Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 142

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Labyrinth Exploration 101 Episode 142

 

Spear Ghost(5)

 

Creak… Creak…

 

Every time we walk down the corridor, the gaps between the wooden tiles writhe.

 

Creak… Creak…

 

It’s nothing major, but quite a nerve-wracking sound.

 

“Well, for me, my heart always aches. Not just the children, but a teacher went missing too.”

 

Seo Jong-myeong walked ahead, and the group followed behind him.

 

─What was the order?

 

“…Excuse me? Order?”

 

Seo Jong-myeong tilted his head at Truck’s question.

 

─Did the children go missing first, or did the teacher go missing first?

 

“Ah~ Yes. The children went missing first. So people started whispering. That the teacher must be the culprit. But…”

 

─In the end, the teacher went missing too.

 

“Yes. Some assume it was suicide. Everyone in the village suspected him. It’s bitter.”

 

There’s nothing bitter about it.

 

Most likely, that teacher was the victim before the children.

 

─Which class were the missing children from?

 

Seo Jong-myeong shone his light on the classroom nameplate.

 

“This way. All four children are from 3rd Grade Class 1.”

 

[3rd Grade Class 1]

 

“One child disappeared while cleaning, one while staying late waiting for family, one while trying to retrieve something they left behind… They vanished. The scene itself has been preserved.”

 

Seo Jong-myeong opened the classroom door with a key. The height of the desks and chairs was very low.

 

“Well then, I’ll be going. If anything happens, please contact me with this radio.”

 

Seo Jong-myeong handed Lee Jun-ho the radio.

 

“Yes.”

 

Lee Jun-ho attached it to his waist.

 

“I’ll be in the security room.”

 

─Ah. Mr. Seo Jong-myeong.

 

Truck briefly stopped Seo Jong-myeong who was about to leave.

 

“Yes?”

 

─Where are the telephones located?

 

“There’s one on each floor’s stair landing. There’s also a payphone on the 1st floor.”

 

─Yes. Thank you.

 

Seo Jong-myeong left. Lee Jun-ho glanced around the classroom and muttered.

 

“Is this set in the past? Our school didn’t have payphones.”

 

─Going in first.

 

The brave Truck entered 3rd Grade Class 1 and illuminated the interior with its headlight.

 

─I don’t sense any ghostly energy.

 

“Can Truck even sense ghostly energy?”

 

Kate asked suspiciously.

 

─Right now, this truck is practically my body. That’s why my knees hurt and all. Just hurry up and farm. I’m about to get cranky.

 

“…You’re already cranky.”

 

─As if you’re any better.

 

“Sigh… I’ll check the windows.”

 

─I’ll take the desk drawers.

 

Salt Truck moved its robot arm to search desk drawers, Kate searched the windows and ceiling, Kang Hyeon searched the lockers, and Lee Jun-ho rummaged through the cleaning supply closet and the corridor in general.

 

“Here. I think I found something.”

 

At Kang Hyeon’s words, Truck came rattling over.

 

─Let me see.

 

It was a diary.

 

Ring ring ring ring──

 

Suddenly, a loud ringing sound echoed.

 

The first ring.

 

“Shh.”

 

Lee Jun-ho put his finger to his lips. This situation was in the 6th paragraph of Wolryeong Village’s precautions.

 

6. If you hear an unfamiliar phone ring three times from a payphone while walking, you must answer it. If it rings four times, you must ignore it.

 

Ring ring ring ring──

 

The second ring.

 

Ring ring ring ring──

 

The third ring.

 

It doesn’t continue beyond three times.

 

At that moment, Lee Jun-ho flew into action.

 

Whoosh! In one step he burst out of the classroom, in two steps he kicked off the wall and soared up, and in three steps he grabbed the red telephone on the stair landing.

 

“Hello!”

 

─Yaaawn… Yes. Who is this?

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

It’s a man’s voice that just woke up from sleep.

 

Why is he so relaxed?

 

“Who am I, you ask. You’re the one who called.”

 

Rattle rattle rattle. Truck and the group approached.

 

─What call… Wait.

 

Gulp. A nervous throat sound came from the other side.

