Chapter 32
“Jjitjji!”
“Daebung!”
“Rope..!”
“Masturbator!.. ..?”
“Yeah!”
“..Yeah.”
After briefly continuing this idiotic conversation that clearly proved we were both human.
“?”
When Anonymous 1 pointed at the rulebook, I realized that we couldn't return home.
I decided to memorize the survival rules here and began reading the rest of the rulebook I'd been looking over a moment ago.
--
.
.
.
Below are the basic rules of duty that security guards must follow.
1. The basic rule is for night security guards to work in pairs. Never go around alone.
2. Working hours are 20 : 10 ~ 08 : 10. Please be careful not to be late.
3. Walk around the apartment building once every hour on the hour. No calls will come while the night security guards are out on patrol.
4. Calls from residents will occasionally come through the intercom located in the security office.
Each time, check which unit called and either go to that unit or respond according to the manual.
5. When a call comes to the security office, you may freely choose how to get to the unit in question.
However, please remain quiet when riding the elevator.
6. Once you have finished your duty for the day, enter the room behind this security post and rest.
7. You may eat the beans inside the jar for your meals. If you want a different meal, you may hunt and bring back something to eat.
Below are the procedures for responding when a call comes in.
1st Floor
Unit 101 - Close the open front door. Under no circumstances should you check inside the home.
Unit 102 - Vacant unit.
Unit 103 - Pick up the intercom receiver. When it seems that the resident has finished asking their questions, answer, ‘Sky, baby, hawk.’ The resident will be satisfied with your answer.
2nd Floor
Unit 201 - Walk to the front of Unit 201 via the emergency exit. That is all.
Unit 202 - You may ignore it.
Unit 203 - Pick up the intercom receiver. Wait until the crying child stops crying.
There is no third floor in this apartment building.
If you discover a third floor while walking up the emergency stairs, return to the entrance of the apartment building by walking backward.
4th Floor
Unit 401 - The resident is upset because the elevator is not working. Go straight to the apartment building's elevator and press the elevator button once.
Unit 402 - No call history.
Unit 403 - Vacant unit.
5th Floor
Unit 501 - Take the cat's food bowl kept in the security office and place it in front of Unit 501's front door.
Unit 502 - When you go to the front of Unit 502, there will be a garbage bag in front of the door. Put the garbage bag in the large garbage bin at the apartment entrance. It would be best not to concern yourself with the garbage inside the bag.
Unit 503 - No call history.
6th Floor
Unit 601 - From the moment the call comes in, the front door of Unit 601 will be open. Enter Unit 601 and open the closed interior door. Under no circumstances should you look at the ceiling of the home while doing so.
Unit 602 - Vacant unit.
Unit 603 - Hang up immediately after picking up the receiver. Afterward, lock the management office door and do not look out the window for ten minutes. Even if you hear something outside the window, never look outside.
7th Floor
The entire seventh floor is vacant.
All the residents who entered the units on the seventh floor are missing.
No night security guard has ever been confirmed to have been harmed after going to the seventh floor, but please be especially careful if you have cause to visit the seventh floor.
8th Floor
Unit 801 - Knock on the front door of Unit 803 three times.
Unit 802 - Vacant unit.
Unit 803 - Vacant unit.
9th Floor
Unit 901 - Vacant unit.
Unit 902 - The resident is complaining about inter-floor noise. When the resident of Unit 902 has finished speaking, answer, ‘I'll take care of it.’ Since there are no units directly connected to it, you do not need to take any actual action.
Unit 903 - Vacant unit.
10th Floor
Unit 1001 - After picking up the receiver, let the resident commit suicide. However, if the resident commits suicide by jumping and their body falls into the garden, put the body in the food-waste bin.
Unit 1002 - Vacant unit.
Unit 1003 - No call history.
This is as far as the rules we've discovered go.
For reference, new rules for the rulebook are hidden throughout the apartment building.
If you discover a new rule from the rulebook, add it to this paper immediately.
We hope you can survive for as long as possible.
A night security guard working at another security post..
--
‘..This has more things to worry about than a game walkthrough..?’
As the number of things I had to worry about grew too large, annoyance began to outweigh fear.
Even though our lives were on the line..
How could I memorize this entire massive rulebook one rule at a time and respond accordingly?
‘..How are we supposed to escape?’
I didn't know how to escape this horror story.
Nor did I know how to clear it.
When I was beginning to feel a little irritated by the fact that I had to keep clearing this place according to a walkthrough, as though playing an endless game mode.
“Daebung.”
“?”
Anonymous 1, who had handed me the security guard uniform,
pointed at the clock while gesturing for me to put it on quickly, so I checked the current time..
‘..Eight oh-three..’
I could tell that it would soon be time to start working as a night security guard.
‘..For now, I guess we have to do it.’
I quickly began putting on the security guard uniform.
‘It’s a relief that it’s roomy.’
Fortunately, the security guard uniform was large enough to fit over the protective gear I was wearing, which put me at ease.
Once I had finished putting on the security guard uniform..
“..Daebung.”
“?”
“Duty.”
“..Ah.”
We immediately began working as a two-person night security team.
