Chapter 231: Red Ribbon
"..."
"..."
Eileen and Park Ye-eun were staring at the space beyond the door.
"How long has it been since they went in?"
"Exactly one hour as of now."
Park Ye-eun answered while looking at her watch in response to Eileen's question, and Eileen let out a low sigh.
One hour.
It was time for the follow-up team to arrive.
If the room's structure changed within the hour and they went to a different room, it wouldn't matter, but if the follow-up team came here too, things would become quite troublesome.
It wasn't that they couldn't handle it, of course, but it would certainly become a major hassle.
On the other hand, if they waited too long, the follow-up team could be in danger.
"Ye-eun."
"Yes, unnie."
"Do as I said."
Eileen grabbed Park Ye-eun's shoulder and began to explain.
"Understood."
After listening to Eileen's explanation, Park Ye-eun slowly began rummaging through her bag.
*
How long had I been here?
"Is your shoulder not heavy?"
"..."
"It means, can you bear the expectations of the many, leap over your own future, and even bear the future of others?"
After turning my eyes away from the Confessional Booth, which was spouting increasingly incomprehensible nonsense, I began to look around.
The horrific smell was getting worse and worse.
It was like the smell of rotting meju [fermented soybean block].
- Chwarak!
As soon as I had that thought, the Manual began to unfold.
[Manual for Office Workers]
[Church Exploration Internal Guide - Response Team Hwang Yu-hoon Latest Revised Edition]
[4-A. Left Staircase]
3. If you are still unable to leave the confessional and smell a rotting corpse, you must get out immediately.
4. Rise from your seat without making a sound. Then, knock on the opposite wall and say, 'Father, it is time for Mass.'
Could this smell really be that of a rotting corpse?
Even if I was curious, there might be no time left to track the source of this smell.
Just as I was slowly rising from my seat to knock on the wall.
- Knock knock.
Someone knocked on the opposite wall.
My body froze at the clear knocking sound, and a voice shouted from the other side in a sharp, metallic tone.
"Who dares to disturb the sacred time of confession—"
"Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
It was Park Ye-eun's voice.
- Crash!
Along with the sound of a chair overturning from the other side, I heard the sound of something rushing out.
- Thud!
The entire Confessional Booth shook with the sound of something huge slamming against the door.
- Click!
At the same time, the door on my side opened and Park Ye-eun grabbed my wrist.
"Oppa, this way!"
"Uh, uh..."
As I hurriedly followed Park Ye-eun outside, I saw Eileen jamming what looked like an iron bar into the opposite door.
"Even if it gets caught, it'd be just our bad luck."
"What's going on?"
"You, you smelled it, right?"
"The rotting corpse smell?"
"Correct."
Eileen clicked her tongue as she shoved the iron bar all the way in.
"You can't last long in there. So I used another method through Ye-eun."
"...What is that?"
As Eileen grunted and installed the iron bar on the door, the banging sound grew even more violent.
"A detachable locking device made by the Research Team."
"..."
"It's designed to lock the inside from the outside. So no matter what happens, the inside can't be opened from the outside."
- Bang!
"...Within the bounds of common sense."
The door rattled and wood chips flew, and Eileen added as if in afterthought.
"Anyway, let's go."
"...Is this enough?"
"Frankly, it's not a big problem for us."
"Not for us?"
"It's a problem for the guys coming after us."
Eileen looked back with a worried expression.
"I wonder if they can win a fight against something like this."
"..."
If it's a straight-up fight, wouldn't that be rather fortunate?
Since HR personnel are surprisingly good fighters.
It was a bit incongruous, but not exactly wrong.
While I was thinking that, Eileen looked at me.
"It didn't say anything to you in the Confessional Booth, did it?"
It said a lot.
But since I didn't say anything, Eileen just nodded.
"I had no intention of asking. It always says sensitive and unpleasant things."
Eileen spoke as if it were familiar.
Now that I thought about it, she did say she came here often.
"How many times have you been here, Eileen?"
"Seventeen times."
Eileen shrugged in response to my question.
"How many explorations have there been of this place?"
"Sixteen."
"..."
I looked at Eileen.
[Name: Eileen]
[Age: 21]
[Specialty: X]
[Talent: X]
[Background: From the moment she lost her family at the church until the moment she stands here now. She has never once lost hope.]
[Weakness: Hope can be the driving force that moves people, but it can also be the one opportunity that plunges a person into the abyss.]
She was a survivor of this place. And also an explorer of this place.
So it made sense that she could act so naturally.
"Anyway, I feel a bit sorry for the people coming after us, but we have no choice."
"Is it okay to be that irresponsible?"
"It's better for things to get tangled here if they're going to get tangled. We can just leave a sign telling them to turn back."
Eileen answered while taking a red string from her pocket and throwing it on the floor.
"What is that?"
"A marker the Isolation Team will recognize."
After saying only that, she looked at the door.
- Bang! Bang!
A terrible sound continued to come from the door, and Eileen looked at me and Park Ye-eun.
"Let's go."
"Alright."
Ignoring the banging door, we continued walking inward.
