Chapter 23

Chapter 23. The Sender Is Not in the User’s Contacts

I looked into the darkness where even the boundary of a shadow could not form.

Clatter, splash. The footsteps of mercy reached my ears.

“Why are you suddenly doing that? It’s scary. Is there something behind us?”

I examined the cowardly accountant’s face.

Choi Jaeha, who had been bending over to check the tires, looked surprisingly fine.

“Ah, no.”

I shook my head.

“Nothing.”

As expected, it had been an illusion.

Mercy did not come for me.

“Ha, this one is not it either.”

“Uh, but do you not need to look at the pattern photo?”

When I held out the photo on my screen, Choi Jaeha glanced at it and waved his hand.

“I memorized it roughly. It’s a hassle to keep looking at your phone too. Ah, Mr. Seon Yuhan, you do not have a car yet, do you? See, tire patterns are different depending on the manufacturer, but this one has grooves running vertically along the circumference of the wheel like this, and that is commonly used…….”

I half let Certified Public Accountant Choi Jaeha’s lecture on tire tread patterns go in one ear and out the other.

It was not terribly important, and it was not something I knew nothing about.

There had been a time when I was obsessed with traces left like scars at places where someone’s life had been taken.

A very long time ago.

Even now, I sometimes calculated the appropriate speed needed to crush my femur.

It was a bad habit.

“Ha, but these patterns all look similar while being different. This is more difficult than I expected.”

Perhaps his eyes were tired from relying on the not-so-bright flashlight, because Choi Jaeha blinked several times.

“Let us switch. I will do this section.”

This time, Choi Jaeha shone the light with his phone, and I checked the tires.

What we were looking for was a rib pattern where thick grooves waved lengthwise.

Just as Choi Jaeha said, the details were all different, so they had to be checked carefully.

By the way, that skid mark.

That mark kept flickering before my eyes.

“For it to be that long and clear…….”

“Uh, what did you say? Did you find it?”

“Ah, no. That is not it.”

I continued speaking while comparing the tire patterns.

“I mean that tire mark from earlier. I was thinking that normally, a mark would not be left that long and clear.”

“Mm……. True. For a mark to be that dark, the speed would have to be fairly high too. Maybe there was that much distance between the cars in front and behind.”

“Could it be an accident trace?”

“It could be. Or maybe some wild animal suddenly jumped out.”

Choi Jaeha shrugged as if it was nothing serious.

“But is that important? Is it not just something fake made by the Labyrinth?”

Whether it was fake or real was not important. The important thing was that the Labyrinth had made it.

“It could be a clue to the next floor.”

“Ah……. Is that so? But the second floor was not exactly like that. Could it be there is no special clue?”

“That is.”

I was at a loss for words.

Come to think of it, this person knew that we had escaped the second floor because we had “saved Jeong Jiho at Uri Saenal Daycare Center.”

He did not know that the librarian of Book Bang Ollae was not human, or the clues related to that.

At that moment, an inexplicable anger churned in my stomach.

That a Labyrinth was not a place one could escape by saving people.

That saving a child did nothing whatsoever to help us escape.

That perhaps the child was not what I truly wanted to save.

That what was truly needed in a Labyrinth was not the resolve to die, but the resolve to kill.

That life was not something given freely, but a “phenomenon” barely maintained after filthy, desperate struggling.

That, just as it was outside the Labyrinth, survival was struggle, and struggle could not be elegant.

Therefore, at last, inside the Labyrinth, we became equal.

That none of you knew anything…….

“There may have been a clue we failed to discover, and we simply happened to hit the right answer by luck.”

I forced down a blind curse and fury. Vomit it out. Vomit it out. Vomit it out. Vomit it out. Vomit it out. Vomit it out. Vomit it out. Vomit it out. Vomit it out. A sharp scream that could not be digested clawed at my insides.

“Is that so? Ah, you said you wanted to become an agent earlier, right? So that is why you know a bit about Labyrinths? Mm, then, well. Maybe you are right, Mr. Seon Yuhan.”

Right afterward, we switched roles again.

Choi Jaeha examined the tires one by one, and I shone the flashlight while keeping the brightness low.

Bzzz.

The moment I held my phone again, new text messages began arriving one after another.

[(Domestic Sender)

Hello, we are recruiting reviewers to help write delicious reviews for our shopping mall.

Available anytime, anywhere, regardless of time or space.

Many people are satisfied because it ships same day, so please do not feel burdened and contact us comfortably anytime, anywhere.

At least 1.2 kg per day / at least 30 kg per month

▾Real-Time Consultation▾

[https://s.b-5iK.com](https://s.b-5iK.com)

Participants: 11 servings (first come, first served)]

What kind of suspicious advertisement was this?

Delete.

[::Web Sender::

Double the first floor~♥

There is

no place

as wide as

this

Escape

before the door closes

Free opt-out 080730616]

Was it mocking me?

Delete.

[<Obituary>

We inform you that you passed away today.

