WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 40 - Hanged King (2)
The Hanged King raised the massive greatsword he had been dragging behind him, then brought it crashing down toward Park Minho’s skull without hesitation.
-Booooom!
Park Minho barely managed to throw himself aside in time. The instant the blade struck the marble floor, it sounded like a bomb had detonated.
The shockwave alone sent Seol Suyeon tumbling backward with a scream.
"Kyaaah!”
Then the king swung the sword horizontally in a massive arc.
-Crash! Boooom!
With a single swing, the storage chamber was devastated. The glass cases containing auction items exploded apart simultaneously. Shards of glass sprayed everywhere while anomalous objects scattered across the floor.
Not just that. The wooden display tables, ornate furniture, and decorative structures were shredded apart like they’d been caught in a hurricane.
[……Come here…………Those eyes do not belong to you……]
The king reached out with his long arm, trying to snatch Seol Suyeon. She screamed and scrambled across the floor to escape.
"Aagh!”
The auction displays were structured like glass containers resting atop wooden tables. When Seol Suyeon ducked beneath one of them, the king twisted his jaw irritably.
[……Futile resistance…!]
Normally, the king would have simply crushed the entire table, but he couldn’t recklessly swing his sword since he would risk damaging Princess Cavaletto’s eyes.
[……Do not test my patience……!]
The Hanged King repeatedly thrust his blade downward, attempting to skewer at least Seol Suyeon’s lower body through the floor, but she kept scurrying around beneath the displays like a rat hiding in tight spaces.
Still, Seol Suyeon was gradually being cornered. The king was overturning the display tables one after another with brute force.
Watching this, Park Minho clenched his teeth.
'Can’t I use the new shadow circuit somehow?’
But after observing the King, he realized there was absolutely nothing he could steal. The king currently possessed no active anomalous abilities. Only monstrous physical strength and durability remained.
'Then I need something else…’
Scanning the room quickly, Park Minho spotted a spear rolling across the floor nearby. It had probably been one of the auction items.
Without hesitation, Park Minho hurled it at the king’s back.
--Whoosh!
-Thud!
The spear struck solidly with a heavy, resonant sound, embedding itself into his flesh. But didn’t inflict even an shred of actual damage.
[......Insolent……!]
The king irritably yanked the spear back out, then instantly threw it back at Park Minho, who simply curled up instinctively.
-Booooom!
The spear shot past with the force of a cannonball. It grazed his hair before embedding itself deep into the wall behind him. He hadn’t dodged by reading the trajectory but rather survived purely because he had crouched in panic.
After casually swatting Park Minho aside like an annoying insect, the king lunged toward Seol Suyeon again. He was growing impatient over the eyes.
[……Come here……!]
But in that moment, Park Minho noticed something.
'Wait.’
When Park Minho had stabbed the king with that anomalous spear earlier, he’d noticed something. The ropes hanging from the ceiling like tangled vines had all twitched at once.
The reason was obvious. The spear itself had been an anomalous object. The moment it pierced the king’s body, the king’s anomalous weight had increased slightly. Not enough to trigger execution, but enough for the ropes to react with unmistakable hunger.
'When I held the spear, the ropes didn’t react. That means the king’s baseline anomalous weight is already far greater than mine.’
In other words, if he increased his anomalous weight just a little more, the ropes would finally hang him.
Park Minho hurriedly scanned the room.
'I need the thing with the highest anomalous weight here!'
Then he spotted a sharp crystalline object rolling across the floor.
It was the 8th Day.
It had been the centerpiece of tonight’s auction. The item that drove bidding prices to insane levels. Which meant it was probably the heaviest anomalous object in the entire room.
'At this point it’s do or die.'
They were already cornered beyond reason. He had to try something. Park Minho immediately grabbed the crystal and charged toward the king.
But the instant he did, the ropes in the air reacted.
Park Minho’s own anomalous weight had now reached a dangerous threshold. He already possessed the Shadow Modification Circuit. And now he was carrying the 8th Day as well. He was no longer safe.
'Shit!'
He hadn’t expected the ropes to react to him, too, but in that split second, Park Minho realized he could use that. Without hesitation, he sprinted straight at the king.
The Hanged King turned with obvious irritation.
[……The insect returns once more……!]
The king was furious at this human who kept rushing at him without understanding his place.
Deciding to eliminate Park Minho first, the king swung his sword in a massive arc.
