Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 92

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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 92

ep15. Edit! National Museum of Korea! (8)

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

But I had no time to look around the rooftop.

Thud-! Click-!

I immediately turned around and locked the door.

Then I watched for any reaction.

Whether they might try to break down the door from outside.

I waited for a while, but there was no sign of anyone shaking the door handle.

But I couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief.

Because I realized instinctively.

That something was wrong.

A fishy smell was vibrating behind my back.

No, it was closer to a rotten smell than fishy.

A terrible stench so bad it was hard to breathe.

What the hell is this smell?

I didn’t want to check.

But I had to.

I gritted my teeth and slowly turned around.

What I eventually faced was the massive skull of the “False God”.

“…!”

I covered my mouth and swallowed my scream.

That enormous skull was placed less than a few meters away from me.

But wait, is it sleeping?

The “False God’s” head showed no movement at all.

Looking more carefully, I saw part of the glass ceiling was broken through.

The “False God” was sleeping comfortably with only its neck sticking out through that hole.

It looked no different from a reptile sunbathing, but I felt no humor in the sight.

Because of the things scattered beside that enormous skull.

A scene similar to a garbage dump.

Objects that had lost their original form were piled up like mountains here and there.

They were covered in black filth, making it impossible to even guess their original appearance.

But one thing was certain – that was the source of this terrible stench.

Could that also be what’s blocking the entrance passage?

If so, I needed to check what it was, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.

Not just because it was dirty, but because I already seemed to know what it was.

Gurgle-!

That’s when it happened.

The “False God’s” skull twitched.

I was startled, thinking it had awakened.

Fortunately, not yet.

Gurgle- Grrrgle-!

It was still asleep, making sewer-like sounds while its jaw moved up and down.

Retch-!

Something flowed down between its sharp teeth.

It was the body of the man it had chewed and swallowed earlier.

God had shown me mercy.

So I wouldn’t have to dig through that pile of filth directly.

So I wouldn’t have to pull out human jawbones or femurs with my hands.

He had personally informed me that everything here was humans that the god had chewed like gum and spat out.

“Hah, ha…!”

Something burst from my mouth – whether laughter or a sigh, I couldn’t tell.

Since both came from my breathing, my lungs rapidly contracted.

My heart clamored for me to fill it with oxygen again.

But I couldn’t inhale.

I couldn’t bring myself to swallow this terrible stench.

“Ha, urgh…!”

Only ragged breaths poured out.

Exhaling was as difficult as vomiting up my insides.

This was my limit.

The moment I exhaled my last breath, my consciousness plummeted into an abyss.

* * *

I have to get up.

I can’t collapse now.

Get it together, quickly.

I urged myself on in the darkness.

But I couldn’t move my body.

As if suffering from sleep paralysis, neither asleep nor awake, only my consciousness was floating.

Actually, I think I’m a bit tired too.

But it can’t be helped.

Situations are given to us.

All I can do is make the most rational choice in any given situation.

If I stop here, there will only be death….

-You’re good at lying.

Then a clear voice came from within me.

-Cut it out already, you frustrating fool.

I saw what had spoken to me.

It was none other than myself.

Much younger than now, wearing a school uniform.

The boy version of me had an extremely annoyed expression.

With eyes full of cynicism, he looked down at me almost with contempt.

-Don’t you know your place? Why do you act like you’re something special when you’re so pathetically weak? Do you want to be a hero or something?

I, no, the boy said.

-Enough already, let’s be honest. The reason you’re going crazy right now – are you really doing this because you don’t know what it is?

What are you talking about.

I don’t know. I really don’t know.

-Then shall I tell you instead?

The boy burst into a cold laugh at my ignorance.

I couldn’t refuse.

That boy was also me, so there was no way to stop him.

The boy who had stolen the right to speak from me stopped laughing abruptly and said.

-If you keep going like this, you’ll die.

The boy’s declaration scraped coldly across my chest.

-You won’t die if you stop here – you’ll die if you keep going from here. You’ll do nothing but good deeds for others and end up dying alone. And in the form you find most horrifying, at that.

“….”

-Do you want everyone to escape this nightmare together? No, only you think that way. The other humans aren’t particularly interested in keeping you alive.

That’s not true.

I wanted to argue back.

But the boy was faster than me.

-If that weren’t the case, would they be flirting and exchanging numbers in the middle of all this? While nothing has been resolved on this side, they’re already preparing to party as if everything’s over on their side. No one’s curious anymore about why you got caught up in this situation.

I was left speechless again by the young boy’s harsh words.

I couldn’t refute them.

Because if I said I had no such feelings at all, that would be a lie.

That was right.

I didn’t like the fireworks people set off so early.

I felt uncomfortable seeing them enjoy making me a hero while my situation had already become something taken for granted.

When I acknowledged this, the young boy laughed even more coldly.

-But why are you struggling alone? Look at yourself right now. Is this something a person who lived an ordinary life should have to handle? What are you going to accomplish by enduring like this? Are you planning to gradually fall apart and actually die for your country?

