WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 17 - VTuber (2)
The men’s figures, distorted through the lens, looked suspicious as hell at a glance.
“Park Minho-ssi, it’s nothing serious, so please open the door.”
-Bang, bang, bang!
Now they were pounding on the door. A neighbor had peeked out to see what was going on, but the moment they saw the men in black suits, they shrank back without saying a word and went right back inside.
"It’s just a simple matter of cooperation.”
Park Minho realized they weren’t just going to go away and finally answered.
"Who…are you?”
"Ahm, you should’ve responded sooner."
"I asked who you are.”
"We’re from the Special Missing Persons Task Force."
"The police?”
"No. A different agency.”
"Which one?”
"If you open the door, we’ll explain.”
At that point, something appeared in Park Minho’s mind.
The NCE.
Also known as the ‘National Crisis Foundation,’ the very organization that the ‘Backrooms Ghost Gallery’ absolutely hated.
And for good reason. Their entire mission was to eliminate anomalous entities.
In fact, NCE stood for:
Neutralization.
Containment.
Erasure.
Just hearing it was enough to send a chill down your spine.
"Don’t you think it’s suspicious to ask me to open the door first? Please leave.”
Park Minho still believed in the power of the law.
"That’s a bit inconvenient for us…If you keep this up, we’ll proceed with entry, understood?”
"Are you people insane? Do you have a warrant?!”
A completely reasonable protest. However, the NCE was anything but reasonable.
-Beep.
With a light electronic sound, the digital door lock unlocked on its own.
"Huh...?"
In an instant, three men in black suits pushed their way inside.
'What the hell…how big are those guys?'
It seemed that this so-called Missing Persons Task Force recruited members based on height. All three were over 190 cm tall. They filled the entryway completely, their sharp gazes alone enough to intimidate anyone.
However, Park Minho, who had just survived playing tag with monsters in the Backrooms, wasn’t about to fold that easily. He immediately shoved them back.
"Hey, what the hell, don’t just barge in!”
But one of the men instantly fired a taser.
Bzzzzzzzt!
"Ghk!”
Park Minho let out a strange groan as he collapsed backward.
'These……insane bastards…'
The situation made curses naturally rise in his mind, but his body wouldn’t listen to him. The men, however, seemed completely used to this kind of thing.
"Hey, scan him first."
"Yes, Sir."
The youngest-looking agent pulled out a strange device and scanned Park Minho.
Beep. Beeeep—
"As expected, he’s a Backrooms entrant. Anomaly Levels detected.”
"Erasure target?"
“The reading’s ambiguous. We should take him in and run a full check.”
At that, the one who seemed the most senior crouched down, flashing a gold tooth as he smiled brightly at Park Minho.
"You’d better hope you’re lucky, kid.”
* * *
<Backrooms Ghost Gallery>
Two days had passed since Park Minho last logged in, and the gallery was in complete chaos.
Their rising newbie, the one everyone expected to become the next superstar, had suddenly gone silent, so of course people were losing it.
ㄴWhere the hell did Lord Cheezza go?
ㄴGuess the dude finally died.
ㄴNah, no recent logs of deaths in Korea, though?
ㄴMaybe he lost his laptop?
ㄴNot impossible I guess…
ㄴ(Pitbull) Why’s everyone so negative? Think positive for once. What if he made it back to reality? You might not be able to access the gallery from outside.
Pitbull’s argument was immediately shut down.
ㄴ(LostHassan) Nah, that’s BS. The floor Cheezza was in doesn’t have an exit to reality.
Park Minho had first entered Backrooms Floor 1, where he encountered the mop monster.
After that, he moved through the turnstile, reaching the sub-level of Floor 1. Floor 1.2, the underground clothing mall.
That place only had the blurred mosaic poster leading to Floor 2. There was no exit to the real world.
