Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 47
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Editor’s Survival Rules Episode 47
ep9. Rooting Out the Fake (8)
Two bundles of 500ml bottled water, one box of biscuits.
Compared to the enormous sum of 100 million won I had spent, it was truly a pitiful amount.
“I’ll carry it up to the 3rd floor for you. But if this all gets stolen, I don’t know anything about it, okay?”
Teddy Bear spoke in a voice that was half excited and half suspicious.
He was happy to earn money, but seemed curious about what I was planning.
So he had the skeletons carry the luggage and deliberately followed me up to the 3rd floor.
The people on the 3rd floor stirred when they saw us like that.
“Please take one water and one snack each.”
The people who had been looking puzzled came rushing over in a fluster at my words.
They didn’t even ask why and immediately started gulping down the water and tearing open the snacks.
“Oh, what a good person.”
Teddy Bear nodded as if relieved, seeing me just giving away the food supplies.
“Good, good. People should live by helping each other.”
How fortunate.
That this guy is such a real fool.
There are two reasons why that Teddy Bear holds absolute power here.
One is the abnormal strength characteristic of a contaminated being.
The other is because he’s monopolizing resources.
But to hand over one of those pillars so easily like this.
It seems to be due to his arrogance that this area is in the palm of his hand, but I could only be grateful for it.
Teddy Bear hummed as he went back down to his base on the lobby floor.
And I spoke to the people who had eaten the water and snacks, belatedly came to their senses, and were curious about this situation.
“From now on, I’ll distribute water daily and snacks every two days.”
“Really?”
“Th-thank you…!”
Three or four people who were purely happy.
“…”
And another two or three people who were wary.
Choi Sang-eun and that woman from earlier belonged to the latter group.
They were wise people who knew there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
I looked at them and continued speaking.
“But there’s a condition.”
“A condition?”
“You all want to get out of here, right?”
Nod-
“But if you leave through that bear doll, you’d have to spend tens of millions of won. Can you all handle that?”
“…”
The people became gloomy again.
Even if they somehow got out of this bizarre space, what awaited outside was a massive bill.
For some people it might just be a bitter loss, but for others it could be a matter of life and death.
And the fact that they hadn’t been able to escape from here for a long time meant they belonged to the latter group.
I gauged their dilemma and casually said.
“I have a way, so please follow me, everyone.”
* * *
Day 2.
Ding-dong- Ding-dong-
I woke up to the sound of bells ringing throughout the theater.
I had connected two single-person sofas and slept curled up there, so my whole body was stiff.
But, well, sadly enough, I was familiar with this sensation.
It was always like this when I took naps at the publishing company before publication deadlines.
So my first night spent in the Special Zone was similar to an editor’s ordinary all-nighter, I suppose.
“Are you awake?”
As I stretched my stiff body, Choi Sang-eun, who had been sitting near me, greeted me.
“Yes, good morning.”
“I wonder if it’s really morning. It’s never been night here.”
Choi Sang-eun responded to my greeting with a weak smile.
I had individually requested cooperation from Choi Sang-eun.
He was also someone who had been dragged here with me, and I couldn’t manage all the food supplies and people by myself.
Thankfully, Choi Sang-eun readily accepted my request.
“Everyone, please come get today’s water!”
People approached at Choi Sang-eun’s guidance.
Perhaps because everyone had gained some peace of mind, today they greeted us as they received their water.
“Thank you.”
“Really, thank you.”
Ding-dong- Ding-dong-
That bell sound from earlier rang again.
Thud- Thud- Thud-!
Then the theater doors that had been wide open closed by themselves.
Clank-
And the sound of metal coming from the 1st floor.
This performance hall consisted of the lobby floor, 1st floor, 2nd floor, and 3rd floor.
The floors that entered the performance hall were from the 1st to 3rd floors.
But newly incoming people or “Fake Humans” only appeared in the first floor seating.
And from the third floor lobby railing where I was, the structure allowed me to look down clearly at the 1st floor.
I leaned my arms on the railing and looked down below.
Teddy Bear and the skeletons were waiting by the performance hall door with iron bars.
