WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 6 - Mannequin (2)

'Could it be because of this electricity?'

Park Minho looked down at the kitchen knife in his hand. It was no longer the same as when he first picked it up. Now it was dented and misshapen.

And then he realized it.

'When that mop monster grabbed my bag……!'

At that moment he passed through the gate, the creature had seized his bag.

Its claws had been razor-sharp, leaving the bag tattered and damaging some of the items inside. The kitchen knife probably was one of them.

Honestly, it was a miracle it hadn’t snapped in half.

But still, why the hell was a dented knife suddenly crackling with electricity?

'No, that’s not the important part right now.'

He couldn’t let this opportunity slip. Park Minho’s eyes sharpened as he shouted.

"Come on, you bastard!”

As he yelled that out, fighting spirit surged within him.

Moreover, it was clear that the mannequin monster was shaken.

That alone was enough to make his spirit surge even further, urging Park Minho to push forward.

"You were acting all cocky earlier, so come on then! You piece of trash!”

At that moment, a change seemed to occur within the entity.

A crack spread across its rigid body, and black smoke began to seep out. Then, the plastic outer shell started falling away, revealing what lay inside.

To his shock, a person was inside of it.

"Wh-what?”

Park Minho recoiled in horror. No wonder, given that the being emerging from the mannequin had the appearance of a person.

But it wasn’t exactly a normal one. Where its eyes, nose, and mouth should have been was nothing.

No, it had exactly a single eye sitting in its right socket.

But even that wasn’t normal.

The eyeball was unnaturally large. It had no eyelids, no lashes, appearing as if it had been crudely forced into flesh that had been split open.

The white of the eyes was bloodshot, and the pitch-black pupil rapidly contracted and expanded.

-Roll, roll.

The eye darted left and right until it locked onto Park Minho.

In that instant, every hair on his body stood on end. The sheer malice in that gaze sent chills down his spine.

He wondered if this was what facing a serial killer would be like.

"Kihihi... Kikiki!”

It sounded quite pleased. Its body began to move more fluidly and naturally than before.

It seemed like it had decided to abandon that stiff outer form, adapting to deal with the electricity from Park Minho’s knife.

At that moment, something from the forum flashed through Park Minho’s mind.

ㄴThat’s definitely a Faceling disguised as a mannequin.

Some random user had mentioned that.

And now there was no doubt about it. This thing was a Faceling, which the users had warned him about.

'But that doesn’t change anything.'

Park Minho tightened his grip on the knife and shouted.

"Now what, huh?! What are you gonna do, you piece of shit?!”

At that moment, the Faceling reached around its waist and pulled something out.

It looked like a rosin bag, like the ones pitchers used on the mound. Those things that contain the white powder they pat onto their hands before throwing.

"...?”

Just as Park Minho was wondering what it was, the Faceling hurled it with all its strength. Reacting instinctively, Minho raised the bag in his left hand like a shield.

-Thud!

With a dull impact, white powder burst into the air. Realizing too late, Minho quickly stepped back and thrust his knife forward.

"Kgh...! Cough! Cough!”

The white powder made him cough violently, but he didn’t loosen his grip on the knife. If it lunged, he was ready to stab it. He had already prepared himself to die.

But even after a few seconds nothing happened.

"......?"

As the powder slowly settled, his vision cleared.

And the Faceling couldn’t be found anywhere.

"What?"

Park Minho, who had braced himself for a final clash, stood there in disbelief.

"Did it run away…? No way, right?”

* * *

For now, Park Minho quickly got out of there. No matter what the creature’s intention had been, staying in a dead end was clearly a bad idea.

He kept moving, putting as much distance as possible between himself and where he had encountered the Faceling.

"Huff, huff. Huff!”

Just how big was this place? No matter how far he went, there was no end in sight. It clearly made him understand that there would be no point in attempting to create a map.

'Somewhere without mannequins…’

Not all mannequins were Facelings. Most of them were just meaningless junk, scattered around.

However, to stay safe, he needed to find areas with as few mannequins as possible.

