Chapter 41

A dark ventilation duct inside a ghost story. Holding my breath, hiding from the horrors outside. As if that weren't maddening enough, the person whose life I'd effectively saved was Baek Saheon.

'Why did it have to be you?'

And now he was desperately avoiding my gaze.

“...?”

He wasn't the type to act like this...

'Oh, don't tell me.'

Something suddenly occurred to me.

-Watch out for serial killers

Was it because I'd kindly sent him serial killer alerts every day? He looked a little scared. Well, that would be unsettling.

'Even better.'

Actually, that had partly been my intention. I'd deliberately sent them under my own name for exactly this effect.

I seem like a psycho, right? Then let's stay out of each other's way.

Given how blatantly he cowered before the strong and bullied the weak, he'd protect himself and avoid me as much as possible rather than seize an opportunity to get rid of me.

'I'd welcome that with open arms.'

... The problem was that, for now, we had to stay wedged together inside this duct.

I held my breath. Thankfully, Baek Saheon was quiet as a mouse, too.

Outside, candlelight faintly illuminated the shadows of those who had failed to escape the darkness.

SCREEEECH, THUD.

The machine stopped.

Something slender extended in front of the shadows of the people cornered at a dead end.

A shadow shaped like a spider's leg.

Then silence.

“...”

Only the noise of the unidentified machine echoed. Then, in a sudden motion, the spider-legged silhouette spread wide before someone's eyes.

“Hiiiiih!!”

In the wavering shadows, I could see eight sharp, delicate things seize a person's torso.

“Help, please hel... Aaaaagh!!!”

SHUNK.

One spider leg burrowed into a gap in the person's head.

Then it plucked something out with a pop.

“...”

And I already knew what it had pulled out...

'... An eyeball.'

That was it.

The reason this exhibition was called the Mansion of the Blind.

* * *

Numerous visitors have testified to losing human body parts to the attendants. The first part most commonly lost is reportedly the “eyeball.”

* * *

'Attendants.'

Encounter that machine here, and it would pluck out your eyes. Encounter it again, and it would usually take a limb, though sometimes it took a tongue or an ear.

Eventually, people were left blind and mute, reduced to crawling around the dark exhibition hall like grubs. That was the kind of insane story this was...

The fact that it didn't happen all at once made it even crueler.

Because, astonishingly, this exhibition was considerate.

Considerate enough to provide “accommodations” without even being asked.

* * *

For visitors' convenience, sensory correction devices are always available on loan free of charge.

(Currently supported devices: sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste, omniperception, fire perception)

* * *

“Nngh, nnngh.”

Once again, a spider-legged silhouette approached the eyes of the person whose eyeballs had been plucked out, its movements elegant and delicate.

For an instant, the object at the tip of its leg cast a distinct shadow in the candlelight.

A fine thread and needle.

'Fuck.'

I held my breath and kept waiting until all the commotion subsided.

Cold sweat covered my body.

A little later.

TAP, TAP, TAP...

The mechanical sounds receded.

... Soon, the person whose eyes had been taken began to stagger away. Of all directions, they approached the duct, their blood-soaked face appearing clearly for a moment before disappearing.

Telephoto lenses were attached where their eyes should have been.

“...!”

Beside me, I saw Baek Saheon silently mouth a curse.

I couldn't blame him.

'With those in, they can see for a few hours at least, or a day or two at most.'

But since they were loaned devices, they would gradually stop working, leaving the wearer increasingly terrified.

And on the next encounter, those, too, would be “collected.”

They were only on loan, after all.

'This is driving me insane.'

It felt like a prelude to the horrors ahead, making me want to squeeze my eyes shut...

'But I have to endure it so he doesn't realize I'm a coward.'

Conscious of Baek Saheon beside me, I climbed out as soon as I confirmed that everything was quiet.

'I can't stay here forever.'

I had to get moving and escape. I'd sort through the exploration records and manual after parting ways with Baek Saheon...

“Excuse me.”

Hm?

“Thank you.”

Baek Saheon suddenly addressed me politely.

