So people just have it, they say.
Not the usual context for the phrase, but anyway—Lee Yeon-woo had tried to fail the ritual, failed at failing, and accidentally succeeded, and was tearing his hair out over it.
anwhile, soone else was still gritting her teeth and holding on for dear life.
"……."
Naturally, it was Director Lee Seon-hae.
'…I miss our kids….'
Where am I, and who am I?
The first thing that ca to mind was the film crew working without her, and the second was just—just profanity.
Fuck everything.
'I really try to live a decent life, right? And the world just, right?'
She genuinely felt like crying. The deranged nonsense cycling through her head felt like desperate attempts to stay alive, which made it even scarier.
'This sensation of brain and self separating—dizzying.'
Save , seriously.
'What the hell is this hotel's concept?'
It didn't feel real. More like a hidden cara prank. Her brain had started processing this mont as a sitcom.
'Is this so kind of survival chanism?'
Does the brain produce these fantasies when the happy circuits are pushed to the absolute limit?
'But this hotel started it.'
She was so indignant and frightened she could barely function. She'd always thought the world was terrifying, but this level of terror had to be so kind of defect.
'Sothing is watching , I'm telling you. Since when does "detecting killing intent" from so fantasy genre actually work in real life? And why does it work in this pathetic body of mine?'
At first it was just gazes. The pool water glowing bright with every ripple—bioluminescent plankton or sothing, fine. But eerie gazes kept emanating from every pocket of darkness.
She identified the source quickly enough.
"……."
…Creeeeeak—…
"……."
SCRAAK, SCREEK, SKREEEEEK, EEK.
"……."
Aaaaaaa…a.
'Oh god….'
This pool had monsters living in it.
Oh, they really lived here. Breathing, crawling, flying. Utter pandemonium.
'Never thought I'd live to see a siren in the flesh.'
No—she wasn't certain. Whether it was a siren or what, she wasn't sure. Just a creature with the lower half of a fish and a female human upper body. Smooth-skinned but mucousy, with either no eyes or three.
'The exact na of the monster doesn't matter right now.'
That she hadn't lost her mind upon seeing it was the more surprising fact.
"……."
…Of course, for a creator, it did stir a particular sort of interest.
"…Get a grip."
She looked around the tunnel.
'I might need to move.'
These weren't the only things here.
An octopus-like monster inside the waterslide or deep tank. Probably a kraken. There was also a unicorn that looked like a mangled lump of half-ford flesh.
Beyond those, she'd spotted ghost fish, slis barely visible underwater, and jellyfish with human eyes—among others. Too frantic to rember the details.
"……."
Mr. Yeon-woo.
'What kind of workplace are you running, and how?'
She'd have quit ages ago.
'Or died ignoring the safety protocols.'
If this were just a haunted house or a the park, she'd have been thrilled to explore. Great inspiration potential. But now wasn't the ti.
'You have to be alive to make a film.'
Lee Seon-hae was well practiced in looking after her own life.
She was currently hiding in the tunnel behind a display tank. Ghost fish drifted by occasionally but didn't attack when they spotted her. For so reason it was slightly hard to breathe, but aside from that, this was the safest spot.
"Ha…."
A hollow laugh escaped on its own.
Yes—Lee Seon-hae had already tried hiding elsewhere and paid for it.
'My leg hurts.'
Her calf had been punctured.
'It's not bleeding, but… is this right….'
It looked slightly pierced, but no blood ca. Instead the skin around the wound was cold and dry. A sensation of faint rippling beneath the skin. Revolting, and of course it hurt.
'So walking on both legs is out of the question now. And if a monster gets into this tunnel, I'd have to crawl to escape… what do I even do.'
She'd been scratching at it and barely stopped before drawing blood.
'I can't believe I'm doing this.'
She suspected the monsters here also induced delirium or contamination of so kind.
'Co to think of it, there was a weird sink sowhere too.'
A bathroom where she'd heard dripping. A strange voice ca from a water-filled sink basin. The water began squirming inside, and suddenly monsters started crawling out of the sink's plumbing.
'Wow.'
Truly, spectacularly horrifying in every possible way.
"……."
The more horrifying thing was sothing else.
'…When it brightened for a mont, on the pool floor, I'm sure….'
