Chapter 170
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3. Lee Seong-hyeon (real name)
I'm in a fucking awful mood, but since I was suddenly transferred here, there's not much I can do. Still, I do intend to try my best to survive somehow.
This is confidential, but actually my father is an agent assigned to an organization that fights these strange phenomena. He doesn't go out in the field, but he told me these things really do exist and taught me a few ways to deal with them. Said I might get caught up in one someday.
To be honest, back then I thought Dad was just a stupid pathological liar. But I never showed it. He was bringing in a ridiculous amount of money. I suspect that money probably came from the organization.
Anyway, enough digression.
The number of notebook pages is limited, so I'm shortening the sentences from here on. And for those who find this later, and for the employees who work at the same company as Dad, I'll record what happens here by date, like a diary.
Hope this helps, fuck.
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Day 1.
I left the corpse in the break room alone for now.
Considering it had barely decomposed, I could tell I had been transferred not long after this woman died.
There was nothing to eat in the break room. Nothing to drink either. Instead, I found a museum map in a drawer. I hung it on the wall for easy viewing.
From what I can tell, the place where I can get food is probably the employee cafeteria. If it gets impossible to hold out later, I'll go scout it.
For now, that's it for Day 1.
It's really fucking disgusting having to sleep beside a corpse.
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Day 2.
The corpse's condition hasn't changed much. I'm starting to think it might stay like this permanently. I wondered if it could be destroyed, so I broke its arm, and thankfully it snapped easily.
I'm planning to make a proper judgment tomorrow. For now, I'm going to do a little more exploration outside the break room today.
Honestly, I'm scared as hell, but I don't want to die like that idiot corpse here. I'm going to do something.
I'll write again after I get back.
.
.
.
Fuck, never go outside. If I say don't go out, don't go out, fuck. Just stay here and starve to death. That's the best option.
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Day 3.
I panicked yesterday and couldn't give a proper explanation, so I'll try today.
First of all, yes, it is a museum outside. A lot of paintings are on display, and each one of them is alive and moving.
That's not a figure of speech; they're literally alive. The people painted into the pictures move around and butcher other people in real time, and when you watch them, you start thinking you'd like to be like that too. If you can't resist it, you die right there. I barely made it out alive too. I ran into an eyeball monster while passing by.
The eyeball monster is one of those things with a single eyeball where its head should be. It wears a suit, and there are male and female versions. These bastards were usually just staring at paintings, but the moment I made a sound with my footsteps, they all rushed at me. Still, they weren't that fast, so it was easy to shake them off.
The problem is that there are a fucking ridiculous number of them. Once you draw aggro, it seems like every bastard in the museum comes swarming. Their attack is with optic nerves? Blood vessels? Something like that, like tentacles, and if you get stabbed, an eyeball grows out of that part. And then it keeps crawling upward. Right now the eyeball that was on my wrist has made it all the way up to my throat. Maybe, given enough time, I'll become one of them too.
At this point, I might as well already be finished. But fuck that, I have no intention of dying like an idiot here. I'm taking the corpse with me and dying outside. The next person who comes here has to survive.
My name is Lee Seong-hyeon. If you get out and meet my parents, tell them I didn't die like an idiot.
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4. Kim Mirae.
The person above seems to be telling the truth. There wasn't a corpse in the break room, just a lot of blood. Strangely, the blood hadn't coagulated. Maybe the object in the break room is something that remains fixed in time.
I'm a scientist. This is my first time seeing something like this, so I'm both scared and intrigued. For now, based on the map, I'm going to check out the nearby staff quarters. I'll leave a record after I go, so if there's no record, assume I'm dead.
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5. Jo Ji-eun
No record. Looks like the person above died?
I don't really plan to do anything in particular, so the next person can handle it. Still, I have a charger and a game console, so if anyone wants them, take them.
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6. Maria (baptismal name)
May all of you here be embraced in God's bosom. I offered a prayer for everyone, so I sincerely hope God led them to heaven.
I happened to be transferred here while on my way home after buying bread. I'll leave this bread for the next person.
I'm planning to visit the room on the map called 'Art with God.' May there be salvation there.
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6. Still Maria. It's been two days since I posted my previous entry, and I've returned to the break room.
As soon as I went outside, I ran into the so-called eyeball ghosts mentioned above. They attacked when both of my eyes were open, but as soon as I shut one, they backed off on their own. But closing both is not allowed. You must close only one.
The attacked part can be treated by amputation. I cut off a finger. If your upper body or head gets attacked, there's nothing you can do, so please try to make them target your hands as much as possible. If possible, a finger is best.
Art with God. The space contained paintings related to faith. But all of them had been defiled by evil. An angel raping a human, and the Lord craving human flesh and blood instead of bread and wine. I struggled with all my might to destroy the paintings.
But the moment I tried to damage the paintings, eyeballs appeared on the ceiling. They looked down on me and dirtied my vision. Everything in the world looked smeared with blood, and I felt like I might go mad wanting to kill someone on the spot. But I endured by biting off my own tongue. Self-harm did the trick.
Realizing it was impossible to damage the paintings, I moved to the employee cafeteria. There were no people here, but a great deal of food was on display. Nothing unusual happened when I ate it. However, when I ate the food, eyeballs rose from the ceiling as before. Bringing food back to the break room was fine, though.