After running around for nearly two hours, Park Minho finally found a relatively empty shop and settled there. Thankfully, there wasn’t a single mannequin nearby.

'This should be safe enough.'

Even after running that far, his heart was still pounding. He nervously brushed the white powder off his body while continuing to scan his surroundings.

-Click.

Once he felt somewhat safe, he immediately turned on the laptop and started typing. Even then, he kept the knife within reach.

[Title] I think I awakened?

Author: Cheezza.

[Content] That thing really was a Faceling like you said. I got cornered and was basically about to die, but then my knife suddenly started giving off electricity. And…

Despite everything, Minho felt a surge of excitement.

He had no idea how it happened, but his knife had produced electricity. Something that seemed like magic. And in webnovels, when someone awakened, their life changed. Maybe this Backrooms place could become his hunting ground.

He could escape, become a top-tier awakened…

Make some money, and maybe even meet a beautiful, busty heroine. For a moment, pleasant fantasies filled his head.

However, the responses he got were completely unexpected.

ㄴAwakened my ass looooool

ㄴThis newbie misunderstanding this is too cute LMAOOO

ㄴI used to think like that too. Honestly thought I was special lolol

ㄴI’ve never even experienced that. Am I just trash?

ㄴMost people haven’t. It’s nothing weird.

He’d been expecting something else, so those reactions actually pissed him off.

ㄴ(Cheezza) No, seriously, it sparked with electricity. The Faceling freaked out, shed its outer shell, and ran away, I swear!

In the end, Pitbull, the gallery's resident explainer, stepped in again.

ㄴ(Pitbull) Sorry if you got your hopes up, but that’s not awakening. You said your knife got dented by the mop monster, right? Take a closer look at it now.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Hold on.

Following Pitbull’s advice, Park Minho noticed something he hadn’t seen before. All over the dented blade were dark, sooty stains. Not just dirt.

ㄴ(Cheezza) There’s something like black residue on it.

ㄴ(Pitbull) That’s it.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Explain.

ㄴ(Pitbull) It’s an object contaminated by an entity. It’s not a normal item anymore.

ㄴ(Cheezza) What? Srsly?

The knife that had just saved his life suddenly felt quite dangerous.

ㄴ(Pitbull) Contaminated items temporarily carry an entity’s power. That black residue will fade over time…but anyway, when that contamination reacts with intense human emotion, weird stuff happens.

Pitbull explained that the black contamination was like gunpowder and human emotion was like fire. When the two met, an anomalous phenomenon occurred.

ㄴ(Pitbull) We usually call that a Noise Phenomenon.

Park Minho felt deflated.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Ah……So it’s basically nothing special?

But then, Pitbull said something unexpected.

ㄴ(Ptibull) No, don’t be too disappointed. While it’s not an Awakening, it is a precursor. If you refine those Noise Phenomena, you can actually become an Awakened.

Other users chimed in.

ㄴHonestly, you’ve got talent.

ㄴWe were just teasing you because you were being a newbie lol. But yeah, that’s impressive.

ㄴ(Chiavelli) That’s actually the first step toward becoming an Awakened. You’ve grown. If you managed to do it once, you can do it again!

ㄴ(LostHassan) Who even triggers a Noise Phenomenon right off the bat? That’s legit impressive.

ㄴ(KimChilsung) Go find some banana milk and drink it! It’ll boost your awakened abilities! The chunky kind works best.

ㄴYou triggered Noise already? Damn, this guy’s kinda promising.

ㄴSurvived the mop monster too. This guy might actually be a rising star.

ㄴCould this be the birth of a new mod?

Park Minho didn’t fully understand everything they were saying.

However, unlike before, when they laughed at him, now, they seemed to actually acknowledge him. There was even a strange sense of expectation.

Then, a comment dropped that poured cold water on this nice mood.

It was from a user who had just appeared for the first time.

ㄴ(DaeguBadass) What’s so great about becoming an Awakened? Isn’t your goal to leave the Backrooms? Do you know what happens if you awaken and go outside? You get dragged away by the NCF immediately.

