Chapter 32
“Ahh…!”
As soon as I left the room, I clenched both my fists. The extreme tension I had felt instantly dissipated the moment I exited, and the pain I had barely been holding back came rushing in.
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much!!
Tears continued to stream down my face.
‘Mom, Dad…!’
The people I wanted to see most at this moment. The people who would unconditionally be on my side in a dangerous situation.
But I couldn’t let my parents come to this dangerous place.
Gritting my teeth, I slowly stood up.
Finding Ma Chao-hae was a choice I had made myself. It was an episode I had known about since the game started, so it was a situation I had prepared for.
‘It’s still, it’s still okay.’
The problem was the next game.
Before going down the stairs, I found a notebook. It seemed to be placed there instead of a whiteboard.
“……”
I stared at it for a moment, then tore out a single sheet of paper. I wrote something on it and put it in my pocket.
Then, I scribbled a question in the remaining notebook.
-Is my younger sibling in the underground auction house?
I had no information about the underground. It was a question asked because there might be other spaces besides the auction house.
I slowly descended the stairs.
Soon, as I reached the bottom of the last stair, an answer appeared on the wall.
This time, it seemed to be written with white chalk.
-O?
-X?
What is this now?
‘When Dan Seo-hyeok asked a question, there was no answer like this?’
The chalk line moved back and forth between O and X, as if it were performing a split.
Finally, the chalk line stopped. It was precisely in the middle of O and X.
‘Both yes and no?’
It’s an ambiguous answer. But at least I didn’t get a definitive ‘no’.
I now had a reason to go to the auction house.
[If you’re finished with the Truth Game, would you like to come inside? Huhu.]
The radio voice sounded. It seemed they were indeed watching me.
The door in front of the stairs creaked open. A bright light welcomed me, as if to reassure me.
I walked slowly inside.
‘I need to be even more careful here.’
The reason for caution in this game was clear.
Dan Seo-hyeok died twice in the Escape Room episode.
Once in the ‘Spot the Difference’ game, where he died acting without knowing anything, and once in another game.
That was right.
[Now, the game you will play this time is the ‘Treasure Hunt’ game!]
It was the ‘Treasure Hunt’ game.
‘It’s not exactly a simple treasure hunt.’
Participants must hide their precious possession, their ‘treasure’.
If it is discovered by another participant, the treasure is taken, and the participant who loses their treasure must offer a new one.
At this point, the identity of the treasure is…
[Participants must each take out their treasure and hide it!]
[If your treasure is discovered, you must offer a new treasure. You can continue participating in the game until you can no longer offer a treasure. Huhu. But at least it’s not immediate elimination, right?]
[So, what could the treasure be? A hint! It’s the participants’ very own precious treasure!]
Dum-dum-dum.
A drum sound came from the radio, as if to heighten the tension.
[It’s the participants’ ‘body parts’!]
I felt like cursing out loud.
[Internal organs are fine, and body parts like ears or legs are also good! However, note that things with multiple substitutes, like ‘hair,’ are not recognized as treasures.]
[Even if a part becomes your ‘treasure,’ it is not considered lost until it is discovered, and there’s no pain or anything, so feel free to choose! How about choosing a treasure you’ve never actually seen because it’s always inside your body?]
[If you don’t choose a treasure within the time limit, we will assign one randomly.]
We?
‘It’s been bothering me since a while ago, why do they say “we”?’
It was unsettling, but that wasn’t the important thing right now.
‘The body part to offer as a treasure…’
In the original novel, Dan Seo-hyeok was flustered, thought carefully, but ended up exceeding the time limit.
‘The randomly taken body part was his ‘heart,’ right?’
If another participant finds your treasure, you lose it. That means that the treasure literally disappears from the participant’s body.
In other words, Dan Seo-hyeok, who lost his heart, had no choice but to die.
[Please designate your treasure!]
[Whisper your treasure into the box presented in front of each of you. We will then collect it!]
A child with a black cloth draped over its head appeared.
Looking around, children dressed similarly were standing next to the other participants. Except for the different colors of the cloth covering their faces, the children’s appearances were all identical.
Aside from the cloth, they had no particularly non-human features, so they didn’t feel scary.
A box matching the color of each cloth. The one presented to me was a black box.
[……]
The child, who didn’t speak, shook the box as if telling me to hurry up. After staring at its chubby hand for a moment, I slowly took the box.
[The whispering voice won’t be heard by other participants, so please speak comfortably!]
