There’s Space Behind the Pillar (5)

*Rattle rattle rattle*

“Youngwon. Even if you hear this voice, never follow it. Here. The exit. Mom already went out…”

“Oh fuck…”

The status window advised me before.
There is a cause and effect for everything.

If there is a body without a head…
There must also be a ‘head’ without a body.
When my eyes met the pale pupils and eyes, I felt like all the blood in my body turned cold, and my hair stood on end up to the ceiling.

“Fuck, guys, run away!”

We have to run away…
But there was a problem when I ran with that thought.

“Aah!”

Perhaps his legs gave out from the tension, and Jeong Seok fell over!
Jeong Seok fell, and the head was rolling towards him in this situation.

“Aah! Aah! Aah! Aah! Aah! Aah! Aah! Aah! Aah! Here. The exit. Mom already went out…”

Yang Juhui shouted at this critical moment.

“Hey, you son of a bitch! What are you doing falling over there! Ah fuck!”

*Shing*

Yang Juhui took out a box cutter from her bosom.

Yang Juhui, who ran faster than I could even think about what she was going to do with that box cutter, stood between the rolling head and Jeong Seok.
And she forcefully stabbed the ghost’s head with the knife.

“Die!!!”

*Squish, shriek!*

“…Youngwon…!!”

The head ghost let out a high-pitched scream. Just my luck that it screamed my name while doing so as if a snake was coiled around my neck.

*Trickle, trickle*

It was also horrifying to see the ghost’s broken pupils glaring back and forth between Yang Juhui and Jeong Seok.

I wanted to at least shake off this rotten luck that was sticking to me, but there were more important things than that now.

“Hey! Get up! Let’s get up! Let’s go!”

I made Jeong Seok, who had collapsed on the floor, get up.
Jeong Seok, who had been sitting there watching this scene unfold, also came to his senses with a start and got up.

“Youngwonaaaaah!!! What are you doing falling over there!!! Fuck!!! I’m going to go out the exit!!! Mom is!!!”

“Fuck off!!!”

We ran away with all our might as if shaking off the sound coming from behind us.
We kept running to the point where we were out of breath and dizzy, and our heads were spinning.

I don’t know how long we ran.
But when the office with “Principal’s Office” written on it was caught in the light of the flashlight, we went into the office and hid without talking to each other or exchanging opinions.

“Haa, haa, haa…”
“Ugh, I’m dying…”
“Hey, you guys can’t even run that much as men?”

We were gasping for breath as if paying back the accumulated interest.
The only one who looked somewhat fine was Yang Juhui, who was used to running.

Anyway.
We survived for now.
As the adrenaline that had shot up to the tips of my hair subsided, only then did fear come to me. My legs were trembling at the fact that I had almost died for real.

*Drip, drip, drip*

Now, I noticed that Yang Juhui was bleeding from her hand.

“Hey, what’s that? Are you hurt?”

“Ah, shit. I must have gotten hurt when I stabbed that head. I lost the knife, too. Anything around here we can use as a weapon?”

Yang Juhui seemed to have been injured on her hand when she stabbed the ghost’s head with the box cutter. We also lost the box cutter, which was our only weapon.
Suddenly, Yang Juhui’s player sheet came to mind.

[Tool User]:

You can enter the corridor with up to 3 tools. Tool durability is increased by 1.5 times.

Possessions: Youngwon’s box cutter

You can stab a monster once to make it faint briefly. It vanishes upon use.

Her constantly looking for tools that could be used as weapons might be because of that trait, [Tool User]. Or conversely, she may have gained the [Tool User] trait because of her habit of looking for weapons or tools.

Just as [Eccentricities] manifest according to a person’s constitution, tendencies, and temperament, traits may also manifest according to a person’s temperament and tendencies.

*Rattle. Thud.*
*Rattle.*

I couldn’t just watch Yang Juhui rummaging through the drawers of this “Principal’s Office” with her bloody hand, so I also joined the item farming.
This time, it was Jeong Seok who made a gain.

