WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 65 - Sallim-dong, Euljiro (2)

Park Minho flinched for a moment.

'Don’t tell me it’s the NCE.'

It was exactly the kind of situation where a guilty conscience made one jump at shadows. Since Jung Manchun dealt in firearms and anomalous items, it wasn’t completely impossible. If this happened to be some kind of inspection, they could all get swept up together.

But Jung Manchun looked completely unconcerned.

"What now? Isn’t that Boss Im? Why isn’t he working? Honestly, the moment that old fool catches wind of something……”

"Boss Jung! Boss Jung!”

“Ugh! Stop pounding on the door already!”

Looking annoyed, he stood up.

“Just wait here for a minute.”

He opened the office door and stepped outside to speak with the visitor. The conversation was close enough that every word could be heard clearly.

"What do you want, old geezer?!”

Jung Manchun had been thoroughly enjoying himself, trying to figure out ways to push the promising young man and woman closer together. Being interrupted had put him in a foul mood.

“Boss Jung! This isn’t the time. Something happened!”

“What now, you fool? Why are you making such a fuss?”

“This isn’t the time for that! Something’s going on at Brother Gu Bonjae’s hardware store!”

“Wh-What?! You old fool, don’t tell me you’re talking nonsense again……!”

“I’m serious! I’m telling you! Everyone’s already rushing over there!”

“F-fine. Just hold on!”

A moment later, Jung Manchun returned to the office and apologized.

“Something urgent came up. I need to step out for a bit. Sorry about this, but could you wait here for me?”

“Ah, that’s fine. Go take care of your business."

To Park Minho’s surprise, Jung Manchun pulled a key from his pocket and handed it over.

"This is...?"

“Take it. It’s the key to the basement. If you get bored, go shoot some guns or something. I’ll be back!”

Before they could say another word, the old man vanished like a gust of wind.

Park Minho and Seol Suyeon exchanged wry smiles. It was nice that he trusted them, but neither of them had expected him to hand over the key to a basement full of firearms.

After some deliberation, they decided to simply wait.

“Let’s just talk.”

“Sure. These days, whenever I talk with you, time seems to fly by.”

"...I think so too.”

They brewed themselves cups of instant coffee and chatted for quite a while. It felt a long time had passed, yet Jung Manchun showed no sign of returning.

"He’s taking a while…Hm."

Then Park Minho happened to glance out the office window, then frowned.

“Huh? Why’s the sky so yellow?”

It was strange, but not impossible. Occasionally the sky could take on a yellow tint. He’d seen news reporters explaining how fine dust and moisture in the atmosphere could scatter light and create that effect.

The color itself wasn’t the problem. The yellow sky just felt alien and wrong. Instead of looking like a sky, it reminded him of the yellow ceiling panels of the Backrooms Floor. Unsettling.

Apparently Seol Suyeon felt the same way. Without even realizing it, she lowered her thick-rimmed glasses and looked up at the sky with the Eyes of Princess Cavaletto. Her eyes widened in shock.

"O-Oppa…?”

“What’s wrong, Suyeon?”

“Something’s wrong! The sky is overflowing with anomalous energy.”

For a moment, Park Minho’s heart dropped into his stomach.

“What? Seriously?”

“Yes, it’s just like the Backrooms……?”

Park Minho hurried outside the office. Seol Suyeon followed immediately behind him.

The narrow, aging hardware-store district was bathed in yellow light. It was deathly silent. There also wasn’t a single person in sight.

"Oppa, this is definitely…”

“Yeah, it feels like the Backrooms. But how?”

“Could we be dreaming?”

They had definitely left the Backrooms. They had spent several days resting at Seol Suyeon’s apartment and had come all the way to Ace Hardware in Euljiro to visit Jung Manchun.

So why were they suddenly in the Backrooms again?

“Let’s head back inside. If this really is the Backrooms, it’s dangerous.”

"Okay."

