WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 24 - Backrooms Level 0 (4)

"What is that thing?”

"Not sure…but it definitely looks important.”

Park Minho slipped off his backpack and spoke.

"Suyeon, keep watch for me. I’m going to grab that.”

"Oppa, isn’t that dangerous?”

"I’ll take it slow. There are enough footholds.”

He circled along the edge of the moat filled with digestive fluid, looking for something stable to step on.

'That one should work.’

But the moment he took his first step, he nearly lost it.

"Ugh...!"

The stepping stones made of piled-up trash were far more slippery than they looked.

-Fssssh!

Smoke rose from his leather shoe as it brushed against the digestive fluid. He almost slipped in. Cold sweat ran down his back.

"Phew…Okay, easy, easy.”

The sour stench rising from below stabbed at his nose. 

Still, he kept his composure. And before long, he reached the island where the black sphere floated.

The sphere was smaller than expected. About the size of a baseball.

He immediately scanned it.

-Beep.

[Gatrolithe of the Biological Backroom / High-tier / Anomalous Object]

[A crystallized mass formed from anomalous energy of entities consumed by the biological Backroom]

"Gastrolith…?”

Something clicked in his mind. He remembered the note he had found earlier.

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

So this had to be what those dead NCE operatives were after.

'And this energy feels weirdly familiar…'

Of course it did. Because it was made of the same kind of residue left behind by that mop monster.

High concentrations of anomalous energy tended to manifest as black. That was why higher-tier entities were often black in color.

This spherical Gastrolith, a condensed mass of digested entities, awakened individuals, and anomalous objects, had turned pitch-black for the same reason.

Park Minho, as if entranced, reached out and grabbed it.

-Crackle!

A sharp sting ran through his palm, but nothing serious. The sphere felt cold, yet electrifying at the same time. And it had a strange, heavy presence to it.

The moment he made contact, he was sure. It was the exact same sensation he had felt before.

‘This can definitely generate Noise Phenomena.'

And unlike the soot from the kitchen knife, this solid sphere didn’t feel like something that would disappear after a few uses.

'I bet I could awaken with this, right?'

That was exactly why the NCE Foundation wanted it. To awaken, the first step was usually generating ‘Noise’ using this soot.

The problem was that soot was incredibly rare and expensive. You could usually only harvest it from high-tier entities.

But with this Gastrolith, that limitation disappeared.

This concentrated mass of soot held enough energy for countless people to practice generating Noise and reach awakening.

If Park Minho used it alone, it wouldn’t just be enough for awakening, he could even start thinking about what came after.

A grin naturally spread across his face.

'So I just snatched the thing the NCE’s been dying to get their hands on?'

Park Minho had essentially swooped in and taken the Gastrolith using intel the NCE had paid for with their own special forces. From the NCE’s perspective, who kept throwing personnel into this place, this would be absolutely infuriating.

"Yeah, serves them right.”

Park Minho already had a grudge against the NCE Foundation, so this felt very satisfying to him.

But then a faint sound echoed from far away.

-Tatatatatatata! Tatata!

It was the sound of gunfire. It was distant, but close enough to make his heart jump. Park Minho quickly pocketed the Gastrolith and returned to Suyeon.

"You heard that?"

"Yes, looks like we’re not alone.”

"Could be the NCE.”

"Should we move now?”

“Yeah. Nothing good comes from running into them. Let’s find the exit as fast as possible.”

Just then, they spotted a passage beyond the garbage island. They immediately headed that way.

* * *

A while later, Zeta Nine found something.

"Team leader! Over here!”

They had discovered a large number of shell casings in a room covered with red, hair-like fibers.

"5.56mm and 7.62mm rounds. Two shooters.”

At the report, the team leader examined the casings, checking the residue and even smelling the remaining powder.

"Hasn’t been long ago. Definitely fired within a few hours.”

"What are your orders?”

"Hmm......"

After a brief pause, he made his decision.

"Looks like we should deal with the rats first.”