 

─Don’t tell me, you people, this number, are you at Jeoldong Elementary School right now?

 

“Yes.”

 

─Holy shit! Why the hell did you go in there!

 

“Excuse me, who are you?”

 

─…Haven’t you seen the articles about Jeoldong Elementary? You went in without knowing about that?!

 

Lee Jun-ho searched through his mind.

 

5 additional missing persons at Jeoldong Elementary School… Mystery continuing from last year. According to witness testimony, they heard “bell sounds ringing from the school payphone.” Police decided to halt additional search efforts.

 

“Are you, by any chance, the witness?”

 

─Yes. Sigh…

 

He let out a sigh.

 

─Damn it. Now that you’ve answered this call, you’re in the exact same situation I was in back then.

 

Thud——!

 

The sound of the central entrance slamming shut. At the same time, the view outside the window turned pitch black.

 

“Th-the door just closed.”

 

─There’s a vengeful spirit there. It has discovered all of you.

 

“A vengeful spirit…?”

 

─Yes. The missing teacher.

 

“How do we stop it?”

 

─You can’t stop it. The size of its resentment is… too great. It’s a ghost that even the mountain spirit would yield to. First, when it gets close, you’ll hear crying sounds-

 

Click.

 

The phone hung up.

 

“What the hell.”

 

Lee Jun-ho looked at the sticker in front of the phone.

 

[Jeoldong Elementary School Safety Phone!]

 

[Call your parents~]

 

[3 minutes free!]

 

“Damn it. Are they being stingy with 3 minutes for kids?”

 

─Ghosts are divided into vengeful spirits and souls.

 

Rattle rattle rattle. Seol Truck, who had approached at some point, spoke.

 

─Probably…

 

But it stops mid-sentence. The truck’s eyeballs roll around looking at the three people.

 

“What. Speak up.”

 

─….

 

“Don’t tell me you don’t trust me, no, us? Do we look like ghosts?”

 

Lee Jun-ho contorted his face in annoyance. Kate and Kang Hyeon also stared intently at the truck.

 

“I’m asking.”

 

─Don’t speak informally to me.

 

The truck fiddled with the pistol in its cargo bed with its robotic arm.

 

“…I’m asking you.”

 

The truck clicked its tongue.

 

─Tsk. Right. You guys could be fake too. But that’s exactly why we need to share information. I… think the culprit is someone who uses the Human-Skin Masked Ghost technique.

 

“Human-Skin Masked Ghost?”

 

─It’s a damn talent where you become that person by wearing their skin inside out.

 

Originally, Human-Skin Masked Ghost is close to the Polymorph category, meaning magic, but sometimes there are guys who are especially gifted in just that field.

 

─Seo Jong-myeong. That security guard said the children went missing first in order, and the teacher went missing last, right? It’s probably the opposite.

 

The truck pointed to the photo stuck on the classroom wall labeled ‘3rd Grade Class 1 Our Class Teacher’.

 

3rd Grade Class 1 Teacher Lee Se-eun

 

─The teacher was sacrificed first, and the culprit stole her body to kill the children. That’s why the teacher became a vengeful spirit. Because of that bastard who killed children using her own body.

 

Whoosh. It felt like wind was blowing through the blocked corridor. Lee Jun-ho rubbed his forearm.

 

─We need to find the connection. Track the trajectory of the murders. If we do that.

 

“We can reach the culprit, is that it?”

 

At Kate’s words, the truck flashed its lights. It was a signal meaning correct.

 

“Hyung. There’s something here.”

 

Kang Hyeon handed over a diary.

 

“It’s the diary of a child named Kim So-yeon, and the entry right before she went missing is strange. If you only read the red markings, it says ‘haksilchajaseyo jugwa’. Rearranged, it’s ‘Science Room. Please find me’.”

 

─….

 

However, Seol Ha-woon says nothing.

 

What deep contemplation has he fallen into?

 

The truck remains silent for a long while, then.

 

─Oh. Oh. Come in.

 

Suddenly it looks into empty space and mutters strange words.

 

The three people were startled and pressed themselves against the wall.

 

─Right. Good timing.

 

Lee Jun-ho asked in a trembling voice.

 

“…Wh-what are you doing?”

