to ask about the exit, you have to go all the way to the area where the exit is located and talk to an employee there.
And if too much time has already passed by then… you'll suffer the horrific fate of being 'charged a fee' and reborn as a Human Larva.
In the first place, even figuring out which area the exit is in is an extremely difficult task.
'But there is a hint.'
I stopped walking.
It was because I found what I was looking for.
"…An elevator?"
Standing before Baek Saheon and me was a very elegant, modern-style elevator.
In front of the brass-colored elevator, small light bulbs flickered behind iron bars.
And just like any other elevator, a sign explaining the floor numbers and usage was attached to the side wall.
Except for the fact that it was in a script we couldn't read at all.
'It's one of the things that raises the exploration difficulty.'
Literary Divergence.
Baek Saheon frowned.
"……You're planning to ride this?"
"Maybe."
"We can't even check what floor it is. Are you insane?"
I stared at Baek Saheon without a word. He hurriedly avoided my gaze.
'As if I'd do that.'
But I have a ghost story talk show host who claims to be fluent in all languages!
'Braun. Could you perhaps read the description for this elevator?'
-It is not a difficult task, Friend!
-Ahem,
Braun cleared his throat and explained in a kind voice….
-It says that a guide is stationed in this elevator, and you can enjoy the service of having them press the button for the floor you wish to go to. Ho-ho, it's quite an archaic method….
It meant that to ride the elevator, you would inevitably meet a guide and have your eyes gouged out.
I knew this, but I couldn't help but swallow hard.
'Is there any mention of an exit?'
-Unfortunately, no! It's mainly descriptions of the floors and the exhibits there.
-And the place where Mr. Roe Deer is currently located is the 2nd floor. …Oh, wait a moment. There is also an explanation of the history of this mansion.
"…!"
This was information that wasn't even in the <Dark Exploration Record>.
'Keep explaining.'
-Of course, Friend!
-This place is the villa of a very high-ranking... noble collector, and it says he is holding an endless exhibition thanks to his charity, wanting to share his art and philosophy!
-Also, this historic grand mansion is said to consist of 7 floors above ground and 7,221 floors below ground.
"……."
Wait a minute.
What?
'Basement... floor 7,221?'
-That is correct. Hmm, it seems he has been collecting items for quite a long time!
I froze.
'…I did know there were basement floors.'
They weren't described at first.
The early exploration records of this ghost story called the <Mansion of the Blind> are records of people who luckily escaped from the ground floors or died without being able to leave.
This gained popularity among readers.
As a result, the records are updated and lengthened at an insane rate, and the worldview of the story grows larger.
One of the explorers eventually realizes it.
==========
The 23rd record is the testimony left by a visitor who entered the basement floors via the elevator.
==========
The existence of the basement floors.
Thus, the records continue with people who couldn't find a way out on the ground and descended into the basement.
The desolate and eerie fear of watching them go down, down, and further down in search of an exit.
From then on, this ghost story was classified as cosmic horror.
Exploration records intended to make the reader feel suffocated and distant.
In some records, there were even people who gave up on escaping, became half-mad, and continued to descend further into the basement.
==========
This is the testimony of a visitor who viewed the exhibition area on the 105th basement floor.
Employee 753: The disastrous and horrific things I cannot see with my ears are truly beautiful. The framework is made of ■■, and the ■■ of humans ■. Die for this.
There are no records after this.
Thank you for your meaningful review. We will strive for exhibition management for an even more impressive experience.
==========
The deeper you go into the basement, the more bizarre and unfamiliar collectibles that humans cannot fathom are on display. In that fear where countless words that can no longer be left in human language are censored, leaving only a desolate void….
Thousands of unknowns lie beneath that, there…….
Slap.
I slapped my own face.
"…?!"
Get a grip.
'There are multiple exits.'
Even if the location changes every time an exhibition begins, that much doesn't change.
Haven't I seen records of people escaping through exits on different floors in the same round?
'I can do this.'
No matter how astronomically vast this place is, or how much space incomprehensible to humans continues, it doesn't matter.
An exit might be open nearby.
I have over a hundred rounds of exploration information, and I even have the records for this round; I'd be a fool to be at a loss.
'Even if the specific floor isn't specified, I've figured out all the hints.'
I had to move quickly without being overwhelmed by the scale of the ghost story.
Don't do anything stupid… get a grip!
'…Alright.'
I took a deep breath and moved my feet.
Toward the stairs next to the elevator.
"Wait, so you're not taking the elevator… Where do you think you're going when you don't even know where we are!"
"2nd floor."
"…?"
"From now on, we move to the 1st basement floor."
"Basement? There's a basement… no, this is the 2nd floor? How can you be so sure?"
"Braun told me."
"……."
"Aren't you grateful?"
"……."
-Don't mention it!
Surprisingly, Baek Saheon didn't run away this time either.
Hmm. I should treat him with this level of intensity from now on.
