Episode 360
Han Do-yoon’s cry that he didn’t touch anything was true.
It was Kim Ki-jeong and Do-yoon Han’s job to inspect the corridors connecting the floor kitchen rooms and the small spaces attached to them, and they were faithful to their duties. I didn’t do anything hastily as I was accompanied by a weak toothpick named Kim Ki-jeong.
“No matter how greatly it was modified, the original apartment would not have been small if it had a structure like this.”
“For the first time, I realized that even a home could have a hallway!”
“Oh well…”
If you move a little to the left of the front door, there is a hallway bathroom, and there is also a hallway bathroom near the living room. The kitchen had a separate storage unit, and there was also a storage unit in the utility room behind the kitchen. In addition, there was a children’s play area right across from the front door, so there was quite a bit of scope for the two of them to check out.
After confirming that there was nothing special in the bathroom to the left of the front door, they searched the play area opposite the front door.
“Did you open a room? The apartment wasn’t originally structured like this, so it seems like the interior design was done separately and the walls were opened up to create a space for the child to play. Well, parents would be worried about what their child is doing…”
“Do you usually remove walls because of that?”
“If you have money, there are things you can’t do. “If you think of making one room just for display purposes and leave a hole in it, it will be easier to greet guests when they come.”
“What makes you comfortable?”
“Mainly in terms of suppressing the momentum… Unless there are enough family members to use all the rooms, a few rooms are left as guest rooms, computer rooms, and studies. “If you have children, there is no harm in doing construction like this.”
Although there were only two play areas across from the front door, there were stairs and there were some nice wooden decorations in the space where the walls were gone. The bookshelves on the walls were full, and there was even a box for toys on the floor.
After checking the space, Kim Ki-jeong sighed and took out a handkerchief.
“If it weren’t for the other side, it would have been a pretty house.”
“The structure itself is fine, but since it’s all made of wood, the word ‘pretty’ doesn’t come out.”
“This is largely due to its strangely deformed size.”
The structure of No. 1201 itself did not change much, but the story was different in terms of size. Kim Ki-jeong said, wiping his hands with a handkerchief.
“I think it’s exactly what I saw from the child’s perspective.”
“…It seems a bit big for something like that, but…?”
To exaggerate a bit, it felt like I had entered a giant’s house.
A ceiling so high that it would be difficult to see it in any building other than an apartment. The structure of the room is so large that it can be said to be ridiculously large, but has been carefully designed. A dull, monotonous light brown color that doesn’t fit there. The fact that, despite being so large, the size of objects and furniture was not much different from those used by humans of average height, it created a strange sense of discomfort.
Han Do-yoon, who was searching the play area, found something.
“….”
“…crayons…yes.”
“yes.”
“Even a set of crayons that are empty and contain only a container.”
“yes.”
“Why is this?”
When I asked him why he picked up a set of crayons without any items among the many items, Han Do-yoon answered with his signature cheerful smile.
“Because it stands out?”
“Oh… is that all?”
“Ahh no, it’s not just a feeling. Why, when I stopped by Kim Ki-jeong’s house… I felt the same way as when I saw the piano. “It feels like it catches my eye.”
“ah.”
At those words, Kim Ki-jeong looked closely at the crayon box.
“I… I don’t feel anything in particular…”
But even in room 403, Kim Ki-jeong couldn’t feel anything. Now, even if there was something that only Han Do-yoon could feel, it wouldn’t be too strange.
Kim Ki-jeong, who quickly understood, nodded inwardly.
“Let’s take care of it first. “I might have something to write about someday.”
“Shall I carry it?”
“please.”
That was when the two came out into the hallway again.
“…uh?”
“Why why? “What is it?”
“Am I the only one who can see this?”
Do-yoon Han could see the rough lines drawn on the floor.
“It looks like crayons…”
Anyone could tell that these uneven lines were drawn with crayons.
The two followed with their eyes where the lines of various colors drawn on the floor were and where they lead, and were able to find the correct answer without difficulty. The lines running from the inside of the rooms with swing doors were all converging towards the center of the living room.
Yes, living room.
“…Jaeheon Lee.”
This is where a doll resembling Lee Jae-heon is tied up.
When Kim Ki-jeong and Do-yoon Han rushed to the living room, there was a keyring monster next to Jae-heon Lee’s doll that had not been there until just a moment ago. It was now so big that it could no longer be called a ‘key ring’, but it was still small as it was in the form of a child at best. Especially compared to the two older adults.
Did you feel threatened by that? The monster, which was playing with its long arms and rolling the flashlight around, soon discovered Han Do-yoon and Kim Ki-jeong and picked up the flashlight to check their faces.
―Squeak.
A crying sound similar to the sound of an old door creaking.
“…uh….”
―…squeak, squeal, squeak….
“Oh, hello?”
“Is now the time to say hello?”
“Then will it jump?”
“I’d rather…sigh.”
Phew!
The flashlight came right in front of Kim Ki-jeong’s nose.
“….”
– Squeak.
The eye inside the flashlight blinked with a faint light and then moved to Han Do-yoon next to it. The monster carefully checked Han Do-yoon as if checking something, and then lowered the flashlight a moment later.
“….”
“….”
―….
Of the two humans and the monster that were silent, it was the monster that reacted first.
―Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike…!!
The monster almost went crazy and wrapped its arms around Lee Jae-heon’s doll, making a desperate gesture as if it were protecting his family from a thug. Even though I realized that the situation was becoming urgent, I still felt how absurd and unfair it was.
“Damn it, don’t touch me…!”
“I didn’t touch it, I just looked at it! “I just saw it!”
Hong Gyeong-jun’s voice scolding Do-yoon Han from afar quickly receded.
