Chapter 326: 2nd Floor
To be honest.
Unfortunately, none of the items listed in the manual were particularly good.
Of course, they wouldn't write down the truly good things in a manual, but usually, that means there's nothing good to be found.
It even says it will grant wishes.
But you have to think about this differently.
We're talking about a room prepared by Aestheticism, of all places, and it claims to grant human wishes? If you ask for money, it would probably turn your body into gold, or if you ask for eternal life, it would likely strip you of your humanity instead.
In other words, you have to be very careful about what you wish for.
-Thud!
I closed the manual and looked at the others.
Yu Daon leaning against the wall fixing her hair, Jang Chae-yeon sitting on the sofa, Song A-rin sprawled out on the bed, and Eileen rummaging through the refrigerator.
The refrigerator?
"Ms. Eileen, what are you doing? I don't think looking for something to drink in there is a very good idea."
Who knows what would happen if you ate or drank anything here.
Eileen, who was rummaging through the fridge, turned her head to look at me.
"That's not it."
"Huh?"
"I was checking if there were any body parts of victims here, so I could take them with me."
"...Ah."
"Even if I can't bring them back to life, if someone is reported missing, their remains should be delivered to the family."
"And what would you say when you hand them over?"
"That's not my department, so I'm not sure. I believe the Management Bureau has a separate team that handles that. I've heard they have many people with qualifications or abilities related to mental affairs."
"..."
My gaze shifted to Song A-rin, who opened her mouth while still lying spread-eagled on the bed.
"I didn't see any."
"Understood."
"But there's no one here, just this."
Eileen pulled something out of the refrigerator and handed it to me.
"...A telephone?"
It was a telephone.
The kind you'd often see in cheap hotels.
But the phone wasn't connected, so it probably couldn't make calls.
At the same time, a semi-transparent window appeared before my eyes.
[Name : The Listening Telephone]
[Age : - ]
[Specialty : Listening]
[Talent : Fulfillment]
[Background : The staff here are unfriendly, but they tend to grant the first requests they hear. However, they cannot grant wishes that are impossible.]
[Weakness : It will not grant your requests a second time.]
Could it be this?
"What is this?"
"...Hmm."
This must be what the manual meant by 'wishes'.
Should I make a call now?
"..."
No.
"Ms. A-rin, Ms. Eileen."
"Yeah?"
"What is it?"
The two of them scurried over to me, and I shared the information about the telephone with those who had gathered.
"...Hmm."
"...Hmm..."
The two fell into thought, chins resting on their hands.
"Should we... save this for now?"
"That seems right, doesn't it?"
Song A-rin muttered, and Eileen nodded in agreement.
"..."
"..."
I felt a gaze and turned around to see Jang Chae-yeon and Yu Daon staring intently at me.
"...What is it?"
"Why didn't you call us?"
"We can talk too, you know."
"..."
She's right.
I cleared my throat with a ahem and looked at the two of them.
"So, what do you two think we should do with this?"
"Save it."
"I agree too."
"...Ah, yes."
If you were going to say the same thing, why did you make me ask?
"Let's rest for now. We probably won't be able to rest for long, so let's use this time to check our equipment and recover our stamina."
At my words, all four nodded and quietly closed their mouths, each beginning to rest.
I also sat down on the floor and started reading the manual again.
Could there be more hidden items further on?
We probably wouldn't be able to rest for long.
The Branch Chief might still be fighting, or something could have happened to her.
Although, knowing the Branch Chief, she might just run away. She might suddenly open the door to Room 108 and ask if we were worried about her.
If that happened, it wouldn't be a big problem for the mission. But the thought of having to reorganize our team composition without our strongest member gave me a headache.
Just as that thought ended,
-Knock knock knock.
The sound of someone knocking on the door came from the other side.
Knocking?
As I straightened up, Yu Daon quietly approached and sniffed the air.
"Hmm...?"
"What is it?"
"There's a strange smell."
