Chapter 17

Chapter 17. Outside

“It’s… the end.”

The end.

That single word carried more emotions, memories, experiences, and hopes than I could ever put into words.

The end.

Outside.

At last, I could see the end of the Backrooms—the place I had waited so desperately to escape.

Through the small gap in the slightly open door, I could see a sign.

Instead of the name of some strange section or corner, it contained only a single word.

End.

I looked at Lee Yeonhee.

Lee Yeonhee looked back at me.

It had already been a month since we were stranded in the Backrooms.

A month wasn't a short time.

The outside world must have changed quite a bit.

I wondered how the world had changed and what had happened to the government.

But even those questions felt meaningless compared to the emotions surging through me now that the end was right in front of us.

Countless feelings rushed into my heart like a tidal wave.

“We finally made it to the end.”

“…Yes. Finally.”

For a moment, we simply stared blankly at each other.

Then, at the same time, we burst into laughter.

It hadn't been a short journey.

There were so many memories.

So many emotions and moments of friendship we had shared.

Standing before the end, we quietly took a moment to savor everything we had gone through.

Then we finally took our first step through the door.

I stepped forward first.

Lee Yeonhee followed right beside me.

Our feet crossed the boundary almost at the exact same moment.

With that single step, we crossed the line between inside and outside.

We left the Backrooms behind.

We reached the outside.

We reached the end.

Fucking Backrooms.

Damn Mystery.

That shitty Mystery Mart.

It's finally over.

The thought itself was brief, but the lingering emotions lasted much longer.

We remained lost in those feelings for a while before finally coming back to our senses.

“Then, let’s go.”

No matter how emotional I felt, my desire to get out of here was even stronger.

We could enjoy the lingering feelings later.

I took Lee Yeonhee's hand and threw myself toward the light beyond the doorway.

Brilliant light streamed out behind us and wrapped around our bodies.

It was so bright that it looked as though every color and every light in the world had been gathered into one place.

The light carried us toward another world.

And just like that—

we escaped.

The brilliant light faded away.

Darkness descended.

I blinked several times before slowly raising my head toward the sky.

Instead of artificial fluorescent lights, pale moonlight greeted me.

A perfectly round moon floated high above.

The only thing it had in common with the lights on the ceiling of the Backrooms was that they were both round.

Everything else was completely different.

So different that laughter escaped my lips.

A sky instead of a ceiling.

Earth instead of a floor.

The sun instead of fluorescent lights.

A world instead of a room!

I was finally outside.

Outside!

The outside world I had missed, remembered, and longed for so desperately!

Overwhelmed by joy, I stood there blankly for a while.

Only then did I notice Lee Yeonhee sitting on the ground nearby.

I walked over to her.

She looked up at me, her voice trembling.

“We’re outside. Hehe…”

“Haha. We really are.”

The strength left my trembling legs.

I sat down with my back against Lee Yeonhee's.

The familiar warmth I had felt countless times over the past month passed through my back.

For a long while, we didn't say anything.

We simply shared that warmth.

There were so many things I wanted to say.

So many emotions filled my heart that they were simply too large to squeeze into something as small and organized as words.

Countless feelings that could never become words stirred inside me.

Lee Yeonhee was probably feeling the same way.

We wrapped ourselves in a silence filled with everything we couldn't say.

That silence finally broke when the moon had moved halfway across the sky.

Lee Yeonhee spoke first.

Her first words were surprisingly calm.

“Actually, I thought we might end up living in the Backrooms forever.”

“…Really?”

“Yes… But honestly, I thought that would have been okay too. Because I wasn't alone. Even if we stayed trapped there forever, at least I wouldn't have been lonely.”

“……”

“But somehow, we actually made it outside. If you hadn't been there, Yuhyeon… I never would've escaped the Backrooms. My mind probably would've broken a long time ago, or I would've died somewhere inside.”

“……”

“Actually, even before that, I probably wouldn't have had the courage to enter the mart in the first place. I would've given up on Yujin and quietly lived somewhere else.”

“About Yujin…”

“It’s okay. There’s no way she could've survived in that horrible mart. And actually… I saw Yujin's final moments.”

“Her final moments?”

“Back then, I didn't realize they were her final moments. I only understood it now. Yujin was already dead.”

That was enough.

No more depressing stories about the past on such a good day!

Lee Yeonhee deliberately brightened her voice as she grabbed my hand and started walking.

We were currently standing in front of Mystery Mart.

We were so close that its main entrance was clearly visible.

“Ugh. The mart. Disgusting!”

Lee Yeonhee suddenly fired a burst of divine power toward the mart like a flash of light.

Was it my imagination, or did I hear a scream coming from somewhere inside after the divine power struck it?

Her divine power could heal people while also damaging wicked or unholy beings.

Apparently, her power had grown strong enough to harm Mysteries now.

