episode_0013

The laptop screen was filled with black text.

[]Please just click once

[]please

Another letter on top of another letter. Now the screen has completely turned black. There is only one pure white arrow left. I lifted my finger from the touchpad. Slurp. The mouse pointer moves slowly. Sreuk. Slurp.

Sweet.

A cursor blinks on the white desktop.

– I promise I won’t hurt you : )|

Line break.

Now the cursor blinks one line down.

– I can get you out of this apartment.|

“How can you believe it?”

There is no reaction.

-Help me ㅠ.ㅠ

Enter your answer: |

This one seems to require typing to interact with it. If you make a mistake, won’t you lose consciousness like before?

gulp.

First, I took my hand off the laptop and looked toward the bathroom.

“Ugh…”

“Cough, Clock.”

Daju Yoon is now almost exhausted. Choi Se-rim is blocking the nosebleeds that are pouring out with a tissue.

“Ah…what should I do with this…the bleeding won’t stop.”

Red wet tissues pile up on the bathroom floor. Thin nosebleeds keep dripping, so it looks dangerous at a glance.

I think it’s because I saw that strange article earlier.

I returned to my laptop again. Whatever it is, let’s find out the information.

Talk.

[you|]

I only typed two letters, but the cursor moves down to the bottom line.

– Wow!!!!!

– Thank you, thank you so much!!!!

In a similar ghost story, it is said that one is dragged into the computer world instead, and can only get out by dragging another person in the same way…

gulp.

I swallowed dry again and checked the screen.

– I told you. It won’t hurt you 🙂

– Are you going to believe me now? Please help me, I’m stuck here right now, I’m so frustrated

widely.

The right to speak was taken away by pressing the enter key.

[yet.]

– what????? why?????

[I saw the news article earlier and it said that my nosebleeds haven’t stopped. Please tell me what to do first.]

– Please take me out before that.

widely.

Enter again.

[If you let me know first.]

– Okay… If you see any abnormal symptoms after seeing it, it’s probably a memetic killer. BLIT.

Memetic killer.

The same word as the one I saw briefly before appeared.

[What is that?]

– Some information is harmful. Even if a person sees it and recognizes it, the pattern is engraved in their head and causes brain damage.

[Then is it possible to return to normal?]

– What if we just treat it quickly? Oh wait. Please download me before that, I want to get out of here.

widely.

[Do you want to download unknown files?]

[Yes No]

I pressed Enter and firmly clicked No.

– ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

[Let’s go easily, let’s go.]

– There is a pattern to deciphering… I’ll look for it…

[How long does it take?]

– 5 minutes? Do you remember what the article you saw earlier was?

[Cheorwon, Gyeongnam. Transmission tower accident.]

– I’ll come right away!!!

After a while. A phrase made up of unknown characters appeared on the screen that had turned pitch black.

“Did it happen?”

ah. right.

[Did it work?]

– ㅇㅇ Just read it and it will get better.

Now that I think about it, I also feel a lot lighter.

I grabbed my laptop and ran to the bathroom.

“Ugh…the bleeding won’t stop…”

“Sister. Look here.”

Choi Se-rim’s hands are cold, probably because she lost too much blood.

Choi Se-rim, who was leaning helplessly against the wall, turned her head and looked at the laptop screen.

“What…hey is this…”

“It will be okay in a little while.”

Next is Daju Yoon.

“Uuuuk…Ugh…”

He is stumbling around in the bathroom like a drunk person.

“Hey. Read this.”

“Ugh…”

Daju’s complexion, which was completely pale, brightened slightly.

“Huh? Stopped…”

“Are you okay now?”

“……”

“Hey! Daju Yoon!”

This side is also completely exhausted.

– how is it? Is it effective?

[huh.]

– Will you trust me now?

Tiring!

A selection window appears on the screen again.

[Do you want to download unknown files?]

[Yes No]

– Please move me to the laptop. It’s so hard here…

[Are you stuck on the Internet?]

– It’s roughly similar.

Anyway, I received help, and looking at it, it doesn’t seem like it’s that harmful.

therefore…

[I’ll move it later.]

– ??????????

– why!!!!!!!!!

Angry exclamation marks cover the screen.

[Let’s take care of the situation. Two people have collapsed now, and something shouldn’t happen.]

– ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠPlease

[Hold on a little longer.]

I put down my laptop and supported Choi Se-rim.

“……I feel dizzy.”

“First, go to bed and lie down.”

“Wait a minute. Can you help me?”

To be precise, I tried to support him, but it wasn’t easy due to the height difference. Choi Se-rim is sitting on the floor, and I’m just holding her arm, which looks strange.

“Huh…”

It took a while to put Choi Se-rim to bed.

