WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 22 - Backrooms Floor 0 (2)

Park Minho was confused.

'Why? Why did we end up somewhere like this?'

Based on what he’d learned from the gallery about spatial parasites, they should’ve ended up in the same part of Floor 0 Seol Suyeon had noclipped into before.

So why were they here?

"Oppa…? Are you okay?”

Seol Suyeon grabbed his arm after seeing him look so serious. That snapped him back to reality.

‘Right. That’s not the priority right now.’

Getting out of here safely came first.

"Ah, I was just thinking. I’m fine."

Park Minho turned his attention to the damp wall. Carefully examining it, he poked it with the muzzle of his gun.

-Squish.

"What…?!”

Upon closer inspection, it clearly wasn’t concrete. It looked more like some kind of mucous membrane. And what he thought were just wallpaper patterns were actually countless blood vessels writhing beneath the surface.

Some kind of fluid was seeping out of the wall, which was probably the source of the smell.

"Suyeon, turn on the laptop.”

"Okay, oppa."

Seol Suyeon had a unique ability that let her read the gallery entries. So whenever Park Minho needed info, she could check it for him.

"Huh……? That’s weird."

Her voice was clearly flustered.

"What?”

"It’s not connecting. What’s going on? Oppa?”

"What? Let me see.”

Park Minho took the laptop. The browser showed a blank white page with a simple message, ‘No Connection,’ showing.

No matter how many times he refreshed, nothing changed.

'What? It doesn’t even need an actual internet connection to work, though.’

One thing was certain. The laptop’s anomalous function wasn’t working in this place.

"Tsk……That’s bad."

He’d been planning to ask the gallery for help immediately. Now that option was completely gone.

"Let’s move. We can’t stay here.”

"Okay."

They cautiously started their exploration.

As expected of the Backrooms, the surroundings were chaotic, with structures arranged with no logic nor purpose.

After wandering for a while, they found a particularly large room.

"Why is the floor red?”

"Yeah.”

Stepping inside, they looked closer. The carpet on the floor was unusually thick.

"Oppa?"

"What?"

"I don’t think…this is just a regular carpet.”

Seol Suyeon’s face twisted in disgust. When she lifted her foot, sticky strands of mucus stretched from the sole of her combat boots.

“Oh my god. Let’s not go any further."

There was a white pile-like mass in the corner of the room. Park Minho was just about to check it but quickly gave up on the idea.

“Yeah…let’s avoid rooms with red floors from now on.”

They left the large room and kept moving. After passing through several corridors, they entered another room, and a foul stench hit them instantly.

"Ugh...!"

"Oppa, look!”

Inside were five human corpses. All of them were geared like soldiers.

The disturbing part was that their bodies were half-embedded into the walls and floor. Some had their upper bodies buried in the walls, leaving only their lower halves visible. Others were sunk into the floor, with their torsos sticking out.

Most of the flesh had already melted away, leaving only bones and gear, which seemed to be slowly getting absorbed as well.

"Let’s check them.”

Park Minho searched the bodies for anything useful.

'Guns, ammo…there are a few things, but…’

Since both he and Seol Suyeon already had plenty of equipment and supplies, there wasn’t much they actually needed. Still, he found a few useful items.

-2 grenades.

-4 flares.

-2 rapid foam-type hemostatic agents.

The hemostatic agents were a great find. They had medical kits, but nothing like this.

“Looks like military-grade stuff. It’ll probably seal wounds instantly when used. Let’s split these.”

"Okay, oppa."

Then Park Minho noticed something. A notebook lodged in one of the corpses' chests.

Inside was a photograph of a smiling young man and woman appearing like a couple.

Flipping through, he found notes written by the deceased.

[Retrieval mission for NCE-1121 Gastrolith in progress.]

[Resembles the Yellow Rooms, but this space is alive. A biological Backroom. The fluorescent lights on the ceiling are its nerves.]

[Three special operations teams failed. However, the gastrolith is essential for training the Foundation’s elite agents. Will compile additional findings and report.]

Below that were rules the explorers had discovered. Most likely at the cost of multiple lives.

1. Do not cut the mucous membranes with sharp objects. Deadly digestive fluids will be released.

2. If you get stuck to the membrane, you cannot remove yourself. Be careful.

3. Use blood to deal with entities. Preferably areas with villi.

4. If targeted by tentacles, make yourself seem inedible. Use things they dislike. Do not shoot the tentacles directly. They will multiply.

