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The darkness settles down.

I hurriedly shift my gaze.

Ding!

I hear a sound like a coin bouncing.

I look around.

At least there’s nothing visible.

“A-Rin.”

Calling out for Song Ah Rin, I scan the darkness.

It’s as if she vanished like teleportation.

Could she have moved to another realm?

I quickly grab my smartphone to check the time and reception, shining it around.

Time and reception are normal.

The surroundings are the same room where I was with Song Ah Rin earlier.

“…”

It’s just that Song Ah Rin is nowhere to be seen.

I should make contact first.

I call the most reliable person first.

Before the ringing even starts, the call connects, and a familiar voice comes through.

“What’s wrong, Kim Jae Heon?”

“Yu Da On.”

“Where should we go?”

I hear Yu Da On’s voice over the speaker.

“To A-Rin’s house.”

“Should I bring Chae Yeon?”

“For now, just come quickly.”

“Please wait a moment.”

The call abruptly disconnects.

I’ve called for reinforcements, so I just need to hold on for a bit.

“A-Rin.”

I call for Song Ah Rin, but there’s no reply.

“…”

In the end, there was only one way to confirm things.

Carefully lifting my smartphone to shine a light ahead, one picture glimmered in response to the light.

A translucent window came to mind again.

[Name: Goonhakilgye]

[Age: Created a day ago]

[Specialty: Heightening]

[Talent: X]

[Background: If you think your life is melting into this, then life itself is also art.]

[Weakness: Erase the light.]

Created just a day ago.

In other words, this picture hasn’t been around for long.

When I first visited Song Ah Rin’s house, this picture was just a mere picture.

Taking my gun out of its holster, I slowly approach the painting.

“…”

I examine the painting closely.

The dark Song Ah Rin surrounded by glowing people.

Everyone except one person is looking at Song Ah Rin.

First, I look at Song Ah Rin.

She gazes straight ahead with a dark expression.

Unlike the previous picture, it somehow feels vibrant.

If other backgrounds and people are paintings, this one feels photographic.

A sense of ominousness scrunches my expression.

I turn my gaze to the other people in the painting.

Unknown individuals.

An elderly man with black hair and some unfamiliar faces.

While I diligently scan the paintings, familiar faces come into view.

When I had previously seen those glowing people, I was sure they were strangers.

Jang Chae Yeon, staring expressionlessly at her near Song Ah Rin.

Yu Da On, smiling next to her.

And,

“…”

I alone was turned away from her.

Then, shouldn’t I also be in shadow? But that’s not the case.

Rather, I felt like I was drawn more brightly than anyone else.

Thanks to this, her darkness seemed to stand out even more.

A person like a painting, in contrast, her appearance was more like a photograph.

Could it be?

I reach out slightly toward the painting.

As I do, the painting ripples and the colors of the world briefly shift.

Pulling my hand back quickly, the world and painting return to their original states as if nothing happened.

“…”

Should I reach out again?

While I was pondering,

Click!

The sound of a door opening and hurried footsteps approached.

“Kim Jae Heon!”

“You really got here quickly.”

Yu Da On looks at me, gasping for breath.

“Is Chae Yeon…”

“She’s on her way, but it might take a bit longer.”

“Is the light on?”

Yu Da On shakes her head.

“I noticed on the way here that the circuit breaker seems to have tripped. Should we turn it back on?”

“Wait a moment.”

I hold out my hand to stop Yu Da On, lost in thought.

Weakness: Erase the light.

Does that mean the weakness will be revealed once the light is erased?

Then shouldn’t the weakness already be visible now?

What would happen if I turned the light on instead?

“…Should we turn the light on?”

“Please do.”

First, let’s turn on the light.

Yu Da On nods and moves to do so.

With a click, the light comes on, and I look around again.

Still, there are no traces of Song Ah Rin.

“Da On, can you see anything…”

As I lean out to call Yu Da On, glowing people came into view before my eyes.

I couldn’t recognize their faces, but they felt similar to those in the previous painting.

Hastily turning my gaze to Yu Da On,

Crack!

I see a glowing figure seize Yu Da On’s head, causing a violent burst.

Blood splatters against the wall.

At the same time, a glowing figure reaching out to me.

Ding!

Yu Da On, now headless, staggers forward and reaches out to turn off the light.

With that, the light disappears, and once again the darkness returns, and the glowing figure that had reached for me vanishes.

“Wow…”

And just like that, Yu Da On’s head was restored as she sighed in relief while pressing the switch.

“I couldn’t see, so I just reached out blindly, but somehow turned the light off! That was close!”

“…Thank you.”

“Ugh, the blood on the wall… A-Rin will be mad if she finds out, right?”

Yu Da On mutters, seemingly unbothered by having had her head blown off, gazing at the wall.

“I’ll make sure to inform her. For now, let’s go in here.”

I take Yu Da On into the room.

“…Wow, what is this place?”

