WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 95 - Floor 23 (1)

Unfortunately, they had to vacate the suite.

Apparently, the incident in Le Soupir had made a comprehensive inspection of the hotel’s security and safety systems necessary.

As a result, the Liminal Grand Hotel’s reopening was postponed indefinitely once again.

"What a shame……”

Seol Suyeon had planned to get every last penny’s worth out of the suite, so her shoulders naturally slumped.

Park Minho took her hand and chuckled.

"We can just come again next time.”

"But it’s expensive.”

"Suyeon, we’re ridiculously rich, remember? Honestly, even I don’t really think about it much, but how many gold coins do we even have?”

"Ah, right!”

The two chatted idly as they returned to Floor 8 through the Entity Rift.

Once they returned, Seol Suyeon stayed in a different room like before. Her reason was that they had almost ended up sharing a room, only for the whole thing to fall through, which made things awkward.

She had steeled herself and prepared all sorts of things, yet nothing had happened, leaving her feeling deflated.

In truth, Park Minho felt similarly, so he decided not to force the issue.

'There’ll be another chance.'

For now, he organized his belongings.

It had only been a short stay, yet he had come back with quite a few things.

-Golden Front Bell Badge.

-Painting frame that could transport him to Le Soupir.

-Dagger sealing Princess Cavaletto’s tongue.

Not a single one was ordinary.

"I’d better store these properly."

Losing something like the Princess’ tongue would cause an absolute disaster.

After carefully putting everything away, Park Minho lay down on his bed and turned on his laptop. He intended to post a question.

[Title] Anyone heard rumors about the greatest beauty in the Backrooms?

[Author] Cheezza.

The post was exactly what the title said. He was asking for any rumors about exceptionally beautiful women in the Backrooms.

The gallery users responded by asking what kind of random nonsense this was.

ㄴ(LostHassan) What’s with this all of a sudden? A beauty in the Backrooms? Are you checking out other women when you’ve got someone insanely pretty right beside you?

ㄴLord Cheezza boldly announces his intention to cheat. Target: an entity.

ㄴThis bastard is built different. So as long as it’s doable, even an entity is fine?

ㄴSo entities are Cheezzable...

ㄴ(Cheezza) No, you fucking bastards, srsly;;

ㄴ(LostHassan) I knew it, you bastard. Your tastes have finally expanded to entities.

Soon, a few gallery users began sharing stories they knew one after another.

ㄴThere’s a woman named Helene who’s famous in the TBU. It’s not her real name. Apparently, she was so beautiful that they nicknamed her after Helen of Troy. I heard she’s Greek?

ㄴHow far behind the times is that Backrooms anon above me? The TBU’s Helene died on Floor 13 ages ago. If you didn’t know that, you must be some fossil still reheating ancient Backrooms lore.

ㄴWhoa..... Grandpa.

ㄴ(Pitbull) If you’re that into entities, how about the Silent Witch on Floor 12? Apparently, she at least looks like an extremely beautiful woman.

ㄴ<WhitePuppy> Mister… Please get a gripㅠㅠ

The Backrooms Ghost Gallery came alive for the first time in a while. Apparently, the topic of beautiful women had caught everyone’s interest. They all began chattering about the beauties of the Backrooms.

ㄴ(NCEInstaReject) Among beauties who are still active, even though she’s outside the Backrooms, isn’t Yoo Jia from the NCE’s Korea Branch the best? I heard even idols wouldn’t dare stand next to Yoo Jia.

ㄴ(DaeguBadass) I heard a rumor that you applied to the NCE because of Yoo Jia. Is that true?

ㄴ(NCEInstaReject)......

ㄴ(Chiavelli) Apparently, there's an entity called the Siren on the Pool Floor with an extraordinarily beautiful voice. No one has seen her face, but judging by her voice, people say she must be a beauty capable of bringing nations to ruin. Of course, no one who went looking for the Siren ever returned.

ㄴ<Admin> When it comes to beauty, it obviously has to be me, right? I’m a peerlessly beautiful girl, after all?

After silently reading through the replies, Park Minho logged out and discreetly posted a comment under an anonymous username.

