Chapter 42
At first, it was simply me taking out my anger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I wasn't brave enough to actually open the trapdoor and go inside,
nor was I in a position to gamble with my life.
“Just spit out the corpse, damn it..! Then I'll stop, I said??”
If the door broke, I didn't want to be dragged away by whatever emerged from inside, so I kept one foot braced against the intact door and hammered the trapdoor with my fists like a madman.
Crack-
“!”
The sensation of my fist sinking inward reached my fingertips, and I realized the door had been completely broken.
At that moment..
“Let's cross over. Quickly.”
“Huh? Ah, yes..!”
Since I realized the trap room's door had opened unintentionally,
I immediately moved the woman from Unit 1001 beyond the safe room, then followed her into the next room and closed the door behind us.
Bang!!!
“..!”
A shock like something enormous having slammed its body against the other side came through the closed door.
‘..What was that?’
Apparently.. when the trap room opened, whatever had been beyond it had leaped out.
From then on, I vowed that no matter how angry I got, I would never let the trap room's door open again,
and as I watched the door we'd entered through transform into a wall, making it impossible to return..
“..Huh?”
When I turned my head at the woman's suddenly flustered voice,
there..
“Huh?..”
even I couldn't help being flustered by the scene unfolding before me.
“There’s.. ..only one door.”
--
[Liar Horror Story Progress (4)]
(Picture)
The room after the suited anomaly who had claimed to be our guide died.
The number of doors suddenly changed to one.
After double-checking the door with a Mentality Attack and a knock, we learned that it was an ordinary door, not a trapdoor.
It seems there was a gimmick where killing the suited anomaly changed the number of doors to one.
[Comments - 20]
Anonymous 1 : I think Daebung is really fucking cute because he always writes in polite speech after getting angry
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : ?? Was Daebung angry?
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Because the bastard who was supposed to become item material committed suicide ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Anonymous 3 : I'm thinking about this a little seriously.
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : Could the change from two doors to one have happened because Daebung killed the trapdoor that made him bleed in the previous room?
ㄴ Author : Ah.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ This seems to be it ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The way Daebung clears horror stories. 1. Kill everything
Anonymous 5 : Daebung, did you tear the trapdoor apart and kill it, then turn it into an item too?
ㄴ Author : Ahhhhhhhhhh, right; if the door was an anomaly too, I could have at least tried turning it into an item?
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : You're not Daebung, are you?
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : LMAO, I'm suddenly having a reasonable suspicion. You didn't think of turning it into an item??
ㄴ Author : Back then, I once got bored and tried to turn an entire house into an item during Interaction Time, but it didn't work, so the thought that you couldn't make items out of houses got stuck in my head.. I should've at least tried pressing the Crafting button..
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You tried to turn an entire house into an item??
ㄴ Author : Hey, I was curious.. I wanted to know what would happen if a house became an item.
ㄴ Anonymous 6 : wwwwwwwww I just have nothing to say wwwwwwww
Anonymous 7 : So the horror story has not been cleared despite killing everything?
ㄴ Author : Yeah.. It still isn't cleared.
ㄴ Anonymous 7 : Hmm.. In the end, I suppose you'll have no choice but to risk your life and keep going until the end.
--
Whether it was because we killed the one who claimed to be our guide,
or because we broke the trapdoor in the previous room,
we, who had originally been forced to choose one of two doors, now had only one door before us.
“Phew.. There’s no other way.”
In this situation..
we couldn't return through the door we'd entered through,
nor was there a door hidden behind the wallpaper,
and after searching the floor and ceiling as thoroughly as possible, we found no attic door or anything like it, so all we could do was..
“Let's go.”
keep moving forward.
‘We keep moving forward because we need information..’
When the woman from Unit 1001 first asked the suited anomaly a question,
it had clearly said that the way to escape this place was ‘to avoid every trapdoor in this maze of rooms and keep going until the end.’
Of course, that statement was obviously a lie,
so if we went through just thirty more doors, we would reach the room where the lying guide anomaly had counted down.
‘We’re still short on information..’
Until now, we had followed the liar's words in order to obtain information, avoiding the trapdoors and moving forward,
but that still applied now.. even with the liar dead,
so we continued onward without hesitation, seeking new information.