It seems you mustn't eat food anywhere except the break room. I think even smelling the food is forbidden. So if you're going to fill your stomach, make sure you eat in the break room.
Tomorrow, I'm planning to go to the second floor. May God's grace be with me.
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7. Han Seol
What the fuck? Cut off a finger? Sever your tongue? Are all the clergy fucking insane these days? How the hell did you do that, fuck, and why the fuck are they trying to kill me, goddammit.
I found this notebook right before I was about to die, so I'm writing in it now. Please forgive me if this is a bit disjointed.
First off, Maria? That nun is dead. I saw one of those eyeball monsters outside wearing a nun's habit. It looks like one of those monsters that blows off a person's head and takes its place. Pretty common, right? They show up a lot in movies and games.
But I didn't think I'd become one of them, fuck.
That nun is insanely strong. I beat the others to death with pipes and stuff, but the nun is just fucking absurdly strong. She dodged every attack and shattered all my bones with straight punches.
Maybe it also has the memories from when it was alive? And physical abilities too.
I'm a weakling, so you can just ignore me. If possible, please kill me. The eyeball where my head should be is a little tough, but you can still break it. I'm leaving the pipe here.
I'll die outside in the end. There's plenty of food the nun left in the break room, so anyone who can hold out by eating that should do it. I'm going.
I never thought my end would be like this, fuck.
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Ian let out a low groan as he examined the following sentences one by one.
The numbers didn't stop at 7; they kept going. 8, 9, 10…… before finally ending when they reached 37. He let out a long breath and handed the tablet back to her.
“Did you rescue victim number 37 here?”
“We did rescue them, but they didn't make it back alive. They weren't among the five survivors.”
“That's unfortunate.”
“……You're the first wizard I've seen say that after hearing the report. I didn't really care much about the others, though.”
That was because the average wizard's personality wasn't all that great, and Ian had no doubt his own personality was excellent. Whether that was actually true was not a particularly important matter.
He drummed his fingers on the table and worked out the details of the mission.
“What's the pay?”
“One hundred million won per wizard.”
“That's not as much as I'd expected.”
“It's the base pay. If you successfully complete the mission, additional compensation will be selected by the higher-ups and paid out afterward.”
“Hmm…… can I decide what I get as the bonus?”
“……? That is possible, but is there something besides money you need?”
Kim I-seo tilted her head. Ian answered at once.
“I found out that Irene has entered Korea. I want that bastard's painting so I can use it to track him down and kill him. So give me his painting as the extra reward.”
“……Hold on just a moment. Are you saying Irene has entered Korea?”
“Why would I need to lie? Besides, the only reason I'm even taking this request is because of Irene.”
Ian continued in a calm voice.
“If you can deploy Bureau personnel to kill Irene, then I'll be satisfied with a painting as my extra reward.”
“……A wizard's magical medium is a rare treasure in itself. So if I want to give you an accurate answer, I'll need to file a report first.”
“I'll wait.”
Ian rose from the café at that, ending the conversation.
Even if the Bureau rejected the proposal, it didn't matter much. If it came to that, he could use re-creation magic to shrink the painting and put it in his pocket. Destroying one piece of evidence was nothing difficult for Ian.
He mustn't get this wrong. His relationship with the Bureau was entirely one in which they were the subordinate party. As far as Ian was concerned, he had nothing to regret even if things suddenly went sour between him and the Bureau. He was confident he wouldn't lose in an all-out war with them either. He had no idea what Korea would look like by then, but either way, he wouldn't be taken down helplessly.
If the Bureau knew that, they'd be as accommodating as possible.
If not? Well, then wouldn't that be their loss?
If they were going to deliberately make trouble between them, Ian had no reason not to go along with it. They'd probably be delighted to receive the lovingly prepared fifteen-piece set of the foreign god's child, then strip completely naked and perform a dazzling dogeza. Personally, he'd prefer that not happen, though.
Anyway.
Ian downed the little coffee that remained, set the cup down, and spoke.
“When do we leave?”
“Ah, in four days at 8 a.m. Please come to the Bureau building.”
“Then I'll see you then. I'll await a positive answer.”
He didn't wait for a reply. Smiling, Ian waved and immediately left the building for his workshop.
It had been quite some time since he last used alchemy, so he planned to replenish the materials he needed during the remaining time. If possible, he also wanted to make a few new things.
'Since it's called the Sight Museum, making a large quantity of dying eyeballs should be helpful in many ways.'
Vroooom…….
He started the bike, put on his helmet, and activated Bluetooth. Ian twisted the throttle while answering the AI voice that spoke to him.
“Ah.”
Then, suddenly remembering something, he immediately called the spare phone at home. A phone that couldn't make calls, only receive them. Before the ring had even sounded for long, the other side picked up.
[Master? What is it?]
It was Mariang. Ian lowered the helmet visor and answered at once.
“Your arms and legs are all healed now, right?”
[Yes. They've all grown back.]
“Then go out and live. Don't bother civilians, and for now just take orders from Laplace.”
[…A-are you telling me to go out and sleep on the streets……?]
“That's something you need to figure out yourself. Get out. If you're still here when I get home, I'll throw you out.”
[…Hiiing.]
Mariang let out a whimper.
Ian ignored it lightly and hung up.