He nodded quite courteously, as if he'd been behaving that way all along. Just like when we'd first met on the subway.

Then he tried to slip away.

“Well, I'll be going...”

“Wait.”

Baek Saheon stopped. I asked him,

“How many hours has it been since you entered?”

“...”

“Don't want to answer?”

“... About two hours.”

He'd come in well before me.

This wasn't a ghost story that distorted time, so even a rookie like Baek Saheon had been called in that morning...

'My Team D superiors got me out of this!'

For a moment, I almost got emotional.

Enough to motivate me to hurry up, find my teammates, and get out.

'Team Leader Lizard would have been one of the final seven survivors anyway.'

But I needed to find the others from Team D quickly.

... Although, honestly, once I was out of the duct and looking down the corridor, my first reaction was a sigh...

'Wow. I have to poke around this place alone?'

Search every nook and cranny for clues? While playing hide-and-seek with that monster attendant?

It was bad enough that they'd even made a horror game based on this Darkness. I hadn't played it, but I'd seen a video on Wetube.

... With my hand covering half the screen.

“...”

Hmm. Even if he did have personality issues... wouldn't it be better... to have someone along?

I turned to Baek Saheon.

* * *

In the darkness, Baek Saheon swallowed beside Kim Soleum.

'Fuck.'

Of all people, he had to get caught by this lunatic.

Nothing had gone right since he'd been stuck with that fucking psycho as his roommate in company housing.

Listening to him say insane things with that cynical face—the sort no drunk would dare pick a fight with even late at night—was enough to make his head spin.

'Do I really have to stick with this guy?'

The employees who'd entered with him seemed to have woken up scattered throughout this bizarre mansion, and the other civilian he'd managed to encounter had just been wrecked.

Still, perhaps going alone would be better than accompanying this deranged bastard...

As he frantically weighed his options, Kim Soleum suddenly spoke.

“You're being polite? All of a sudden.”

Fuck.

Cold sweat trickled down his back.

“... It was such an emergency before that I ended up dropping the formalities... But now I think we should go back to treating each other respectfully.”

Kim Soleum stared at him, then answered casually.

“I see. Understood.”

“... Yes.”

Should he... run?

Baek Saheon looked Kim Soleum over.

He'd already heard all the absurdly grand rumors about him circulating through the company.

The Field Exploration Team's unbelievable monster rookie.

[“He cleared an A-grade Darkness all by himself.”]

[“I heard an Elite Team nearly recruited him. But he turned them down?”]

[“Whoa, didn't he even bring back some missing section chief? Is he really a rookie?”]

[“Two manual revision reviews? What is he, some publicity-stunt rookie meant to help screw over the employees...”]

Eventually, the rumors grew so grandiose that a few people began muttering that it might all be company propaganda.

But Baek Saheon didn't doubt them.

'Isn't it just because he's insane?'

Maybe that bastard's results were monstrous... because he thought like a monster?

His mind didn't work like a normal person's, so he'd probably come up with things inside ghost stories that no human ever could!

Baek Saheon knew he was selfish and obsessed with personal gain.

But the intimidation of an unpredictable opponent was something else entirely.

Fear of the unknown.

'I'd believe it if someone told me that bastard was a ghost story himself.'

Baek Saheon broke into a cold sweat.

Still, he wanted information, so he spoke. He ought to get at least as much as he'd given.

“Where are you headed? Judging by that monster attacking people, I think this is probably a Darkness that treats us as uninvited guests...”

“It isn't.”

“Pardon?”

“This exhibition is definitely treating us as visitors.”

What bullshit was this now?

Baek Saheon looked at Kim Soleum, who spoke with complete, casual certainty.

“That's why it comes to collect payment. It only takes our eyes, doesn't it? It's merely collecting the admission fee.”

“...”

“Didn't you read the manual?”

He had.

That bizarre document contaminated into an exhibition invitation.

“It's an invitation. How could someone who came by invitation be an uninvited guest?”

“... But it didn't mention a fee.”

“Read it again. Near the bottom of page three.”

Baek Saheon unfolded the paper.

+++

In a spirit of openhearted admiration for art, this exhibition offers one hour of free admission.