…
--
Other : I tried to enter because you hadn't replied at all.
Other : I couldn't enter. Is it because a maximum of only two people can enter the LR horror story world?
Me : Ah.. I'm sorry. I was putting all my focus into finding a way to escape somehow from a place where no clues were visible..
Me : I didn't even realize a note had arrived.
Other : No, it's all right. All of us are simply praying that you and the newbie can return safely, Daebung.
Me : Thank you. We will.. get out alive.
--
Now that only two doors we could open remained,
I closed the Status Window after my brief conversation with the community moderator and stared blankly at the closed door.
“...”
“...”
Since we hadn't found even a single clue to escaping by the time we'd come this far,
I was trying to rack my brain and think of a way to escape this Liar Horror Story somehow, when..
“Maybe it could be something like that.”
“Pardon?”
The woman from Unit 1001, who had maintained silence until now, began offering a hopeful possibility.
“If we reach the number that anomaly in the suit counted to together with him, we'll die.. but if we manage to reach it by ourselves, without that anomaly, maybe that's how we escape or something.”
“Oh, that's actually a pretty good hypothesis.”
It was a hopeful sign that the woman still hadn't given up on life-
“So.”
“Yes!”
“Please go back now.”
“..What do you mean?”
“You can return, can't you? With Return, I mean.. Please go back. Quickly.”
“...”
The woman from Unit 1001 had known from the very beginning.
That I.. could abandon her and run away at any time.
She had stubbornly stayed by my side all this time, forcing herself to look away from that cruel truth..
“Before I ask you to die here with me.. ..Let's go back. Quickly.”
With only two doors left that could lead us forward,
the woman who had just spoken hopefully.. had, ironically enough, the eyes of someone who had resolved to die.
Squeak..
The woman who had spoken moved into the next room first.
Then..
“Thank you. I was so happy. But this.. this isn't right.”
“..My God, what do you mean, there are things that can't be done? We can even be kidnapped into a world this absurd.”
“I'm not stupid either. I know that the weight of my life and the weight of someone like you, known as Daebung.. are different.”
“The weight of a life is different? What kind of nonsense is that-”
“You.. are someone who can save many more people besides me. But I can't become someone like that.”
I slowly began closing the door to the room she had crossed into.
“I had resolved to die from the beginning. I only gained a few more happy memories.. before leaving.”
“...”
It was a lie.
Now that the liar anomaly was dead..
the person who spoke the cruelest lies of all was a human.
“Go back. Quickly. Once I confirm that you’ve returned, I’ll try opening the last door too.”
Even though she must have wanted to live.
Even though she must have wanted to survive and see the next day..
Even though she had clawed her way all the way here to survive...
the liar was overcoming her fear and trying to take one more step forward.
No, she was pretending to overcome her fear.. and lying in an attempt to get me out of this place.
“...”
Now that around 20 to 22 hours had already passed since we came here.
It might have been a short time to some..
but in that long time, the woman seemed to have finished sorting out her feelings alone.. and she kept lying in an effort to send me out alive.
“There’s a high probability that there’s an exit. So.. let’s see each other again with smiles during Interaction Time.”
“..All right. I’ll leave.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but.. before I go, I want to do everything I can.”
“..What do you mean?”
I followed her into the room she had entered first,
and used a Mentality Attack on the last remaining door..
--
Mentality : 17 / 248
[Available Return Count] : 3
[Available Crafting Count ] : 8
Input:
--
The Mentality Attack.. worked.
It had taken effect on the door that had to be the exit.
“Please..”
I ran toward the door the Mentality Attack had worked on.
I reached the door and pressed the Crafting button, but..
‘Crafting.. Crafting.. Please.. Please work, damn it..!’
Just as objects above a certain size couldn't be crafted..
the door susceptible to the Mentality Attack.. was not being made into an item.
“...”
The woman, who had been carefully watching my actions, realized it.
That there was no hope here.
That this place.. had no hope of escape at all.
“There’s no need for both of us to die.”
“..What are you talking about?”
“Quickly, press Return.”
“...”
“Do you really want to see me clutching your pant leg and begging you to save me?”
Could I abandon someone and leave a place where there was no hope of getting out alive?