As soon as she finished speaking, a voice came from the other side of the door.
<Mr. Kim Jae-heon! It's me! Please open the door!>
It was the Branch Chief's voice.
"..."
We all exchanged looks.
"Nobody said anything just now, right?"
"Yeah."
"..."
What's this?
Wait a minute.
I opened the manual again.
[If you wish for it earnestly, it will come true.]
So it's not the telephone; someone has to make a wish?
"...Did anyone make a wish?"
"As if."
"I didn't."
"Me neither."
"I didn't either."
All four shook their heads.
Well, it's not like anyone would suddenly make a wish here.
That means...
"..."
-Knock knock knock!
<Mr. Kim Jae-heon! Ms. Yu Daon!>
The Branch Chief knocked on the door.
"First of all, that's not the Branch Chief."
"Of course it isn't. Would she knock? She'd break the door down with force."
"No, that's not what I meant."
I shook my head, looking at Song A-rin who was stating the obvious.
"The Branch Chief is fighting right now."
"..."
-Knock knock knock!
The force of the knocking grew stronger.
<Open the door!>
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of pounding on the door grew increasingly intense.
"If they're going to do this, they shouldn't have labeled it a rest area."
Song A-rin clicked her tongue and stood up.
"What should we do?"
"What do you mean, what should we do? We break through by force."
"..."
Break through by force.
Is that the right way?
"Does anyone still have the marbles we drew earlier?"
"Uh, me."
Yu Daon took out four marbles.
"Should I break it?"
At the same time, Eileen pulled out her gun, and Jang Chae-yeon stood up, raising her hand.
"No. Wait a moment."
-Bang! Bang!
<I said open the door!>
The Branch Chief's voice, filled with a rage I'd never heard from her before.
-Creeeeak!
A sound that shouldn't be coming from the door started.
"...Is fighting really the right way?"
"..."
Jang Chae-yeon stepped forward without a word.
"Ms. Chae-yeon?"
"Bury me in a sunny place if I die."
"Where did you learn a joke like that?"
"The Observer."
She teaches the weirdest things.
As soon as Jang Chae-yeon stepped forward,
-Crash!
The door buckled, and something began to be visible through the gap.
It was a pitch-black something.
I could only describe it as a 'something'.
It looked like an unfinished drawing.
Its face looked like someone had started painting but stopped, and its body looked like a half-finished sculpture.
Even where hair should be, strips of paper fluttered loosely.
A semi-transparent window appeared.
[Name : Unfinished Creation]
[Age : Created 23 years ago]
[Specialty : Unfinished]
[Talent : Unfinished]
[Background : Because its completion was delayed, it wanders in search of materials to finish itself.]
[Weakness : It cannot choose its own materials.]
-Crunch!
It grabbed the door and tore it off its hinges. Immediately, Jang Chae-yeon reached out her hand to send it flying far away.
Or, she tried to.
It crossed its arms and withstood Jang Chae-yeon's attack.
"Mr. Kim Jae-heon!"
A voice, as if someone had learned the Branch Chief's voice but laced with static, rang out. Eileen aimed and pulled the trigger.
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
But the bullets didn't seem to cause any significant damage either.
"...Are you going to use the phone?"
Song A-rin, who had somehow drawn a pistol, was aiming at it while looking at me. I was also lost in thought.
"..."
What to do? Should I use Critical? Or would it be better to make a call on the telephone and ask it to remove that thing?
If not that...
It cannot choose its own materials.
Meaning, whatever I choose for it becomes the material.
"..."
The softest thing here.
The sofa? Or...
My gaze turned to the wall.
"Help me."
I hurriedly started tearing off the wallpaper. Song A-rin stared at me with wide eyes.
"What are you doing? Have you finally lost it?"
"Yes!"
And Yu Daon, without even hesitating, started tearing the wallpaper beside me. Eileen also took out a military knife and began cutting the wallpaper.
"What's the plan?"
