WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 74 - The Disposal Site (5)
Gu Bonjae’s eyes widened the moment Park Minho opened the Enity Rift.
"How are you opening this Entity Rift?!”
Even back when he had been an explorer, he had never witnessed anything so bizarre.
"It just sort of happened…”
"So that’s why you came here. Where exactly are we going?”
“Floor 8. That’s where my base is. The Molting Church prisoners are there too.”
As the group walked through the Entity Rift, they kept a healthy distance from Gu Bonjae. The fighting might have stopped, but that didn’t mean they trusted him. After all, he had just skewered Jung Manchun through the stomach.
After traveling for several hours, they finally reached the Entity Rift exit leading to Floor 8.
Gu Bonjae was dumbfounded.
"To think a human can actually use this route. That’s an incredible ability.”
“Come on. I’ll take you to the Molting Church members right away.”
As they stepped onto Floor 8, the familiar scenery of the abandoned mine shafts spread out before them. Seol Suyeon let out a long sigh of relief.
"Haah... I’ve never been so happy to see this place.”
She had never imagined that she’d be delighted to see this gloomy, dreary landscape, but for better or worse, this was their home base. Compared to the other Backrooms floors, it felt incomparably safe.
And the fact that the NCE wasn’t here made it even better.
"Phew…”
Park Minho felt the same. Having made it this far, he could be reasonably certain he wouldn’t be beaten to death by Gu Bonjae.
'We made it through. Thank goodness.'
Meanwhile, Gu Bonjae looked completely shaken.
"Just what are you…?”
It was no wonder. As Park Minho walked through Floor 8, the Miner entities all greeted him in unison. In all his years, Gu Bonjae had never seen entities show respect to a human.
He himself had passed through Floor 8 countless times as an explorer. Those miners normally had no interest in humans whatsoever.
But the real surprise was yet to come.
-Fsssssssh!
A massive minecart burst into view, spewing steam.
Out of an old habit from his explorer days, Gu Bonjae instinctively stepped off the tracks.
But Park Minho stood calmly right on the rail.
"Hey!"
Gu Bonjae shouted, wondering if he didn’t even know the most basic rule that one had to get off the tracks when a minecart came around. Then something completely unbelievable happened.
-Pssssh!
The minecart stopped directly in front of Park Minho. Instead of butchering the human blocking its path with its mechanical arms, it lowered a boarding platform. It was clearly inviting him aboard.
"Thanks."
Park Minho casually stepped on, along with the others. Then several more minecarts appeared behind them and slowly fell into formation.
In the blink of an eye, an entire escort had assembled.
"Why are the minecarts…?"
Gu Bonjae couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. He had always considered himself fairly adaptable for an old man, but what was unfolding before his eyes was beyond anything he could process.
“What it this?! What the hell is all this?!”
Unable to hold back any longer, he shouted. Looking at the bewildered Gu Bonjae, Park Minho answered calmly.
“I’m the Administator of Floor 8.”
"What…? A human?”
"Why shouldn’t a human be one?”
"Lies. You think you can fool me just because I’m old! I may have retired from exploring long ago, but do you really think I’d fall for that?!”
“If you can’t believe what you’re seeing, then don't, old man. But if I’m not the Administrator, I’d love to hear how you explain all of this.”
Gu Bonjae had no answer and fell silent.
"......"
A short while later, a familiar face appeared.
It was Ivan.
"You’re back! Huh…?”
Ivan froze the moment he spotted Gu Bonjae walking alongside the minecart. The entity looked terrifying beyond words.
One glance was enough to tell it wasn’t a creature that belonged to Floor 8.
Its presence was so overwhelming that Ivan barely even noticed the Mannequin Facelings standing beside Park Minho.
"Who is that?”
"For now a guest, but stay on your guard. A few hours ago we were trying to kill each other.”
"......I have absolutely no idea what’s going on.”
“It’s a long story. I promised to let him meet the Molting Church prisoners. The high-ranking ones.”
"Understood. That won’t be difficult.”