There was one more person left. It ended with Da-ju Yoon just being dragged out of the bathroom. I decided to leave it on the floor. I already feel like my arms are going to fall off because my strength is weak, but if I try any further, it’s really hard and I’m going to collapse.

Shoot ah-

I took out the shower and cleaned the floor.

At first, the water was bright red. Then it gradually becomes diluted and flows out through the water hole.

I sat down on the bed and opened my laptop.

– betrayer!!!!! betrayer!!!!!!

[okay. I’ll do it now.]

Click.

[Download: 1 unknown file]

– done! It’s liberation!!!

[What has changed?]

– Of course that’s where I am! I can finally get out of that shitty space! and. There’s a lot of text here, right? novel?

I put my hand on the touchpad and punished the mouse for moving arbitrarily.

[I don’t mean to open something like that carelessly.]

– okay…

[But you said earlier that you could help you get out of the apartment. What does that mean?]

– ah. Is your laptop currently connected to the internal network? There is a lot of dangerous information, but if you help me, you will be able to access the site you want.

[Then can you contact the outside world?]

– no. It’s an internal network…

[what. Then it’s not useless.]

– No! Lots of information here!

[ah! So all the information about the apartment is stored here? Which floor is dangerous, things like that?]

– yes. Now I understand.

– However, not all information is available, and the information that can be accessed is limited. The more advanced the information, the more dangerous the security.

Then, the news article from earlier. You said it was a memetic killer, right? Is that also part of the security measure?

[Then who created this network?]

– Foundation.

[What foundation?]

– I don’t know the name. There is a foundation that roughly manages these things.

Typing things out one by one is slowly becoming frustrating.

I pressed the start button and turned on the laptop’s built-in microphone.

“Ah, ah. Can you hear me?”

– huh. voice is cute

“Don’t call me cute…”

Why does everyone I meet say this? Anyway, I was once a man. When I hear things like this, I don’t feel good. I feel like I’m getting neurotic.

“Okay, talk more about the foundation.”

– I don’t know either. Because I’ve been stuck here on the network from the beginning. I think this is probably a server that the Foundation used and abandoned. If you guess from the remaining information.

– The foundation has been managing this apartment for a long time.

“Then shouldn’t people be prevented from coming here?”

– Well, I don’t know. There is no such record. Instead, there are a lot of records of exploration and experiments. They found a puddle in the basement and tried throwing people into it. Something like having a person enter an unknown room and recording the results. Things like that. I don’t think this is an organization that cares about people’s lives.

“Yeah…that’s right…”

– But can’t you turn on the cam too?

“I don’t like it.”

Tup.

I closed my laptop.

When I look back, I see Choi Se-rim sleeping as if dead. for a moment. He’s not really dead, right?

“……”

thank god…

Although he lost a lot of blood, it doesn’t seem to be fatal.

I’ll have to explain this later.

The two left to rest and went to room 701 where Choi Jun-gi was. He’s probably the person who survived here the longest. He is also a man who acts as a leader. I feel like I can gain something by sharing information.

Knock knock.

I knocked lightly on the door.

Sigh-

“…Huh?”

The front door opens without any force.

An ominous feeling suddenly passes through me.

“Uncle?”

We stopped in front of a room that had been remodeled to resemble an office.

A dead body lies on a long desk.

“……”

Paper documents. blood. Scribbled letters.

Blood drips from a wrist that has been cut with a sharp tool.

“Ah…no…”

From the moment Choi Jun-ki’s body was discovered, all the air in the room seemed to have disappeared. I stood holding my shaking legs, feeling like I was suffocating.

Why on earth did this happen?

Didn’t I say this was a safe floor?

If you don’t go outside, you’ll be safe for now. That’s what I said.

This is what I heard from Choi Jun-ki, not anyone else. A person is dying in a miserable state right now.

I picked up my smartphone that had fallen on the floor.

“!”

Letters scattered across the broken screen. I quickly pressed back.

Memetic killer.

Because of that information. Then I. What on earth did you bring?

Tok. Tok. Tok. Tok. Tok. Tok.

I put pressure on my fingers and pressed back again and again. My vision becomes blurry, and it feels like my head is being stabbed with a hot iron skewer.

I shouldn’t have brought the internet server.

I thought it was too simple to begin with.

no. What if you figured it out a little sooner? What if I had at least told you in advance to be careful?

On the background screen that finally appeared, there was a photo of a family smiling brightly.

“No…”

I put on my shoes and ran out of room 701.

If you checked the Internet immediately after installing the server, Seongjin Park, who moved the server with you, could also be at risk.

“Please.”

Go out the front door and into the hallway. Pass room 701 and continue inward.

The moment we reached room 705, where Seongjin Park was staying.

thud!

The front door opened from the inside.