Chapter 22

Chapter 22. Mark

Could he possibly remember me?

The me he had met in the previous round?

Or perhaps.

“You look familiar.”

For a moment, I almost stepped backward.

Even though Yoo Hyunjae’s gaze held none of the insolence unique to a person in power. No, even though no emotion leaked out from it at all.

It was a gaze that gave off a strange pressure.

Or maybe it was simply because the debt I owed Yoo Hyunjae from the previous round made me feel needlessly guilty.

This was also the first time I had faced him this closely while calm.

“Ah, excuse me.”

Yoo Hyunjae, who had been staring at me without moving at all, blinked for the first time and greeted me.

He was like a doll wearing breath and moving while alive.

“I thought you might be one of our company’s employees, but it seems you are not.”

I sighed inwardly.

“Yes. Not yet, but I wanted to become one, so I interviewed at Yuwi Guild today. I am Seon Yuhan.”

“Aha. I see.”

It was a smooth smile, as if drawn with a brush.

“Did it go well? I hope it did.”

What a loose-screwed thing to say.

Interview or whatever, we were trapped in a Labyrinth and looked as if we might die at any moment.

But he spoke such unreal words so naturally that I even felt a groundless confidence that maybe we really could get out.

“Um, hello. I am Choi Jaeha, and I work at Howol Accounting Firm on the sixteenth floor. It is an honor to meet you……!”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Choi Jaeha. It is unfortunate that we have to greet each other in a situation like this. And, excuse me, but as for you, ma’am……?”

“Ah! Hello. I am Hwang Juyeon. I am not an employee here, but I came because there was a magic performance at the daycare center. Mm, this child’s name is Jeong Jiho.”

“Nice to meet you. You too, Jiho.”

Without hesitation, Yoo Hyunjae knelt on one knee and matched the child’s eye level.

“You must have been very startled. Thank you for holding up so bravely.”

Perhaps this was what one would expect from someone who had succeeded on his own at a young age and risen to that position.

Even in a situation where lives hung by a thread like this, his skillful way of interacting with people was astonishing.

“Ahh. You came straight down here from the second floor……. It seems the floors have been mixed.”

We briefly explained the situation to Yoo Hyunjae, and Yoo Hyunjae accepted it without much surprise.

“Actually, a small emergency exit I had never seen before appeared here too, so when I opened it, there were only stairs going down. Basement 5 should definitely be the lowest floor. I did think some change must have occurred to the floors.”

Perhaps because he was the guild’s director, he seemed to understand the bizarre characteristics of a Labyrinth well.

“In any case, that is impressive. All of you made it down here without being badly injured.”

“We were lucky. Director, is there anywhere you are uncomfortable……. You must have been terribly shocked too, with the building suddenly becoming like this.”

The accountant from Howol Accounting Firm treated the director of Yuwi Guild as if he were his own superior.

It was nice to see someone so consistent.

Of course, honestly, someone at Yoo Hyunjae’s level was more than enough to treat like an honored superior even if one was not an employee of Jaerae Group.

“Thank you for your concern, but I am truly fine.”

The director gently drew up the corners of his mouth.

“I make my living from Labyrinths. I am not so clumsy that I would panic all over again simply because I became trapped in one.”

The surroundings had been so quiet that the sound of this man vomiting had been painfully clear.

His skill at pretending nothing had happened with a neat face was top-notch.

“Since we have introduced ourselves for now, it would be best to form some kind of formation for safety. Place Jiho in the middle…….”

While he swiftly arranged our positions, the three of us, excluding Director Yoo Hyunjae and the child Jeong Jiho, exchanged glances as if we had planned it.

A silent agreement was reached.

We would not mention the retching sounds we had heard before meeting Yoo Hyunjae, or the reddened corners of his eyes we had seen when we first met him.

I did not know whether he thought we did not know, or wanted us to pretend not to know.

But if he wanted to hide it, deliberately exposing it would be impolite.

“Which of you three would be best at the very back? Ideally, someone who does not get startled much when watching horror movies would be good.”

“Ahem…….”

“Ah. I will stand at the very back.”

“Now then, that settles it.”

That was how the five of us formed a diamond-shaped formation.

Yoo Hyunjae at the very front.

Choi Jaeha, Jeong Jiho, and Hwang Juyeon.

And me at the very back.

“If we split up, let us split only into groups of two and three. No one should be left alone. Mr. Seon Yuhan, since you are at the very back, keep your flashlight on low as well.”

“Director, does something come after seeing the light?”

I tried to recall the form of the being that had taken my heart last time.

Ears that gladly heard the prayers of sentient beings, a mouth that bestowed the teachings of true suchness, hands that extended the compassion of perfect enlightenment……. World-Honored One, you who come from machinery and go toward truth, you for whom coming and going are no different, you who are virtuous as befits your name, noble, wise, benevolent, loving, generous, magnanimous, and merciful.

“No, Mr. Seon Yuhan.”

In the dim light that felt a little murky, Yoo Hyunjae looked straight at me.

His gaze was cold, but precisely because of that, it planted my feet back in reality.

“It did not seem to have eyes.”

“Then why…….”

“Because we do.”

That low, businesslike voice instantly dug into my ears.

My body shrank without my realizing it.

I could not help understanding the implication of that obvious sentence, that we had eyes.

In other words, we who had eyes.

“Do not witness them. Whatever they may be, do not witness anything that could startle you.”

It meant there were things we must not see with those eyes.

“If you do witness something, do not be startled. If you are startled, cover your mouth. It is not certain, but…….”

Yoo Hyunjae, who had been speaking quietly and smoothly, briefly hesitated.

