Chapter 34

Chapter 34 - Baekya Land - Parade (1)

[4. If you cannot hear the flute, never close your eyes. Each time you close them, He will take one step closer to you.]

Anyone who's ever played around with a claw machine knows this.

The claw is cruelly, abhorrently weak.

To actually grab anything, you end up spending more than the prize is worth.

"If I'd known, I would've bought more at once......"

Su-myeon stared at the ten coins in Ju-hee's hands and felt a pang of regret.

A measly ten attempts.

At least the Heart staff member—arm severed and all—didn't seem to cause a scene beyond its own booth, presumably because this wasn't its own establishment.

Fortunately, since it wasn't a Baekya Land employee, no rules had been violated.

"Didn't see that coming~?"

Cheshire, who had been spectating as quietly as an actual stuffed toy, chimed in for the first time in a while.

"I'm here too, you know.... We can go anywhere~"

"......A heads-up would've been nice, don't you think?"

"Where's the fun in that~?"

Su-myeon let out a long sigh at Cheshire's words.

Meanwhile, he tactfully pretended not to notice Han-su carefully picking up the severed arm and depositing it in a trash can, and moved to the machine.

He stood before the claw machine with grim determination and gingerly inserted a coin.

DING-A-LING—!

A cheerful jingle, and the claw began to move.

Su-myeon's eyes drifted helplessly, tracking the claw as it swayed with the joystick.

Wait, hold on. The thing was,

CLUNK!

A lifeless sound, and the timer ran out. The claw had dug into a completely useless spot and returned empty.

"Move over, let me try."

Ju-hee boldly stepped up for the next attempt, but it was hopeless.

The red candy slipped maddeningly through the prongs and rolled away.

"Has anyone here ever won a plush for their girlfriend at one of these?"

With no realistic prospect of winning in sight, Ju-hee threw the question out. No answer came.

"......"

"......"

Setting aside Su-myeon, who had never dated in his life—even Han-su, with his build and his looks, quietly averted his gaze into the middle distance.

Then Du-pal rolled up both sleeves and stepped forward.

"This is exactly why you hopeless bachelors are no good. Out of the way! My turn!"

Du-pal planted himself confidently in front of the machine.

DING-A-LING—!

The cheerful jingle rang out as a coin dropped in.

How many times did that jingle sound?

"No, not that one—the red one!"

"Hold on! I'm telling you, I'm going to get it!"

In the end, thanks to Du-pal's heroics, the group found themselves with a pile of colorful candies.

***

Perhaps it was fortunate that the park wasn't particularly large?

Getting back to the Horror Maze didn't take long.

With the location clear in their minds, they returned even faster.

"Do I just...... just put it in his mouth?"

Standing before Hyeon-seok, who had been turned into something like a puppet, Ju-hee trembled as she held the candy.

Su-myeon simply took her wrist and firmly pushed it toward Hyeon-seok's lips.

The crimson candy disappeared into his mouth, and in the span of a blink—

THUD.

Hyeon-seok collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut.

Ju-hee caught him as he fell, but his build overpowered her and they both ended up on the floor.

"Some help with this guy—!"

Ju-hee flailed, calling for assistance, but Han-su—who would normally have been the first to step in—stood frozen.

"......"

"Wait...... Quiet......"

Every wax figure in the space was staring at them.

All mechanical motion had ceased. Wide-open eyes fixed on them without the slightest tremor.

Glossy, unblinking eyeballs locked onto the group.

"Grab him! Han-su! Get him on your back, now!"

The instant Su-myeon urgently spurred Han-su into action, every wax figure opened its mouth simultaneously.

Eyes and mouths stretched impossibly wide—contortions no normal human would make.

From every direction, the clatter of typewriters erupted, and printed text began flooding the walls.

[WhereareyougoingWhereareyougoingWhereareyougoingWhereareyougoingWhereareyougoingWhereareyougoingWhereareyougoingWhereareyougoingWhereareyougoingWhereareyougoingWhereareyougoingWhereareyougoingWhereareyougoing]

"AAGH!"

Past Du-pal's scream, Su-myeon grabbed Han-su—who had barely managed to hoist Hyeon-seok onto his back—and hauled him forward.

Moving as if controlled by something, the wax figures charged at the group in unison.

"Emergency exit!"

Su-myeon took the lead, shoving aside pointless stacks of documents and desks blocking their path.

There was a rule about not damaging property, so the furniture crashing and toppling around them was a concern—but there was no other choice.

A bit of damage was still better than getting caught by those things!

"Hurry!"

Su-myeon sprinted ahead without looking back.

Bursting out of the Horror Maze, he dove into a cluster of ornamental shrubs landscaped just outside the exit.

"Is everyone oka—"

He turned around, and once again wanted to smack his own forehead for the mistake he'd just made.

"......We're fine, for now."

The one answering him was Kang Han-su.

And—

"......I don't think we're fine, actually......"

Shin Hyeon-seok, who had regained consciousness at some point.

Just the two of them.

"I'm sure I heard her voice......"

Hyeon-seok, now lucid, still looked disoriented.

Su-myeon handed the employee ID back to the confused man.

"This—you wore it around your neck on purpose so someone would find you, right?"

When Su-myeon returned it, Hyeon-seok grimaced as though his head ached and nodded.

"I have...... a vague memory of doing that."

Everything he'd experienced had been hazy and uncertain.

His last clear memory was of wandering the bizarre corridors of a subway station for what felt like an eternity.

He'd followed the flute that kept drifting into his ears, and at some point his memory blurred.

A faint voice calling his name. His body moving on its own.

But he'd never questioned his own actions.

It all felt as natural as an unreal dream.

"Ju-hee is looking for you."

