WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 64 - Sallim-dong, Euljiro (1)

"Please take care of things while I’m gone.”

At Park Minho’s words, Ivan nodded.

"Understood. You have nothing to worry about.”

In truth, Park Minho wasn’t particularly worried about Floor 8. The Fortress City was probably in complete chaos because of everything that had happened, but that didn’t mean anyone could simply take away his authority over Floor 8.

'I’ll deal with the rest after I’ve had a chance to rest.’

Park Minho instructed the biological system to appoint Ivan as the temporary administrator. His authority would be limited, but it should be more than enough to manage Floor 8.

“Nicola, I’ll leave the finishing touches on the settlement to you.”

“Don’t worry, Mister. I’ll take care of everything that needs to be done.”

After entrusting Floor 8’s affairs to the two of them, Park Minho spent 100 AC to activate the Phase Rift ability.

“What? A door?”

When he heard Phase Rift, he had imagined something like a tear in space-time. Instead, what appeared before him was an ordinary white-painted door.

“You’re right.”

Standing beside him, Seol Suyeon titled her head in confusion. Then she lowered her glasses slightly and nodded.

“I can feel an enormous amount of anomalous energy. At this level, I’m pretty sure it really can lead to the real world.”

The destination could be any place they could vividly picture. After discussing for some time, they chose Seol Suyeon’s house.

The exit needed to be somewhere unlikely to attract attention, and Park Minho’s rented villa was both temporary and poorly secured.

"Let’s go."

“It’s been a while since we’ve been outside.”

-Click.

The moment they opened the door and stepped through, light filled their vision.

'Please don’t tell me we’re going to fall again?'

* * *

Fortunately, there was no sensation of the ground disappearing beneath their feet. A moment later, Seol Suyeon’s home appeared before them.

"We’re really back! Aaah! My house!”

Delighted, Seol Suyeon ran to the sofa and threw herself onto it. Park Minho closed the door behind them. Now attached to the wall, it looked as though an extra room had suddenly appeared in the apartment.

“Let’s eat first.”

“Sounds good!”

Park Minho immediately ordered delivery.

They chose meat. The moment the containers were opened, both of them practically started drooling. The aroma of grilled pork belly, clam soybean-paste stew, and steamed eggs was irresistible.

“Uwaah, it’s been so long!”

“Seriously. Suyeon, dig in.”

He wrapped pork, garlic, ssamjang, kimchi, and lettuce into a single bite. The flavors exploded in his mouth.

"Wow......!"

"Ah…Seriously?!”

It was a luxury they had not experienced since entering the Backrooms. Neither of them spoke. They simply focused on eating.

“Whew......"

After a long while, they finally felt full. When Park Minho glanced outside, it was already dark.

“I’d better head home before it gets any later.”

“What are you talking about? Just stay here.”

"Are you sure?”

“We’ve been together this whole time. Are you only feeling awkward because we’re back in the real world?”

"Well, it is a woman’s house..."

“Don’t worry about that and make yourself comfortable. Besides, even outside, I think it’d be better if we stayed together. There’s still the NCE to think about.”

She had a point. If either of them were discovered by the NCE, they’d probably be slated for elimination.

“They’d probably even gouge my eyes out.”

Seol Suyeon tossed aside her non-prescription glasses. Those mysteriously glowing violet eyes of hers would definitely attract unwanted attention from the NCE.

“Fair enough. But I’ll need to go get some clothes at some point.”

“Come with me tomorrow. For now, you can wear Suhyeok’s clothes.”

She led him into a room he had never seen before. It was unmistakably the room of a teenage boy. School textbooks were stacked on the desk, and posters of popular anime characters covered parts of the wall.

"Wait, isn’t that The Dangers in My Heart?"

“So you watched that anime too, Oppa?”

"I did. The original author is definitely a genius.”

"I heard the movie came out recently. Want to go watch it tomorrow?”

For a moment, Park Minho truly felt that he had returned to reality. This was the kind of conversation that could never happen in the Backrooms.

'What a strange feeling.'

He had turned his back on reality because it felt suffocating and had set out to become a major player in the Backrooms. But now that he was back, he was reminded that reality had its own precious things too.

“I’ll just sleep here tonight.”

Park Minho said it while looking at Seol Suhyeok’s bed, but for some reason, Seol Suhyeon made a slightly awkward face.

“I-Is that so?”

"Yeah.”

"Um…are you sure you’ll be okay in here…?”

"Hm? It’s a nice room.”

“Alright. Then let’s get cleaned up first. You use the bathroom off the living room. I’ll use the one in the master bedroom.”

After showering, the two chatted for a little while before heading to bed. Lying down in the cozy bed at last, Park Minho expected to fall asleep instantly.

