Chapter 110: Tower of Entangled Lines (1)

[1. Entry is possible by connecting an electronic device in your possession to the CRT monitor at rack 14 in row 7 and receiving the transferred data.]

Abandoned-building experience YouTuber, Song Jae-min.

Today, he planned to spend the night at an abandoned data center in Chuncheon.

There was nothing particularly special about it, and it had only been abandoned for a few years at most, but since there was a famous ghost story about it online, he figured he could at least squeeze some views out of it.

Ssssh-

Sssshhh-

Whether he could monetize his channel or not.

For someone like him, standing at that ambiguous crossroads, he needed something at least a little more provocative.

Wasn’t that common?

Even some absurd poltergeist phenomenon would be fine.

Or if he happened to find the corpse of some stranger who had come somewhere deserted to make an extreme choice, then at least for him, that would be a fairly good outcome.

Ssssh-

Thinking that, he had hauled all kinds of tents and equipment up to the server room on the second floor....

“What... the hell happened here....”

The moment he discovered the people who had arrived before him and felt both pleased and troubled.

Should he call it a sudden blackout?

The flashlights they were holding and the one he was carrying had all gone out at once.

Ssssh-

In the darkness, the sound of something dragging across the floor kept disturbing his ears.

Jae-min finally came to his senses and spoke into his microphone.

“Everyone, what the hell is going on....”

“Quiet.”

At that moment, someone’s voice in the darkness cut off Jae-min’s commentary.

Was that the voice of the man he had seen earlier wearing that flashy sukajan and glasses?

The voice did not sound particularly old, but the large man accompanying him had quite an intimidating presence.

And they had brought an enormous dog with them too.

Jae-min could not tell whether these were dangerous people or people he could feel safe around.

“.......”

Damn it, this is my problem.

What viewer is going to enjoy watching me tap every stone bridge to make sure it’s safe before crossing?

Jae-min muttered that inwardly as he searched his pocket for his phone.

His eyes should have started adjusting to the darkness by now.

Yet he still could not see a thing.

After fumbling through his pocket, he finally got his phone into his hand, but no matter how many times he pressed the buttons or tapped the screen, it would not turn on.

He had definitely brought it fully charged.

The only thing that had somehow managed to stay on and produce light was the action cam he had with him.

'Guess today’s shoot is ruined too.'

His phone and flashlight had both completely died.

Was there some kind of electromagnetic issue here?

As his doubts grew over the unnatural darkness and the situation.

Click-

The lights came on.

It was not the flashlight in his hand.

The lights throughout the entire room, which had been without power, suddenly switched on.

The moment he reflexively turned his head in confusion.

“Uwaaah-!”

Jae-min instinctively screamed at the unidentified object that swept past right in front of him.

But the scream did not last long.

The unfamiliar man suddenly lunged at Jae-min from behind, clamped a hand over his mouth, and whispered.

“Shh. Let’s not provoke it.”

Jae-min nearly resisted on instinct, but the steadiness in the man’s voice made him slowly nod.

Something tangled together like a massive clump of pitch-black hair was disappearing between the machinery racks packed with all kinds of equipment.

Sssshhh-

The sound of that bundle brushing across the floor tiles was unnervingly distinct.

After that spine-chilling sound continued for a little longer, it disappeared.

Jae-min found it impossible to understand what was happening.

Right! Is this a dream? That has to be it, right?

“Did you come here to explore an abandoned building?”

At that moment, the large man on the other side, not the one covering his mouth, asked him.

This one had an even bigger build and was quite ruggedly handsome.

Even if Jae-min wanted to answer, the man who had covered his mouth was still holding him.

So Jae-min simply nodded and turned the angle of his action cam toward him.

Nod, nod.

“You need to stay quiet.”

The weight in his voice was pretty nice too.

Wouldn’t the female viewers like him?

With that thought, Jae-min nodded again, and the man with glasses behind him finally let him go.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“Shh. Keep your voice down a little. Unless you want to see that thing again.”

When Jae-min’s voice started rising, the warning he received made him feel like he was going insane.

Was he the only one who did not understand this situation?

Putting that unidentified bundle of cables aside.

What was he supposed to make of this scene, with the server room that had been empty and covered in dust just moments ago now packed with equipment?

The strange heat pouring from machinery operating at full capacity, LED indicators blinking everywhere, and wires stretching all around.

No matter who looked at it, it resembled the server room of a data center that was operating normally.

“Did you come alone?”

After looking around a little more, the man with glasses asked, and Jae-min slowly nodded.

He would not answer Jae-min’s questions, yet he kept asking his own.

Jae-min had complaints about that, but as someone alone in such a remote place, he had no choice but to answer obediently.

“Ah, yes. For now. I’m Song Jae-min, a mystery-specialist YouTuber who mainly does abandoned-building exploration.”

Jae-min introduced himself and greeted them.

He hoped that at this point they would finally give him some useful information in return.

“Haah, yes. I’m....”

The man with glasses hesitated and trailed off.

“Han Su-myeon.”

“Ah....”

He had finally given Jae-min nothing but his name.

That’s a pretty unusual name. With that thought, Jae-min asked again.

“What’s your name? No, before that, what the hell is this place? Even if I looked at it while doing a backward roll, I don’t think this is the same place we were in earlier....”

Jae-min did lower his voice as warned, but he began pouring out questions.

At that, the two unfamiliar men exchanged looks.

Are they finally going to answer me?

