Chapter 26: You Can Survive and Return Alive (1)

I think I’m screwed.

I came to that conclusion after hearing that Clank sound, deciding there was a problem, and spending who knows how long running and walking through the corridor until my legs were burning.

A dark, damp, endless corridor.

‘It never ends.’

I ran.

I walked.

At the very least for dozens of minutes. Perhaps for hours.

And yet, the corridor never showed an end.

Gray concrete.

Walls with peeling paint.

Moisture-soaked cables.

Torn warning signs.

Only a faint light flickered every few meters as if it were malfunctioning.

There were no doors or windows.

Not even a single room.

Only a corridor.

An infinite corridor.

‘This is dangerous.’

The cold brushing against my ankles and the icy sensation crawling across my skin were far too real.

Whenever I found a fork in the path, I scratched the walls and floor to mark the direction.

It was the only way to know where I had already been within that unknown space.

At first, it reassured me to think that I could at least retrace my steps.

‘It doesn’t seem to be a repeating structure.’

But even so, I couldn’t find an exit.

I reached a point where the only possible conclusion was, “This is dangerous.”

I sat down on the damp floor, trying to suppress my anxiety.

I felt rust and mold sticking to my pants.

The wall against my back absorbed that unpleasant dampness.

I took a deep breath.

My lungs seemed to burn.

The smell of rusted iron.

The smell of metal.

The smell of blood.

And traces of rotting flesh.

‘There’s something here.’

It wasn’t just that there was no exit.

For quite some time, I had been feeling a strange yet unmistakable sense of déjà vu.

And far away, barely audible, a regular scraping sound.

Clank.

I heard it again.

They weren’t footsteps.

It was a heavy, unpleasant sound, as if an enormous mass of metal were being dragged across the floor.

That unsettling noise that had been scraping at my nerves for so long was still echoing behind me even after I had walked until my feet swelled.

Everything pointed to a single conclusion.

‘It’s following me.’

At the very least, it knows I’m here.

‘At this rate, I would’ve been better off staying at the company working overtime.’

At least there, I had strange but reliable superiors.

I had experienced a similar feeling before.

The feeling of not being able to believe what was in front of you.

Of being unable to escape.

Of being unable to say anything.

And I always made the same decision.

Find a way to survive.

And I survived.

This time was no different.

Don’t talk.

Thinking too much only feeds anxiety.

The best thing right now is to find a way to stay alive.

I stood up again.

I felt the Relics of the Smiling Martyr grow slightly warmer.

‘For now, keep walking.’

Walk.

Even if you can’t see the end.

Even if there is no exit.

Walk.

Don’t ask questions.

Don’t interpret anything.

Don’t try to guess.

Haven’t you always lived like this?

In the military.

And at the company.

***

Just as a sigh was about to escape my lips, something appeared that I had not seen before.

A door.

A rusted iron door embedded in the middle of a wall of decaying concrete.

It gave off a strange feeling.

Heavy.

As though it could not be opened in any direction.

The doorknob was covered in dozens of marks that looked like scratches from fingernails.

Faced with that ominous sight, I immediately stopped.

‘Do I really have to go inside?’

The doubt was natural.

Until that moment, that building had never allowed the existence of any room.

There had only been endless corridors and unsettling noises.

And now a door had appeared.

And not just any door.

A door that looked as sinister as this one.

“……”

After a few seconds of consideration, I took a deep breath and grabbed the doorknob.

I had already walked for hours.

And returning to the last intersection would take just as long.

And above all.

Clank.

That sound.

If I went back, there was a high probability I would encounter the source of that noise.

In truth, I had no other choice.

I took a deep breath.

And slowly opened the door.

Creeeeak.

The screech of rusted iron echoed without a single drop of lubricant.

The smell arrived first.

Mold.

Rust.

Oil.

Petroleum.

Old wood.

Leather.

And blood.

The air was even heavier than the corridor’s.

‘Unfortunately, this doesn’t look like an exit.’

Holding my breath, I stepped inside.

It was a room.

Or, more accurately, something that had once been a room.

All the furniture was destroyed.

