Chapter 131

[2nd Floor]

Ding. The elevator doors opened with a light sound effect.

Only the elevator light illuminated the outside, and Pape muttered softly at the fragmented scenery revealed.

“Wasn’t this supposed to be a building?”

The empty corridor was cluttered with medical equipment scattered chaotically.

At the end of the corridor, an old chart hung at the nurse’s station, and rusty number plates dangled on the patient room doors.

It was unmistakably an abandoned hospital, a stark contrast to the relatively clean first floor.

Han Yoorim spoke up.

“It’s a haunted building. It’s natural for each floor to look different.”

“Why is that natural?”

“Because it’s a haunted building.”

Han Yoorim spoke as if there was a set appearance for haunted buildings. Pape ignored her and pulled out a flashlight.

As he flipped the switch, the flashlight illuminated the abandoned hospital.

Pape frowned as he tried to check the flashlight’s battery.

There was no way to check the battery level.

“Why is this game so unfriendly?”

Just like a real flashlight, the battery level didn’t appear as a UI, and the same went for everything else.

All interactions were identical to real life.

Han Yoorim, who had also checked her flashlight, spoke quietly.

“They probably did it on purpose.”

“Why?”

“To immerse the players as much as possible. No matter how scary a horror game is, if you play ‘Monkey Magic,’ it’s not scary at all. Immersion comes first to deliver fear.”

“So they made it just like reality to scare people more?”

“Whoever the developer is, they’re definitely a sadist. They must be a monster who feeds on people’s screams.”

Pape turned off the flashlight.

He didn’t know how much battery was left, but he felt he shouldn’t use it recklessly.

Relying on the light from the elevator, Pape stepped into the abandoned hospital.

Crunch. Broken glass was stepped on. Bunny Run gasped. ‘It’s glass.’ Han Yoorim comforted Bunny Run.

‘You’re completely out of it… huh?’

Suddenly noticing something, Pape bent down and picked it up.

A notebook’s… torn page?

Something was written on the paper, but it was too dark to see clearly.

Why not just make this pop up as a UI? Why go this far?

Pape sighed inwardly and returned to the bright elevator to examine the torn notebook page he had looted.

「Day 1.

I don’t know how to get out of here.

Thanks to the food I found in the cafeteria, I won’t starve to death, but I’m not sure if this is even edible.

But I have no choice but to eat it.」

It was a journal left by the first group who entered the haunted building.

“There’s a cafeteria?”

“Hmm.”

Han Yoorim, who had been quietly examining the paper, stroked her chin.

“Pape, you shouldn’t eat food in a haunted place like this. You know the story of the pomegranate from the underworld, right? Eating food here means you can never escape. It’s a classic trope.”

“But I can’t just starve to death.”

“If there are insects crawling around, eating them is usually the answer.”

“This isn’t a jungle; it’s an abandoned hospital.”

“Where’s the cafeteria?”

There was no hunger gauge, but it was clear that this wasn’t a game where you could keep moving without eating.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have mentioned the cafeteria at all.

“Let’s take it one step at a time. It’s a survival journal game, right? Map exploration is crucial in these kinds of games.”

“I agree.”

Pape fiddled with the elevator buttons.

Only the 2nd-floor button was intact; the others seemed to have been forcibly removed.

“Let’s focus on finding the elevator buttons first.”

“Got it.”

Han Yoorim nodded and then patted Pape’s shoulder.

“Alright, Pape. Lead the way.”

“If a monster jumps me, you won’t even look back before running, will you?”

“You have to look back. That’s how you assess the situation.”

“Bragging, huh?”

Pape slowly moved forward.

Han Yoorim and Mos followed closely behind.

Then Han Yoorim spoke up.

“Bunny Run, do you know how to move?”

“Sis, maybe we should stop here for today?”

“Come on, hurry up.”

Han Yoorim, who had forcibly dragged Bunny Run out of the elevator, commanded Pape.

“Let’s go.”

“Confirmed.”

A flashlight was essential for navigating the abandoned hospital.

The moment the flashlight turned off, the world was swallowed by darkness.

“Let’s take turns using the flashlight.”

“If we stick together, one flashlight should be enough.”

To save battery, they decided to use only one flashlight.

Pape, with his flashlight on, led the way.

