The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth - Chapter 76

WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 76 - Backrooms Settlement (1)

He’d gone outside thinking of it as a little vacation, only to get caught up in one disaster after another.

'Well, there’s no place like home, I guess.'

Before he knew it, Park Minho had started thinking of the Backrooms as home. He had plenty of coins here, plenty of subordinates, and no NCE breathing down his neck every time he used his abilities.

Unlike the outside world, where he had to keep his head down and live like an ordinary nobody, he could actually throw his weight around here. It was only natural that he’d grown more attached to the Backrooms.

'The only downside is that it’s an abandoned mine, so it’s damp and dark.'

Fortunately, that problem was being resolved quickly. Separate from the residential construction, they’d put up several temporary buildings to serve as living quarters.

Inside, bright LED lights illuminated the rooms, and the air conditioners were running. Day by day, the place was becoming more comfortable to live in.

Nearby, Seol Suyeon was lying on her bed, watching a movie on a tablet.

"Oh…? Oooh!”

Watching her get completely absorbed and react all by herself was oddly amusing. The tablet had been lent to her by Nicola. It couldn’t connect to the internet, but it had dozens of movies stored on it. They were old movies that had long since fallen out of fashion, but there wasn’t much else to do in the Backrooms. Before she had the tablet, she’d spent her free time endlessly folding paper boats out of origami paper, so Park Minho had finally asked Nicola if he had anything to keep her occupied.

"Hmm......"

The problem was that Seol Suyeon was wearing a sleeveless top and dolphin shorts. Whether she was doing it on purpose or had simply gotten comfortable around him, Park MInho had no idea where he was supposed to look.

'That damned anomalous picket is way too destructive……’

Still, he couldn’t exactly tell her they should start living separately now.

To be honest, Park Minho thought that would be more comfortable. He’d lived alone for years and had no parents, after all.

So, once the temporary buildings were finished, he’d casually suggested that she might want her own private room. She’d rejected it instantly. In fact, she looked ready to flop onto the floor and throw a full-blown tantrum if he insisted she stay by herself.

There was even a hint of betrayal on her face.

It was as if she were saying, ‘You leaned on me whenever things were scary, and now that things are better, you’re dumping me?’

In the end, despite the overwhelming presence of her anomalous ‘pouch,’ Park Minho decided they’d continue living together.

'Well…no matter how much nicer things have gotten, the Backrooms are still the Backrooms.’

Even Floor 8 still contained countless anomalous phenomena they didn’t fully understand. New ones could appear at any time. You could go to sleep one night and simply vanish by morning without anyone thinking it unusual.

"Oppa? What’s wrong? Want to watch with me?”

"No, I’ve got to check the gallery for a bit.”

When he opened his laptop, he found a DM waiting for him. It was from Kim Chilsung.

‘Huh? This came in two days ago?’

Since it was a laptop and not his phone, if he didn’t check it regularly, messages were easy to miss.

▶KimChilsung: Minho, there’s something I need to tell you.

▶Cheezza: Sorry for the late reply. What’s going on?

A few minutes later, a response came.

▶KimChilsung: I’m glad we were finally able to get in touch. You’ll need to be careful whenever you go into the real world from now on.

▶Cheezza: What’s happened?

In response to Park Minho’s question, Kim Chilsung explained what was happening inside the NCE. The Gray Square had been neutralized, and the NCE had begun a large-scale investigation.

▶KimChilsung: That includes reviewing CCTV footage. They’re not just searching the area where the Gray Square appeared, but also the entire surrounding district.

▶Cheezza: That’s not exactly good news.

▶KimChilsung: The good news is that we still have a little time.

Kim Chilsung said he’d managed to clean up as many related records as possible through the NCE inside. Even so, there was no way to erase everything completely.

▶KimChilsung: In the end, it’s inevitable that the NCE will start suspecting you, Minho. Even if you’ve officially been cleared to return to society, you were investigated by the NCE in the past. There’s no avoiding that.

Park Minho figured he’d think the same way if he were in the NCE’s shoes. Someone who had previously entered the Backrooms had been lurking around the Gray Square? From the NCE’s perspective, there was no way they could let that slide.

▶KimChilsung: Anyway, you’ll need to be careful whenever you enter the real world from now on. They'll probably put you on a watchlist. Of course, there are plenty of anomalous items to get around that. Things that let you disguise yourself, for example. It’s not like you won’t be able to go out at all.

The real problem was that their exit to the real world was inside Seol Suyeon’s apartment. Sooner or later, the NCE would almost certainly show up there.