The body part I would offer.
I looked down at my hand holding the box. Then, I opened my mouth, brought the box close, and whispered into it.
“My right pinky finger.”
Then, I moved the box away from my mouth.
Inside the box was the pinky finger that should have been in my pocket.
[Um?]
The child tilted its head. Then it looked at the radio on the floor.
Its attitude seemed to be asking for permission, checking if it was okay to proceed like this.
[Huhu.]
[There’s a participant with a truly unexpected idea.]
[Well, it is a part of the body, so shall we allow it? It’s true that there’s no substitute for it.]
Thank goodness. So it was worth bringing the pinky finger.
I thought of the left pinky finger still remaining in my pocket. I had brought it just in case.
Even if this treasure was discovered, if I offered the remaining pinky finger as the new treasure…
[Ah, but you know!]
[There won’t be a next time.]
[You understand, participant, right?]
……You can’t read my mind, can you?
‘It seems they saw that I brought the pinky finger.’
In the end, it meant that if this treasure was taken, I would have to offer a different body part.
I slowly blinked to indicate I understood. Satisfied, the radio voice continued.
[Now, has everyone submitted their treasure?]
I slowly looked around.
There were quite a few participants this time.
‘Huh? That ghost…’
Among them was a familiar face. The male student with glasses who had conceded victory to me in the eye contact game.
He seemed to have spotted me too, as he was staring right at me. Next to him was a child with a blue cloth, holding a blue box.
‘What is it?’
It’s a face I’m seeing for the first time, so why does it keep feeling familiar?
[Now, you must also decide where to hide your treasure, right?]
After exchanging silent glances, I hurriedly turned towards the radio at the continued explanation.
[You will go hide it one by one. The hiding place for the treasure is anywhere except this room! We’ll give you 10 minutes!]
[Except for the participant going to hide their treasure, the other participants must wait in this room!]
Ten minutes.
That was the time I could utilize.
Content I could infer from Dan Seo-hyeok’s actions in the novel.
‘During the 10 minutes used to hide the treasure, no ghost can interfere.’
In other words, it’s the time you are most free from threats. Moreover, didn’t they say anywhere except this room?
That meant, in other words, I could go anywhere except this room.
[Who would like to go first?]
I immediately raised my hand.
[Oh!]
[I love to see such an enthusiastic attitude!]
[Huhu. As a special service, I’ll add an extra 5 minutes to your hiding time!]
[Please search every nook and cranny carefully and hide your treasure well within 15 minutes!]
[Now, now, shall the other participants wait quietly and get along?]
I headed towards the door. As I tried to open it, the child with the black cloth scurried after me.
[That friend will let you know the remaining time! You should check how much time has passed!]
[They will never tell where you hid it, so don’t worry about that.]
[Our friends have no tongues, so they can’t speak! Huhuhu!]
Is that bastard laughing and saying such crap because he finds it funny?
I didn’t even bother to retort. He wasn’t worth it.
[Now, then I’ll start!]
The door opened. Outside, a dark corridor stretched out.
[Start!]
I quickly ran out. As soon as I exited, the door closed behind me. Glancing back briefly, I hurriedly shoved my hand into my pocket.
What I pulled out was a piece of the notebook I had torn before coming down.
[……Um?]
The child with the black cloth tilted its head.
Ignoring the child, I threw the piece of paper at the wall just before going down the stairs.
‘I don’t know if this method will work.’
The paper slowly seeped into the wall.
In the original, Dan Seo-hyeok naturally assumed he had to hide the object on the floor where the game was taking place. He ended up missing a step and tumbling down to the floor below.
Even then, he wasn’t stopped, and he realized the fact:
During the 10 minutes for hiding the treasure, you really can go anywhere without restrictions!
‘You can even go down to the lower floors without participating in that floor’s game.’
Because you are already participating in the Treasure Hunt game.
That’s why I had prepared something in advance. I wasn’t sure if it would work, though.
I quickly went down the stairs. My speed was so fast it felt like I might miss a step at any moment.
I stepped onto the last stair. I looked at the wall.
-O.
“……!”
The answer to the Truth Game question had returned!
The question I had written on the paper earlier was this:
-Is my younger sibling alive?
Ma Chao-hae is alive!
It was the question I most wanted to ask and was most afraid to ask. Putting strength into my trembling legs, I gritted my teeth and continued running downstairs.
I didn’t know how many floors there were.
My destination was the underground auction house.