Funeral hall [https://r.ly/6e1leV3](https://r.ly/6e1leV3)]

No. I was not going to die today. Even if I died.

Delete.

[You’re working your ass off like hell.

You are not Seon Yuhan either.]

I was the one working my ass off.

……No.

Delete.

[〔External Sender〕 Oppa, I’m hungry. Let’s go out together. There won’t be anyone. It has to be now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now.]

I was not the one with a younger sister.

I did want to go out. Now. To a place where no one was.

Delete.

[(Ad)

O wanderer through time and space,

O one who advanced against fate,

O one who gave love without reserve,

This body, born upon the execution ground,

is now one where three have gathered.

Yahweh, do You know my name?]

No. There was no way.

……Delete.

[C3※8※Card

Customer 3,185,000

Oth?er merchant transac?tion in progress

Inquire about abnormal signs▶On-site visit required]

Delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete del

“Huh? Found……, huhh?”

“Please…… for the love of.”

My heart nearly dropped because of that damned exclamation.

It had better be nothing.

“Huh?”

It was something.

“What is this?”

What Choi Jaeha pointed at was.

“It looks like…… a parcel.”

A small parcel box sitting alone on the hood.

A neat box whose width, length, and height were each smaller than an adult man’s hand.

“No, I mean. There was nothing here until just now. But when I saw the tire and thought this is it, then raised my head, it suddenly appeared……!”

“Do not open it right now. Let us take it and look at it together with the others.”

First, I took photos that showed the vehicle number, appearance, and location.

Go1020, black sedan, 11.

Meanwhile, the accountant was observing the box on the hood with curiosity.

“Sammae Delivery…… Is there a place like that? The address is Seoul…… This is this building, and, huh? Go1020? What kind of address is this? What lunatic orders a parcel to their own car?”

“……The Labyrinth is insane.”

Reading the recipient address written on the waybill, it was definitely a gift sent by the Labyrinth.

I held the box in one hand.

The box itself was not very large, and the thing inside seemed even smaller.

“Let us go back now.”

“Right. But what do you think is inside? It looks really light.”

“Who knows…….”

Relying on a small light, and yet trying not to look into that light, we walked through the darkness.

From time to time, we only checked whether there were obstacles ahead and whether we were going in the right direction, then immediately lowered the light toward the floor.

A faintly visible light could be more frightening than a darkness where nothing could be seen.

“But this is my first time seeing Director Yoo Hyunjae this close in person. He was so handsome it was scary.”

The accountant quietly sidled closer to me and whispered.

“Well, I can see why he is popular. The vomiting, hm, anyway, he seems a little human too. I should brag later that I met Yoo Hyunjae.”

……If I get out. Choi Jaeha’s voice trembled slightly as he added that belatedly.

He looked a little anxious, but surprisingly, he seemed to be holding up fairly well.

He did not seem to be seeing anything strange either. Unlike me.

When I heard Director Yoo Hyunjae’s hypothesis that we should not make loud sounds like screams, I had honestly been most worried about Choi Jaeha, more than Jeong Jiho or Hwang Juyeon.

He was timid and made a fuss compared to his build. I thought he might be an unexpected problem.

“Ah. My niece is a fan of Director Yoo Hyunjae……, no, but is it not a little strange to like a company director that much? Last time, she asked me to buy her some Yuwi Raider dolls or whatever, so I went there, but they did not even sell director goods. How is she even supposed to be a fan? But honestly, if there had been goods of the directors, I think the Raider goods would have sold less. Ah, right. Those tiny dolls were ridiculously expensive. How can something the size of a palm cost tens of thousands of won? But what can I do? I have to buy them for her. The kid likes them. She is truly a scary child. She calls me every day and says, Uncle, buy me this, buy me that, let’s go here, let’s go there. She knows I am weak to her. Anyway, I spoiled that child badly. It would be one thing if she resembled my brother and sister-in-law, but for some reason, she takes after her aunt out of nowhere…….”

“Ah, really.”

So this man was the type who talked a lot when nervous.

I took back my evaluation that he seemed to be holding up fairly well.

The sound of Choi Jaeha pouring out words like rapid fire was enough to make one of my ears feel numb.

He had been fine when we were searching for the tire pattern earlier, but now that he had nowhere to focus, it seemed the fear was gradually creeping in.

In a situation like this, forget monsters. I was worried he might scream if even a single passing insect moved the wrong way.

……I did not want to see that kind of sight again.

Nor did I want to experience it.

Bzzz.

At that moment.

A faint vibration was felt in my hand, and the locked screen lit up brightly.

“……Ha.”

I inhaled when I saw the incoming call screen.

[Aunt]

[Slide to answer]

It felt as if someone had wedged their way between my lungs, pried them open, and gripped my heart.

A call came from “Aunt.”

I hurriedly pressed the side button to reject it.

The vibration rang again.

[Aunt]

[Slide to answer]

I rejected it.

I must not answer. Never.

Not only because the internet, calls, and messages should all be impossible right now.

[Aunt]

[Slide to answer]

Because there was no “Aunt” in my contacts.