WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 2 - Underground Shopping Mall (2)

The phone had gone dead. He shoved the cord back in and pressed a few buttons, but all he got was silence.

Bang!

Park Minho slammed the receiver down and roughly raked a hand through his hair.

"Damn it…! Damn it!”

The Backrooms? What the hell was that supposed to mean? But one thing was certain. He had to move now.

"Wait...!"

Just as he was about to bolt out, Minho stopped.

'I need to grab something.’

He quickly searched the security booth, his eyes constantly flicking toward the hallway outside the window.

'Quick, quick.'

In the corner, he found an old bag and slung it over his shoulder. On the desk, he spotted a flashlight.

-Click.

A weak beam of light cut through the darkness.

'Anything else?’

His gaze landed on something unfamiliar sitting on one side of the desk.

"Huh…? What’s this?”

Slightly larger than a 500-won coin, with a dull golden sheen.

Strange. How had he not noticed it before?

'No way, could this be that rumored coin?'

Thinking he might be able to sell it if he got out, he slipped it into his inner pocket, then he checked the time and his heart dropped.

'5 minutes already passed?'

At that moment, a scream rang out from a place closer than before.

"KUWaaAAAaAAAgh!”

It wasn’t quite an animal’s roar, nor a human’s scream. It was so nauseating and jarring that it sent chills down his spine just by hearing it.

Every hair on his body stood on end, and it felt like his breath was caught in his throat. Lowering himself as much as possible, Minho peered out the window with trembling eyes.

"...!"

At the corner of the hallway, something massive was slowly crawling out of the darkness. His legs began to shake uncontrollably.

'What the hell is that?!'

It was wearing a blue vest. The same uniform worn by the cleaning staff in this underground mall.

But that thing wearing it was exactly the problem.

It was humanoid, but its entire body was pitch black, and it stood well over two meters tall. Its limbs were grotesquely twisted at the joints.

Naturally, it couldn’t move properly, so it had to drag itself forward in a half-crawl.

But the most horrifying part was above its neck.

Where a human head should have been, a black mop handle was jammed deep into its body. Strands of filthy, blood-soaked mop fibers hung down like long hair, obscuring what lay beneath. And from within it came the sound of it sniffing.

"Sniff, sniff! Guooh—!"

Raising its mop-like ‘head,’ it sniffed from side to side, clearly searching for something.

Park Minho instantly knew that it was searching for him.

Splosh, Splosh!

Every time it moved, its mop-like ‘face’ slammed into nearby surfaces with a wet sound.

'That person said it relies on smell instead of sight. Certainly.'

The distance between Minho and the mop monster was about 30 meters. And yet, even standing under the light of the security booth, Minho hadn’t been noticed.

'I can get away.'

Moving like a thief, Minho carefully stepped outside. Sure enough, the mop monster didn’t react.

'If I can just make it to that corner…'

All his focus was on his feet moving forward.

-Screech! Skrt!

Then, out of nowhere, a sewer rat the size of an adult’s fist darted along the edge of the hallway like an arrow.

Park Minho’s eyes were naturally drawn to it. At this rate, the rat would pass right by the mop monster.

'It won’t notice, right?'

However, the mop monster reacted instantly to the tiny rat.

-Crunch!

Its neck snapped at an unnatural angle as it slammed its head into the corner of the hallway. Then it started grinding it back and forth, as if it was scrubbing away a stain.

Naturally, it loudly crashed against the nearby shutters.

-Bang! Crash! Bang!

A moment later, when it lifted its head, there wasn’t even a trace of the rat left.

Just a single drop of blood dripping from the monster’s mop strand-like hair. And behind them, rows of long, horrifying teeth briefly came into view.

'Damn it… it reacts immediately when something gets close, huh?’

He needed to put distance between them and fast.

Minho quickly slipped around the corner. Once the creature was out of sight, he broke into a mad dash.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck…!'

A quick glance at his watch showed that there were only about 40 minutes left.

'Where the hell are the stairs leading down?!'

Hallways that all looked the same, tangled together like a maze. Closed shutters everywhere. He searched frantically but found not a single clue.

Before he knew it, only 30 minutes remained.

It felt like his blood was drying up.

‘Wandering around like this isn’t going to get me anywhere, right?'

But he couldn’t just leave it to luck either. Park Minho forced his mind to work.

'There’s got to be a way.'

Then, as he was pondering, a strange sound tickled his ears.

Drip, drip, drip.

He turned his head. He saw a narrow drainage channel along the wall.

It was covered by a long, glossy metal grate. Minho crouched beside it, turned on his flashlight, and peered inside.

‘I can see the direction the water’s flowing.'

Water always flows from high to low. If that was the case, maybe following the flow would eventually lead him downward.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was something at least.

'It’s not like I have any other options.'

As if being chased, Minho began running along the drainage line. Not every hallway had one, though. Whenever it cut off, he had to scramble to find another.

Although he felt a bit lost during this process, he was able to keep a consistent direction.

Unlike before, when he was just wandering aimlessly, he now had a destination.

'Good. I should find it soon, right?'

At that moment, a horrific roar echoed from behind him once again.

"KuWEeeEEEGh!”

He was sure he’d shaken it off, but the mop monster was still following him at a steady distance. If anything, it felt like it was closing in.

'I need to hurry!'