5. When the fluorescent lights flicker, stop. Absolutely stop.

6. Areas where the sour smell weakens are breathing passages. The exit is likely there.

7. Plan to target stitched seams of wounds.

It was incredibly valuable information learned through sacrifice.

"Suyeon, read this.”

"What is it?”

She read through it, then let out a small gasp.

"This sounds really important!”

Then, she looked up at the fluorescent lights, seeming uneasy.

“So those…even though they look like lights…are actually nerves of whatever this thing is?”

"Looks like it. We might’ve ended up inside the body of something unimaginably huge.”

“I was mentally prepared, but this is way too much right from the start.”

"Yeah. Let’s stay sharp. For now, we should move toward wherever the sour smell is the weakest."

“The air’s already awful, but now we have to sniff our way through this place, too?”

They tried to move in the direction where the sour smell seemed to get weaker.

At first, it completely filled the area, making it impossible to navigate.

But as they kept going, they started to notice areas where it actually weakened. And with that, they gained a sliver of hope.”

"Oppa, I think we’ve got a direction now!”

“Yeah. Let’s keep going like this.”

Just then, Park Minho, who was walking in front, raised his hand.

"Wait...!”

He sensed something ahead, but the feeling he got was when faced with something not quite human…

He clenched his jaw.

"Feels like an entity…”

"What do we do?”

"Let’s back off quietly. Be ready to fire at any moment. Got it?”

"Yes..."

They slowly retreated, hoping nothing would happen.

But then, something emerged from the darkness at the end of the corridor.

Three entities.

Their bodies were brown with black stripes, seeming vaguely humanoid, but their mouths were massive. They were shaped almost like blooming tulips.

And it was very clear that they had already spotted Park Minho and Seol Seyeon.

“Keep backing up. Stay ready to shoot.”

"Okay…Uuugh…”

Not every encounter with an entity turned into a fight. Park Minho desperately hoped they could disengage. But it took just a glance to realize that something was off.

'Not as bad as the mop monster, but they’re definitely not something we can just gun down easily.’

Then, those tulip-like mouths split open into multiple strands.

-Riiiip!

Their jaws split into multiple flaps. revealing rows of sharp teeth slick with viscous saliva. Then they charged forward, screaming.

"Kieeeeh!”

Park Minho raised his rifle and shouted,

"Fire!"

-Tatatatata! Tatata!

Muzzle flashes lit up the dark corridor.

-Pow! POOOW! Smack!

The leading creature's shoulder and chest burst open from the impacts.

The dull sound of the hits suggested their hide was thick.

Dark green blood sprayed out from the bullet wounds.

But they didn’t stop.

They staggered only for a moment, then the bleeding began to slow.

"KiiieEEEE!”

-Tatatata—-!

-Pow!

One of them even collapsed from the impact, but it got back up immediately.

The gunfire didn’t stop them. It only made them angrier. They looked ready to tear the two apart with those massive, gaping jaws at any moment.

-Click.

The moment his ammo ran out, Park Minho yelled,

"Run! Now!”

There was no point in shooting anymore. They turned and bolted without looking back.

"Those crazy bastards…!”

They sprinted through the twisted maze of the Backrooms. It felt like they’d be caught at any second. Park Minho made a snap decision.

"Drop the bags! Drop them!”

Even with phase compression, the backpacks were fully loaded, in other words, quite heavy.

They were slowing down fast.

"But…!”

"If they catch us, we’re dead anyway!”

"Got it!”

The moment they threw the bags aside, running became a lot easier. They managed to widen the gap that had nearly closed.

But the entities were relentless.

"Kieeeeeeeh!”

"Kweeeh!”

"Kweeeeeeeek!”

They weren’t fast enough to escape completely.

And they couldn’t keep running forever.

'What do we do?'

Then, something from the notebook flashed through Park Minho’s mind.

3. Use blood to deal with entities. Preferably areas with villi.

Blood, villi. If those conditions were specified, it meant even the previous explorers couldn’t handle them with just gunfire.

'Villi…?'

Something immediately clicked. That large room with the unusually red carpet.

"Suyeon! The red room! Let’s go there!”

"Ah...!"