Even after descending the stairs, it was the same grand mansion with the same level of lighting, not a single decoration changed.
Dusk-colored brass shadowed scenery continued. It felt like looking at the same floor over and over again.
Even the stairs disappeared one floor below.
'…These stairs don't lead to the basement.'
I decided to look for new stairs or a means of transportation on the 1st floor first.
Of course, there was no more small talk with Baek Saheon.
This was because the sound of machines was becoming more frequent in the surroundings.
'The main exhibition hall, where the guides are stationed almost constantly as they rotate shifts, is getting closer.'
While moving almost in a crawl with my mouth shut.
I looked up and saw a massive information board that appeared just below the ceiling.
'Here it is.'
The sign for the main exhibition hall.
The elegantly carved piece was written in very fluid… unknown characters.
'The Power of Emotion,' I see. What a unique exhibition title!
"…!"
It's the exhibition I read about in the <Dark Exploration Record>. The one that gives you goosebumps just by reading the letters…….
'This is insane.'
I tightly gripped and suppressed my desire to turn back immediately.
'If I'm going to explore to find the exit, I have to see it at least once anyway.'
It would be foolish to avoid a "safe" exhibition when I need to secure a route.
So, I gritted my teeth and approached slowly….
The moment I peeked through the open door, which glinted with ornate relief decorations.
The exhibition space unfolded.
Along with a sound that surged like waves.
Aaaaaaaaah
I saw countless shouting human mouths.
Specifically, teeth and tongues.
Beautiful Baroque-style frames containing human oral cavities filled an entire massive wall.
As if they had artificial vocal cords attached, they each recited poems in their own voices and languages.
Those hundreds and thousands of frames harmonized to create a startlingly strange harmony and scale.
And….
Larvae writhing on the floor beneath them.
Heh, heeeugh.
People who could no longer speak human language were writhing with button-like eyes that had lost their light in their sockets.
These were people who had been charged fees multiple times and had almost lost their human form.
Contrasted with the frames containing only mouths displayed in a sleek and beautiful fashion, it was more… more…….
'Ah.'
I feel like I'm going to throw up.
It was so chilling that my head spun, so I looked at the ground.
Calm down, I have to calm down.
'They're not company employees either.'
They must be people who were caught up in this place days ago.
Those poor… no, I shouldn't be conscious of them now. I have to let it pass through my head as much as possible, as much as possible…….
Creak, clack, clack.
Soon, the shadow of a guide machine approached from afar.
Baek Saheon and I held our breath and crawled into a nearby vent to lie face down.
The shadow of the guide machine moved among the larvae.
It seemed to be finding corpses that had stopped moving and dragging them away….
The sound of corpses being dragged and the sound of the machine alternated.
"……."
"……."
After a few suffocating minutes.
"Hey."
"……."
"It took the corpses. So corpses have value too, right? As a fee?"
What the hell is wrong with this guy?
"Since they have no value as a fee, they probably just left them there until they died. Without collecting."
"Ah, I see."
Do I have to listen to this kind of crazy talk even in this situation? Fatigue surges.
On top of that, I have to make up lies.
'To be perfectly honest… they probably have value. Of course!'
Since they treat us as 'visitors,' it seems they only collected parts like eyes, noses, and mouths that aren't life-threatening as fees while we're alive!
I suspect they might judge brains or spinal cords to be valuable too. I think there was a floor where things like that were displayed.
But I can't say that to this guy. He's the type of bastard who would carry those people's corpses around and suggest using them to pay the fee if push came to shove.
So it was when I was keeping my mouth shut.
"…!"
The main exhibition hall on the 1st floor was empty after the guide machines disappeared.
From here and there, people who had been hiding in the darkness under corner tables quickly emerged, whispered among themselves, and then scattered and began to run.
While wearing masks.
'Employees…!'
The mask shapes and the suits, it was certain.
They were field exploration position colleagues from our company who were deployed together. It seemed they were narrowly avoiding the machines by hiding in areas outside the movement routes as they saw fit.
"Hey."
What.
"If we see a rookie among them, let's have them join us. It's better to have one or two more."
"Why?"
Baek Saheon stares at me as if asking why I'm asking something so obvious.
"We need bait to use if we run into a monster."
Ah, this guy really.
I tilted my head as if puzzled on purpose.
"We already have some."
"What?"
"You."
Baek Saheon's face hardened, then relaxed again.
"Right. I'm also planning to bring one person to use as bait."
"Good. Tell them you're going to use them as bait."
"……."
"I told you, didn't I? I should at least be that kind."
Baek Saheon shut his mouth again with a fed-up face.
I'm the one who's fed up. This exhausting guy…….
'I miss you, Team Leader Lizard.'
I miss that short-spoken salaryman.
But the moment I saw a human figure coming out from behind a sofa outside the exhibition hall and running, I was startled.
"…!"
It was an employee I knew.
"……."