The young boy clicked his tongue as if frustrated.

Then he approached me with a much softer expression.

-Stop being hypocritical and admit it. You’re regretting it right now, aren’t you?

The young boy’s gaze was now melancholy.

He was pitying me.

-So stop now. You can’t go any further from here.

The young boy extended his hand to me and murmured softly.

-Don’t get any closer to death.

I looked back and forth between the young boy’s youthful face and the hand he offered.

Looking at myself speaking for my sake, I came to understand many things.

Including that I was more cornered at the edge of a cliff than I thought.

If I took this hand, could I escape from here?

I would be able to.

If I chose to run away, I could turn away from the death scattered throughout this deformed world.

As always, the choice was mine to make.

I soon made up my mind and reached out my hand.

Then I passed by the young boy’s hand and placed it on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner.”

-….

“But it’s okay. I can still do more.”

The young boy’s eyes widened at my words.

The young boy contorted his face and shouted something.

But having already lost the right to speak, he could no longer make a sound.

My pitiful part screamed silently before scattering into light.

The sparkling light scattered in all directions, and the dark world brightened to white.

Clear laughter could be heard from somewhere.

Where the young boy had disappeared, Author Nabbit was laughing.

The author, who had been holding her stomach while laughing, spoke to me with a face full of joy.

-What a real fool.

The author’s face was bright as she said this.

It was so bright that I ended up smiling back like a real fool.

* * *

I slowly raised my body after lying collapsed with my shoulder against the floor.

I leaned against the door and looked at the head of the “Fake God” and the pile of filth accumulated around it.

The scene before my eyes was still horrific as ever.

But was it because my mind had gone out and come back once?

My head felt strangely refreshed.

How long had I been unconscious?

The current time was 6:06.

I must have been unconscious for about 30 minutes.

It seemed I even had a dream in that short time.

It was a strange dream.

So much so that I wondered if it was really just a dream.

I put the earpiece I had taken out in front of the “Exhibition Docent” back in my ear and spoke.

“Section Chief, are you there?”

-Yes, I’m here.

A calm voice.

It seemed he had been waiting for me to continue speaking.

I thought about what I should say, then absentmindedly muttered.

“I hope things go well for you, Section Chief.”

-What did you say? Do-un, what’s the situation right now? Are you safe? Answer me!

I had just spoken without thinking.

Kwon Mu-seop was shouting, thinking I was leaving some kind of last words.

Ah, I shouldn’t carelessly say things like this here.

Because Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol, who had been exploring this place, died in the line of duty after leaving his last words through communication like this.

I felt like I had unnecessarily startled the Section Chief, so I added.

“I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.”

-Really? Are you really okay?

“Yes. I’m still okay for now. But since I want to stay okay, please do some maintenance on the entry corridor.”

-Alright, I’ll conduct a full investigation as soon as you come out. Just as long as you come out.

“And please give me some vacation time.”

-Vacation?

“Yes. I think I need to rest a bit.”

Even water boils when put over fire.

So if you don’t like the vigorous boiling state, you just need to turn off the fire.

Was Section Chief Kwon Mu-seop getting the contact information of a female rescue worker really such a bad thing?

No. A person who said managing Special Zones was everything had started thinking about what comes next, so this was a good thing.

Ha Yu-ju putting her heart and soul into Otter Rescue Association activities?

A person who had been seriously injured because of me was still living happily with a spirited attitude.

This was also a good thing.

Then was I bad for being uncomfortable with that?

No. My emotions were also valid.

So I could choose.

I could spread my cornered feelings to other people, or I could acknowledge that I lacked composure and take a little rest.

As always, the choice was mine to make, so I choose again.

From the options given to me, the most rational one.

-Alright, I’ll give you as much vacation as you want, but what exactly is the situation right now? Can you assess the situation?

Kwon Mu-seop asked in an unusually anxious tone.

My words about needing to rest must have sounded like last words again.

Right, vacation or whatever, I need to survive here first to receive it.

I finally came to my senses and spoke.

“I’ve reached the rooftop, and the ‘Fake God’ is sleeping with its head raised outside the rooftop. And around it, the corpses of people the ‘Fake God’ ate are piled up.”

-What…?

“It seems like what’s blocking the corridor is the victims’ corpses.”

Only humans can escape from Special Zones.

Materials from Special Zones can also only go outside through humans.

Either carried by human hands, or combined with human bodies. One of the two.

In other words, what had been pushed into the corridor was ultimately human.

It was a large quantity of corpses that had been dissolved and hardened by the “Fake God’s” saliva.

“It seems impossible for me to find the exit on the rooftop by myself. There are too many corpses piled up, and since the corpses are half-melted, I don’t think I should touch them carelessly without equipment.”

-….

Kwon Mu-seop’s breathing grew deeper.

So I made a suggestion to the worried Kwon Mu-seop.

“Section Chief, could you give me a detailed explanation of the last exploration situation in this Special Zone?”

-Why that all of a sudden?

“We need to find a new escape route.”

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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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