Chapter 10 (2/2)
Apt.i.tude:
- Extraordinary (Far more excellent than average)
- Discerning eye (Possesses great instincts at determining the value of objects and people)
To be perfectly honest, Seol wasn't feeling ”it”. If it was someone like Yi Surl-Ah, then he wouldn't even hesitate and said yes in a heartbeat, but, as for Hyun Sahng-Min, well…. Nothing really seemed to pull Seol's attention.
However, there was one point about Hyun Sahng-Min that was rather similar to that now-deceased girl.
'I can't see his colour.'
If his colour was yellow - the 'Attention Required' - then Seol would have refused right away. But the fact of him not being able to see Hyun Sahng-Min's colour really played on Seol's mind.
Thinking to himself that it wouldn't be so bad to wait and see, Seol grasped the offered hand of Han Sahng-Min and shook it.
”Nice!” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Hyun Sahng-Min smiled brightly as if he was genuinely happy.
”Nice, very nice! Now, I'm also a member of the best team in the world!” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
If left alone for any longer, he might have broken out in a song and dance. Hyun Sahng-Min eventually stopped making a fuss and got closer to Seol.
”So, what are you going to do now? Mind telling me what your plans are?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Seol fell into a deep contemplation. Since he possessed a map, going to the second floor waiting area would be a walk in the park if he decided to head there right away. Although that monster was still roaming around, as long as he used his ability, they'd be able to avoid any danger.
Out of the blue, Seol recalled the words of Kim Hahn-Nah and nearly burst out in a fit of laughter. She was right. She indeed made it so much easier for him already, so he'd better survive this event or else.
Seol grabbed his bag as he stood up. Hyun Sahng-Min stared at him without saying anything.
”For now, let's get out of here.” (Seol)
The two of them left the club room and continued down on the long corridor. The door at the end of the corridor led to the underground parking lot. Of course, they couldn't spot a single parked car there.
While they crossed the parking lot, Hyun Sahng-Min continued to yap on and on. He asked about what Seol got from his box, he got 500 Survival points or something, he had no idea where to even spend that so it must've been garbage, etc, etc.
Meanwhile, Seol walked forward while checking the map every now and then.
When Seol didn't even reply once, Hyun Sahng-Min became somewhat embarra.s.sed and hurriedly cleared his throat.
”So, where are we going? Are you looking for a staircase?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
”No.” (Seol)
”Eh? Aren't we supposed to go to the second floor?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
”Sure, we are.” (Seol)
Seol shook his head while looking at his phone's screen.
”However, there's no need for us to go there right away.” (Seol)
”How come? Isn't it better to get there as soon as possible?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
”As soon as possible? Were we told anything regarding the order of arrival dictating things?” (Seol)
”That is…..” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
That was a no. The message simply stated that they had to arrive at the destination before the time ran out. And they had over three hours and thirty minutes remaining.
Seeing Hyun Sahng-Min continuously blink his eyes in confusion, Seol felt a need to explain himself a bit more.
”Think about it. How long do you think you will need to get to the second floor waiting area from the a.s.sembly hall?” (Seol)
”Dunno. If you ran with everything you had…. less than a minute, maybe?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
”That's correct. This school's a.s.sembly hall is constructed pretty close to the main building.” (Seol)
The objective of the mission was far, far too easy. Even a normal, unprepared person would be able to clear it.
”Don't you think that's a little strange? Even if you were delayed, the whole trip wouldn't have taken more than five minutes.” (Seol)
”Isn't it because the door was locked?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
”A locked door could be broken into, and that would be it. And you heard that announcement before, right? Those three must've succeeded somehow. In other words, clearing this mission wouldn't take that long of a time.” (Seol)
”Then, what about the monster?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
”Even if you consider that variable, you wouldn't need more than one hour. Two hours, tops. Four hours for a minute's worth of distance is just too much.” (Seol)
Didn't the Guide Han say something similar before, too?
….It's not very difficult to get here….
He did say that. Truthfully, ten minutes were more than enough for Seol to find and arrive at the a.s.sembly hall. In the end, Seol only needed around four minutes to make his entrance, so it was as if he was given twice of the time he might need in order to accomplish his task.