Chasing a vaguely located Gastrolith could wait. Neutralizing an immediate threat came first.

“There are only two of them. Split the team in half. Track them down as fast as possible. Capture is priority. We need to know their objective. If they run, terminate them.”

"Understood!”

They were all experts in tracking. Now that they had a trail, it wouldn’t take long to catch up.

* * *

Meanwhile, Park Minho and Seol Suyeon continued moving, strictly following one rule. Head toward where the sour smell grew weaker.

The interior was incredibly complex, and they lost their way multiple times, but they could feel they were getting closer.

However, after about three hours, their expressions turned incredibly tense. They had even started half-running.

"Haah, haah!”

"Huff! Huff!”

At some point, they began hearing footsteps behind them. At first, they thought they could shake whoever it was off. But the sound clung to them persistently, and slowly it was getting closer.

Just as Park Minho and Seol Suyeon were about to turn a corner, a sharp voice rang out from behind them.

"Freeze! Hands up! Don’t move!”

A fully armed special ops unit appeared. There were four of them. The moment Park Minho saw ‘NCE’ printed across their vests, he didn’t even bother responding. He grabbed Seol Suyeon and bolted.

"They’re running! Take them down!”

-Tatatatatatata!

Luckily, they were right at the corner. They slipped out of sight just in the nick of time.

Bullets slammed into the fleshy wall, splattering digestive fluid everywhere.

Still running, Park Minho yanked the pin on a grenade and tossed it behind them.

-Whoosh!

-Rooooll.

But then it combined with the pooled digestive fluid.

-BOOOOOM!

So the explosion didn’t just blast shrapnel around but also acidic fluid.

"Aaargh!”

"Ugh…!”

Two of the operatives were instantly taken out. Their gear saved their lives, but they went down hard.

"Keep running! Don’t stop!”

Taking advantage of the opening, Park Minho and Seol Suyeon sprinted forward blindly.

"It’s really the NCE!”

"If they catch us, we’re dead!”

Behind them, they could already hear them perusing again. The distance they gained from the grenade was closing fast.

Park Minho’s mouth went dry.

'This time they won't hesitate to shoot.’

Before, they had gotten lucky. The NCE had tried to capture them first. Now that wouldn’t be the case anymore.

"Oppa! Haah! Over there…!”

At the end of the corridor there was a red-floored room. A place covered in those velvety, villi-like growths they had seen before.

Thankfully, this one had an exit on the far side.

The moment they entered, a sickening, soft sensation pressed under their feet. Honestly, it felt like something might burst out at any moment, but they didn’t have time to worry about that.

Then, one of the pursuing NCE operatives caught up.

He aimed straight at Park Minho’s back and fired without hesitation.

-Tatata!

Four shots all hit Park Minho precisely.

Even after chasing them all this time until they were breathless, not a single round missed. A truly terrifying display of skill, befitting of a veteran.

“Ack!”

Park Minho cried out and collapsed forward.

"Oppa...!"

"Ugh……!"

He grit his teeth and tried to push himself back up, blood splitting from his wounds.

But for someone who had just taken four shots to the back, he was surprisingly okay.

The reason for that was because three of those rounds had struck the Phase Compression Backpack on his back.

The interior of that bag was a warped space, 10 times larger than it looked. There was no real concept of up or down inside. If there were, everything stored inside would’ve been crushed under its own weight.

Naturally, inside that warped anomalous space, the three bullets changed direction unpredictably.

One shot shot upward out of the backpack. Another ricocheted back toward the NCE operative who fired it. The last one simply vanished inside the bag.

Only the single round that struck Park Minho’s left arm actually did any damage. It tore clean through the muscle in one strike.

At the same time, blood dripped onto the villi-covered floor. And it reacted instantly.

-Swoooooosh!

More than a dozen tentacles burst out in an instant. At that moment, the NCE operative behind them, trying to finish Park Minho off, opened fire again.

-Tatatatatata!

But this time, instead of hitting Park Minho, the bullets slammed straight into the tentacles that had erupted. 

