Chapter 29
I placed my hand on the roommate anomaly's shoulder and pressed the Craft button.
I opened my inventory, checked the crafted item, and put it on.
I took a picture of the newly resurrected roommate to see which one had come back.
After repeating this process roughly sixteen times.
--
Mentality: 378 / 434
[Available Return Attempts] : 2
[Available Crafting Attempts] : 0
Input:
--
After using up all sixteen of the remaining Crafting attempts.
I now had a total of sixteen bracelets around my arms, and there were no Crafting attempts left.
‘Wow..’
The roommate, who had died roughly twenty times just today alone..
‘It still isn't over?’
had resurrected in yet another body and was currently wandering around the house perfectly fine.
‘Tough bastard..’
I had no idea how many more times I would have to kill it, but if it was never going to die like this..
‘..Should I really grit my teeth and live here for a week?’
That might even be better.
I could return home, stockpile a huge number of Crafting attempts, then come back to the First-Floor Roommate dungeon and mass-produce bracelets, couldn't I?
‘Right, nobody said I had to clear it by a certain time.’
For now, I hadn't brought any food, so I couldn't live here for a month like the eighth challenger had.
But I could simply attempt the strategy again the next time I had the chance.
‘I should be satisfied with this.’
I thought there was no reason to drag things out here any longer.
I picked up the camera and took a picture so I could check whether the roommate had changed by the time I came back next time.
Just as I was about to press the Return button..
‘Huh?’
I opened the Status Window to press the Return button.
But instead of displaying the basic screen with the Input field, the Status Window was displaying the community screen.
‘Did I open the community?’
You know how there are things like that?
Actions you perform habitually without realizing it.
Since entering the gallery had become such a habit, I wondered if I had entered it without even remembering doing so.
Since I was already there, I decided to browse the gallery for a while, gather some more useful information, and then return, so I wrote a post on the community.
--
[I'm about to leave now that I've done everything I can. Is there anything else anyone wants me to find out or check?]
Don't hesitate to ask.
I'm not going to do anything that seems likely to put my life at risk anyway, so it's fine.
If there's nothing, I'll just go back.
[Comments - 0]
--
Since the number of Return attempts didn't increase unless I cleared a horror-story dungeon, it would be best to conserve them as much as possible, wouldn't it?
So I decided to spend another hour or two here.
‘Next time I come, I should bring about 200 Crafting attempts.’
The next time I entered this place, I decided I would mass-produce items and clear the First-Floor Roommate horror-story dungeon at the same time.
‘Someone commented.’
As always, whenever I wrote a post, people commented almost immediately.
This time, too, they were sure to offer some novel ideas I hadn't thought of.
While I waited for a clue that might let me clear the Roommate horror story here.
--
[Comments - 5]
Anonymous 1 : How about going into the bathroom once?
ㄴ Poster : The bathroom?
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : ?eoqnddl wlrma anjgksmsrjdi?
ㄴ Poster : What is this guy doing again.. hello, anomaly.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Just ignore him. An anomaly came in, and he's acting like this.
ㄴ Poster : I'll check the bathroom first. Wait a sec.
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : wnEkr?? wnEKr??? Qkffl wj to1Rl ceksgodigka Qf
--
Anonymous 1, who always replied to my posts, had suggested that I check the bathroom.
Ignoring Anonymous 2, the anomaly who was writing bizarre English, I opened the second-floor bathroom door and checked inside.
‘Was there anything related to the bathroom in the records?’
It was an ordinary bathroom with nothing special about it.
But since the strategy guide had just been updated, I thought it wouldn't hurt to photograph the inside of the house.
I took a picture of the bathroom with the camera and shared that there didn't seem to be anything wrong.
--
[The bathroom seems fine]
Is there anything else anyone wants to see?
[Comments - 4]
Anonymous 1 : eoqnddk wjdtlsckfufk QKffl qhrrnlgo
Anonymous 2 : a1c dlrp antms dlfdldi??
Anonymous 3 : Doesn't the corner of the bathroom mirror look a little strange?
ㄴ Poster : Why the mirror? I can't see anything.
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : Look closely. If you look while being conscious of the world inside the mirror, you can see me.
Anonymous 1 : Tl1qkf!!! eoqnddk!!!! wjdtls ckflfkrh!!!!!
--
‘You can see something if you look while being conscious of the world inside the mirror?’
I wondered what Anonymous 3 wanted me to look at the mirror to see—
‘..Huh? Isn't that “fuck” typed on an English keyboard?’
I was about to examine the mirror closely as Anonymous 3 had suggested..
but the moment I saw the English text “Tl1qkf” that Anonymous 1 had written, I realized that something was wrong.
Also..
‘..Ah.’
There were four comments in total..
I realized that if Anonymous 3 had really been human, the total number of comments should have been displayed as three, not four.
‘Return..!’