"I'm going to complete it with this wallpaper."
"I don't get what you mean, but you're saying if I throw the wallpaper at it, right?"
"Correct. Please give the wallpaper to Ms. Chae-yeon, and she will throw it at that thing."
"Got it."
"...Ah, I told you not to act without explaining!"
And with an annoyed expression, Song A-rin started tearing the wallpaper too.
We handed the torn wallpaper to Jang Chae-yeon, who began shooting it forth with her telekinesis.
"Uh...! Uh...!"
As the wallpaper stuck to its body, it let out a bizarre shriek.
We kept tearing and throwing the wallpaper, and Jang Chae-yeon repeatedly attached it until the thing was somewhat... completed.
A strange painting, now covered in floral-patterned wallpaper, wobbling unsteadily. It was about twice our size, looked grotesque, and seemed like it could kill you if it hit you, but it was still just wallpaper.
At the same time, a semi-transparent window appeared before my eyes.
[Name : Finished Product (Wallpaper)]
[Age : Created just now]
[Specialty : - ]
[Talent : - ]
[Background : Even though it tears easily, a human cannot withstand being hit by it.]
[Weakness : It tears easily.]
"Ms. Eileen, the knife!"
I reached out my hand towards Eileen in a gesture asking for the knife, but instead of handing it to me, Eileen tapped Yu Daon on the shoulder and dashed forward.
Shortly after, Yu Daon, holding an awl, followed Eileen.
The thing swung its arm at the charging Eileen. She slid underneath, ducking low, and sliced through its leg.
Yu Daon simultaneously slid towards the other leg, stabbed her awl into it, and tore it roughly.
-Riiip!
With the sound of tearing fabric, it fell to its knees.
"Get down!"
"Kyah!"
At the same time Jang Chae-yeon shouted, I grabbed Song A-rin's arm and pulled us both flat to the floor.
"Hup...!"
Jang Chae-yeon stared wide-eyed at the thing. As it swung its arms, she also dropped down like us, clenching both fists tightly.
Simultaneously, the thing's legs seemed to catch on something, causing it to trip, fall, and tumble across the floor, flying right over our heads.
-Crash!
It hit the wall with a tremendous sound, shaking the room. Without looking back, I grabbed Song A-rin's hand and ran out the door.
"Mr. Kim Jae-heon!"
The thing called after us in the Branch Chief's static-filled voice as it got up. We didn't look back, just started running to escape it.
We managed to stop it for now, but a head-on collision would mean defeat.
As Song A-rin stepped out the door last, Yu Daon kicked the crumpled door shut. As if by prior agreement, we started running up the stairs.
"The marbles...!"
"Huh...?"
Song A-rin cried out urgently, but the marbles hadn't been used.
We never had the chance to even think about them.
"Mr. Kim Jaaae-heooon...!"
The thing continued to shout, chasing after us.
We kept running up the stairs.
Until it could no longer follow.
"Huff... Huff..."
"Whew..."
"Gasp..."
"..."
"Haa..."
How long had we been running?
I lifted my head and looked ahead. A sign reading <2nd Floor> came into view.
All five of us had arrived at the entrance to this floor.
It felt like we'd run up about ten floors.
"...What is this..."
Yu Daon blinked as she looked at the scenery of this floor and muttered. None of us could find words in response.
A bright yellow light illuminated the corridor. The floor was made of iron grates, looking precarious, as if it might collapse at any moment.
And most of all.
"...Is that a person?"
Eileen muttered. We all followed her gaze to look into the distance.
Someone was walking.
Seeing only their back, I couldn't be sure, but it was a hunched-over figure carrying a lamp, walking along and illuminating a place that wasn't even dark.
-Thump... thump...
The walking figure turned to look back at us.
Simultaneously, it vanished, leaving only the lamp behind, rolling on the floor.
-Clang!
As the lamp fell onto the iron grate with a loud clatter, all the lights on the 2nd floor went out.