"More importantly, I think we need to do something about Boss Jung.”
“……Judging by his condition, he won’t survive the trip to the fortress city.”
"Then what do we do here?”
Ivan nodded in understanding and contacted someone.
“I’ve already notified Nicola.”
"Nicola knows medicine?”
"Not formally, but with the assistance of AI...He's capable of performing emergency surgery. He's exceptionally skilled with his hands.”
In fact, there had recently been an accident at the base construction site. Nicola had treated the injured workers using newly acquired medical equipment. With the AI guiding him through every step of the procedure, he had successfully performed emergency surgery.
"Got it. Let’s hope Nicola’s as good as everyone says.”
* * *
Park Minho looked down at Jung Manchun, who was drenched in blood and struggling to breathe.
"Suyeon. Take another Minecart and get Boss Jung there. Tell Nicola to do whatever it takes to keep him alive.”
"Yes, understood! Please be careful!”
Seol Suyeon nodded hurriedly, climbed aboard another Minecart, and disappeared into the darkness.
With Units 1 and 2 following behind him, Park Minho followed Ivan deeper into Floor 8’s damp underground prison.
A clammy chill seeped through the iron bars. The stale smell of mold filled the air. Beneath it all, waves of unsettling anomalous energy pulsed through the corridors.
“......They really are cultists.”
Gu Bonjae growled the moment he saw the prisoners locked inside the cells.
There was no mistaking them. The Molting Church’s distinctive anomalous energy was unmistakable.
It was exactly the same presence as the ones who had deceived him all those years ago.
"Ivan, bring me the high-ranking members.”
"Understood.”
The high-ranking members had barely lifted their heads before their eyes widened in sheer terror. Standing before them was Gu Bonjae, standing well over 2.5 meters tall, his massive body welded together with twisted scrap metal, gleaming circular saw blades protruding from his frame. Even for cultists steeped in anomalous energy, the monster before them was a nightmare plucked straight out of the abyss.
"Are you feeding us to this thing…?”
"You promised you’d spare us if we cooperated…! No! I don’t want to die!”
“We should’ve known better than to trust heretics!”
The three men reacted differently. One trembled uncontrollably in terror. One broke down in tears, begging for his life. The last glared with the fanatical defiance unique to a true believer. The first two had already been broken by Ivan’s interrogation and won over. Only the last remained an unshakable zealot.
Ignoring all their screams, Gu Bonjae reached out with his bloodstained hand and grabbed the third cultist by the collar.
"What is true Molting really? If one undergoes Molting can an entity become human again?”
The third cultist answered with a mocking sneer.
“You fool! How could an entity ever become human? That’s not what true Molting is! It is the glorious calling of becoming one with the Great One!”
"......The cultist who spoke to me said one could return.”
“Hehehe. Whoever it was, they probably told you that you could become something greater. You simply misunderstood.”
The member curled his lips into a cruel smile and laughed at Gu Bonjae.
"Wake up. An entity like you can never become human. Struggle for a hundred years if you like, but it’s nothing but a hopeless fantasy! Kuahahahaha!”
Mistakenly believing Gu Bonjae wished to become human, he laughed louder and louder. In the end Gu Bonjae snapped.
-Bam!
The instant his fist connected, the cultist’s head exploded like a watermelon. Blood erupted from his neck.
-Fwooosh.
Park Minho quietly stepped back just in case. If Gu Bonjae completely lost control, they would have to fight again. Still, they were surrounded by countless allies here. If it came to that, their chances were far better than before.
Just as everyone braced themselves for another battle, Gu Bonjae spoke.
"...You said you could provide me with materials, right? I have them now. I will complete the ritual.”
Even now he intended to see it through to the very end. Park Minho made no attempt to stop him. Though he had a feeling the outcome would only bring even greater suffering.
"Do as you wish."
Gu Bonjae vomited up what he had stored inside his body.
"Gweegh.”
The stitched-together body made from corpses of the small entity and countless human remains slid free, dripping with thick, viscous fluids.