-Whoooosh!
But then, something happened that even the king hadn’t anticipated.
The sword became entangled with the ropes descending toward Park Minho. Because his anomalous weight had increased, the ropes were targeting him. And the king’s attack collided directly with them. The blade’s trajectory twisted violently as the ropes wrapped around it.
-Booooom!
The strike veered wildly off course and smashed into the nearby wall instead.
"Ghk......!"
Park Minho nearly had a heart attack. He'd intentionally manipulated the ropes’ movements, but actually seeing that gigantic sword miss him by inches made his legs almost give out.
[.......Kraaah……!]
The Hanged King snarled furiously and yanked at the greatsword tangled in the ropes, but the blade was too massive. It wouldn’t come free easily.
"...!"
Park Minho couldn’t waste that opening. He lunged directly into the king’s range and drove the 8th Day into him.
-Tak!
[……How far does this rat intend to interfere……!]
Enraged, the king reached out with his left hand to seize Park Minho’s throat and snap his neck….
But then a rope descending from above wrapped itself around the king’s arm.
[.......!]
That was only the beginning. More ropes immediately followed. They coiled around the king like gigantic serpents, then began lifting him into the air.
[……This ridiculous nonsense……!]
The king struggled violently, trying to rip the crystal from his body, but the more he resisted, the tighter the ropes bound him.
But this still wasn’t enough to kill the king. Because the king was already a being that had once died by hanging. Still, having him suspended helplessly in the air bought them an enormous amount of time.
[……How dare you……How dare you…!]
The king roared in fury and thrashed violently. But the more he struggled, the deeper the ropes dug into his joints, tightening with merciless force. And so, the Hanged King was suspended in a state even more miserable than when Princess Cavaletto had executed him long ago.
The humiliation radiating from him was monstrous.
[……To hang me once again……!......Do you understand the magnitude of the insult you have committed…?!]
Park Minho didn’t care.
"Suyeon!”
He grabbed her immediately and sprinted out of the storage room. Behind them, the king’s horrifying voice echoed through the maze.
[…Yes, run while you still can…! ……And imagine what will happen once I catch you again……!]
* * *
After running for quite a while, Park Minho immediately called Admin again. She answered instantly, as if she’d been waiting by the phone.
-What happened?!
Her voice carried unmistakable urgency.
"I got it."
-The King?
"He’s hanging right now.”
-What? What did you say?!
Park Minho quickly explained what had happened. Admin sounded utterly dumbfounded.
-I honestly don’t know what to even say about you anymore. But don’t relax yet. He’ll break free faster than you think.
“Got it. So now we head for the vault?”
-Yeah.
"How do we open it?”
-Place the hotelier’s smartphone against the vault door. I’ll handle the authentication process and password bypass from my side. But it’ll take some time.
"Didn’t you just say the king will break free soon?”
-Sorry…I’ve almost completely lost control over the auction hall. I need to route around several systems manually.
"Haah, fine. Where’s the vault?”
-Go back to the auction hall. It’s behind the stage.
Just imagining returning to the room filled with hanging corpses already made Park Minho sigh.
"How exactly are we supposed to find the auction hall again? This palace is a complete maze now.”
-Follow the arrows I drew earlier. Retrace them backward. If you go in reverse, you’ll eventually reach the hall.
"Ah, that should work. By the way, what exactly is the king’s power?”
Now that he thought about it, they’d been running for their lives nonstop, yet he still didn’t actually understand what the king’s power was.
-It’s ‘Reality Manipulation’ and ‘Reality Collapse.’
Park Minho frowned immediately.
"And what the hell does that mean…?”
Admin answered in a strangely quiet tone.
-Abilities possessed only by the highest-tier anomalous entities. Even NCE classifies entities capable of manipulating or collapsing reality separately as ‘God-tier Entities.’
* * *
The three TBU members were in despair.
"Team Leader, what do we do now?”
"Would you shut up for a second? I’m thinking!”
Something utterly catastrophic had happened inside the auction hall. Powerful anomalous entities, beings the three of them wouldn’t even dare make eye contact with, had been hanged.
Then the two humans from the VIP section had fled, with the king personally pursuing them. And throughout that entire chaotic sequence, the TBU trio had been completely ignored, as though they didn’t even qualify to participate in the stage where all of this was unfolding.
