A dark, bronze-colored mansion.
I was walking silently behind Supervisor Park Minseong.
The supervisor, who had achieved the insane feat of ‘disguising himself as a Guide Machine to trick the machine and rescue a poor new employee,’ appraised himself like this:
“The AI didn't seem like a very impressive machine. About the level of a robot vacuum? So I thought I could trick its exterior for a moment!”
I didn’t think the machine’s intelligence was actually that bad, but regardless, the fact that he saved me with such perfect timing made me so grateful I could burst into tears.
“Um, but how did you… as a Guide Machine….”
“Ah! My Exclusive Equipment.”
Supervisor Park grinned and showed me a piece of cloth hanging around his neck.
Ah!
I recalled the introduction he had given me about his Exclusive Equipment before.
—Mine is a Camouflage Item, but I can’t turn into a person, and the duration is short. I just use it to bet on my luck when things get desperate.
I had only heard about it because we had always entered ghost stories where such a thing wouldn’t work or would be meaningless, but I was finally seeing the real thing.
‘It’s actually quite good in limited situations, isn't it?’
I almost wanted to pay money to create new Exclusive Equipment and borrow his as parent equipment.
Of course, that wasn't the urgent matter right now!
“Alright. Phew. Since we found Roe, let’s get out of this crazy place quickly.”
“Have you found a way out?”
“…….”
Supervisor Park Minseong didn’t answer and just grinned.
‘He seems to have something up his sleeve.’
For now, I decided to follow the supervisor quickly.
“This way.”
We climbed the stairs again from the first basement level.
Before long, the surroundings turned yellowish, and a massive corridor tinged with brass instead of bronze revealed itself.
‘We’re above ground.’
One might say that alone was a relief, but….
Hell was breaking out on the first floor.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Mmph!! Mmmph!”
“My eeear…! My ear!”
Screams echoed from everywhere.
‘Two hours have passed.’
It seemed the employees who had been hiding were gradually being caught by the Guide Machines and having other body parts plucked out….
Just like I was earlier.
“…….”
The supervisor didn't even look toward the corners where the sounds were coming from as he moved his feet.
“Roe, let’s not turn our heads.”
“…….”
His hands were gripped so tight that veins were bulging.
“It’s hard, but right now, even taking care of our own team's lives is a stretch. If you’re going to keep gathering Points here… you have to learn how to give up.”
“…….”
Suddenly, I remembered the moment during the talk show when the supervisor had resigned himself to survival.
—…I have a family member in the hospital, and I’d like someone to look in on them after this filming is over! If possible.
Somehow, I felt like I understood how this good-natured supervisor was enduring in this place….
In any case, I didn't protest.
Soon, while checking the surroundings, the supervisor seemed to have arrived safely at the place he wanted.
And that place was….
“It’s here.”
“…….”
A window.
The tightly closed, opaque glass window that Ms. Go Yeongeun said she had struggled so hard to open earlier.
‘Is he saying we should go out through here?’
However, instead of struggling to tear the window open, the supervisor raised a finger and timidly knocked.
Knock— Knock-knock knock
Then, the window swung open.
“…?!”
No, it didn't just open.
The way it slid open all the way to the floor was….
‘…A terrace door!’
This wasn't a window!
‘Is that why the Exploration Records said that?’
==========
The 19th record is a testimony left by a visitor who attempted to exit through a window, but it will be omitted at our discretion due to credibility issues.
This is because there are no windows in this exhibition.
==========
I thought it was just a typical Manual Ghost Story description, but there really weren't any windows.
“Let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
But there was no time to be bewildered, so I immediately stepped out through the open terrace door. A small hexagonal terrace space with a long sofa and a table was revealed.
Strangely, however, the landscape outside the terrace was not visible. Only a thick black fog hung there….
As if visibility was not permitted to us.
Thud.
The moment Supervisor Park closed the terrace door while staying alert, the person who had been sitting on the sofa stood up and tapped my shoulder.
“I knew you’d be safe.”
“Assistant Manager.”
It was Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
And Section Chief Lizard’s vertical pupils calmly met my eyes.
“Our Section Chief suggested we expand the search range since you weren't nearby, and you really popped up right from the floor below.”
“Thank you.”
“Did you go down to that creepy place on purpose just to find an exit? That’s so like you.”
I looked at Supervisor Park anew.
I realized once again that descending to the first basement level, where the atmosphere suddenly changed without any information about the floors, had been a tremendous decision.
‘Thank you, seriously….’
Thanks to you, I kept my eyeballs.
Wait, and besides that….
“How on earth did you open this place? Someone else tried repeatedly to open the window but failed….”
“? I opened it with my hands.”
“…….”
I see.
‘They say if the body is weak, the head suffers….’
Looking at it now, the terrace door handle seemed to be dangling loosely.
If a Guide caught us doing that, wouldn't we suffer something truly terrible?
However, the D-Team superiors merely began their meeting calmly, as if they were used to Section Chief Lizard creating his own path like this.
“Well, since our team members are all gathered… shall we try to escape now, Section Chief?”
“Yes.”
“…Is there a likely escape method?”
“Yes.”
“……I’d like to ask what kind of method it is.”
Section Chief Lizard answered simply.
“We’ll tie a rope to the terrace railing and explore the exterior walls of this exhibition space.”
“…….”
Excuse me?
“If we look from the outside, there should be a floor with a main entrance. We can just go out through there.”
That sure is….
