Chapter 39
After escaping the Two-Person Night Watchman horror story.
When I was staring blankly at the ceiling, overcome by the emptiness of having left the corpses of the guard anomalies behind.
“A message?!”
The head mod, who had figured out how to enter cleared horror stories, had sent me a message..!
“..What is it?”
--
Other : Um.. where is this, Daebung..?
Other : (Photo)
--
Someone had suddenly sent me a photo that seemed to show the inside of a horror story I had never seen before.
“What kind of person is this?”
After the First-Floor Roommate Doesn't Die horror story was cleared.
Although I had heard that several newly opened horror-story dungeons existed,
I had never seen anyone on the Korean side declare that they would tackle a horror story, so it seemed that someone from Japan had entered to clear it.
--
Me : It looks too dangerous. You should press Return.
--
I was not without some reluctance to get involved, but I told the other person to use Return and come back to the safe-zone village..
--
Other : I.. I don't have any Returns.. Maybe because I used them all in front of you, Daebung..?
--
“..You used all your Returns in front of me? What does that mean?”
Because the other person had suddenly said that she had used all her Returns in front of me.
“..The only person who used Return in front of me was.. ..that woman..?”
I was reminded of the woman from Unit 1001 in the Two-Person Night Watchman horror story, who had pressed Return in front of me.
“Did she fail to return to the safe zone?”
Just as I began to wonder whether she had been unable to return to the safe zone.
Suddenly..
“..Huh?”
After clearing the Vellieard Library as well,
I remembered that I had not returned to the safe zone, but had instead been moved into the world of the Melting Shampoo horror story.
“Did this person too?”
The woman I was exchanging messages with must have experienced the same phenomenon as me, being moved into another horror story after clearing one.
However.
--
Me : You cleared the horror story, but you don't have any Returns?
Other : Uh.. I didn't exactly clear it, but I did receive a clear judgment anyway..
--
Unlike when I cleared the Vellieard Library horror story and went to the Melting Shampoo horror story,
the woman I had rescued from Unit 1001 had contributed nothing whatsoever to clearing the Two-Person Night Watchman horror story,
so I realized that the Status Window had not granted her any Return uses.
At that moment.
--
‘It seems that if you visit the safe zone even once before clearing your first horror story, the system sends you to another horror story.’
I was able to understand why I, unlike everyone else, had entered another horror-story world after clearing my first horror story.
But realizing that truth was not what mattered most right now.
--
Me : First, share your situation on the community and ask the others for help.
Me : There will be far more and better advice than anything I can give you.
Other : Yes..!
--
I told the woman to ask not only me but also the others for help.
“I can't go to a place like that and help her in person.”
Hoping that even one more survivor would make it back alive was the only thing I could do.
“I hope nothing happens to her.”
Being disappointed that I had missed the guard corpses in a situation like this would make me no different from a psychopath.
Just as I had received help when I failed to recognize the codes of the infected people in the Melting Shampoo horror story,
I quickly accessed the community, read the woman's post, and began helping her with advice for survival.
…
--
[Following everyone's advice, I asked three questions first.]
Q : Who are you?
A : I am this place's guide.
Q : Are you human?
A : I consider myself human.
Q : How can I escape from here?
A : Avoid all the trap doors in this maze room and proceed all the way to the end.
(Photo)
After I asked three questions, the person who had been holding up five fingers was now holding up only two..
It seems I have to open one of those two doors and go through it.. What question should I ask to determine which one isn't a trap door..?
[Comments - 14]
Anonymous 1 : Ah, I guess those fingers meant there were only five chances to ask questions.
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : There might be only four chances to ask questions in total. Maybe she gets killed after asking five questions.. Something like that could happen.
ㄴ Author : Really..? Then am I going to die now? Ah.. Please.. I really want to live, please..
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : It's only a guess. Calm down.
Anonymous 3 : Ha.. I knew rulebooks were written in blood, but seeing someone who has to write the first rulebook makes my heart feel so heavy..
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : Usually, the person writing the first rulebook is always sent in with Returns.. So this is an even worse situation.
Anonymous 5 : Assuming the worst and that she can ask only one question, what should she ask?
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : Ask which of those two doors is the trap door.
ㄴ Anonymous 6 : Is there any guarantee that the anomaly only tells the truth?
ㄴ Anonymous 7 : Can't she ask two questions at once? Combine “Do you tell only the truth?” with “Which one is the trap door?”
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : They're different questions, so I don't think you can combine them into one..
Author : ..I'll just keep sitting here without doing anything until I come up with a good question..
ㄴ Anonymous 5 : Get some rest. We'll find a good question somehow.
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : If only I could, I'd go help her..
--
“...”
Everyone was probably thinking the same thing I was.
Why had she asked such a frustrating question?
Why had she stopped asking questions even though she must have seen the fingers fold after each one?
However, no one could bring themselves to blame her.
Because..
“Yeah, at least she's not committing suicide..”
