episode_0151

“… … I will continue playing the video.”

“Yeah.”

Jeong Hae-won swallowed dry saliva and held his cell phone tightly.

The black eyes are still staring straight at the screen.

Right towards where we are.

Chijijijijijik-

There is noise on the screen.

A moment later, the image shifts to a completely different location.

A dark shopping mall with shutters down here and there.

The black creature has now turned into a liquid, flowing through the hallways.

The camera pans upwards for a moment.

A very familiar sign appears on the screen.

Jeong Hae-won flinched in surprise and shook his shoulders.

“This is… … . It’s the sign we saw when we came in here.”

“That’s right.”

“Ugh.”

“By the way. Why were you so scared?”

“They’re coming this way! And it’s because of me! If you look at the video earlier, they were able to tear a person to pieces in an instant… … !”

Jeong Hae-won appears to be suffering from a sense of guilt.

I pretended to be lost in thought for a moment.

“Um… …. Then wouldn’t it be okay if you act as bait?”

“I will.”

“While you’re being eaten, we’re running away. Are you still going to do it?”

“Yes. It’s all my responsibility… … . I have to do it.”

Jeong Hae-won’s face looks very determined.

“I will sacrifice.”

Thanks to that, I couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

“Phew!”

“Sister?”

“Okay. What about sacrifice?”

Jeong Hae-won looks at this side stupidly.

I laughed and slapped the guy on the shoulder.

“No one needs to die. I was just joking.”

“What kind of jokes do you make, sister?”

“Don’t be serious. Listen carefully.”

Although he was confused at first, Jeong Hae-won accomplished something great.

I never thought I’d find this.

“This is an opportunity. An opportunity to get information about the outside.”

“You can do that on the radio too.”

“That’s not very accurate. It’s just an understanding of the incident within the scope of normality.”

“What does that mean?”

“The news or radio. The news that comes out of those places is seen and interpreted from the perspective of an ordinary person.”

[Hey! Are you crazy?]

[Ah, why~]

The movie screen, which was progressing normally, suddenly becomes distorted.

[Eugggg …

[Ah …

“The world is absolutely not going normally these days.”

The film stops and the characters’ faces become distorted.

The film is set in a motel.

The gazes of the male and female actors on the screen, absorbed in their acting, are fixed and focused straight in this direction.

Watching us.

And it’s like a composite image.

Only the male and female actors’ mouths begin to move.

[We have breaking news for you.]

A dry male actor’s voice.

[Everyone at home right now, please stop what you are doing and immediately focus on the broadcast.]

The actress’s voice, again, was devoid of any emotion.

Two voices announce the change.

“That’s why you have to get information here. Even if it means taking risks.”

Gulp.

Jeong Hae-won swallows dry saliva again.

“Should I wake up other people?”

“… … No. Just let him sleep.”

“Huh?”

“The fewer people the better right now. And.”

He pushed Jeong Hae-won’s arm with his elbow.

“Keep checking your phone.”

“Yes, sister.”

“Ah. There’s another one. Doesn’t the video remind you of anything?”

“Huh?”

Jeong Hae-won just looks this way blankly.

The video on the screen of the cell phone that Jeong Hae-won is holding now shows the front door of the theater where we are.

A black, smooth surface, with the body spread out inside.

Inside the monster’s black body, which is spread out wide like a tent, are numerous red eyes.

Blink.

Blink.

Red eyes, each blinking at a different rate.

and…….

Disaster warning broadcast shown inside the theater.

“That’s it. Don’t you remember?”

“Then, is this really a disaster announcement? Is that it? I rolled around with my sister back then! Because of this!”

“Yeah. The original incident must have happened at this point. ”

I swept my hair back over my shoulder.

“Or maybe the time zone is messed up.”

Reliving what happened in your apartment may be more common than you think.

It was that kind of space from the beginning.

The apartment we were trapped in.

A small dot where space and time meet after being folded and twisted.

in other words.

Past. Present. Or Future.

A place where outside events are reproduced as they are.

***

“……Stay still.”

He grabbed Jeong Hae-won, who was just about to leave the table.

My intuition is telling me.

You can’t get out of here.

A feeling of pressure so heavy that you can’t even breathe properly.

Something is pressing hard against the air.

[Please evacuate the building. There is a risk of collapse if aftershocks occur. You must evacuate the building.]

I looked up and checked the living room window.

The black figure I saw on TV is looking this way.

Hundreds of eyes are watching me.

I’m watching it on TV. I’ll say it again. This is Son Hyun-chul, the Minister of Public Administration and Security. I’m watching it.

The military is being dispatched to each shelter to help with the evacuation.

I’m watching I’m watching I’m watching I’m watching I’m watching I’m watching

I’m watching I’m watching I’m watching I’m watching I’m watching I’m watching

[Ghost Apartment Survival Diary, EP 41, Disaster Announcement Broadcast (2)]

***

The giant movie theater screen became like a news screen.

There are small subtitles at the top of the screen.

