Chapter 35
15 minutes.
According to the organizer, the security guard anomalies stopped all activity for exactly these 15 minutes,
so we quickly began sharing every bit of information we could.
After sharing as much information as possible,
“There was less information for escaping than I expected.”
“We’ve already written most of the basic survival rules in the rulebook, so..”
It turned out that the people kidnapped into this world, where horror-story dungeons were rampant, were not all Korean.
At present, everyone here besides Anonymous 1 and me was Japanese, and they all knew one another.
And..
“I never dreamed that the 82 in GY-82, which lets us access the gallery, was a country code.”
We learned that the 82 in the GY-82 code that let us access the community was South Korea’s country code, 82.
“I never dreamed that entering GY-81 would let us access the Japanese community.”
“And there are 37 survivors still alive here..”
Because there were three times as many Japanese survivors as Korean ones,
they had apparently unlocked this Two-Person Night Watchman horror story a long time ago.
Because of that, so many Japanese people had entered to tackle this place, but, unable to find one another, they had been searching for a way to distinguish humans..
Also..
“I thought it was a bit much that we only got one hour of lockdown time per week.”
“It’s a little shocking to learn that they lived near us.”
“Come to think of it, the anomalies running shops there couldn’t only accept Koreans if they wanted to make a lot of money.”
They had been living alongside us in the hillside neighborhood where we had lived.
It wasn’t that we had ever had an overlapping interaction period; we simply hadn’t known that Japanese people were living alongside us.
“We definitely need to tell the head mod about this after we make it back alive.”
“Exactly. Yaaawn..”
Leaving Anonymous 1, who was delighted that the number of galleries he could access had increased, behind,
I closed my eyes to get a little sleep because I was tired after staying up all night working as a night security guard.
“Go to sleep.”
“Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“I already slept before going to the survivor meeting, so I’m fine. I know Daebung stayed awake to watch over me because he was worried something might happen while I slept.”
Feeling a little embarrassed that Anonymous 1 had noticed my quiet good deed,
“This time, I’ll keep anyone from coming in. Trust me and sleep.”
“Then, without refusing your kindness, I’ll sleep a little.”
“Sleep well.”
With a relaxed mind, I closed my eyes and fell asleep just like that, in preparation for the second day of night duty.
…
Day 2 of the Two-Person Night Watchman.
About fifty minutes after our shift began, just as we left the guard post to make our first patrol,
‘They’re entering the apartment over there too.’
Perhaps because a call had come in at another guard post as well,
I could see other guards walking toward the apartment.
‘That’s a place where only one of them is human.’
When I discreetly checked with the camera, I saw that one was a survivor we had found the day before and already coordinated with,
while the guard beside him was an anomaly whose eyes, nose, and mouth were bizarrely mixed up.
‘Do the anomalies follow the night security guard rules too?’
I began to wonder how people working in pairs operated alongside anomalies.
‘I’ll ask them after we escape.’
I decided to resolve that question later,
and while I was checking from time to time with the camera during our patrol to see whether there were any additional survivors,
suddenly.
‘..But why are these guys trying so hard to learn from us..?’
I began to wonder why the anomalies were trying to learn from us.
‘Why are they studying our conversations and trying so hard to imitate human faces?’
As I pondered this, unable to reach any meaningful conclusion..
the call that had come from Unit 1001 the day before suddenly came to mind.
‘Why was the person in Unit 1001 clearing a different horror story instead of the Two-Person Night Watchman one?’
The person on the other end of the receiver had definitely said that.
‘He had said he wanted to know why no one was coming to save him..’
Why no one would come to save him.
That falling asleep meant being eaten was the rule..
‘There must be a rulebook inside Unit 1001 too, then.’
In other words, didn’t that mean there was a rulebook inside Unit 1001 that we hadn’t discovered?
It might not be a rulebook that applied to all of us night guards,
but it was clear that the person summoned inside Unit 1001 was in a situation where they had a different set of rules to follow.
“What have you been thinking about all this time?”
“..About Unit 1001.”
“Hmm?”
If the reason the man who had asked for help over the receiver hadn’t called out the names of his Japanese colleagues and asked them to come save him..
was that he was someone who had just arrived in this horror-filled world for the first time..?
What if, just like when I had first dropped into the Vellieard Library, he was an ordinary person arriving here for the first time with no knowledge of anything?
“Could Unit 1001 in this apartment be.. a tutorial for the horror-story dungeons? Like when I first went to the Vellieard Library..”
“You mean there might be a new newbie here?”
“..I just thought that might be the case.”
The rulebook had clearly said to let the person in Unit 1001 commit suicide.
Why?
Why had the rulebook said to let the person in Unit 1001 commit suicide?
“..Because they mustn’t be eaten? Because it’s something that can only eat living things?”
I would have to go there and check the details myself,
but if there really was a rule inside Unit 1001 that said, ‘The moment you fall asleep, you will be eaten.’..
wouldn’t it be understandable that people chose death rather than be eaten by an anomaly and suffer forever?
On top of that..
“..Daebung.”
“Yes?”
“What if the way to clear this horror story.. is to help that newbie clear the horror story?”
“..!”
What if the one who had to clear this horror story wasn’t us, but the newbie kidnapped in Unit 1001?
Beep-
When I turned my head at the call bell that began ringing right then,
I could see a call coming from Unit 1001, as if someone had overheard our conversation and was playing a prank..
“I’ll answer it.”
“Yeah.”
However.
Whether it was a prank by God,
or a test by an anomaly..
I needed even one more piece of information, so I had no choice but to pick up the receiver.