Then, Minho suddenly came to a halt.

"Huh...!"

Right in front of him was Daomi Pizza, the shop he worked at.

Relief hit him, but so did hesitation.

'Should I grab some food?’

He had the keys, so unlike the other shops, he could open the shutter and get inside. The problem was the time and the mop monster lurking nearby.

'I don’t have anything to eat right now. Even if I survive this, I’m screwed afterward.'

In the end, he pulled out the keys and raised the shutter.

Claaaatter!

Inside, he quickly grabbed whatever he could.

-Leftover pizza slices.

-A 1kg pack of pepperoni.

-Waffle Syrup.

-Three cans of cola.

-A gas torch used for melting cheese, plus a lighter.

-A kitchen knife.

Just as he finished grabbing supplies, that scream rang out again.

“KIEeeEEeE!”

It was extremely close by. As Minho rushed to bolt outside, something caught his eye.

A 4.5L container of cooking oil with a handle. It stood out to him because of a survival show he had watched not too long ago.

'They said cooking oil has insane amounts of calories for its weight. Perfect for rationing.’

He grabbed that as well and ran out.

Now, only about 10 minutes were left. Time was slipping away way too quickly.

'Damn it, what’s the point of looting if I can’t find those damn stairs?!'

Furthermore, the roar behind him was getting closer and closer.

"KIIIEEEeeeEEeeE!”

That confirmed it. The mop monster knew exactly where he was and was chasing him.

"Huff, huff, cough!”

Before he knew it, less than 5 minutes were left now. He abandoned any thought of pacing himself and pushed his body to its limit. Then he spotted another drainage line. After checking the direction of the water flow, he ran without hesitation.

Eventually, he arrived at a long hallway unlike anything he’d seen before.

"What is this place...?"

How should he put it? At a glance it seemed to stretch at least 150 meters. An irregular structure. Park Minho felt instinctively that his goal wasn’t far off.

'This is the last stretch! Let’s just run!'

As he sprinted straight down the hallway, he spotted something at a distance.

'...!’

A green light indicating an emergency exit. The first one he’d seen since getting trapped in this underground mall. And beneath that glow was a dark recess in the floor.

It was really dark and pretty far away, so he couldn’t make out any details, but even then he could tell that they were stairs leading down.

'Finally!'

Park Minho’s eyes widened with excitement. If he could just make it down those stairs, he’d survive at least.

Them that roar sounded out again. This time, it was right behind him.

“KWEEEEE!"

Turning around in surprise, he saw the mop monster.

"......!"

It had closed the distance enough that he could now clearly see it. And worse, unlike before, its head was now fixed directly on him.

The creature began to madly charge at him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of it running was terrifying. Its sheer weight made it feel like the underground floor itself might crumble apart.

Park Minho ran for his life.

"Ugh!”

Then, as if determined not to lose him, the creature suddenly dropped low and began to sprint on all fours.

Thudthudthudthud!

It was incomparably faster than before, catching up with Minho.

'No! This isn’t going to work!'

He needed to come up with something! Without hesitation, Minho twisted open the cap of the cooking oil container in his hand. While running, he half-turned and hurled it behind him.

Thunk!

Splooooosh!

The container tumbled, spilling oil everywhere across the floor.

The effect was immediate.

"KwEEEk! KRk!"

As the mop monster charged across the slick surface, its four limbs splayed wildly in different directions.

It struggled to regain its balance but couldn’t get any traction. With a heavy crash, it flipped over and slammed straight into a nearby shop shutter.

-Craaaash!

The metal shutter tore apart as the creature smashed through and disappeared inside the store.

"...!”

Minho didn’t waste the opportunity and ran with everything he had left.

'...Almost there!'

There was no movement from the mop monster after it vanished into the shop.

'Did that knock it out?'

Looking ahead, he could now tell that they definitely were stairs leading downward.

At the entrance stood a subway ticket gate. Strange. The Anyang underground mall wasn’t actually connected to any subway line.

"Huff! Hah! Hah!”

Barely making it to the gate, Minho tried to push through, but he slammed headfirst into something invisible.

Thud!

"Aargh!"

A blinding light filled his vision, his skull feeling as if it had cracked open. He dropped to his knees and nearly collapsed forward.

"Uuugh...!"

Shaking his head to regain his senses, he forced himself back up.

His legs trembled and his head was spinning, but there was no time to waste here. He hurriedly examined the gate.

And realized that an invisible barrier was blocking the entire entrance.

Bzzzzzt!

It wasn’t just like hitting a wall. It felt as if space itself was rejecting his entry.

"What? Huh…? What is this?!”

He had come all this way only to be blocked?

Park Minho’s heart pounded like it was about to explode. He frantically ran his hands along the invisible barrier, desperately trying to figure out how to get past the gate.

Just then, a harsh metallic screech rang out from behind him.

-Screeeeeech!

A closed shutter tore apart like paper, and the mop monster burst out.

"Uwaaah! Shit!”

It hadn’t come from the shop it crashed into earlier, but from another one, not far from Minho.

It must have moved through the inside of the stores before breaking back out.

"KWEEEEEGH!”

This time, the creature screamed as if it had no intention of letting him escape, charging straight at him.

Death was right in front of him.

To Park Minho, it felt like a massive truck was barreling toward him at full speed.

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