ㄴ(Pitbull) You think I don’t know that? But making assumptions about the Backrooms is a bad habit. Just because we don’t know something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
ㄴ(KimChilsung) I agree as much as I agree with sikhye!
ㄴ(LostHassan) Fine. Let’s say he got out. Still a problem.
ㄴWhy? Doesn’t the NCE only grab awakened ppl?
ㄴ(LostHassan) Wow, we’ve got some naive idiots here looooool
ㄴWait, what’s the truth then?
ㄴ(LostHassan) First off, you know that those who awaken get caught immediately because of the Anomaly Levels as soon as they get outside, right? Unless you prepare a separate countermeasure.
ㄴyeh, yeh
ㄴ(LostHassan) But even if you’re not awakened, you’re not safe. If someone reports you missing, the NCE immediately filters out suspects, and their accuracy is scary high. If any Anomaly Levels are detected, they rush in like rabid dogs and grab you.
ㄴSome ppl are lucky and avoid that, right?
ㄴ(LostHassan) True, but that’s rare. Anyway, once you’re caught, the investigation starts, and it’s fucked.
ㄴWhat do they do?
ㄴ(LostHassan) They force-feed truth serums or use object-type anomalies to scrape your memories clean out of your brain.
ㄴ(DaeguBadass) It’s disgusting. They use anomalies themselves but suppress awakened people. Total hypocrites, am I right?
The real problem came after that. If someone just wandered the Backrooms and came back, there was still a chance they’d be released. Usually after taking memory-wiping drugs, they’d be sent back into society.
ㄴ(LostHassan) But what about your precious Lord Cheezza? Think about it. Even in a short time, what he did in the Backrooms is on another level. He controlled Facelings, hit the jackpot with coins… Do you really think they’ll just let someone like that walk free? Fat chance.
ㄴ(Pitbull) It hurts my heart, but can’t argue with that.
ㄴWouldn’t they try to recruit him instead? He’s insanely talented.
ㄴRight, right. He’s one of a kind, you know?
But reality was harsh.
ㄴ(LostHassan) The NCE doesn’t consider anyone their own unless they’ve been indoctrinated from childhood. Anyone who ran wild in the Backrooms is already considered mentally contaminated. At best? He’ll be treated like a disposable asset. Maybe thrown into insanely dangerous floors as a one-use observation tool.
ㄴIs there any way we can help him?
ㄴ(LostHassan) Are you serious? You’re dead. You can’t even take care of yourself.
ㄴThis sucks…
Just as a gloomy mood settled over the gallery, one anonymous user said something quite peculiar.
ㄴJust wait a bit. The Professor might make a move.
But most of the gallery had no idea who ‘The Professor’ was, and the comment was quickly buried.
* * *
The white room.
The place where users of the Backrooms Ghost Gallery arrive upon death.
Many ghosts hope that this wasn’t their final destination, but the overwhelming majority never escape and eventually lose their sanity.
One peculiar thing was that even though the places they were in were all called white rooms, the internal structure and size varied wildly.
Even the objects inside were different.
But they all had in common that there was only one person in a single room.
It was a painful prison one had to endure alone.
Yet among those countless white rooms, one stood out for its sheer size. Elegant classical music filled the space.
At the center sat a fine wooden desk and a leather chair.
And seated there was a middle-aged man with a shiny bald head, calmly sipping banana milk with refined composure.
-Slurp. Sip.
"Hehe, as delightful as always."
His name was Kim Chilsung.
In the gallery, he was known as that one weird old guy who constantly talked about drinks, but in reality, he was a major figure.
"Hmmm~Hmm~Hmhm!”
Humming along to the classical melody, Kim Chilsung stared at his laptop.
It was the same type of laptop the other users had, but far more advanced and powerful. It could even establish voice calls with living people inside the Backrooms.
"Oho……”
At that moment, he was reviewing entry and exit records of the Backrooms. One of his unique abilities, something others couldn’t even imagine.
"Well, well, so they really managed to escape, huh?”