Her eyes widened, showing that she had been thinking the same thing.

"But…haah…! That place is a dead end!”

Once they went in, there would be no escape. If what they planned didn’t work, they would be as good as dead.

"Still, huff, huff! We don’t have any other choice!”

"Understood...!”

They ran toward the large room with the red floor. They got lost several times along the way, but somehow, just before collapsing from exhaustion, they made it.

"Haah! Huff…! Ugh!”

"Haaaah! Haah! Haah!”

They were completely drained, drenched in sweat, barely able to speak as they staggered into the room.

Behind them, the entities’ shrieks echoed closer.

"Kieeeeeh!”

They weren’t far. They were tracking them by scent, refusing to leave them be.

"Inside! Go deeper!”

"Yeah…Huff, huff!"

"Reload the magazine!”

"Okay!”

There was no running anymore. The path was blocked, and they were completely exhausted.

"KeeeEEEEH!”

“Kweeehk!”

Right then, the entities burst into the large room.

"Kiiieeeeeeeh!”"

They spread their arms wide, full of momentum, their massive mouths opening wide, pulsing as if anticipating their next meal.

"Suyeon."

"Yes, oppa..."

"Stay calm. Aim for one. I'll handle…the other two.”

"Got it.”

Gunfire erupted immediately.

-Tatatatatata! Tatatatata!

Thinking this might be their last stand, they didn’t hold back. Instead of firing in burst like they did in the beginning, they unleashed a full barrage.

Muzzle flashes flared violently, and blood sprayed from the entities' bodies.

-Pow! Pow! Thud!

In moments, the creatures were drenched in green blood.

-Click!

Seol Suyeon’s hands trembled as she tried to reload. So much that she almost failed to insert the magazine.

Park Minho, who was more experienced with entities, stayed steady. He swapped magazines and kept firing.

-Tatatatatatatatatata!

But even after emptying another magazine, the entities still didn’t go down. A hollow laugh slipped from Park Minho’s lips.

"Hah…Fuck. Haha…”

He started to wonder whether these things were invincible. Their bodies riddled with bullet holes bled endlessly, and yet they still moved. It was absurd.

Then the room trembled softly. The thick, carpet-like villi covering the floor suddenly stood on end.

"Keh?”

"Kweeeh!”

"Kweh!”

Even the entities looked confused. And then, red tentacles burst out from between the villi all at once.

-Whoooooosh!

There were dozens of them. They reacted instantly to the smell of blood, wrapping around the entities.

In seconds, the entities’ angles, waists, and arms were rightly bound.

"KWEEEEEEH!”

The entities thrashed violently. Some even tried biting through the tentacles with their sharp teeth, but for every one they bit, more tentacles surged up from the floor. They were quickly overwhelmed.

"K-Kweeeeeek!”

Their screams turned desperate as they were dragged down, bit by bit, into the floor.

Whenever they tried to bite again, tentacles would wrap tightly around their mouths, sealing them shut.

-Crack! Snap!

Soon the sound of bones breaking echoed out, and then they were pulled completely under as if they were being swallowed by a swamp.

Park Minho and Seol Suyeon stood there, frozen, watching the entire thing in silence.

"......"

"......"

Thankfully, the tentacles only reacted to blood. They paid no attention to Park Minho and Seol Suyeon.

-Swooooosh.

-Slurp.

Having secured their prey, the tentacles coiled back into the villi and disappeared.

Only a slightly swollen patch of the floor remained.

Then a brown hand burst out from the ground.

-Thump!

It trembled desperately, as if clinging to life, but soon went limp, slowly getting dragged back down. Then it was gone, never to be seen again.

"Damn..."

"Wow......"

For a while, Park Minho and Seol Suyeon stood there, stunned by the sheer horror of the Backrooms.

"Oppa, we’ll be okay, right?”

“Looks like it only reacts to blood. If it was going to grab us, it would’ve done it already.”

“Yeah. Let’s go get our bags."

"Yeah, uh…wait.”

Par Minho noticed something deeper in the room. Earlier, he thought it was just a white pile, but up close, it was actually a heap of human bones.

And on top of them was a collection of all kinds of batteries.

AA batteries, smartphone batteries, and laptop lithium-ion pads.

'Batteries? Why are only batteries gathered here and nothing else?’

Park Minho had a feeling there was a reason for this.

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