Chapter 13: The Trick to Entering the Daycare

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

“I will tell you what I will do only once. Please remember it well.”

The interviewer nodded, following the serious tone of my voice.

I took a deep breath and spoke again.

“I will not run hastily nor stay stopped too long on the stairs, I will not use the elevator, I will not be in the interview room after 4, if someone asks me the time I will answer honestly, I will strictly follow the instructions in the auditorium, I will not recklessly enter the internal daycare as an outsider, in the product shop I will pay in cash, and when I read in the library I will never skip parts.”

“Ah… I see. Having many detailed plans is a good thing.”

“Yes. Mr. interviewer, this place has turned into a labyrinth. And I will follow that plan.”

“Excuse me?”

“Please ask the assigned jeoksa to spread on social media that this building has turned into a labyrinth. To prevent people from entering here by mistake. Get up.”

“Uh… yes… Mr. Seon Yuhan…? Wait… you’re serious.”

“Yes.”

As I guided him toward the exit, a thought crossed my mind.

If this news spread through social media maybe even if I activated the fire alarm, the firefighters wouldn’t enter?

And what if, with some luck, at least the people on the first floor managed to get out?

Of course, that doesn’t guarantee they can escape just by being on the first floor.

That is only my wish.

Ah. I don’t know.

What if the alarm draws the attention of some hostile entity and ends up killing more people?

I can barely handle my own life.

I don’t have the capacity to carry the life or death of so many people.

This is different from sacrificing one or two people to survive.

If I do nothing, nothing will change.

Those who are meant to live will live, and those who are meant to die will die.

But if I press that button.

Someone destined to die might live, or someone destined to live might die.

Good intentions do not always lead to good results.

And even less in a labyrinth.

Although bad intentions almost always bring bad results, so choosing the good one is still the most sensible.

“Mr. Seon Yuhan, are you okay? Suddenly you look very bad. If you need anything, tell me.”

“I…”

In the interviewer’s eyes there was genuine concern.

A look one can rely on.

That is exactly what a jeoksa agent needs.

Without realizing it, I let my doubt slip out.

That by pressing that button someone might live but someone might also die.

“Then, what am I supposed to do in a situation like this—”

Click.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiing!

“Huh?”

“What should you do? If it goes wrong, blame me. And if it goes well, obviously it will be thanks to me.”

The interviewer spoke in a relaxed tone, but it didn’t sound fake.

Beeeeep!

The metallic sound of the alarm was so sharp it numbed the ears.

I looked at him without saying anything.

“What did you just…?”

“I just did what had to be done. It seemed like you were carrying a heavy burden, so I took some of it off.”

I couldn’t hear his voice well.

And yet, for some reason, I felt as if that voice cut through my chest along an invisible line, like the tip of a balance’s blade.

“Labyrinths are made so that one gets lost. It’s normal not to know what lies ahead, no matter which path you choose. But in the end, you can’t know if you don’t move forward, right? What lies at the end.”

The jeoksa agent lowered the hand with which he had pressed the button.

I pretended not to see the trembling in his fingers and looked at him silently.

It was the face of someone who, even being afraid, knows exactly what he must do.

The kind of face I hate the most.

“I’m going to the daycare on the second floor. Do you want to come with me?”

“Ah… the elevator will stop when the power goes out, so I will go get the people inside. You go first. Don’t wait for me. Remember what I told you.”

“Yes, I remember. Then see you later, Mr. Seon Yuhan. Take care.”

Thud―!

After parting from him, I pressed the elevator button and anxiously looked at the panel.

Even though I knew the situation, that alarm sound made my heart shrink.

8… 7… 6… 5… 4…

It seemed like the elevator was taking a bit longer than usual.

No way…

3… ding!

「The door is opening.」

Choi Jaeha was not there.

Apparently he went down on his own without me telling him, after hearing the fire alarm.

It feels strange.

I don’t know whether to praise him or be left speechless.

But what will he do alone now?

I have no idea what is happening on the other floors.

With that kind of person, he would probably die right away.

Even so, I didn’t want to go up alone to look for Choi Jaeha and help him.

I’m not such a good person.

Even if to someone he is a dearly loved youngest son, he is not worth more than my life.

Riiiiing―!

Hmm. I don’t know if Choi Jaeha is really the pampered youngest, but from how he acts, it seems so.

Boom, rumble, crash!

Baaang!

Kraash, thud!

While I was going down the stairs, the event of six consecutive elevator falls occurred.

And then—

silence.

The fire alarm, which pierced the ears like a needle, suddenly stopped.

How strange.

The alarm should work independently of a blackout.

But I shook my head.

If we go by that, the elevator shouldn’t fall either.

This is a labyrinth.

A place where you don’t know what will happen, and where you have to accept whatever happens.

Clack.

When I opened the emergency door of the second floor, a scene already too familiar appeared.

I was about to head again toward the daycare corridor to go to the “Come to Read” library, but I stopped.

The idea of buying at least an emergency kit and a thermos at the TARAE store crossed my mind.

But my feet didn’t move easily.

My legs feel heavy.

No, if they don’t move well, then they’re light?

How was it? How did I move my legs? How did I walk?