“There’s a first-aid kit here.”

*Swish*

Jeong Seok took out a first-aid kit from a drawer located at the bottom.
When he opened it, there were bandages and antiseptic.

“Medicines have expiration dates. I think it was a year for antiseptics… I don’t know if it’s okay to use this antiseptic.”

*Pour pour pour*

As if not caring about Jeong Seok’s ambiguous explanation, Yang Juhui poured the antiseptic on her wound.
And she neatly wrapped the bandage.

After treating her right hand, Yang Juhui plopped down on the chair in the principal’s office.
Only then could Jeong Seok and I sit down on the floor.

“Ah shit, we survived.”

“Guys. I’m sorry. I couldn’t have imagined this situation, and my legs gave out… I thought the phone would let us know if a ghost was coming, but I guess not. Or maybe the head ghost is an exception…”

Jeong Seok apologized for collapsing as soon as he saw the head ghost. Fortunately, Yang Juhui stabbed the head with a knife, but if she hadn’t been able to…
Looking at her right hand wrapped in bandages, Yang Juhui also said,

“So what should we do? Go back there and follow the arrow? Does anyone know the way back to the elevator we came on?”

*Shake shake.*

I shook my head.
Jeong Seok, whom I had some expectations for, also shook his head.
We had just focused on running away, so there was no time to memorize the way.

A messed up situation in many ways.
Just as the atmosphere was about to become gloomy, Jeong Seok, who had caused this situation, explained as if to make up for his mistake.

“But we did gain some information. You know that head ghost earlier. Listening to it, it seemed to be randomly repeating what we said. It repeats what it hears.”

“Is that so?”

“It imitated Youngwon’s mother’s voice, right? And that voice definitely said it was escaping through the exit. It also said not to follow because it wasn’t her, even if you heard the voice. If this story is true…”

*Clap*

Yang Juhui clapped her hands lightly.

“It means Youngwon’s mom really escaped! Ah, shit, it hurts. I shouldn’t have clapped.”

This incident would end once Yang Juhui was taken straight to the hospital, I thought, while recalling my mother’s voice, which I had heard earlier.
That was undoubtedly my mother’s voice.
It would be correct to say that my mother left me information using the ghost as if leaving a message.

“Mom knew I would come through this strange corridor. She sent me a message saying she was trapped in the elevator. I guess she thought I would come looking for the elevator.”

In fact, I had come to look for my mother.
As expected, mothers know their sons well.
Although we encountered the head ghost, got hurt, and lost various things, there was a gain.

“Mom escaped from here. Then, our goals were reduced by one. Now, our only remaining goal is to survive and escape from here. Let’s all get out alive.”

“But Youngwon. What’s that in your hand?”

Yang Juhui, who had been rubbing her hand, showed interest in me.
She must have seen the paper I was holding in my hand.

“Ah, this.”

*Swish*

I showed the paper to everyone.
It was something I found while looking for things that could be used as weapons in the principal’s office earlier.

“It’s a photo. A photo of kids.”

As Jeong Seok said, what I found was a photo.
It was a photo of small children gathered together, and on the back of the photo, it said “A-1.”
Should I take it to mean a photo of the “A-1” class?

“Seeing a photo of kids, was this place a kindergarten?”

Yang Juhui looked around.
It seemed plausible, although I wondered if there could be such an ominous kindergarten.

The sketchbook of “A-1” that we acquired must have been drawn by one of the kids in this photo.
I wonder what happened to that child…
Should we rest for about 5 minutes first?

“Guys, look at this.”

Jeong Seok, who had been rummaging through the principal’s office, called us as if he had discovered something.
I thought he might have found another photo, but it wasn’t.

“There are two more passages in the principal’s office besides the entrance. One passage goes to the left, and the other goes to the right. And both have arrows drawn with crayons.”

