Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Reunion

“Ggh, aaagh……! Ugh, why…….”

I am not sorry.

“Keh! St, op…….”

I am not sorry.

“Ggheek, ugh…….”

There is no way I am sorry.

“Ugh, urk…….”

So this is only physiological nausea. Toward a disgusting monster wearing human skin.

“Ha. Ah…….”

3:50 p.m.

The reading club did not begin, no human died, and no one was forgotten.

At last.

Silence came to the library.

***

“Oh my? Hello!”

“Ah, Mr. Seon Yuhan……! You were safe!”

“What the hell, why are you so late? Ugh, seriously, I thought you had abandoned us and run off!”

When I entered Uri Saenal Daycare Center, one doll monster and two humans welcomed me in turn.

I felt relieved after confirming that Jeong Jiho was safely resting while leaning against the wall.

Next, I took the bag containing Jeong Jiho’s spare clothes from the locker.

“…….”

Inside the toy box hidden behind the partition wall, the “fired” teacher was neatly crumpled up. As expected.

“Mr. Seon Yuhan, what are you doing there?”

Seeing that Choi Jaeha and Hwang Juyeon, who had arrived much earlier than me, seemed unaware of the teacher’s presence, this had probably happened immediately after the Labyrinthization.

“Hurry up and come here! Don’t just stand there! Can’t you see I’m working myself to death?”

Having been judged as those two’s colleague by the Goose Teacher, I joined the “hard labor.”

That “hard labor” had upgraded one step from the clumsy action-song show I had done, and had become a form that combined a ball game with it.

Basically, we played a simple ball game like soccer, but if Hwang Juyeon’s piano accompaniment was heard midway, we had to stop on the spot and perform actions matching the lyrics.

“Phew, this is, something I used to do when my nephew was little and I played with him, but little kids’ stamina is seriously no joke. If you want to put them to sleep even a little, phew, faster, you really…….”

The sound of joints creaking, whether human or toy, filled the daycare center.

Two dark-haired men were seriously dancing to children’s songs with toys, yet it was not funny in the slightest.

“But…… was there no one in the library?”

When Hwang Juyeon stopped the accompaniment, the ball game began.

“No. That is why I was a little late. I was searching other places besides the library too.”

“Ah……. Then where did she go…….”

The piano instructor’s expression was dark as she rested both hands quietly on the keys.

“She might have disappeared. Or been moved somewhere else.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was originally in the middle of an interview too, so I was with the interviewer, but they suddenly disappeared right before my eyes.”

Whack!

I spoke while lightly kicking the ball that came toward me.

“Seeing as the other children are not here either, I think almost everyone may have ended up that way at the same time after this place became a Labyrinth.”

“What do you mean, the children are not here?”

The worthless-looking stuffed goose suddenly cut in with a sharp, high-pitched voice.

“Our children are right here, playing proudly like this!”

Everyone’s expressions hardened as if cold water had been poured over them.

Hwang Juyeon, Choi Jaeha, and Jeong Jiho all turned pale.

“Do not tell me these toys are all……?”

“Do not believe it.”

Without paying it much mind, I stole the ball from a robot and passed it to Choi Jaeha.

“There is no need to take everything a Labyrinth monster says at face value. These things lie as a hobby.”

“Hey, hey. Why would you say that to its face……?”

Choi Jaeha looked a little frightened as he tapped my shoulder and watched the Goose Teacher’s reaction.

“Ah, this much should be fine. Still, I am sorry for startling you.”

Last time, when I said something to that effect, the Goose Teacher had not particularly stopped me.

It had not denied it either.

As expected, under this place’s rules, these toys had no way to kill me right now.

Getting on the Goose Teacher’s nerves was not a problem.

In that case, the condition for resolving Uri Saenal Daycare Center was…….

To not be an outsider completely unrelated to the daycare center, and to play with the toys in a wholesome and safe way until they got tired.

That seemed about right.

“Then the children did not all di……, anyway, that is not what happened, right?”

Hwang Juyeon’s fingers began moving again.

The accompaniment was sorrowful compared to the bright, cheerful lyrics.

“Probably not.”

I quietly listened to the children’s song the toys were singing, then moved my arms and legs.

“A Labyrinth does not particularly enjoy people dying.”

“Pardon? What does that…….”

“What nonsense is that?”

The moment the accompaniment stopped, the ball bounced here and there again.

“What a Labyrinth likes is for people to wander inside the Labyrinth. And to wander, people must be alive first.”

The stuffed goose’s black pupils were looking this way.

“So it will not do something wasteful like killing that many people all at once without even giving them a chance to wander from the start.”

Choi Jaeha nodded as if convinced, then abruptly looked at me.

“But. What kind of person are you, knowing things so confidently like that? You said you came for an interview at Yuwi Guild. Are you perhaps a Raider? No, but do Raiders also take interviews like that? Like office workers?”

“No, I am just.”

I laughed because it was absurd.

“Someone who won the lottery twice.”

“Huh? Really? You are lying!”

“Yes. I am lying.”

“Argh, seriously. What kind of bastard are you?”

I heard the sound of someone holding back a laugh.

When I turned my head, the philtrum of the freelance mage had grown long.

Choi Jaeha made a sullen face, but in the end, the corners of his mouth twitched along with her, and Hwang Juyeon pressed the keys with her face cleared of laughter with effort.

A Labyrinth was a strange place.