ㄴSommong is the best. None of the women you’re talking about can hold a candle to her.

ㄴWhat the hell you on about, you weeb?

Plenty of stories had come up, but none of them had much substance.

Then a fairly credible tip appeared.

ㄴ(24kSaintess) I have heard of a being renowned for her transcendent beauty. Would you like me to tell you about her?

It was a registered username he had never seen before. There were quite a few users who normally only lurked, so new ones occasionally popped up like this.

ㄴ(Cheezza) Hello, Saintess. Please do.

ㄴ(24kSaintess) Alright. It’s a story I’ve heard several times. Apparently, a blond beauty occasionally wanders around Floor 31. They say her long hair is so beautiful that it looks like a flowing river of gold.

Those words brought something to Park Minho’s mind.

'Princess Cavaletto has golden hair. And they said the hair itself was especially beautiful. A river of gold, huh……?’

Moreover, the information that followed also caught Park Minho’s attention.

ㄴ(24kSaintess) The problem is that everyone who saw this beauty supposedly lost their minds. That’s why she’s classified as an extremely dangerous entity……but she’s famous for her beauty.

ㄴ(LostHassan) What if she actually looks like a monster and they were all brainwashed??

ㄴ(24kSaintess) I admit that’s possible. However, everyone who encountered her was an advanced explorer. People of that caliber wouldn’t succumb to mind manipulation so easily. Besides, since they all consistently described her as beautiful, I doubt it was entirely false.

ㄴ(LostHassan) Oh… She’s really that stunning??

Park Minho decided that this story was worth investigating.

The problem was that she was on Floor 31. The Entity Rift didn’t reach that far.

He immediately called Ivan through Floor 8’s recently established internal network.

-Ivan.

-Yes, Minho-nim.

-Is it currently possible to reach Floor 31?

-Realistically, it would be difficult. Only a handful of advanced Awakened have ever reached Floor 31, and there’s also the Molting Church.

-The Molting Church?

-Yes, since the last incident, the Molting Church has completely blocked the passage on Floor 24. As a result, the route to the floors beyond it is currently inaccessible.

-Isn’t the TBU doing anything about that?

-No, they’ve determined that it isn’t an urgent issue.

Floor 31 was a part of the Backrooms’ depths. It was insanely dangerous, and it didn’t produce any essential resources people couldn’t live without.

The deeper floors were connected to the Backrooms’ fundamental secrets, so even organizations like the TBU conducted only limited exploration there.

-TBU is ultimately an organization dedicated to gathering power within the Backrooms and ensuring that its people can live comfortably. That’s why they rarely enter deep floors when the risks outweigh the rewards. People generally only go there for special reasons or to pursue an explorer’s personal objective.

-I see. Understood.

-Alright, get some rest, then.

It was important information. Ultimately, it meant that unless he broke through Floor 24, the headquarters of the Molting Church, he wouldn’t be able to find the being believed to be Princess Cavaletto’s hair.

"These bastards are always getting in my way…”

He had a good idea why they had suddenly blocked the passage through Floor 24.

'They must be freaking out because of the Entity Rift.'

Until now, the Molting Church had secretly used the Entity Rift to skip between floors.

But now their secret had been exposed, and the rift had fallen under Park Minho’s control. They were facing the danger of a direct route being opened all the way to their headquarters on Floor 24.

From the Molting Church’s perspective, it seemed they were trying to seal off everything they could.

'I should assess the situation first.'

* * *

The next day.

Before the artificial lights in the residential area had even fully brightened, Park MInho entered the Entity Rift accompanied by Ivan and Gu Bonjae.

Inside the Entity Rift stretched a complex maze of corridors with its distinctive concrete-like texture.

There were no particular threats, but the place felt so chilling that its intense anomalous nature was immediately apparent.

"I’ll take the lead."

Ivan adjusted the strap of his assault rifle and stepped forward. As always, he had come along to serve as Park Minho’s bodyguard.

Unit 1 and Unit 2 remained on Floor 8 with Nicola, as they still had a few additional modification procedures left to undergo.

"Hmph! This is hardly a pleasant place.”