 

Kate spread her magic power in the direction the truck was looking. There was nothing there.

 

“What are you looking at…”

 

─Lodging, 1 nyang. Meals, 1 nyang.

 

“…Huh?”

 

“What the hell.”

 

The three people looked bewildered.

 

─Even if you don’t have money, I’ll let it slide the first time. Instead, I’ll write it in the ledger, ah, you have some?

 

The truck blinked its headlights.

 

─Good. I received 2 nyang. What, four days’ worth? You must have earned a lot. If you pay in advance, I’ll discount 1 nyang. Yeah. Just give me 7 nyang. Right.

 

Kate and Lee Jun-ho’s eyes narrowed.

 

“Oh come on. Are you doing business right now?”

 

─Well, is there anything specific you want to eat?

 

“…Let’s just discuss among ourselves. Gather around.”

 

Lee Jun-ho called the two people together.

 

* * *

 

“Well, is there anything specific you want to eat?”

 

Explorers are gradually starting to visit the used bookstore. Infrastructure is this important.

 

“Um… You don’t have a menu, do you?”

 

The customers are Kim Woo-hyeon and Jo Woon. A well-mannered duo who paid 7 nyang on their first visit.

 

“There’s no menu, but feel free to ask.”

 

“I… do you happen to have something like marbled beef?”

 

At Kim Woo-hyeon’s words, Jo Woon let out a hollow laugh.

 

“Woo-hyeon. That kind of thing-”

 

“I have it.”

 

“What? You have it?”

 

I have quite a lot of meat that I brought from the butcher shop.

 

I lit the burner.

 

“How about a marbled beef set meal?”

 

“Th-that’s great!”

 

“Perfect! That’s absolutely perfect!”

 

Kim Woo-hyeon and Jo Woon nodded enthusiastically.

 

“Okay.”

 

I grilled the marbled beef in the frying pan, prepared pot rice and soybean paste stew, and chopped lettuce wraps, peppers, and garlic into bite-sized pieces, then plated everything on a tray and served it.

 

“…Wow. Hyung, you’re amazing.”

 

“To receive such a feast in a ghost village. Seol Ha-woon. Thank you.”

 

“What’s there to thank me for when I’m getting paid for it.”

 

They buried their faces in the food with deep emotion.

 

“Haaaaaam….”

 

Just then, Yoon Hwa-rim woke up. Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff. She seemed hungry as she first caught the scent of meat.

 

“…Oh, marbled beef.”

 

Her eyes watered as she rummaged through her pockets, but they were empty.

 

“Ah… I don’t have any Yeop-jeon left now.”

 

In this village, Yeop-jeon isn’t something you can easily obtain.

 

So.

 

“Listen up. You guys can eat while you listen too.”

 

I tapped Jo Woon and Kim Woo-hyeon on the shoulders.

 

“Go investigate the village residents and write down their names, ages, stories, and other details. I’ll give you one meal ticket for each resident you investigate.”

 

Yoon Hwa-rim shot up.

 

“Wow! Jemallot! Jemallot! Can I get an advance?!”

 

“….”

 

I glared at her silently.

 

“…Just kidding! I should go investigate right away!”

 

“Wait. Yoon Hwa-rim, you investigate this person first.”

 

I picked up a blank piece of paper.

 

“There’s nothing on it though?”

 

“Not yet.”

 

I opened my eyes wide. At the same time, I recalled the photo of 3rd Grade Class 1 teacher ‘Lee Se-eun’ that I had seen through Truck’s vision.

 

Sequence.

 

I emitted magic power through my retina, and the visual information remembered by the magic power onto this blank paper──

 

Click!

 

Teacher Lee Se-eun’s face appeared on the white paper.

 

“This person. Go investigate her.”

 

“…Whoa. Malolham. Where did you learn to do this?”

 

“Just hurry up and go. We don’t have time right now. I’ll specially give you 2 meal tickets.”

 

“Wow! Got it. Then, I’ll go alone. Those guys are just dead weight.”

 

Yoon Hwa-rim pointed at her party members. They seemed quite tired, as the other three were still sleeping.

 

“Fine.”