If we said something needlessly harsh, we might drive the woman to give up on life herself.
And because she was immersed in extreme fear, she was probably unable to make rational decisions at the moment.
We had all experienced that state of panic at least once, so this was not a situation where we could blame or curse her for it.
“..Only a gamble remains..”
To be honest, the woman had only one option left.
No matter what question she asked, she still would not be able to find out which of the two doors was the escape route.
She had to choose one door and move forward with a fifty-fifty chance..
‘Otherwise, both of those doors could be doors leading to death.’
No one could make the choice for her.
No one could go provide support where the woman was.
That place.. wasn't a horror-story dungeon we could tackle ourselves..
“..This is giving me a headache.”
All we could do was..
pray for the woman's survival.
Suddenly.
“..Would this work too?”
When a thought flashed through my mind, I photographed the picture uploaded to the community with my camera.
“The picture came out clearly..”
The photo uploaded by the woman in Unit 1001 had been saved in the camera album.
“Is this working normally too?”
I used the tracking function on the photo showing the two doors and the black figure in a suit.
--
Mentality : 181 / 248
[Available Return Count] : 3
[Available Crafting Count] : 8
Input:
--
As expected, my Mentality dropped by 30.
“Oh..”
On the screen of the camera, now merged into one, I could see letters appearing.
- LR
“It really works..”
In truth, the camera's tracking function was almost useless.
Not only was there no one here for me to track, there were not even any anomalies to track, were there?
That made tracking practically useless to me..
Could it have a function that told me the codes for entering horror stories?
In other words.
“..Wait, then.. can I go back to the Vellieard Library too?”
What if I took a photo of the Vellieard Library anomaly that delivered my meals?
And what if I tracked the library anomaly?
When I finished working as a librarian at the Vellieard Library, I had definitely been told..
--
.
.
.
I had also been told that I could visit our library at any time and borrow books at my leisure.
--
Since I had been told that I could visit the library again whenever I wanted,
“I'll ask when I get back.”
After helping the woman a little, I decided to return and ask the Vellieard anomaly that delivered meals whether I could go back to the library.
--
Input : LR
--
I entered LR into the input field and was about to move there, but then I paused.
I had the feeling that I was acting too impulsively.
“Whew.. Let's calm down. First, I should consult the administrator.”
Just as I was about to send the administrator a message and act cautiously.
“Hmm? When did this get sent?”
Someone had sent me a message, so I clicked on the inbox to check its contents..
--
Other : I think.. this is where it ends for me.
Other : If that monster catches me.. I'll suffer for the rest of my life, won't I..?
Other : In that case.. it seems like the best choice is simply to end my life cleanly..
Me : ?? No no, hold on.
Me : You there?? You there???
Me : Answer?? Can you answer me??
Me : P-please
--
The woman who had said she was going to take her own life was no longer sending messages.
‘Damn it, seriously..!’
If she was hanging herself right now.. I thought she probably had not died yet.
I entered the code so I could go straight to where the woman was.
And then..
“Please.. I hope I'm not too late.. Please..”
My vision slowly blurred, and when it returned to normal,
“..!!”
“Haah.. Thank goodness, seriously.. Aah.. Thank goodness..”
I saw the woman sitting in a corner, quietly untying her shoelaces.
“..What are you doing, seriously?”
“I.. I..”
“I'm the person you sent the message to.”
“Ah.. But, how did you get here..? They definitely said.. no.. no one else could come.. to a place.. like this..”
“I used an item. I have items that other people don't.”
“Ah..! Th-then.. can I..! Can I get.. get out too?”
“I'll help you from now on. I'll help you get outside.”
Perhaps because I had cleared one more horror story, I could now see the facial features of the person facing me as well.
‘If I say she looks Black, they'll call me crazy, right..?’
Hmm.. no.
Let's not say that out loud.
“C-can I really.. get out..? I.. can I really.. get out..”
“Aren't you tired?”
“Huh?..”
“You need stamina even to cry. Judging by the tear marks on the floor, it looks like you've been crying for quite a while.”
“Ah.. It's just.. ..yes...”
“Go to sleep. I'll stay on guard so nothing happens.”
“If I f-fall asleep.. that mon.. monster will..”
“Nothing will happen. You can trust me and go to sleep. I happen to have quite a few items for dealing with anomalies.”
Wanting to give the woman, who was still immersed in fear, some time to rest,
I told her to take a nap to regain her strength and began looking around the area.
‘It looks exactly the same as in the photo.’
The inside of the empty room.
A mysterious anomaly in a suit stood between the two doors.
The anomaly in the suit was still holding up only two fingers.
I could not see the expression on the anomaly's face.
‘Is it looking at me?’
I could feel it watching me with a strange look in its eyes.
‘Just come at me.. The result will tell us whether you're faster or I am.’
With my finger resting on the crafting button in the Status Window,
I planned to craft an item from it while it was still alive if it charged at me..
‘..I guess it isn't going to do anything.’
