Chapter 172
『Congratulations! The player has successfully escaped from the Nightmare Corridor!』
『Beginning settlement for 1 person's survival.』
Yang Juhee, who had been left behind, successfully escaped the nightmare and was accounted for.
Cha-ching cha-ching—
I heard the sound of countless coins falling as text appeared before me like ending credits.
『Ghost encounters: 25 times + 250 P』
『Escapees: 1 person + 100 P』
『Item acquired: Japanese military sword (rare) + 100 P』
『Nightmare Corridor progress: 5% + 50 P』
『Total: 500 P』
I was about to struggle with a lack of points, but thanks to Juhee's settlement and the Rabbit Piggy Bank's savings, I suddenly had some breathing room.
My current point balance is 840 P.
It's a lot, but also not that much. After everything I've been through, I've realized that when it comes to points, the more the merrier. It seemed best to hoard as many as possible.
"Young-won, I'm done showering."
Just then, Dahee came out of the bathroom, her hair still wet. As I prepared to shower, I discreetly checked Dahee's complexion.
"Dahee, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. Totally energized."
Dahee flexed her arm as if showing off her muscles.
She looked healthy. However, she couldn't remember anything about yesterday's events.
She'd forgotten all about our struggles in the corridor, and even the artificial respiration in the underwater cave. It was like it never happened.
I thought that might be for the best.
I'd been feeling a bit awkward about how to act around Dahee since the underwater cave incident.
Although Dahee acted like nothing happened, it was my first kiss.
It wasn't like the kisses you see in dramas or movies, just a simple press of lips. Still, for my hot-blooded self, it was enough to send shivers down my spine.
Whoosh—
My face flushed red just thinking about it. I hurriedly entered the bathroom, turned on the water, and cooled my head with cold water.
'Dahee doesn't even remember.'
Come to think of it, it happened in a dream, so maybe it should be considered as if it never happened.
I mean, just because I became rich in a dream doesn't mean I'm actually rich in real life. Just because I did something intimate with a woman in a dream doesn't mean I've lost my virginity.
In reality, I'm just a high school boy who had a wet dream.
Similarly, kissing Dahee in the dream should probably be considered as if it never happened. It was just a life-saving measure, after all.
Creak, creak—
I turned off the rusty faucet and came out to the living room to find Dahee fidgeting nervously. She flinched at my appearance as if startled, and seemed awkward.
"I didn't do anything!"
Her behavior was especially suspicious. What hadn't she done?
"What didn't you do?"
"I don't know!"
What doesn't she know? This was really suspicious.
What could Dahee have done while I was showering?
I felt like I was playing a spot-the-difference game, trying to find what had changed, when my keen eye noticed a significant change in the fish tank.
"Giganoto!"
Giganoto in the fish tank. Its proud, plump tail had fallen off.
Wait, how did this happen?
When I looked at Dahee, she held out the tail she had been clutching.
"...I just wanted to pet it. Pfft..."
It seemed Giganoto felt threatened when Dahee tried to pet it and detached its tail to escape.
I'd noticed before that while Dahee likes animals, animals don't particularly like her. It's a one-sided love.
On the other hand, animals liked Yang Juhee. Giganoto especially adored her.
"Well, the tail will grow back. How strange. I thought its tail was undetachable since it never fell off no matter what we did."
"Will it be okay? I heard lizard tails are nutrient stores."
Dahee looked slightly worried.
As I took the plump tail from Dahee, I thought about it. If Giganoto were an ordinary lizard, it might be a problem, but being a descendant of dinosaurs (presumably), it should be fine.
"Giganoto's tough, it'll be alright. It's been a big help, thanks to you."
Rub rub—
I stroked Giganoto in the fish tank. It made a soft sound in response to my touch.
—Boom-boo-boom-pow.
A sound indicating it was happy.
Ding—
A new message appeared in my status window. It said I had acquired a new item.
「Giganoto's Tail: A tail detached from the mysterious creature Giganoto. It wriggles and moves as if alive. Can summon Giganoto. Disappears after one use.」
It was an item that could summon Giganoto.
Who would have thought that Giganoto's detached tail would become an item?
This is what they call turning misfortune into blessing.
***
"Hey guys, it's been too long."
I felt incredibly happy seeing my friends gathered at the secret base. Though we'd only been apart for a day, it felt like we hadn't met in ages.
Maybe it felt that way because of all we'd been through.
"I'm so glad to see you too, Ms. Hong Mi-ri. And Sua. Even Bong Ji-yeon!"
Today, the whole pirate crew was gathered. Bong Ji-yeon frowned at my honest sentiment.
"Why are you being so dramatic?"
I guess I seemed over-the-top to her. Honestly, I wanted to hug everyone tightly and even give them kisses.
