*
The weekend came, and I went out alone with Seo-ah.
I thought a wish would be something grand, but it feels like a normal date.
They call it a room escape? I've never done it before, so I don't even know what I'm here to do.
I could grant these kinds of requests without using a wish, but well, she said we'd be together all day today.
Maybe she'll ask for something else later.
"Then, could you sign the consent form?"
"Do I do it here?"
"Yes... Please wait a moment."
The tablet had a contract with simple personal information and a clause stating that I wouldn't talk about the contents of what happened here.
"The theme you've chosen is the horror mental hospital theme. Scary things might come out, so you have to be careful."
There was also a clause stating that they wouldn't compensate for problems caused by being startled or claustrophobia.
Well, what big problem would come from being startled? I'd be more worried about breaking the devices if I fell.
"Si-woo-ssi... Have you done this before...?"
"I've never done anything like this before."
"Really...?"
We filled out the contract and were waiting in the waiting area.
I took off my smart watch because they said I couldn't bring electronic devices, and it felt kind of empty.
'It's only about an hour, so it'll be fine, right?'
Seo-ah, wearing the similar look I bought last time, was also filling out the consent form after me.
Other people might think Seo-ah's expression doesn't change, but that expressionless face has its own subtle changes.
She seemed to be enjoying it because it was a new experience.
Neither Seo-ah nor I had ever had such ordinary experiences, so I was a little interested too.
"Have you ever used our store before?"
"No, this is my first time."
"The devices inside are designed to open without much force, so you shouldn't force them. The locks used in this room are..."
I saw a lot of locks I'd never seen before. The locks with English letters were simple, and the only unusual one was the directional key lock, but it wasn't too difficult to use.
"Would you like to try it?"
I saw her just showing it and moving on when she was explaining earlier, but I took the directional lock and messed with it.
"Yes, that's how you do it~"
She subtly grabbed my hand as if by mistake, but I let it go.
"..."
Seo-ah next to me seemed uncomfortable, but she didn't seem to want to argue about it.
"Then, both of you close your eyes... Yes, the person behind you, put your hand on the shoulder of the person in front... If your shoulder is tired, would you like to put your hand on their waist?"
I was in front, and Seo-ah was behind me, but because of the height difference, Seo-ah's posture looked uncomfortable.
"Yes..."
Seo-ah listened to the part-timer and grabbed my waist.
"Then, we'll move to the room~"
With my eyes closed, I followed the part-timer's guidance into the room.
"Then, it will start when the music comes on in a moment. Hints are unlimited, but we only recognize escapes up to 4 times~"
The part-timer said that and was going out the door.
"Then open your eyes and start! Be sure to escape!"
Kung, with the sound of the door closing, somewhat urgent-sounding music began to play.
When I opened my eyes with Seo-ah and checked, the tablet we had been given showed that an hour was passing.
"Okay, then..."
The moment I opened my eyes, locks scattered everywhere and equipment that looked like it was from a hospital came into view.
"..."
I looked around without saying anything. I have no experience with this, so I have no idea what to do first.
"What should we do first?"
"I don't know..."
There was no explanation, so I felt lost about what to do first.
Seo-ah looked around with a dazed expression, just like me. Then she met my eyes.
"Hi..."
Seo-ah found the situation funny and giggled. I found that cute, so the corners of my mouth naturally went up.
"Shall we look around?"
"Okay..."
I wasted a little time being drawn to useless things, but I found something that looked like a strange document.
It had hints about the current situation and what to do next to help us immerse ourselves in the room escape.
"This is a mental hospital, and a strange doctor has locked us up... Here we..."
I muttered and read the contents of the document. It seemed that to get to the next room, we had to arrange the surgical tools scattered over there.
For safety, the scalpels and scissors had blunt edges, so it didn't seem like we could get hurt.
"Hmm..."
"..."
Neither of us had any interest in this kind of thing, so we had no idea what to do.
We used a hint from the start.
"What is this..."
The answer was ridiculously simple. When I inserted a scalpel from the surgical tools into a designated location, it clicked and the door opened.
After that, I used hints about two more times. I wasted a lot of time in the early stages.
"Still, I think I'm getting the hang of it?"
"Yeah... It's not that difficult..."
I was confused because I didn't know how to proceed at first, but the problems weren't that difficult.
"This... I think it can be done like this..."
Seo-ah, who had been struggling in the beginning, began to solve the problems quickly.
If I found a clue, she quickly found the answer.
We talked about our approaches, looked for clues, and continued to the next room.
I heard it was a horror theme, but Seo-ah wasn't scared at all.
Seo-ah was solving the problems so quickly that she solved most of them, but I could solve the problems she sometimes struggled with.
