episode_0017

The hint is the word ‘어이’ where consonants and vowels are separated.

The password to enter is 4 digits.

Simply put, you can think that each letter represents a number.

Ding ding ding ding

Beep beep

Fortunately, it was the correct answer.

I almost lost face if I got it wrong.

The number I pressed is 3739.

“Why 3739?” Seong Yurin raised a question mark.

“It’s nothing special. It’s just that the letters in the hint correspond to numbers.”

‘ㅇ’ is 3, ‘ㅓ’ is 7, ‘ㅣ’ is 9.

It’s a story of the keyboard layout.

There are a lot of quizzes like that. Numbering alphabetically or pairing numbers and letters you meet when going up the keyboard layout.

“I see.”

“The diary date was also a hint, I guess.”

Hong Yeonseo and Lee Sooyoon nodded in agreement.

As Lee Sooyoon said, alternating between the diary date and the names of the dolls, the correct answer suddenly came to mind.

When I opened the bear doll’s stomach, there was a small key inside and a hole where something could be inserted.

“There’s a key and a hole. Maybe the key can open that drawer?”

Seong Yurin took the key from me and confidently walked towards the table.

I placed the bear doll on the bed and sat on the edge of the bed.

…Ah, I just want to lie down.

Seong Yurin inserted the key into the first drawer confidently in front of everyone.

With a click, the drawer opened.

Inside, Seong Yurin found a locked box and a note.

She brought the two items back to the sofa and placed them on the table.

Then.

Creak…creak

A creepy mechanical sound echoed in our ears.

Startled by the sudden noise, everyone looked around nervously.

Tick tock…

All eyes focused on the speaker’s static.

[Play with me.]

[Play with me. Play with me. Play with me.]

A strange voice mixed with mechanical sounds flowed from the speaker.

“Eek.”

Lee Sooyoon, who was easily frightened, buried herself in Lee Se-ah’s arms.

Seong Yurin and Hong Yeonseo stiffened and held each other’s hands tightly.

[Play with me play with me play with me play with me play with me play with me you liked playing with me too I liked you too play with me like me play with me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like me like

That wasn’t just me feeling that way, but others also looked at Yoon Ji-woo with eyes that couldn’t trust him.

“So, what does the note say?”

I pointed to the note brought by Sung Yoo-rin.

Everyone’s gaze turned to the note placed on the table.

“…Inside? Are they talking about this box?”

“The box is locked with a padlock, so what do they mean by having the key inside?”

As Yoon Ji-woo said, the box brought by Sung Yoo-rin was locked with a padlock that required a key to open.

“No way. They said not to solve it by force.”

Sung Yoo-rin shook her head and said.

“Let’s look for it again. We might have missed something.”

Even now, time was passing by.

Since we came to the escape room cafe, we had to try to escape.

The difficulty level was on the easier side.

“Maybe it’s not locked, but just stiff and won’t open?”

Yoon Ji-woo approached a drawer and tried to open the locked drawer.

But there was no way the locked drawer would open.

“Ji-woo, what if you break it while trying to open it?”

Lee Se-ah warned Yoon Ji-woo.

Sung Yoo-rin and Hong Yeon-seo went back to the bed to search.

“Oh, look at this.”

Then, the two started to fiddle with something.

While Hong Yeon-seo was touching the girl doll here and there,

she suddenly pulled the head of the doll straight off.

“Gasp.”

“Oops.”

Both of them looked around in confusion.

“Oh, on the head…”

Lee So-yoon pointed to the head Hong Yeon-seo was holding.

Upon closer inspection, the head of the girl doll was shaped like a key and was stuck in the doll’s torso.

“Uh… feels bad.”

Hong Yeon-seo placed the girl doll’s torso on the bed and walked over to me, handing me the doll’s head.

“You, you do it.”

“…Okay.”

Even I thought it looked a bit creepy. The metal part of the key was painted red,

so it looked like pulling out a spine from a distance… Hmm, let’s stop thinking like that because it feels unpleasant.

I opened the box with the key from the girl’s head that I received from Hong Yeon-seo and asked her a question.

“Why did you think of pulling the head off?”

“When I looked closely, there was a mark like a scar, and it looked like it could be detached like a neck. And it did.”

Ah, I see. It was mentioned in the diary.

The doll was damaged, leaving a mark.

I immediately understood.

“What? Did you think I just pulled it off with force because it was me?”

“No. I didn’t think that… I’ve never seen you that way.”

At the mention that she didn’t see herself as ignorant, Hong Yeon-seo smiled happily.

“Well, that’s a relief!”

Inside the box, there was a black and white photo and another key.

