Chapter 171
"So, you're descendants of the Count. Nobility, huh? The Tenshoin family from the outside was famous. I heard they dug endless holes towards the underground."
Somehow, I managed to get friendly with the Japanese soldiers. It was possible because Dahee was Cheon Daegon's granddaughter.
Who would've thought being descendants of collaborators would give us an advantage in survival?
Ironically, the actions of the Cheon family, who sold out the country, were benefiting us in a place we never could have imagined.
This Count's status must have been really something. The Japanese soldiers, who moments ago were ready to cut us down, suddenly became docile and polite.
"To think we surrendered because of something called an atomic bomb."
"And Japan became America's closest ally?"
The Pacific War-era Japanese soldiers weren't as shocked by the 21st-century story as I expected.
Their flexible thinking surprised me, and they explained.
"There are shadows here."
"We can vaguely see how the outside world progresses through them."
"I see."
"Come on, kids. We’ll show you our base."
"Though it's just the two of us left now. Originally, we had a whole platoon. We got swept into this strange ruin during a jungle operation."
The Japanese soldiers were surprisingly friendly, but I couldn't tell how long this politeness would last.
Their eyes had a manic gleam, and their hands and legs were shaking badly. Their faces were twisted in constant grins, not from amusement, but as if they couldn't control their facial muscles.
I suddenly wondered.
How did these Japanese soldiers survive in this cave with no food? Why were only two left out of a whole platoon? What were they planning to do with the old person's corpse?
I'd heard about this before.
In Papua New Guinea, there's a custom of eating human corpses. People who practice cannibalism can develop a disease called kuru.
A disease that makes your hands and feet shake and lose control of facial muscles. Eventually leading to death.
Even an idiot could figure it out with these clues. They were clearly planning to take us to their "base" to eat us.
[Young-won, we need to escape.]
Dahee seemed to have caught on to my thoughts.
The soldiers weren't hiding their desire when looking at Dahee. It was the most primal biological urge – hunger.
To these cannibals trapped in the cave, a high school girl like Dahee must have looked like a feast. They weren't human anymore. It was better to think of them as hungry ghosts.
I suddenly remembered what Yang Dohee had said.
— Layer 3.5 isn't a place to stay long. Time flows like water there. If you stay too long, everything gets washed away. Memories. Will. Self.
30 minutes here is 1 minute in the real world. Then how long would 70 real-world years be in this world?
'2,100 years.'
These soldiers had been wandering this place for 2,100 years. It's no wonder they lost their names, their humanity, everything.
While thinking about how to get out of this situation safely, I decided to ask one more question.
"Hey, have you seen a girl wearing clothes like ours?"
"We have. A girl with very fast legs."
"She's with us."
"With you?"
"Yeah. This purgatory is dangerous for kids. We're protecting her."
"She's fine. If you want to meet her, come with us."
What were the chances Yang Juhee was actually with them? I thought hard and came to a conclusion.
This was a lie. But it seemed they had really seen Yang Juhee. She probably ran away like a deer with her incredibly fast legs.
[Young-won, when I signal, yell loudly.]
Dahee gripped the torch tighter. I think I knew what Dahee was planning.
[Now!]
Whoosh!
Dahee struck the torch against the cave wall. The friction caused the torch to burst into a large flame. It was an impressive technique.
I didn't hesitate and shouted.
"Here! Here! Here! Heeeere! Aaaaargh!"
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Confused by our actions, the Japanese soldiers yelled incomprehensibly and lunged at us.
They had taken off their masks and revealed their beastly nature, but the torch had attracted the shadows. A predator's shadow appeared from somewhere, revealing long claws and tearing into the Japanese soldiers.
Grrrrrr—
"Aaaagh!"
"Gaaah!"
While the beast's shadow was mauling the soldiers, Dahee and I ran as fast as we could. We only stopped to catch our breath when we couldn't hear any more noise.
"I really thought we were going to die."
"That was close. If we'd gone with them, we'd have been eaten."
We survived, somehow. So what now?
There was no guarantee there weren't more madmen like those Japanese soldiers in this cave, driven insane by long years and starvation. I had a feeling there were probably a lot of them.
"Dahee, have you been trying to contact Juhee?"
"I have, but I'm not sure if she's hearing me."
By my calculations, Yang Juhee had spent about a month in this place. If I had spent 30 days, a total of 720 hours here, I'm pretty sure I would have gone mad already.
So Yang Juhee's mental state was probably not normal either.
"I think it's time to use our trump card."
"Trump card?"
"Status window—"
I manipulated the status window. I was planning to summon a ghost from my mercenary group.
When I dispatched "Monkey's Paw" to myself for 100 points, something bizarre happened.
Fwoosh—
Suddenly, thick hair grew all over my left hand.
"Ugh, geez. So this is how it works."
The Monkey's Paw was an item that granted wishes.
Of course, there were no restrictions on how it granted wishes, so there was a risk it could become a curse.
High risk, high return, so to speak. With this, finding Yang Juhee should be a piece of cake.
"Find Yang Juhee right now."
I spoke to my left hand. Then, with a crack, my pinky finger broke.