[Live broadcast]

And, in one corner of that wide screen, a video I had just seen on the Internet was playing over and over again.

Footage of a black monster slaughtering people.

People’s throats are ripped out and their bodies are torn apart like balloons bursting.

I held my breath and looked around the theater.

Other people are asleep.

The only ones who are awake are me and Jeong Hae-won.

He lowered his voice and whispered.

“We know what he’s up to.”

The screams that continue to be heard.

News anchors also fuel anxiety.

[Currently, numerous casualties are occurring due to an unknown monster.]

[Please leave your current location immediately and go to the local shelter indicated on the screen.]

The news screens show the victims’ painful end without any filter.

And yet he speaks calmly.

[There is a risk of burial or crushing in narrow buildings, crowded theaters, or public facilities.]

[Please evacuate from the building as quickly as possible and to an open area.]

“They keep making you anxious so they can somehow make you trust them.”

A scream rings out.

I raise my voice a little.

“And if you believe that and go out,”

The theater door begins to bang.

I raise my voice a little louder.

“You’ll just become his prey.”

When dealing with these types of enemies, the fewer people the better.

It’s a given.

It’s easy to be fooled when there are a lot of people.

In extreme situations, collective intelligence does not work properly.

Instead, there is a strong tendency to be led around by a few people.

If even one person is fooled, the entire group will be destroyed.

“Dabin, what’s going on?”

Turn your gaze to the side.

Sister Se-rim was awake.

I was planning to make an exception and wake up my older sister.

Could it be because I recovered some of my fatigue while I was passed out?

Unlike the others who were fast asleep, my older sister happened to wake up first.

“Sister. I’ll explain later, so let everyone else continue to sleep.”

“Okay.”

Sister Se-rim gets up and walks around the theater.

Something that makes someone who is sleeping fall into a deeper sleep.

It was easy for my sister.

It was enough to just put my palm on my forehead for a moment.

Everyone in the theater except for me, Jeong Hae-won, and Se-rim falls into a deep sleep.

Ricodo was also trembling as if he was having a nightmare.

Robin, who was tossing and turning as if he would wake up at any moment.

Everyone fell into a comfortable sleep again.

“All done.”

“Isn’t it hard?”

“Yeah. I can do this easily.”

“If you’re having a hard time, don’t hide it and tell me. If you faint again, then I won’t be able to do anything because I’ll be worried about you.”

“This time it’s really not hard… … .”

“… … .”

“Okay, Dabin.”

There are now three people awake.

I explain to two people in front of me.

“Here. The black monster inside the phone screen. This is the main body of the thing.”

A black monster is writhing on the screen of Jeong Hae-won’s cell phone.

The nickname the foundation gives it is ‘the tent of confirmation bias’.

A guy who is simply called a ‘tent’.

“I’m waiting outside the theater right now.”

I wonder if you’re even listening to me.

Just then, a thumping sound is heard outside the theater.

I quickly reassured the others.

“Still, you still can’t get in here.”

It wraps its prey around it, absorbs it, and fills its stomach with it.

It’s not just about physically wrapping it.

In order for the creature to be successful in hunting, it must completely engulf its prey’s consciousness and suffocate it.

That’s exactly how this broadcast is.

Wherever the ‘tent’ appears, this ‘fake broadcast’ is sure to follow.

This time he pointed to the movie theater screen.

“You see that disaster announcement? That’s actually a trap set by that monster. If you fall for it and go out of the theater, you become its prey. ”

“Then, Dabin, shouldn’t you turn off the broadcast right now?”

Sister Se-rim asks in a slightly anxious voice.

“Isn’t it dangerous if I keep watching?”

“Of course it’s dangerous. But I’m watching it on purpose because I need it now.”

“Is that the information you were talking about earlier?”

This time it’s Jeong Hae-won.

Still looking anxious.

“Yeah.”

For both of them, I answered in a calm voice.

“You already know that the news is fake, right? But lies contain some truth. You have to find out by tracing it backwards. ”

There is absolutely no information available right now.

I managed to escape the apartment, but I was barely able to avoid the ‘sound’ and enter the theater.

How the Foundation is trying to ruin the world.

We don’t know yet.

“What exactly is the situation outside? What the Foundation is up to? Are there any friendly groups? And where can we go for help? We need to find out at least a little bit.”

The answer to the question is directed towards Jeong Hae-won.

And this time, towards everyone.

Speak calmly.

“And that’s the only way out of this situation.”

The tent of confirmation bias.

One of the many anomalous entities that exist in this world.

Among anomalous entities, this one is one of the more tenacious.

Even if I turn off the broadcast right now, I won’t be able to escape his gaze.

There is only one way to survive.

It’s the same as when I ran into him last time.

Finding loopholes in fake broadcasts and freeing yourself from confirmation bias.

First of all, it starts with not being fooled.

I took the card out of my pocket and unfolded it.

Turn several pages in a row to put together sentences.

[Behave as naturally as possible.]

[As if there was nothing to be anxious about.]