 

* * *

 

At the stair landing of Jeoldong Elementary School. Near the red telephone, three people were huddled together having a discussion.

 

“So. We either wait until this phone rings again or-”

 

─Let’s go. To the Science Room.

 

Just then, Truck reactivated. Lee Jun-ho crossed his arms.

 

“Why? Just keep doing business.”

 

“Jun-ho. What kind of way is that to talk to your hyung?”

 

“….”

 

Lee Jun-ho looked at Kang Hyeon with disbelief.

 

You were gossiping with me just 5 minutes ago.

 

“Hyung. We’re getting free meal tickets too, right?”

 

So that was your goal.

 

─Fine, just get ready to go.

 

“The Science Room is on the 6th floor. There’s a ghost lurking there.”

 

─I know. I heard everything. But look at the clock.

 

Truck pointed at the clock in the corridor.

 

[ 1:59 ]

 

─Even hours are dangerous, odd hours are safe. One minute in this village is quite long. Personally, I estimate it’s between 20 minutes to 1 hour, and it just turned 59 minutes, so we need to move quickly.

 

“…Who was the one fooling around?”

 

Lee Jun-ho pouted.

 

─I was gathering information here. And you should know how to do what you need to do even without me.

 

Creak creak. Truck, having changed to different wheels, climbed the stairs. The other three quickly followed.

 

[Science Room]

 

6th floor, Science Room.

 

Click. Truck picked the locked door.

 

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in a place like this. The alcohol smell is strong.”

 

Lee Jun-ho looked around the Science Room.

 

Frog specimens in formaldehyde solution, human anatomy mannequins, various laboratory equipment.

 

While examining the interior.

 

Huuuuuuuk…

 

A chilling cry rolled in like surround sound.

 

It had turned 2 o’clock.

 

The sound was even close!

 

Truck stuck to the wall by the Science Room door and gestured. The three people also hurriedly ran over and sat in a row.

 

Children….

 

Step. Step. Footsteps and a voice gradually approached.

 

Children….

 

Kate rolled her eyes to look up above the window.

 

There was a long neck.

 

A neck wrapped tightly with rope, stretched long. If a hanged corpse’s neck was left abandoned indefinitely and became abnormally deformed, would it look like that?

 

The ghost’s giraffe-like neck twitched. Kate squeezed her eyes shut.

 

Chil

 

dren

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

It

 

wasn’t

 

me

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

It

 

My

 

Ga

 

A

 

Ni

 

Eot

 

Eo

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Heu

 

Eu

 

Eu

 

Eu

 

Euk

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to have spotted us, as it slowly moves away.

 

Thud. Thud.

 

The sound of footsteps going down the stairs.

 

“Haa… The ceiling.”

 

Kate quickly pointed upward.

 

“The ceiling, look at the ceiling.”

 

Everyone looked at the part she was pointing to. Only that section had sunk down very slightly.

 

“I’ll open it.”

 

Lee Jun-ho and Kang Hyeon stacked desks together, and Jun-ho climbed up to open the tile.

 

Thunk.

 

Above the ceiling that was revealed, scattering dust.

 

“…So you were here.”

 

There was a corpse.

 

Strangely, a frail body that hadn’t decayed at all.

 

Jun-ho came down holding the child in his arms. The body was barely the size of his forearm.

 

Short hair. A cherry-shaped hair accessory.

 

So-yeon, wearing a red cape-like coat.

 

Kang Hyeon let out a solemn sigh. Kate also turned her head away.

 

In contrast, Jun-ho wore a bitter smile.

 

“Hah… That fucking bastard… How could he do this to such a small child…”

 

So-yeon had no face.

 

What should have been a small, innocent, and cute face was ‘almost’ completely torn off, leaving only muscles and eyeballs.

 

─Don’t try to understand.

 

Seol Ha-woon said. He placed his robot arm on Jun-ho’s shoulder.

 

─They’re vermin born this way.

 

“…”

 

Kate couldn’t understand.

 

It’s just a labyrinth anyway, so it’s not even real. Are they all overimmersing because it’s a broadcast even though they know?

 

Well, even if it’s a broadcast, the fear is real enough.

 

Ring ring ring ring──

 

The telephone bell rings out again.

