Chapter 213
Splat.
The fragile human body was sliced in half by the monkey’s long nails. Fresh blood and innards spilled out as the severed torso fell limply to the floor with a splat.
Cheonchilbaek stared blankly at Osai’s corpse with shocked eyes.
That selfish Osai willingly sacrificed his own body for Samsao like that?
Even if it was a simulation, the pain would be considerable. It was a situation that was incredibly hard to believe.
Smack! Just then, someone struck the back of his head. Snapping back to his senses, he looked ahead to see Osai standing there with a pale face.
“What are you doing? Snap out of it and run!”
“…!”
Startled, he looked back, and Osai’s corpse - no, what he thought was a corpse - had disappeared without a trace.
Of course, the one who had sacrificed himself in Samsao’s place wasn’t Osai himself, but merely his clone!
The real Osai was perfectly alive and breathing, though his complexion didn’t look good, perhaps due to the shock of his clone being gruesomely murdered.
In that case, there was no reason for Cheonchilbaek to panic as if something impossible had happened. Paradox and Osai were already running ahead of him.
He too had to run if he wanted to avoid the future he had seen through his ability, where he was trampled by monkeys.
Whirrr… BANG!
After a breathless escape, they got out of the room, and the door closed. Until the very end, the stones thrown by the monkeys smashed loudly against the wall, sending chills down their spines.
Once they left the room, the monster monkeys didn’t pursue them any further, seemingly thinking they had successfully driven them out of their territory.
If they had kept chasing them even after they left the room, it would have been truly troublesome. It was a massive relief that it ended here.
“Phew… Good job, everyone. That was dangerous.”
Paradox said, catching his breath.
They had managed to survive somehow, but the damage was considerable.
Paradox had nosebleeds smeared all over his prisoner uniform from contending with the telepathy monkeys, and Osai looked dizzy due to his clone being destroyed.
Not to mention Samsao, who had acted as the companions' shield and tank, enduring falling logs and taking the monkeys' attacks.
His entire body was covered in wounds. He was recovering thanks to his regeneration ability, but the accumulated fatigue couldn’t be helped.
Technically, Cheonchilbaek had taken the least damage, but he was also exhausted.
“We suffered, but we gained something in return.”
So when Paradox said that, he couldn’t help but be puzzled.
What was even more baffling was that he was looking at Cheonchilbaek as he spoke.
“Didn’t I tell you? This friend Cheonchilbaek would definitely be useful. It’s proven in this way.”
Paradox spoke proudly, as if boasting about his own eye for people. Cheonchilbaek himself had no idea why he was acting like this, but Osai clicked his tongue next to him and nodded.
“I have no choice but to admit it. When I first heard about monkey sounds, I thought it was complete bullshit, but actual monkeys really came out.”
It was just that his brain wasn’t working well for a moment because he was tired; Cheonchilbaek wasn’t an idiot. He immediately understood what they meant.
His danger sense ability had detected the threat of the monkey monsters before they even entered the room.
Sector 1 of Glitch Hall was like a labyrinth with a constantly changing structure. Being able to detect what dangers lay in a room before entering it provided a tremendous advantage.
Considering their escape from the monster monkeys, if Cheonchilbaek hadn’t sensed the danger in advance and hadn’t prepared them thoroughly, the illusion of being trampled by monkeys might have actually become reality.
In short, his supernatural ability was more powerful and precious than any other ability here, even if it was incredibly hard to grasp.
“I knew you’d pull it off, Cheonchilbaek! From now on, we’ll be relying solely on you here. Very reassuring!”
As Paradox patted his back and said that, Cheonchilbaek felt like his stomach was churning from the immense pressure.
Now they would be passing through Sector 1 relying solely on his danger sense ability, as if he had become their guide… What if he made a mistake? Or what if his ability, which was always unstable and whose true nature he didn’t even fully understand yet, malfunctioned?
Ominous imaginations continued endlessly. Cheonchilbaek now felt like he was going to throw up.
“Please let nothing go wrong.”
* * *
Perhaps Cheonchilbaek’s prayers had worked; they passed through a few more rooms in Sector 1 after that, but thanks to the power of his supernatural ability, they were able to get through without any major issues.
Occasionally, there were dangerous traps, but thanks to Cheonchilbaek showing seizure-like reactions just in time, they weren’t hard to avoid.