So, what Seol found odd was that the distance he needed to cover got shortened, yet the time limit grew by several folds. There must've been a reason for that - a reason for four hours long time limit.
Hyun Sahng-Min wasn't a fool, either. As if he too had realised something, he stopped talking and began rubbing his chin.
”So, what you're saying is, although the mission itself is simple and easy, we have been given way too much time…. Is that right?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
”Also, we've been told that this is just the first mission. Which means, there will be a second mission, a third mission, so on and so forth. And….” (Seol)
Also, the fact that they were told to gather on the second floor and not anywhere higher…. While walking, Seol added more of his thoughts.
”In any case, the main point is, there isn't a real need to get there as soon as possible. It'll be fine for us to get there after procuring what we might need later on. There are multiple ways to get to the second floor, as well.” (Seol)
”And how do you know that?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Seol showed him the phone's screen. Hyun Sahng-Min came closer to take a look, and spat out a loud snort.
”What the! Isn't this a map? But, I didn't receive one, though?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
”I got it as my bonus. Okay, this is where we are going.” (Seol)
Seol tapped on the screen, and the map of the bas.e.m.e.nt floor expanded.
”This underground level is connected to the entire school premise. Below the a.s.sembly hall, there are the club rooms. After we cross this parking lot, we will arrive at the main building's bas.e.m.e.nt.” (Seol)
Seol soon stopped his steps. He then proceeded to open wide a gla.s.s door, which led the two to see what lay beyond. Hyun Sahng-Min couldn't help but shout out in glee.
They saw a long and straight corridor. To the left, there was a staircase going up, while on the right, three doors labelled 'Library', 'Convenience Store', and 'Stationery'.
Hyun Sahng-Min's entire attention was devoted towards the convenience store. Only now could he fully understand the point Seol had been making, the one that was teasingly within his reach but eluded him until now.
There were three things that a human couldn't do without, if one wanted to continue living. One, three minutes without air. Two, three days without water. And three, three weeks without sustenance.
In other words, Seol came here with the purpose of solving the most basic need for one's survival.
'Well, I guess he's not a gold Mark for nothing, huh.' (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Hyun Sahng-Min's gaping mouth didn't want to close. He couldn't hide his shock at all, since he was only thinking of quickly getting to his destination ever since the details of the mission had been announced.
'I gotta stay with this guy. Doesn't matter what happens, I gotta, definitely. Kahng Seok can't even lick this guy's boots, for crying out loud!' (Hyun Sahng-Min)
It wasn't as if Hyun Sahng-Min carried any ill feelings towards Kahng Seok and his crew. But there was an undeniable difference between Seol and those guys who simply ran to the main building. Should he say that the thought process was on another level altogether? It was to the point where Hyun Sahng-Min had to question whether Seol was the same human being as the rest of them.
”I thought it would be a tuck shop, but it turns out, it's a convenience store. The students of this school must've had it real good.” (Seol)
”Hold up!” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Seol was about to enter the convenience store when his shoulders were grabbed by the visibly excited Hyun Sahng-Min, who then proceeded to lightly pound on his chest like a proud gorilla.
”Good. Great! Freaking amazing! I get it now. Let me handle this from now on.” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
”You were planning to go upstairs after sweeping this place clean, right?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
”Something like that. So?” (Seol)
”What if there's something inside? It's times like this you're supposed to use me.” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Declaring so, Hyun Sahng-Min sneaked inside the convenience store. However, most of the corridor's right side wall was made up of gla.s.s, so one could literally look inside the stores from the outside.
Shortly thereafter, Hyun Sahng-Min raised his hand and sent an okay signal, as if he had finally ascertained that everything was perfectly in order. Seol had already checked the place out with his ability, so he could only chuckle softly as he entered.
The first place they checked out was, of course, the convenience store. The place was smaller than they expected, but still, each of the shelves were stocked to the brim with various food items.
”Keh. This is so good, man. So dayum good!” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Hyun Sahng-Min popped open the lid of a can of Cola and gulped it down.