Crack, crunch—
『Your 'Monkey's Paw' has attained enlightenment.
It can no longer be dispatched from the mercenary group.』
"Aaaaargh!"
It really hurt.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and my head was spinning. My scream echoed throughout the cave, and lights flickered in various corners.
Thud, thud—
I sensed countless presences.
The feeling of presences approaching us made my hair stand on end. As I was wondering what to do, someone peeked around the corner.
"Hey! What kind of stupid thing are you doing! Why are you screaming like that?!"
It was a familiar voice. Yang Juhee.
"Hurry, come here and hide! There's a passage here!"
An incredibly disheveled Yang Juhee was gesturing to us from a crack in the cave. Dahee and I approached her, and Juhee touched our cheeks and sniffed us.
"You're not illusions, right? You're real?"
"You think we're illusions?"
"You won't disappear if I suddenly turn around, right?"
It was hard to explain, but it seemed Yang Juhee had been through a lot during her 30 days in this cave. Her uniform was torn, her hair was a mess, and her face was covered in dirt.
***
"I thought you were illusions. That's why I had to watch you for a while. I've had too many experiences of approaching what I thought were you guys, only to almost get caught and eaten."
Yang Juhee said she had been watching us from the darkness. To determine if we were real people, she said.
Honestly, I couldn't understand what she was saying. Juhee was rambling incoherently and clearly wasn't in her right mind.
"But then you screamed. It didn't seem like an illusion. To scream so loudly in such a terrible place... Are you really Ha Young-won?"
The Monkey's Paw had granted my wish after all. By breaking my finger and creating that noise, it had awakened Juhee's mind.
Rub rub—
Juhee kept touching my face with her dirty hands. She stuck her finger in my nostril, put her pinky in my ear, and even bit my finger.
"Ow."
"Is it really you?"
"I told you, it's really me."
What kind of time had she spent in this cave to become so strange?
I felt really sorry for Juhee.
"Juhee, what on earth happened?"
"What?"
"I'm asking how you ended up in this cave. We came here to rescue you. You're lying in a hospital right now. Only one day has passed in the real world."
"Just one day?"
Juhee clutched her head.
Crouching on the dark cave floor and shaking, she looked like a frightened rabbit. So even the brave Yang Juhee could end up like this after spending about 30 days in a dark cave.
"It took me about a month to make this hideout. Just one day?"
"That's right."
Actually, whether it was a day or a month didn't matter. What mattered was that Juhee needed to get out of here. That was our purpose from the start.
"This is a talisman. An escape talisman. Quickly, tear it and escape."
Juhee's pupils shook as she looked at the talisman.
"What about you guys?"
"We'll die and cure our quirks with 100P."
I opened the status window. Juhee's status window, who had been left behind, wouldn't open.
She must have a quirk.
"Go quickly."
"..."
Juhee trembled. She seemed to have finally made a decision.
"Okay."
Rip—
Juhee tore the talisman and escaped. Now only Dahee and I were left.
Without talismans, the only way for us to escape this place was to die.
Die, huh.
This would be my first time dying.
Until now, I'd always been lucky enough to acquire talismans or avoid death through various flukes. But now, facing death head-on, I was scared.
'Should I do a gacha pull for a talisman?'
I could get a talisman for 400P, but that would be stupid.
Curing a quirk after death was only 100P. It was four times cheaper than the gacha.
Dying was actually the way to survive.
The question was how to die.
How could I die without pain, without even realizing I was dying? Strangle myself? That's impossible.
As I was pondering, Dahee held out something to me.
"Oh, that's a talisman, isn't it?"
"I didn't use it when we entered the 3rd floor earlier."
I thought she had used the talisman to remove her quirk after crossing the torii gate. But Dahee had saved it instead.
Thanks to Dahee's 《Elegance》 trait, I didn't even realize she had a quirk.
"Young-won, use this to escape."
"If you're offering, I won't refuse."
I opened the status window and removed Dahee's 《Ruthlessness》 quirk.
"Young-won, you go first."
"But... are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Yes. But I don't want to show you me dying. It won't be pretty."
Wave wave—
Dahee waved her hand as if saying goodbye.
I closed my eyes and tore the talisman.
***
"...Gack!"
When I came to my senses, I was soaking wet.
Looking at my phone, it was 6 AM.
I thought the space was really cramped, then realized I was crouched in what seemed to be a closet.
"Ah."
Right, Dahee and I had crawled into the closet to sleep. As I rustled, Dahee also seemed to wake up, opening her eyes.
"What's going on?"
Dahee also seemed confused about the current situation. So she doesn't remember either, huh.
Opening the status window, I saw Dahee had developed a quirk. It was 《Aesthetic Sense》.
「《Aesthetic Sense》. You pursue beauty. But beauty, like the thorns of a rose, often harbors cruelty.」
I immediately spent 100P to cure it.
'Now I only have 340P left.'
After spending so many points this time, I only had 340P left.
"I wonder if Juhee has woken up? She must have escaped, right?"
Sleep vanished completely.
I wanted to meet and talk with Yang Juhee.