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In front of the emergency exit, one person was waiting.

It was someone I had already searched with once on the lower floor.

Was it the second floor?

The third floor?

Maybe it was the fourth floor.

This person was someone who had searched efficiently on the lower floor and spoke calmly when nothing was amiss.

Thick fingers.

A Japanese sword worn at their side.

The same equipment used when entering this building.

A familiar face.

They were my companion, my comrade in this moment, and soon, the person who would search the seventh floor with me.

Right.

Nothing seems strange.

Yet, why do I feel this way?

Why is there a sense of incongruity?

Could it be that the doubts I’ve felt so far have come together to form a concrete shape?

The warrior hesitated to approach the emergency exit.

“Emergency exit.”

The emergency exit was right before me.

There stood a person at the emergency exit.

Standing on one side of the door, they seemed to beckon me from the opposite side.

Others were watching that person and looking at the warrior.

With silent urging, they pushed him to hurry, staring at him, their heads turned in his direction.

Go there quickly.

Stand in front of that person.

Get ready to enter.

An unremarkable sight.

The familiar appearance I had seen countless times on the lower floor.

After all, I had seen it not once or twice, so it should be well known.

But then.

But why?

Why does their appearance feel so unfamiliar?

“Strange.”

It’s strange.

There’s a sense of incongruity.

Something unsettling seems to be happening … something out of the ordinary.

The warrior looked at them, sensing an inexplicable oddness.

Wishing they would urge him on, as they did earlier.

Hoping they would share trivial talk, jokes, as they did when they first placed foot on the stairs.

But then suddenly, a fact flickered through the warrior’s mind.

“Wait.”

Right.

Jokes.

When they first stepped onto the stairs, they had shared various stories to break the tension. While it seemed inappropriate considering the important operation, it was a feasible method for those unaccustomed to such events, so no one pointed it out.

Everyone chattered continuously, as if to avoid being engulfed by fear, mixing humor into their words to loosen the tightness of their anxiety.

But now.

That had gradually diminished.

Little by little.

“Since when?”

Every time they searched a floor, their words dwindled more and more.

As if the number of people speaking was decreasing.

After passing one floor, it decreased.

After passing another floor, it decreased again…

And now.

There were no jokesters.

No one cracking crude jokes or showing disdain for Korea. No one sharing stories about delicious places in Japan. No one complaining about how they’d just lie down and sleep when they returned to their lodging.

Why?

Why in the world?

Moreover, that wasn’t the only strange thing.

Initially, it hadn’t appeared suspicious, but upon reflection, the most noticeable aspect.

“Presence.”

Why had they all reduced their presence?

Chills ran down the warrior’s spine.

“They aren’t serious about the operation, so why suddenly lower their presence…?”

It should have been odd.

If just one or two were doing it, that might be one thing.

But every person emerging from each floor had sharply reduced their sense of presence. How could that possibly make sense?

Even if seeking to appear cool is a legacy of male instincts, this… this is undeniably bizarre.

Shudder.

The warrior’s lips trembled.

Before his head could comprehend, his body sensed something ominously amiss, transforming his suspicion into confirmed terror that made his lips quiver.

[Okay. Wait, I have to check something before entering.]

The warrior spoke with a nonchalant tone, desperately masking the tumult in his heart.

He acted as if he realized nothing and pulled a small device from his pocket. It looked like a walkie-talkie, small enough to fit in his hand.

A geomagnetic detector.

One of the devices used to see if there were spiritual presences nearby.

He gripped the trembling device tightly and powered it on.

“Please, just show level one or two.”

Because it was a civilian device, it couldn’t measure the finer details like military equipment.

Unlike military devices that could analyze geomagnetic forms and changes to assess danger, the device he held only measured the strength of the magnetic field.

Even that was not very wide in range.

However, at this moment, it would prove useful.

If those around him were not human…

If they were something pretending to be his comrades, this pitiable-sized magnetic detector would be sufficient.

But paradoxically, he internally wished for it to just show level one or two.

Hoping it was all just a misunderstanding.

That a mundane level of one or two would appear.

He wished and wished again.

Beep—

The power turned on, emitting a beep.

The needle of the geomagnetic detector slowly began to move.

Left to right.

At a rapid pace.

Beeee—-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—–!

