Chapter 3
--
Mental State : 76 / 100
[Available Return Count] : 1
Input:
--
The status window floating before my eyes wasn't a blue hologram.
It was simply a translucent window suspended in midair—and unlike what we commonly imagine when we hear the term status window,
instead of showing various stats such as strength, stamina, and intelligence, it displayed only a single value called ‘Mental State.’
On top of that.
‘Return count?’
Besides telling me that I had one use left of the mysterious ‘Return’ function, it also showed something called ‘Input,’ though I had no idea what I was supposed to do with it.
The only functions the status window showed me were these three incomprehensible things.
Yet.
‘If it’s Return... ...does that mean it sends me home?’
Wherever it sent me... it felt as though it would be safer than this world, where monsters came in as patrons.
“How am I supposed to use this?”
I immediately tried to use that ‘Return’ thing.
“Return.”
I tried saying the word Return out loud, but...
“..Am I not supposed to do it like this?”
Even though it said it was available, perhaps it wasn't something that could be activated by speaking,
Since absolutely nothing changed where I was sitting, I slowly pondered how I was supposed to use it, when...
Suddenly.
“It looks kind of like a button.”
When I realized that the words ‘Available Return Count’ looked like a button,
and reached out to touch the status window floating in midair with my finger...
“..Huh?”
My vision gradually began to grow hazy.
“No...! You said Return...! You said it would return me...! What is this?!”
This was unfair.
I'd only pressed the Return button because I wanted to return.
Who would have thought pressing it would make it impossible for me to see...!
If this function existed, they could at least have added something like ‘Do not press the Return button’ to the rule sheet...!
“..?”
I thought I was about to lose my sight in the most unfair way imaginable.
But my vision, which had gradually blurred, seemed to be returning to normal...
“..What? Where am I now...?”
I opened my eyes in a place that looked like a very dark, damp storage room.
‘..Paper?’
I was momentarily bewildered by the sudden change of location.
That was because I could see a bundle of papers lying up ahead, right where I had opened my eyes.
‘Is this another place with something like a rule sheet...?’
Wondering whether there was something I had to follow here, just as I had with the library's rule sheet, I checked the paper first.
And there it was.
--
Thank you for your hard work surviving in a horror-story world.
First of all, congratulations on surviving there.
This is a world overrun by horror stories in which a system called a ‘Status Window’ can be used.
If you mention the words ‘status window’ aloud or in your mind, a translucent window will appear before your eyes.
At the bottom of that window, you will find a field labeled ‘Input.’
If you enter ‘GY-82’ into that input field…
--
It was a sheet of paper written in Korean.
‘There are other people here besides me!’
I shouted for joy inside my head.
There were other people here with me.
If someone had known enough about this place to make even an instruction sheet like this, they must have known a great deal about it, right?
The strange rule sheets, the nonhuman beings, that creepy library.
I felt thrilled at the thought that I might be able to learn about such bizarre things.
‘Status window.’
I immediately brought the status window back up and tried to enter the English letters GY written in the instructions, but...
‘..How am I supposed to enter this?’
--
Mental State : 74 / 100
[Available Return Count] : 0
Input:
--
There was no separate keyboard visible, and when I tried pressing the input field,
I could still see that the button in the field showing an Available Return Count of 0 was active.
‘Come to think of it, the word Return means going back to the place I originally came from, doesn't it?’
Remembering that the word Return meant going back to the place I had originally been,
I pressed the button one more time, holding on to the small hope that I really might be able to return home.
‘Oh! Ooh!’
Maybe my guess had been right.
When I pressed the button showing a Return Count of 0 one more time, my vision began to fill with haze again.
‘It works!’
When my vision returned to normal,
“Ah.”
I... found myself back in the library I'd been in.
“..Why did I do that? Why did I press it? What... what have I done..?”
I collapsed into a helpless sitting position right there.
“This is kind of unfair..?”
No, seriously, wasn't this a bit much?
If the Available Return Count was 0 and no uses remained, why not simply make it do nothing?
Why did pressing an exhausted Return count bring me back here?
What had I done to deserve being kidnapped to this shitty world in the first place?