‘..Do we have to talk like this even when it's just the two of us?’
And so our shift began.
I glanced up at Anonymous 1, who was surveying the surroundings through the security office window.
‘The rulebook definitely said.. there was a high chance the guard beside us wouldn't be human, so we shouldn't use normal language..’
The man in a security guard uniform beside me was definitely human.
Someone who had come here from the same place as me.
A human who was clearly determined to clear this place somehow and get out.
Knowing that he was human, I found myself wondering whether we really had to keep communicating in this uncomfortable way.
“..I.”
“?”
“When it’s just the two of us, we can talk normally—”
Just as I was about to suggest that we speak normally when we were alone..
Clatter-
“!!”
“!!”
The security post door suddenly opened..
“...”
“...”
Two other guards in black silhouettes..
“Today clock meal? Lava brick cloud calendar did?”
“Curtain yarn is the corpse garbage bin.”
I saw them exchanging replies as naturally as if they were having a human conversation.
However..
“Paper needle is whale tea.”
“Table screw fog, maple-leaf bell pencil case.”
Their conversation was nothing more than a creepy exchange that contained absolutely no meaning.
“..?”
The two guards who had exchanged those replies suddenly began looking at us.
Both Anonymous 1 and I couldn't help but stammer a little, however.
‘We’re supposed to.. answer, right..?’
They seemed to want an answer from us.
“..Wipe your ass with sandpaper.”
“? Daebung..?”
“Spritz perfume into your eyeballs..!”
“..Wow.”
After tossing out a couple of roughly nonsensical answers.
“Smell and drawer, light.”
“Shoes, wire, smoke, and!”
The two of them finished the conversation as though satisfied.. and I watched them walk straight off somewhere.
‘Fuck.. ..That scared me..’
I realized it immediately after exchanging only a few words with them.
They were absolutely not human.
That was why..
“..Conversation, uncomfortable.. stop, okay..?”
“Daebung.. opinion, perfect. Confirm.. ..But perfume, eyeballs, spritz??”
“Not important.”
“Fucking scary.”
We agreed to converse using words as much as possible and faced our first day as a two-person night security team.
“Structure scan. Escape hope.”
“Observe together.”
As though this situation were familiar to him,
I began looking around too, following Anonymous 1 as he naturally started studying the structure of the apartment building.
Since we would have to walk around the apartment building once in roughly fifty minutes,
the best thing to do was understand the building's terrain and landmarks in advance.
‘..There are more security guards than I expected.’
I didn't know how many of them were human, but at a glance, it looked like there were roughly six teams of guards.. wait a second..
‘Human?’
As if doubting my own eyes, I immediately read the rulebook again.
--
Anyone who can read this should read it to the end.
First, I know you're confused because the Status Window won't open.
We are in the same situation, so we are sharing information in writing like this.
--
The rulebook definitely said that.
‘The fact that the Status Window won't open is the same situation..?’
They couldn't open their Status Windows either.
In other words.
It meant that there were beings here besides Anonymous 1 and me who used Status Windows.
“..Jjitjji.”
“?”
“Human.. exist..”
“What?.. ..Ah?”
When I told him that some of the guards we were watching might be human.
“...”
Anonymous 1 seemed to sink into deep thought..
“Female?!”
He gave an answer that made me tap my forehead.
“..Are you really horny for women at a time like this?”
“Daebung..! Joke, calm. Language..!”
“Wow.. What. What.. Wow.. ..Let's just think about how to escape from here..”
“..So we're just speaking comfortably now?”
“The rulebook says the anomalies learn. They have to hear our conversations to learn, so I think it's okay for us to speak normally when we're alone.”
“I suppose so. Looking at the ones who came a moment ago, we just have to be careful when talking with ones like those.”
Just as we concluded that we would speak comfortably when we were alone.
Beep-
Startled by the sudden electronic sound, we checked where it was coming from.
There..
“Looks like that's a call.”
“I think so.”
“..Let's go.”
“Yes. Whew.. Let's go. Ah, wait a moment. I'll check whether I've brought everything we need.”
“Everything we need?”
A receiver displaying the number 201 was sitting there.
“Yes, the camera.. got it, the awl.. got it.”
“..Oh. ..Are you planning to kill it?”
“The ring.. too. Still, you never know.”
“..No, if something unexpected happens, you should run away instead of fighting, Daebung..”
“Everything's here. Let's go.”
“But what if the anomaly is really pretty?”
“..What do you mean, what if? It's an anomaly, no matter how pretty it is.”
“Tch..”
“..Why do you sound disappointed?”
“It's nothing. Let's hurry.”
“..Yes.”
I was beginning to seriously wonder whether Anonymous 1 was really human.
“I get the same feeling when I look at you.”
“Pardon?”
“The guy trying to get turned on by an anomaly and the guy who wants to fight instead of running from an anomaly.. neither of them is a normal person.”
“..I see.”
Could this be one of those cases?
If you can't avoid it, enjoy it..
Anonymous 1, who had gone beyond enjoying what he couldn't avoid and reached the point of being turned on by it.
Me, who couldn't avoid it and was now trying to hunt anomalies.
Hmm..
..The two of us are problem children, but—