"Get that... out for me..."
"Okay, just a moment..."
__KKIAAAAAKK!!!
"Ugh, so noisy."
Devices popped out to surprise us in the middle, but it was just noisy, and I don't know if it was scary.
"Hehe..."
Seo-ah was laughing because she found that funny.
As we progressed through the room, a narrow space appeared. There wasn't much time left, so we had to hurry.
I thought it was childish at first, but as I progressed, I was able to immerse myself in the current situation.
"Ah... Are you okay...?"
"Yeah, let's find it quickly."
Two people were searching in a narrow space, so our bodies couldn't help but touch.
'It's narrow, but... Not enough to touch like this, right?'
It was to the point where I felt like Seo-ah was intentionally rubbing her body against me. Or maybe it wasn't just my imagination.
Her ears were slightly red, so it felt like she was doing it on purpose, even though she knew.
I felt strange thinking about doing this kind of affection in a place where other people were watching.
Well, it's a light action that wouldn't be a big problem even if others saw it, but it felt different because it was a different experience.
Seo-ah seemed to be focusing on me rather than searching around, as if she was aware of me.
"Seo-ah, is there anything over there?"
"Uh... Huh? Ah... Wait a moment..."
Seo-ah, who came to her senses at my voice, rummaged through the drawers and found another document.
"I... Found something..."
It was a document with the contents of what appeared to be the protagonist's monologue and clues to solve the next problem.
I had seen it as I continued, so I was now familiar with how it was going.
"Ah..."
"Huh?"
"No... It's nothing..."
I hugged Seo-ah from behind to check the contents of the document. I felt her unique coldness and a soft touch.
Was it because we were completely touching, I smelled a sweet scent from Seo-ah's neck.
Seo-ah shuddered as if she smelled my body odor.
I was so close to her that I felt like I could hear Seo-ah's heartbeat.
"I think we can solve it with that?"
"Ah... Yeah..."
With a slightly slow reaction, I was able to escape successfully.
We were a little confused at first, but we were able to escape quickly because we got used to the way to solve it by looking at the hints.
We took a commemorative photo and went outside.
The day is still long.
*
Only one small LED indicator light.
A place full of darkness on all sides, filled with humid air because it was not well ventilated.
The fishy and salty smell stung the tip of my nose, and dark smoke was wriggling around it, making it difficult to breathe.
"Fuck... Fuck... Fuck... Fuck... Fuck..."
The black object with its arms and legs tied up continued to spew out profanity.
He felt wronged by everything. What did he do wrong to deserve this treatment?
His mind was half gone from the torture he was subjected to for the reason of experimentation.
As his mind went out, the man's empty eyes were now filled with darkness.
Only something very sticky remained and emitted light.
"You son of a bitch... I'm going to kill you... Fuck... Fuck..."
Hong Ryu-seok began to twist his whole body in a situation where his arms and legs were bound.
He hated everything. The cult bastards who tried to kill him, the Hunter Alliance who condoned him being like this, and that crazy woman who tortured him, he wanted to kill them all.
But he didn't have the power to get out of here.
As if responding to Hong Ryu-seok's emotions, the color of the sticky, unpleasant Mana began to turn darker.
At first, he wanted them to kill him, but now it was different.
It was too unfair to just die. He wanted to take revenge on the world that made him spend such a painful time.
Hong Ryu-seok, who had only evil left, was very different from before.
"...?"
At that time, a black portal began to appear in the air along with a very familiar energy.
Unlike its hideous appearance, as if tearing through space, it was secretive and quiet.
A person wearing clothes similar to the guys who first approached him appeared from beyond.
"Ugh... I really feel like I'm going to throw up."
At the woman's voice, Hong Ryu-seok raised his head without saying a word.
"..."
Hong Ryu-seok was silently staring at the person who appeared in front of him.
He didn't struggle or scream, just stared quietly.
He seemed fine on the outside, but the Mana around him continued to fluctuate, as if he wasn't on the inside.
The Mana that had grown by eating Hong Ryu-seok's dark emotions tingled like a sharp blade.
"What... He's become quite useful, though?"
"..."
His emotions were fluctuating due to resentment, but Hong Ryu-seok showed patience.
"What's going on...?"
"Don't you want to take revenge?"
The woman was speaking in a calm voice, but she smiled as she looked at Hong Ryu-seok, who was emitting so much killing intent that her neck tingled.
She felt like he would become a useful human being if she refined him a little. She came to recover the power, but she decided to change her mind.
"You're going to use me again, aren't you... You sons of bitches."
"Hmm?"
"I don't care, though."
"Not yet. Can you wait a little longer?"
"If I can only get revenge, I can wait as long as you want...."