Chapter 163
Out of the 610P I had, I used 400P to draw a talisman.
After five gacha attempts, I drew a talisman with honest probability and escaped from the corridor.
"Farewell, devil! I won!"
『Congratulations! You have safely returned from the Nightmare Corridor!』
『Beginning calculation for 3 survivors and 1 residual stay.』
When I woke up in the morning, the calculation began.
Clink clink clink—
I heard the sound of countless coins falling, and text appeared before me like ending credits.
I gained a base of 400P for three escapees and one residual stay. Adding the points from ghost encounters, the total points gained were...
『Total. 550 P』
550P was quite a substantial amount. However, one particular phrase caught my attention. "1 residual stay."
Residual stay? Does that mean someone stayed in the corridor?
Who could it be?
"Status window."
I opened the status window and scrolled through the player list.
Jung-seok and Kwon Sua didn't have any quirks. It seems they escaped safely with the talismans.
Yang Juhee didn't have a quirk either.
Neither did I, of course.
Instead, Jung Sojin, who had joined through random matching yesterday, had developed a quirk.
『《Mystery Enthusiast》. A condition experienced by those who have approached too many secrets and mysteries. You become greatly interested in the hidden dark secrets and taboos of the world, like a moth drawn to a flame.』
It was a quirk I'd never seen before, but I could guess why it had appeared.
In the end, Sojin, who had escaped the operating room, must have collapsed without getting a talisman.
Sojin's death and acquisition of this quirk meant she had forgotten everything that happened in yesterday's hellish operating room.
The possession by the demon would have become like a dream that never happened. Maybe that was for the best.
My current point total, including interest from the Rabbit Piggy Bank, was 860P.
As a way of repaying Sojin for yesterday's events, I invested 100P to erase her quirk.
[Is everyone okay?]
At 7 AM.
It was a bit early, but I sent a message to the group chat. Soon, everyone replied as if they had been waiting.
[Jung-seok. Escaped successfully.]
[Bongji. ㅗ]
[Sua. It was so scary ㅠㅠ]
[Dahee. Did something happen yesterday?]
[Ms. Mi-ri. Dahee and I caught a raccoon dog in the garden last night lol Want to see a picture?]
Photo—
A raccoon dog. So wild raccoon dogs live in Korea, too.
It was quite fascinating, but there was something more important.
There was no reply from Yang Juhee. Is she not awake yet?
I remembered the phrase "1 residual stay."
Feeling anxious and impatient, I waited about 10 minutes before finally calling her directly when there was no sign of a reply.
Soft, soft, my heart~
Like clear stream water~♪
Stream, stream, stream water~
Clear stream water~♪
As always, the strange ringtone played. Now that I listened closely, I could hear Kwon Sua's voice in the lyrics.
So this was the part Sua sang.
"...She's not answering."
Yang Juhee didn't pick up the phone. I got up, got dressed, and decided to go out.
"Mom, I'm going out!"
"Without breakfast?"
"I'll buy something to eat!"
I couldn't even think about breakfast. My mind was filled with the certainty that something had happened to Juhee.
I ran hurriedly towards Juhee's house and arrived at the old apartment complex.
It had been a while since I'd been to Juhee's place. Juhee didn't like others coming to her house.
She was the type who would show up at my house unannounced but get angry if I visited hers.
Knock knock knock—
I knocked on Juhee's door. Soon, I heard movement inside and a woman's voice.
— Who is it?
"Mrs. Kim, it's Young-won. Is Juhee here?"
— Oh my, Young-won? Wait a moment. Juhee should still be sleeping. Hey! Juhee! Yang Juhee!
I could clearly hear Mrs. Kim Yeook's voice through the old metal door.
Five minutes later, I also heard Mrs. Kim's voice, shouting in great distress.
— Juhee! Wake up! Juhee!
***
Wee-woo wee-woo—
Juhee was loaded into an ambulance that arrived with sirens blaring. Juhee was transported to the hospital.
Mrs. Kim asked the doctor coming out of the hospital room.
"What's wrong? What's happening? Why isn't she waking up?"
"Well, at the moment, we're not sure..."
Juhee couldn't wake up from her sleep, like Snow White after eating the poisoned apple.
Like the princess in the forest pricked by a needle.
"There must be a reason! Why! Why can't she wake up!"
Mrs. Kim's voice echoed through the hospital. It was an anguished cry.
With Juhee's sister Yang Dohee missing and her husband separated, Mrs. Kim only had Juhee left.
It was natural for her to despair when Juhee had fallen into an unexplained coma.
I actually knew the reason why Juhee couldn't wake up. Juhee hadn't managed to escape the corridor last night. Nor had she died, but remained in a state of residual stay.
This had never happened before, so I couldn't help but be confused too.
Soon, Jung-seok, Kwon Sua, Bong Ji-yeon, and Dahee arrived at the hospital in Ms. Hong Miri's car. Jung-seok approached me as I was pacing the hospital corridor and asked.