“Mr. Han Do-yoon!”
Feeling ominous, Kim Ki-jeong called Do-yoon Han, but
Quad-de-de-de-deak!
“! Ugh…!”
With the loud sound of a large object breaking, crushing, and crushing, Kim Ki-jeong’s body floated into the air. It was a very fleeting moment, but there was no way Kim Ki-jeong was unaware of the feeling of the ground he was standing on disappearing.
At the end of the structure, which was turning into a mess like a child’s drawing, I made eye contact with Han Do-yoon, who was looking at me in despair…
– Kwa-dang!
“…?!”
Kim Ki-jeong was nervous, as if he had slipped and fell in place.
“Aaaahhh… fuck…!”
I don’t know why I’ve been getting thrown around so much lately.
Kim Ki-jeong stood up, waving his long arms and legs, spreading out his crumpled clothes and quickly tidying them up. He then immediately took out a handkerchief and wiped away the dirty places before raising his head and looking around. Even though I still felt uncomfortable, I needed to understand the situation as I had landed in the wrong place.
“….”
Kim Ki-jeong muttered.
“…What is this again….”
A completely blue world welcomed him.
The walls are straight, but the windows are sloppily crooked and trapezoidal in shape. An ambiguous oval watch. Books that had nothing written on them and were sharp enough to be square. It was a space that gave a strange sense of discomfort, as if a child’s drawing had been brought to life.
‘If this happens, I’ll feel like I’m trapped in some kid’s drawing.’
For some reason, Kim Ki-jeong frowned as he felt that this feeling might be true.
However, except for the fact that it looks a little strange, this space is not much different from Room 1201, which I had just inspected with Han Do-yoon. Kim Ki-jeong walked around the living room, kitchen, hallway, and play area to see if there was anyone there, but he couldn’t meet anyone.
He said with a sigh.
“…Did I really come alone?”
At the end of my distant field of vision, I saw only Han Do-yoon standing there foolishly, so Han Do-yoon was probably still in the same spot as before. As expected, Kim Ki-jeong seemed to have fallen into the wrong place. No matter how much I look around, I can’t find a single hair of anyone else, let alone Han Do-yoon.
Even if you want to enter another room, you can’t see the door itself….
“….”
Kim Ki-jeong recalled Detective Hong Gyeong-jun’s cry just before, ‘Don’t fucking let me touch it…!’
‘The human voice also cut off in the middle. It seems like it was cut off quite artificially, so in that case, not only me, but other people could have been trapped in this space as well… Is this okay?’
Kim Ki-jeong was Kim Ki-jeong, but he was more worried about Do-yoon Han.
“It’s lucky if the idiot who gets distracted just by looking at the key ring monster doesn’t cause an accident.”
Of course, this was also a very burdensome space for Kim Ki-jeong.
Even though I was seeing it with my own two eyes, it didn’t feel like reality, and the silence of not being able to hear any sound took my breath away, and unlike just before, the bright colors around me made me dizzy and congested my brain. I felt like I was immersed in a world of incomprehensible creatures and was going a little crazy.
But in the end, I knew there was a way out.
“…I have to get out.”
Even though Kim Ki-jeong was a coward who couldn’t kill even a monster, still.
If you received help, it is right to repay it.
* * *
Meanwhile, the situations of Yoon Garam and Woo Joo Young were not very different.
“Uuuuuuuuu….”
“Jooyoung, calm down.”
“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup There up out there up out there out there you guys
… Yes. I know.”
“Huh ah ….”
The astronaut, which is not a strong heart, fell out of his legs and fell down in a confused situation. Since the two of them had been hanging out together recently, the process of comforting and appeasing them was able to be completed quickly.
Woo Woo-young, who staggered to his feet, had no idea that Yoon Gar-ram was looking at her like a newborn lamb.
“Ha Seong-yoon Ha….”
“Umm….”
Woo Joo-young, Garam Yoon, and Ha Seong-yoon were assigned to the master bedroom and study room. Since there were only two places, they were divided into two teams. Thinking about it now, it was a really stupid thing to do, but I think I got caught up in it because Ha Seong-yoon had a pretty strong opinion at the time.
Because of that, even in this situation, they were unable to find Ha Seong-yoon.
“…there’s no door.”
“…It’s not locked?”
“Look, the door that was originally there is also gone.”
“Wow, is this another room escape?”
“Maybe…”
Yoon Garam’s expression became anxious.
Since he was trapped in the apartment building for a while, it is unclear whether Lee Jae-heon has been rescued or not. In such a situation, it was not easy for Yoon Garam to maintain his composure when he thought that even his other spiritual leader, Ha Seongyoon, was in danger.
“….”
I was already distracted by the key ring monster…
“Mr. Garam?”
“Uhm, for now.”
Garam Yoon asked Woo Soo-young.
“Where is the notebook you just found?”
“Oh, it’s probably in the bag.”
“Just in case, check one more time.”
While searching the master bedroom, the two found a small notebook inside the built-in closet leading to the bathroom. [My poor baby] [Daddy didn’t abandon you, you know?] [Mommy loves you]. The notebook with a total of three phrases written on it was kept by Woo Joo-young, who carried the bag.
As Woo Joo-young opened his notebook again, his expression became subtle.
“…Oh….”
“Why?”
“It’s gone.”
“It’s gone? “You’re holding a notebook…”
“Not that, just that piece of paper.”
“….”
Yoon Garam lifted his head and checked his notebook.
“…only the part where the text was written was torn.”
“Do I have to find it again in this large room?”
“…I think that’s what you’re saying…?”
“Wow, this is fun.”
It would have been fun if it had been an escape room cafe rather than a secret world.
(Continued in the next part)