But strangely enough, sleep wouldn’t come.

'What’s going on……?’

He kept tossing and turning. Even the soft mattress somehow felt uncomfortable.

'No, why?'

It didn’t take him long to figure it out. Seol Suyeon wasn’t beside him. And that fact was making him anxious.

'Should I ask her if she wants to sleep together?’

But that felt awkward. In the Backrooms, it had happened naturally. There wasn’t really an excuse to do it now, though.

After wrestling with the dilemma for quite a while, he finally sat up. His eyes felt dry from lying awake.

'This isn’t going to work.’

In the end, he grabbed his pillow and headed into the living room only to find Seol Suyeon sitting on the sofa.

"Huh...?"

"Huh...? Oppa?"

She looked just as surprised as he was. Then her eyes landed on the pillow in his hands. A grin spread across her face.

“Oh my, couldn’t sleep? Hehehe.”

Seeing the sly look on her face, it was obvious she’d figured out the situation immediately.

“Ah, forget it. I’ll just sleep by myself.”

“Huh, why?”

Seol Suyeon quickly jumped up and grabbed his arm.

“I couldn’t sleep either. That’s why I was out here.”

"Really?"

“Yeah. Come sleep with me, Oppa.”

Once they lay down side by side in Seol Suyeon’s room, Park MInho finally felt at ease.

He glanced over. Those violet eyes, sparkling like stars because of her anomaly, were staring back at him. For a while, Park Minho found himself quietly captivated by them.

“Oppa? Are you nervous?”

“Bo? Back at the goshiwon, we practically slept glued together.”

“Is that so? You’re not expecting anything, are you?”

"Not really?”

Seol Suyeon narrowed her eyes slightly.

"If you’re not honest, well…you’re the one missing out.”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

The two bickered quietly, but gradually, drowsiness began to overwhelm them.

-Hss, hss.

Before long, steady breathing came from beside him.

Seol Suyeon had fallen asleep. Park Minho gently pulled her closer. Even in her sleep she squirmed a little and instinctively snuggled against him.

It was a warm and peaceful night.

* * *

They spent several days doing absolutely nothing. They ordered fried chicken, watched anime and dramas together, and generally relaxed. At some point, Park Minho remembered he had brought his laptop and logged into the gallery.

[Title] Came outside for a bit.

Author: Cheezza.

Park Minho briefly explained that he’d been through so much in the Backrooms that he’d decided to come out and rest for a while.

ㄴ(Pitbull) When are you heading to Floor 11? You’re all over the place these days.

ㄴGetting there won’t be easy. Especially since Floor 11 has become pretty dangerous lately.

ㄴTBU treats you like a VIP anyway. They probably rolled out the red carpet for you.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Noah, I left directly from Floor 8, y’know?

ㄴ(NCEInstaReject) What? What did you just say?? How the hell do you go straight to the real world from Floor 8??

That comment unleashed a flood of question marks.

ㄴ???

ㄴ??

ㄴ(DaeguBadass)??

ㄴ(KimChilsung)???????

ㄴ?????

At that moment, Park Minho realized once again that he wasn’t some newbie anymore.

There were more and more things that even the veteran explorers didn’t know.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Ah? You guys don’t know that either? Cute seeing all these question mark hooks flying around LOOOOOOL

ㄴ(LostHassan) Look at him getting all cocky.

ㄴTo be fair, that’s Lord Cheezza we’re talking about. He’s the administrator of Floor 8 now.

ㄴ<White Puppy> Mister, is that one of your Administrator abilities?

ㄴ(Cheezza) Bingo. Smart kid.

ㄴFkin BS. Do you have any damn clue how much I suffered to get back outside back then? And this bastard just goes 'click,' and that’s it??

ㄴ(Cheezza) Click.

Park Minho decided to ask something that had been on his mind.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Anyway, now that I’ve got a route to the real world, I think I can start using it. Looks like I’ll be able to bring all kinds of supplies directly into Floor 8. What do you think?

ㄴ(Pitbull) Sounds good. But there’s one thing you need to be careful about. You need to establish a believable cover story.

ㄴ(Pitbull) What are you talking about?

ㄴ(Pitbull) The NCE. If a private individual starts repeatedly buying huge amounts of food, supplies, and equipment without a good reason, they might attract attention.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Srsly? They monitor stuff like that?? No way. What are they, the IRS tracking money flows?

ㄴ(Pitbull) Nah, for real. There are certain items that get flagged. Instant rice, combat rations, generators, essential survival equipment, stuff like that. The exact kinds of things people need in the Backrooms.

Apparently there had been cases where people bought supplies in bulk without thinking and got caught trying to smuggle them into the Backrooms.

