WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 3 - Underground Shopping Mall (3)

In an instant, Park Minho’s vision was filled entirely with the pitch-black monster.

'I’m…dead.’

There was nowhere to run. Behind him was the invisible barrier, and in front of him was the charging creature.

Riiiiip!

The filthy mop strands split apart, revealing the maw hidden beneath. Inside were rows of blade-like teeth.

It was truly over.

And yet, human survival instinct was a strange thing. Even as despair set in, his body moved first.

"Ugh!"

Park Minho dropped low on reflex and rolled across the floor.

At the same time, the creature’s long, wet arm barely grazed over the top of his head.

The force behind it tore through the air. If he’d been even a split second slower, his skull would have burst like a watermelon.

Craaaaaash!

The moment Park Minho hit the ground, a deafening impact sound rang out.

The mop monster, having lunged forward to crush him, slammed straight into the invisible barrier at the ticket gate.

The collision was so violent that for a brief moment, the barrier itself became visible.

Woooosh!

Bzzzzzzt!

The air rippled, blue sparks bursting wildly as the wall revealed itself. The massive creature was flung backward, crashing onto the floor.

"Kugh…Kwegh……”

The monster convulsed where it landed. The impact had been so great that its mop-handle-like neck bent at a sick angle, trembling violently. 

This was his last chance.

Park Minho clenched his teeth, forced himself up, and rushed to the gate. With frantic hands, he searched the old machine.

'There has to be a way. There has to be…!'

It was just a dust-covered, ordinary machine at a glance, but then he discovered something.

"...!"

It was a coin slot with unclear purpose. And next to it there was some crudely scribbled text.

[Toll: 1 coin]

Park Minho’s eyes widened.

"Ah...!”

Hands trembling from fear and adrenaline, he dug into his pocket, searching for the gold coin he had found in the security booth.

He knew he’d put it in the zippered inner pocket of his jacket, but his fingers didn’t seem willing to cooperate with him now in his hurry.

Zrrrk. Clink.

The zipper snagged on the fabric, refusing to budge.

"Shit, shit!”

Then, he heard a spine-chilling sound coming from behind him.

Splosh. Splosh.

A shiver ran down his spine as he turned. The mop monster was already halfway back up. The broken, bent neck cracked and snapped back into place with a sickening crackling sound, rising upright again.

"Uwah!”

Park Minho grabbed the zipper with everything he had and yanked. It felt like his fingernails were about to rip off, but he didn’t care.

Riiiiip! Roll—

With the sound of fabric and zipper tearing apart, the cold gold coin tumbled out.

Minho immediately shoved it into the slot.

Clink—!

A strangely clear, almost delicate sound. seeming completely out of place in this hellish citation. At the same time, the red light on the gate flickered, turning green.

Minho threw his arms over his head and lunged forward without a shred of hesitation.

'I made it...'

Just as relief began to set in…

"...!"

A crushing force seized him, and his body was lifted into the air. Then he was immediately violently slammed to the ground.

"Aagh…!”

The mop monster had reached through and grabbed Park Minho’s bag as he passed through the ticket gate.

"KIIEeEEeEEEH!”

As if it refused to let its prey escape, it shrieked and began dragging him back with brutal force.

"Uuugh!”

In his panic, Minho tried to slip out of the bag, but the chest strap he’d fastened earlier worked against him.

"!"

He desperately fumbled with the strap on his chest but just couldn’t undo it. With no other choice, he grabbed onto the ticket gate with both hands and held on.

"Let go! Let go of me!”

He put every ounce of his strength into resisting, but it felt like he was about to be dragged back anyway.

Then, sparks burst around the gate.

The coin’s effect had ended, after which the barrier reformed.

At that exact moment, the long, black arm the creature had stretched through the gate was cleanly severed by the barrier.

Crunch!

"KuwWEEEEeeEEH!”

The monster howled on the other side, lifting its severed arm as blood poured out.

Minho didn’t hesitate and bolted down the dark stairwell in that brief moment.

He just moved without a thought in his mind, blindly rushing forward when he eventually started tumbling down the stairs.

"Ugh! Aagh! Agh!”

Heavy, bone-rattling impacts slammed through his body with every hit. And then, darkness swallowed his consciousness whole.

* * *

Intense pain dragged Minho back to his senses.

"Uuuugh......."

He groaned, his eyelids trembling as they slowly opened.

The first sense to return was his sense of smell.

A musty, moldy stench, like an old storage room would smell, filled his nose. The moment he inhaled, he broke into a coughing fit.

"Cough! Cough!”

Each cough sent a hammering pain through his ribs.

"Uuugh......"

He barely managed to open his eyes and realized he was sprawled out like trash on a cold, hard concrete floor.

'...?'

His brain quickly began piecing things together. The ticket gate, the gold coin, the invisible barrier reactivating just in time to sever the monster’s arm. And the last thing he remembered, falling down the stairs…

"Wow, I actually survived through that."

He couldn't believe it. Park Minho struggled to push himself up and looked around.

"...Where the hell am I now?”

It was a fairly large concrete room.

Aside from a single table, the space was completely empty. There was one metal door that looked like an exit. Other than that, it was a windowless, fully enclosed space. 

A fluorescent light hung from the ceiling, flickering erratically like it was on its last legs.

Flick, bzzzt.

He had no idea why he was here. 

'I don’t even see the stairs I came down…'

Then, Minho noticed something written on the wall.

[T E M P O R A R Y  S A F E Z O N E]

The message looked strange, like letters cut out from magazines or newspapers, pasted together, seeing how mismatched the fonts and sizes were.

"What…? Temporary safe zone?"