”Hey, let's hurry up. It'll get very awkward for us if we take too long and the monster shows up.” (Seol)
”Roger that!” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Hyun Sahng-Min seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself while robbing this store. Seol too began stuffing his bag with things like canned foods, sealed instant Gimbaps, and others that were small but packed with energy. (TL: ”gimbap” = rice b.a.l.l.s stuffed with veggies and meat, wrapped in sheets of nori/laver)
And while they were busy sweeping everything away…
”Mm? What's going on?” (Seol)
”What? What happened?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Seol realised that something was off when he was about to stuff the bag with a bottle of water.
Although he was carefully arranging things as he shoved them inside the bag, there seemed to be a lot of s.p.a.ce left over still. It was a similar story with the weight, too. Since he had stuffed the bag with lots of things, it should weigh a ton by now, yet all he could sense was only a slight increase in the overall weight.
”….I guess even our bags got discriminated, huh.” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Hyun Sahng-Min was envious, seeing that his bag was already bursting at the seams.
In the end, Seol even had to sweep the daily necessities away into the bag just to make it seem near full. After they ransacked the convenience store clean, they began going through the library and the stationery store separately.
Unfortunately, the results weren't as encouraging. A map of the bas.e.m.e.nt was discovered in the library, but they already had one, so it was of no use. It was the same story for the stationery shop; well, they certainly didn't need a notebook or a pen right now. They did pick up a few cutting knives just in case, and soon, they left the underground corridor for good.
Hyun Sahng-Min was whistling a tune as they climbed up the staircase, but when Seol gave him the signal, he quietened right down.
When they got to the first floor, they ran into a huge ivory-coloured metal door. The acrid odour of blood a.s.saulted their noses when the door was creaked open ever so slightly. (TL: For all the readers from Europe, Korea follows American way of a.s.signing floors. 1st floor in Korea = ground floor in EU, 2nd floor in Korea = 1st floor in EU, etc.)
[The diary of an unknown student has been updated.]
”I think that's the place.” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
”What place?” (Seol)
”You know, the locked entrance I told you about. The door was locked, but I could look inside just fine, you see. I'm pretty sure of it now, seeing that staircase right over there. However….” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Hyun Sahng-Min deeply frowned.
”G.o.d d*mn it. A lot of people must've died here. They did gain the entry somehow, though, by the look of things.” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
It was as he said; Seol could see through the open gap bits of broken gla.s.s and splashes of blood lining the floor. The steps of the staircase going up were painted in such a thick amount of blood that it was hard to tell what their original colour might have been.
[#Main Building, first floor, main entrance (an excerpt from the diary of an unknown student, page 7)]
The friend who stepped out first screamed. Another friend following out right after tried to stop in a hurry, but slipped like someone being swept away.
Only after we lost two more of our friends did we realise the trick to the staircase….
”You know, those stairs gives me the creeps. How about we forget about those, and carry on with our staircase, instead?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Seol agreed with Hyun Sahng-Min's suggestion. Besides, they already had a staircase behind them that led up anyways, so no real need to utilise that one over there.
Most importantly, though - those steps were s.h.i.+ning in deep orange glow within Seol's vision - do not approach, in other words.
Seol carefully closed shut the door and turned around. They quietly but quickly mounted the stairs and soon, their destination came into view.
However, what greeted them by the entrance to the second floor wasn't another ivory-coloured metal door. No, for some reason, several thick metal spikes stood there, blocking their progress.
'It shouldn't be like this.' (Seol)
Seol checked the map one more time, but they were on the right path. This was the most direct route when considering the convenience store's location.
”Do we need to press something?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Hyun Sahng-Min looked around but couldn't find anything resembling a b.u.t.ton nearby.
Seol stared at the metal spikes for a bit, before his brows furrowed slightly.
'They don't have any colours to them?'
If they were not in green colour, then it meant they were not 'normal'.
Seol tilted his head a bit, before reaching out with his hand.
And at the exact moment his hand touched the metal spike….
< 10.=”” the=”” large=”” group=”” of=”” humans=”” (1)=””> Fin.
(TL: In case if you don't know what this whole b.u.t.terfly Dream thing is about, there's a Wikipedia page dedicated to the book of Zhuangzi, written by a man named Zhuang. The b.u.t.terfly Dream is one of the stories contained within the book, which is a collection of stories and anecdotes and is considered as one of the two foundational works of literature for Daoism. The whole story is very philosophical and profoundly deep. Check it out if you're interested.)