He wondered what that guy meant. Park Minho immediately replied.

ㄴ(Cheezza) What are you talking about? What’s NCF?

ㄴ(DaeguBadass) Simply put, there’s a multinational organization called the National Crisis Foundation (NCF). They manage all anomalous phenomena in the outside world, and they hunt down Awakened like rats.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Why?

ㄴ(DaeguBadass) I mean, think about it. Would you let people with superpowers walk around in broad daylight? Someone shooting electricity from their hands?

That actually made sense. Back when Park Minho was just a normal person, he’d never heard of anything like Awakened.

ㄴ(Cheezza) What happens if they catch you?

ㄴ(DaeguBadass) Your life goes straight down the drain. Either you rot in a concrete prison for the rest of your life, or you get classified as an anomalous entity and disposed of. Even if you're lucky, they treat you like a tool and put you to work. There are monsters out there too, just like the ones in here. People just don't know. They use Awakened as agents to deal with them…agents, my ass. They're basically slaves.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Holy shit……

Park Minho finally realized there were way too many things he didn’t know about in this world.

'The NCF……'

ㄴ(DaeguBadass) But you’re not at the level where you need to worry about that yet, looool. You’ve got talent, sure, but if one Noise Phenomenon trigger made someone an Awakened, half this gallery would be an Awakened already, you know?

ㄴ(Cheezza) Ah, I guess I got ahead of myself.

ㄴ(DaeguBadass) Still, let me give you one piece of advice. Your goal is to get out, right? Awakening won’t do you any good outside. Don’t get carried away chasing it. Just follow the escape route people here give you and keep moving.

He turned out to be a pretty decent user.

ㄴ(DaeguBadass) Still, if you do end up awakening, contact me. There are ways to deal with it when that happens.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Didn’t you say I wouldn’t be able to leave?

ㄴ(DaeguBadass) For now, yeah, but you think there’s absolutely no way for people to survive? Even if not, there are settlements inside here too, and groups of awakened people. I’ll help you out.

ㄴ(Cheezza) kk, I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.

With the awakening issue more or less sorted out, Park Minho asked something else.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Anyway, how do I get out of this floor? Also, there’s white powder stuck on my body, and it won’t come off. Do you know where I can find water? It kinda stings too… I rly wanna wash it off.

But the moment that message went up, the gallery’s mood instantly turned serious.

ㄴWait, white powder? It’s on your body?

ㄴOur rising star dies like this?

ㄴ(Cheezza) Wait, what is it? Why are you all acting so scary? Is it poison or something?

ㄴYou’re screwed. Srsly screwed.

ㄴYou did well……

ㄴWas fun watching you, but I guess this is it.

Park Minho’s expression hardened.

ㄴ(Cheezza) You guys really teaming up to mess with a newbie like this? What’s wrong with you?

ㄴAh......

ㄴI wish this was something we could joke about. Seriously.

The LostHassan replied.

ㄴ(LostHassan) Idiot, run. Now. That stuff on you is a hunting mark used by Facelings. You’ve been designated as prey.

ㄴ(Cheezza) fr?

ㄴ(LostHassan) The Faceling you fought backed off because of the Noise from your knife. So instead of forcing it, it marked you and retreated.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Fuck…What do I do?

But for once, the one who always had answered said nothing. Park Minho grew desperate and pressed him.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Say something. Hurry!

ㄴ(LostHassan)……Sorry. All I can tell you is to run. That powder gives off a scent you can’t smell. It won’t just attract a few.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Then?

ㄴ(LostHassan) Every Faceling on that floor is going to chase you.

ㄴ(Cheezza)……

At that moment, he posted something that felt like a death sentence.

ㄴ(LostHassan) For the record, no one here has ever survived after being marked by a Faceling.

At that moment, sounds erupted all at once from far away.

-Tadadadadadak! Tadak! Tadak!

Even at a distance it was unmistakable.

It was the sound of mannequins’ plastic feet slamming violently against the tiled floor. And the worst part was that there weren’t just a few. There had to be at least a hundred.

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