The sound that followed was an ear-splitting high-pitched alarm, so intense it felt like the small speaker on the detector might burst.

And right after, the needle moved all the way to the right end.

Trembling and shaking intensely, the needle wildly swung, struggling to go even further right despite reaching its limit.

And beneath it.

A number began to glow.

5.

A strong spiritual presence nearby.

A warning to flee immediately.

[Hah.]

Beep beep beep—–!

The device continued to emit high-pitched sounds in warning.

To run away immediately.

A powerful spiritual presence was nearby, meaning he had to escape!

But the warrior couldn’t move.

“…”

“…”

“…”

They were watching him.

Those who had captured comrades on each floor, now joining him while pretending to be allies.

Those that left only one survivor…

[Hold on. I think something’s wrong with my equipment. You guys go ahead. I’ll repair this and come up quickly.]

He trembled.

His legs shook.

Would this feel like being thrown into a lion’s den, bound and helpless?

The warrior spoke defensively to the ghosts watching him, asking them to go ahead with promises to follow soon.

Claiming that what he pulled out was simply broken equipment, he instinctively powered it off and tucked it back in his pocket. With a gesture assuring them not to worry, he glanced down.

“I have to run away.”

He was in a critical situation.

A life-and-death crisis.

He needed to somehow trick those ghosts, dash down the stairs, and escape.

The warrior swallowed hard and sat back against the stairs.

He appeared to be casually fixing his equipment.

Yet, beneath this outward calmness, his lower body was tensed.

Prepared to launch into action with explosive speed at any moment, maintaining tension while ready to execute his skills.

Using his instincts to wait for them to go up…

But…

“Damn it.”

They weren’t climbing the stairs.

No one was headed up, and no presence was evident.

As if waiting for him to finish fixing his equipment, they simply stared at him, holding their breath.

They were looking… at him.

“Their gaze, I can feel it.”

They were watching him.

Sitting on the stairs as he was.

Glaring at the back of his head.

Without any presence at all.

Yet, with such an intense, piercing gaze it felt like their eyes would bore through him.

“There’s no point.”

He realized it made no sense to keep pretending any longer.

No matter how much he fiddled with equipment, they would simply stand there, waiting for him.

Hoping he would willingly step in front of the door, looking forward to entering the seventh floor under the pretense of a search. And once he did, they would reveal their true colors and devour him.

Just like they did to his comrades below.

Or rather, it would be a lucky break if they chose to keep waiting.

What if they sensed something off?

What if they realized he caught onto them?

They would stop mimicking his comrades and reveal their true form to attack him.

So.

Now!

“Now is the time to run!”

The warrior tossed the detector and leaped downward.

He used all his strength to operate his skills, moving rapidly in multidimensional bursts, racing down the walls and railings.

Downward.

Downward.

He kept running.

To distance himself from those ghosts.

But regrettably, his escape was doomed from the start.

[Huh?]

Boom-!

How long had it been since he unleashed his skills?

Suddenly, vertigo hit, breaking his concentration.

His body faltered, losing balance, and the foot that should have pushed off the wall lost its way.

The speeding body crashed against the wall.

So hard did he hit that his arms and legs twisted in awkward angles, and the equipment he wore broke or was knocked off.

“Ugh, ugh…”

The warrior groaned on the ground in pain from the impact and the severe dizziness that left him barely able to move.

As it had been for the elevator team before, a drug was interfering with his cerebellum, keeping him from moving properly, while strong incense wafted from the cracked walls, seemingly trying to sedate him.

“Ugh, ugh…”

And from the windows that had mirrored the laughter of those before was oozing thick black liquid through the cracks, transforming into smoke upon meeting the air and poisoning him.

A drug that temporarily disrupted the balance of the five elements within him.

A drug that impeded his inner cultivation.

“Can’t… no…”

The warrior struggled on the floor.

Even as he groaned, he fought desperately to escape this trap-filled space, this extremely dangerous building.

He wished he had realized it sooner.

He wished he had never set foot in this damned building.

No, if he had sensed it even on the second floor.

If only he had caught on halfway…

He kept regretting.

Continually resisting.

While fighting to keep his heavy lids open.

Until, silently, the beings above descend, stop pretending to be comrades, and transform into bizarre monstrosities enveloping him.

He kept regretting.

 

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