Since he had been trapped in this room for quite a long time, talking to himself came naturally.
"How interesting. Very interesting. How did they make it back to reality from Floor 1.2? That’s quite the talent.”
There were records of two people exiting within a short interval. It had to be Cheezza and the girl who had recently joined him. Even their real names were listed.
"Park Minho and Seol Suyeon, is it?”
After confirming, Kim Chilsung immediately placed a voice call.
Soon, a response came through the speaker. A heavy voice, like that of a soldier.
"I’ve received your call, Professor.”
"Hohoho, it’s been a while, Director Yoon."
"I’ve been neglectful lately. I should have contacted you first……”
"That’s quite alright. Isn’t this the season when entities flood the survivor zones? You must be busy.”
"Thank you for your consideration. What can I do for you?”
"I’d like to pull a few strings on the outside. There’s a young man I’d like to help.”
"Outside" usually referred to the NCE. And within it, Kim Chilsung had many connections.
"Who is it?”
"A young man named Park Minho. A promising talent among our ghost friends. Very handsome, too. I’ll send you his photo. Take a look.”
"Understood.”
Kim Chilsung sent over a photo Park Minho had previously uploaded to the gallery. It was a selfie taken with the mannequin Facelings in the background.
Soon, Director Yoon replied.
"So that’s him. What would you like me to do?”
“He’s probably already been taken in by the NCE. Make sure there are no issues during the interrogation process.”
Director Yoon found the order rather unexpected. Kim Chilsung had many spies embedded within the NCE, but he valued them greatly and rarely used them carelessly.
And yet, he was mobilizing them for just one newbie?
Director Yoon spoke his honest thoughts.
"I had assumed you were someone without blood or tears……”
"Hahaha, it seems you have quite the misunderstanding about me, Director Yoon.”
"My apologies."
"No need. It’s a fair assumption. In any case, please take care of it. He’s got quite the guts, but if the NCE decides to thoroughly dig into him, he won’t be able to handle it at his current level.”
"Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he’s classified as a C-or D-level observation subject.”
"I’ll leave it to you, then.”
With that, Kim Chilsung abruptly ended the call.
He returned to humming along with the classical music, idly smoothing what little hair he had left.
"Young man. To you, the Backrooms must feel like nothing but a nightmare. But in the end, you’ll have no other choice but to return.”
Kim Chilsung had seen many people. No matter how ordinary someone was, once they experienced the Backrooms, they changed completely. And they could never truly return to their normal lives.
Park Minho was no exception. Especially since he was someone who had achieved that level of success inside.
* * *
Park Minho’s consciousness was hazy. He could tell he was sitting in a chair, but everything else was a blur.
Then a man’s voice pierced his ears.
"Yes, sir. I checked, and there was nothing significant.”
It sounded like he was on the phone with someone.
"He seemed to have wandered Floor 0 aimlessly for about a week, then got lucky and clipped into reality. The only thing on his phone is a few photos taken inside. Yes, so we can proceed with standard protocol and reintegrate him into society.”
At that moment, all of Park Minho’s memories came rushing back.
"...!"
He had definitely been captured, dragged in by those strange men, and brought into a concrete interrogation room.
A bleak space with a metal chair, surveillance cameras, and a one-way mirror. There, Park Minho had tried to endure the interrogation.
Mixing about 80% truth while carefully hiding the remaining 20%.
But the man in glasses handling the interrogation had forced some kind of bizarre drug on him right away. After that, his brain felt like it was burning, drool ran uncontrollably, and he spilled everything. Park Minho realized just how little he truly understood about the NCE.
Seol Suyeon. The mop monster. The Facelings. And in the end, he even cried while talking about Unit 1 and Unit 2.
Everything had been completely out of his control.
However strangely enough, he hadn’t revealed a single thing about the gallery. As if some powerful restriction prevented it.
"Haah…! Huff, huff!”
