“Aaah! Team Leader In Ha-young!”
“Oh no, Team Leader! What on earth happened here?”
…
“Wh-What do we do? Both of them are completely out of it!”
“Unnie, calm down. There’s a way.”
“That’s right, don’t worry. We’ve got a plan for times like this.”
…
“S-Senior? What are you doing right now?”
“What else? Trying to wake them up. Min-ho, give me a hand here. Lay them both down and sprinkle holy water like this…”
“Huh? Senior, you’re Catholic?”
“A real priest, ordained and everything. What? Strange to you? We’re out of time, so hurry and recite this.”
…
“Forgive us our sins,”
“Lead us not into temptation,”
“And deliver us from evil. Amen.”
Team Leader Song Ji-hye’s eyes snapped open.
The whites of her eyes were bloodshot. This was clearly showing she wasn’t herself.
“Aaaagh! Uuurgh!”
“Oh no, there’s still some evil spirit left in there. Team Leader, come to your senses!”
“Sh-Shut up…!”
With trembling hands, Team Leader Song Ji-hye pulled something out of her pocket and roughly sprinkled it all over herself.
It was salt. She did not stop there, she pulled out a yellow talisman and stuck it on her own forehead.
Only then did Song Ji-hye seem to regain a bit of composure. Her whole body was still shaking as she gradually settled down.
“Ah… Huff…”
“Team Leader, are you back with us?”
With a dazed expression, Song Ji-hye peeled the now-blackened edge of the talisman off her forehead.
Then when she realized she was outside, she looked around in shock and her eyes started darting around.
“Where is she!?”
“Who?”
“Oh, damn it…! I mean In Ha-young, In Ha-young!”
“If you’re talking about Team Leader In Ha-young… she’s right next to you.”
In Ha-young was still lying on the ground. She was completely unconscious.
Seeing that In Ha-young was still alive, Song Ji-hye let out a long sigh before tossing her long hair back with an irritated gesture.
For a moment, she seemed almost relieved.
Park Seo-joon who was watching curiously asked,
“Team Leader, what happened? Did you fail?”
“Are you kidding me? Isn’t it obvious?”
“Well, no, it’s not. You failed, so how are you even alive? I mean, there’s no way the devil would just be like, ‘Mission failed!’ and kindly let you walk out of the haunted house.”
At that, Song Ji-hye ran her hand roughly down her face.
“I failed. In Ha-young didn’t.”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I thought I was done for after failing the game. I was convinced I would die on the spot, but when I came to, I found In Ha-young carrying me on her back and running. That’s the last thing I remember.”
When she heard that, Na-yoon shuddered as a sudden thought crossed her mind.
In Ha-young had amazing physical strength, like when she had single-handedly faced dozens of ghouls during the vampire devil incident. But that power came with a fatal price; it consumed her lifespan.
Maybe the reason In Ha-young didn’t regain consciousness wasn’t because she was possessed by a spirit, but because she used that ability.
If that were the case, the explanation for why the exorcism ritual wasn’t helping her would make sense. If she had lost consciousness due to the backlash of rapidly drained vitality, what she needed wasn’t an exorcism, but sufficient rest.
Team Leader Song Ji-hye staggered as she rose to her feet. Her face which was once heavy with guilt turned steely cold.
“Team Leader, can you move?”
“Of course. How about you all? Did you find the treasure?”
“Yes, both teams succeeded.”
“Good to hear. How much time is left?”
Park Seo-joon scratched the back of his neck sheepishly as he answered.
“I’m not sure. Since we’re in a dream, neither the phones nor watches are working. We could only check the exact time on the clock tower in the square. There were 40 minutes left, and considering the time it took to get here and wake you up, there can’t be much left.”
“Is that so? Then we’d better hurry. Seo Na-ri, could you carry In Ha-young?”
“Mhmm.”
“Huh? Na-ri?”
Even if In Ha-young wasn’t particularly heavy, there were still two grown men here.
Na-yoon couldn’t understand why they insisted on making the smallest and youngest Seo Na-ri carry In Ha-young.
But Seo Na-ri shook her head slightly and replied,
“It’s fine, unnie, I’m good.”
Then with a single hand, she casually slung In Ha-young over her shoulder. The movement was so effortless that it was hard to tell if she even exerted any strength.
“Whoa.”
As Na-yoon stared in astonishment with her mouth agape, Park Seo-joon grinned and said,
“Didn’t know? I’d bet that, of all of us, Na-ri’s probably the strongest.”
“Mhmm. Don’t worry, this is nothing.”
“That’s what I figured. But, Na-ri-ah, did you just call the rookie unnie? Meanwhile, I’m an ‘ajusshi’?”
Seo Na-ri didn’t bother replying to Park Seo-joon’s comment. His face fell slightly at her complete disregard.
The group exited the haunted house and headed toward the parade plaza.
However, the area around the haunted house was now completely surrounded by mascots and mannequin monsters.
Na-yoon was shocked by the sight that seemed like something out of a horror movie.
“Eek! Wh-why? Just a while ago, they didn’t even notice us!”
“They never planned on letting us leave that easily. Hardly surprising.”
It was clear from the fact that they weren’t attacking right away what the devil’s intentions were.
Killing them outright with his minions would render all the previous games meaningless. His goal was simply to delay them as much as possible until the time limit.
“Team Leader, what should we do?”
With In Ha-young still unconscious, Song Ji-hye naturally took over command of the team.
Team leader Song Ji-hye quickly gathered her thoughts and spoke.