In a depth like the ocean's, far below.
She had seen an enormous eye slowly opening.
'It was very deep down, and incredibly… large.'
She'd nearly died spacing out the mont she'd barely escaped the pool after being entranced by the sirens.
'The facilities here are all wrong, too. They feel alive, almost pulsing, and though it was too dark to see clearly, on the ceiling above… there was definitely sothing pale and enormous.'
Was this the cosmic horror she'd heard about? Not her genre specialty. But she had an overseas colleague who was obsessed with cosmic horror, so she knew the gist.
Indeed, terrifyingly huge. Lee Seon-hae now felt confident she could direct a cosmic horror film herself.
'…Worth a shot, maybe?'
If she made it out alive.
"……."
Lee Seon-hae rolled a bitter smile inward, tucking it behind her lips.
'Good thing I'm the only one dragged here. My innocent crew nearly died.'
It was Lee Seon-hae who had insisted on opening this hotel's door despite everyone's objections. Hong Gyeong-yeon, who couldn't teach an old dog new tricks, joined later—but the beginning was always the problem. I'm the problem.
'If the others had co, they'd have fainted on the spot….'
She was being observed. She could feel it.
'I don't know who's watching, but then again, there are plenty of monsters here who could be. Hard to pin it on any one of them.'
She'd lost track of how many hours had passed. But she was hungry, so several hours at least. And Director Lee Seon-hae had not been sitting idle the whole ti.
She shook the walkie-talkie.
"Mmm…."
Troubling.
'This thing only makes weird sounds.'
She'd found it in a staff break room or sothing—in a storage locker. Rummaging around turned up a frequency-setting sheet. She'd followed it exactly but couldn't reach anyone.
Just crying sounds. Vibrations, overlapping voices.
'It wasn't that I didn't hear a human voice, but… that part was definitely off.'
She'd heard Lee Yeon-woo's voice. But the content was strange. 'Rescue request… received… you will be rescued… you rescue… not possible….' Just that, on repeat.
'There was a telephone too, but that was no help either.'
An old landline found at the information desk. No wire connected to anything. And yet it rang on its own. A film director's instincts told her not to answer.
'What else can I even do?'
No clear answer.
'I've run, hidden, prayed, cursed, cried….'
Resignation layered itself over the strange thrill creeping up from her fingertips. She felt she'd tried everything there was to try. Her mind was emptying—apparently she didn't want to think anymore.
'If I'm still alive after all this, it's not because I did well. The knife-wielding lunatic just delayed the kill.'
Struggling to survive was more embarrassing than she'd expected.
'Isn't it presumptuous to beg Mr. Yeon-woo to save ?'
Surrendering to death was still—a bit unfair. She'd fought hard enough, hadn't she? Honestly, sitting here blankly gazing at this place didn't feel so bad.
'…No, am I being too casual about this? Am I giving up on sothing I should still be trying? But if I move recklessly and get hurt again like this ti, then what.'
Lucky to have only injured one leg. No bleeding either. But next ti it might be her head, not her leg. Attempting anything blindly with zero information was foolish.
'So beyond this point, I can just… let go….'
It'd probably be a decent enough death.
"……."
…Where could there be a more "abnormal place" than this, right?
Shaful as it was, just as that thought began to take root—
Sothing changed.
[—…Director Lee Seon-hae?]
The walkie-talkie.
The sound ca from there.
"……!"
[Director, are you there?]
"Uh…."
[Your voice echoes. If your current location is a pipe or tunnel, you may speak freely. If you can see a monster with physical form nearby, please don't speak—just tap the walkie-talkie twice.]
"…No, I'm inside a tunnel."
[Ah, is that so? Then please speak comfortably.]
The other party asked. No hesitation in the questions.
[Are Phantom Fish swimming nearby?]
"Ah, yes. The ghost fish, right? Do they bite?"
[They don't. They're ghosts, after all.]
"……."
[Then again, that's probably not very comforting.]
"No, actually… it is, sort of."
She felt a bit uneasy. Not that she had a complaint about this situation—she was anxious.
"…I heard the Manager's voice through this walkie-talkie a mont ago."
[It spoke more stupidly than I do now, yes?]
"Yes, a bit… fuzzy and static-y… I couldn't hear well."