No, humans were strange.

Even while placed in a situation where they clearly could not laugh, if something laughable happened, they still ended up laughing.

So the moment I realized what expression I was wearing, my heart seemed to freeze, and I stiffened where I stood.

A Labyrinth must not become a place where one could laugh.

A Labyrinth had to be a place that held only painful memories.

If there was laughter.

If there were pleasant memories.

Would that not make one not want to escape the Labyrinth?

Would that not make one want to return to the Labyrinth?

So I…….

“……The child remained alone…….”

The toys stopped playing ball and lay on the floor, swaying limply to the calm melody of the lullaby.

Before long, a soft snoring sound could be heard.

“Thank you for playing so well with our children. Goodbye, guardians. Goodbye to you too, Jiho.”

And so, we escaped Uri Saenal Daycare Center.

9. If You Must Play with Children, Play Active Games Such as Ball Games or Action Songs.

“Let us try going down. Saving Jiho might have been the condition.”

As soon as we left the daycare center, I naturally led the group toward the emergency stairs.

I had taken care of the aftermath, but even so, it was crude, so I had to make sure they did not pay attention to the library at all.

“Ah, right. That could be it.”

“Jiho, are you not tired? Can you walk?”

Jeong Jiho moved their small head up and down at Hwang Juyeon’s question.

Watching that, I suddenly remembered something too.

“Do you need to use the bathroom or anything? Going now might not be a bad idea. You can change clothes too.”

Unless the floor directly below us was the first floor, we had no idea how much farther we would have to go.

The very fact that the first floor had become farther away because the floors were mixed could be guessed as evidence that the first floor was the Labyrinth’s exit.

The problem was that we did not know whether it would appear if we went up from here, or if we went down.

First, we would have to keep going down in one direction, and if the first floor did not appear, then try going up again.

“Come on, you can just use the bathroom after we get out, right?”

Well, if it is really urgent, then it cannot be helped, the accountant added defensively.

Jeong Jiho also shook their head as if they were all right and pointed to the emergency exit.

From their expression alone, I could not tell whether they were simply anxious because they were trapped in a Labyrinth, or whether they were watching the adults’ reactions.

“Um, I do not want to throw cold water on things either, but…….”

“Then do not.”

“Pardon?”

“Now every time you suddenly get serious and try to say something, I get so scared I could die. I think I have trauma.”

The large accountant covered both ears and began shaking his head.

“Aaaaaah, I am not listening, aaaaaah.”

Wow.

I was purely overwhelmed. By the disgraceful behavior of a grown man old enough to know better.

As expected, a human being who exchanged business cards inside a Labyrinth truly existed on a different level.

I opened and closed my mouth for a moment, then quietly turned my gaze to Hwang Juyeon and Jeong Jiho and continued speaking.

“There is no guarantee that the floor below…… is the first floor.”

In the end, I had to throw cold water on things.

Would it not hurt less to be hit with it in advance, rather than get their hopes up without knowing anything, only to face the pitch-dark Basement 5?

“For a Labyrinth of this scale…… I think it would be best to be prepared, just in case.”

But looking at their expressions made me feel as if I had pronounced a death sentence.

It was hard to meet their eyes directly. As if it were my fault.

Had the police officer who delivered the news of my parents’ deaths felt like this too?

“Ha…….”

Hwang Juyeon let out a deep sigh, then said nothing for a while.

“Well, it is an Invasive-type…… It would not be easy. I understand what you mean. There is nothing to lose by preparing in advance. If the first floor appears, then that will simply be fortunate. Right?”

The freelance mage tapped Choi Jaeha, who had lowered both hands at some point, and his sulky face collapsed.

“Ha, ughhhhh……. Seriously, what kind of bolt from the blue is this……. No, no.”

Choi Jaeha suddenly raised his head.

“It is not certain yet, right? We will not know until we go down. Right? Is that not true?”

The accountant lightly patted Jeong Jiho’s head as he sought agreement.

The child, who had only been rolling their round eyes, tilted their head ambiguously.

“Right? You think so too, right? That friend is too negative, I swear.”

And so, we all opened the first-floor emergency exit door together.

“Basement 5? No, this is not right…….”

Positive Choi Jaeha denied reality.

***

“But it is this dark because the power is out here, right? It still feels stifling even with all our flashlights on.”

“Jiho, hold Teacher’s hand tight.”

“Tell me if it gets hard to walk later. This uncle will carry you.”

The moment we turned on our phone flashlights and had just taken a step into Basement 5.

“Ghk, urgh…….”

“What, what is that? Who is it?”

From somewhere, a small sound came of a stomach with barely anything in it being emptied.

I thought I knew who it was.

“Um, is someone there? Are you all right?”

“Ahem. I am all right.”

As we slowly approached in that direction and shone the light, we saw a man slightly covering the light with one hand.

“Uh, that person…….”

As expected.

It was Director Yoo Hyunjae.

“Let us reduce those lights to the minimum once we finish introductions. Since there are many of us, turning all of them off would be dangerous instead.”

That was what Yoo Hyunjae said as soon as he met the four of us.

“Understood, Director.”

When I answered politely, Yoo Hyunjae’s reddened eyes naturally rested on me.

As if he were dividing time to use it, gazing so intently that even a very brief moment felt long.

Yes, as if…….

“Have we met before?”

As if he were searching his memory for me.