Gu Bonjae frowned as he looked from side to side. He had eagerly volunteered to help as soon as he heard the Molting Church was involved. It seemed his son’s situation had left him with no shortage of resentment toward them.

"I had already wanted to take a closer look at the Molting Church’s movements, so I’m grateful you stepped forward, Minho.”

"Not at all. It was about time I started dealing with the Molting Church anyway.”

Although he had gotten caught up in another bizarre incident, he had also gotten some rest, and Gu Bonjae had accompanied him to the Abandoned Barracks Floor last time.

Whether he had actually been much help was debatable, but Park Minho was still grateful that he had stepped forward for something that had nothing to do with him.

It was only right that he addressed the Molting Church problem Gu Bonjae was so concerned about as well.

'More importantly, Seol Suhyeok is involved in this.'

Park Minho thought of him as a man who might someday become his brother-in-law. No, he sincerely hoped he would. If at all possible, he wanted to get him out of the Molting Church safely.

The problem was that Seol Suhyeok was clearly an officer of the Molting Church and apparently held a fairly high position. On top of that, Park Minho had no idea what Seol Suhyeok truly wanted.

He didn’t even know the Molting Church’s internal circumstances, so things were unlikely to go smoothly.

'It’s practically impossible to bring someone back once they’ve fallen into a cult…… I just hope we can avoid the worst possible ending.’

Seol Suyeon had entered the Backrooms in the first place to find her younger brother, Seol Suhyeok. Unlike Park Minho, she hadn’t come seeking power, wealth, or glory. That was why he wanted to resolve the situation for her somehow.

"For now, our objective is to determine the current situation and confirm exactly how far the Entity Rift extends.

"Understood. Let’s avoid taking unnecessary risks. We’ll need to prepare thoroughly before launching an attack on them.”

Ivan added to Gu Bonjae’s words.

"The Molting Church isn't only Floor 8’s problem. The Fortress City is involved as well. To assault their headquarters, we will have to secure the TBU’s cooperation.”

"Right. But I doubt that’ll be easy. Director Yoon will take my side, but the other directors are reluctant to budge.”

"Correct. They know the Molting Church needs to be dealt with, but if its members remain holed up on Floor 24 and refuse to come out, the TBU will inevitably be reluctant to launch a punitive expedition.”

"That will be a political problem we’ll have to resolve going forward."

Although he had yet to decide on a specific time, Park Minho intended to seize the right opportunity and wipe out the Molting Church entirely.

After traveling for a full day, the group managed to find the exit leading to Floor 24.

As expected, it had been completely sealed off.

"Can you break through it?”

At Park Minho’s question, Gu Bonjae examined the wall by lightly tapping it with the tool integrated into his hand.

After spending quite some time assessing the structure itself and the anomalies incorporated into it from various angles, Gu Bonjae shook his head.

"Not a chance."

"Is it really that formidable?”

"It’s less that it’s formidable and more that they poured an enormous amount of manpower and anomalous power into making it thick and solid. Breaking through this would be extremely difficult. Even if we tried, the enemy would immediately begin reinforcing it.”

Simply put, they would reinforce the wall far faster than Park Minho’s group could destroy it.

"Then what should we do?”

Gu Bonjae stroked his chin in thought before answering Park Minho’s question.

"It seems there’s only one option. We’ll have to go to Floor 23 and search for another passage leading to Floor 24.”

"But haven’t all those been blocked as well?”

That was why no one could reach Floor 31, after all.

"For now, yes. However, unlike the Entity Rift, which only has a limited number of passages, it’s impossible to identify every possible side route between floors. They’ve probably blocked most of them, but their work won’t be perfect. You don’t know every route on Floor 8 either, do you?”

"That’s true.”

That remained the case even though he was its ruler. There was no telling what sort of hidden gaps might exist throughout the enormous Backrooms. Gu Bonjae suggested that they go to Floor 23 and search for one.

"It won’t be easy, but as long as we don’t give up, we should eventually find an answer."

Park Minho nodded.

"Understood. Let’s give it a try."

Fortunately, the Entity Rift leading to Floor 23 was still open and functioning normally.

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