"What happened?"
I don't know, either. I wish someone would tell me what's going on.
But I had to force myself to stay calm, because if I panicked, everyone else would too.
"I think Juhee couldn't escape."
"What do you mean? Is it related to the demon from yesterday?"
"I don't think so. I won a bet with that demon yesterday. I even managed to get it out of the class president's body. And I got Juhee and the class president out of the operating room..."
I briefly explained the information I knew. Everyone seemed unable to comprehend this unprecedented situation and looked scared.
"...Was it possible to be left behind?"
Jung-seok rubbed his forehead with his palm.
He was weak against uncontrolled variables, so the current situation seemed quite confusing for him. While everyone was too perplexed to speak easily, a group of people arrived at the hospital.
They each held worn leather Bibles in their hands. This made it clear they were from a church.
Could they be from Glory Church, where Juhee attended with her mother? They entered the hospital room, and Mrs. Kim Yeook welcomed them warmly.
"This morning, Juhee! She won't wake up! They say there's nothing wrong! It must be the work of the devil Satan! Where's the pastor? Where's the pastor?"
"He's parking the car..."
The atmosphere was suffocating in many ways.
In some aspects, the hospital where comatose Juhee was admitted felt more like hell than yesterday's hellish operating room where the demon lurked.
Everyone seemed to think so and wanted to leave this corridor, so we decided to step outside the hospital for some fresh air.
As we were leaving, we ran into Pastor Cheon Ae-su, the lead pastor of Glory Church.
"Oh, who do we have here. It's Young-won. And these are your friends. Are you here to visit Juhee too?"
"Yes."
"I see. Come to church sometime. It's been so hard to see your face."
The pastor's friendly demeanor, reminiscent of a retired fighter, eased the atmosphere a bit.
Pastor Cheon Ae-su would now go into Juhee's room to sing hymns and pray with the church members.
I hope it has some effect.
***
"This has never happened before. Is Juhee's body empty now? With her soul in the corridor?"
Jung-seok seemed to have finally reached a conclusion. I nodded in agreement with his opinion.
"It seems that way. Since it said she was left behind. I didn't know this was possible. What could have happened after we escaped the operating room yesterday?"
Something must have happened after Juhee and Sojin escaped the operating room. Maybe Sojin would know what happened?
So, just in case, we decided to contact Sojin.
"Hey, Sojin. It's me. I called because we have a family gathering coming up soon. Um..."
Jung-seok made the call. He seemed to be trying to probe for information, but wasn't making much progress.
Feeling this wasn't going anywhere, I reached out for Jung-seok's phone.
"Let me talk to her."
"Oh, hold on. My friend wants to talk to you. I'll put Young-won on."
Swish—
"Hello, Sojin. It's me."
— Oh, Young-won. What's up? So early in the morning.
I could tell just from her voice. Sojin indeed didn't remember anything about last night. She must have died in the Nightmare Corridor.
It was to be expected.
During yesterday's operating room incident, there were only two corridor talismans available. One from the 2nd floor and one from the 3rd floor entrance.
Jung-seok and Kwon Sua escaped with those two.
Only death was inevitably waiting for Juhee and Sojin. If Sojin died, Juhee should have also died and left the corridor with a quirk. But that didn't happen.
Something must have occurred. The two who escaped the operating room must have experienced an 'incident' we hadn't even considered.
— What's wrong? Did something happen?
"Um..."
I wondered if I should tell Sojin the truth. As I hesitated, Sojin spoke.
— Oh, I have to go now. If you need my help, feel free to call anytime!
Click—
The call ended. We had very little information, and Juhee was left behind in the Nightmare Corridor...
I thought those who had wandered the corridor might know about this situation. I turned to Ms. Hong Miri and said.
"Teacher! Let's go to the mansion! Everyone, get in the car!"
There were two guests at the mansion now. Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon. Those two might know something about being left behind.
"Will those rude girls cooperate with us?"
Bong Jiyeon snorted.
Jiyeon had a point, but I had seen the potential of people in last night's hellish operating room. If you don't give up, people can change.
If we showed trust in Ye-rin and Hee-yeon, we could surely get their cooperation.
So we arrived at the mansion.
Buzz buzz buzz—
Perhaps because it was the height of summer, the garden was filled with noisy cicada cries. And there was an unfamiliar doghouse-like structure.
"Young-won, that's the raccoon dog the unnies and I caught last night."
Yoo Dahee chuckled. Now that I looked closely, a leashed raccoon dog was curled up sleeping inside the doghouse.
Is it okay to keep a raccoon dog in the garden? Well, that didn't matter right now.
I headed towards the room where Hee-yeon and Ye-rin were staying.
Knock knock—
When I knocked on the door, I heard a voice from inside.
— Nobody's here. Don't open the door.
"I'm coming in."
— You crazy! We're changing clothes!