Lunchtime.
The lodge’s caretaker had apparently prepared a neat meal of soup and rice in advance, but nobody dared to touch it, as if by mutual agreement.
Instead, they nibbled on energy bars and snacks they’d brought themselves, wandering around the lodge in a futile search for a signal to make their phones work.
Unsurprisingly, there was no success.
In the oppressive rain, the isolated mountain lodge felt suffocating and ominous, severed from any external connection.
‘This is driving me crazy!’
One of the university students, frustrated by his unresponsive social media apps, angrily tapped at his phone screen before switching it off in irritation.
“Fuck!”
“Dude, you’re such a fucking scaredy-cat.”
One friend teased, laughing nervously as they pushed each other closer to the legs sticking out of the hearth.
They even took a few photos of the scene, treating it like a twisted joke, though they didn’t seem to have much appetite as they left their calorie bars and chocolates untouched.
Despite their mockery, they weren’t as calm as they appeared.
They relied on their numbers to feel secure.
‘There’s three of us, after all.’
Even if someone tried to kill them, they reasoned, no one would target a large group first.
‘They’ll go for someone alone, or the stragglers.’
That thought seemed to put them somewhat at ease.
“Hey…”
One student turned to chat with his friend, but a peanut-filled chocolate bar was suddenly extended in front of him.
When he looked up, he saw the pale-faced office worker holding out his notebook.
[Would you like some? I don’t think I can eat it…]
“Uh, no thanks.”
The student replied curtly, and his friend beside him snickered.
“Dude, he can’t eat peanuts.”
[Ah… I apologize.]
The office worker apologized silently, retreating to the sofa with a dejected air.
Wasn’t he the one who’d been introduced as a supervisor?
At first, he’d seemed quite intimidating, but after witnessing his colleague’s death, he looked utterly deflated.
‘Scared stiff, huh.’
He now gave off the impression of someone who would crumble under even the sliiiightest pressure.
“Hey, wanna bet?”
“Sure, but man, this is too much.”
Meanwhile, the other two students went outside for a smoke.
The office worker, still fiddling with his unresponsive phone, cast a dark glance at the hearth before heading upstairs.
And just like that, the room grew silent.
“……”
One student was left alone, uneasily shifting in his seat.
‘In the movies, this is the part where someone gets attacked.’
He tapped his foot anxiously, glancing around the room with a wary expression. The presence of a jackknife in his pocket gave him some reassurance, but not for long.
‘Shit, why’d they go off on their own?’
Unable to bear it any longer, he decided to go looking for his friends in the backyard.
Gripping the jackknife tightly, he quickened his pace, unnerved by the sensation of something prickling at his back.
He pushed open the back door to the kitchen, which led to the yard.
Click.
A damp, musty smell hit him immediately.
‘They’re probably under the roof somewhere.’
Surely they wouldn’t stand in the rain to smoke, right?
With that thought, he headed toward a storage shed connected by a covered walkway.
But as he walked, a peculiar smell caught his attention.
Something metallic and sharp.
‘Iron?’
It smelled like rust, perhaps from the rain leaking into old tools in the shed.
That was his assumption, at least, as he rounded the corner.
“Hey, Park Kyungsoo…”
And then, an overwhelming metallic stench hit, enough to numb the nose.
“H-Huuuh…?”
Inside the backyard shed was an old construction-grade grinding machine.
It seemed like the machine had been used not for wood, but for something else entirely.
Cruuunch.
What should have been sawdust spewing from the discharge chute was instead shredded flesh.
Fragments of torn clothes, blood-soaked meat, and crushed bone were scattered messily across the floor.
“……”
What is this?
What… the hell is this?
For a moment, his brain refused to process the scene, rejecting the horrifying reality. Then, a beat later, the truth hit him like a tidal wave.
He had found his friends.
Turned into minced meat.
“Uuuughk…!!”
As panic overtook him, vomiting and screams erupted from his mouth.
And then, another sound joined in.
From an old audio device came a familiar tune.
Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
The sound from the cassette tape.
“Hiiieek!”
The student spun around and bolted, running madly back into the lodge.
Fear and cold terror chased him down to the tips of his hair.
“Hey, why are you running arou—”
“Aaaargh!!”
The student flailed wildly, slapping away the hand that had grabbed his shoulder.
“Don’t touch me, you bastard!”
“Whoa, whoa, what the hell?!”
He looked up.
The bewildered faces of the other lodge residents stared back at him.
And there was one thing they all had in common.
The tapes.
That’s it!
If the psycho responsible for this was targeting the tapes, and that’s what caused all of this—
The student frantically rummaged through his pocket and pulled out his tape.
“Here, look at this! Look!”
His eyes were bloodshot, and spit flew as he shouted.
“I’m throwing this away! Take it! I don’t want it, okay?! I’ve given it up, damn it! I’ve given it up!”
Thud!
He flung the tape onto the ground, then bolted upstairs to his room, slamming the door behind him.
Only when he locked the door did he finally catch his breath.
“Hah… hah…”
Anxiety darted his eyes around the room.
His mind was plagued by the sight of shredded flesh and broken bones, pounding in his skull like a drumbeat.
Thud.
Thud.
Should he build a barricade with furniture in front of the door?
Thud.
No, that would block his escape route.
Thud.
He glanced at an old lacquered wardrobe in the room, hesitating before pressing himself against the wall beside it, gripping his jackknife tightly.
He stared intently at the door.
Thud…
As his back rested against the wall, his breathing began to settle.
‘J-Just try it. Force your way in, I dare you…!’
If someone tried, he’d fucking scream bloody murder while swinging his knife. People would come rushing in, and surely he’d be saved!
He just had to stay alert.
“No way, no way…”
He muttered to himself like a madman, his voice trembling—
Click.
Softly, the wardrobe door creaked open.