Chapter 45: The Young A and the Young B

『▓▓▓. Snap out of it already. Tell me again about that happy dream you had a moment ago.』

When I turned my head forward again, Mr. C was already completely tied up with fishing lines.

It seemed that while I had been distracted, Youth B had taken care of everything.

So she did remember my entire story.

『So. You’re saying we get stabbed in the living room?』

This girl really intended to do it.

Without hesitation.

What I had been unable to do.

“…The living room.”

‘At the scene of the fire, two separate points of origin were identified, one in the master bedroom and the other in the living room.

It was reported that a large number of opened alcohol bottles and flammable materials were found around the points of origin.’

When I explained a few more details while recalling the contents of the article, Youth B nodded.

『Ah. I get it now. So that’s how it is. Good. If we’re going to do it, let’s do it properly. Then first we need a lighter and… ah. You go get the alcohol from the refrigerator.』

Her humming, transformed into sentences, fell lightly.

I helped Youth B.

I filled my arms with bottles of alcohol from the first-floor kitchen and went upstairs.

We opened the door to the master bedroom.

“……”

Everything was black.

Black fragments scattered everywhere.

Even so, I could sense the smell of blood, a smell I had become far too familiar with inside this place.

Shhhh.

On top of it spread the sharp smell of alcohol.

We gathered blankets and clothes and soaked them with liquor.

『Are you done already? Then spray some over here too.』

When I went down to the living room, Youth B had already finished the preparations.

Newspapers, schoolbooks, blankets.

Everything that could burn had been piled together in one place.

『Give me one too.』

Youth B took one of the bottles from my hand.

At first, I thought she was going to drink it.

“Ah. What are you doing?”

But Youth B suddenly poured it all over herself.

Then she threw the rest of the alcohol on me.

As if we were playing with water.

『What do you think I’m doing? I told you we were going to do it properly.』

Her bright, refreshing laughter transformed into letters that pierced my ears.

If I could hear her real laughter.

Would I be able to endure it?

『Here.』

The girl grabbed my hand.

Making sure I wouldn’t let go of the knife, she forced me to hold it tightly while guiding my hand toward her own neck.

『Are you going to back out now? Don’t make me laugh.』

I instinctively tried to pull my arm away.

The strength with which she held me increased.

Then she took my free hand as well and placed it on some point on her neck.

『Here.』

The broken, unreadable sentences touched my fingertips.

They writhed underneath.

They screamed.

Read me.

『Stab.』

Just once.

『In a single strike.』

Can you do it?

『You can do it.』

I nodded.

And slowly raised my right hand…

Clank.

I dropped the knife stained with the black fragments of my father.

The tip fell to the floor and remained standing upright, as if it had been made for that purpose.

“……What are you doing?”

With the same hand that had wielded knives to kill monsters, I grabbed her.

Ah.

She’s definitely still alive.

“▓▓▓. What’s wrong with you?”

My sister.

My ▓▓.

We’ll find another way out.

Because this is a labyrinth.

“A labyrinth? What are you talking about?”

▓▓ smiled faintly, as if she were about to break.

“You can only call it a labyrinth when there’s an exit.”

Yes.

That’s why we have to leave.

Let’s get out of this labyrinth that has trapped us.

“Do you really think that’s possible?”

Yes.

“You’re still a child.”

▓▓’s laughter grew louder, as if digging into an open wound.

“Fine. Try it.”

The moment I took her hand, I opened the front door and we went outside.

We▓

***

“Ah.”

I blinked slowly.

[Three members of a family found dead in a detached house in ▓▓-gu… ‘Robbery-murder followed by arson suspected’
｜20▓▓.▓▓.▓▓. 08:49 Saved
｜Publication failed 1 minute ago]

Publication failed.

“Ah……”

Why did I do that?

Why did I ruin something that had already been completely prepared because of a girl whose face and name I don’t even know?

Did I simply not want to die alongside her?

Hah.

Then now…

What’s going to happen?

I leaned back against the chair and caught sight of the mannequin from the corner of my eye.

The image of the mannequin sitting in midair without any chair, leaning its upper body backward, looked strange.

“……”

But wait.

Didn’t it just move a little to the right?

Just as I sat up to get a better look.

The mannequin stood up from its place at the same time.

And extended its right foot.

I extended my right foot as well.

Fuck.

***

If the mannequin takes a step forward, my leg moves as well.

The same posture. The same direction.

As if I were copying the mannequin.

An unpleasant sensation that was my will and, at the same time, wasn’t.

When the imitator catches up to you.

You become the imitator.

I couldn’t even resist.

And I didn’t feel any desire to do so.

I only felt that familiar helplessness of moving out of inertia even when I didn’t want to.

Since the mannequin didn’t tremble, neither could I.

And yet.

Even though there is no greater existential horror than this.

Even though there is nothing more terrifying than the feeling of being trapped in this body, in this life, in this world, unable to escape.

It’s strange.

My heart, which should have been trembling, desperately screaming to be freed, to be let out, that it wanted to escape, that it wanted to leave.

Remained calm.

Only then did I realize that I was no longer the same person as before.

I don’t know whether that was something important.

In the end, I let my body follow the mannequin on its own and leave Shingye Daily.

Meanwhile, I started thinking about several things.

If the mannequin had followed me even inside the article, then the rules of Shingye Daily and Moment O’Clock seemed to be connected.

In that case, was the condition for clearing the 15th floor to complete the publication of the article before the mannequin caught up to me?

[Moment O’Clock]

Before I realized it, I had arrived once again in front of the office where the number of stored corpses would soon increase from two to three.

When the mannequin on my right pretended to open an invisible doorknob, I also grabbed the office’s glass door and opened it.

The mannequin bent down to pick up something invisible.

As if it were showing me an example.