“It’s a hidden room that A-Rin kept.”

“Oh…”

Yu Da On exclaims, starting to fidget with the books around her and reading their titles.

“It’s okay not to be loved… How to detach your feelings from others…”

While scanning the titles, she murmurs.

“I see.”

Yu Da On smiles softly.

Her face, while grinning, shows she has realized something, wearing a refreshing expression.

“What?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

After mumbling something, she puts the book down and stands beside me to examine the painting.

“Oh, this is that painting, isn’t it? The one we saw at the art museum.”

“That’s right.”

“Did you really bring this?”

“No, it looks like a replica.”

“…”

Yu Da On squints and gazes at the painting before looking back at me.

“I get it now! So what should we do?”

“…Well, touching this painting made things a bit strange.”

“Yes.”

“So I’m considering going into this painting.”

“I’m okay with it!”

Before I could finish my sentence, Yu Da On eagerly nodded in agreement.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

She looks at me as if asking why I even need to ask.

“If I wasn’t okay with it, I wouldn’t have come this far.”

“…Then shall we go together? If anything happens, Chae Yeon can handle things outside.”

Yu Da On nods.

“…Then let’s go?”

As I slowly reach my hand toward the painting, the colors of the world begin to shift again.

As if the darkness was consuming the room, it spreads wider, and the moment my fingertip touches the painting, the darkness covers the world, transitioning the background.

“…Wow.”

Yu Da On murmurs, standing beside me.

Maybe because she wasn’t wearing formal clothes, there was a slight metallic scent of blood on her clothing.

“It doesn’t look like an art museum…”

What stood before us was.

“An apartment?”

It was indeed an apartment.

An apartment that seemed to exist everywhere.

I looked back.

Behind me was the Goonhakilgye painting that I had touched earlier.

As I bring my hand closer to the painting, the darkness starts receding again.

“I see, this painting acts as both an entrance and an exit.”

“So if something happens, we can escape through this painting.”

Yu Da On nodded and moved ahead.

“If anything happens, just leave me and run away.”

“How could I do that?”

“Even if I wanted to die, I wouldn’t be able to, so I can hold on pretty well.”

“…”

Calmly, Yu Da On murmurs as she pushes the glass door open.

The interior of the first floor was exactly like a typical apartment.

There was an elevator, stairs, and furniture lined the sides.

“Do you think A-Rin is here?”

“We should pray that she isn’t somewhere else.”

If she’s elsewhere, we might not be able to find her.

Shshshsh!

Before I could finish my sentence, a manual unfolded.

[Manual for Office Staff]

[Myungil Apartment Manual]

[0. Myungil Apartment was closed by the Management Agency due to certain anomalous phenomena 15 years ago.]

[0-1. This is the result of [CENSORED] residing below the river, and the first survivor is currently working within the Management Agency.]

“…”

“…Was this the kind of place it was?”

Yu Da On, who was flipping through the manual next to me, looked at me with wide eyes.

“Then the first survivor is…”

“It must be A-Rin.”

Complicated thoughts continued to unravel in my head.

What could possibly connect the creature living below the river with this ‘Myungil Apartment’?

Could it be that it isn’t a monster?

Questions flashed in my mind simultaneously, but now is not the time for that.

Next item.

[1. Take the elevator. Do not use the stairs under any circumstances.]

[2. After taking the elevator, you will see buttons from the 1st to 6th floor. If the 7th-floor button is visible, must resist the strong urge to press it.]

[3. The most common exit is the children’s room in Room 402.]

Yu Da On, still browsing the manual, pressed the elevator button.

Ding, with a cheerful sound, the heavy door opened.

“Kim Jae Heon, the elevator is…”

“Oh, yes.”

As I looked up at Yu Da On’s words,

Push!

Blood splattered across my face.

Yu Da On’s right arm was severed.

Inside the elevator was something dark and sticky, plastered all over.

Ding!

Just as Yu Da On hurriedly pressed the elevator button with her left arm, the door closed again.

Whoosh!

Her right arm, like time running backward, returned to her.

“…Is taking the elevator really the right thing to do?”

Yu Da On blinked in surprise as she looked at me, handing me a handkerchief.

As I wiped the blood off my face, I quickly opened the manual.

[0-1. A notice in advance for the Management Agency staff arriving here.]

[0-2. Currently, this place has not been updated since the records of the Response Team’s last manual ten years ago.]

[0-3. Since we cannot know how the anomalies have changed over time, please be cautious when attempting to escape.]

“Why don’t they warn us about things like this upfront?”

“Yes?”

“It’s nothing.”

Sighing, I continue to the next section.

[4. If for some reason the elevator cannot be used, use the stairs. However, do not remove your hand from the staircase railing.]

“Let’s go.”

Grabbing the staircase railing, I begin to walk.

Where could Song Ah Rin possibly be?

Holding onto the railing while climbing the stairs, I glance out the window.

In the darkness, only one painting shines brightly.