How many keys are there, really?

I took out the photo and placed it on the table for everyone to see.

It was a photo of a girl holding a teddy bear named ‘Bear’ with her face erased.

“Ugh. It’s eerie without a face.”

As Lee Se-ah said, it was a creepy atmosphere in the photo.

Not only because the face was missing, but the overall atmosphere of the photo was eerie.

“Is this not a clue? Let’s try opening something with the key first.”

Yoon Ji-woo took the key.

“The key doesn’t fit the drawer.”

“Is it a jewelry box?”

Lee Se-ah handed the jewelry box to Yoon Ji-woo.

“Oh! It opens.”

When Yoon Ji-woo opened the jewelry box, the eerie music that had been playing continuously stopped.

Inside the jewelry box, there was a music box that played when opened and a red gem.

The music that flowed from the music box… If it had been heard in a different setting, it would have been a beautiful song, but in this place, it created a strange and eerie atmosphere.

After a while, the music stopped playing from the music box.

Tick

“What is this?”

“Boo, the lights.”

As the sound stopped, the lights in the room went out.

[■■■■■──!]

…and then, a strange, eerie sound could be heard.

Somewhere. Closer than before.

“….”

Everyone stood frozen as a deep silence filled the room.

After a moment, the lights came back on, and

“Ahh!”

“Ahh!”

Everyone was startled by the sudden appearance of a bear in the center of the room.

“Ah!”

Hong Yeon-seo shielded me in front of her, holding me tightly as if using me as a shield.

I apologize to the staff who prepared this horror scene, but…

Thanks to it, the fear disappeared, and a pleasant sensation washed over me.

Thanks to Hong Yeon-seo, I was able to closely examine the bear.

Creak creak

[■■──! ■■■■■───!]

Upon closer inspection, the person wearing a bear doll head and wriggling to break free from the chains looked quite realistic, thanks to the high-quality doll mask that gave off a monster-like vibe.

However, I had no idea what the structure was, but it seemed to have come up from the floor. How intriguing.

While I calmly assessed the situation, the other kids were in a state of panic.

“Ahh! Seo Jin! Do something!”

“Ahh~ Jina!”

Hong Yeon-seo and Lee Se-ah rushed towards me.

“Yu, Yu Yu Yu-rin!”

“….”

Seong Yu-rin and Lee So-yoon clung to each other, collapsing to the ground.

…Seong Yu-rin seemed quite shocked, her eyes glazed over.

“Uh… what about me?”

Yoon Ji-woo, who was alone when things unfolded, looked bewildered by the absence of anyone by her side.

…No, wasn’t Lee Se-ah with Yoon Ji-woo earlier? When did she come here?

“Calm down. Kids, it seems we can’t go that way.”

I carefully pried Hong Yeon-seo’s arms off my stomach, which were getting stronger and causing me pain.

With Lee Se-ah’s help, I managed to separate Hong Yeon-seo.

“What should we do?”

Hong Yeon-seo, with tears in her eyes, wiped them away with her sleeve and spoke.

“Phew. Let’s ignore it for now and solve the puzzle. Ji-woo, give me the gem.”

After all, the bear was just part of the act. Our goal is to escape from here.

“Huh? Huh.”

Taking the gem from Yoon Ji-woo, I went to the bed and inserted the gem into the hole in the bear doll’s stomach.

This was also mentioned in the diary.

The puzzle itself was intuitive, probably due to its easy difficulty level. It was just the presentation that was creepy.

Clunk

“What’s this?”

As I inserted the gem into the bear, the sound of a mechanical device from the ceiling could be heard.

“Wait a moment. I’m coming down!”

The speed at which the ceiling descended increased.

The ceiling gradually descended on rails.

The timer on the wall had changed to 5 minutes by now.

“We have to do something within 5 minutes!”

“If we can’t get out in that time, we’ll be crushed to death?”

“Ahh! I don’t want to die!”

Lee Se-ah rushed towards me and covered me on the bed.

“We’re not going to die. Just, step back a bit.”

There’s no way they would kill someone in an escape room cafe.

I don’t know why this event is happening to me, but Lee Se-ah’s scent tickled my nose.

Her soft touch and flowing hair tickled my face.

“What are you doing?”

Unlike before, this time Hong Yeon-seo pulled Lee Se-ah away.

“Now, what do we need to do?”

That’s the question. Ji-woo…

Although it seems like I’m the one solving everything, the other kids seemed to be in a state of panic or indifference, not paying attention to the problem.

In times like this, you have to simplify your thoughts.

There aren’t many clues anyway.

Diary, photo, note.

I reviewed the contents of the clues.