“The performance has started now, right?”
“Yes, they’ll wait there until the performance ends.”
The woman answered my question.
I sat leisurely and waited for the performance to end.
About 40 minutes passed.
Ding-dong- Ding-dong-
The bell sound announcing the end of the performance.
And down below, the same things I experienced yesterday were reproduced exactly.
“Come on, come on! They came again today! Call out prices!”
Teddy Bear appeared dragging 2 newly entered people and 2 “Fake Humans.”
At that auction inducement, the old man who had been here the longest raised his hand.
“1,000 won.”
“Good, 1,000! …won?”
Teddy Bear, who had naturally assumed it was 10 million won and was about to shout, became flustered.
The old man firmly said again.
“1,000 won!”
Teddy Bear looked bewildered.
After that, when no one else bid, Teddy Bear seemed to grasp the atmosphere and shook his head.
“Ah, why are you doing this again? Haven’t you guys come to your senses yet? Before when you did this…”
Teddy Bear, who had been grumbling, stopped talking and looked at me.
It seemed like he was going to threaten with water prices like before, but the fact that I had purchased water in bulk yesterday came to mind.
“Wow… I see… So this is how you’re playing it? Got it, let’s see how long you can last with that!”
The teddy bear left with just the fake humans, as if finding us ridiculous.
And the newly arrived people joined our group.
* * *
Day 3.
Ding-dong- Ding-dong-
Today 3 people came in, along with 2 「Fake Humans」.
The teddy bear tried to induce an auction again, but now people didn’t even look.
“Aren’t you going to buy them?!”
The ignored teddy bear got angry and shouted.
Even when people continued to ignore him, the teddy bear threw a tantrum like a child.
“Damn it, keep acting like that! I’ll sell them for way more later!”
You’d like that, wouldn’t you.
But time was on our side, and we happened to have just the right number of people.
Currently the teddy bear’s gang had 8 members.
There were 4 「Fake Humans」.
We had 12 people.
* * *
Day 4.
Ding-dong- Ding-dong-
The performance started again.
And today we also took action.
All 11 people except me rushed down to the 1st floor.
I watched from the 3rd floor.
When people came down as a group, the teddy bear and skeletons flinched and panicked.
There were only 3 of them after all.
“What? Don’t think about stealing what we caught, or you’ll all die?”
The teddy bear openly threatened.
But Choi Sang-eun and the others didn’t engage with him, instead going to the opposite entrance and taking position.
After waiting like that for a while.
Ding-dong- Ding-dong-
The performance ended.
And Choi Sang-eun opened the performance hall door before the teddy bear and called to the people inside.
“Everyone, please come this way! We’ll help you!”
The result was obvious.
A man in his 40s wearing a suit.
And a cocky brat wearing a teddy bear costume.
If you ask which looks more trustworthy, 99% would say the former.
By the same principle, the frightened people naturally moved toward Choi Sang-eun.
Choi Sang-eun carefully observed the newcomers and soon reported the situation to me watching from above.
“2 people, 3 fakes!”
The people who had caught the 「Fake Humans」 were excited and tried to come up.
But the teddy bear blocked their way.
“What are you doing? This is our territory, who said you could use it?”
When did he say whoever catches them owns them.
The teddy bear immediately changed tactics when things became unfavorable.
People got angry and tried to fight back.
“Don’t fight.”
But I stopped them.
I understand wanting to have it out after being bullied all this time.
But if we fight that contaminated one, we’ll lose.
Then the atmosphere will shift to their side too.
Besides, I knew that teddy bear bastard would act like this.
“Take them if you want to take them.”
At my words, the teddy bear excitedly tried to steal the fakes.
People also looked up at me in confusion.
Then I added this:
“But can you take all 3?”
“…Huh?!”
Right, you idiot.
There are only 3 of you right now.
But you’re taking 3 fake humans?
You’ll be attacked as soon as our people leave.
“Th-then just give us two!”
“Fine, take them. But if you take two, you’ll have to go alone starting tomorrow. You know that, right?”
“Huh? Huhhh…!”
