How a Veteran of the Urban Legend Gallery Survives – Chapter 16

In the dimly lit room, the blue light from the smartphone illuminated my face as I turned it on.

Lying sprawled on the bed, I stared at the ceiling, still feeling the trembling in my fingertips. The clock in the corner of the room slowly ticked toward midnight.

Maybe it was the alcohol. Or maybe it was the lingering memory of the horrifying experience at Hyehwa Station Theater. With a blurry focus, I hesitated for a moment before opening the Horror Story Gallery.

“I should write this down.”

I wanted to share what happened today, what I went through. The exploding heads, the torn flesh, the splattering blood… It was too much to bear alone.

─Title: I Almost Died Today

─Author: [Baekyaⓖ]

─Content: My company told me to go watch a play, so I went without thinking much. Turns out, it was “The Tragedy of the Red Prince”… Thankfully, I took two painkillers I bought the day before and skipped the whole thing by falling asleep. Phew, I almost died watching that play. As soon as it started, the audience’s heads started exploding, and they started tearing each other apart… It was like hell.

I stared at the screen, typing each word with trembling fingers. As I finished the last sentence, a strange sense of relief washed over me. It felt like I had put down a heavy burden.

The gallery users reacted instantly. Seeing familiar nicknames oddly comforted me.

[Cholmyeon500wonⓖ]: Wow, this guy’s a survival king. Any aftereffects?

└[Baekyaⓖ]: Thankfully, I fell asleep early in the play, so no aftereffects. I wasn’t attacked while sleeping either.

└[Cholmyeon500wonⓖ]: You thought of that? Damn, you’re a veteran for sure.

└[Baekyaⓖ]: Honestly, I think it was more luck. Out of the 300 people there, only two of us survived. The rest…

As I typed the comment, the memory came rushing back. The packed theater, the audience… At first, I thought it was just a normal play.

But when the red stage lights turned on, everything changed. Screams, exploding heads, blood flooding the seats…

└[Hikikoⓖ]: Wait, the Red Prince Tragedy is real?

└[AnalogueLoverⓖ]: So how scary was it?

└[Baekyaⓖ]: It was more gruesome than scary. Seeing heads explode and flesh tear in real life was…

My fingers stopped typing. The scene from the theater flashed in my mind. I felt like I was about to throw up, so I quickly sprayed some green mint spray into my mouth. The coolness calmed me down.

My palms were sweaty. I grabbed the soju bottle on the bedside table and took another sip. The bitter taste going down my throat eased the tension a bit.

[AnalogueLoverⓖ]: How much did you get as incentive? For a B-grade horror story, it must’ve been a lot.

└[Baekyaⓖ]: About 100 million after taxes.

└[AnalogueLoverⓖ]: Damn, aside from almost dying, they pay well…

└[Baekyaⓖ]: Honestly, if they didn’t pay this much, the company wouldn’t function. The work environment is hellish.

A company where there’s no overtime or extra shifts, but the risk of dying on the job is real. That’s the Catastrophe Foundation for you. No matter how high the salary, it’s still a job where you risk your life.

Then, someone reacted to my mention of earning 100 million.

[Cryptidⓖ]: You made 100 million? What are you gonna do with it?

I thought for a moment.

Honestly, the answer was already decided. In this world, saving money is pointless.

You never know when you’ll get caught in a horror story and die. What’s the point of investing? And I’m not the type to splurge, so the money will probably just go toward buying items.

└[Baekyaⓖ]: Probably buying items from the Family Net like last time. I’ve got a rough list of what to buy.

└[Cryptidⓖ]: Oh, share the list.

At Cryptid’s request, I typed out the list I had in mind. Items needed to survive, and their uses, one by one.

└[Baekyaⓖ]: First, I’m thinking of Nostradamus’s Eye to avoid instant death. Second, the Golden Bough Brooch to block mental contamination. Third, Lovecraft’s Cube Necklace for emergency wound healing.

└[Cryptidⓖ]: Damn, with those three, unless you get insta-killed, your survival rate would be insane.

└[Baekyaⓖ]: For real. But I’ll have to buy what I can afford first.

The truth was, buying all three items would cost nearly 1 billion won. Meanwhile, I only had 100 million. So, it made sense to buy what I could afford now.

The city lights twinkled outside the window. It looked like a peaceful night, but somewhere, someone was probably facing a horror story. If they were lucky, they’d survive. Most wouldn’t.

└[Cryptidⓖ]: Which one are you buying first?

└[Baekyaⓖ]: Probably the Golden Bough since I don’t have anything to deal with mental contamination.

└[AnalogueLoverⓖ]: Isn’t the Golden Bough that thing that blocks C-grade and below mental contamination? It wouldn’t work on B-grade stuff like the Red Prince Tragedy, right?

└[Baekyaⓖ]: Yeah, but since the field team mostly deals with D-grade and below… It’s not a bad idea to have it.

After typing the comment, I put my phone down. The alcohol in my system slowly brought on fatigue. My eyelids grew heavy.

