Chapter 13. Backroom (1)
The books that had covered the floor like waves disappeared, and a new room descended before our eyes.
The room had a completely different atmosphere from the previous one.
It felt antique, elegant, and peaceful.
A chandelier hung from the ceiling. Light from an unknown source passed through the chandelier, breaking into countless tiny rays that reflected beautifully throughout the room.
There were also sofas that looked as though a master craftsman had carved every detail by hand, along with carpets covered in strange yet eye-catching patterns.
Everything decorated the space beautifully.
I looked around in admiration for a while before turning my attention toward the walls surrounding the room.
Even in a room filled with beautiful things, the walls were by far the most impressive.
They were covered with countless framed pictures.
The walls were embroidered with golden thread, and every frame contained a different photograph.
There were just as many different kinds of pictures as there were frames.
[The Blending of Twilight and Dawn]
[The Waving Moon, the Stepping Deer]
[The Most Beautiful Imperial Garden]
Every one of the countless photographs had a strange title beneath it, apparently named by someone unknown.
That alone made looking through them surprisingly entertaining.
For that brief moment, Lee Yeonhee and I became completely absorbed in the pictures, even forgetting about our current situation.
But that immersion didn't last long.
[Human Who Eats Awls]
[Tower Made of Entrails]
[Human Flowerbed]
[Beauty Born from Massacre]
The farther we went, the more disgusting the pictures became.
They grew so horrifying that even I couldn't remain calm anymore.
By the time I started gagging, I finally stopped looking at them and headed toward the next room.
Lee Yeonhee silently closed her eyes and followed me.
The indescribably disgusting photographs passed behind us.
Trying to erase what I'd just seen from my mind, I opened the door on the western wall.
[Home Appliances Corner]
This time, it was a section you could easily find in an ordinary supermarket.
Wanting to forget the previous room, I wandered around the section where appliances like washing machines and refrigerators were neatly displayed.
The Home Appliances Corner was exactly what its name suggested.
There was nothing here except appliances.
While looking around, I found a television and tried turning it on, but it didn't work.
I tried some of the other appliances, but they were the same.
Was there no electricity?
Well, whatever.
Even if this place was a little boring, it was many times better than that room full of photographs.
I wished every section from now on would be like this.
A place so ordinary that there was absolutely nothing to do except get bored.
That was far better than a section where we had to fight dangerous Mysteries with our lives on the line.
If I could, I would've liked to rest here for a long time.
“Let's use the western door again. I have a good feeling about that direction.”
Unfortunately, we couldn't do that.
There was the obvious reason that we needed to escape this place as quickly as possible, but an even bigger problem was our lack of food.
At the very least, we had to keep moving until we found some kind of food-related section.
Hoping such a place would appear soon, I opened the door.
The door quietly swung open, connecting us to yet another space.
[Plant Corner]
This time, it was the Plant Corner.
“Plants? Do you think there might be some fruit or vegetables we can eat?”
The moment Lee Yeonhee saw the sign standing in the center, her expression brightened and she eagerly looked around.
Rather than a room, this place looked more like a dense jungle.
The thick trees even blocked the ceiling lights, making the entire area dark.
It really did feel like a jungle.
We breathed in the heavy scent of vegetation filling the air as we pushed aside the leaves blocking our path and continued forward.
This time, we planned to search the room more carefully.
Just like Lee Yeonhee said, there might be fruit or vegetables somewhere.
“Let's search in different directions. Tell me if you find anything.”
Each room inside the Backroom was around one hundred pyeong in size.
It wasn't small by any means, so we split up to search more efficiently.
Still, in case we encountered a dangerous Mystery, we decided not to move too far away from each other.
We stayed close enough that we could clearly hear each other's voices without having to shout.
“Lee Yeonhee, can you see anything over there?”
“No! There's nothing but grass!”
“Same here. If we really can't find anything, let's try climbing one of the trees.”
“Okay, I understa—Hic!”
After wandering around for quite some time, I suddenly heard a startled hiccup from beside me.
I immediately cut through the grass in front of me with my kitchen knife and rushed toward the sound.
It took less than three seconds to reach Lee Yeonhee.
Then I saw her.
Lee Yeonhee was hanging upside down, half-swallowed by something.
I tightened my grip and rushed closer.
And when I finally saw what had swallowed her, it was beyond anything I'd imagined.
A Venus flytrap.
Except this Venus flytrap was nearly twice the size of an average adult.
I quickly swung the sashimi knife I carried and tore through the Venus flytrap before pulling her out.
“Th-Thank you...”
I helped the panting Lee Yeonhee calm down before speaking.
