Episode 361
Han Do-yoon was also the same as not finding this situation amusing.
“wow.”
Han Do-yoon, who had been wandering around looking for the key ring monster that disappeared as soon as Kim Ki-jeong was sent to a remote place, finally realized the situation he was in.
“Am I alone here?”
Not only did Kim Ki-jeong disappear, but only Do-yoon Han remained.
“…No, I’m going to Gachwi too! Why are you playing without me? This Do-yoon is a pitiful creature who cannot stand loneliness! Please cherish, protect and love!!”
What kind of harmony is this? I couldn’t overcome the chaos that was coming and I screamed nonsense, but I couldn’t even see the key ring monster.
“….”
Han Do-yoon clicked his tongue at the silence that followed after he closed his mouth. I expected the key ring monster to come out in surprise at my ridiculous nonsense, but it didn’t look like things would turn out that easily.
‘Well, the current situation is different from when I was on the mountain behind the school…’ The
friendly key ring monster that had shown shock or contempt at Han Do-yoon’s nonsense when he was staying in the mountain behind the school or in the garden was no longer there. From now on, the key ring monster seems to have decided to stick to its original role as a monster, so Han Do-yoon also had to worry about how it would turn out.
He walked around the large house where he was left alone and rubbed the back of his neck.
“…Did you say it was like an escape room?”
Han Do-yoon recalled the time he went to an escape room cafe with his friends.
“Oh, the escape room I went to wasn’t like this. Boss, it’s so difficult here. Please give me a hint. “I just want to leave.”
It was natural that the behind-the-scenes world where you never know when you might die was difficult compared to a cafe that openly gave hints or subtly guided the way, but Do-yoon Han continued to move his feet while fluttering his lips. It was also to relieve my anxiety about all my trustworthy colleagues disappearing and me being left alone.
Han Do-yoon, who was walking around the hallway, focused his eyes on the picture frames hanging on the wall.
“Ohhhh….”
It’s a picture frame.
Like any other world, the inside of the Keyring Monster’s house was ordinary, yet had something bizarre about it. It was also the case that the hallway was filled with identical picture frames that would not be found in a typical home.
“They say that if you look at a picture frame like this, you’ll find a safe key.”
However, the frame was too large to look through.
Han Do-yoon’s strength was by no means weak, but to put it somewhat exaggeratedly, he was not strong enough to easily remove a thick picture frame that was over 3 meters long. In the end, Han Do-yoon whined and tried to lift the bottom of the frame to see if there was something behind it, but there was no significant result.
“…What if there is a safe in the middle of the wall?”
Most of the structures of Twisted Room 1201 were the same as a typical home, but there was one thing. The difference was in its majestic scale. I couldn’t help but sigh as I looked at the high ceiling, reminiscent of a museum-like exhibition space. Even if there was something hanging on that high wall, it would take ages just to discover it and take it out.
Han Do-yoon, who was looking at the picture frame while groaning, noticed something strange.
“uh.”
Numerous frames of the same picture with family photos printed on them.
“Is he the only one who took the picture with a doll?”
There was a doll in only one of them.
“Is this it? Shiba, this is it! This is it! “Mom, I did it!”
Giving this honor to his mother, who was spending a happy time with his leisurely father at home, Do-yoon Han finished his dance of joy briefly and held up the frame with the doll in it. It was quite heavy, but I was able to slightly lift it down and look at the back.
When Do-yoon Han tried to check by crumpling his face behind the frame, it fluttered. A piece of paper fell from behind the picture frame with a small sound.
“huh?”
It looked like a picture drawn by a child.
I carefully checked the back of the frame and the wall just in case, but it was dark and there was nothing to say if Han Do-yoon couldn’t see it, but there were no clues other than the picture anyway. After putting the frame back in place, Han Do-yoon massaged his red hands a few times and picked up the picture that had fallen on the floor.
“Let’s see…”
A woman’s figure painted in yellow and a man’s figure painted in blue. And the image of a child painted in black in the center.
“There’s a doll here too.”
The child in black was holding the doll’s arm.
“….”
Feeling strangely creeped out, Han Do-yoon took his eyes off the picture and turned his head.
“…hi…?”
-Quick.
“Won’t you give me back my friends…?”
