A dark ventilation duct inside a creepypasta.
A situation where I had to hold my breath to escape terror.
And to top it off, I’d just saved Baek Saheon’s life.
‘Why you, of all people.’
What’s worse, he was now desperately avoiding my gaze.
“……?”
This wasn’t like him at all…
‘Wait a second.’
A sudden realization hit me.
watch out for serial killers –
Was it because I’d been sending him serial killer alerts every day as a ‘friendly reminder’?
He seemed a bit intimidated.
Well, fair enough. It is, um, creepy.
‘Actually, this works out.’
In truth, that was partially intentional. I hadn’t bothered to send those messages anonymously precisely to achieve this effect.
Seems psycho, doesn’t it? Exactly. Keep your distance, buddy.
Given Baek Saheon’s personality, which was clearly strong against the weak and weak against the strong, he’d likely choose to avoid me rather than use this opportunity to eliminate me.
‘Which suits me just fine.’
…The only issue was that, for now, we were stuck together in this vent.
I held my breath. Thankfully, Baek Saheon was also quiet as a mouse.
Outside, shadows of people who had failed to escape flickered faintly in the candlelight, shrouded in Darkness.
Creeeeeeeeak, thud.
The machine came to a halt.
In front of the shadows of people cornered at a dead end, something thin suddenly emerged.
The silhouette of what looked like spider legs.
And then—silence.
“……”
“……”
Only the strange mechanical noise echoed.
Whoosh.
The spider-like silhouette stretched wide in front of the humans.
Hiiieeeek!!
Through the flickering shadows, eight sharp and delicate appendages grasped a human torso.
Save me, please save me… AAAHHHHH!!!
Thwack.
One of the spider legs pierced into the gap in a human’s head.
Then, with a plop, it pulled something out of the head.
“……”
I already knew what it had taken.
‘…An eyeball.’
That was it.
This was why this exhibition was called the ‘Manor of the Blind’.
========================
Numerous visitors testified to the ushers that they had lost body parts, most commonly their eyes, as the first part to go.
========================
The ‘usher’.
Encountering that thing here meant having your eyes plucked out.
If you met it again, you’d lose a limb, or perhaps your tongue or ears.
Eventually, you’d end up blind, mute, and crawling helplessly through the dark exhibition hall—a slug-like, pitiful existence.
The fact that this wasn’t done all at once made it even more brutal.
Ironically, it was because this exhibition was ‘considerate’.
To the extent that it provided ‘convenience’ without you needing to ask.
========================
For your convenience, sensory enhancement devices are always available for free rental.
(Currently supported devices : visual, olfactory, auditory, tactile, gustatory, sixth sense, panoramic vision)
========================
Creak, creeeeak.
A spider leg-like silhouette elegantly and delicately approached the eyeless person.
The shape attached to the end of the leg was briefly illuminated under the candlelight, casting a sharp shadow.
A thin thread and needle.
‘Fucking hell.’
I held my breath and waited for all the commotion to subside.
Cold sweat poured from my body.
A moment later.
Thuk, thuk, thuk…
The machine’s sound receded.
The person who’d just lost their eyes began to stagger away, their footsteps uneven.
Of all places, they moved toward this vent, their blood-soaked face briefly visible before disappearing from view.
Their eyes had been replaced with camera lenses.
“……!”
Baek Saheon, crouching beside me, silently mouthed a curse.
It wasn’t hard to relate.
‘With those lenses, you might be able to see for a few hours or maybe a day or two at most.’
But since it was a rental device, the functionality would gradually deteriorate, plunging them into greater terror.
And the next time they encountered the usher, that device would be ‘collected’ as well.
It was a rental, after all.
‘I’m gonna go crazy.’
It felt like a prelude to even more horrifying things to come, making me instinctively squeeze my eyes shut.
‘But I can’t show fear. I can’t let him see.’
Conscious of Baek Saheon beside me, I waited until everything went silent before climbing out of the duct.
‘We can’t stay here.’
We had to move quickly and escape. I’d organize the exploration records and the manual after splitting up with Baek Saheon…
“Um.”
Hm?
“Thank you, sir.”
Suddenly, Baek Saheon addressed me politely.
As if it were normal, he nodded slightly in a show of courtesy, much like the first time we met on the subway.
And then, subtly, he began to edge away, clearly planning to run off.
“Then, I’ll be off…”
“Wait.”
Baek Saheon stopped in his tracks.
I asked,
“How long has it been since you entered?”
“……”
“Don’t wanna answer?”
“…About two hours, I think.”
He’d entered quite a bit ahead of me.
Since this wasn’t a creepypasta that distorted the sense of time, it meant rookie Baek Saheon had been summoned early in the morning, just like I was.
‘So my D-squad superiors kept me out of the loop on purpose!’
For a moment, I felt touched.
The thought of finding my squadmates quickly and getting out motivated me.
‘Chief Lizard would’ve probably made it into the final seven survivors anyway.’
But I had to find the other D-squad members soon.
…Though honestly, stepping out of the vent and looking at the hallway made me want to sigh…
‘Wow, I have to search this entire place on my own?’
I’m gonna have to comb through every corner of this creepy mansion while dodging that usher monster while looking for clues?
No wonder they made a horror game based on this Darkness. I’d never played it, but I’d seen clips on WeTube…
…while covering half the screen with my hand.
“……”
Um. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, going with someone else…even if he’s got a personality defect…seemed like the better choice.
I turned to look at Baek Saheon.
* * *
In the dark—
Baek Saheon swallowed hard next to Kim Soleum.
‘Fucking hell.’
Of all people, why did it have to be this lunatic?