Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 91

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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 91

ep15. Edit! National Museum of Korea! (7)

“Mine… all… kik!”

At the sound of the string wrapping around my ankle, I hastily pulled my foot back.

Hissss-!

But that string grabbed my ankle first.

“Ugh…!”

I staggered and dropped to one knee.

Then a string as thin as a shoelace crawled up my body, giggling.

“Come… with me… eat… rice…”

“Grk…!”

I realized with dismay.

This wasn’t a string but a Contaminated Person’s hair stretched to its limit.

Then what about the other strings that had retreated beyond the railing earlier?

They were other Contaminated Ones.

They had stuck to the floor waiting for me to come out.

With a promise that whoever I stepped on first would get to have me.

-Do-un, what’s wrong!

“Contaminated Person…!”

There was no time for leisurely explanations.

As soon as I grasped the situation, I grabbed and tore at the string climbing up my body.

But its gripping strength was formidable.

Since escaping like this would be insufficient, I spread my elbows to create space.

Then I pulled out my knife and scraped at the string that was tightly constricting me.

“Ah…! It hurts…! Ahhh…!”

The string screamed and loosened.

It wasn’t cut, but the pain seemed to get through.

I took that opportunity to throw off the string wrapped around me and ran down the corridor.

But damn it…

Whirr whirr whirr whirr-!

There was a sound of string rapidly reeling in, then a human body floated up from beyond the railing and blocked my path.

A headless man’s body.

No, it was a casually dressed man’s body with a very, very thin string attached to his neck.

“Eat, come… tasty… rice…”

Whispering sounds came from in front of and behind me.

It was the sound of tiny holes in the string all singing in unison.

Behind me was a tough and noisy string.

In front was the man’s body dangling from that string.

Just pushing through that would be impossible.

I had already confirmed these Contaminated Ones’ monstrous strength through the woman in the winter coat.

“I’m entering the exhibition space.”

-What did you say?

After briefly notifying Kwon Mu-seop, I entered the entrance to the exhibition area beside me.

The exhibition area next to the Hall of Serenity.

That place was the Donation Gallery displaying donated artifacts.

When I entered the Donation Gallery, the Contaminated Person lamented at the entrance.

“Ah… there… no good…”

The Contaminated Person stopped pursuing me.

Though I had escaped pursuit, it wasn’t a situation to feel relieved.

As I turned around to observe the Contaminated Person’s movements, I immediately came face to face with it.

Wearing white cloth over its head like a veil,

deeply bowing its neck to look down at me,

the Exhibition Docent with eyes that were far too large.

—

■ Final Communication Record of the Late Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol #3

The third danger factor is the Exhibition Docent wandering the exhibition spaces.

It walks upright like a human, with a height of about 3 meters and mummy-like dried limbs.

It wears white robes like a priest and has white cloth over its head.

It seems to want exhibition visitors to maintain proper viewing etiquette.

When Agent Son Ji-yong, who was injured and panicking, screamed in the viewing area, the Exhibition Docent shouted ‘Quiet! Quiet! Quiet!’ and broke Agent Son Ji-yong’s neck.

Yes, it said ‘quiet’ in words I could understand.

You might not have heard it over the communication, but I clearly heard that entity pronouncing ‘tu-shi-nim’ while demanding silence.

The Exhibition Docent speaks fluent Korean.

The Exhibition Docent politely said to us, ‘I’ll give you an exhibition tour, so please follow me.’

We accepted that proposal, but Agent Kim Hye-min, who had lost her legs, couldn’t keep up.

Then the Exhibition Docent said, ‘You’ll need legs to view our artifacts,’ and attached Agent Kim Hye-min’s arms to her legs.

So the Exhibition Docent seems to want visitors to have enthusiasm for knowledge.

The Exhibition Docent explained various artifacts to us.

I could understand that commentary immediately, but the other agents couldn’t.

So the Exhibition Docent continued the tour for 16 hours and 16 minutes, going around the exhibition hall until we understood.

Then the other agents also came to understand the Exhibition Docent’s words.

During this process, when the agents began self-harming, Agent Park Min-hyeok showed quick thinking and distracted the Exhibition Docent.

So we were able to escape the exhibition area.

Anyway, the tour seemed enjoyable. Heh.

Still, heek, I don’t recommend entering the exhibition space.

Listening to the Exhibition Docent’s commentary strengthens your sense of rules, so for more perfect silence, heu, oop. Without realizing it, your tongue.

Your tongue, you cut and want to be silent because…

—

Is this what they mean by meeting a tiger while avoiding a wolf?

I forced myself to face the Exhibition Docent staring down at me intently.

Tsuaaa-! Tushikrashia-!

The Exhibition Docent gurgled its throat without vocal cords and growled low.

I hesitated at the sharp reaction for some reason, then quickly realized.

The Exhibition Docent was glaring at the black ring on my left hand.

I hurriedly put on my gloves.

Then the Exhibition Docent stopped breathing abruptly.

Then it guided me with polite gestures.

Having entered here, I had no choice but to listen to the Exhibition Docent’s explanation.

But listening to this entity’s voice continuously would cause contamination.

So while the Exhibition Docent turned around, I removed my earpiece and plugged earplugs into my ears.

In that state, I pretended to listen to the Exhibition Docent’s explanation and followed along.

The interior of the exhibition hall was moderately dark, with various artifacts displayed in glass cases.

However, even those normal exhibits hurt my eyes as if they would pop out if I kept looking.