For about thirty minutes.
The anomaly simply stared at me and did nothing in particular.
“Phew..”
I let out a long sigh after sitting tense for so long.
Then, sitting beside the woman sleeping against the wall, I made a post on the community.
--
[The woman I rescued from Unit 1001 tried to commit suicide, so I came to save her for now, yep..]
(Photo)
I came here too.
You can see the ring in the photo, so that confirms it's me..
There seem to be two chances to ask questions left. What should I ask?
[Comments - 27]
Anonymous 1 : ??????????????
Anonymous 2 : How did you get in?
Moderator : How did you get in, Daebung?
ㄴ Author : Among my items, I have one that can check other people's locations, so I roughly figured out the code with it and got in.
ㄴ Moderator : Please give me a detailed explanation via a private message.
ㄴ Author : Sure.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : So.. Daebung hacked the horror story and forcibly entered it, right?
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : Daebung can hack things now too..
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : How is reality more insane than the novel Anonymous 1 is serializing lol
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Ah lol, I'm telling you, that's 100% real lololol
Anonymous 5 : Still, it's a relief. I was seriously so worried the newbie might commit suicide. Now that Daebung has gone in, I feel strangely reassured.
ㄴ Anonymous 6 : What do you mean, it's reassuring that someone went into a horror-story world? lololol
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : Ah lolololololololol, now that you mention it, you're right. Why was I feeling reassured, damn lololol
Anonymous 7 : If Daebung is going to clear it and walk out like always, upvote first, starting with me lol
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Anonymous 7, you still lack a little Daebung sensibility, don't you? Daebung is focused entirely not on clearing it, but on ‘hunting’ anomalies and ‘crafting’ them into items.
ㄴ Anonymous 7 : Even so, that's a bit much..
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Are you Japanese?
ㄴ Anonymous 7 : Yeah.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Wow, the translation was so good I thought you were Korean. If you're Japanese, I guess you could think that way.
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : No, damn it; even I, a Korean, thought exactly the same way as Anonymous 7.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Honestly, me too, yeah.. Until about seven hours ago, I couldn't even imagine hunting an anomaly..
ㄴ Anonymous 5 : Anonymous 1.. What on earth did you experience in there..?
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Conqueror's se.. Haki..
ㄴ Anonymous 6 : This bastard lol He keeps making us curious about the next chapter lololol Haah.. Once the newbie incident is over, you're showing us the next chapter, right?
Anonymous 8 : Please make it out alive.
ㄴ Anonymous 9 : This is why people like Daebung. I'm falling for Daebung now too.
ㄴ Anonymous 10 : Daebung really is an amazing person. We got a lot of help too.
--
‘..I guess they don't have any particularly good questions.’
No matter how powerful collective intelligence is..
what can people do in a situation this impossible?
“Haah..”
With nothing but sighs escaping me,
I was staring blankly at the gentleman anomaly in the suit, unable to think of a plausible solution, when..
Suddenly.
‘What does LR mean, anyway?’
I began to question LR, the code for entering this place.
Why.. wouldn't it mean something?
The number 82 used to access the community was South Korea's country code,
and to access the Japanese community, we had to enter Japan's country code, 81,
so I had a feeling that LR must have some meaning as well.
‘Is there some rule to these letters?’
I had plenty of time anyway.
I began mulling it over on my own until the woman in Unit 1001 woke up.
‘Come to think of it, isn't IY Inventory? Taking the first and last letters gives you IY. CA is Camera too, right? The first and last letters of camera. DL is the first and last letters of doll.. then wait a second..’
The moment I realized that every input code consisted of the first and last letters of an English word..
a word beginning with L and ending with R flashed through my mind.
‘Liar.. ...a liar.’
--
[Looking for someone knowledgeable in English ASAP]
Tell me the English for every word I ask from now on.
Forge.
Food delivery.
Two-Person Night Watchman.
First-Floor Roommate Doesn't Die.
[Comments - 17]
Anonymous 1 : ..Daebung is about to cause trouble again..
Anonymous 2 : Food delivery is food delivery.
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : They asked you to tell them in English.
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : I've done this much, give me a break;
Anonymous 4 : Blacksmith? Forge? Smithy? I only remember two main options.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Clever.
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : Thanks.
Anonymous 1 : First-floor sxfriend not die?
ㄴ Anonymous 5 : You crazy bastard, it's roommate. Not a sex partner.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Whoops, I made a typo without realizing it.
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : If that's what you do without realizing it, can you function in daily life? lololololol
Anonymous 6 : But why are you suddenly looking for English words?
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Once we tell him, Daebung will show us something amazing, so just wait, yeah.
ㄴ Anonymous 6 : Ahh, okay okay. So there was such a deep meaning behind it?
Anonymous 7 : Two-Person Night Watchman is a little difficult. Maybe Two people per team night watchman.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Are you from Harvard, by any chance?
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : (Missed call from the president of Harvard)