But I held back, knowing it would make things weird.
"Where's Juhee?"
I asked about Yang Juhee's absence. I'd been in touch with her earlier. Vice-captain Jung Seok soon answered.
"She's still in the hospital. Seems they have various tests to run. Can't be helped. Someone who suddenly fell into a coma and then suddenly woke up. Not sure what modern medicine can figure out, though."
Hmph—
Jung Seok snorted. Though just a high schooler, he seemed to have developed an arrogant attitude towards doctors.
I guess he felt superior for exploring and breaking through a world others don't know about. It was understandable.
Chatter chatter—
As usual, I gave everyone seated around the round table a rough explanation of yesterday's events.
The strange people wandering the 1st floor. Giganoto jumping out to help us in a crisis on the 2nd floor.
The Yin-Yang Master's den discovered on the 3rd floor. The 'stairs' located there and the 'voice' presumed to be Yang Dohee's.
And the pond leading to Layer 3.5, with the bizarre humans beyond it.
Everyone's expressions were quite serious as they listened to my story, each reacting to different points. Jung Seok seemed particularly worried about the people wandering the 1st floor.
"The 1st floor was easy to tackle because there were no ghosts. It could be dangerous if people are wandering around and looting. In some ways, they might be worse than ghosts."
"They looked like shamans. They seemed to treat the items in the old school building like treasures and tried to capture ghosts like they were hunting animals."
It was sudden to have strange people swarming the old school building, but Jung Seok nodded as if he had expected it.
"It was foreseeable. Your status window opened the shop to fight against heroes and observers. This might be a natural progression."
Hearing it put that way, it did make sense.
"We have an overwhelming advantage in survival with our status windows. The key is to tackle the corridor while considering this advantage."
"I'm more curious about this Layer 3.5. Yang Juhee spent a month there when only a day passed in reality?"
Bong Ji-yeon was curious about Layer 3.5.
I didn't know much about it either, so I couldn't explain much. Kwon Sua trembled—really trembled in various ways.
"Japanese soldiers appearing... It's so scary. You said there was a senile old man too. A place where such people just exist. And so many shadows. Why is my shadow there?"
I had encountered Kwon Sua's shadow in Layer 3.5.
I'd been wondering if it was really her shadow or just my imagination. Seeing the 'real thing' here, I became more certain.
That shadow was indeed Kwon Sua's.
Soon, Ms. Hong Miri, who had been listening maturely, tapped the desk with her pink nails to get our attention.
"The presence of shadows ultimately means there's light and substance casting those shadows somewhere. Did it look like Sua's shadow here was reflected there?"
"No. The shadow there seemed separate from the real-world shadow here. It's like there were two Kwon Suas. It looked like a Kwon Sua living in a separate world..."
It was hard to explain, but one thing was clear: this expedition had yielded more than expected.
"The important thing is we found out where Yang Dohee is. She's on the 4th floor. It seems the Yin-Yang Master took her there and imprisoned her, though she didn't seem to remember who she was."
The way to the 4th floor was in the Yin-Yang Master's den.
Of course, that door was locked, but the key was said to be in a place that could be called the Gandara priestess's shrine or altar.
"So conquering the 3rd floor opens the way to the 4th floor. Unlike the 2nd floor that we could bypass with various tricks, we can't avoid the demons on the 3rd floor. A frontal assault is indeed necessary."
The good news was that we had figured out how to tackle the 'Yin-Yang Master'. He was a 'demon'. And I roughly knew his name. And the sealing method.
The problem was the Gandara priestess, the key guardian, and Jung Seok knew this well too.
"Like the evil spirits on the 2nd floor, Japanese-style ghosts are like natural disasters with no strategy to tackle them. We can only hide under a sturdy roof and hope the typhoon and earthquake pass."
The Gandara priestess wasn't just an evil spirit, but an existence like a demon. She might not have been placed there to be conquered in the first place, so breaking through might be impossible.
'If Kim Geonho with the 《Destroyer》 trait were here, could we have opened the Yin-Yang Master's door without a key? Then we wouldn't have had to face the Gandara priestess.'
It was regrettable in many ways. Of course, we did have his relic, the "Destroyer's Glove".
「Destroyer's Glove: A round leather glove. Protects the hand when hitting people or breaking objects. Can open locked boxes without a key, but the glove disappears after use.」
I wondered if we could use this to break the door's lock.
"But it's not like there's absolutely no strategy. I've researched this 'Gandara Priestess Urban Legend' in various ways. Actually, the priestess we met is only half."
"Half?"
"Yes. The woman we met was a monster with multiple arms attached to a female body, looking like a spider. But in the urban legend, the priestess is closer to a 'snake' than a spider."
A snake?