For something called a safezone, the atmosphere was anything but that. All around the message, dark red stains were splattered across the wall.

'That’s obviously blood…’

It had long since dried. Someone had clearly met an end here, so this place seemed anything but safe.

The message continued along the blood-stained wall.

[C H O O S E  O N E  O F  T H E  T H R E E  O N  T H E  T A B L E]

Minho immediately turned toward the table. And there he discovered three items.

The first, was a clunky laptop.

'I think I saw one of these in movies before, right?’

A tactical-style laptop, like something a U.S. special forces unit might use, encased in a heavy metal shell. As if to prove it, the sides were packed with all kinds of unfamiliar ports.

'Is this for gathering information or communication?’

Unfortunately, there was no clear explanation.

The second item that was next to it immediately caught Minho’s attention.

"Oh...!"

It was a K2 assault rifle, along with four magazines and three smoke grenades. This was the most straightforward survival tool imaginable.

'If I have a gun, I can at least fight back if I run into something like that monster, right?'

More importantly, it was a K2. Something familiar to him.

'That's a decent amount of ammo and smoke grenades too?’

But when he looked at the third option, he couldn’t help but feel surprised once more.

"Coins...!"

Inside a large ziplock bag was a pile of coins. On the plastic, someone had scrawled “50 Gold” in marker.

Thinking back to the ticket gate, these coins would probably be extremely useful.

'And if I make it out alive, I might even get rich with these…’

Minho had no idea who had prepared all this, but one thing was certain. This wasn’t an easy choice.

'Information, power, wealth.' 

Not a single option was expendable.

"Hmm......"

Then, a light flicked on above him. A red digital clock came to life right after.

[00:59:29]

It began ticking down, one second at a time.

28.

27.

26.

Park Minho understood immediately what that meant.

'A time limit?'

This so-called ‘temporary safezone’ clearly had a strict duration. And within that time he had to choose one of three items.

'What do I do?'

The problem was, he could only guess what any of them did.

For all he knew, their effects might be completely different from how they looked.

'If they’d just give a simple description, this would be way easier…’

In games, Minho always prioritized information above all else. Getting stronger, making money… All of that came down to information in the end.

'If that’s the case, the laptop…'

But this wasn’t a game. And thinking of it as reality, his eyes kept drifting toward options that looked more immediate and practical for survival.

The gun, especially.

'If I run into that monster again, there’s no guarantee I’ll escape, but if I have this…'

Was it fear or anxiety? Completely against his usual instincts, Park Minho found himself drawn toward the gun.

"No, no."

At times like this, it was better to stick to what one was good at. Even outside of games, Minho was the type to gather information first, no matter what.

'Who knows what’s coming next? And I don’t even know if a gun would work on that thing.’

In the end, he chose the laptop. The moment his hand touched it, the other two items dissolved like smoke and vanished.

"Huh......"

Watching it happen right in front of him felt surreal, as if he was hallucinating.

[00:34:15]

He’d burned a lot of time deliberating his decision.

Monho quickly opened the laptop.

-Click.

As the angular metal case unfolded, a white screen lit up after which something appeared on the screen.

<Backroom (Ghost Story) Ghost Gallery>

"What is this…?”

It looked like an online forum. Ones he’d seen countless times before.

[Notice] Violating gallery rules will result in being forcibly removed to the ‘Abyss.’

[Notice] Now hosting: “Most Bullshit Death” Contest.

[Title] I don’t even know how long I’ve been stuck in this white space.

ㄴYou seem fine, so probably not that long yet…

ㄴWhat happens if it goes on longer?

ㄴCognitive contamination builds up. Eventually your mind collapses.

[Title] This place is dead af. When’s the next newbie showing up?

ㄴWho even picks the laptop these days?

ㄴfr, I’d pick the gun, no question.

ㄴPeople really don’t get how important info is.

ㄴlol all the guys who picked laptops are dead, though?

Park Minho stared at the screen, stunned.

"Wh-what is this? Huh…?”

From a quick glance, it looked like no new posts had been made in months.

'Is this a dead forum?’

If this was all the laptop did, he was in serious trouble.

Then, a notification popped up in the bottom right.

-A new post has been created. <EMERGENCY!>

"Huh...?"

The word "emergency" made him click it immediately, after which he froze.

[Post] EMERGENCY! A new laptop just activated in Sector 772.

Comments started pouring in in real time.

ㄴA new Backroomer just spawned?

ㄴNo way he picked the laptop over the gun-

ㄴCoin’s the safest pick. You can buy healing drinks with it…

ㄴTaking bets on how long this newbie survives.

ㄴLaptop’s either jackpot or instant death. Quite the bold newbie has arrived.

Park Minho didn’t know what Sector 772 was, but he had a feeling that this post was about him.

He glanced around instinctively and then noticed faint text beneath the still-counting digital clock.

[772]

"Yeah..."

There was no doubt about it. The newbie currently lighting up this Backroom Ghost forum was him.

'I should try posting something first.'

Normally, whenever Park Minho entered a new forum, he’d lurk first.

But right now, time was ticking down fast.

[Title] Hey guys? What exactly are the Backrooms……?

For his user, he quickly went with ‘Cheezza,’ a dumb little wordplay on the cheese pizza from Daomi Pizza where he worked.

Anyway, clinging to even the slightest hope, he hit post, and the response exploded almost instantly.

ㄴWoah loool this newbie doesn’t even know what the Backrooms are.

ㄴYeah he’s done in under an hour. I’m betting all my coins.

ㄴIf you end up in a pure white room after running…just assume ur dead.

ㄴHaven’t run into any entities yet? No way he’s a Level 0 starter then

Every single one of these unknown figures lurking in the gallery had their eyes on him.

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