1.03. If I search it on the internet will it appear? Ah why is there no internet? Then what do I do? 3.42. Since when do I have legs? Didn’t I calculate it? No. I didn’t steal anything. 7.56. I also gave the feet. I also gave the calves. I also gave the thighs. 12.01 kilograms!

Why is there still something left?

What if they come to take it back?

Why do I have so many fingers?

What if they think I stole?

Ah!

If I remove it again will they believe me?

“Ah it’s the second floor again…”

Clack.

An unfamiliar voice struck my numbed ears.

I turned my head toward the source of the sound.

There was someone in front of another emergency door, not the one I had used.

A woman in her thirties, wearing a three-piece suit and long hair tied back.

She seemed hot; her face was flushed and there was sweat on her forehead.

“Huh?”

Upon seeing me, she let out that ominous sound.

This time I didn’t close my eyes.

“E-eh… you too?”

“Excuse me? What do you mean?”

“That no matter how much you go down, you always come out on the second floor!”

“Ah.”

I blinked several times, as if stunned.

My eyes felt dry.

“Yes, that’s right. I went down to basement one, but ended up coming out again on the second floor.”

“Right?! This is very strange. It seems like…”

The woman with sharp, fox-like eyes bit her lip.

I know what she means. Or rather, what she doesn’t want to say.

“Yes. It seems it has turned into a labyrinth. An intrusive type.”

“Ah… seriously… just as I thought… what do I do…?”

The woman dropped to the floor as if collapsing, and for about thirty seconds she lamented intensely before suddenly standing up.

“I… I don’t plan to die here. You don’t just stand there like an idiot either. You weren’t writing a farewell letter on your phone, right?”

“No… no. I don’t plan to die either.”

If I die here if I end up dying in this labyrinth what would be the point of all those deaths?

At that moment, my mind, which had been in chaos, cleared.

My objective is not to solve a murder in a locked room.

My objective is to survive and escape the labyrinth.

Just that.

“My name is Hwang Juyeon. Sometimes I do magic performances as a freelancer. I came here for an event at the daycare and ended up like this.”

The daycare!

I controlled my expression with effort.

“I am Seon Yuhan. I came for an interview at the Yuwi Guild.”

If this person is here, maybe we can enter the daycare.

I mentally reviewed the route I had taken so far.

At the beginning, the auditorium.

There I saw something I don’t know if it was a documentary or a snuff film about the labyrinth of Seonghwa High School.

Then, the daycare.

I was rejected at the entrance for being an outsider.

After that, the product shop.

I went to TARAE to buy the Tarae diary I saw in the advertisement and look for an employee who could enter the daycare with me and one two three four five yes fingers are five on one hand and two hands ten right? the legs become lighter over time.

Then, the library.

I found the librarian dead, I took her to the daycare and the goose said I had brought an ugly doll and kicked me out.

In the next attempt, I returned to the library and once again someone had attacked her.

And now, here.

After all that, I finally found a living person with whom I could enter the daycare.

After all that, finally!

“I was thinking of going to the daycare first. Maybe there is some clue to go down. Do you want to come with me, Hwang Juyeon?”

Hwang Juyeon.

If it’s her.

A freelance magician invited to the daycare is not a complete “outsider.”

She might pass the toys’ security and enter.

Although I don’t know if they will let me enter with her and there is also the possibility that she is the murderer, so I must be careful.

“Hmm why not? I don’t have any plan anyway. Better two than one. And we can also check if there are children left. It’s too quiet.”

When I was in the daycare before, it seemed like there was a teacher and a child.

Maybe the others disappeared suddenly, like the interviewer.

“But couldn’t we break the glass and go down?”

Hwang Juyeon pointed at the hallway window that faced the building’s central courtyard.

I already knew those tricks didn’t work, so I didn’t try.

But the accountant Choi Jaeha had.

“I tried, but it didn’t work.”

“Of course… just as I thought…”

Hwang Juyeon accepted it without issue.

If this weren’t a labyrinth, that would be the normal way to think.

If escaping like that were possible, intrusive labyrinths would be much less dangerous.

Like what happened with contact ones, which over time became almost like traffic accidents.

Wait.

Did Choi Jaeha really do that?

I don’t remember.

Why do I feel like I saw him throwing a fire extinguisher at the glass while foaming at the mouth?

Well it doesn’t matter.

What doesn’t work, doesn’t work.

“Let’s go in.”

Hwang Juyeon nodded.

I carefully opened the daycare door.

Please don’t let it be the “then why did you come? die” again.

“Oh!”

“Ah! You scared me! What is this?”

The toys, led by the goose, were lined up like an army.

Hwang Juyeon stepped back, but the door was already closed.

“Isn’t this the magician Hwang Juyeon?”

“Don’t get agitated. Answer honestly.”

I whispered quickly.

“Ah… yes, it’s me…”

She replied while looking at the goose, still confused.

“The performance earlier was very fun! The children loved it!”

The toys, previously motionless, seemed to move with joy.

“But…”

The goose’s voice changed, like shifting from a major tone to a minor one.

“And who is the person that is with you?”

Two dry black dots fixed on me.