Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 90

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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 90

ep15. Edit! National Museum of Korea! (6)

The woman in a thick fluttering coat instantly overtook me.

Her hair was stretched long like a spring and coiled up.

Did she leap by striking the ground with that twisted hair?

The woman who had jumped from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor in one bound came running down the stairs to attack me.

I dodged to the side and let the woman pass by.

I tried to press down on her shoulder and twist her arm, but damn…!

The woman’s hair twisted again, trying to wrap around me.

I shuddered at those gaping holes in her hair and lifted the woman up.

Then I threw her over the stair railing.

“I’ve reached the 2nd floor, left corridor…!”

-Hall of Serenity! Go to where the 「Half-Lotus Seated Buddha」 is!

Having climbed all the stairs, I ran down the empty corridor.

“Don’t, go… Come, here… Let’s, be, together, with, us…”

But again, the woman’s voice followed behind me.

The woman was chasing me with only her head stretched long while keeping her body on the 1st floor.

I gritted my teeth and turned into an entrance beside the corridor.

Entering through the entrance, I found myself in a dark corridor.

“I’ve reached the corridor leading to the Hall of Serenity.”

-Close your eyes there. Put your hand on the wall and walk 40 steps forward. Don’t run.

I closed my eyes as Kwon Mu-seop instructed. Then I walked forward with my hand against the corridor wall.

One, two, three…

“I, caught you… I caught, you…”

I heard the woman’s voice from behind.

I felt the urge to run, but I forced myself to endure it and kept walking.

“Come, here… Stay, with, me…”

The woman’s breath brushed against the back of my hand.

…Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty.

When I had walked exactly 40 steps.

“Ah… Aah…?”

The woman who had been chasing me muttered to herself and suddenly became quiet.

-Hold your ground. Never open your eyes.

At Kwon Mu-seop’s warning, I squeezed my eyes shut even tighter.

Shortly after, I heard the footsteps of people who had followed me.

The sound of dragging feet with unhealthy bodies.

The sound of footsteps suddenly stopping.

The silence that followed.

And then, some kind of sound.

“Kkeok, kkeogeogeok… kkeogeorok…”

Crack-! Snap-! Thud-!

Sounds I couldn’t understand at all, sounds I didn’t want to understand.

Those sounds continued on and on.

Every time someone who had chased me entered this place, the same sounds repeated.

Kkeogeogeok- Crack-! Thud-!

One person, two people, three people.

This continued until perfect silence arrived.

How much time had passed?

After the same sound repeated six times, the area around me became quiet.

-It’s okay now.

I opened my eyes in fear.

Keeping my gaze on the floor to avoid looking at the 「Half-Lotus Seated Buddha」 that would be in front of me, I slowly turned around.

That made me want to die even more.

On the floor lay six people, dead with their arms shoved into their own necks.

As if to replace them in the silence, screams tangled in my throat.

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■ Final Communication Record of Late Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol #4

I’m sorry, I’ve calmed down.

I’m stopping the bleeding. The wound is, huff, not that deep.

There’s no problem speaking, so I’ll continue.

The fourth danger element is the 「Half-Lotus Seated Buddha」.

The 「Half-Lotus Seated Buddha」 are two Buddha statues located in the ‘Hall of Serenity’ on the 2nd floor of the space.

Depending on the situation, they’re more dangerous entities than the 「False God」, Contaminated Ones, or 「Exhibition Guide」.

Do not look at these statuesssssssarvadushta.

If you see the smile of these statues, you’ll realize the emptiness of the five aggregates and feel an urge to escape from your physical body.

This urge is so intense that you won’t feel pain even while breaking your own neck bones.

Agent Lee Hae-shin also died with a peaceful expression after putting his hands into his own neckgragrahasa hasranam.

The mass death of the prisoners deployed in the last exploration was also because of this.

Never look at these statues.

Those who see the divine must die.

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“Heu, euk…!”

-Do-un, Seo Do-un! Sit down and touch the floor! Keep your feet on the ground and close your eyes!

Kwon Mu-seop shouted at me, trapped between the divine and the corpses.

-Breathe as you learned, I’ll count numbers so follow and breathe. One, one!

At Kwon Mu-seop’s scolding, I forced myself to sit on the floor.

Then I breathed according to his instructions.

-Five, six. You’re doing well. It’s okay, you’re safe.

Safe?

When people died like that?

When humans who died by shoving their arms into their throats are sprawled out in front of me as a group?

I wanted to scream but forced myself to hold back.

I barely endured and endured again, turning the screams building inside into low breathing.

“…I’m okay now.”

-Good. Don’t open your eyes and listen. Focus only on my words.

“…”

-You were drawn into the 「National Central Museum Overseen by the False God」 while entering the 「Hotel Selecting the Real」 yesterday at 14:43. The current time is 4:18 AM. It’s been 13 hours and 30 minutes since you were dragged there.

“What happened to the operation on the 「Hotel」 side? The core…”

-That story is for later. You don’t need to worry about it now.

Kwon Mu-seop dismissed my question and continued speaking.

-We immediately recognized that you were dragged to the 「National Museum of Korea」, and Response Team 3 entered the entrance to that place at 15:32 yesterday to rescue you.

“Then why haven’t they come yet?”

-They’re currently clearing a path from the entrance.

“…?”

-The entrance to enter the 「National Museum of Korea」 is an underground tunnel at the north end of Han River Submerged Bridge. That place hasn’t been used for a long time, so it seems the entrance got blocked during that time.

What is this supposed to mean?

The passage connecting to the Special Zone was blocked, but they didn’t even know it was blocked until now?

So they’re in the process of breaking through it now?

“…Then how long do I need to hold out?”