And as soon as I answered the call from Unit 1001,
- “Where.. exactly is this..?”
the voice of a woman who seemed to have just arrived here began to come through.
“...”
My hesitation lasted a long time.
- “I-I definitely.. definitely..?”
Was the person really human?
Was the entity on the other end of the receiver.. not an anomaly imitating a human?
- “I was studying.. st, studying.. at school.. when suddenly my vision turned blurry.. blurry..”
I hesitated, afraid that if I made even one wrong move, I might destroy all the survival rules the survivors here had painstakingly established.
- “Why do they say calls.. can only last three minutes..? And why.. is nobody answering me..?”
“..?”
Because the person on the other end of the receiver had said that calls could last no more than three minutes,
- “You’re coming.. to save me.. right..? You really are.. right..?”
in the end.
“..Answer her properly.”
“...”
I began a gamble with all the survivors’ lives on the line.
- “..Huh? A-answer?”
“Three movies.”
- “..Movies? ..Why, why movies..? Hello..? Movies? Movies? Three movies?? Was there a mo, movie called Three..?”
“...”
- “Ah, if you’re telling me to name three mo, movies..! There was Love Letter, and..? Um.. th-there was also Death Note, the film adaptation of the anime..! And.. and.. a horror movie..! One Missed Call, too..!”
At this point, the gamble should have paid off.
Click-
Perhaps the three minutes had passed, because the receiver simply disconnected,
“She’s human.”
“She’s definitely human.”
“Are you going now?”
“We didn’t leave her to commit suicide; we ended up violating the rules. I think it’s right to move now if we want to minimize the variables as much as possible.”
“That’s sound reasoning. Let’s go.”
Having realized for certain that the person in Unit 1001 was a human who had just arrived in this world,
if only to clear this Two-Person Night Watchman horror story,
now that variables had begun to arise, there was no reason to delay any longer.
So Anonymous 1 and I immediately ran into the apartment side by side, pressed the elevator button, and waited for a moment.
“...”
When the elevator opened in less than a minute and we were just about to board it,
“..!”
Seeing that every floor number reflected in the elevator’s mirror was the third floor, I hurriedly grabbed Anonymous 1’s hand and pulled them out of the elevator.
“?”
Ignoring Anonymous 1’s confusion when I suddenly grabbed their hand,
I desperately shook my head to tell them that we must not go inside,
and Anonymous 1 roughly understood what I meant and thanked me.
“..Third floor.”
“Cocks.. mart the war.”
I immediately turned my head and was about to go up to the tenth floor via the stairs when..
‘Ha, seriously. What the hell.. what are they doing..’
Where it clearly should have said 2nd Floor, I saw a sign marked 3rd Floor.
“...”
“...”
Both the elevator and the stairs.
In a situation where it seemed that every possible route was preventing us from reaching Unit 1001,
just as I was wondering whether I could do nothing but helplessly stand by and watch this situation,
“..You fucking bastard, seriously.”
“..Daebung?”
my conclusion was simple.
“I’m only going to say this once, so listen carefully, you fucking bastard.”
“W-what are you doing..?”
“This awl in my hand. If I stab you with it, you’ll never recover. Even if I die, I’ll wreck this place as much as possible on my way out. Do you understand what that means?”
“..!”
I was threatening the apartment.
“I’m pressing the elevator button again this time, so don’t pull any more of your shitty pranks. Wondering what I’ll do? If you’re curious, you fucking bastard, send that elevator with only the third-floor button again.”
“..Whoa.”
“I’ll show you that you picked the wrong human to mess with. If I die, I’ll run to the Vellieard Library even as a ghost and tell them everything. I’ll tell them you made me like this.”
“...”
“The horror-story worlds all share one universe, right? No matter what happens, I can eventually come here, right? Just wait and see. I’ll make damn sure you find out whether I’m telling the truth or not.”
Of course.
I wasn’t genuinely angry.
Not knowing whether this apartment was a living creature, if I pressed the elevator button again and another elevator with only a button leading to the third floor came,
couldn’t I simply choose not to ride the elevator then?
Then I could just return to the guard post with Anonymous 1 as though I had never gotten angry.
“I respect your choice very much. So respect mine too.”
I lightly pressed the elevator button with the awl..
Whiiir-
Along with the sound of the elevator starting up..
“Wow..”
I saw the normal elevator we had originally been riding come down.
“See? Isn’t it great when we solve things by talking? If you cooperate like this, I won’t hurt you or anything. And if there are any residents you don’t like, tell me. I can take care of them for you.”
“..Are you really human?”
“Let’s go.”
In front of the firmly closed front door of Unit 1001.
When the front door wouldn’t open no matter how many times I tried, I raised the awl high, intending to break the doorknob and get inside.
Clack-
“?”
“?”
The lock on the front door, which hadn’t opened no matter what kind of chaos we caused, clicked open..
“Oh.. It opens just fine?”
The front door of Unit 1001 suddenly began to open.
‘..What the hell. Is this apartment really a living creature?’
Anyway.
A good thing is a good thing.
Since there was no longer any need to break the front door, I simply opened it.
“..!!”
The woman, startled to see us, sank to the floor as though the strength had drained from her legs.
“S-save me.. Please save me..”
“You called the guard post earlier, didn’t you?”
“..Huh?”
“We came to save you. Come out quickly.”
“Ah..! Ah, yes. Yes.. But, why.. why do you look.. so..?”
“We get hurt when people comment on our looks.”
“This isn’t a situation for jokes..”
"I’m seriously saying, comments about my face hurt my feelings."
"..."
“..You are human, at least.”
“Uh.”
“?”
Somehow, we ended up proving to the woman that we were human.