Ch.84Graffiti (6)

The first thing I saw was a mouth.

A massive mouth filled with rows of teeth.

The gums, stained black in places, were lined with only blunt incisors and molars.

And then, hair.

Human hair, at least several meters long, extending outward from inside that mouth.

Between the parted lips, a groan leaked out—keuuuuuu—along with the smell of blood.

The rest of its form was submerged in darkness, impossible to make out clearly.

I could only guess that it was hanging from the elevator.

The elevator I was riding.

The creature was right above my head.

I was too exhausted to observe its anomalous properties.

Even if I did observe it, I wasn’t sure I could identify what it was.

My body, frozen from the cold, was nearly in a state of collapse.

I couldn’t properly use my abilities as a Librarian, nor the strength in my arms.

Even breathing felt like a struggle.

“……”

I decided to focus on just one thing.

Since there was no other option, I needed to escape this place quickly.

I was currently inside an elevator.

I needed to jump and grab the protruding part of the wall.

Then, supporting my weight with arm strength, I had to slip out to the floor below.

First, calculating the distance was crucial.

If my jump wasn’t far enough, I would fall into the abyss below.

The elevator and the floor ahead.

I needed to gauge how far apart they were.

It was too dark to see properly.

I couldn’t even shine a light.

The moment I turned on my smartphone’s flashlight, dozens of pupils gleamed like mirrors.

They ranged from small marble or ping-pong ball sizes to larger than my palm.

I dropped my phone.

The light, having left my hand, bounced and spun around, illuminating various parts of the wall.

Fingernail marks.

Bloodstains soaked with moisture, clinging to the walls.

The images became increasingly horrific as the light descended.

The smartphone illuminated a rope hanging on the wall before disappearing.

In a place without even a breath of wind, a plastic cord swayed back and forth.

Covered in dark green slime and pitch-black filth.

At the midpoint of the roughly one-meter rope.

At a point so tangled it couldn’t be undone without cutting the rope,

a wrist was hanging.

Like a weight.

Just a single wrist dangling from the rope.

“Urgh.”

I bit down and suppressed a scream.

I had only seen the wrist for a brief moment, but the image kept flashing in my mind.

The flesh, peeled off in places, had turned a dark green.

Almost all the nails were missing.

The few remaining nails were buried in the waterlogged flesh, barely visible.

I mustn’t waver.

I can’t give up here.

Thanks to suppressing my voice with all my might, fortunately, the creature showed no reaction.

Instead, drip. drip.

The sound of water falling downward continued.

I felt another chill.

My white t-shirt, damp and clinging to my skin.

The thin long-sleeved shirt over it.

My body temperature, gradually dropping.

All woefully inadequate against the cold.

And the creature just watched me silently, doing nothing.

As if waiting for me to completely exhaust myself and collapse.

Again.

I had already checked the distance.

The gap from the elevator to the floor wasn’t too far; I could reach it with a decent jump.

Standing behind the broken elevator door, I prepared for a running start.

My heart felt like it would burst.

What if someone grabbed me from below the moment I was airborne?

Or what if I made a mistake, missed my footing, and fell into the depths below?

“Hoo……”

It would have been nice if Choi Serim were here.

My sister could have easily suppressed these kinds of thoughts.

Handling thoughts was her ability, after all.

Now I had to calm myself down alone.

Nothing would change by staying here.

Gritting my teeth again,

I ran forward with all my might.

Pat.

When I closed and opened my eyes, I had safely reached the back of the third floor.

I could see two doors in front of me.

Boundary doors separating the elevator from the interior space of the floor.

Now I just needed to open them and get out.

My body was still damp, but the cold seemed to have subsided a bit.

Even the uncontrollable shivering had improved considerably.

I got up and felt around for a device to open the door.

Dust and grease stuck to my hands, but I didn’t mind.

In fact, I felt much lighter.

Was that thing doing something to me after all?

That “something” positioned in the elevator’s path.

Perhaps it hunts that way.

Quietly, conserving energy.

Just waiting for its prey to freeze to death in fear.

As I pressed my body against the door, light and warmth seeped through the gap.

I quickly found the locking mechanism.

When I pulled the emergency escape device inside the elevator, the firmly locked door began to move.

Click-

I pushed the door open on both sides with force.

Drrrrrk-

Finally, the scene of the third floor appeared.

After checking for any danger in the surroundings, I immediately sat down on the floor.

Though the cold was gone, an overwhelming fatigue washed over me.

A sensation like all the blood in my body was rushing to my feet.

And dizziness on top of that.

“Huk. Huk. Huk……”

Now I didn’t even have the strength to sit.

I laid my head on the cold floor and gasped for breath.

My mind was completely blank.

The thought that I might die like this filled the blank space densely.

The urge to scream kept rising from my throat.

What should I do? What should I do?

What am I supposed to do?

What should I do?

“Heuuk. Heuuuuuuk……”

I covered my face with my hands.

This feeling was a first for me.

What should I do?

I couldn’t think of anything else.

My heart kept pounding, and no matter how much air I breathed in, I felt like I was suffocating from lack of oxygen.

Tears flowed.

“Help me. Please help me. Help me.”

Curled up on the floor, I covered my head with my arms and kept begging for someone’s help.

It felt like I really had to.

I didn’t know what needed help or what the problem was, but I was too scared to bear it.

The panic attack finally ended after dragging on for quite some time.

Was this also the monster’s influence?

If so, I might have gotten through it lightly.

I was said to have quite a strong resistance to anomalies.

I had been unaffected even by most memetic kill agents.

Even when caught in strange brainwashing, I could break free quickly just by focusing my mind.