-It looks like it’ll take some time. They say some unknown substance is blocking the entire entrance, and there’s a risk of the tunnel collapsing if they use explosives, so they’re currently using equipment to dig it out.

I was left speechless.

Even if the passage was blocked by concrete, with the Management Bureau’s scale, they would have broken through within an hour or two.

But they’ve been working on breaking through for over 12 hours, and they can’t even estimate how much longer it will take?

“Then do I have to keep holding out here?”

In this place reeking with the stench of the dead, with my eyes closed?

At my question, Manager Kwon Mu-seop let out a short sigh.

-I’d like to tell you to wait there if possible, but there’s something you need to check for us.

“What is it?”

-The material currently blocking the entrance seems to have been pushed out from inside the Special Zone. Perhaps the entrance to the 「National Museum of Korea」 might be connected bidirectionally like 「The Island」, making it possible to use as an exit. Of course, we’d need to break through the path first.

“…”

-If you could check the situation on the other side of the passage, it would help us understand the situation. Also to find out what kind of material is blocking the passage.

“You’re telling me to go to the rooftop and take a look?”

-Right. Just move from your current location to the rooftop. 「False God」 will be asleep until noon, so you can move during that time.

The passage secured by the Management Bureau connects to the rooftop of the 「National Museum of Korea」.

The rooftop of such a building would normally be locked, but since I had already learned lock-picking techniques, dealing with a locking mechanism wouldn’t be much of a problem.

However, what’s concerning me right now is…

“Some Contaminated One and their group tried to catch me.”

The woman who first grabbed my hand.

And the five or six people who moved according to that woman’s orders.

But they all died here.

So does that mean I no longer need to worry about being chased?

Or should I be cautious of another pursuit.

Why was I being chased in the first place?

-They probably did that to secure a sacrifice to offer to 「False God」.

A sacrifice…

-The Contaminated Ones there are people addicted to the 「Fake Rice」 that 「False God」 spreads. But to receive only the 「Fake Rice」 without being eaten by 「False God」, they need a sacrificial victim to offer when 「False God」 looks at them, so they keep a few people as insurance.

“But only one group tried to catch me. The others just seemed to be watching.”

-That must be due to internal rules.

“Internal rules?”

-It seems the long-time members established their own rules. Like when a newcomer arrives, they’re considered to belong to whoever catches them first… something like that.

For the Contaminated Ones who were like the old-timers of this place, sacrifices were a kind of auxiliary life.

So it was advantageous to secure plenty, but there was no need to hoard them excessively.

No matter which group provided the sacrificial victim, the 「Fake Rice」 would be distributed to everyone.

It would also be troublesome if the sacrifices banded together and resisted.

So the long-time Contaminated Ones established loose rules instead of competing fiercely.

Like newcomers belong to whoever catches them first.

…So that’s why only the woman in winter clothes and her group chased me while the others just watched.

Because I was already that woman’s property.

Because that was the rule.

“…That woman is probably dead.”

I felt creeped out by my own words.

I was the one who lured that woman and her gang here to their deaths.

Yet I was talking about it like it was someone else’s business.

-It’s hard to confirm, but probably so.

“What do you mean it’s hard to confirm?”

-The 「National Museum of Korea」 doesn’t have proper CCTV installed. So we can’t observe the space from our end.

Kwon Mu-seop spoke as if making an excuse.

I pressed my lips tightly shut to swallow a sigh.

“…Anyway, if the woman is dead, another Contaminated One might follow me.”

Since the ownership of me as prey is currently vacant.

-Right. So you need to be careful not to be discovered by other Contaminated Ones while moving.

Manager Kwon Mu-seop didn’t tell me to wait for Cha Si-eon.

Was that because he believed I could handle this situation?

Or was he still trusting the 「Crow」 that sent me here.

If neither, maybe breaking through from outside was more difficult than expected.

Either way, it wasn’t a pleasant situation.

But staying here indefinitely would be just as hellish.

Behind me sat a smiling god, and in front of me lay grotesque yet peaceful corpses.

“Understood. I’ll move once my body loosens up.”

I eventually answered like this.

My limbs still ached from lying prone for over 10 hours.

I rested for a moment until the tension in my body subsided, then forced myself to get up.

“I’m moving now.”

I slowly opened my eyes and walked toward the corpses.

As I passed by them, eeriness and guilt seemed to cling to my body like powder.

Unable to shake it off carelessly, I stood at the exit of the Hall of Serenity.

Before going out to the corridor, I took out a mirror from my vest and first observed the situation outside.

The corridor was empty.

Left, right, floor and ceiling were the same.

The other Contaminated Ones would know that I had escaped and that the woman had died.

But the fact that no one was making a move to catch me – could I assume they had lost interest in me?

Or did they think I was dead?

I hoped that was the case.

I turned the mirror’s angle a bit more.

Beyond the marble corridor’s railing, I could see 「False God」.

It was sleeping, having coiled itself in mid-air with one long spine bone.

Due to the complexly coiled spine, its head was completely hidden from view.

I needed to check the rooftop before that thing started moving again.

I took a deep breath and stepped out into the corridor.

Had I walked barely thirty steps?

Squish-!

Something like gum got stepped on.

What?

I unconsciously looked down at the floor.

But there was nothing on the floor.

Just an ordinary floor constructed with wide marble.

However, the grout lines between the marble tiles were strangely swollen.

“Hehe…”

And a small laugh came from under my feet.

At the same time, more than ten thin strings that had been hiding between the marble tiles in front and behind me rose up and retreated beyond the railing.

And the string I had stepped on slowly rose up and wrapped around my ankle.

The tiny holes in that string whispered.

“Mine… now… keke!”

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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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