“……”

I looked at her ear, hidden beneath her hair, where the opening was now absent. Instead, there was a neatly stitched, hollow space. Whatever device had been ‘rented’ to her as a hearing aid was starting to fail.

And in such a short time, too.

‘Of all moments…’

“But I can still hear, somewhat. And since there’s still plenty of the candle left, I think we can keep moving carefully.”

“Yes.”

To ensure clearer communication, I gently tapped Ms. Goral on the shoulder. She flinched slightly but then resolutely resumed her descent down the stairs.

Baek Saheon quickly spoke up.

“I should carry the candle. Hand it over to me.”

“And what happens if Ms. Goral accidentally turns around because of that?”

“……”

Baek Saheon fell silent.

We began descending the six flights of stairs, tense and alert.

Step, step.

Only the sound of our footsteps filled the stairwell.

It didn’t seem like anyone who had heard my broadcast had come out yet…

“Excuse me,” Ms. Goral called out.

“Yes.”

“……”

Could she not hear me?

“Excuse me, are you there?”

I softly tapped her back. Reluctantly, Baek Saheon also gave her shoulder a couple of light pats.

“Ah… Thank you.”

Ms. Goral, reassured, gripped the candle tightly with both hands and continued descending the stairs.

Step, step.

The silence stretched on, feeling almost eternal… until we finally reached the first floor.

Creeeak.

The sound of usher machines echoed from all around, moving along their paths. One of them passed right by us, dragging a dead, human husk along the ground.

“…We’ll head to the spiral staircase now.”

“Yes.”

Ms. Goral raised her voice. She probably couldn’t tell how loud she was speaking anymore due to her deteriorating hearing.

‘It’s fine. We’re almost there.’

To react quickly, I kept my ears sharp, walking cautiously but steadily.

It wasn’t the wrong approach.

But the problem with dangers like these is that they sometimes have nothing to do with how prepared you are.

For instance, you could be focused on listening for threats, only for an entirely unrelated obstacle to appear.

“Huh?”

I noticed that the person in front of me had disappeared from view.

Looking down, I saw Ms. Goral’s figure falling.

At her feet, something shiny was sliding across the ground.

A telescopic lens.

It had fallen off the corpse the usher machine was dragging—an invisible rental item rolling at just the wrong moment into her path…

Thud.

I reached out and caught Ms. Goral.

But as her arm hit the ground, the candle flew out of her grasp.

“No…!”

I reflexively caught the candle and threw it toward Baek Saheon.

But it was too late.

The candle went out.

“……”

…Gaaasp—

The usher machine turned to face us.

Whoosh.

A metallic blade flew toward us.

“Eek—”

I rolled to the side. A sharp gasp came from nearby.

The usher machine, having set down the corpse it was carrying, raised its gas lamp to illuminate us.

It must have confirmed that all of us were behind on our ‘payments’.

Reevaluating its ‘priorities’, the needle-like appendages mounted on the machine’s abdomen flew toward us once again.

Its target: the nearest eye.

“Mr. Roe Deer.”

A familiar voice.

“Duck!”

Instinctively, I pushed the heads of my two teammates down and threw myself to the floor.

BANG.

A deafening metallic clash and a shower of sparks erupted above our heads.

“……!”

It was Section Chief Lee Jaheon.

The impossibly strong Field Exploration Team member had ruthlessly deflected the usher machine’s needle.

Ting—

The broken tip of the needle flew through the air and embedded itself in the corridor wall. The usher machine twisted its joints, emitting a strange grinding noise.

What madness.

‘That thing can break?’

Lee Jaheon withdrew his gloved hand. Judging by the force involved, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had fractured something himself.

Clutched in his hand, like a set of brass knuckles, was something metallic…

The terrace doorknob.

“……!”

An alarm blared in my mind. That item…

‘Exhibition property damage.’

All disruptions, theft, or property damage occurring within the exhibition hall are subject to immediate action by ushers, with corresponding fines collected.

He even broke an usher machine.

Even if the exhibition treated this as a civil issue and only demanded an apology and compensation fees instead of invoking criminal charges…

One thing was certain.

The usher machines would now treat this as their top-priority.

And it wasn’t just the one machine in front of us. All the usher machines in this zone would react the same way…

“Squad Leader.”

“Yes?”

“Run.”

I bolted.

Grrriiiik, grrrrk, jijijik— bzzzzzt, grrk— SCREEEECH!

The sound of the damaged usher machine moving more aggressively than ever filled the air.

Beside me, I could hear my squadmates running like mad. As for the Chief Lizard… wait, hold on!

“Squad Leader!!”

“Yes.”

“Stop fighting and just run!”

‘No matter how ridiculously strong you are, there’s no way you can destroy every usher machine here!’

Just imagining the chaos spreading further was overwhelming.

‘Even the Dark Exploration Records had those sections censored!’

I didn’t even want to consider how such events might manifest in real life.

Screeeeeech!

‘Fuuuck!’

We ran straight into another usher machine blocking the path to the staircase.

No, two more!

“Uuurgh!”

I threw myself through the descending needles, feeling a sharp pain shoot through my arm.

Even as I ran, my instincts screamed the truth.

‘I’m going to get caught.’

With human limitations, it was impossible to avoid this. We would be captured and fined before reaching 0F.

A cold chill ran down my back.

‘…Is there anything I can do?’

My breath was ragged. Oxygen-deprived, my thoughts became sluggish, giving way to resignation.

‘Maybe I’ve lasted long enough…’

My dulled senses split the surrounding sounds into layers. The echo of footsteps rumbled in my ears, as if dozens of people were running.

No, wait!

“……?!”

It hit me.

It wasn’t just that the footsteps sounded like many.

There actually were more people now.

Instead of two, there were at least ten or more sets of footsteps.

– Mr. Roe Deer, these must be the folks who took advantage of your excellent broadcast to seize the opportunity!

“……!”

They were Field Exploration Team members.

Spectators who had been watching the situation unfold now seemed to be using the chaos as cover to approach the spiral staircase.

This unexpected development had an unintended effect.

The usher machines became confused, recalculating priorities based on the importance of tasks and proximity to the various individuals.

Everywhere, unpaid participants were breaking into sprints, distracting the machines.

“Hurry up!”

Taking advantage of the brief window, we clenched our teeth and launched ourselves toward the staircase.

Screeeeeeeeeech—

We ran like mad.

The unsettling sounds of the machines grew closer behind us.

The staircase ended, and a silvery hall spread out before us.

The lobby.

And… the front door!

“Go!”

Assistant Manager Eun Haje and Supervisor Park Minseong were holding the doors open.

We sprinted with everything we had.

As I stepped onto the threshold of the main entrance, my superiors dove through the exit.

I followed, nearly collapsing through the doorway.

Breathless, I ran until the glowing doorway of light enveloped me.

“Huu!!”

When I opened my eyes, I saw a clean ceiling lined with fluorescent lights.

A modern hallway of moderate width.

The corridor on the 31st floor of the company, just outside the meeting room.

We’d escaped.

“Hah……”

I collapsed onto the floor.

I could hear the sound of people rushing out from the conference room, but I had no mental energy or strength left to care.

Every ounce of strength had been wrung from my body as I drifted into a dazed state…

An alarm rang out.

[Dark Exploration Records Real Merch Box]

– New merch unlocked!