+++

“One hour of free admission implies that afterward, they'll either collect a fee or throw you out.”

“...!”

“But since they take your eyes instead of throwing you out, they're collecting a fee. That thing earlier... is probably a sort of ‘employee’ at this exhibition.”

Surprisingly, it made sense.

Without thinking, Baek Saheon asked,

“Why do you think the fee is human eyes, specifically?”

“Who knows? Perhaps body parts are the most valuable things humans possess?”

“...!”

“Apparently, none of our belongings have any value to them.”

“... Who do you mean by ‘them’?”

Kim Soleum shook his head, expressionless.

“I don't know.”

And no one dragged into this place would know, either...

A chill ran down Baek Saheon's back.

“In any case, whoever operates this exhibition seems to think the human body is the most valuable thing people possess.”

“...”

“And eyes seem to be the appropriate value to start with.”

Eyes.

He only had one.

Baek Saheon nearly reached up to press the eye beneath his eyepatch without thinking.

He still remembered.

Kim Soleum staring at him after he'd left the subway, holding up the other eyeball—the “answer key.”

That strange composure, that watchfulness as he waited for Baek Saheon to realize his eye had been taken for nothing.

That mocking gaze.

At least this Darkness used them as payment. What the hell had that bastard been raised on to act so creepily?

“By the way...”

“...!”

Kim Soleum stared straight at Baek Saheon.

“You've dropped the formalities again.”

Goosebumps swept over him.

Baek Saheon forced his voice to stay calm.

“Yeah. Why don't we just keep it casual? We're fellow recruits. We can escape together...”

“No thanks.”

“...”

Resentment surged up for a moment, but he forced a smile.

“Come on. You hid me in that duct, so didn't you want to save a fellow recruit?”

“Yeah. To use as bait if necessary.”

“...”

Baek Saheon abandoned gaslighting altogether and switched to persuasion.

Because Kim Soleum seemed to understand this horrific exhibition ghost story even better than he'd expected.

“Having another person would make exploration easier. In a place this dark.”

“I don't really need you.”

“...”

“But let's go together for the dopamine. More people mean more variables.”

He was insane.

Baek Saheon was certain.

Even in his tumultuous life, he'd never met anyone so openly deranged.

But...

'Is that the kind of person you have to be to adapt to this company?'

For some reason, he felt defeated. He clenched his teeth beneath his black goat mask.

“Let's move.”

Ignoring the rigid Baek Saheon, Kim Soleum started walking.

Then, out of nowhere, he said,

“Thanks. That's a relief, then.”

“What?”

What was he thanking him for?

Confused, he was about to say something more when Kim Soleum put a hand to his lips.

“Quiet. I'm talking to Braun.”

“...”

Baek Saheon barely managed to speak.

“Braun?”

“Yeah.”

Kim Soleum reached into his suit pocket and took something out.

A keychain with a cute, fluffy rabbit doll attached.

“Braun's saying hello to you right now.”

“...”

Baek Saheon was really starting to want to run away!

Of course, he had no inkling that Braun really was saying something along the lines of, “Oh, hello there! The soon-to-be-dead sacrificial lamb from the room next door!”

Nor that Kim Soleum was thinking this:

'Whew. Having another person here really does make it a little less scary.'

The thought of wandering this place with only Braun, a doll, had given him chills as bad as the encounter with the ghost that lured people to be devoured by tigers.

'I think I made the right choice!'

“Are you going to search this place for more spots like that duct?”

“No.”

Kim Soleum deliberately gave Baek Saheon a look that said he was being utterly ridiculous.

“We need to find a way out. Why would we look for ducts?”

“...”

“If you like ducts, you're welcome to stay in one. Then pay the fee when you get caught.”

Kim Soleum knew.

'He's exactly the sort you can't give any leeway.'

Given the slightest opening, Baek Saheon would start acting like an asshole!

This was the same Baek Saheon who'd abruptly attacked someone he'd just met without batting an eye, hard enough to burst an eyeball.

Let's not forget that bastard's nickname in <Records of Dark Exploration> was Viper.