Chapter 10: The murder case in the library

“Seon Yuhan examines the corpse of a woman lying on the floor.”

What is this?

Where is that voice coming from?

It was a strange voice, as if it came from a specific point and at the same time permeated the entire space.

It felt like an oracle, a divine revelation.

It didn’t travel through the air, but pierced directly into each of my cells.

“Seon Yuhan examines the corpse of a woman lying on the floor.”

I looked down, at the woman’s body or what used to be a woman lying in front of me.

“Seon Yuhan examines the corpse of a woman lying on the floor.”

How persistent.

Is it going to repeat it until I obey?

Will it kill me if I don’t?

In the end, I slowly bent my knees to observe her more closely.

“Seon Yuhan examines the corpse of a woman lying on the floor.”

First, the neck area was soaked in blood, and there were also stains on the floor.

Was she stabbed in the neck?

Her long hair, half tied with a clip, was disheveled, covering the side of her face and her neck, so I couldn’t confirm it with certainty.

“Seon Yuhan examines the corpse of a woman lying on the floor.”

The woman wore a gray knitted top, stained with dark reddish marks, jeans, and clean sneakers.

“Seon Yuhan examines the corpse of a woman lying on the floor.”

Is it still not enough?

Do I also have to check her face?

Carefully, I turned the corpse.

Fortunately, nothing happened like it actually being a labyrinth monster that woke up and attacked me.

First, I checked the ID hanging from her neck.

The woman’s name was Kim Gilyeong.

She seemed to be a librarian at “Chaekbang Ollae”.

If she has an ID, she is company staff.

Maybe with it I could enter the daycare without being considered an outsider.

“Seon Yuhan examines the corpse of a woman lying on the floor.”

I continued examining Kim Gilyeong’s body.

Her neck was covered in blood.

I moved aside the hair stuck to it and cleaned some of the blood until the wound became visible.

“Seon Yuhan, upon observing the shape of the wound, determined that the weapon was not a knife.”

Finally, the narration changed.

Is it reading my thoughts?

How unpleasant.

“Seon Yuhan examines the librarian’s corpse in greater detail.”

What a nuisance.

“Seon Yuhan examines the librarian’s corpse in greater detail.”

I shook my head and continued observing Kim Gilyeong.

On her chest there were one or two wounds similar to the one on the neck, and on her hands and face there were scratches and puncture wounds.

The knitted cardigan was torn in several places.

“Seon Yuhan determined that there was a struggle between Kim Gilyeong and the attacker, and deduced that the culprit probably killed someone for the first time.”

An impulsive murder, committed without conviction by the attacker himself.

And, moreover, committed by a human.

Hostile entities of the labyrinth do not kill in such a “human” way.

“Seon Yuhan reconstructed the scene in his mind. For some reason, the attacker concluded that he had to kill Kim Gilyeong and stabbed the area near the victim’s heart.”

But what the culprit was holding was probably not a sharp tool made to cut or slice efficiently.

If one considers the shape of the wound and the environment, where there was nothing else that could serve as a weapon, then probably.

“A pen is mightier than a sword. But the tip of the culprit’s pen was not strong enough to reach Kim Gilyeong’s heart. Kim Gilyeong, naturally, resisted.”

Probably, after that struggle, she ended up dying from being stabbed multiple times in the neck.

“Then, who was the culprit?”

One cannot even estimate their build, much less their sex.

In a situation like this, those factors are not so important.

Of course, that does not mean that physical strength does not matter at all.

But in a moment where life and death fiercely compete, there are many other factors that come into play.

No matter how big or strong you are, if you hesitate, grow overconfident, panic, or become overly emotional, someone half your size can defeat you.

Besides, unless someone is professionally trained, how would they know how to properly kill another person?

And even if they did, how would they apply it correctly in a real situation?

And this, moreover, is a labyrinth.

A place where anything can happen, and where being surprised by it makes no sense.

Trying to deduce who the culprit is right now makes no sense.

“Then, where is the culprit?”

For an instant, I felt a chill in my chest.

“And the murder weapon? Where is the pen with which he stabbed Kim Gilyeong?”

I looked around urgently.

No presence could be felt. Since I entered.

“Did he escape?”

But with those comments, it’s inevitable to get nervous.

I thought that maybe the door was closed, but it wasn’t the case.

Even now, it opened normally. I could leave and come back in.

Whatever it is, it seems that the event in the library has already ended.

“Seon Yuhan realized that he had arrived too late.”

It makes sense. I lost time in the interview room.

About 30 minutes have passed since the labyrinthization began, so whatever happened here already occurred.

“Perhaps, if Seon Yuhan had arrived a little earlier, Kim Gilyeong would have lived. Like Choi Jaeha.”

Maybe.

It’s nothing new.

“That’s right. Seon Yuhan is that kind of person. Someone who patches his broken shell with fragments of others, who cooks his sustenance with others’ breath and survives day by day with the death of others.”

I passed by the entrance where the librarian had fallen and went deeper into the library.

There was a shelf area with a modern design, and another reading area with sofas and tables arranged in harmony.