Even though I knew rationally that was the right decision, could I really coldly abandon her and leave?
“...”
I looked down at the woman without a word.
In this place where the concept of escape did not exist.
In this place where there was no condition for clearing it..
I was thinking about how to get out of here with her.. but wait, just a moment..
“..I’ll go.”
“..Thank you, Daebung.”
“But before I go, I want to check one thing.”
“..What do you want to check before you go?”
“I only want to see you fall asleep.”
“Uh.. what, if you want to do something.. lewd.. I can do that for you. I'm going to die anyway-”
“No. That’s not what I mean. I really will leave once I see you fall asleep.”
A thought flashed through my mind, and I suggested that the woman go to sleep.
“..All right. ..Then, could I ask one last favor?”
“Ask me for anything.”
“I want to fall asleep in your arms. Being alone.. seems a little scary.”
“All right.”
The woman from Unit 1001 accepted my request and, as her final wish, said she wanted to fall asleep in someone's arms,
and to grant her request, I gently embraced the woman as she came into my arms.
“...”
I could feel the woman in my arms silently regulating her breathing.
Just as no one is unafraid of death..
even though she knew that if she fell asleep in this state, only death awaited her,
the woman from Unit 1001 was volunteering for a noble sacrifice with the sole thought of saving another.
Pat.. pat..
I answered the woman's resolve with silence as well, gently patting her back..
and before long, I could hear the breathing of the woman who had fallen asleep in my arms, exhaling at regular intervals.
‘I’m sorry.’
Just as I had promised her beforehand, I placed my hand over the Return button on the Status Window.
--
[The attempt to clear the Liar Horror Story has failed.]
(Picture)
This is a picture of my current Status Window.
As you can see, my Return Count has decreased from 3 to 2.
Yes, I used Return..
In the Liar Horror Story world.. escape was impossible.
..Fuck.
How the hell was I supposed to escape, anyway?
Sigh…
(Picture)
But I brought the woman back.
As you can see, she’s sleeping in my room right now.
That’s all.
[Comments - 17]
Anonymous 1 : ????????????????????????
Anonymous 2 : ????????????????????????????????
Anonymous 3 : How the hell did you do this???
Moderator : How did you really do this?
ㄴ Author : I’ll explain it to you in a note now.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Explain it to us too, please, I'm begging you
Anonymous 4 : How does a story even crazier than the novel Anonymous 1 is serializing come out every single day..?
Anonymous 5 : Daebung TV's trademark. Every day is a legend. But it really is a legend ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Anonymous 6 : How did you really do it?
ㄴ Author : Now, now~ I just wasted one Return Count too, so if you want to know, deposit 200 DOLL each~ Once 2,000 DOLL are collected, I'll tell you the story~
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Hey, Song Daebung!!!!!! Who taught you to do such an evil thing?? Huh?!?!?!?!!! Release it for free right now, will you?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : You fucking son of a bitch, you you you you you!!!!!!!!!!
ㄴ Anonymous 7 : Anonymous 1, you fucking bastard!!!!!!!!!!!!
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Song Daebung. Master likes that attitude of yours. Slip me the details in a note alone.
ㄴ Author : My surname isn't Song. And Anonymous 1, you have to pay the same amount too.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : 으랑ㅁ;ㅏㅣㅓㅏㅣ;ㄴ뭏;ㅓㅏㅣㅁ누허뭏 Why are you only doing this to me!!!!!!!!!!!
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ This is fucking satisfying!!!
--
“I didn't expect this to actually work.”
Leaving the sleeping woman behind,
I quietly recalled what I had done moments earlier.
--
Mentality : 17 / 248
[Available Return Count] : 3
[Available Crafting Count ] : 8
Input: IY
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Mentality : 17 / 248
[Available Return Count] : 2
[Available Crafting Count ] : 8
Input:
--
--
Mentality : 17 / 248
[Available Return Count] : 2
[Available Crafting Count ] : 8
Input: IY
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--
[Choi Min-ah / ミヤ マサミ]
Age : 24
Height : 171.2 cm
Weight : 54.5 kg
Mentality : 62 / 100
A woman born to a Korean and Japanese couple.
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“I thought she was Japanese, but she was of mixed Korean-Japanese heritage..?”