episode_0027

It was around the time when I realized that I couldn’t escape from this room alone after failing my first attempt to escape.

“Something… There must be some way.”

At that moment, unable to sleep and feeling overly sensitive, I paced around the room, racking my brain.

Knock knock. I heard someone knocking on the bedroom door.

“!”

Thinking that someone had come, I quickly ran to open the door, but…

“…?”

Contrary to my expectations, no one was standing in front of the door.

Instead…

“…Food.”

A plate filled with fresh and appetizing food was placed in front of the door.

“They are really taking good care of me.”

They were determined to not only confine me but also provide me with meals regularly.

“Do they think I’ll just eat and sleep?”

I was about to close the door in protest, like Hansel and Gretel trapped by the witch.

…I definitely intended to do so.

But…

Gulp.

I couldn’t ignore the food in front of me, so I quietly brought the plate into the room.

“I need to eat first to think clearly.”

Due to skipping breakfast this morning, I’ve been fasting for almost 24 hours.

With this hunger, I can’t plan an escape properly.

…I’m definitely not surrendering to hunger.

“It’s disgustingly delicious.”

Chewing eagerly, I emptied the plate, drawing strength from the rising energy and once again pondered my situation.

Realistically, there are only three ways to escape from here: either I escape on my own, someone helps me, or the demon lets me go.

Self-escape is practically impossible based on the results of the experiment, so it’s out for now.

Being let go by the demon is essentially surrendering to her, so that’s out of the options too.

“So, what’s left is…”

Receiving help from outside.

“There must have been people in this house.”

The fact that there was freshly prepared food and that I was moved to the bed when I fainted indicated that there were several other people in this house besides me.

Initially, it didn’t make sense for there to be no one else in such a large house.

Anyway. After finishing the meal, I was looking around the room again, thinking of ways to communicate with the outside world.

“Come to think of it…”

Suddenly, a scene from a novel I had read before came to mind. It was a scene where the protagonist, stranded on a deserted island, struggled to escape. The scene where they put a letter in a bottle and threw it into the sea with determination, as if grasping at straws.

“Ah.”

It’s just like me, trapped in this room.

“This is it!”

I quickly searched the room for a place where there might be a pen. Unfortunately, perhaps because it was a bedroom, I couldn’t find any writing materials.

“No, how can there not be a single pen here?”

Just then…

“….?”

Something caught my eye on a shelf installed on one side of the wall. It was a large feather adorned with a fancy plaque, along with a golden ink bottle.

“!”

I approached the shelf and examined it closely. The plaque, supported by a finger-thick feather, had the inscription “[New York Top 10th Floor Conquest Commemoration]” written on it.

It was something that had caused quite a stir for a while, claiming success in conquering the top 10 floors.

“…10th floor…”

I suddenly realized how powerful she must be.

“…Why did she summon me, such a powerful subject?”

Thinking about it again, it felt unfair. If I had some special ability, I would have understood. From my perspective, being stuck in this malfunctioning room felt unreasonably frustrating.

I had no one to blame but Ma Yeon-seo.

“For now, let’s get out and see.”

So, I overcame my frustration and carefully took out the commemorative plaque from the shelf. On the thick end of the feather attached to the plaque, there was a golden pen nib, and the ink bottle had a sealed thread.

It was a real usable item.

“That’s right!”

After surreptitiously glancing around the empty room, I took the feather and ink. Then, I tore out a blank page from a book on the shelf and prepared it as a piece of paper.

Tearing apart a perfectly good book made me feel slightly guilty…

“I have no choice.”

Survival comes first.

“After all, there’s no way I’m going to die so soon.”

Hehe. I chuckled as I looked at the hastily prepared pen and letter paper, then used the sharp tip of the pen to pierce the thin foil hanging from the ink bottle.

And then.

Swoosh. The golden pen nib faintly showed the ink being drawn up.

“This is it!”

I silently cheered and quickly wrote a message on the letter paper asking for contact through Hanyeo-won’s SNS account.

[ Please. Please share my news on this Instagram account… ]

As a precaution against any potential language issues, I wrote in both English and Korean.

My English skills weren’t great, but it was enough to convey the message.

“This should do, right?”

Satisfied with the completed letter, I carefully placed the pen and ink back in their place and tucked the letter neatly between the serving tray where the meal had been placed.

Leaving it there in case someone came to clear it away was a move of desperation.

“Please… please help me. Goddess…!”

I, who never sought out the goddess, even prayed to her, then placed the clean tray in front of the door.

After some time had passed, I cautiously opened the door and, as expected, the tray was gone.

“Alright…!”

Now all I could do was hope for some kind soul to come to my aid.

*

By the time the beautiful scenery by the window had turned into dark gloom, it was late at night when Ma-yeon-seo returned home.

“You waited quietly?”

As she entered the room, she smiled and reached out her hand towards me.

Feeling inexplicably annoyed by her behavior, which felt like she was treating me like a pet, I deftly avoided her hand.

“Are you upset?”

Ma-yeon-seo made a cute pouting face and giggled.

I couldn’t understand what was so good about it.

“Sorry. I got held up at work. You must have been bored being alone.”

“….”

“What did you do today?”

Despite my consistent ignoring, she persistently tried to engage me in conversation. Irritated, I glared at her and curtly replied.

“Don’t talk to me.”

To which she, with a faint smile, asked again.