After agonizing over it, they ultimately decided to search for Park Minho and Seol Suyeon. They still didn’t understand what was happening, but orders from headquarters were absolute. No matter what, they had to establish friendly relations with those two.
If they could help in some way, maybe they could repair the disastrous first impression they’d made earlier.
But after venturing deeper into the Backrooms-infested hallways beyond the auction hall, they found nothing. After wandering endlessly through the maze, they eventually circled back to the auction hall itself.
They were exhausted and utterly lost as to what they should do next.
"Team Leader, at this point shouldn’t we focus on our own survival at least…?”
Cha Hyuncheol, effectively the second-in-command of the trio, finally spoke up.
"Shut up! We can’t even guarantee that right now! What do we even know about this place?! Where’s the exit? Huh?”
"Well......"
"If we’re going to die anyway, it’s better to accomplish the mission first! What do you think happens to our families in the survivor zone if we screw this up? They’ll demote them to the lowest class, maybe even dispose of them outright.”
That shut Che Hyuncheol up instantly.
"Wouldn’t it be better to gamble our lives trying to build relations with those VIPs instead?"
"......"
"At least if we try, we’ll have something to say if we survive this place. What? You want to tell headquarters we just sat in the auction hall shaking in fear like cowards? You think those bastards back at headquarters are soft enough to sympathize with us?!”
"...No sir. You're right.”
Still, they had no actual plan. And then, one of the countless doors lining the auction hall suddenly burst open. Two humans emerged.
It was Park Minho and Seol Suyeon.
The TBU trio’s eyes widened. They’d searched everywhere for them, and now they’d appeared out of nowhere.
"Team Leader!”
"Gah!"
"What the hell?”
Even in their shock, Kim Sungjin knew this opportunity couldn’t be missed. He immediately ran forward with his team.
"Sir! Are you alright?!”
Park Minho instantly became wary. He hadn’t expected to encounter the TBU trio again here of all places.
'Damn it, the vault’s right there too.'
These three were awakened humans. If they turned hostile, things would become a disaster instantly.
'And of course I don’t have my guns right now…'
Park Minho quickly moved Seol Syueon behind him protectively while glaring at them.
"...What do you want?”
But unexpectedly, their attitude was absurdly polite.
"We're truly relieved to see you safe!”
The arrogance they’d shown during their first meeting had completely vanished. Now they only looked tense and desperate, carefully gauging Park Minho’s reaction. He didn’t really understand the exact reason, but one thing was obvious to Park Minho. These people considered him important now.
'Looks like I can use this, right?’
Honestly, he couldn’t care less about TBU itself. But if he could manipulate them into being useful, that was another story.
‘They’ve obviously got their own agenda too. So I’ll just use them for mine. That’s how deals work in the first place.’
Park Minho decided to play hard to get for the moment.
"I appreciate the concert, but I’m rather busy right now.”
"If you need assistance, perhaps we can help. Better yet, why don’t we work together and escape this place as a group?”
Park Minho shook his head.
"The king will be here soon.”
"What…?”
The moment they heard the word ‘king,’ the faces of the TBU trio turned pale.
Park Minho looked at them calmly.
"If you truly want to help me, can you hold the king back?”
The king? Kim Sungjin found himself utterly speechless.
"That’s......"
"If it’s too difficult, that’s fine. We can simply go our separate ways.”
"No, sir. Fighting an enemy beyond your capacity is not sound judgement. Wouldn’t it be wiser to search for an escape route instead?”
"We have a way.”
"Y-you do?”
"Yes, I can’t explain in detail, but we can defeat the king. I just need someone to buy us time.”
"......."
"There’s no time to stand around hesitating. If even stalling him is impossible, then please step aside.”
If they refused again, any chance of establishing relations with this VIP would be completely lost.
Kim Sungjin finally made his decision.
“Understood. We’ll hold him back as long as we can.”
"Thank you."
"By the way, where are you heading?”
"The vault.”
Park Minho immediately headed backstage. Just as Admin had described, another hallway waited for him there.
Now a group of five, they rushed through multiple doors deeper into the warped structure until they finally found it. A gigantic vault door, wrapped tightly in layers of rope.
"Then we’ll leave this to you.”
At Park Minho’s words, Kim Sungjin nodded.
"Understood. We’ll return to the room we passed earlier and hold the line there. It seems easier to defend.”
After separating from Park Minho and returning to the forward chamber, King Sungkin quietly checked the condition of his defensive ability, ‘Hexagonal Structure.’