'I’ll have to seal that door… Though I wonder if I can make an exit somewhere else.'

The moment the question crossed his mind, the answer surfaced immediately in his head, befitting Floor 8’s Administrator.

Fortunately, creating a new exit was possible. The problem was the cost.

'What? One exit costs 10 AC?'

AC wasn’t a resource that was easy to come by. That much was roughly equivalent to taking down an intermediate-level Awakened.

'Isn’t there some way to recycle the existing door?’

Thankfully, there was. All he had to do was remove one of the existing doorknobs. If he reused the recovered doorknob, creating a new exit would only cost around 3 AC.

'Looks like I’ll have to go retrieve the doorknob.'

▶Cheezza: I think I need to head to where the exit is right away. Do you think waiting another 2 days would be too risky?

▶KimChilsung: Thanks to our interference, I don’t think they’ll find it within two days. Still, I can’t make any guarantees, so I’d advise being careful. If possible, it’d be better not to go.

Park Minho brought the matter up with Seol Suyeon.

"Suyeon."

"Yeah?"

After discussing it for a while, they decided to leave immediately. It wasn’t just the doorknob. They had a lot of belongings they’d left behind.

Seol Suyeon had deliberately kept many of her important possessions at home since she’d expected to be traveling back and forth.

But if they were moving to the Backrooms for good, that changed everything.

They decided to bring back only the essentials.

"Suyeon, I’m sorry things turned out like this.”

"Why are you apologizing, Oppa? I’m the one who wanted to come in here. Besides, ever since I stepped into this anomalous world, I knew something like this could happen. I was prepared for it.”

"I’m glad you can say that. Let’s get ready and head out right away. We don’t have much time. Grab your gas mask first.”

"Huh? A gas mask?”

“I’ve heard the NCE usually uses sleeping gas when subduing Awakened. We should be prepared. Same goes for your gun. It could get dangerous, so you can stay here if you want. I’ll bring back whatever you need.”

"No way. You’re not my errand boy. My eyes might come in handy, too. So let's go together.”

"Alright. Got it.”

The two of them immediately got to work preparing. They emptied out their phase-compression backpacks and packed them again, along with their firearms, smoke grenades, fragmentation grenades, and other supplies.

Park Minho also checked his Reality Manipulation ability.

Unlike the King’s Noose, this Reality Manipulation was his own Awakened ability.

Its primary purpose was to support the use of the Noose. It was nowhere near the god-tier power granted by the King’s Noose, but it was still remarkably useful.

Most importantly, using it didn’t leave him hovering on the brink of death like the Noose did.

'I’ll give it a quick test before we go.'

While Seol Suyeon finished getting ready, Park Minho took a moment to familiarize himself with the ability.

A little while later, once she was finished, he immediately opened the door leading back to the real world.

* * *

"......"

The moment they stepped through the doorway, both of them froze in place, firearms raised.

It was nighttime. The lights inside Seol Suyeon’s apartment were off, leaving the room shrouded in darkness.

They strained their ears, listening for the slightest of sounds.

If anything seemed off, they’d already agreed to retreat through the door immediately.

"......"

"......”

Even after several long moments, they heard nothing. They slowly advanced, sweeping the room with their weapons, but there wasn’t a single sign of an intruder.

"Haah..."

Park Minho let out a sigh of relief and removed his gas mask. He drew the curtains and switched on the lights.

Seol Suyeon’s neatly kept apartment came into view. After carefully checking the place, they found no signs that anyone had broken in.

“Looks like they haven’t come yet. Let’s grab everything.”

"Okay, got it.”

The two of them immediately began clearing out the apartment. Kimchi, doenjang, gochujang, sesame oil, instant ramen, clothes, cooking utensils, sneakers, painkillers, a laptop, USB drivers, photo albums, and even Seol Suhyeok’s belongings.

Assuming this would be their last chance to come back, they also packed away cherished cosmetics, perfume, books, and anything else they wanted to keep.

"Oppa, I don’t think the backpacks are going to be enough. Should we use the suitcases too?”

"Yeah, pack everything. We’re just walking through the door and heading straight back anyway.”

Anything too bulky to fit into the backpacks, like the desktop computer, they simply planned to carry by hand.

While Seol Suyeon bustled around the apartment as if she were moving out, Park MInho used a screwdriver to remove one side of the doorknob. He only removed the exterior knob. The system had told him he could simply close the door from the inside later.

As he wiped the sweat from his brow, the doorbell suddenly rang.

-Ding, dong!

Park Minho and Seol Suyeon both froze.

"Suddenly?"