[Did you ignore it?]
"I turned it off imdiately."
[Well done. As expected of a horror-thriller film director.]
"I'll take that as a complint."
[It was admiration.]
The communication seed difficult—static and chanical noise crackled through. A bad feeling prompted her to speak.
"…First things first—I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. My body is extrely cold, I'm injured in several places, and so killer is hunting ."
[You're in a critical situation. Acknowledged.]
"No, what I an is…."
Was it all right to say this?
"……."
[Director?]
But what needed saying had to be said.
"…What I wanted to say is, when you get here and see my body, don't bla yourself too much. I feel bad for coming here and causing nothing but trouble. I'll try my best to stay alive, but, um, I'm truly sorry for putting you in this position."
[You needn't apologize for that. You didn't choose to be in this situation. It's always the innocent victims who apologize while the ones who caused the ss never do.]
"Haha, that's true… thank you for saying that."
[But please don't worry. Thanks to your rescue request, I was able to pinpoint your location quickly. I'll be there soon.]
"Wait, am I going to live?"
[Hmm, probably?]
"……."
[I imagine you have many questions, but let's talk when we et.]
"…Ah, you caught
about to ask…."
An awkward laugh escaped.
"…By the way, how does this walkie-talkie work that it connects like a phone? Oh right, questions later. Should I just wait here quietly?"
[How long have you been waiting in there?]
"Several hours, I think. Not sure exactly."
[Around you.]
That was when.
Squelch, squelch.
[Can you hear footsteps?]
"…Yes."
[I see. You can leave now.]
"Right now?"
[Yes, now.]
"……."
[Now.]
"……."
[Now.]
Static, crackle—…
[You ne■d to leave now??]
"Ugh, chills."
[Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?]
"I'm hanging up."
Click.
She turned the walkie-talkie off.
"…Ngh."
She rubbed her ear.
'That was unsettling….'
It felt like sothing lingered in her ear.
What she'd heard from the walkie-talkie was not speech. Not voice, not language, yet it had been reaching out to Lee Seon-hae the whole ti. Only after hanging up did she recognize it had been a wrong kind of language.
'…Anyway,'
Shall we see.
"……."
Lee Seon-hae peered outside the tunnel. Moderately slow footsteps. Despite the considerable noise, the knife-wielding lunatic had passed her by. That was useful information.
She nodded inwardly.
'…Horror films have rules.'
Information offered early by a suspicious but ticulous entity is generally correct.
'You have to mix so truth into lies for the bait to work.'
The adorable ghost fish flickered before her eyes.
"……."
She knew it was absurd, but right now they looked the safest of anything here.
'At this point they're actually starting to look cute.'
Indeed—I suppose it's too early for
to die.
'The mont I don't want to die, I catch the sketchy stuff like a sixth sense.'
Might as well hang on a bit longer. Lee Seon-hae found herself wearing an awkward smile. Not wanting to show Lee Yeon-woo her corpse was genuine.
"…Not that I have the energy to try much more."
The walkie-talkie voice had co just as she was about to resign herself. When the verdict ca down that the thin hope was a quagmire, Lee Seon-hae realized she didn't even have the strength to be angry.
'And now even a walkie-talkie is toying with .'
The ntal blow was severe.
'How frail and fleeting the human creature is.'
Lee Seon-hae decided to stay put for a while. For a shelter chosen on the sole basis of being alive, it was quite convincing. Best of all, the monsters couldn't see her even if she made noise.
Leaning back in a rough slouch, the ghost fish rippled before her eyes again.
"…Ah…."
Lee Seon-hae murmured.
"I could go for grilled mackerel."
Seeing the school of fish, probably.
'No energy to run, so the appetite kicks in instead.'
Was this what they called the survival instinct? Absurdly, her mouth watered even knowing she couldn't eat. Maybe wanting to live ultimately ant missing the ordinary things.
'Am I losing it?'
A hollow laugh. This cramped tunnel had never felt so cozy.
"……."
…All right. Let's see how far I can last.
She curled up as tightly as she could.
***
And a few hours later.
'—FUCK!!!'
Lee Seon-hae was running for her goddamn life.
These magnificent survival instincts. She clearly wanted to live after all.
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