At Su-myeon's words, Hyeon-seok's expression shifted.

The look that had remained sharp even amid his bewilderment transformed in an instant.

With eyes that mingled melancholy and sorrow, he spoke.

"What did she...... say about me?"

Instead of answering, Su-myeon looked back toward the Horror Maze.

Something was thumping and crashing inside, but no one else was coming out.

Had Ju-hee and Du-pal been caught? While Su-myeon was processing that, Han-su answered for him.

"We were told you two worked at the same company."

Hyeon-seok went quiet at Han-su's answer, seemingly lost in thought.

The creaking of aged rides from every direction.

The not-quite-human presence emanating from countless wax figures.

That filled the silence for a few seconds before Hyeon-seok loosened his suffocating tie and spoke.

"What...... is this?"

He rummaged through his pockets.

What came out of his heavy trouser pocket was a coin.

Rose Coins.

"......"

Su-myeon saw them and grabbed his own head.

For some reason, he had the nagging feeling he was being toyed with.

The weight of Cheshire on his shoulder suddenly felt more pronounced.

"If you need them, they're yours."

Hyeon-seok, apparently misreading Su-myeon's reaction, offered his hand willingly. Su-myeon didn't refuse.

"I won't say no."

Five Rose Coins had come out of Hyeon-seok's pocket.

As Su-myeon accepted the coins, he made up his mind.

He was probably going to have to go back inside to find Ju-hee and Du-pal.

THUD—!

Another loud crash echoed from the maze.

Then—

"Run!"

"What do you think I'm doing?!"

Ju-hee and Du-pal's shouts rang out.

The three who'd been hiding in the bushes shot to their feet simultaneously.

Ju-hee and Du-pal were sprinting out of the Horror Maze's main entrance.

Behind them, a swarm of wax figures had converged—tangled and crashing into each other, yet relentlessly pursuing.

"Wha—what the—"

Su-myeon's brain short-circuited for a moment, unsure how to react to their reckless charge.

"Ahahahaha!"

Cheshire burst into loud, delighted laughter, as though this were the funniest thing he'd ever seen.

***

Before entering the supernatural phenomenon, they had made a pact.

"If we get separated, the rule is to get out and meet outside. No exceptions."

That was the rule Su-myeon had set in advance.

Charging off to find a missing member could get everyone killed.

Everyone had agreed.

If they were separated, priority number one wasn't finding each other—it was escaping this place.

"Damn it. Damn it."

"......"

At the same moment Su-myeon, Han-su, and Hyeon-seok had fled through the emergency exit—

Ju-hee and Du-pal were left behind, crouched under an office desk.

"Now what?"

At Du-pal's murmur, Ju-hee took a deep breath and surveyed their surroundings.

Their hiding spot was a last resort born of necessity.

The wax figures chasing Hyeon-seok had completely blocked the emergency exit.

They slammed into each other so violently that chunks of wax shattered off—trying to squeeze through that crush would mean getting pulverized.

"For now, let's just get the two of us out, like Su-myeon said."

Du-pal spoke in a voice that barely mustered courage.

At his words, Ju-hee nodded heavily.

"Do you remember the next emergency exit?"

At Ju-hee's question, Du-pal racked his brain.

"Two offices back, give or take."

"Then let's move."

After whispering back and forth, the two exchanged a glance and immediately set off.

The scene before them was completely transformed from their first impression.

The wax figures, which had seemed only slightly unnatural and otherwise unremarkable—

Now they were sweeping the area with both arms raised like zombies, as if hunting for the ones who'd stolen a member of their ranks.

When they tripped over desks, they dropped to all fours and crawled, groping across the floor.

"......"

At least the majority of the wax figures were still jammed in the emergency exit, floundering.

Otherwise, dodging them would have been nearly impossible.

Even creeping carefully, their hearts pounded wildly with the fear of being spotted at any moment.

Eyes bulging as if they might pop from their sockets. Mouths gaping wide as though the jawbone had dislocated.

The grotesque expressions were horrible enough that merely meeting one's gaze required stifling a scream—but they painstakingly avoided them, inching toward the other emergency exit.

"Found it...!"

The two finally slipped past the wax figures' gazes and located the exit.

Just get through and they were free......

"GHK—!"

Du-pal, rushing toward the exit, tripped suddenly.

Ju-hee spun around to see a wax figure that had been crawling on the floor gripping his ankle.

Du-pal kicked frantically to shake it off, but it wouldn't let go.

[Found you.]

This time, the same words rose on every monitor in the office.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ju-hee pulled the crowbar stored in her Heartphone.

"Let go!"

She swung it down hard onto the wax figure's wrist.

It felt strangely like striking a candle—an odd sensation in her hands—and the wax figure's wrist crumpled.

She hauled Du-pal to his feet and tried to run again.

But this time, faster wax figures had beaten them to the emergency exit.

"The main entrance is right nearby anyway, isn't it?"

The attraction's wide, open entrance was closer than the cramped emergency exit.

Du-pal nodded at Ju-hee's words and broke into a sprint without so much as a reply.

The spacious main entrance had other wax figures and entrance staff, but it didn't matter.

The goal wasn't to fight them—it was to dodge them and run.

"Out of the way!"

Ju-hee cracked the crowbar across a staff member's head as it blocked her path and kept running.

This was it—all or nothing. It was either get caught and die, or escape. Nothing in between.

Sprinting without restraint, Ju-hee and Du-pal were grateful that nothing stood in their way ahead.

If they could just keep going forward,

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM.

A strange drumbeat sounded from somewhere.

"...?"

They glanced behind them. The wax figures that had been giving chase had all vanished.

Before they could even wonder what had happened.

FWEE.

A piercing flute cut through the air and bored into their ears.