Perhaps he felt guilty or responsible for Yang Juhui getting hurt? Jeong Seok searched the principal’s office with great enthusiasm and finally achieved results.

“A left and right fork in the road. Which way do you think we should go?”

Jeong Seok asked for my opinion.
In this situation where we have to split into two paths, he seems to want to hear the opinion of me, who can be called the leader of this team.
Yang Juhui said,

“Why don’t we try both?”

That was also one way.

However, after finding out that Mom had escaped, a discourse or idea dominated my mind, so to speak.
Now that it’s come to this, it might be good to do an experiment.

“Status window.”

I called the status window.
And I opened the shop.
The points I had were 363 points.

It was enough points to gamble.

“Guys. Please pray that it goes well.”

I consumed another 90 points.
Now I have 273P left.

*Ding*

Just when I thought something like a capsule vending machine appeared before my eyes, the round capsules started to rattle.

*Rattle. Rattle clack. Rattle.*

I was wondering what on earth would happen.

The item has been placed in front of the exit door.

2250 steps to the east.

“…Did it work? I think it worked!”

People really find strength when there is hope, even in truly hellish environments.
I was directly experiencing that now.

“Guys, we might be able to get out! Let’s go east! The capsule draw seems to be telling us the way out!”

When I first tried the capsule draw, I thought the notification system that told me it had placed the item in front of the exit door was interesting.
I had been thinking hard about how to make use of it, and now seemed to be that moment, and my gamble seemed to have almost succeeded!

“Guys. Let’s go.”

With a bright candle-like hope in our hearts, we left the “Principal’s Office.”
The capsule I purchased for 90 points was our lifeline, no matter what its contents were.

“The arrows continue. But why did they draw them so low?”

Yang Juhui grumbled while looking at the traces of crayons drawn on the wall.
However, I felt like I knew why these traces were so low.

“A little kid drew it. That’s why it had to be drawn in a low place. Seok. How’s the phone? Still no sound?”

“No sound yet… But if we encounter a ghost here, there’s nowhere to hide.”

The passage we were walking through was straight.
An endless straight line.
When I thought we had walked a good 100 meters, Jeong Seok said,

“I’ve been thinking about this since we were in the elevator earlier. I think this place is some kind of alternate dimension. Like a different place located in the same space.”

“So what happens then?”

“…That’s all I’m saying.”

Jeong Seok also says silly things sometimes.
He probably just wanted to blurt out anything to shake off the fear.
Because this eerie chill and darkness are not something you can get used to.

“An alternate dimension…”

The nightmare corridor.
And this strange passage.

The two were very similar.
The fact that head ghosts appear is also similar.
Is there some meaning or reason…?
They say there is always a cause and effect for everything…

“Youngwon. It’s Mom. The exit. Here. No. It’s not Mom.”

Then, we heard a dull sound rolling from behind us. *Roll roll*
The problem was that a loud crackling sound also started coming from the phone.

*Step. Step. Step.*
The sound of high heels coming from the direction we were heading.
And the sound of the head ghost coming from behind.

“…Fuck, I don’t think we can run away.”

It was a complete dilemma.
The only fortunate thing was that there was a box nearby.

*Creak*

When I opened the box, it was spacious enough for two.
The problem was… there were three of us.

“Three people can’t fit in this, can they?”

*Crackle*
*Waaaah*

Mom… Mom…

“What should we do? Ha Youngwon! What do we do?”

Jeong Seok shouted while holding the ringing phone, not knowing what to do.

A straight passage.
Three people.
A box for two.
Ghosts in front and back.

I make a decision.

“Hey. You guys get in. Hurry!”

I decided to put Jeong Seok and Yang Juhui, who had followed me all the way to this hell, into the box.
Yang Juhui and Jeong Seok were both surprised, but there was little time to explain.

“Hurry! Trust me, I have a plan!”