episode_0032

“There are two things you must protect on the 8th floor. First, the light you see over there.”

As if in response to Seok Hyeon-min’s flashlight, a light came on across the dark hallway.

“You can’t take your eyes off there. never. It’s safe if at least one person keeps watching it.”

“Yes.”

Flash. Flash.

Seeing the eerie green blinking lights gives me a somewhat ominous feeling.

“What happens next?”

“I will decide the order in which I will look at the lights. I’m First. Then Daju. you at the end Sister Yoon is a bit strange right now, so I’ll leave her behind for now. If she can’t handle it, give a signal by tapping the hand of the person behind her.”

“What is the order?”

“Okay. Don’t look at the light until your turn comes, and rest as much as possible.”

I just stare at the light. Is this something that takes time off?

There was no time to listen to explanations.

“There is no time. Follow me quickly.”

The sound of hair sweeping across the floor grew closer.

Seok Hyeon-min took the lead and went out into the hallway, and the rest followed in a set order.

From now on, I had to hold on to Yoon Da-ju and Seok Hyeon-min, and then take care of Heo Yoon. When I glance back, I see Heo Yoon staggering around with a dazed expression.

“Ah, uh…”

After thinking for a moment, Heo Yun is startled and trembles when he holds out his injured right hand.

“Hold my hand.”

Soon I feel a cold touch on my broken finger. Heo Yoon is holding my hand carefully.

“If it’s okay, let’s leave right away.”

“Let’s go, oppa.”

Holding Daju’s hand, we started moving through the dark hallway.

“……”

The only sounds you can hear are the rain outside the building and the occasional sound of Seok Hyeon-min’s heavy breathing.

It seems like it has moved quite far, but the light is still in its original location.

A green ball of light blinking in the distance.

I raised my head and looked ahead to chase the person in front of me, but every time a light came into my eyes, I quickly turned my gaze to the floor, because I thought I knew what Seok Hyeon-min said.

Why was the order decided?

Why do you need time off?

Looking at the light, for some unexplained reason, an ominous feeling came over me. The sound of the heart flows coldly through the air, and the feeling of looking into all the information about each and every red blood cell that enters the artery and carries oxygen. The reason will become clear if you think about it a little more, but every time it happened, I gave up looking at the light.

Astronomers live with unanswered questions and emptiness, a tiresome curiosity that seems to last forever.

“Ugh.”

When Seok Hyun-min briefly stumbled and was on the verge of exhaustion, at most he could drink a glass of seawater.

Drudddeudddeuk-

With the sound of scraping on the floor, the distant lights quickly began to get closer.

“Get out of the way!”

Da-ju Yoon pushed Seok Hyun-min back and took the lead.

The surroundings were still pitch dark, but my eyes gradually became accustomed to the darkness. I could see Seok Hyun-min moving to the back of the line. The waves of the sea at night were rough.

“Hyung. What was it?”

“……”

Seok Hyun-min silently headed behind Heo Yoon.

It’s been quite a while since I passed through the hallway.

A darkness with no way to adapt.

Now I can see the shape of the person in front of me, but no matter how much time I spend, I cannot estimate the size of this space.

“Ugh…”

In front, you can hear Daju moaning softly.

A gasping sound can be heard from behind.

It feels like time continues to expand.

It seemed like it would be a quick ride to the elevator.

Tuk.

Daju weakly tapped my arm and staggered to the back of the line.

Now it was my turn to stare into the light.

slowly.

Time expands.

I was standing in an empty space.

I looked around for a while and soon realized something.

An empty place. All you can do is think.

I think about the current situation.

I’m still in the hallway. When I look at the green light in the distance, the time I feel stretches to the limit, and my consciousness falls into an unbearable void.

I also think about ways to get out of this situation. I still have feeling in my fingertips. It has already become difficult to believe that I have a body, but I am aware that I am still breathing and my heart is beating. I feel someone else’s hand touching my fingertips, so I hold it lightly and close my eyes. Then you’ll be back in the dark hallway again.

The time outside and here are different. Seok Hyeon-min. Daju Yoon. How long have other people endured?

I trace my memory and calculate the time difference through repeated experiments.

I am delusional. I think constantly to find answers to my concerns.

It’s extremely personal.

I philosophize.

It’s just for humans.

The last thing left is,

The quest for truth.

The surroundings were now black, with the starlight of a distant galaxy spinning in.

It is now possible to go beyond the horizon of the senses and reach out to the information you want.

Dozens or hundreds of logics can now be processed at once by grouping them into one work unit.

Dispose of useless thoughts without hesitation and fill them with new ones.

Finally.

Pre-verbal thoughts escaped my mind.

For a civilization that will last longer than the universe.

“Wake up. Arrived.”

“Uh…?”

When I came to my senses, Heo Yoon was standing up and taking care of the people.

“Sister, are you okay now?”

“Yes. I calmed down after meditating for a while. Thank goodness.”

I slowly moved my fingertips and regained sensation in my body. Memories quickly evaporate, and now all that remains is ‘I thought about something for a very long time.’

This is exactly how I feel when I wake up after working on a workbook for hours.

Was Heo Yoon also seeing the light?

With that confident smile from before, Heo Yoon presses the elevator button.