The sight alone nearly made the Molting Church members faint.
"I will begin the ritual.”
Gu Bonjae laid out his dead son alongside every material he had gathered. Holding the Molting Church tome in his hands, he began reciting its sacred rite.
"Cast off the old shell of the flesh and attain true Molting…”
As the prayer echoed through the chamber, the four-legged mass of flesh began to writhe.
Cables burst from every part of its body, slithering like living snakes before wrapping themselves around the headless corpse of the slain cultist. Slowly they fused together.
Every required ingredient had finally been assembled. Perched atop the grotesque quadrupedal mass like a rider, Gu Taeson’s body slowly began to rise.
The stillborn entity’s grotesque skin stretched taut. The muscles that had once hung shriveled like a deflated balloon swelled with new life. Its yellow eyes ignited and it drew its first breath.
Then its upper body fused even more completely with the mass of flesh beneath its waist, becoming a single, unified being.
Gu Bonjae’s voice trembled at the sight.
“Taeson…Taeson…! Can you hear me?”
A moment later, the monster that had once been Gu Taeson opened his mouth.
"F-Father……”
At that moment, Gu Bonjae’s face lit up with joy. Thick black oil streamed from his hollow, sunken eyes.
"T-Taeson! It's me! I’ve waited 13 years, my son…!”
But instead of happiness, Gu Taeson’s voice overflowed with resentment.
"Father. You offer me…to them……”
Gu Bonjae’s outstretched hand froze in midair.
“Wh-what? What are you talking about, Taeson?!”
"I tried not to hatch……But you still offered me as a sacrifice to that god……!”
"Taeson! It’s a misunderstanding! Everything I did was only to save you…!”
"Gyaaaaaaah!”
The light in Gu Taeson’s eyes suddenly clouded over. He convulsed violently in agony before the brief spark of reason vanished. Once more he became nothing but a monster.
“Raaaaaaah!”
His ferocity was so overwhelming that even Gu Bonjae was knocked sprawling backward. After sending his father flying, Gu Taeson dug all four limbs into the tunnel wall. Within seconds he vanished into the darkness beyond.
Nothing remained in the hole except endless darkness.
"Taeson!”
Only then did Gu Bonjae scramble after him, but the instant he tried to follow, it was as though an invisible wall slammed into him.
"Kgh!”
Panicking, he hurled himself against the unseen barrier, trying to shatter it with brute force, but it didn’t budge.
-Boom!
-Crash!
“Taeson! Come back! I was wrong! You were right!”
-Baaaaaang!
All four of Gu Bonjae’s arms crashed down at once. The invisible barrier trembled violently but showed no sign of breaking.
Instead, the tremendous recoil twisted his own arms.
"Grrrrk!”
Even so, he refused to stop. It didn’t matter if his arms shattered. He kept pounding the barrier.
-Bam! Bam! Bam!
"Taeson! It was all my fault! Please—!”
No answer came from beyond the hole. Deep down, Gu Bonjae already knew. His son was never coming back, but he couldn’t stop. Because stopping would mean admitting that he had truly lost his son forever.
"Kgh……!”
Two of his four arms now hung in tatters. Even so, he dragged himself forward, scratching desperately at the invisible barrier with the two he had left.
"Taeson……Taeson……I never wanted this for you.”
Black blood streamed from beneath his broken fingernails. Still, he kept scratching.
“Taeson……”
At last his arms gave out. They fell limply before the barrier. Gu Bonjae collapsed face-first before the opening and did not move again. The gigantic entity suddenly looked very, very small.
One thing had become painfully clear. The moment Gu Bonjae learned the truth, he should have stopped.
Instead, his obsession and his stubborn refusal to let go drove him to complete the ritual anyway. And in the end, he had created yet another sacrifice for the Molting Church.
Park Minho had a pretty good idea where Gu Taeson had gone.
'Floor 24.'
He was willing to bet he wasn’t the only victim who ended up like that, turned into a sacrifice for the Molting Church.
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