Chapter 144
Kang Bada realized that Yoo In-na's death wasn't a simple suicide.
Towards such a Kang Bada, the hospital director Kim San rummaged through a drawer and handed him a document. The date on the document envelope was even older than 17 years ago.
"The answer you want should be in this document."
Kang Bada opened the document without hesitation. It was about a 14-year-old girl and was full of medical terms.
Barely recognizing a few words, Kang Bada felt the back of his head freeze.
If this document wasn't a lie, she had been unable to bear children of her own bloodline since she was 14. It was a moment when everything became clear.
"I have to... tell them this."
There was something he had to tell Ha Young-won.
As he was about to leave the hospital, he heard footsteps from behind. A rather large shadow fell across Kang Bada's face.
"What are you doing alone in a collapsed building? This is private property. I should have locked it so no one could enter?"
He was the owner of this building. He even had a small piece of metal in his hand.
Kang Bada looked at Director Kim San. The obstetrics director Kim San was still sitting in her chair.
She was now silent.
Swish-
The man who owned the building took the document from Kang Bada's hand. Creating deep wrinkles around his eyes as he read the contents of the document, he said.
"I met that child during volunteer work at the orphanage."
The man lit the document on fire with a lighter he took out of his pocket. The man's face was clearly revealed in the burning light.
"She was a cheerful child. She said her dream was to create a family. A real family connected by blood. But providence is cruel. At 14, it became impossible for her to create her own family."
"......"
Kang Bada picked up a rusty scalpel lying nearby. However, the man in front of him didn't even blink, just staring at the burning paper.
"No one can achieve what they desire too intensely. Because you want it so much, it becomes impossible to achieve. You should understand what I mean, right?"
Kang Bada could now understand everything.
'This man shouldn't know about Young-won and the children.'
But he thought it might be too late. Because Kang Bada himself had wasted time running away from the past.
Bang-!
Just then, there was a flash and Kang Bada's ears went numb. Kang Bada saw a red flower blooming like blood on his stomach.
"...Ugh..."
Collapsed on the floor, Kang Bada's eyes met with Director Kim San, who was silently watching him.
Now he noticed that her red gown also had a red flower blooming on it, just like on his stomach. As sympathy filled the director's eyes looking at Kang Bada, the man turned his head.
"What are you looking at? Is there something there?"
"......"
Kang Bada felt an inexplicable laugh coming on. Well, this man didn't seem to be able to see.
No one can achieve what they desire too intensely-
Indeed, it was true.
'It hurts like hell.'
Dying from a gunshot. Thinking it was quite a cool ending for an ordinary person like himself, Kang Bada suddenly remembered the 'gun' he had forgotten about.
'I wonder if they acquired it well.'
Whatever the case, Kang Bada was now tired.
Exhausted, he let go of his consciousness like a raindrop that had become too heavy to stay in the sky. His spirit, falling endlessly downward, seeped into the sea like his name.
What lurked beneath people's feet was a cold yet warm sea.
***
"Here it is!"
I quickly hid in the shop. It was the only place in this third floor that could be called a safe zone.
"Isn't it chasing us?"
The spider woman who had been hit by Yang Juhee's knife hadn't been seen for a while. The bell sound that had been ringing ear-splittingly had also quieted down, but we couldn't let our guard down.
The spider woman still had seven arms left, and there was also the mysterious "Yin-Yang Master" on this third floor. However, reaching this shop meant we could relax a bit.
"Wow. This is cool."
Yang Juhee admired an antique-looking box. Despite the situation, there was something mouth-watering inside the box.
It was a 'gun'.
『Sturdy Case: Locked with a padlock with a vortex pattern drawn on it. If you can get a key with a vortex shape, you might be able to open it.』
I inserted the "Vortex Key" I had received from Mr. Kang Bada into the lock.
Click-
The lock opened and finally the box was revealed. I took out the gun from inside. I was surprised that it was colder and heavier than I had thought.
"It looks antique. Seems like the kind of gun Ahn Jung-geun might have used to shoot Hirobumi."
Ms. Hong Mi-ri took the gun from me and examined it closely.
"This seems to be the safety, there are bullets in the chamber, and seven rounds in the magazine."
Ms. Hong Mi-ri seemed to know more about guns than me, a man.
Come to think of it, I remembered that Chairman Cheon Dae-gon's storage had lots of hunting guns, and the housekeeper sisters including Mrs. Danvers used to shoot those guns freely. Do you need to know how to shoot a gun to live in that mansion?
We decided that Ms. Hong Mi-ri, who knew the most about guns among us, would hold it.
Yang Juhee licked her lips as if slightly disappointed, but didn't argue as it was a rational choice. However, Dahee's expression didn't look good.
"What's wrong?"