“You still came to your senses quickly. The 8th floor is a place that usually makes people a bit dazed.”

“Yes…I’m still a bit dazed.”

” Seok Hyun-min, wake up! Daju, come to your senses!”

Heo Yoon grabbed the other two by their shoulders and shook them violently, but it didn’t seem to have much effect.

“Ah. I think we’ll have to take them with us.”

“Yes. I think it should be like that.”

“That’s right. Where is Serim?”

“……Talk later.”

Trying to hide my expression as much as possible, I grabbed Daju’s arm and pulled him into the elevator.

It’s difficult enough, but Heo Yoon doesn’t change his expression and throws Seok Hyeon-min inside.

“Can we just go to the rooftop now?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“I knew everything, but I couldn’t say it at the time. My mind keeps turning white.”

Heo Yoon looks sad for a moment.

“Sorry.”

The elevator starts moving.

Toward the 13th floor.

To get to the rooftop where the water tank is, you have to use the stairs there.

Slurp-

13th floor.

It looks like an ordinary apartment.

Heo Yoon takes the lead, and I follow behind. When I look back, I see two people following me slowly.

“Are you still dazed?”

“…Yes.”

Seok Hyeon-min, who was waving his arms around as if trying to regain his senses, answered briefly.

“I’m dizzy…”

Daju Yoon leans back and walks precariously.

Heo Yoon opens the cage door and begins to climb the stairs.

“Follow me quickly! No time!”

Shoot ah-

The sound of hair being swept up can be heard not far away.

The already familiar stench was coming from nearby.

And after a while.

“Oppa! Run!”

Daju squeezed my arm tightly.

Sigh-

Just downstairs, black hair was seen coming up the stairs.

“Ahh!”

Heo Yoon, who was in front, screamed and threw his arms back.

From the empty space under the stair railing, hair was growing upward in vines.

A lot of hair has become tangled and clumps, and now it looks like a coiled snake.

“Hey. Seok Hyeon-min. Give me that.”

Heo Yoon stretched out his hand back, but Seok Hyeon-min swung the paru directly instead.

Kaang!

Crack.

Dark red slime splashed out, and the snake’s head flew off and fell into the deep under the railing.

“Hyeonmin! Well done!”

Kwasik!

Seok Hyeon-min then brushed away the hair coming from behind.

The hair that has flowed through the closed bars is bunched up in one place and pushed back in.

Wow!!

There is a limit to fighting off the endlessly flying black tentacles.

Before I knew it, Seok Hyun-min was running at the back.

“Almost there!”

Now the one in front is Daju Yoon. Daju quickly climbs the stairs and opens the rooftop door.

“Hurry! Just come a little further!”

Just as numerous fiber cells come together to form muscles, hair sticks together tightly and exerts tremendous strength.

An irregular muscle mass crawling up the floor. It looks like a slime that you only see in fantasy.

Quad deuk!

“Huh?”

The hair wraps around Seok Hyun-min’s swinging paru and catches it.

Then, as he shook his body violently,

Teuong!

A paru flies into the wall and gets stuck straight into it.

Now, the last person left on the stairs is Seok Hyeon-min.

a little bit.

little bit more.

“That’s it! Close the door!”

Immediately after Seok Hyun-min jumped onto the rooftop. At Heo Yoon’s signal, I closed the door with all my might.

Coo!

Clap-

“Heo Eok. Wow…”

Seok Hyeon-min falls to the floor and is out of breath.

Heo Yoon is also almost exhausted.

The only ones who are okay are me and Daju.

“Oppa. What should I do here now?”

“Water tank… Heo-eok… Find the water tank.”

“That one over there, right.”

There is a small building with a ladder attached to the place Daju pointed to.

“Yes.”

“Do I have to go in there?”

“Yes. Go in…inside…”

bang!

The rooftop door began to shake violently.

This probably means that there is no time to relax and talk. I immediately got up and headed to the water tank.

“Let’s go quickly, Daju.”

“Yes brother.”

The water tank room we entered by climbing the ladder was full of bad smell and humid air.

A space where no light enters. You have to move through the black water that is up to your chest.

“Huh…”

“Shine the light in front of you.”

Daju shines a flashlight above his head.

Concentrating my mind, I looked around.

“Over there this time.”

There was something floating on the surface of the water.

“Found it. Let’s go out now.”

“What is that?”

“Amulet. I’m going to go out and burn this…”

To be exact, it is a bundle of hair tangled in an amulet.

As I pick it up, the words I once saw begin to run through my mind.

Breath

bondage

Oxygen

choke

…

This must be proof that this guy is the source of all these incidents.

He continued what he was saying.

“Then this broadcast will end.”

“Ah…thank goodness…”

“But it’s Daju.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry, but I have one last thing to do for you.”

“What is it?”

“Please help me out.”

“Yes? brother! Why suddenly…!”

“My legs suddenly feel weak…ah…”

Not only my legs, but my entire body loses strength.

The feeling of falling into drowsiness immediately.

I fell below the surface.

……

[I give you guidance. There will be a water outage due to a plumbing inspection. To all residents…]

An announcement sound buzzes overhead.

Obviously I’m closing my eyes.

A landscape of black water began to appear.

And very vividly.