"…! What are you doing now—"
After contemplating, I came out of the vent.
And when I waved to the person, they were also startled upon seeing me and hurriedly lowered their voice.
"…! Sol— no, Mr. Roe Deer? Is it okay to call you that?"
"Yes. Ms. Goral."
Yeongeun.
The rookie employee who had fully supported my words on the subway was standing there. Did she say she was a medical school dropout?
"Were you also deployed, Mr. Roe Deer? No, first of all, I'm glad you're safe."
"…Thank you."
At any rate, Yeongeun, wearing the sheep mask given to her, looked much calmer than when I met her back then.
Even though her eyes were a bit bloodshot.
'Has she adapted to the work…….'
I was at the point of being slightly moved that a rational conversation was possible even in this crazy situation.
Yeongeun looked around sensitively and whispered in a very low voice.
"Listen, there was a blocked window nearby, so I was trying to open it. Did you happen to see anything like a crowbar on your way here? I thought I shouldn't use the exhibits…."
"You shouldn't."
"Pardon?"
"Are you trying to go out through the window?"
"…Should I not do that?"
You shouldn't.
In the exploration records of this ghost story, windows are mentioned exactly once, and do you know what it is?
==========
The 19th record is a testimony left by a visitor who claimed to have attempted to pass through a window to the outside, but it will be arbitrarily omitted due to credibility issues.
This is because there are no windows in this exhibition.
==========
It's a landmine.
I squeezed out a suitable reason.
"For some reason, if you go out through the window, it feels like you'll physically go outside the mansion. …Not back to the original world."
"……Ha."
Ms. Yeongeun's face turned pale.
"You're right. Since this isn't reality... is it right to find a door recognized as an exit?"
"I think so too."
"But I don't even know what floor this is…."
"I checked, and it's the 1st floor."
"…! How… no, wait. The 1st floor?"
A light of hope flickered in Yeongeun's eyes.
"Then there's a high probability that a door is nearby! Usually, exhibition entrance doors are on the 1st floor, so if we search well…."
I forced my reluctant mouth to open.
"……The reason entrance doors are usually on the 1st floor is that we live our lives treading on the ground."
"That is,"
"Do you think that applies to the original visitors of this ghost story as well?"
"……."
Yeongeun shut her mouth tight.
She seemed to understand what I meant immediately.
'How can you be so sure the monsters would put a door on the 1st floor?'
And soon, a sense of hopelessness cast a thick shadow over her face. Just like me a few minutes ago.
"Then… wh-what should I do? Was asking that monster machine earlier the correct answer? B-but, I can't meet the machines anymore. I don't have... any more chances……."
"What do you mean, no more chances……."
"……."
Yeongeun hesitated, then slightly brushed her hair back.
In the place where a pinna should be for hair to tuck behind…….
There were only stitched marks.
"They, they tore off my ears."
"……."
"They gestured, 'Ears instead of eyes, ears instead of eyes!' ...so I let them? It didn't even hurt. Really strangely…."
Yeongeun trembled slightly.
"And I think they put something strange inside... I-I can hear sounds, though? Uh, I don't know what principle this is... Is it an artificial cochlea or eardrum?"
Ah, damn it.
"It'll be okay, right? I mean, uh, in the employee mall, they were selling Organ Regeneration Potions... and things like that…."
"It will be fine."
I affirmed immediately.
"It will be fine. Let's just focus on getting out."
"…Yes."
Ms. Yeongeun's breathing became calm again. For someone who had suddenly lost their ears, it was a superhuman mental state.
To be honest, it's quite admirable.
But it seemed someone didn't think so.
“Shall we get moving soon? Let’s not waste too much time.”
“…! Saheon-ssi.”
The moment Baek Saheon, wearing the Goat mask, emerges from the ventilation shaft, Go Yeongeun’s eyes snap into a state of high alert.
“Wait a minute, are you traveling with that person?”
“It just turned out that way, yes.”
“…I see.”
Go Yeongeun glared at Baek Saheon in the Goat mask as if keeping him under surveillance, but she didn’t abandon me and accompanied us.
‘Thank you….’
I have no idea how long it’s been since I had a normal person for a companion.
After going through everything from psychopaths to possessed people, tears blur my vision.
However, Go Yeongeun did mutter something under her breath.
“That person, he even picked a mask that is just like himself... Do you know that the goat is a symbol of the devil in the West?”
“Wow, do you know that the sheep is a symbol of the sacrificial lamb?”
“They’re more helpful to humanity than the devil, at least.”
Baek Saheon looked at Go Yeongeun with a scoffing face, looking entirely unconvinced, while Go Yeongeun ignored him.
Is this an interlude? It feels like a comedy skit.
Yeah.
The problem is that this isn’t a skit; it’s a real situation....
‘I think the party's compatibility is a disaster.’
But the destination was steadily drawing closer.
‘…!’
Found it.
The stairs leading to the basement appeared at the end of the hallway.
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