“Isn’t he, in essence, a monster of the labyrinth?”

My gaze fixed on a book in the reading area.

In the center of a space with puff seats and single and double sofas, there was a single book lying there.

“Seon Yuhan realizes that he has no right to read this book.”

What?

I can’t read it?

As soon as I approached, the book snapped shut.

I withdrew the hand I had extended.

In situations like this, it’s not advisable to touch anything lightly.

“A feeling of regret lingers in Seon Yuhan’s heart, thinking that if he had arrived a little earlier…”

Yes, maybe then I would have had the chance to open that book, or the librarian wouldn’t have died, or Choi Jaeha wouldn’t have died… or me.

“Seon Yuhan silently began to do what he had to do. Something that a normal person could not do.”

I ignored the voice that kept echoing like a hallucination even after leaving the library.

I have to live. Even if I die. I have to get out alive.

That is my rule.

“Do rules have to be followed? Like in the labyrinth?”

Sssk, sssk.

I focused only on the sound of fabric dragging across the hallway floor.

“Oh!”

When I opened the door to Woori Saenal Daycare, the goose plush I already knew came running out, wobbling.

“Who the hell is this lunatic who drags along the floor an ugly doll that no one would even want as a gift and walks into the daycare?”

Calling a human a doll?

When the doll is itself.

“Ah… but he is an employee. Is there no way he can pass?”

“Do you think so? Especially with a defective product like that?”

It seemed that that expressionless plush had one.

“Woori Saenal Daycare prohibits entry to outsiders.”

…Next time I’ll have to bring him alive.

**

5-1. An employee’s corpse does not help you enter the daycare.

**

“If it were possible to turn back time, what would you do, Mr. Seon Yuhan?”

“I would go to the library…”

“The library… And have you thought about what book you would read there? Books can always be read at any time, but some should only be read at the right moment. In the end, the impression changes depending on the reader’s state, their experience…”

I waited for him to finish before speaking.

“Mr. interviewer, this building has become a labyrinth.”

Then I explained all the rules and precautions I had learned with my body.

“Ah, and if you are going to take something from the merchandise store… always pay in cash. No… better don’t even go in.”

“Ah… alright…”

The interviewer, confused, asked me again if I was okay.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

We both knew it was a lie.

“Then… see you later. Get out alive.”

“Yes, we will see each other.”

Hopefully at least that isn’t a lie.

***

Bang!

Crash—! Boom—! Bang—!

Boom—! Thud—!

I managed to safely retrieve the accountant Choi Jaeha from the elevator and showed him the absurd reality of this labyrinth where, no matter how much you go down, you always end up on the second floor.

Thud, bang!

“Ugh! It won’t break! Aaah!”

Choi Jaeha went crazy for a while, trying to break a window to escape, but eventually calmed down.

“So, what do we do now?”

“First I’ll go to the library.”

“Why? Shouldn’t we check everything? The daycare, Tarae, the auditorium?”

“It’s my decision. If you want, you can go on your own.”

“No, I was just asking out of curiosity.”

The accountant, whose size was inversely proportional to his courage, walked behind me.

“By the way, have you been to the library?”

“No.”

“Only employees can enter?”

“No, anyone in the company can. I should also read more but I don’t have time.”

People who read make time to read.

“Mr. Choi Jaeha.”

I stopped in front of “Chaekbang Ollae”.

“Before entering, I warn you. It’s dangerous. Even if it looks safe, you can die at any moment.”

“Yes, yes, understood, mom.”

He frowned, but then smiled.

“I know that in invasive labyrinths people die. I’m not a child.”

He looked like one.

“But you’re trying to get out. So it’s better to follow you than stay trembling and die.”

An adult?

“Although I don’t promise not to blame you if everything goes wrong.”

I don’t know if he’s a child or an adult.

“Yes, you can blame me if you want.”

“What kind of answer is that?”

He opened the door.

“Huh?”

As soon as I heard that, I prepared to die.

……

But nothing happened.

Two women were there, looking at us.

One with a black suit and a ponytail.

Another with a gray cardigan.

“How did you get in?”

“Through the door.”

“How did you open it?”

“By turning the handle…”

“And it opened?”

“Yes…”

“It didn’t for us.”

“It did for us.”

Clack.

“Huh? Now it won’t open. Seon Yuhan, what’s going on?”

What a stupid conversation.

“Because this is a labyrinth.”

We are trapped in the library.

“A labyrinth? Really?”

“Yes.”

“It’s true,” Choi Jaeha added.

“Did you hear the noise? It was an elevator falling. And even if you go down, you stay on the second floor. There’s no other explanation.”

“Then… are we trapped…?”

The woman with the ID collapsed.

Kim Gilyeong.

The librarian.

“Then… am I going to die here?”

Yes. She already died before.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

The other woman helped her stand up.

“Now everything makes sense. There’s no internet, no electricity… and the door doesn’t open from the inside.”

“Yes.”

Was it her?

Did she kill her?

If so.

We are locked in with someone who could kill.