I let those random thoughts drift through my head before meeting her eyes.

She spoke.

“Yuhyeon.”

“Yes?”

“Yuhyeon-Yuhyeon.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Yuhyeon oppa.”

“Yeah.”

“Where should we go now? Do you have any good ideas?”

Her voice was as cheerful as usual.

But I could clearly feel the countless emotions hidden beneath it.

Without saying anything, I tightened my grip on her hand.

For the past month, we had repeatedly saved each other's lives.

We had saved each other and been saved by each other.

What existed between us could no longer be described as simple closeness.

Until now, we'd been caught up in incidents inside Mystery Mart and the Backrooms, so it had often felt like circumstances had forced us to travel together.

But now—

Lee Yeonhee was the one asking where we should go together.

Only then did I truly realize how much our relationship had changed.

This was what we were now.

Being together felt more natural than being apart.

Considering we had spent an entire month constantly beside each other, perhaps that change was inevitable.

Still holding her hand, I walked with her.

We headed home.

My home.

“Isn't this that apartment complex? The insanely expensive one? Yuhyeon oppa, you were rich!”

“I made some money from investments.”

When we arrived at the apartment complex, Lee Yeonhee looked around everywhere in amazement.

I also looked around the complex in surprise.

But not for the same reason as her.

There wasn't a single zombie anywhere inside the complex.

Come to think of it, we hadn't seen even one zombie since escaping the Backrooms.

It seemed the government had successfully contained the zombie outbreak.

Although judging from the completely deserted streets outside, I doubted the apocalypse itself had ended.

“Let’s go up.”

After checking our surroundings, it didn't take long before the apartment building where I lived appeared in front of us.

We entered and pressed the elevator button.

Ding.

The doors opened.

“…Hmm.”

“…!”

“Oh!”

Surprisingly, there were two people inside the elevator.

One was a child who looked younger than ten.

The other was a middle-aged man who appeared to be the child's father.

Both of them were holding knives.

That alone told me quite a bit about the current situation.

They cautiously watched us as they stepped out of the elevator and quickly created some distance between us.

We ignored them, entered the elevator, and pressed the button for my floor.

Once they had grown distant, Lee Yeonhee spoke.

“Knives… I guess the apocalypse isn't over yet. The government said they'd restore everything within a week, but it looks like they failed.”

“There are Mysteries, after all. As long as Mysteries exist, it's probably impossible for the world to remain completely normal.”

“That’s true!”

“Still, even considering that, what we just saw was a little strange. Once we get home, let's gather information from the internet first.”

Would the internet even still work?

I had no idea.

Honestly, it didn't matter much.

I had already prepared for war beforehand and paid for satellite internet service along with stockpiling food.

Even if Seoul's internet infrastructure had completely collapsed, it wouldn't affect me.

I felt proud of how ridiculously proactive my past self had been.

“We’re here… Wow! This is really high up.”

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Lee Yeonhee stepped outside and looked around.

Together, we walked to my apartment.

I unlocked the door.

The familiar sound of the electronic lock rang out, and the door opened.

The inside of my home felt strangely unfamiliar after being away for so long.

I stood in front of the shoe cabinet and slowly looked around.

Then I heard something running toward me from deeper inside the apartment.

Dadadada!

A tiny figure appeared.

The moment it saw me, it rushed forward and threw itself into my arms.

I felt something wet spreading against me.

Then a sorrowful voice reached my ears.

“Dad…!”

Confirmation Bias.

Confirmation Bias, whom I hadn't seen in an entire month, rushed toward me with that tiny body and wrapped its arms around me.

Though because of the difference in our heights, it looked more like it was hanging from me.

I lifted Confirmation Bias into my arms and gently stroked its head.

“Dad… Why… Why did you come back so late…?”

Its voice was trembling with tears.

Confirmation Bias had probably spent the entire month practically trapped inside this apartment alone.

I had also been trapped in the Backrooms.

But at least I hadn't been alone.

Confirmation Bias, on the other hand, had spent the entire month by itself.

I couldn't even imagine how lonely it must have felt.

As tears fell one after another from Confirmation Bias's eyes, I gently stroked its head and spoke from my heart.

“I’m sorry.”

“I-I thought… you abandoned me…”

I hadn't expected it would take this long to return home either.

If it weren't for the Backrooms, I would've returned within a single day.

But just like that line from a certain movie—

the world didn't always go the way you wanted it to.

Still, something like this probably wouldn't happen again.

After everything I had suffered through in the Backrooms, I had brought back enough rewards to make sure of that.

But what had already happened couldn't be undone.

Filled with guilt, I continued comforting the miserable Confirmation Bias.

Then suddenly—

I remembered something.

I hadn't come home alone.

I cautiously looked toward Lee Yeonhee.

Her eyes were trembling violently.

She wore the expression of someone who had just lost something incredibly important.

“…D-Dad!?”