Today was a long day.

The time from going to work to heading to the theater was normal. I was even a little excited. The company sending me to watch a play? What could be better?

But that was just the beginning.

The moment the theater turned into a bloodbath, the moment the audience’s heads exploded, the moment the actors on stage started tearing into corpses…

Everything felt hazy. And thanks to the painkillers, I fell asleep. I was just lucky.

“Ah, I really need to sleep.”

I grabbed the soju bottle by the bed and took the last sip. The alcohol going down my throat seemed to melt away the remaining tension.

Lying on the bed, I stared at the ceiling before closing my eyes. Maybe it was the alcohol, but I didn’t have any nightmares tonight. Instead, I sank into a deep, heavy darkness.

* * *

The next morning.

The morning air on the way to work was cold. It was hard to believe I was heading back to the company after the vivid memories of the theater.

As soon as I arrived at the Team 4 office, I turned on the computer and logged into the Family Net. While waiting for the login screen, I looked around.

The office looked like any other company. Neatly arranged desks, a few plants, a coffee machine… But upon closer inspection, there were strange things. Talismans on each desk, a cross on the wall, the odd accessories my colleagues wore.

Soon, the Foundation’s logo flashed on the screen. A simple gray logo on a black background, but it felt oddly mesmerizing.

[Family Net]

-『Nostradamus’s Eye』- ₩500,000,000

-『Tarot Master’s Deck Holder』- ₩300,000,000

-『Lovecraft’s Cube Necklace』- ₩200,000,000

-『Golden Bough Brooch』- ₩100,000,000

…

The list of items went on. Nostradamus’s Eye was still 400 million short, and Lovecraft’s Cube Necklace had the side effect of contaminating your mind and body with horror if used too often. So, I decided to buy the Golden Bough Brooch first, as I had planned.

『Golden Bough Brooch』

-Grade: C

-Price: ₩100,000,000

-Description: Inspired by the golden bough Aeneas offered to Hades and Persephone to pass through the gates of the underworld. When worn, it completely blocks C-grade and below mental contamination. It can temporarily delay B-grade mental contamination but cannot fully block it.

After carefully reading the details, I hovered the mouse over the purchase button. I hesitated for a moment. 100 million wasn’t a small amount. But considering it was the price of my life, it was actually cheap.

I clicked the purchase button. A text arrived, notifying me that 100 million had been deducted from my account. At the same time, a message popped up on the screen: “Purchase complete. Item will be delivered immediately.”

As soon as I clicked the purchase button, the back of my neck felt cold. Someone was standing behind me.

“Did you buy something from the Family Net?”

It was Team Leader Cheon Seungsoo’s voice. I turned around to see him standing there. He was in his usual black suit, but for some reason, he felt more intimidating than usual. In his hand was today’s report file.

“Yes, I did.”

My voice trembled slightly. Being a newbie, I always got nervous in front of the team leader. Especially when he appeared out of nowhere like this.

“Can I see what you bought?”

Just then, a delivery man entered the office, carrying a black box with the Foundation’s logo. I opened the box, and a golden light shimmered inside. The brooch was smaller than I expected, but it had a heavy presence.

I took the brooch out of the box and showed it to Cheon Seungsoo. His eyes sparkled.

“The Golden Bough Brooch. Any reason you bought this?”

His tone carried more than just curiosity. It felt like I was being tested. I answered as calmly as I could.

“I thought it was the most optimal item I could afford right now. I can handle physical injuries with painkillers, but I don’t have anything to block mental contamination attacks.”

As I finished speaking, a smile spread across Cheon Seungsoo’s face.

“Hmm… You must’ve learned a lot from the theater incident. Most new employees don’t think about mental contamination.”

His words carried both praise and a hint of surprise. It seemed like I had made a decent judgment for a newbie.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Cheon Seungsoo flipped through some files on his desk and said,

“Good timing. The mission you’ll be assigned to is also related to mental contamination.”

A cold sweat ran down my spine.

A mission related to mental contamination on my third day? The nightmare from the theater hadn’t even faded yet.

“Baek Jeongwoo, you were a college student before joining the Foundation, right?”

Cheon Seungsoo’s voice broke the silence in the office. His smile was still there, but it felt ominous.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then, have you heard of the Jejong Witch?”

The Jejong Witch.

How could I not know? I spent a year at a cram school. It was one of the urban legends that circulated among students. A female student in the intensive course who seduced male students and made them fail their studies… Wasn’t it just a simple urban legend?

I tried to recall if there was any related horror story in the gallery.

‘Ah, there was. Right.’

A user had once written it as a manual-style horror story as a joke. Who would’ve thought it would become real?

I nodded and answered.

“Yes, I know about it.”

Cheon Seungsoo nodded. His expression grew more serious. The air in the office felt heavier.

“Baek Jeongwoo, your mission is simple. Infiltrate Ilseong Academy in Daechi-dong and capture the Jejong Witch.”

Wait, me?