I have to explain even this much…
It’s embarrassing, like I’m tricking a little kid.
The reason the teddy bear’s gang only has 3 members today is because of the 「Fake Humans」 they possess.
You need more people than the fakes to control 「Fake Humans」.
And the 「Fake Humans」 those guys have stockpiled because they couldn’t sell them total 4.
The 5 skeletons not visible now must be watching them.
If they take 2 more 「Fake Humans」 in this situation, now 7 people will be tied up.
“Uh… uh…?”
But it seems the teddy bear really hadn’t thought of this until I said it.
The teddy bear stood in place and started stammering, and the skeletons also fumbled around beside him.
Taking advantage of that gap, Choi Sang-eun and the others came up to the 3rd floor.
Our first successful counterattack and monumental victory.
People wanted to celebrate greatly.
But due to my request, they cheered as quietly as possible.
There’s no need to provoke that teddy bear at this point, and if we make a fuss and 「Alpha」 and 「Delta」 show up, it would be really bad.
We had promised from the beginning.
Everyone would cooperate to catch 「Fake Humans」, and leave in order of arrival.
According to that promise, the three people who had been here longest were leaving.
“Thank you, thank you so much…”
People said goodbye while crying.
And they left feeling light and free of debt.
Currently the teddy bear’s gang had 8 members.
There were 4 「Fake Humans」.
We had 11 people.
* * *
Day 5.
Even after being beaten the day before, the teddy bear couldn’t come up with countermeasures.
So he just stood there stupidly with two skeleton guys, and we smoothly sorted out 2 people and 2 「Fake Humans」.
And going one step further, Choi Sang-eun spoke to the skeleton guys next to the teddy bear.
“You guys, can’t you see how things are turning around?”
The skeletons hesitated.
“You can’t make money anymore. No, even if you do make money, is that the right way to earn it? You saw the faces of people you extorted money from, right? Think about if those were your family and parents. Is that something a human being would do? Don’t you have any conscience?”
…I told him not to act like an old fogey, but Choi Sang-eun couldn’t hold back and scolded them.
Appealing to conscience probably won’t work on guys like them.
“And he said he’d let you make money, right? But have you actually received anything? You just watched him make thousands, hundreds of millions, but has even ten won come to you? Do you know his real name or face? If you were him, do you think you’d give money to yourselves? I wouldn’t either. Why would you give it? You could just take the money and run.”
Right, this is the kind of talk that gets through to them.
Pangs of conscience are something you only feel once you’ve matured to a certain degree.
So for those kids, it would be much more effective to let them know just how disadvantageous their position is.
Sure enough, the Skeleton Kids immediately looked confused.
Then Choi Sang-eun drove the point home.
“You guys should stop this and come over here too. I know you couldn’t help it, so if you quit now, I’ll let you leave. You want to go home too, don’t you?”
The Skeletons glanced nervously at Teddy Bear.
One of them cautiously stepped toward Choi Sang-eun.
Bang-!
Teddy Bear pulled out that snake-like thing and slammed it down at the Skeleton’s feet.
Then he threatened in a voice lower than usual.
“Just try to leave.”
“Hey!”
So I stepped in.
“That’s not self-defense anymore, that’s intimidation and coercion. You sure that’s okay?”
Teddy Bear flinched when I spoke from where I stood on the 3rd floor railing.
Right, if you cause trouble, you get arrested. Better be careful.
The Skeletons looked back and forth between me and Teddy Bear.
Having made up their minds, both of them took off their skeleton masks.
Sure enough, they were young kids who looked like they might be around twenty years old.
When the kids came over to our side, Teddy Bear struck the innocent floor and turned away.
And shortly after, 4 Fake Humans were wandering around the theater hallway.
These were the ones Teddy Bear had been carrying and then released.
It seemed he’d abandoned them, judging that having Fake Humans now would be useless and difficult to manage, so we picked them up and put them to good use.
With that, Teddy Bear’s gang currently numbered 6.
We were 9.
The people who escaped without debt were also 9.
Teddy Bear had been right about one thing.
People should live by helping each other.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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