The desk was overturned.

The drawers had been ripped out.

A complete mess.

Torn wallpaper.

Cobwebs clustered like oil stains hanging from the ceiling.

Inside an empty bookshelf, there was only a sheet of paper, a bottle of water, and a package of jerky.

“Hmm?”

A strangely clean A4 sheet.

Everything around it was rotting.

It was a place where even ticks would have trouble surviving.

And yet, that sheet was spotless.

There was also a sealed bottle of water and packaged jerky.

Without hesitation, I picked up the items and began reading what was written on the paper.

==========

[Control Zone Manual]

If you are reading this document, you are currently considered to be inside the ______.

This zone has been designated and managed as a Level 3 Control Zone in accordance with the guidelines of the Anomalous Disaster Management Department.

The cause of your entry into this zone is considered to be a phase deviation phenomenon that occurs with extremely low probability during movement within indoor spaces.

When making normal transitions inside habitable spaces, such as opening a door and entering another room or walking through a corridor within a common structure, there exists an extremely small probability of deviating from the physical coordinates of reality and becoming connected to this ______.

There is a high probability that you are a randomly entered individual.

If you are an involuntary transition subject who unexpectedly crossed the boundary while moving through an indoor space, we recommend that you carefully read this document.

If you are a voluntary transition subject, destroy this document immediately.

This zone cannot be reached through conventional physical means, and its exact coordinates have not been identified.

Therefore, our organization uses special methods to periodically enter this space, rescue survivors, and distribute instruction manuals along with emergency supplies.

This manual has been prepared to help you escape from the ______ based on research records from the Anomalous Disaster Management Department and testimonies from survivors.

1. Existence and Characteristics of the Exit

The exit exists.

However, there is only one within this zone, and its location is random.

The position of the exit is not limited to a specific corridor or room, and its appearance is not fixed.

Please be aware that it may manifest in various forms, such as a normal iron door, a ventilation duct, an emergency exit, or an elevator.

2. Precautions When Using Stairs

If you encounter a door that is not the exit within a corridor, there is a very high probability that it leads to a staircase connected to another level.

Ascending Stairs

Their use is strictly prohibited.

To date, no cases of survival have been recorded after using an ascending staircase.

Descending Stairs

Their use is permitted.

It is estimated that the farther you descend, the better the environmental and lighting conditions become, as well as an increase in the number of possible exits.

Presence

From the moment you descend, what is known as a “Presence” will appear.

It may manifest in various forms, such as human-like footsteps, breathing sounds, or vibrations within silence, and it will constantly pursue you.

Currently, there are no recorded cases of survival following direct contact with such a Presence.

In extremely rare cases, the Presence may manifest even without the use of a staircase.

3. Precautions During Rest

Facilities located within the “rooms” of this zone provide a safer and more comfortable environment than the corridors.

Because periodic spatial distortion phenomena have been observed in the corridors, our organization usually places manuals and conducts rescue operations primarily within rooms.

However, if the Presence has already manifested, minimize the amount of time you spend indoors.

4. General Rules of Conduct

According to the results of our investigations, survivors share the following behavioral patterns.

Complying with these rules dramatically increases the chances of survival.

— Maintain a constant walking speed.

— Keep your eyes facing forward.

— Proceed in a single direction.

— Measure your route objectively using body dimensions or similar methods.

5. Recommendations

Although it is impossible to physically measure the extent of this space, it is estimated that the surface area of a single level exceeds, at minimum, the entire administrative area of Seoul.

Begin moving.

Control your breathing, but avoid hyperventilating.

Maintain your sanity and respond rationally in all situations.

Our organization will not abandon your rescue.

After surviving and returning, report immediately using the emergency contact listed on the back of this manual.

You can return alive.

Do not lose hope.

If necessary, consume the attached emergency provisions (drinking water and jerky).

— Anomalous Disaster Management Department

==========

I read it.

Line by line.

Suppressing my emotions as much as possible and focusing only on the information.

First, the reason someone ends up in this anomalous space appears to be an extremely rare transition phenomenon that occurs during movement indoors.