“I think it comes after hearing loud sounds above a certain level. Screams, for example.”

Ah, so that was it.

Come to think of it, last time, Yoo Hyunjae had kept telling me to calm down too.

But I had misunderstood alone, lost my mind, and shouted furiously.

That was probably why I died.

“Gasp, then…….”

Choi Jaeha, who was holding the child’s hand tightly, covered his mouth with his remaining hand and spoke in a whisper.

“Should we not be careful even when talking……?”

“No.”

Perhaps intending to reassure us, Yoo Hyunjae answered with deliberate firmness.

“It is certain that this much cannot be heard. As you can see.”

“But I apologize, but how exactly did you come to know that information……?”

Hwang Juyeon asked.

She hid sharpness inside a cautious tone.

“I was just about to tell you. Originally, Driver Kim, ah, my personal driver, was with me…….”

Yoo Hyunjae slightly widened his eyes and wore a troubled expression.

“After realizing this place had become a Labyrinth, we each began searching. Looking through the cars here or trying to open the doors, things like that.”

“All these cars?”

“Yes. If anything was strange, that itself would be a clue.”

Jaerae Building was basically a high-rise building with a wide floor area.

Moreover, unlike the aboveground floors with their square-shaped structure, the underground parking lot did not have an open center, so its actual area was even larger.

Even by a low estimate, at least fifty cars must have been parked here.

“Did you find anything?”

“Ah, nothing major, but I discovered a strange skid mark. I will show you that shortly.”

Yoo Hyunjae gave me a slight nod as if asking for understanding, then continued.

“I do not know what he saw, but Driver Kim suddenly screamed, so I ran over and found him excitedly rambling about something. And not long after, something resembling a strangely shaped Buddha statue appeared and took Driver Kim’s heart…….”

Director Yoo Hyunjae faintly furrowed his brow and trailed off after looking at Jeong Jiho.

Choi Jaeha and Hwang Juyeon’s expressions darkened, as if they understood what had been left unsaid.

“I should have at least held his hand. I ran away…….”

It was an extremely calm murmur. As if he were deliberately suppressing his emotions.

“In any case, that is how I came to suspect that it comes after hearing loud sounds. Mm, then I think it would be best if I showed you that skid mark from earlier, and then we split into two groups and finish the remaining search.”

Director Yoo Hyunjae soon wiped even that faint gloom cleanly from his face and took the lead.

Tap, step…….

The footsteps of five different people fell out of rhythm, like an ensemble that did not match.

“Here it is.”

Yoo Hyunjae stopped in front of a pillar and shone his flashlight at the floor.

A clear tire mark stretched long across an empty parking space where there was no car.

I silently looked down at that black trace.

“No, can a car even build up enough speed in a parking lot to leave a mark this long? Even if you wanted to……?”

“Isn’t the position a little strange too?”

Following Choi Jaeha, Hwang Juyeon also tilted her head and pointed at the skid mark.

“The mark is too close to the pillar. If it was really a car, the body would have hit that pillar, so the mark could not have been made like that in the first place.”

“That is correct. That is why I thought it was strange too.”

Director Yoo Hyunjae nodded at Hwang Juyeon’s words and spoke.

“I was about to investigate this further when Driver Kim’s…… incident happened.”

“But how can we investigate this any further…….”

“Pattern.”

“What?”

At my mutter, everyone’s eyes suddenly focused on me.

I glanced around and opened my mouth.

“Um, tires do not all have the exact same shape, so I thought it might be good to investigate mainly the cars using tires with the same pattern as that.”

Of course, that number would not be very small either, but would it not be better than blindly tearing apart every car without any clue?

“That is an excellent guess.”

The eyes of Yuwi Guild’s co-CEO flashed ominously.

“I heard there was a meeting today to recruit a new Raider. Is the interview you mentioned perhaps that? Not an agent interview.”

Between a Raider recruitment meeting and a Raider agent hiring interview, there was a gap as wide as the one between a CEO and a job seeker.

“No. I did come for an Agent Team interview, and the only escape I know how to do is room escape at most.”

“Ah, that is also one of the qualities of an excellent Raider.”

He would not listen.

Had he been this kind of person?

He was subtly forceful. This was not even the time for it. The man was strangely scatterbrained.

“Well, we can talk about this later. For now, how about we simply split into two groups and separate to both sides?”

Yoo Hyunjae lightly gestured as if dividing the party in half.

Choi Jaeha and me.

Yoo Hyunjae, Jeong Jiho, and Hwang Juyeon.

“Yes, I do not particularly mind.”

“Mm, I suppose I do not either…….”

Hwang Juyeon shrugged, and Choi Jaeha reluctantly agreed. Jeong Jiho also nodded silently.

I looked at the child and the woman standing beside Yoo Hyunjae.

Their chests tore open, and their whole bodies were dyed dark red.

No.

It was an illusion.

“Yes. I am fine with that too.”

“Then, Mr. Seon Yuhan, take a photo of this mark as well and look around with Mr. Choi Jaeha.”

And so I approached the car parked in the nearest section together with Choi Jaeha.

“Ha, how much would all this cost? The VIP area really is different.”

While the accountant was admiring the lineup in the executive parking area.

Bzzz.

The phone that had been reduced to a flashlight vibrated, and the screen lit up.

[+82 70-329-1159

1 text message]

Out of habit, I unlocked it and checked the message.

[[Internal Sender] I am heading to C07 now. You will come out to meet me, right?　My person ŁɨИ∃ I: nmywyty]

A chilling feeling like bugs crawling up my spine.

Whip.

My head turned backward before I realized it.