chapter_0503

503 – Let’s Escape the Room

503 – Let’s Escape the Room

I stared blankly at the scene created by Haneul’s beam.

The power of the beam was so strong that even the guild members in training turned to look at Haneul.

“Wow…”

I snapped back to reality at Gaeul’s murmuring and looked at Shin Haeil.

That arm was far too dangerous for Haneul to use.

“This… this is too dangerous…”

“Huh? Isn’t this the kind of weapon you wanted?”

“No, Haneul really just wants to clean…”

Haneul’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

I never expected Haneul to be this happy.

It felt wrong to say something negative in front of a child who was so thrilled.

“Haneul, are you okay?”

“Yes… but what kind of cleaning is this for…? I’ve never seen a cleaning tool like this…”

“Um… that is…”

It’s a tool used for cleaning up enemies.

But I couldn’t say that to Haneul, and I had no other way to phrase it.

Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one thinking of the children.

“That one… is for demolition.”

“Demolition…?”

Haneul listened intently to Saebyeok’s explanation.

From now on, we decided to rely on Saebyeok.

“That one is a tool used for demolishing buildings. Cleaning up buildings is still cleaning, right?”

“Ah…! I understand…!”

Is cleaning up buildings really part of the cleaning category?

Haneul showed a tremendous interest in cleaning.

“Demolishing buildings is also a really fun kind of cleaning. Don’t you want to try it, Haneul?”

“Yes…! I want to try demolishing buildings someday…!”

Wanting to demolish buildings, huh.

I guess the blood of the tiger Beastmen can’t be denied.

It was a moment when I felt proud as a fellow feline.

Levinas approached Haneul with a rather solemn expression.

“Blue Haneul!”

“Yes…?”

“Only very strong Beastmen can demolish buildings! It would be too difficult for you right now!”

At Levinas’s explanation, Haneul’s shoulders drooped.

I thought she might get discouraged, but Haneul immediately clenched her fists and asked Levinas.

“Mr. Horned Rabbit, how strong do I need to be to demolish?”

“You need to be as strong as a quarter of a quarter of a quarter of a quarter of Wang!”

A quarter of a quarter of a quarter of a quarter?

At that level, wouldn’t just walking be difficult?

Despite my bewilderment, Haneul and Levinas looked quite serious.

“How much is a quarter of a quarter of a quarter of a quarter…?”

“That’s something Wang will demonstrate!”

Ahem.

Levinas puffed out his chest and looked at me.

What does he mean by demonstration?

When I asked Levinas with my eyes, he showed me his hands and claws.

‘Ah.’

He wants to show his wildness.

Since Haneul might be surprised if I showed too much wildness, I decided to hold back a little.

“Haneul, since you’re also a feline, if you work hard, you can do a big roar like this.”

With a light display of wildness, Haneul trembled slightly.

The children, except for Saebyeok, flinched but weren’t overly surprised.

“W-What was that…?”

“That’s called wildness. Anyone from the Beastmen can do it. Do you want to try it, Haneul?”

“I, I…”

Haneul, who had been hesitating, eventually extended her hand like I did.

Her posture was awkward, but…

“Roar…!”

Haneul’s roar made the hair on my entire body stand on end.

Haneul’s wildness was strikingly similar to what Ensia had shown in the past.

It was truly a perfected wildness.

What is this?

Can tiger Beastmen do this so easily?

When I looked to the side, the children, except for Saebyeok, were also frozen.

The kids who had only flinched in my time were now completely stiff in Haneul’s presence.

However, it seemed Haneul mistook the stiffened children for being unfazed.

“I guess I’m still quite lacking…”

“W-Well… but Haneul just needs a little more practice…!”

“Yes…”

Levinas averted his gaze from Haneul, pretending nothing was wrong.

Here, we decided to pretend we didn’t notice.

‘Tiger Beastmen are amazing.’

Perhaps it’s thanks to the innate strength of the tiger clan.

As I examined Haneul’s tiger ears, Shin Haeil approached her.

“Haneul, do you like that arm?”

“Yes…! I love it so much…!”

“Then would you like to work as my assistant? You could make an even cooler arm yourself.”

“Me…?”

“Yes. I need an assistant, and you can make an even cooler arm.”

“Um…”

Haneul looked back at me.

She clearly wanted to do it but was holding back because of me.

Here, I decided to give Haneul a push.

“I really want to see Haneul demolishing a building.”

“Oh, then I guess I have to work with you?”

With Shin Haeil’s and my encouragement, Haneul’s eyes filled with determination.

It was a gaze that anyone could recognize as that of a predator.

“Master, can I work here?”

“Yes. Of course. It has been my dream to see building demolitions.”

“Then…!”

The moment Haneul chose what she wanted to do.