But now everything was strange.

Because the standard of reality had been reversed.

Even with resistance to anomalies, I couldn’t block ordinary threats.

Radiation. Fire. Deadly poison. These dangers were naturally beyond my abilities.

Similarly, after the “graffiti” had disturbed the standard of reality, the monster in the elevator shaft had become an ordinary threat.

Was that why I almost fell victim?

I got up and dusted myself off.

It’s time to end everything related to the graffiti.

Rough exposed concrete and steel.

Gray glossy tiles.

Windows surrounded by black metal frames.

Vending machines lining both walls.

The familiar scenery of the third floor after a long time.

All of this stretches endlessly along an infinite space.

The first time I came here was when Seok Hyunmin was affected by a memetic kill agent.

Since erasing his memory was the only solution, we came here looking for amnestics.

Me, Heo Yoon, and Choi Serim. The three of us.

I walked down the corridor, retracing my memories.

Then we encountered Park Sungjin, who had gone missing.

The completely insane man was riding the elevator, killing people.

We were no exception.

After being chased for a while, we managed to escape by bursting a tank filled with beverage syrup.

Even as he was drowning in syrup, Park Sungjin couldn’t return to his senses…

I sighed and stopped in front of a vending machine.

The sticky syrup that once filled the corridor had now disappeared without a trace.

“It can’t be helped.”

Muttering to myself, I conducted an anomalous observation in front of the vending machine.

I had been worried, but the observation worked fine.

Information popped out from the empty vending machine wall.

Amount inserted: !@$#%

[Enjoy it cold~~]

Below the guide text, detailed descriptions of products were densely written.

[Level 4 Amnestic]

– Effective for meme disaster exposure within 24 hours.

[Thought Accelerator]

– Warning: Causes serious addiction and dependency.

[Protein – Physical Enhancement]

– Causes fatal muscle dissolution when abused.

The product list hadn’t changed since last time.

To get drinks here, Korean money wouldn’t work, of course.

You need special currency.

First, I took money out of my bag.

A thousand won in Korean bills.

The vending machine does have a bill slot, but inserting a thousand won bill would just waste money.

This vending machine comes from another dimension, neither Korea nor this world.

From the vending machine’s perspective, it wouldn’t even recognize this as money.

That’s why I need this.

The hyperreal fuel that burst out when destroying the reality anchor on the seventh floor.

It looks like a black mass emitting a cool aura around it.

When I bring it close to the bill,

■■>>■Value Recognition

Conversion■<<<■

Along with the welcome information, the currency’s appearance changes.

The ordinary bill turns black, and its surface is embossed with unknown, alien characters.

I just need to insert this into the vending machine.

[Level 4 Amnestic]

Clatter.

Thunk!

With the sound of cans colliding, two bottles of cool amnestic rolled out.

Should I buy some more as extras?

I have no other use for the hyperreal fuel anyway. The machine is destroyed.

Not to mention the Korean money.

Clack!

Thunk!

Twoong!

I purchased four additional cans of amnestic.

As I swept all the cold cans into my bag, the weight I had to carry became much heavier.

I didn’t notice last time, but now that I’m carrying several, I can definitely tell.

These are much heavier than they look.

They appear to be less than 500ml, but when lifted, each feels like a small plastic bottle.

This is definitely not an ordinary drink.

I could buy many more considering my wallet situation, but I decided to stop here.

A total of six cans of amnestic purchased.

This should be more than enough to resolve the current situation.

Barely shouldering the heavy bag, I got back on the elevator.

Swoosh-

The elevator works perfectly fine, as if nothing had happened. No noise. No shaking.

It just faithfully carries its passenger to the seventh floor.

Seventh floor.

I returned to the house where everyone was gathered.

It’s not as chaotic as I expected.

Everyone has their eyes closed.

Seok Hyunmin is rolling around in spilled water, and Yoon Daju is screaming and throwing cups.

The AI, the only one in their right mind, is struggling to hold Yoon Daju back, but it’s better than I thought.

No one is dead or injured.

“Here.”

I handed a can of amnestic to the AI.

“Drink this and it’ll all be over.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

The graffiti is gone now.

The ability of the graffiti to disturb the standard of reality only remains in my memory and the AI’s.

If we erase that, we can go back.

Gulp, gulp.

The amnestic flows smoothly between the AI’s small lips.

Despite looking like a kid, it drinks very smoothly.

Like a German man downing a beer in one shot.

“Did you finish it?”

“Yes.”

With those final words, it closed its eyes and lay down.

After lying still for a while, it raised its body with eyes still closed.

Like someone waking from a dream, it started looking around.

“Wow. I’m back. Looks like it worked.”

It even talks to me as if sleep-talking.

But to me, even such behavior looks like sleepwalking.

Now I’m the only one left in this “reality.”

The distorted reality began to collapse.

Flicker-

All the indoor lights flickered, and the room turned red again.

Graffiti covers the walls.

As if the entire house were alive, the walls begin to squirm and move.

Thump thump thump thump thump thump!

Like a giant creature facing death.

Like a person being strangled.

Everything in reality writhes wildly. Without any rules or intentions.

Just moving instinctively to survive.

The floor undulates and the sky shrinks.

Red light continuously pours in through the windows.

The reporter on TV desperately pleaded with me.

Please■. Don’t go. Ple■ase.

■We are normal.■

Please!!!!!!

Let us exist!!!!!!!!!!■

Tsss-

I opened a can of amnestic.

Gulp. Gulp.

I drank it down hard.

Much later.

Holding my dazed head, I opened my eyes, and it was reality again.