At those words, the keyring, or fire-talking monster that was hiding in the corner of the hallway, watching Han Do-yoon, slowly approached him. The monster, which was just as big as an elementary school child, held out a hand that was not holding a flashlight. Han Do-yoon looked at the picture in his hand while acting as if he was asking for something.
It feels like I’m asking for this picture, but…
“…mmmm.”
For some reason, I didn’t think that would work.
“other ways?”
―Kiiiiiiiiiike….
“No, don’t get angry. “Is there any other way?”
―Kkieeeeikk…!
“Wait, wait a minute.”
Do-yoon Han burst out laughing.
“Are my friends in here?”
―….
“…is this real?”
It was a question that came out so suddenly that I thought, ‘What kind of bullshit am I talking about?’, but I was speechless when I saw that the fire monster, which was starting as if it was about to explode, had calmed down.
Han Do-yoon also did not come up with this hypothesis without any basis. First of all, this is the sight that Kim Ki-jeong saw at first glance when he was sucked into somewhere. It looked like a child’s sloppy work of art drawn with crayons. The colorful crayon lines were directed at a doll that resembled Lee Jae-heon. The picture behind the frame seemed to have been drawn with crayons. And based on the reaction of the monster that was sensitive to this picture, I arrived at that hypothesis. So I just said whatever came to mind.
“….”
The monster in front of you is an ignition monster, and paper burns easily.
“…Uh….”
Palang.
Han Do-yoon turned the picture over.
―Kkiik….
“Oh my.”
A floor plan that resembles a mess of the structure of the house. People were seen drawn with crayons of various colors here and there in the room. Several portraits of a woman with a ponytail, a skinny man, and a doctor’s gown.
Trapped in a room and unable to get out, wandering around…
“Everyone was here.”
Anyone could see that they were Han Do-yoon’s friends.
At that moment, sparks flew from the end of the hallway.
“…! Wow, wait a minute! “This isn’t it!”
Han Do-yoon looked down at the ignition monster, filled with resentment. No matter how much you didn’t provide the picture, it’s really childish to suddenly turn someone into a barbecue.
―Kkiikik?!!
“oh.”
But the pyrotechnic monster also seemed unfair.
―Quick! Squeak! Kiiiiiiiig!!
“What what what what? What. What is it, teacher? “What have I done?”
―Kkeeeeeeeek…!
The long-armed monster, confused between astonishment, despair, and fear, perhaps thinking that it could not communicate with Han Do-yoon, ran towards the living room in a huff. The eyes in the flashlight in the monster’s hand blinked furiously, indicating its own embarrassment.
And Han Do-yoon, who arrived in the living room following the monster, witnessed the phenomenon of going crazy.
“What the fuck, Lee Jae-heon?!”
One of the chains surrounding Lee Jae-heon, connected to the blue crayon line, was burning bright red. It wasn’t just red-hot because of the metal theme, it was literally burning brightly.
“What is going on, sir?! “Mr. Monster, please give me an answer!”
―Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk…!
“Oh my, water! Isn’t there at least sand other than water?! If metal catches fire, what should you do to put it out?! Does iron burn? Roaring? Ah, my brain cells…!!”
A human and a monster became one and struggled in front of the burning doll. Strangely enough, the doll did not burn easily along with the burning metal chain, but it was true that the doll, who looked exactly like Lee Jae-heon, was experiencing a comfortable hell in the fire.
Do-yoon Han, who almost lost his senses at the crazy scene before his eyes, only belatedly noticed something strange happening in the picture in his hand.
“…uh…?”
The people in the picture were running around busily.
* * *
Kim Ki-jeong was embarrassed.
“―What the fuck did I do to start a fire!!”
Trapped in this blue space, the only thing I could do was find a note with the words [It’s hot] written on it, and then the house started to burn from the hallway inside the front door.
“Yeah, it’s fucking hot. It’s going to be so fucking hot!” “It’ll be hot if you burn to death, you bastards!”
There was a lot of space to walk around, so I wouldn’t die right away, but looking at the black smoke already filling that high ceiling, I couldn’t help but feel distraught. Isn’t it usually said that if you die at the scene of a fire, you die not by burning, but by suffocation?
Kim Ki-jeong muttered as he took out the wet handkerchief he had received when he opened the front door of this house.