[Room 101]

Creak—. The door opened with the sound of old hinges.

Inside, the surprisingly clean patient room greeted Pape.

“Let’s split up.”

“Splitting up is a death flag in horror movies.”

“It’s fine to split up in this small room.”

Following Pape’s words, Han Yoorim, Mos, and Bunny Run searched the room.

Pape opened a shelf and found some batteries, which he put in his bag.

At least they wouldn’t have to worry about running out of flashlight battery and wandering around blind.

“Pape-nim.”

At Han Yoorim’s call, Pape turned around.

Right behind him, Han Yoorim was reading something.

“Journal?”

“Yes.”

“Let me see.”

Pape took the notebook page from Han Yoorim and read it.

「Day 3.

I don’t know how to escape.

Maybe I’ll have to live here forever.

The only good news is that the food is still fine.」

“Nothing special.”

Other than the info that the cafeteria food was safe, there was nothing useful.

After putting the notebook page into his bag, Pape distributed extra batteries and headed outside.

While rummaging around, they managed to collect quite a few items.

Pape quietly looked at the item he got from Room 112.

A Colt Python. A double-action revolver known as the Rolls-Royce of revolvers.

Opening the cylinder, he saw it was fully loaded with six rounds of .357 Magnum.

Pape narrowed his eyes.

A fully loaded revolver, huh…

“Guess we’ll have to shoot something to death.”

“What about this? You wanna use it?”

“I’m good with this.”

Han Yoorim waved a military knife in the air.

A fixed blade about 7 inches long—definitely powerful.

“Guns are for spoon users. I’ll handle the sacred close combat.”

“I’m good at close combat too.”

“Every spoon user says that.”

After searching 15 rooms, the items they gathered were as follows:

Revolver, military knife, knuckles, baseball bat, batteries x7, bandages x3, chemical lights x2, survivor’s journals x6, bikinis x2.

“What’s with the bikinis?”

“Guess the developer has that kind of hobby. Give them to me.”

“…Why?”

“Just in case.”

“I can’t imagine a situation where I’d need to wear a bikini in an abandoned hospital.”

“But if it happens, it’ll be me and Bunny Run-nim. You’re not planning to wear it, right?”

“Take it.”

They also distributed the knuckles and baseball bat to Bunny Run and Mos, respectively.

Once everything was organized, Pape holstered the revolver and asked,

“What now?”

“Shouldn’t we eat? The characters are getting harder to control.”

“It hasn’t been that long since we entered the building. In real life, you don’t stop moving just because you skip a meal.”

“But it’s a game.”

Pape clicked his tongue and pulled out the survivor’s journal.

Most of it was useless info (like the revolver’s location), but there was one entry that could help right now.

Following the rough map in the journal, they soon arrived at the cafeteria.

“I’m hungry. Give me food now.”

“Wait.”

The cafeteria had a storage room. Opening it, they found stacks of canned food.

This should last us for a while… Hmm.

Something feels off, but I can’t tell what.

“Pape-nim.”

“Got it.”

Pape took out the cans and lined them up on the table.

Without hesitation, everyone opened the cans and started eating.

“It’s ham.”

“Now the characters are moving naturally.”

“It’s so good.”

“It’s a game. You can’t actually taste it.”

Ignoring Han Yoorim’s nonsense, Pape checked the English label on the can.

‘SPAM? Was this a hospital used by the U.S. military?’

Thinking about it, the military knife and revolver weren’t exactly items you’d find in a Korean hospital.

Anyway.

What does all this info have to do with escaping?

Pape crossed his arms, stuck in the maze-like game progression.

Something’s been bothering me since earlier, but I can’t figure out what.

What is it? Hmm…

…Huh?

As Pape lowered his head, deep in thought, he suddenly noticed something on the floor and bent down.

Then Han Yoorim spoke.

“By the way, Pape-nim. If there’s a survivor’s journal, that means someone was here before us. But the cafeteria is spotless, and the storage is fully stocked with cans—”

Suddenly, the sound vanished as if they were in a vacuum.

The light disappeared too.

Thrown into pitch-black darkness, Pape grabbed the notebook page and turned on the flashlight.

He shone the light around.

The cafeteria was empty.

“……”

Pape quietly held the flashlight over the memo.

A short sentence was written on it.

「GET OUT NOW」