Careful not to make unnecessary noise, they returned to the office and shut the door.

“Oppa, what do you think happened?”

"No idea. Hold on. I brought my laptop. Let’s ask those guys.”

Park Minho pulled his laptop from his bag and opened it.

[Title] I think we’re screwed

Author: Cheezza

After writing a detailed explanation of what had happened, replies immediately began pouring in.

ㄴThis guy is really a walking problem magnet. What are you, the MC of a detective manga?

ㄴSrsly. Everywhere he goes, some anomalous disaster happens LOOOOOL

ㄴHonestly, maybe people are safer the farther away they are from Lord Cheezza.

ㄴ(Pitbull) I know what happened. The Backrooms have overlaid reality.

ㄴ(Cheezza) The Backrooms overlaid reality? That’s a thing?

ㄴ(Pitbull) Rare, but it’s happened multiple times.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Fucking hell. I finally got outside, and it’s the Backrooms again?

The possibility had never crossed his mind. Honestly, Park Minho wasn’t ready for his vacation to end yet. But there was another problem.

ㄴ(LostHassan) You’d better hurry. You’re on a timer now, you know?

ㄴ(Cheezza) What does that mean?

ㄴ(LostHassan) If it’s a large-scale anomaly big enough for the Backrooms to overwrite reality, there’s no way the NCE doesn’t know already. You should run before they arrive, k?

ㄴ(Cheezza) Shit… At this point I’d really prefer not dealing with the NCE.

ㄴ(LostHassan) Honestly, I can’t tell anymore whether you’re incredibly lucky or catastrophically unlucky…

‘That’s what I’d like to know!’ Park Minho thought.

* * *

[21K Containment Research Facility]

It was one of the NCE Foundation’s Korean branches, responsible for Seoul, a metropolis of over 10 million people. Because of the enormous responsibility it carried, the facility was known for remaining calm and unshakable composure no matter the crisis.

But right now, the Situation Control Room of Facility 21K looked like a war had broken out.

“Impossible! A Backrooms manifestation in the middle of the city?!”

“It’s a Gray Square! How long has it been since one appeared?”

“Orders are to recall all personnel currently on leave. I repeat, all personnel on leave are to return immediately! Please relay the message!”

Just then, as agents rushed back and forth across the command center, the facility’s massive blast door swung open and an imposing man strode inside.

With his square jaw, predator-like eyes, and a neck thick enough to belong to a heavyweight boxer, he looked anything but ordinary.

The pressure he exuded was overwhelming. The Situation Control Room, which had been as noisy as a crowded marketplace moments earlier, fell silent almost immediately.

The director spoke.

“Location of the Gray Square?”

“Sallim-dong, Euljiro.”

“Damn it… I knew those hardware-store bastards were going to cause a major incident someday. We should’ve cracked down on them sooner. Size?”

“Approximately 30 meters in diameter. Several commercial buildings have been swallowed.”

“At least it’s small."

'Gray Square.'

It was a phenomenon that occurred when the anomalous properties of the Backrooms forcibly overlaid a set of coordinates in the real world.

Inside, all manner of anomalies could occur. From the outside, however, it simply appeared as a bizarre, perfectly gray cube-like structure that reflected not a single ray of light.

The problem was that it had appeared in broad daylight. Ordinary civilians couldn’t help but see it.

A giant mass that looked like a chunk of computer graphics pasted directly into reality was bound to cause chaos.

"Current situation?”

The director's voice was like a growling beast. A media-control officer wiped sweat from his brow as he answered.

“Videos and eyewitness accounts are spreading across the internet. Reports are flooding into news stations.”

“Request emergency cooperation from the government and suppress it. Lock down Sallim-dong under the pretext of the occurrence of a sinkhole.”

“Understood!”

“Deploy Reality Anchors immediately and begin Gray Square dismantlement procedures. How long will a 30-meter diameter zone take?”