But my body could imitate it even without seeing it.

I picked up the hand sanitizer beside the head of the young employee from the MD Team.

I took the lighter from the pocket of the middle-aged man who had been the head of the Social Affairs Team at Shingye Daily.

I took a box cutter from the drawer of an abandoned desk.

And prepared myself to die.

Step by step.

As if it were a mandatory ritual.

Without any emotion.

When the mannequin finished its preparations.

And I did as well…

We entered the storage room.

I gazed at the future waiting one step ahead of me.

And inwardly laughed at a reality in which I couldn’t even scream of my own free will.

Ah, seriously.

I don’t want to die.

Not like this.

**

Do not let the mannequin catch up to you. You will end up imitating it.

**

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

“Ah, damn—”

I barely managed to cover my mouth in time.

I almost shouted and cursed in front of the interviewer.

The sensation of burning while my entire body filled with holes disappeared as if it had been an illusion.

So did the smell of sizzling flesh brushing against my nose.

I knew what that tasted like.

And I also knew how much happiness it gave me…

“Mr. Seon Yuhan?”

“Ah.”

I blinked blankly again.

I looked once at the interviewer’s somewhat confused face.

Then at the ceiling.

And finally lowered my head slowly.

Hah.

I…

Really did a lot of crazy things.

“If you didn’t hear the question, would you like me to repeat it?”

Without answering him, I desperately reviewed those memories.

Those impossible-to-digest memories.

Yoo Hyunjae had gone into the gambling room on his own, so that was one thing.

But Choi Jaeha.

Hwang Juyeon.

Jung Jiho.

Lee Jinsu.

I convinced all four of them to enter the gambling room and die.

Just because I thought that when I revived, they would come back to life as well.

And the worst part was that it had even seemed logical.

『Don’t worry! It will hurt. A small curse will make you more unhappy, brain.』

Damn Happyland.

It seems it didn’t take away a useless part of my brain.

It seems it took away a very important part.

I remembered everything I had done.

The things I normally never would have done.

But it was still me.

The one who pushed his companions toward death.

The one who saw corpses as mere objects.

The one who repeatedly stabbed Mr. C.

All of that was me.

I have no intention of denying it.

Nor do I want to.

It doesn’t matter whether they tore out my frontal lobe or my temporal lobe.

That’s not some magical switch capable of instantly transforming a good person into a monster.

It only adds another layer to the filter through which you see the world.

Or removes one.

It merely removes the leash holding you back or the one you’re holding yourself.

I simply.

Changed a little.

And human beings change.

That’s how they work.

***

Floor 11.

[Strategic Planning Department | Future Strategy Team | Budget Planning Team]

Once again, Do offered a wager whose prize was escape.

“I’ll parti—”

“I wouldn’t recommend it, Director.”

As expected, Yoo Hyunjae raised his hand to accept.

And I stopped him.

Then I turned to the rest of the group.

This time to convince them otherwise.

“We’ve made it this far without any serious problems, haven’t we?”

Of course, Jung Jiho had almost died in the parking lot after crying for more than one hundred and eight seconds when he saw an illusion of his mother.

And when we reached NeoSoft, Lee Jinsu was already dead, so there was nothing that could be done.

“If it were that easy to beat that guy, he wouldn’t wager the exit.”

“Well… that’s true, but…”

After emphasizing the risks several more times, they soon gave in.

Essentially, it was exactly the same process I had used to push them into the gambling room.

Just in reverse.

“Now that I think about it, it’s better not to risk our lives in a wager. We only have one chance.”

The fact that Yoo Hyunjae changed his mind and supported me helped quite a bit as well.

“Do we really have to do this? It looks like it’s going to hurt…”

“Better this than dying in some ridiculous game, don’t you think?”

“Ugh…”

Sshk.

Five times in a row, the sound of fingers sliding across paper could be heard.

“Ugh.”

“Good thing I brought bandages.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, everyone cut themselves cleanly on the first attempt.

“Ah.”

Everyone except me.

“You’ve already failed once. You’ll have to find another way.”

I heard the mocking voice of the flesh die.

Damn it.

I hadn’t thought of any alternative besides cutting myself with paper.

“What do we do?”

“It’s fine. Let’s go first.”

So we left Do’s smile behind and reached the 15th floor.

“It’s right below our company…”

“Why don’t we check the left side first?”

I ignored the comment from the accountant of Howol Accounting Firm and pointed toward Shingye Daily.

I wanted to check whether the mannequins still appeared even without entering Moment O’Clock first.

“Huh? What’s that?”

As we were approaching Shingye Daily, Hwang Juyeon cried out in horror.

Five white mannequins were walking down the hallway from the opposite side.

Damn it.

So they come on their own and follow the rules perfectly.

“Shit! What the hell are those things? Quick, let’s get inside!”

“No, wait, Mr. Choi Jaeha, just a moment…!”

Swoosh.

Choi Jaeha, who didn’t know that those mannequins weren’t monsters that had to be urgently avoided, flung open the door to Shingye Daily.

The moment we entered the office.

“Huh?”

“Aaaaagh!”

A young woman with bleached blonde hair who had been sitting in front of the only desk jumped in surprise and screamed.

“Ah, no! What do I do?!”

I immediately realized that she had accidentally pressed something.

I ran toward her and looked at the laptop screen.

[Unknown toxic gas invades a subway train during rush hour… “Mass Suffocation Tragedy”

｜20▓▓.▓▓.▓▓. 15:01 Saved]

[This article is currently being published by ‘Kim Youngho’. An edit will begin under another name. ‘Seon Yuhan, Yoo Hyunjae, Lee Nahyun, Jung Jiho, Choi Jaeha, and Hwang Juyeon’.]

“Ah.”

Are they kidding me?

I don’t want to die swallowing a tie▓…