We kept walking down the dark corridor.
"I always wonder, why are places like this always dark?"
"Because it sets the mood."
"Ugh."
As I answered Park Ye-eun's question, Eileen let out a deep sigh.
"Because they use people as prey."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Fear usually robs people of their normal judgment."
Eileen pointed at the wall.
"In other words, so-called automatic hunting becomes possible."
"Automatic hunting?"
"Yes. People blinded by fear rush into danger like moths to a flame. They lose their proper judgment."
"..."
"Researching prey is something every predator must do, after all."
It seemed like a reasonable point.
As I nodded, Eileen pointed ahead with her finger.
"Next is here."
The stained glass shone beautifully.
Even though it was raining and the sky was dark when we entered, the stained glass shone as if receiving beautiful sunlight.
- Chwararak!
At the same time, the Manual unfolded.
[Manual for Office Workers]
[Church Exploration Internal Guide - Response Team Hwang Yu-hoon Latest Revised Edition]
[5. Chapel]
1. The chapel is made of large stained glass.
2. Check who is attending the service inside the chapel.
I looked up and gazed inside the chapel.
Three people were attending the service.
A mother and child. And one old man.
I started reading the Manual again.
3. If it is an old man, Gold should approach him and say, 'Sir, the exit is on the right.'
4. If the old man exits to the right, do not stop him. If he exits to the left, say to him again, 'What is on the left is the path of Satan, and what is on the right is the path to heaven.'
5. If the old man still heads to the left, use your firearm to subdue him by any means necessary. This must be done by Frankincense, and no one else should intervene in this process.
I turned back to look at Eileen, and she nodded.
So I should go.
I slowly approached the old man and spoke.
"Sir, the exit is on the right."
The old man turned his head to look at me, and I instinctively held my breath.
Where his eyes should have been were only empty holes.
He slowly rose from his seat.
He moved his steps to the left.
Things never seem to end properly.
"What is on the left is the path of Satan, and what is on the right is the path to heaven."
At my words, the old man paused for a moment.
Then he moved his steps to the left again.
- Chlek!
Eileen skillfully pulled a rifle from her back.
*
An hour later, Yu Daon turned and looked at the two.
"Shall we go?"
"Has it been an hour?"
"Yes."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The three exchanged awkward glances, and Jang Chae-yeon stepped forward.
"...I'll go."
"..."
"..."
The two said nothing.
- Squeak...
The door opened and the three entered.
Only the left staircase wasn't marked with a line.
Tch, Song A-rin clicked her tongue as she looked at the Manual.
"If you're unlucky, you're unlucky to the very end."
"Let's go first."
In response to her muttering, Jang Chae-yeon answered and started climbing the stairs.
Just as Song A-rin and Yu Daon were following behind Jang Chae-yeon, watching her swaying white hair.
"...!"
Jang Chae-yeon's body stopped dead in its tracks.
"Chae-yeon?"
"What is it, what's wrong?"
Yu Daon and Song A-rin muttered curiously from behind.
"..."
Jang Chae-yeon slowly bent down and picked something up.
It was a bright red ribbon.
"A red ribbon?"
"...That's impossible."
Yu Daon tilted her head in confusion, and Song A-rin opened her eyes wide as if she couldn't believe it.
"...Is this real?"
"...It's real."
Song A-rin and Jang Chae-yeon looked at the ribbon.
Jang Chae-yeon's hand, holding the ribbon, trembled, and Song A-rin's complexion turned pale.
"We, we have to go."
"We have to go now."
The two hurriedly climbed the stairs.
"Wh-what is it...?"
And Yu Daon also looked at the two with concern.
"..."
"...Black Hair."
Jang Chae-yeon stopped, and Song A-rin looked at Yu Daon with a stiff expression.
"Yes."
"Listen without being surprised."
"..."
Song A-rin took a deep breath, Hoo, and placed her hand on her chest.
"The message is: 'An irreversible accident has occurred ahead. We advise you to turn back.'"
As soon as her words ended, Yu Daon dashed forward like a whirlwind.
An irreversible accident? Turn back?
A whirlwind of emotions swirled in her head.
And those words delivered the worst fear to her.
"Jae-heon!"
The three climbed the stairs.
And faced something at the end of the dark corridor that was dripping blood from its mouth.
It was chewing on something with a crunching sound.
It resembled a human, but its appearance was that of an old woman straight out of a fairy tale.
- Crunch... Crunch...
- Ptui...!
Bone fragments fell from its mouth.
"Poor—"
It opened its mouth.
As Jang Chae-yeon reached out her hand, its neck snapped, and Song A-rin stretched out both hands to wrap around its legs.
And, between them, Yu Daon crossed like a beast and mounted the fallen monster.
- Crunch!
Yu Daon shoved her arm into its neck.
- Gurgle...!
It bit Yu Daon's hand, and as an unusual amount of blood flowed from her arm, a terrible sound came from her arm.
But without changing her expression, she looked down at the old woman with a blank face.
"Spit it out."
She looked at the old woman with a monotone voice.
"Right now."