"...Can we really survive this?”
Beside him, Cha Hyuncheol and Heo Areum already looked deathly pale.
"Hard to say…The problem is we have no idea how strong the king still is without the noose."
"Team Leader, this isn’t going to become our grave, right?”
Kim Sungjin frowned and pulled something from his pocket. A photograph. It showed his young daughter back in the survivor zone. Kim Yuna. She was currently very ill.
"...Let’s hope not."
Cha Hyuncheol’s ability was 'Vibration Severance,' and Heo Areum’s was 'Friction Manipulation.’ The three of them had survived countless crises thanks to their excellent teamwork.
But this time, their opponent was on an entirely different level.
At that moment, a furious roar echoed from far away.
[……Kuuuaaaaaaah……!]
It was still distant, but merely hearing it made their legs weak.
Kim Sungjin gritted his teeth.
"Let’s trust the VIPs and hold out somehow."
If things went well, they might even be able to escort those two back to headquarters as honored guests.
Kim Sungjin could already imagine the rewards the organization might grant him.
‘I should ask them to transfer Yuna into a high-grade hospital room.’
* * *
Following Admin’s instructions, Park Minho placed the hotelier’s smartphone onto the scanning pad at the center of the vault door.
Immediately, the phone’s screen lit up, and a full authentication sequence began.
".......”
Park Minho waited anxiously. Soon, a loading bar appeared across the screen. It climbed far more slowly than he expected.
‘Sigh’
However, there was nothing else he could do. All he could do was grit his teeth and wait. How much time had passed? Suddenly, shouting erupted from behind him.
"Hold the formation!”
It was the TBU group. Judging by the panic in their voices, the king had arrived.
-Booooom!
At the same time, an explosive crash thundered through the hallway. The battle had definitely begun.
-Clank!
Just then, one of the vault’s locking mechanisms disengaged. But several still remained.
"Youngest!”
A scream rang out, followed by a horrifying wet crunch.
-Clank!
Another lock released. The loading bar had now passed 40%.
The sounds of combat continued behind him.
"You bastard! I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you—!”
The TBU members sounded desperate now. Maybe someone had already died. Unlike their earlier hesitation, they were clearly fighting with everything they had.
-Clank!
Another lock disengaged. The loading bar had already crossed 70%.
Cold sweat streamed down Park Minho’s face as he listened to the chaos behind him.
"Gaaaaargh! My arm! Argh! Cha Hyuncheol! Where are you going?! Cha Hyuncheol! You son of a bitch!”
"I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
"Get back here! Cha Hyuncheeeeooool—!”
Another explosion, followed by more screaming.
“Gaaaagh!”
Then everything went silent. And after that silence, the Hanged King spoke.
[……Come out. You insect…]
-Clank!
At that moment, the final lock disengaged. The vault door opened.
Inside lay a rope coiled like a massive serpent.
At its end hung a bloodstained noose. The opposite end pierced through the vault wall itself, stretching all the way toward the auction hall beyond.
Park Minho grasped the noose with both hands. It was nothing more than a rope, but it felt impossibly heavy.
'Can I really put this around my neck?'
For a moment, he even imagined his neck snapping instantly beneath its weight. But this was their only hope.
Holding the noose, Park Minho turned toward the king. The coiled rope unraveled behind him, slithering along the floor in pursuit.
"Oppa..."
"Stay here, Suyeon.”
If the king took Seol Suyeon hostage, everything would be over. Understanding immediately, she nodded.
“Okay. Just please come back alive……!”
Carrying the noose, Park Minho headed toward the chamber at the end of the hallway.
Beyond it lay a devastated hall. One corpse had been crushed so badly its original form was barely recognizable. And nearby lay Kim Sungjin, collapsed on the ground. His body was mangled, but he was still alive, gasping raggedly for air.
Fear, confusion, and disbelief filled his eyes. They seemed to ask him what the hell he was planning to do.
Park Minho ignored the stare and looked ahead at the king.
The Hanged King’s flesh had been torn away in chunks, exposing bone throughout his body. Those wounds weren’t from the TBU trio. They were marks left from ripping himself free of the hanging ropes.
In that ruined state, the king mocked the noose in Park Minho’s hands.
[How does an insect like you intend to withstand that…?]
"We’ll find out.”
Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Park Minho slipped the noose around his neck.
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