The calculations came back moments later.

“Even at maximum output, just under 9 hours.”

“Good. Have the Special Operations Unit standing by. The moment the Gray Square is dismantled, they go in. Afterward, secure everyone caught inside, dead or alive.”

“What do we do with them afterward?“

“Administer truth serum and extract every piece of information. Sort them accordingly. Anyone excessively exposed to anomalous influence gets erased. The rest receive memory suppressants and are reintegrated into society. Once that’s done, release a statement to the media claiming the rumors were unfounded and likely the result of mass hysteria.”

“Understood!”

Within minutes, dozens of special operatives led by Zeta 9, along with field-control personnel, were dispatched to Sallim-dong.

They established traffic control, secured the area, and began installing Reality Anchors around the Gray Square.

-Vrrrrrrmmmmm!

Glowing green, the device hummed to life. Their purpose was to reduce anomalous levels within a designated area and stabilize reality itself.

“Feels denser than expected.”

One of Zeta 9’s members stared at the readings on the control panel.

"And if it’s dense, doesn't that mean the inside is larger?”

“Usually.”

No one could accurately predict the size of the Backrooms space contained within a Gray Square. Most were vastly larger on the inside than their exterior dimensions suggested.

The people trapped within were probably panicking in that suddenly manifested world they couldn’t comprehend.

But rescuing them was not Zeta 9’s mission. Their objective was much simpler. Anyone exposed to excessive anomalous energy would be eliminated.

* * *

-Click.

Using the key Jung Manchun had given him, Park Minho unlocked the door leading to the basement. The sharp smell of gunpowder immediately hit his nose.

"Let’s go."

Taking the lead, Park Minho carefully climbed down the ladder. The surroundings were pitch-black, but when he flipped a switch near the ladder, the area lit up brightly.

There were four shooting lanes with perfect soundproofing, protected by anomalous effects, and dozens of illegally distributed firearms neatly arranged on racks.

"Suyeon, let’s gear up.”

“Okay, Oppa.”

The two quickly found familiar weapons and pulled them from their cases.

Par Minho chose an FN SCAR, while Seol Suyeon picked a DD MK18. There were plenty of firearms available, but sometimes the classics were classics for a reason.

-Click.

Opening the accessory boxes, they attached vertical grips, optics, and other equipment one by one. They fastened slings and loaded magazines with ammunition. They had been working on their weapons for a while when an unsettling sound slipped into Park Minho’s ears.

-Srrrk.

A chill immediately crawled across his skin. It was a faint, unnatural scraping noise. Like paper sliding across a surface somewhere.

"...!"

Park Minho’s hands froze. He glanced around, but there was nothing. Even when he focused and listened carefully, he couldn’t find the source.

'What was that? Did I imagine it? Maybe the ventilation system?’

Tilting his head, he returned to his weapon, but then…

-Srrrk.

The sound came again, and a lot clearer this time. It scraped against his eardrums. Park Minho immediately looked toward the end of the shooting lane. But nothing appeared to be moving. Yet a strange sense of unease caused sweat to bead on his forehead.

Then he realized something. The humanoid paper targets hanging at the end of the lane seemed slightly closer than before.

"S-Suyeon…?”

“Yeah?”

“Take off your glasses and look over there.”

Seol Suyeon, who had been busy adjusting her rifle, did as he asked. The moment she looked, she froze.

"Oppa..."

Fear filled her voice.

“They’re entities. Those human-shaped targets, all four of them, are entities.”

"......Goddammit."

Thinking about it, this palace had possessed anomalous properties even when reality was functioning normally. Now that the area had been partially transformed into the Backrooms, it wouldn’t be strange for entities to appear.

“Let’s back away quietly. Don’t provoke them.”

“Yes, understood.”

But the moment the words left his mouth, the targets began to move. They wiggled as though alive.

Their joints bent, their necks twisted, and then they slowly began advancing toward the two of them.

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