“Really?”

“….”

“…Fine. Then I’ll treat you like you don’t exist and won’t talk to you at all. How about that?”

“….”

She then suddenly took off her clothes without any warning.

“What?!”

There was no habitual offender.

Swoosh. Swoosh. It was a moment when she turned around in a hurry, trying to ignore the sound of the clothes brushing against her body.

Vrrring. Vrrring.

The sound of a cellphone ringing began to come from the direction of the bed.

“Speak.”

Ma Yeon-seo, who was changing clothes, answered the phone with a very cold voice, unlike when she spoke to me…

At that moment.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, my eyes widened.

“A cellphone?”

The communication device I had been searching for so desperately had appeared in the room!

“Cancel everything.”

Ma Yeon-seo, giving orders in an annoyed tone, quickly hung up and walked briskly toward the bathroom.

This was my chance.

Gulp. Holding my breath, I started looking for the cellphone as soon as I heard the sound of water dripping from the bathroom.

“Huh, it’s not here?”

However, the cellphone was nowhere to be seen.

“She must have taken it with her…!” It seemed that Ma Yeon-seo had taken it to the bathroom.

“…But there’s still a chance.”

I returned to my original seat and decided to wait for Mayeonseo to fall asleep.

My plan was to use my phone while she was sleeping.

Even without unlocking the phone, the emergency call function is common sense.

Taking advantage of Mayeonseo’s carelessness, if I could just get my hands on the phone, everything would be over.

It would be my ticket out of this damn place!

“I’ll make you pay for ignoring me…!”

…Or so I thought.

“…When on earth is she going to sleep?”

Today, unlike the day before, Mayeonseo didn’t fall asleep right away and instead lay on the bed, fiddling with her phone for quite some time.

What is she watching? Occasionally, she even laughed, enjoying herself alone.

“You terrible woman. How can you treat someone like this and still laugh?”

As the waiting time grew longer, I began to feel anxious, nervously biting my lip.

Since the summoning, I hadn’t been able to relax at all, and now I was starting to feel faint.

Sitting quietly on the soft sofa in the dark and cozy room, sleep was inevitably creeping in.

“I absolutely shouldn’t fall asleep!”

How long had it been since she gnashed her teeth and pinched her thighs, struggling alone against drowsiness?

“…Did I fall asleep?”

Finally, Ma Yeon-seo put down her phone after a while.

“…Hng…”

“…?”

Suddenly, a strange sound pierced through the darkness.

“…Haah… haah….”

An odd breathing that clearly seemed like someone not asleep.

“That crazy woman.”

This time, Ma Yeon-seo began to “console” me.

“Is she really in her right mind…?”

She should have realized earlier that treating me as if I didn’t exist.

“…Ah… Yoo Chan… huff….”

Pulling off the blanket, she subtly started calling my name as if wanting me to hear, and the unsettling sound and her strange voice involuntarily made my body react.

I had never felt so cursed by my own body before today.

“Don’t listen. Yes. Just ignore it…!”

Completely plugging my ears, I crouched, waiting for her actions to end.

In my memory, Ma Yeon-seo was more pathetic than Hanyangwon, so I thought it would soon be over.

But….

“…Haah… haah… Yoo Chan…!”

Even though it seemed like she reached the end several times, she didn’t intend to stop.

Was she really determined to keep this up all night?

It felt like I was going crazy.

“…I have to endure it….”

So, I forced myself to stay composed in the worst situation, waiting for her actions to end.

“…I have to endure….”

And before long, I lost consciousness…

*

“Hoo….”

After enjoying a long time, Ma Yeon-seo, who was trying to tease Kang Yoo-chan but ended up getting overly excited, got up with a strange discomfort.

She couldn’t reach the end as she did when she was with him.

As expected, she couldn’t do without him.

“Are you asleep?”

Yeon-seo, who got up from the bed, approached the sofa where Yoo-chan was sitting.

“……”

He was deeply asleep in an uncomfortable position. After all the running around, he hadn’t slept well.

As I recall the CCTV footage I saw earlier, I unconsciously found myself smiling.

“How cute.”

Since parting ways with Yoochan, she had hardly smiled, but ever since he appeared, a smile never left her lips.

For Mayeonseo, Kang Yoochan was that kind of presence, just being around him made her feel so much better.

“……”

How long had it been since she quietly observed Yoochan sleeping so deeply?

Somehow, Yeonseo began to feel a slight discomfort in her lower abdomen.

Unresolved desires began to bubble up inside her.

“…Just a little….”

For a moment, driven by instinct, Yeonseo unconsciously reached out towards Yoochan, but then…

“No.”

She abruptly came to her senses and forcibly withdrew her hand.

She had to wait until his stubbornness was broken before making any move.

Only then could she truly sway his heart.

“…Still. At least moving him to the bed….”

However, unable to bear the sight of Yoochan sleeping uncomfortably, Yeonseo quietly summoned tentacles to move him to the bed without waking him.

“I’m not really touching him anyway.”

Then, offering a feeble excuse, she cautiously nestled into Yoochan’s embrace.

“Ah….”

How long had it been since she had been this close to him?

Her frozen heart had been slowly thawing.

“…This feels good….”

And so, with her face buried in Yoochan’s embrace, Yeonseo closed her eyes tightly.

That day, for the first time in a long while, she was able to sleep deeply without medication.

It had been a really long time.