 

Jun-ho set So-yeon down on the desk.

 

“If it rings three times, I’ll go.”

 

Ring ring ring ring──

 

“No. This time-”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

He stopped Kang Hyeon from stepping forward.

 

“To get as much information as possible within 3 minutes, I need to go since I’ve already talked with them.”

 

I must answer it. Even if it means being bitten to death by a ghost.

 

If I can just relay the information, the remaining explorers will clear it anyway.

 

Jun-ho trusts Seol Ha-woon.

 

Ring ring ring ring──

 

The third time.

 

No matter how long he waits, the bell doesn’t ring any more than that.

 

“Don’t come out, just wait!”

 

Jun-ho opened the door. He leaped down the stairs and picked up the red telephone.

 

“Is this the witness?”

 

─Yes. That’s right. What’s the situation right now?!

 

The witness also asked urgently.

 

“That ghost is wandering around, and we just found one child’s corpse.”

 

He poured it out like rapid fire.

 

He doesn’t know when the ghost might come, and even if the ghost doesn’t come, the call will end in 3 minutes.

 

─Yes. I’ve been thinking about it too. You said the door was locked, right? It was a simple matter. Right now, in that place, who could lock the door?

 

If it’s simple, there’s only one person.

 

Security guard Seo Jong-myeong.

 

─I’ve seen that person too. At that school.

 

Jun-ho searched through his mind.

 

Jong-myeong had specifically corrected it to say it was a disappearance, not a murder.

 

Also, there was no noticeable ‘weapon’ in his appearance.

 

Crackle──

 

“!”

 

A radio sound crackled from Jun-ho’s waist.

 

It was the radio.

 

[There. Can you hear me?]

 

It’s Jong-myeong. Right after the witness suspected him, this immediately.

 

[Right now, a strange being is approaching you!]

 

“…Where are you watching from?”

 

[CCTV! Quickly, get inside the classroom!]

 

Kids, are you there…?

 

The vengeful spirit’s voice isn’t far away.

 

The witness’s urgent voice burst from the receiver.

 

─Put on red clothing! Then the ghost won’t be able to see you.

 

“Red clothing… you say?”

 

─Yes!

 

A warning signpost flashed in Jun-ho’s mind.

 

4. Never wear red clothing under any circumstances.

 

9. When something frightens you, wear red clothing. You will be protected.

 

Two clauses that had conflicted from the very beginning.

 

[What are you doing holding that phone! Hurry and enter any classroom!]

 

─You must wear red clothing!

 

Damn it. One tells me to wear red clothing, the other tells me to enter a classroom.

 

[Hurry!]

 

─Even hurt yourself! Soak your clothes with blood! That’s how I survived!

 

Self-harm. That makes sense. If I bleed, my clothes would be soaked in blood and turn red.

 

But…

 

Children… who could have done that to them…?

 

“Shit…”

 

Lee Jun-ho gritted his teeth hard.

 

Between the witness and Seo Jong-myeong, who should he trust?

 

Between clauses 4 and 9, which one should he follow?

 

Lee Jun-ho took a deep breath. He went back to the beginning. From the moment he entered Jeoldong Elementary until now, he reconstructed every scene. He racked his brain until his forehead grew hot.

 

“…Wait.”

 

Suddenly, certain voices rewound in his ears.

 

The conversation between Seol Ha-woon and Seo Jong-myeong. The conversation between himself and the witness.

 

Also the newspaper fragments about Jeoldong Elementary, and the child’s corpse left abandoned with its face nearly torn off.

 

“Ah. That’s right.”

 

The clues had already been laid out. They were dangling there like bait.

 

“Ha!”

 

Lee Jun-ho smiled.

 

I thought I only laughed when I was angry.

 

But turns out, I laugh like this whenever emotions surge through me.

 

Who did that to the children…

 

He stared into the empty air of the elementary school, at the camera that was surely filming him right now, and asked.

 

“What would you all do?”

 

─What, have you lost your mind? You mustn’t give up!

 

[Move carefully. It’s not far from where you are.]

 

“What do you think?”

 

Lee Jun-ho…

 

Slash!

 

Following the witness’s words, he inflicted a wound on his body.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————