ㄴ(Pitbull) At the end of the day, supplies have to keep flowing into the Backrooms. That’s why they watch for it. Floor 11’s basically a war zone because of that.

According to Pitbull, the areas where NCE operatives most frequently appeared were Floor 2 and Floor 11.

The reason imported goods were so expensive in the Fortress City was because shipments regularly got intercepted by the NCE while passing through Floor 11.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Don’t know things were that intense.

ㄴ(Pitbull) It wasn’t always like this. The organizations deeper in the Backrooms have gotten stronger, so the NCE’s paying more attention than before.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Then what should I do?

ㄴ(Pitbull) Simple. Start a business. Disguise everything as a legitimate store and buy supplies through it. The NCE doesn’t have enough manpower to monitor every single business.

Park Minho took the advice seriously. He registered a business for online retail sales. Afterward, he filed the necessary e-commerce paperwork and rented a virtual office to use as a business address so his home address wouldn’t be exposed.

His primary products would be food and daily necessities.

'I’ll need some startup capital first.’

With that in mind, Park Minho decided to visit Jung Manchun of Ace Hardware in Euljiro to exchange some currency.

* * *

Together with Seol Suyeon, Park Minho got off at Euljiro 4-ga Station and headed toward Ace Hardware.

Inside the soot-blackened workshop, an elderly man was focused on welding something together.

“Hello, Boss.”

"Hm?"

Jung Manchun lowered his welding mask and looked up. The moment he recognized them, his face lit up.

"You two! You’re alive! Good heavens, how long has it been?!”

"Have you been doing well?”

“What problems could I possible have out here? You two are the ones I was worried about. Haven't heard a word from you. It’s good to see you alive. Come on, let’s talk in the office.”

Once they entered the office, Jung Manchun couldn’t take his eyes off Park Minho. The very aura around him had changed. This was no longer the timid kid who had once come here nervously trying to buy a gun.

“They say that after 3 days apart, you should look at a man with new eyes. Must’ve been talking about you… Amazing. Truly amazing!”

“A lot happened.”

Looking back, Park Minho himself was surprised he was still alive.

"Hm? By the way, Suyeon, did you always wear those glasses?”

“Ah, it’s a bit complicated.”

“I won’t pry. Looks like it’s related to your anomalous abilities.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Jung Manchun’s gaze shifted to the hands of both young people. But he didn’t see what he was looking for.

"You’re not wearing Reality Anchoring Rings? You really should. That would be safer, you know?”

“What’s that?"

“I’m assuming none of you are actively using your anomalous traits right now, right? Even so, traces of that energy can still leak out without you realizing it.”

A moment later, he returned carrying a small box. Inside were a great number of rings.

“Here, just take these two. Just wearing them will make anyone, even the NCE, unable to notice anything unusual about you.”

“That sounds useful. How much are they?”

“Normally they’re one coin each. But they’re old stock, and I’m happy to see you two alive, so I’ll give you both for one coin.”

"Oh, thank you.”

Park Minho immediately handed over a coin and accepted the rings.

The rings were simple platinum bands. Nothing flashy. They wouldn’t attract any attention. When Park Minho slipped one onto his finger and saw Seol Suyeon wearing the matching one, he inevitably thought that they looked like couple rings.

At that exact moment, their eyes met. Apparently she’d had the same thought. Seol Suyeon immediately looked away with an awkward expression. She seemed to think she’d hidden it well, but her bright red ears gave everything away, unfortunately.

Watching the scene, Jung Manchun chuckled happily.

“Kehehehehe! Now that’s a sight. Seeing you wear matching rings.”

What neither of them knew was that the old man had done it on purpose. Out of all the Reality Anchoring Rings he possessed, he’d deliberately picked a matching pair. Seeing the atmosphere soften exactly like he hoped, he grinned to himself.

'Things have been boring lately. This is much more entertaining.'

But matching rings weren’t enough. Jung Manchun decided to push things a little further.

“Say, I happen to be pretty good at compatibility readings. Want me to see how well the two of you match?”

"Wait, you can do that too, Boss?”

“Of course. When you get to my age, you end up picking up all sorts of skills. I’m famous for it back in Sallim-dong, you know?”

“Well…I guess if you’re offering.”

Park Minho glanced toward Seol Suyeon. She pointedly pretended not to notice him, which could be seen as silent approval. Jung Manchun’s grin grew wider.

"Alright then……”

Unfortunately, the old man’s hobby had been rudely interrupted.

-Bang, bang, bang!

Suddenly, someone began pounding on the door.

“Boss Jung! Hey! Boss Jung!”

Both the voice and the knocking were incredibly rough.

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