"Nobody should be coming over, right?”

They cautiously checked the intercom monitor. Three men stood outside. They were all wearing suits, and every one of them had a massive build.

-Ding, dong!

The doorbell rang again, even louder this time. When no one answered, a voice shouted from the other side of the door.

"We know someone’s in there!”

"Open up! Seol Suyeon-ssi!”

In truth, they’d already identified Seol Suyeon as a person of interest and had been waiting outside the apartment building. They had no idea how she’d slipped past their surveillance and gotten inside, but the moment they sensed movement, they came straight to the door.

“If you refuse to cooperate, you’re only making this harder on everyone.”

Their tone was forceful, as if they were ready to kick the door in at any moment.

"Huh…? Wait a second."

Looking at the three men on the intercom screen, Park MInho felt they looked strangely familiar. Then the memory came flooding back.

-We’re from the Special Missing Persons Task Force.

-The police?

-No. A different agency.

-Which one?

-If you open the door, we’ll explain.

The next thing he knew, he’d been hit with a taser and taken down. He still remembered the guy in the middle flashing his gold tooth with a grin.

"Aren’t those the same bastards?"

"You know them?”

"They’re the ones who arrested me before.”

"Wow…”

Rather than feeling afraid, Park Minho found himself thinking they’d shown up at just the right time.

'I was looking for information on the NCE anyway.'

The situation wasn’t bad. The fact that these guys had shown up instead of the Special Operations unit meant they still hadn’t realized Seol Suyeon was an Awakened.

"Act like you're home alone. Pretend you’re scared and lure them inside.”

"Got it."

Seol Suyeon answered through the intercom.

"J-just a moment. I’ll open the door…”

Hearing her timid voice, the men stopped pounding on the door.

A dissatisfied voice came through the speaker.

-Why did it take you so long to answer?

"I’m sorry, but who are you?”

-We’re with the Special Missing Persons Task Force. Open the door now. If you keep stalling, we’ll force it open.

"Okay."

Seol Suyeon unlocked the electronic lock and quickly stepped back. The door swung open, and the three burly men walked inside.

"Seol Suyeon-ssi?”

"Yes, that’s me.”

"We just need to verify a few things. Come over here.”

"I’d rather not…”

"Excuse me? Hah! You think this is some kind of joke……?”

The three men stepped inside anyway, shutting the door behind them. That was the moment Park Minho emerged from his hiding place, leveling his gun at them.

"Hands up."

"...!”

None of the three could hide the surprise on their faces. The ambush had completely caught them off guard. Even so, they regained their composure almost immediately.

"This kid’s asking for trouble, huh?”

“That’s right, Boss. I don’t think he has the slightest clue what he's doing.”

"Haha. Walking around waving a gun, huh?”

Ignoring them, Park Minho spoke in a low voice.

"I said hands up. This is your last warning.”

“......Alright. Just a sec."

They acted as though they intended to comply, but Park Minho wasn’t buying it. There wasn’t a trace of fear in their eyes. If anything, they looked confident that a rookie like him was no threat, even in a situation like this.

Sure enough, instead of raising his hands, one of them reached into his jacket, drew a pistol, and pulled the trigger at Park Minho.

Park Minho had already expected exactly that. At that instant, his eyes crackled with anomalous electricity.

-Click!

Instead of firing a bullet, the man’s pistol produced the tiny flame of a cigarette lighter.

"What......?"

"Huh?!"

"Er...?"

All three men’s eyes went wide. Naturally so. Park Minho had used his Reality Manipulation to turn the pistol into a novelty lighter.

It wasn’t the godlike Reality Manipulation granted by the King’s Noose, but his own Awakened ability. Something on this level was well within its limits. Because of those limits, he couldn’t transform it into something completely different, like a stick of cotton candy. Instead, he had to preserve its general appearance while changing it into something harmless.

He smirked.

Park Minho was already a huge fan of this new ability. Being able to manipulate reality without putting on the King’s Noose made it incredibly practical.

“I told you that was your last warning."

The moment he finished speaking, Park Minho fired live rounds into their legs.

-Bababang! Baang! Bang!

The three men who had barged in so confidently screamed as blood sprayed from their legs, collapsing onto the floor.

"Aargh!”

"AAAaagh!”

"AGH!”

One of them had his knee completely blown apart.

It was their team leader, the one with the gold tooth.

Holding his rifle by the stock, Park Minho looked down at him.

"You’d better hope you’re lucky."

It was the exact same line the man had once said to him. Then Park Minho brought the rifle’s butt crashing down onto his head.