“...”
I wanted to scream ‘Go away!’ at the top of my lungs and vent my frustration at this unfair situation,
but right outside the only door before me was a library where silence had to be maintained.
“Haaah..”
After letting out a deep sigh, the only thing I could do was...
press the Return button, which was no longer usable.
“..I guess I have no choice but to tough it out for a week..”
The one consolation amid this misfortune was that,
if I lasted a week here, it seemed I would be able to escape to the world where people existed—the one I had visited a moment ago.
All I could do was somehow endure the six days I had left in the library...
“..Ah, right. It told me to enter some kind of code.”
Then I remembered that the notice written in Korean had told me to enter some kind of code,
“It was GY-82.”
When I pressed the ‘Input’ field below,
I saw a familiar keyboard rise upward from below.
“What the... This isn't a phone.”
It was ridiculous, to say the least,
but following the instructions in the notice, I entered the code in the input field.
Immediately after entering GY-82, I pressed the Input button again.
“..What is this?”
A screen similar to an online community I had occasionally seen on the Internet appeared before me.
--
- [Notice]
[(Urgent) How many days until the lockdown is lifted?]
[Can’t we increase our exchange time? One hour a week is seriously useless.]
--
“Lockdown? Exchange? ..What is all this supposed to mean?”
I manipulated the screen in the familiar way and clicked the first post,
--
[(Urgent) How many days until the lockdown is lifted?]
I was having a little fun by myself, and now I can't get the thing tied around my wrist off, yeah..
Looking for someone to help.
When the lockdown is lifted, just untie the thing around my wrist.. Please, only men should come in..
Only comment if you can untie me. I'll send you a private message.. I'll definitely reward you too..
[Comments - 15]
Anonymous 1 : Where do you get off, you monster bastard, trying to lure people in!!!! I’m not falling for it, you monster bitch!!!!
ㄴ Poster : No... I'm serious... I'm really human...
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : Prove it with a photo!!!
ㄴ Poster : If I prove it with a photo, I'll have to kill myself.. Don't ask me to do that.. I have a personality too..
ㄴ Anonymous 5 : A monster with a personality!!! Such a thing doesn't exist!! Prove it with a photo, right now!!!!
ㄴ Poster : Fuck, stop harassing me, I'm serious. I can't even eat properly until the lockdown is lifted!!
ㄴ Anonymous 7 : You can still keep jerking off until the lockdown is lifted~
ㄴ Poster : Oh?
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : Look at this ‘oh?’ shit, lolㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Anonymous 2 : If your wrists are tied, put a foot between them and kick really hard. That'll loosen them.
ㄴ Poster : Uh... my ankles are tied too..
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : ?
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : How tightly did this guy tie himself up just to jerk off alone? LMAO
Anonymous 6 : You should just be a monster. There's no way this is human.
ㄴ : Anonymous 4 : For realㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
--
“..What? Is this Earth?”
Anyone could see that the content spread before me was the sort of thing commonly found on a peaceful Earth community.
“Can I post something too?”
With such a familiar and welcome sight unfolding before me, I began to feel like posting something myself for no particular reason.
Since the UI was familiar, I quickly figured out how to write a post, and the first thing I uploaded here was...
--
[How do I upload a photo?]
I'm trapped in a library where bizarre lifeforms come as patrons, but I saw people in another post saying to take a photo, so I'm trying this.
If I send a photo of the library, will you tell me how to escape from here?
Is anyone besides me trapped in a library?
[Comments - 0]
--
It was a post asking for help.
--
[Comments - 5]
Anonymous 1 : You entered a horror story? When did you get in? Nobody went in to clear one during exchange time yesterday, did they?
Anonymous 2 : You don't know how to take a photo? There's a limit to bullshit even we'll put up with. We don't fall for low-grade bait like this.
Anonymous 3 : The fact that you're using polite speech makes you look like a real newbie. Are you trying to hit on me right now??
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : I told you not to use the forum while your wrists were tied tight, didn't I?
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : No fucking way, how did you know??
--
“..This isn't going to get me any help.”
This won't do.
I have to use the foolproof method for getting help from the community.