I immediately opened the Status Window to press the Return button—
Ah..
Fuck....
“...”
The Status Window wouldn't return to the main screen.
The Status Window wouldn't go back from the community screen..
No matter how many times I pressed the Back button, the Status Window kept displaying the same screen...
“...”
The moment I realized that something had gone seriously wrong with my situation, I turned my head away from the mirror and..
Bang!
I swung my arm a little forcefully and closed the open bathroom door.
‘The world inside the mirror, fuck..’
Why had the administrator refused to tell us anything about the deleted record?
The answer was right there.
--
[Comments - 5]
Anonymous 1 : eoqnddk wjdtlsckfufk QKffl qhrrnlgo
Anonymous 2 : a1c dlrp antms dlfdldi??
(This account is blocked) : Doesn't the corner of the bathroom mirror look a little strange?
ㄴ Poster : Why the mirror? I can't see anything.
ㄴ (This account is blocked) : Look closely. If you look while being conscious of the world inside the mirror, you can see me.
Anonymous 1 : Tl1qkf!!! eoqnddk!!!! wjdtls ckflfkrh!!!!!
Administrator : wjfeofh rjdnfdmf qhtlaus dksehlqslek qhrrnl gowntpdy eoqndsla
--
An account that seemed to have been blocked by the administrator.
The bastard who had used that account. In other words.. the anomaly that had tried to bait me..
had been trying to get me to look at the ‘mirror’ while I was conscious of the words ‘the world inside the mirror.’
‘So that's why they made sure we could never find out somehow.’
A moment ago, when I looked at the mirror without knowing the words ‘the world inside the mirror,’ nothing had happened..
But now that I was conscious of those words.. I could instinctively tell that something terrible beyond my control would happen if I looked at a mirror.
Normally, I could have tried the simple countermeasure of not looking at mirrors..
‘How far does a mirror count? What about simple reflections?’
The problem was figuring out what counted as a mirror.
As far as I remembered, my reflection would appear on the TV on the first floor.
My reflection would also appear in the translucent windows..
And in things that looked like stainless steel in the kitchen..
And..
“Ah..”
My foot was even reflected in the clean, well-polished wooden pillar below..
‘..Why is this happening?’
My feet were definitely supposed to have my toes pointing toward my calves, so why were they like this?
Why was my foot.. pointing forward?
Weren't feet supposed to point backward?
When I crouched down, weren't my toes supposed to touch the insides of my knees?
‘Have I already been subjected to a mental attack..’
I was probably seeing things that weren't there.
While I wondered how I should deal with the mental attack that had already begun.
First, I sat down where I was and began twisting my ankle to return my foot to normal.
“Gnnngh..!”
No matter how hard I tried to twist the ankle pointing forward, it wouldn't turn.
Then..
“Ah, I should ask for help.”
I couldn't resolve this situation on my own.
Wouldn't it be better to ask my closest friend, the roommate, for help?
“Hey, help me out.”
“...”
“All right, I'm coming now.”
The roommate readily agreed to help me.
I slowly stood up, hoping the roommate would help me turn my ankle back to normal,
and went straight down the stairs—
[Unidentified Alarm : 50]
[Unidentified Alarm : 51]
[Unidentified Alarm : 52]
[Unidentified Alarm : 53]
[Unidentified Alarm : 54]
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[Unidentified Alarm : 62]
[Unidentified Alarm : 63]
[Unidentified Alarm : 64]
[Unidentified Alarm : 65]
[Unidentified Alarm : 66]
[Unidentified Alarm : 67]
[Unidentified Alarm : 68]
[Unidentified Alarm : 69]
[Unidentified Alarm : 70]
[Unidentified Alarm : 71]
[Unidentified Alarm : 72]
[Unidentified Alarm : 73]
[Unidentified Alarm : 74]
[Unidentified Alarm : 75]
The alarms suddenly multiplied crazily until they covered the entire translucent Status Window floating before my eyes.
Because of the alarms, I could no longer see what was in front of me.
‘Ha.. Why does everyone have to make such a fuss about harassing people?’
I clicked the alarm to warn whoever it was not to send me a message bombardment.
--
Opponent : wp
Opponent : qkf
Opponent : wjd
Opponent : tls
Opponent : ck
Opponent : fu
Opponent : eo
Opponent : qnd
Opponent : dk
Opponent : Tlqkf!!
Opponent : wp
Opponent : qkf
Opponent : wp
Opponent : qkf..
Opponent : wnr
Opponent : wl
Opponent : ak
Opponent : wp
Opponent : qkf
Opponent : qhr
Opponent : rnl
Opponent : snf
Opponent : fj
--
They had still written English words I couldn't understand..
‘It's Tlqkf again.’
Paradoxically, amid all those incomprehensible words, there was one word I could recognize.
That wasn't a word.