“I won’t leave people in this damn world alone…!”
The handkerchief was still damp, but he didn’t know when it would dry out, so he took out a water bottle as well. The water we shared before entering the front door wasn’t much, but it was enough to re-wet our handkerchiefs.
‘I wonder if it’s going to dry out quickly when it’s this wet, but I don’t know. It’s a crazy world, so it’s best to prepare your mind in advance…’
Kim Ki-jeong, who was just about done, looked around.
“There’s no law telling you to leave like this.”
Although Kim Ki-jeong was very timid, he hated dirty things and had never once been afraid of fire in his life. I’ve already tried throwing my body into a fire to pull Han Do-yoon out, but wouldn’t it be even weirder if I was scared now?
‘The speed at which the fire spreads is quite slow, and the ceiling is high, so the smoke won’t come down anytime soon. You won’t die right away, so it’s a wiser choice to find a way out than to hide and wait for someone to search you.’
Kim Ki-jeong quickly shook his head.
“…Crayons….”
He checked the note he had put in his pocket again.
“Blue crayons.”
It is a note written in blue crayon.
“So this is… Do-yoon Han said that the crayons… the line… are connected to Jae-heon Lee’s doll. “There won’t be any problem with Lee Jae-heon’s life, right?”
Kim Ki-jeong didn’t know it, but it was already happening.
“The theme color here is blue. Blue crayons. The crayon container that Han Do-yoon found was empty. This place… What is here? painting? Is it a painting? If something that looks like a child’s drawing is me in the picture… is that a fucking leap? No, let’s think about it this way. “If you try…”
Kim Ki-jeong, who had been thinking for a while while holding his head with both hands, suddenly raised his head.
“Can Han Do-yoon draw it for me?!”
There is a high probability that Han Do-yoon will remain in room 1201 and not in this crazy space, and if this is really a picture drawn with crayons and Kim Ki-jeong is the character in the picture, then if Han Do-yoon draws a new escape route with crayons, Kim Ki-jung would also be able to get out of here.
‘Of course, this is only if Han Do-yoon finds the picture I’m in, but still…!’
Kim Ki-jeong, who thought that far, roared.
“No shit, but the container was empty! “How do I find crayons!!”
Contrary to his words lamenting the reality, he moved quickly. The situation was not good enough to just complain.
‘The right answer might be to wait outside for Han Do-yoon to find the crayons, but the house is on fire to do that. If room 1201 and this space are linked, changes may occur outside when I find or change something.’
Currently, the space that Kim Ki-jeong can move around is a hallway, two bathrooms attached to it, a kitchen, a warehouse, and a living room. Although it was extremely spacious, there were few furniture or objects, so there were few clues to search. I searched and searched for the note that said [It’s hot] and finally found it stuck under the living room table.
Kim Ki-jeong walked through the fire-filled hallway to the play area across from the entrance and started picking through miscellaneous items. I had already visited the place once, but the situation was urgent enough to revisit the place I had passed by.
‘Is there anything? Are you really missing something? There’s something out there that could change…!’
As Kim Ki-jeong was sorting through the toys and books, the picture frames in the hallway caught his eye.
“….”
Among the countless picture frames, only one was not burned.
Without thinking any more, Kim Ki-jeong approached the picture frame. Perhaps because it was hung in this strange space, it was strangely deformed unlike the one seen in room 1201, making it difficult to even see the contents of the photo, but among all the equally grotesque frames, it was the only one that did not burn. There was clearly a difference.
Kim Ki-jeong waved his dry hands in front of a large picture frame.
“How do I do this? What should I do…”
Surprisingly, the large picture frame was easy to lift.
“…ah.”
Tuk.
A key fell on the floor.
Unlike the one seen in room 403, this is a luxurious and gorgeous golden key.
“….”
But there is no door here.
There must be a door, but it’s all blocked by a wall. Even if you want to move to another room, there is no place to use the key. That doesn’t mean that the door will appear the moment you find the key… but it does mean that since you have the key, there will be a place to use it.
Kim Ki-jeong, who was dazed in the fire while holding the key, muttered.
“…if there is a key….”
There will also be a lock.
I couldn’t give up.
(Continued in the next part)