The tentacles became a meat shield.

-Thud, thud!! Thud!

Blood sprayed everywhere from the pierced tentacles. And just like the fourth rule had warned, it led to something far worse.

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

As the wounded tentacles sprayed blood in every direction, even more tentacles surged up from the villi-covered floor. And this time, they all rushed toward the NCE operative who fired.

"Gaaaaaaaaaah!”

He was instantly entangled by the tentacles, screaming loudly.

But Park Minho wasn’t safe either.

Most of the tentacles had gone for the NCE operatives, but three of them still latched onto him.

"Aaaagh!”

The pain felt like his entire body was being torn apart. He shouted at Seol Suyeon.

Pocket! My pants pocket!”

Seol Suyeon understood instantly. She rushed over and pulled out the ziplock bag attached to his thigh.

Inside were the corroded batteries they had collected earlier.

She flung the contents forward, without a shred of hesitation.

-Fwooosh.

A cloud of white powder spread through the air like flour.

The residue, originally stuck to the oxidized batteries, had loosened during transport inside the bag, collecting just like crumbs at the bottom of a chips bag.

The tentacles reacted immediately.

The moment the powder touched their moist surface, they recoiled in horror.

It was a highly alkaline substance, after all. It wasn’t enough to destroy them, but it was more than enough to kill their appetite. To them, it was like trying to eat a meal and suddenly someone dumped literal shit all over it.

"...!"

Freed from the tentacles, Park Minho collapsed forward gasping for air.

"Oppa! Move!"

Suyeon urged him on while firing behind them.

-Tatata! Tata! Tata!

The second NCE operative, who had just arrived, immediately took over behind a wall. In front of him was his teammate who was being dragged away by tentacles, and ahead of him were the targets, firing back at them. It was a complete nightmare scenario.

"Gaaaaaah!”

The trapped operative’s gear shattered, bones crunching audibly as the tentacles tightened.

-Crack! Snap!

By now, the operative’s body was completely hidden beneath the writhing mass of tentacles.

Park Minho and Seol Suyeon used that moment and ran.

"Hurry! Hurry!”

"Hah! Haah!”

They blindly sprinted ahead until they hit a fork.

Left or right.

They had to quickly decide.

"Oppa...?"

"Left!"

Because light was spilling in from that direction. Park Minho desperately prayed that they would find hope in that light.

And then they hit a dead end.

"Ah...!"

"Aah.......!"

A groan escaped them. But the wall blocking their path was different from the others.

For one, it was semi-transparent.

Light poured through from behind it, and across that surface was a long red line stretching over it diagonally.

It looked like a scab or a stitched wound.

Park Minho’s eyes sharpened, feeling like he might be able to break through this.

He raised his gun, then immediately screamed as pain shot through his left arm.

"Agh!”

"Oppa...!"

"Suyeon, shoot the wall.”

"Yes!"

-Tata! Tata! Tata!

It was no use. The bullets pierced it but only left small holes, nothing more.

Then voices echoed from behind them.

"They went left!”

"Gunfire from the left!”

Somehow they had pushed through the tentacles and kept chasing. Maybe reinforcements had arrived. 

Either way, there was no time left. Park Minho’s face turned pale.

'Is this really it?'

But even then he forced himself to think. And suddenly something he had completely forgotten hit him.

'The chalk......!'

The reason it hadn’t worked before was because the walls were too soft. But that stitched line looked hardened. Like dried blood.

'This might work!'

Park Minho pulled out the chalk without further ado and dragged it along the seam a few times.

-Scratch!

A white line formed across the stitched surface. And then, light burst through it.

The effect of the Anywhere Chalk activated, opening the wall along the drawn lines.

At the same time the tension in the wound caused it to peel apart, stretching wide to either side.

The wall was open.

Blinding light flooded in.

"There!"

"They’re there!"

Just as the NCE closed in, Park Minho grabbed Seol Suyeon’s hand and leapt into the light.

"Uwagh!”

"Kyaaah!”

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