“The treasure must be that, right? The entrance ticket? The devil specifically said, ‘Bring the treasure’. Heading straight to the exit might just be his scheme to waste our time.”
“Then… are you saying?”
“We head to the plaza as planned, figure out his weakness, and if we see a chance we engage. If not, we retreat and call for outside reinforcements. This is the best judgment I can make right now.”
All of Team A nodded in agreement with the team leader’s orders.
Na-yoon realized that they couldn’t avoid a confrontation with the monsters outside and wore a faintly distressed expression.
“Han Min-ho, you’ll take the lead. Can you do it?”
“Hmm…”
The muscular bald agent Han Min-ho silently nodded and drew the sword strapped to his waist.
With red demonic energy emanating from it, it was clear at a glance that this was no ordinary weapon.
Without a sound, he leaped into the swarm of mannequins.
Every time he swung his demonic sword, which blazed with that red energy, he left the mannequins utterly destroyed.
Na-yoon watched the scene in shock.
He had been so quiet that she assumed he might be mute. She never imagined he had such terrifying skill with a blade.
“Run!”
Han Min-ho cleared a path first, and the rest of the team quickly followed him in a dash.
Yet, no matter how many he cut down at the front, the sheer number of enemies was overwhelming.
The speed with which new enemies swarmed in from all directions outpaced his progress.
Still, Team A didn’t just stand idly by.
Seo Na-ri hoisted In Ha-young over one shoulder and swung her giant scythe with the other hand.
With each swing, everything within its range was sliced cleanly in half and scattered across the floor.
Song Ji-hye pulled out a bundle of talismans from her clothes and threw them at the mannequins and they moved as if they were guided by a hidden force.
Though they were just thin strips of paper, they shattered the mannequins instantly. As if they were imbued with a mysterious power that made them impossible to resist.
Park Seo-joon drew his twin pistols and fired continuously.
Though his eyes were narrow, making it hard to tell what he was even aiming at, each shot hit precisely in the heads of their targets.
Every bullet landed perfectly. He had a terrifying shooting skill that didn’t waste a single bullet.
Park Seo-joon said with a triumphant smile.
“See, rookie? This is what separates experience fr—huh?”
Park Seo-joon’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The target he had been about to shoot was already falling with a bullet lodged in its head.
When he glanced to the side, he saw Na-yoon who was displaying an astonishing level of skill with her gun.
“Eek! Hiiick!”
Though her face was contorted with fear and her shoulders were tense with anxiety, she moved with perfect efficiency. She aimed, fired, reloaded, and aimed again, as if she somehow had double the time to make those actions. She had absolutely no wasted movement.
Park Seo-joon let out a bitter laugh.
So, Na-yoon really does have the kind of talent that Team Leader In Ha-young would want to keep close.
Of course, the truth was simply that Na-yoon was actually using time at twice the normal speed.
Thanks to the strength of their group, their sprint toward the plaza went smoothly.
Han Min-ho was the first to arrive, and when Na-yoon finally set foot on the plaza as the last of the group,
The remaining time on the clock tower pointed precisely to one second.
“Huff, haaah…!”
“We made it, right? We’re not late, are we?”
The group steadied themselves and started gasping for breath.
Their hearts felt ready to burst, but falling to the ground was not an option.
After all, the real fight was still ahead of them.
Just as expected, as the full 120 minutes elapsed, the entertainment devil made its appearance in the plaza amidst a dazzling light show.
The devil was dressed in a mouse costume and wore a grotesque grin as it spoke.
[Welcome, welcome! Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back. My, my, all of you survived! Such an unexpected outcome, you’ve really taken me by surprise!]
Its voice was brimming with undeniable interest.
[I didn’t expect this result at all… Oh, but don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean that in a bad way. Participants who exceed the host’s expectations are always welcome here. Until now, none of the participants have managed to get past even the easiest level, so it seems agents from the Security Bureau really are in a class of their own.]
Team Leader Song Ji-hye spoke irritably.
“Enough with the flattery, just hand over the rewards already.”
[Haha, indeed! Those who passionately participated in the show deserve a reward! Now, let’s see… since two teams successfully completed the mission, I’ll be giving you rewards to match!]
The ticket wrapped around Na-yoon’s wrist shimmered, and two stamps appeared in quick succession.
Within each stamp, the words “Escape” and “Secret” were clearly inscribed.
[If you take that ticket to the exit, you’ll be able to leave this world safely.]
“Stop pretending like you’re doing us a favor when you have no real intention of letting us go that easily. So, what’s the second reward?”
[Ah, yes, yes! There was indeed a reward for the second treasure! Now, it’s time for me to reveal my most critical weakness!]
The entertainment devil’s eyes sparkled mischievously.
[The answer is… if you separate my head from my body, I die! Ta-daa! Haha, quite the astonishing secret, isn’t it?]
Na-yoon blinked her eyes blankly.
“Huh?”
If his head and body were separated, he would die?
Are there even creatures out there where that’s not the case?
Could that even be called a weakness? Isn’t that just… obvious?
“Really? That’s supposed to be your weakness?”
Team Leader Song Ji-hye made her decision after a brief silence.
“Everyone, run for the exit!”
At her command, the group turned around without hesitation.
“Uhya, we’re screwed! I knew this was coming!”
“Don’t just stand there, unnie!”
“Eh? Eeeh?”
[Hmm? Where do you all think you’re going? I was just about to start the second game. Ah, I see you’ve already figured it out. The second game is a little round of hide-and-seek!”]
The devil laughed playfully and added,
[Now, now, you have to hide well! Because… I’m going to tear your head off when I find you!]
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