‘How strange.’

I hadn’t opened any door.

Nor had I been walking through a corridor.

I had simply fallen asleep in bed and woken up here.

Why did I end up in this place when I didn’t even fully meet the conditions for entry?

The question was unsettling, but for now, I had no way of finding an answer.

‘What’s important right now is the information related to survival.’

I opened the package of jerky and began chewing it.

There is no time limit.

However, there is only one exit.

It is located randomly.

Ascending stairs are prohibited. There are no survivors.

Descending stairs may be used.

But then the Presence appears.

And there is an extremely low probability that the Presence may appear even without descending.

“…Ha.”

An empty laugh escaped me.

My breath stirred the air mixed with the smell of mold and rusted water.

I had already realized it.

The sensations of this place were completely real.

But its structure was unreal.

It felt like a nightmare, yet water droplets were genuinely falling onto my skin, and the dampness truly filled my lungs.

It was very similar to standing before a dangerous dimensional entity inside a containment chamber.

‘This document is like the distorted rules of this place—something similar to the manual of a dimensional entity.’

The Presence follows you.

Walk as fast as you can.

Silently.

Don’t stop.

“…Damn it.”

It was a situation worthy of being cursed.

According to the document, I had won an extremely unlikely lottery.

The moment I arrived, I had gotten the rare possibility of the Presence appearing immediately.

I already had a rough understanding of how all this worked.

It was quite similar to something I had discussed with Assistant Manager Son while drinking coffee during lunch.

— Extraction Team 2 is working on a project right now. The same goes for Team 3, so if an external mission comes up, we might have to replace them.

— External mission?

— You didn’t know, Mr. Haeil? The job of Extraction Team 3 is to travel to distorted zones and extract energy. Sometimes, when they’re short-staffed, we participate too.

I pressed my tongue against the roof of my mouth and tried to calm my racing heart and the slight trembling in my fingers.

Distorted zones.

No one had ever explained exactly what they were, but they probably referred to unreal places like this.

‘Though it seems the people who wrote this manual call them Control Zones.’

My gaze returned to the last line of the document.

‘Anomalous Disaster Management Department.’

My lips moved before I could stop them.

The moment I quietly spoke that name, my body shuddered slightly.

I had heard it before at the company.

— We do external missions too, but we’re taking a bit of a break right now. The Anomalous Disaster Management Department has been interfering too much lately.

Assistant Manager Son had mentioned it when he first explained the job to me.

And I had also heard it during a conversation between Manager Myeon and Manager Batori.

— Surveillance over the Control Zones by the Anomalous Disaster Management Department has been reinforced. We won’t be able to go on missions for a while.

— You mean the new one with heterochromatic eyes? He seemed to possess excellent blood.

‘From the context, it didn’t sound like they got along very well with our company.’

Could it be an organization made up of monsters too, just like Limited Company Where the Dead End Up with Ghosts?

At first glance, it seemed like a government agency.

The name and the format of the document gave that impression.

But could I really trust them?

I carefully folded the sheet in half and tucked it into the bottom of my right pants pocket.

It was the only information I had.

“Fuuu…”

I let out a long sigh and brought my hands to my face.

I rubbed my face.

Cold sweat.

Grease.

Dust.

Heat.

Everything mixed together beneath my fingers.

I pressed my eyelids once and my temples twice.

My mind cleared a little.

If you hesitate.

If you doubt.

If you let fear consume you…

You die.

I slid my fingers from my forehead to my chin.

The cold, damp air clung to my hands.

“I’m going to make it back alive.”

I’ll return alive.

No matter what it takes.

I completely discarded the possibility that the manual was a trap.

After regaining some strength from the water and jerky that had come with the document, I returned to the corridor.

Deep darkness.

Dampness seeping into my bones.

In the distance, those Clank sounds could still occasionally be heard, but having recovered some energy and quenched my thirst was already a blessing.

“It’s been a while since I did a march.”

I muttered that nonsense simply to keep my mind occupied as I continued walking.

I had endured the company by gritting my teeth.

I couldn’t afford to die in a ridiculous place like this.