I felt honored to be able to share that monumental moment with her.

**

“I decided to help out too.”

Betty said while looking at her mechanical legs.

Betty decided to help Shin Haeil, following Haneul.

“Yes. Please take good care of Haneul.”

“Haneul? Did you name her Haneul?”

“Yes. Her original name was too strange…”

I stared at Betty, who had stopped mid-sentence.

Now that I think about it, what did Betty originally call Haneul?

Could it be something like “Joonman,” like the others…?

“Oh, no! I just called her ‘Hey.'”

“‘Hey’?”

“Yeah. If I called her by another name, that person… no, those guys would get angry. So I just called her ‘Hey’ without a name.”

I see.

So it was because of that.

By the way, “that person”…

That means not all fears have been resolved yet.

It was a problem that time would solve.

After entrusting Haneul to Shin Haeil and Betty, I stepped out of the guild warehouse, which had become a blacksmith.

I didn’t forget to cheer Haneul on, telling her to do her best.

“Wanga! Wanga!”

Levinas approached me while I was sitting on a bench, taking a break.

He was holding a piece of paper that looked like a flyer.

“Wanga, there’s an escape game over there! Escape!”

“Escape?”

“Yeah! It’s a game where you escape from a room, and if you succeed within a time limit, you get a prize!”

“Wow, really?”

I wondered how much the prize was.

I checked the flyer.

It was an incredible prize of one million won if you escaped within ten minutes.

“Wanga, do you want to try this?”

“Yeah. Let’s give it a shot.”

**

Escape room café.

We entered the room, searching for clues and uncovering traps in the game.

Son Min-soo, the owner of the café, smiled as he watched the bustling customers.

The prize of one million won had drawn in customers from all over the country.

Of course, Son Min-soo knew.

It wasn’t just the one million won prize that attracted people.

His escape room café had gained a reputation for being both challenging and fun, which is why people gathered.

“Next team, please come in.”

Son Min-soo felt pride in his café as he checked the next customers.

Surprisingly, the customers were the most famous children in the neighborhood.

“We’re five.”

“Okay, please wait a moment.”

Son Min-soo adjusted the internal space according to the number of people and let the children in.

With the arrival of the most famous children in the neighborhood, no, in South Korea, the people in the waiting room watched the internal television.

The television in the waiting room showed the interior of the escape room café.

The CCTV didn’t show the problem-solving process, but it allowed people to watch the scene of the children escaping with great interest.

It was one of Son Min-soo’s proud features.

“Wanga! How do we escape here?!”

With Levinas’s voice, the children appeared on the television.

The five children looked around the room, and it was quite adorable.

“Well? If we break it with force…”

Gyeoul’s gaze landed on a sign that read, “Do not break the facilities.”

At that, Saebyeok released the fist she had clenched.

“First, let’s check the surroundings…”

“There’s something here! It looks like a button!”

Bomi pointed to a square button in the center of the main hall.

Bomi climbed onto the large button, which could hold several people.

As she did, the button sank just a little.

“Since I stepped on it, the button sank, right?”

“Yeah. But it only sank a little. It seems like we all need to step on it.”

At Gyeoul’s words, the children took turns climbing onto the button.

Once all five were on it, a massive door rose, revealing the way outside.

“Oh! It opened!”

“What?! Isn’t this too easy?!”

Levinas stepped down from the button and walked toward the door.

Then—

Boom—!

The door slammed shut at an incredible speed.

“Heh heh.”

Escape rooms can’t be that easy.

Son Min-soo stifled a laugh as he watched the flustered children on the television.

The key to this escape was five dolls.

If they found the five dolls and placed them on the button, the door would open.

It was a substitution of dolls for people.

‘Is this too difficult for the kids?’

Thinking about how the famous children would struggle in his escape café already brought him joy.

To hide his smile, Son Min-soo wiped his mouth with his hand.

And then—

“Guys, I just thought of a way. Levinas, come back and step on the button.”

Gyeoul placed Levinas back on the button.

As the door rose again, Gyeoul took a running stance toward the door.

‘That’s not going to work with just running…’

Boom—!

Gyeoul charged toward the rapidly descending door at an incredible speed that exceeded Son Min-soo’s expectations.

The door was set to close the moment she lifted her foot from the button, but Gyeoul’s speed was faster than that.

Most of the viewers watching the television missed her movement.

Bang—!

The door closed, and there was no sign of Gyeoul anywhere on the television.

She had managed to run through just before the door closed.

“It worked!”

“We did it!”

“Yay, we did it!”

The children jumped up and down, looking at the closed door.

“……?”

Son Min-soo could only gape at the children.

A word from the author (author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

Thank you for the comments and recommendations! They always give me strength!!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!!

May you receive a million blessings!!

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