“I see.”
If this damn mansion didn't go down to the seven-thousandth basement level, it might have sounded tempting.
And if I didn't have an item in my briefcase that could lead to an easier escape.
‘We can just go out with this.’
Recalling the candle that should be hardening nicely, I raised my hand.
“Please wait a moment.”
I felt like I could convince them if I explained while showing them the actual object.
Let’s stall for a little time until it’s finished.
And while I’m at it, let’s do some life-saving work.
“I was with two of my colleagues before we got separated, but they should still be nearby. If you give me a moment, I’ll go out and find them….”
“…….”
“…….”
Ah.
“Roe,” Assistant Manager Eun Haje said flatly.
“Exactly three rookies entered here. Including you.”
“…….”
“They said they picked a few kids who had good performance records and put them in… but they probably know. They just filled the head count.”
“Seonbae,”
“Be quiet.”
The Assistant Manager silenced the supervisor and continued.
“You saw them at lunch, right? The higher-ups in the conference room. Those bird-brains are hoping this place might actually be A-Grade.”
I remembered.
—No, it’s clearly High-Grade Darkness, but a civilian survivor came out? This could be an innovative case for opening a new Supply Source for high-quality raw materials.
“They were all excited, wondering if this would be the Supply Source with the highest survival rate among all A-Grade Darknesses. A-Grade Dream Essence is always out of stock, after all.”
“…….”
“Rookies? They put you in from the start assuming you could all die and it would just be handled as a cost.”
Because it was more profitable to pull an A-Grade Manual and open a Supply Source for top-tier raw materials that were in short supply.
It’s true that Field Exploration teams get paid more for their lives as they gain experience and survive longer, but even so, consumables are consumables.
Pushed aside by more precious resources.
“Remember this. The further a department is from field exploration, the more those bastards treat human lives like flies.”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje tucked her cigarette back with a sigh.
“So just take care of your own life.”
“…….”
“There’s no time, so let’s go down now. Having useless sympathy will only make things harder for you.”
I barely managed to open my mouth.
“It’s not that.”
“Good kid, yeah. If they’re lucky, they’ll get out too….”
“My colleague was holding the escape item!”
“…?!”
Of course, it was a lie.
“We don't know what's out there, so there's no need to dangerously hang onto a rope and go down.”
But this much was a definite fact!
“If we have that item, we’ll be able to escape safely from here.”
I descended back to the first basement level.
My legs were shaking from walking here alone, but perhaps because my goal was so clear, my fear had dulled slightly.
Finding my colleagues.
—I’ll give you exactly 20 minutes. If you can’t find them by then, you just come back.
My lie—that my colleague had an escape item that would make the universe marvel and the world gasp—had mostly worked.
So the time I was given was short, but… it was doable.
‘They couldn't have gone far.’
People lose mobility when they are in shock. They would probably find a place to hide nearby and try to pull their mental state together.
Furthermore, I had given them a hint once.
About where it was good to hide.
‘Air vents.’
And at the 7-minute mark of my search.
I finally found a colleague crumpled inside an air vent on the outer corridor of the first basement level.
But it was Baek Saheon.
“…….”
“…….”
“Hey.”
Baek Saheon avoided my gaze.
“Do you want to get out?”
Baek Saheon looked at me with an extremely suspicious expression.
But at the same time, he nodded his head.
“Then tell me where Ms. Goral is.”
Uh, for some reason, the way I said that sounded like I was threatening him to blow a comrade's location….
“She went into the left exhibition hall. Probably hiding behind a sofa!”
“…….”
He blew her location without a moment’s hesitation. Disloyal bastard.
In any case, I successfully found Ms. Go Yeongeun that way as well.
14 minutes had passed by this point.
“R-Roe…! Thank goodness, really…!”
I briefly explained to Go Yeongeun, whose eyes were swollen from crying, that I had received help from my superiors, and we quickly resumed moving.
And I urged them.
“I told the team members that I had to find you two because you were entrusted with the key items for the escape. Please follow my lead.”
“…!”
I handed Go Yeongeun the paper with the candle mold drawn on it, which I had placed in my briefcase.
Go Yeongeun very carefully tucked it into the front of her suit and nodded.
“I just have to keep my mouth shut and be quick on the uptake, right?”
Yes!
Baek Saheon, who was naturally ignored during this process, looked at me as if he had a lot to say, but he didn't bother opening his mouth.
He must have felt that the escape was drawing near.
And when I stepped onto the terrace with my two colleagues after opening the terrace door, exactly 19 minutes had passed.
Wrapped it up within 20 minutes. Phew.
“I’ve brought them.”
“Wow.”
“Honestly, since it’s Roe, I knew it would be like this.”
Seeing the Assistant Manager and the supervisor toss out those remarks, the two colleagues began to read the room. It clearly didn't feel like a welcome to anyone's eyes.
Moreover, Section Chief Lizard was already in the middle of taking out a rope on the terrace.
“Ah, um….”
“We’ll skip the greetings.”
Section Chief Lee Jaheon said dryly as he twisted the rope to secure it to a pillar using a taut-line hitch.
“Explain the item you possess within 200 seconds.”
My colleagues swallowed hard in unison.
I immediately cut in.
“Is it alright if I explain instead?”
“Yes.”
Now was the time to explain properly.
According to the keywords I had combined, this candle was…….
“This item can deceive the Guide Machines.”
Section Chief Lee Jaheon’s hands stopped moving.
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