Jae-min moved his hand, ready to quickly swing the action cam angle away from himself and toward them.

“Uh, huh?!”

The heavy tent bag he had separately slung over his shoulder slipped off.

Dropping the action cam would be a disaster, but dropping the tent would not destroy it.

Startled, Jae-min lifted only the camcorder high, and the tent fell and hit the tile floor with a thud!

It made a fairly dull sound, but surely it would not have broken....

Whip!

At that moment, a sharp sound like a cracking whip tore through the air, and ‘something’ snatched the tent away and vanished.

“....”

It disappeared.

Thud! Thud-thud!

There were several sounds of it slamming into racks and walls filling the area as it seemed to rapidly snatch the tent away and drag it somewhere.

Then even those sounds disappeared.

“.......”

Silence followed.

The humming noise of running machinery filled the space between the three people and one animal.

“Whine....”

At the quiet whimper of the huge dog, Jae-min finally came back to his senses.

“What was that just now....”

“To explain it in more concrete terms so that it feels a little more real to you.”

The man who had introduced himself as Su-myeon continued.

“This place is currently an unnatural space, and while we, agents of the Unnatural Threat Governance, were entering it, you, Mr. Song Jae-min, were unintentionally swept up in the process.”

What.... What? What did he say? What agents?

Jae-min frowned, feeling like he had understood less than half of it.

“However, the abandoned data center in question is private property, and entry by unauthorized persons is prohibited. So it is also clear that you, Mr. Song Jae-min, bear responsibility for entering without permission.”

This part was easier to understand.

But,

“Everyone comes in and films here, don’t they? Why are you being so stingy about it....”

“I’ll do my best to get us out of here alive for now. But what I’m saying is that I’m not responsible for any further problems caused by your own negligence.”

Su-myeon took off his glasses, wiped them once, and spoke with an extremely tired expression.

Even though something had appeared moments earlier, wrapped itself around the source of the loud noise, and disappeared, he showed no agitation at all.

As though this situation were familiar to him, Su-myeon looked somewhat exhausted and annoyed as he rattled off those bureaucratic words.

Paradoxically, that made him look extremely dependable.

Because he showed no trace of fear or panic whatsoever.

“Do you feel like taking the situation seriously now?”

At Su-myeon’s words after putting his glasses back on, Jae-min immediately adjusted his attitude.

“Yes.”

Su-myeon looked around Jae-min’s age, or perhaps even younger.

But if someone knew more than you and seemed reliable, Jae-min figured that was enough reason to treat him like a senior.

At Jae-min’s attitude, Su-myeon grabbed his forehead.

***

“Want some headache medicine?”

Seeing Su-myeon clutching his head, Han-su rummaged through the bag.

After swallowing a pill with some water, Su-myeon slowly organized his thoughts.

This was another situation he had not expected.

He had definitely heard that Director Jang Bok-eum’s people had been controlling the area since two days before they arrived.

But the building itself was so large that they must simply have missed this man.

'No one expected someone to come all the way in here alone while carrying that much equipment.'

But he was already inside, and Su-myeon had only one concern.

Whether they should find the exit as quickly as possible and leave, if only because of that man.

Or whether they should bring him along for now and continue the exploration they had planned.

“Do you want to get out quickly?”

As though he had noticed Su-myeon’s concern, Han-su happened to ask Jae-min.

Jae-min shook his head.

“No? What kind of opportunity do you think this is....”

“You won’t be allowed to release anything you film in here anyway.”

Su-myeon spoke while standing with his weight shifted crookedly onto one leg.

But Jae-min merely rolled his eyes.

“......Not at all? Not even a thumbnail?”

“No. Not even a little.”

Even at Su-myeon’s firm answer, Jae-min did not know how to give up.

“Then what if your side buys it for documentation?”

The suggestion that followed was somewhat tempting.

For one thing, the phone’s camera function did not work properly inside a ghost story.

No matter what they filmed, it only appeared as darkness.

If Jae-min’s action cam could properly retain data even inside a ghost story....

“......We’ll purchase it.”

“Good. Then I’m counting on you!”

In the end, everyone was just trying to make a living.

At Jae-min’s simple conclusion, Su-myeon felt like his headache was coming back, but by now he no longer cared.

“Then let’s check the equipment first.”

In the end, they decided to inspect the interior before heading back.

At Su-myeon’s words, Han-su opened the bag and took out the medical supplies.

“We don’t know what’ll happen. Let’s each carry half for now.”

While Su-myeon and Han-su divided the consumables they had brought.

“Paw.”

In the meantime, Jae-min was filming Mu-yeon with his camera.

Mu-yeon was not someone who would give him his paw just because he asked, so he growled at the rude Jae-min.

“Is that thing actually working properly?”

When Su-myeon asked, Jae-min tapped the camera a few times and nodded.

“For now, it is recording. But this place really is weird. Why would a perfectly good phone....”

Remembering how it had failed earlier, Jae-min pulled out his phone while saying it had completely died.

But at some point, his phone too had transformed into a Heartphone with a heart drawn on the back.

“Uh, uhh? What is this? My phone....”

Is, is this really mine? I don’t think it is?

As he floundered, Su-myeon approached him again and took the phone.

“No, my phone is a brand-new model I haven’t even finished paying off yet...!”

Ignoring Jae-min’s rambling about how it was not some crappy thing with a cheap Chinese-knockoff-looking heart logo on it,

Su-myeon opened the messaging app on his Heartphone and asked,

“Have you ever played horror games?”