They had simply typed the Korean swearword ‘씨발’ using an English keyboard.
Right..
They had merely written Korean using an English keyboard, as though performing every action in reverse.
If there was a world inside the mirror, wouldn't it look like this? A world where everything was reversed.
A world where people wrote Korean using an English keyboard..
..Huh?
‘..What am I doing right now?’
My head began to ache as though it were splitting apart.
I didn't know what I was doing.
Right now.. ..I didn't know what was normal anymore.
Were my ankles.. originally supposed to point forward?
No.. My ankles were supposed to point backward, toward the rear.. right?
My roommate's ankles pointed backward too..
Shouldn't the direction of my roommate's ankles.. be the same as the direction of my ankles?
‘Return.. Return.. I have to return first.. My ankle.. I just have to turn it. Go back.. and turn it..!’
Right.
That's right.
I had to return now.
Fuck, I had to return right now.
But the screen with the Return button wasn't appearing..? The Back button.. Ah. This is..
“..Was the Back button not shaped like this?”
→ Back.
← Return.
..No.
← Back.
→ Return.
Was it this one?
Then do I have to press the ‘←’ button to go back?
Ah, done.
I pressed Return.
No, what am I saying.
I pressed Back.
Had I been pressing the Return button and mistaking it for Back this whole time?
..Why?
Ah.
Aaaaaah..
Right..
I have to live here for the rest of my life.
I have to spend the rest of my life here with it.
That's why I was confused..
I have to spend my whole life here..
Here..
“Was this fucking piece-of-shit bracelet trying to consume me too?”
Rrrrip-
I violently tore the bracelets off both my wrists, then repeatedly pressed Back until the Status Window returned to its main screen and pressed the Return button.
For a moment after the bracelets tore away from my wrists, the headache that felt like it would split my skull eased a little.
“Let's go.. Let's go back. First.. let's go back..”
Beyond my vision as it began to turn cloudy..
“Idiot.. You can't come upstairs.”
I could see the roommate trying to crawl up to the second floor somehow.
--
Opponent : Dae
Opponent : bung
Opponent : hey
Opponent : Please
Opponent : an
Opponent : swer
Opponent : me
Opponent : please
Opponent : an
Opponent : swer
Opponent : me
Opponent : please
Opponent : please!!
Opponent : Fuck!
Opponent : Please!!
--
--
Me : Ah. Aah.. Thank you so fucking much.. I really fucking love you ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Me : I came to my senses because of you.. I got my head straight before I crossed the line. I really did ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
--
--
Opponent : Fuck.. Why have you already been affected..
Me : ?
Opponent : Daebung doesn't say he loves me, you fucking idiot.
Me : ..I told you, it's me.
Opponent : If you're going to act, at least do it properly, you piece of shit.
Opponent : You fuck, wait right there. I'm going to kill you right now, you bastard, so you'd better leave our Daebung alone.
Me : It's me..! I said it's me..! Ah, it's really me..!
Opponent : ㅋㅋㅋㅋ You should at least know when to stop bullshitting.
Me : It's me..! Really..! Uh.. uhh.. that thing? That thing.
Me : Jjit-jji jjitjji jjitjji..!
Me : Uh..! What else was there? Limb Restraint??
Me : It didn't go in, right?? Anonymous 1??
Me : Anonymous 1???
Me : Anonymous 1????????? Please answer me, Anonymous 1 ???????????????????????????
--
--
[?]
(Photo)
Daebung suddenly keeps saying Jjit-jji to me in DMs.
Is this a green light?
[Comments - 18]
Anonymous 1 : ?
Anonymous 2 : You Tl@qkf bastard, you had me worried sick. Seriously. (Edited) (Deleted)
ㄴ Poster : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ah, thank goodness Daebung came back.
Administrator : What happened?
ㄴ Poster : Daebung says he likes my Jjit-jji?
ㄴ Administrator : What?
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : Head mod, that bastard's an anomaly. He's an anomaly, so block him quickly. (Edited) (Deleted)
ㄴ Poster : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Anonymous 3 : Five minutes ago, it definitely looked like Daebung was being toyed with by an anomaly.. ..What is this?
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : I thought so too, yeah.
ㄴ Anonymous 5 : Now Daebung is even casting group hallucinations..
Poster : Long live Jjit-jji!!!!!!!!
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : Fuck.. Ha… ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Seriously, haah.. Right. Thanks. Long live Tlqkf!!!! (Edited) (Deleted)
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : ..Thanks? What are you talking about, Daebung?
ㄴ Anonymous 5 : ???? Daebung? Thanks?? What did you two talk about?
Anonymous 6 : ehfdkdhk Qkffl
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : Go eat a dick. ㅗ ㅗ (Edited) (Deleted)
ㄴ Poster : ? The head mod blocked him, so how did he come here with a new account?
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : Anomaly's using a VPN now too..
--