Does Dahee want the gun too? To be honest, I was tempted as well to shoot a gun.
It's something everyone dreams of doing at least once. But Dahee shook her head.
"I just feel strange."
Come to think of it, Dahee had been quiet for a while. To be precise, she'd become less talkative since we were chased by the spider woman.
Is she afraid of this third floor?
No, Dahee had shown courage during our last third floor challenge, even finding this shop on her own. It didn't seem likely she'd get scared now.
As if understanding my concern, Dahee shook her head vigorously.
"I'm fine now! So, what should we do next?"
Since we'd finally reached the shop, I thought we might do some shopping.
But there didn't seem to be anything useful, and every point was precious to me, so I hesitated. If there's nothing to buy, should we sell something we have?
Then, a good idea occurred to me.
"By the way, Juhee, didn't you say your uniform could show us the way?"
『Blood-stained Uniform: A uniform shrunk to the point of bursting. Someone's blood is on it. Carrying it might reveal a special path.』
That was the uniform worn by Yang Juhee's sister.
It's said to show a special path when carried, but honestly, I had no idea how it would show the way. I couldn't quite grasp it. Anyway, now that we had a 'gun', I was thinking we could be a bit more aggressive when Yang Juhee made a strange sound, "Huh?"
"Juhee, what's wrong?"
"There's something like a red thread floating in the air? Can't you guys see it?"
What thread? I couldn't see anything.
Seeing Ms. Hong Mi-ri and Dahee shaking their heads, it seemed the thread was only visible to Yang Juhee. Yang Juhee looked back and forth between the uniform in her hand and the thread.
"Now that I look closely, this uniform and the thread are connected. It's so thin I didn't notice until now. This thread is connected to... the wall here..."
Yang Juhee touched the shop wall. She soon found something like a door handle on the wall.
What we thought was a wall turned out to be a door. There was some squiggly writing on the door.
It didn't look like Korean and was really squiggly. It looked like someone had scribbled with worms and ramen. It might not even be writing, just doodles, but fortunately, readable text appeared before me.
『If you want to open this door, put money in this hole!』
『We won’t be held responsible for damage or sneaking in!』
『100 coins!』
Hole? Looking closely, there was a hole in the wall big enough for a human hand to fit through.
"Looks like we can get out if we put 100 coins in here?"
Wasn't one coin equal to 1 point? 100 coins means 100 points?
Just as I was wondering if we could pay with points, the status window reacted.
『Do you want to pay 100P?』
『Yes / No』
Yes.
I selected yes with my hand. Then, as my 100P was deducted, coins fell from thin air and landed in front of the hole.
Swish-
Soon, something invisible took the coins from in front of the hole. Seeing this, I was startled.
"There's something in that hole! Something's in there!"
Is it the shop owner? Whatever it was, it must be an incredibly terrifying being.
After all, it's running a shop on this third floor where monsters roam. It must surely be a horrifying monster.
"What's in there?"
But Yang Juhee couldn't contain her curiosity.
Flick-!
Yang Juhee lit her lighter and peered into the hole. Suddenly, she started wriggling her arms and legs like an octopus.
"Hey! What's wrong!"
"Huh, I don't know. Just something in there... A tail? Like? It? Wiggly? Wiggly wiggly wiggly..."
What is she saying? Soon, Dahee spoke up.
"Come to think of it, there were three ghosts on each floor, right? On the first floor, there's the Bell Ghost, Red Woman, and Head Ghost. On the second floor, the Rhythm Ghost, Mirror Ghost, and Dancing Ghost. Maybe there are three ghosts on this third floor too?"
There's another ghost on this third floor besides the Yin-Yang Master and the Spider Woman? And one of them is this 'wiggly thing like a tail' in there?
Whatever it was, the important thing now was that Yang Juhee's condition was strange.
"Wiggly wiggly wiggly- wiggly wiggly- ugh ugh ugh-"
Yang Juhee lay on the floor like an octopus on land, twisting her arms and legs. It was as if she was trying to express the concept of 'wiggly' with her body.
"Something's wrong with her."
When Ms. Hong Mi-ri opened Juhee's mouth, her tongue was also wriggling indescribably. If this continues, her throat might get blocked by her tongue!
"Status window!"
I opened the status window and checked Yang Juhee. Now I noticed that Yang Juhee had developed a new quirk.
『《Wiggly》: A symptom experienced by someone who has discovered 'wiggliness' somewhere in the world. Everything becomes wiggly. No known cure.』
This is crazy-
Who knew you could get a quirk in the shop? I used 100P to remove Yang Juhee's quirk.
"Hey, why did you look into that hole?"
"......"
Yang Juhee glared at me. Her gaze was full of resentment.
She seemed to have a lot to say, but my words were too factual, so she was trying to let it slide.