Park Minho shot upright, like waking from a nightmare.
Looking around, he noticed that he wasn’t in the interrogation room. He was sitting on a relatively comfortable sofa.
"Are you awake now? Would you like a cup of coffee?”
A man with glasses and a gentle impression stood nearby. It was clearly the same guy who had handled the interrogation. Without even waiting for Park Minho’s reply, he brewed some coffee and set it down in front of him.
Meanwhile, Park Minho sat there biting his lip.
Because of that drug, he had spilled everything.
If this really was the NCE the gallery talked about, there was no way his future would be anything good.
But the man with glasses looked completely at ease.
"There’s no need to blame yourself too much.”
"What?"
"Your resistance to anomalies is still at rock bottom. It’s only natural you’d spill everything.”
Then, the man suddenly asked something completely out of left field.
"Was Ms. Seol Suyeon’s figure really that impressive?”
"Ghk!"
Park Minho nearly slammed his nose into the coffee cup he was lifting.
"What did you just say…?”
"Just kidding.”
“I didn’t seriously say something like that, did I?”
The man didn’t answer, instead pretending not to hear him. Park Minho felt despair.
‘Ah, so I really did say it.’
"You seemed tense, so I tried a little icebreaker.”
“Please never do that again. And this place…is the NCE, isn’t it?”
"That's right. The NCE. An organization that captures people like you, locks them in concrete cells, and sometimes purifies them with fire. You could call us the light and salt of the world.”
"...…What’s going to happen to me? I don’t think I’ll be living very long.”
Even as he asked, something felt off. At this point, he should’ve been dragged into some prison, but there were no handcuffs, and he was being served coffee.
And hadn’t the phone call earlier said something about returning him to society?
"Ah, it seems the NCE isn’t as strict as I thought? As long as you’re not awakened, they just let you go……”
The man firmly shook his head.
"No. Normally, we wouldn’t let you go. The fact that you exercised control over Facelings alone crosses the line by a lot.”
"...I see.”
"Yes. We would’ve exploited your weakness and persuaded you to become a deep-floor Backrooms exploration agent. It sounds nice, but in reality, you’d just be a disposable asset. The average survival time in the deep floors is less than 10 minutes.”
"But you’re saying you’ll just let me go now?”
"That’s right.”
"Why?"
The man smiled faintly.
“Well, because I’m a mole.”
"Excuse me…?”
"I can’t go into details. There’s no time for that. Just know that I’m connected to the gallery.”
"Ah...!"
It was unbelievable. Who would’ve thought that the ghosts of the gallery could influence the real world?
“Anyway, I’ve reported that you are harmless and suitable for reintegration into society. You’re classified as a D-level observation subject. D-class means you'll be monitored for a week. So for now, I suggest you keep your head down.”
At that, Park Minho felt a chill run down his spine. Because it meant even if he made it back safely, if he went to retrieve his hidden stash in the mountains within that week, he’d be caught immediately.
As if to confirm it, the man with glasses pointed it out.
"Honestly, hiding your belongings in the mountain behind your place was an excellent move. To be frank, I might’ve been able to cover for something like the laptop, but not that many coins. Once that many coins show up, a report goes straight up the chain.”
Park Minho had hidden them out of unease, but if he hadn’t, he might’ve lost over 30 billion won just like that.
"I wasn’t planning to do anything with the coins……”
"That’s for you to decide, Park Minho-nim. However…”
"However…?”
"If you ever decide to sell your gold coins, you might want to contact this place.”
The man with glasses handed him a business card with a strange email address written on it.
"...Whose contact is this?”
"A reliable merchant from the black market. They're within our network, so at the very least, they won’t screw over a newbie.”
"......”
"They don’t just buy. They sell as well. With over a hundred gold coins… I must say, I’m quite envious.”
The man with glasses gave a subtle, knowing smile.
"If I had that many coins, I’d feel like a god.”
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