So I blurred my focus and passed by the exhibits in a state that was neither looking nor not looking.

Walking through the dark space in that state, all of this suddenly felt surreal.

Why am I here?

Just yesterday, work was going according to plan.

Crow.

Is this also its doing?

If so, I really have no idea why.

Why are you interfering?

Why?

Is there some deeper meaning again?

Will this bring more wondrous results than our plan?

Then what about me.

What about me, who has to keep going through this crap while being played by your grand scheme?

How long do I have to endure this?

And the Management Bureau is disappointing too.

They know full well that I get dragged around randomly.

Then they should have at least checked the condition of the corridor.

They said we’d help each other, but in the end, I’m the only one whose life is on the line and desperate…

…I guess I’m really not in good shape right now.

My thoughts are messy.

I followed the Exhibition Docent while forcing myself to take deep breaths.

Everyone has their own story.

And what creates a story is situations and actions.

Situations are what are given to people.

Actions are what people choose.

This is the same whether it’s a character in a novel or a person in reality.

Situations sometimes unilaterally dump unexpected events and accidents on you, but at least I can choose how to act in response.

Through that, I can decide for myself.

What kind of person I’ll be at every moment.

So let’s decide.

For now, let’s be ‘someone who calmly handles crises.’

Irritation can get out, now is not the time.

I forcibly pulled my scattered mind together.

Meanwhile, we reached the last section of the Donation Gallery.

In front of the last artifact, the Exhibition Docent stared down at me intently.

If I stayed like this, we’d go back to the beginning and repeat the exhibition tour.

I had only pretended to listen without understanding anything, and the Exhibition Docent was passionate about their job.

So I raised my hand.

“I have a question.”

The Exhibition Docent tilted their head and made eye contact with me.

The fist-sized eye visible through the white cloth was horrifying, but I calmly continued speaking.

“Among the donated items, there was Zhuangzi. What is the complete spiritual freedom that Zhuangzi spoke of?”

The Exhibition Docent had been bending their waist at a 90-degree angle to match my eye level from when we first met until now.

But suddenly they straightened their back.

The Exhibition Docent, now tall enough for their head to touch the ceiling, pressed their forehead in that position.

—

The method to get rid of the Exhibition Docent is as follows.

The Exhibition Docent also likes receiving questions.

They will sincerely answer any question about artifacts.

However, what the Exhibition Docent can answer is only standard information about artifacts, they don’t possess detailed specialized knowledge.

Agent Park Min-hyeok asked about a ceramic artifact: ‘What is the composition of raw materials used in that white porcelain’s glaze and at what temperature was it reduced?’

Then the Exhibition Docent couldn’t answer and fell into deep anguish, feeling very ashamed.

Escape during that gap.

The Exhibition Docent is truly deeply ashamed of their ignorance.

—

Fortunately, it seems I asked the right question.

I slowly stepped backward while watching the Exhibition Docent’s troubled expression.

The exit wasn’t very far.

Since I’d come to the end of the building through the exhibition area, I could go straight to the rooftop by running up the stairs from the exit.

As I stepped back one step, two steps.

The perplexed Exhibition Docent suddenly looked at me.

Then they stretched their arm toward me.

Their arm, as long as they were tall, reached near my shoulder in an instant.

I couldn’t dodge or swat it away and flinched, when the Exhibition Docent touched my ear.

Swoosh-

Then they pulled out my earplug.

“…”

Jureusaa-!

The Exhibition Docent shouted something while looking at the earplug.

Unlike the late Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol, I couldn’t understand those words.

But I could tell they were angry at me.

The Exhibition Docent swung their arm wide as if to slap me.

I ducked to avoid it, and that swipe hit the glass case next to me.

Crash-!

The glass protecting the artifacts shattered and collapsed.

The Exhibition Docent flinched at their own outrageous act.

I was about to run away during that gap, but changed my mind and roughly grabbed the artifacts that were inside the broken glass.

Sisaaraga-!

The Exhibition Docent screamed at my actions.

Before it could charge at me, I threw an inkstone with all my might.

Sishagi-!

The Exhibition Docent ran after the flying inkstone like a dog playing frisbee.

I took that opportunity to escape through the exit.

“Heee…”

As soon as I came outside, I heard babbling sounds.

In the corridor, a Contaminated Person was standing with their body tilted crookedly, scribbling in the air with their greatly elongated hair.

I didn’t even have the energy to be more surprised, so I shoved the ceramic bottle I was holding at them.

Crash-!

When the Contaminated Person hit and broke the ceramic, the Exhibition Docent who had run out from behind me pounced on the Contaminated Person.

Hieushia-! Agaga-!

“Ah… ah…! D, don’t…”

While the Contaminated Person and Exhibition Docent were tangled up and struggling, I ran up the stairs.

I went up one floor, moved to the end of the corridor, and looked for the door leading to the rooftop.

The door was locked, as expected.

I took out my lockpick from my vest pocket.

Then I pushed it into the keyhole and moved it.

Quickly, no, slowly, there’s no time, hurry!

I clung to the keyhole while enduring the feeling of frost pouring down my back.

I touched the cylinders inside the locking mechanism one by one with the thin metal rod.

Click, click, clack-!

A feeling of something catching.

At the same time, a low whisper from behind me.

“Bad… uh…”

I felt all the hair on my body stand on end as I twisted the doorknob.

The door opened, and I burst right through.

As I came out onto the rooftop, bright light greeted me.

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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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