Needless to say, this led the companions to place infinite trust in Cheonchilbaek’s supernatural ability.
Cheonchilbaek still found that trust deathly burdensome, but at the same time, it felt a little good.
Glitch Hall was the rock bottom of Dusk City, and he was the lowest class even at that rock bottom. How often would he ever get to play such an important role?
Even if it was thanks to a bizarre supernatural ability within the simulation rather than his own inherent ability that he had honed, the expectations and recognition he received from others were something he had never experienced before.
It was almost agonizing that he only got to feel this sense of accomplishment after reaching the absolute bottom of his life.
“Stealer, are you sure?”
Paradox’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Cheonchilbaek jolted in surprise and nodded.
“Ah, yes. I don’t feel anything in particular.”
“Is that so… Hmm.”
Paradox stroked his chin.
The reason they hesitated, despite trusting Cheonchilbaek’s ability and getting a result of no danger, was simple.
There was only one path, and that path was unusual.
Instead of continuing straight ahead as usual, it was a staircase leading down.
The tiles weren’t pure white hexagons either, but a smooth metal floor reflecting a faint red light.
It was clearly a place where something should be, so it was only natural to be puzzled when the ability’s result said otherwise.
Cheonchilbaek thought he knew what Paradox was thinking.
'They definitely said abilities don’t work on the inquisitor…'
Did that apply equally to his danger sense ability, making him unable to feel the inquisitor’s presence?
Cheonchilbaek recalled the situation right before they came to Sector 1, right before they encountered the inquisitor. It had been incredibly ominous and terrifying.
However, he didn’t know if that was thanks to his ability. What was certain was that he hadn’t seen any illusions of dying to the inquisitor back then.
“But we can’t just turn back now, can we? After coming all this way.”
At Osai’s words, Paradox nodded reluctantly.
“That’s true too. We’d better keep going for now. Just don’t let your guard down. We don’t know what might be inside.”
The companions thus entered the descending path.
The interior was extremely dim.
For a moment, Cheonchilbaek felt a chill as he remembered the inquisitor moving while bringing darkness with it, but fortunately, this place seemed different from that.
It was just ordinarily dark due to a lack of light.
The corridor was narrow. And both sides were lined with glass windows that were too dark to see inside clearly.
――――THUD!
Cheonchilbaek, who had been looking around, recoiled in sheer terror. For a moment, he almost let out a shrill scream.
A black figure from beyond the glass had suddenly lunged and slammed its body against the wall!
“Jesus!”
Cheonchilbaek wasn’t the only one startled; Osai also contorted his face and glared at the other side.
Then, someone beyond the glass grinned through a darkened face and long hair.
The long fingers pressed tightly against the glass were eerie.
There weren’t just one or two such people.
glass cubes were lined up continuously along the corridor, and there were people inside every single one of those rooms.
Paradox let out a low groan.
“I think I know where we are. It’s the depths of Glitch Hall. I wondered where it was, and it turns out it was in Sector 1… Everyone, don’t even make eye contact with those new recruits. Ignore whatever they say. Just walk past them.”
The depths of Glitch Hall.
If Glitch Hall was what isolated felons from society, this place was a collection of solitary cells used to lock up new recruits that even Glitch Hall couldn’t handle.
Once locked in those incredibly narrow glass cages, they would never be able to escape from inside, no matter what happened.
“…”
Cheonchilbaek got goosebumps all over from the empty eyes of the psychopaths trapped in the cubes. He just wanted to get out of this place as quickly as possible.
The others seemed to feel the same, as everyone’s pace quickened. Occasionally, the new recruit in the cage would tap on the windows and talk to them, but they forced themselves to ignore it.
There were some who muttered the nonsense of completely deranged lunatics, while others threatened to report them to the guards, claiming a new recruit had come all the way here. There were those who, gnawing at the glass window with bloodshot eyes, suddenly declared they would kill them, and there were also those who appealed to their compassion with surprisingly kind and gentle voices.
The corridor, which felt tiresomely long, finally showed its end as they passed by the numerous new recruits trapped in solitude, maintaining their silence.
Just as they were about to heave a sigh of relief, a cunning voice was heard.
“Trying to break out? It’ll be tough. I don’t know about anything else, but how are you planning to get past the inquisitor?”
Everyone tried to ignore it and walk past without giving it any attention, except for the very last sentence.
“I know a way.”