Chapter 13: Happy Playroom (3)

[13. The children’s guardians must identify themselves with their assigned name tags. A guardian without a name tag is not a guardian. Please keep that in mind.]

“Ah.”

“So... that’s how it works?”

While Han-su marveled at Su-myeon’s words, Du-pal looked utterly bewildered.

When Su-myeon raised the gun and took aim, the head, which had seemed more like some enormous structure than a living thing, sensed the danger and began to move.

Ah— aaaah.

It sounded like the groan of someone whose throat had been scraped raw.

A broken, halting sound echoed from deep inside its enormous mouth.

“I guess they really are parent and child.”

Its mouth was like a vast hole, large enough to swallow a person whole with room to spare.

Du-pal made a humorless joke that it was the spitting image of the little brat they had encountered earlier.

It might have seemed like a reckless thing to say, but Su-myeon knew why he was doing it.

Whenever children were involved, Du-pal had a tendency to take matters into his own hands.

“It’s huge. Can bullets even kill something like that?”

Han-su instinctively pulled Du-pal and Su-myeon back, as though trying to shield them.

Su-myeon, however, stood his ground and said to Du-pal,

“Please shine the light inside its mouth. It may be a monster, but it still has the shape of a living creature. It should have something resembling a weak point. For example....”

If that truly was a head, then common sense suggested one obvious weak point.

“Something like a brain.”

At Su-myeon’s words, Du-pal immediately understood what he meant and adjusted the flashlight.

The roof of the “guardian” monster’s mouth.

Directly above it—where a brain should have been.

“Please step back.”

No one there was foolish enough to argue with the man holding the gun.

Du-pal hurriedly backed away while keeping the upper part of the monster’s mouth properly illuminated.

BANG—!

A gunshot rang out.

BANG, BANG, BANG!

Then Su-myeon fired three more shots in rapid succession, as though making absolutely sure.

The bullets struck the roof of its mouth dead-on, and an enormous amount of blood came pouring from the wounds where they had lodged.

It worked.

“Get out! Get out!”

Su-myeon immediately spun around and dragged Han-su and Du-pal outside.

They hurried through the doorway and slammed it shut behind them, only to realize that every fluorescent light in the corridor had gone dark.

Du-pal’s flashlight was now the only thing illuminating the area around them.

From inside the Guardian Lounge came a thunderous roar like a waterfall crashing down.

“Ugh....”

Even though he tried not to imagine it, the last thing he had seen combined with the sound and forced the image into his mind.

A raging wave of blood must have been sweeping through that dark room.

Su-myeon waited until the sound of rushing liquid had completely died away and silence settled over the corridor.

How many minutes had passed?

The fluorescent lights flickered back on.

Click.

Su-myeon opened the lounge door again.

The enormous head that had filled the entire room was gone.

Even the sound of rushing liquid and the blood they had heard moments earlier had vanished as though they had never existed.

“Honestly... saying this is all a dream would sound more believable.”

Or maybe I’ve gone insane.

Du-pal muttered as he shone his flashlight toward the ceiling of the lounge once again.

Strangely enough, now that the enormous head was gone, the lounge was bright enough that his flashlight was completely unnecessary.

The ceiling, painted blue with white clouds drifting across it, and the fluorescent lights mounted overhead were clearly visible.

“Then... since the guardian is gone, does that mean it’s safe now?”

Since the “guardian” had disappeared, did that mean they could kill the caterpillar-like brat monster and move on?

Instead of answering Han-su’s question, Su-myeon stepped into the room.

Four spent shell casings rolled beneath his shoes.

And, surprisingly, mixed among them were four Rose Coins.

“Huh? Those coins....”

When Su-myeon bent down to pick them up, Du-pal recognized them.

Su-myeon, on the other hand, was slightly surprised.

“You know what these are?”

At Su-myeon’s question, Du-pal rummaged through his pocket.

“No. I don’t know what they are. I just picked one up over there earlier.”

With that, Du-pal pulled a single Rose Coin from his pocket.

For a moment, Su-myeon fell silent.

So I’m not the only one who can see these?

While Su-myeon stood there speechless, Du-pal asked,

“They look like coins. Are we going to need them later?”

For a moment, Su-myeon was tempted to lie and casually talk Du-pal into handing it over.

Unfortunately, Su-myeon had never been particularly good at lying.

So he simply told him the truth, at least as much of it as he could explain.

“Yes. They’ll definitely be useful somewhere.”

The moment he heard that, Du-pal handed him the coin without hesitation.

“Then you take it. I didn’t do all this because I wanted something in return, but....”

Du-pal seemed to feel guilty, apparently believing the situation had become complicated because of him.

But Su-myeon knew why Du-pal had suddenly touched the ice cream machine, so he had no particular desire to blame him.

The backstory of some extra—an NPC in a game—might have been long-winded and tiresome, but even so.

“Anyway... I’m sorry to you too, Detective. I was worried I might’ve put everyone in danger for no reason.... Still, now that the bigger one is gone, I feel a lot better thanks to you.”

What mattered was that Du-pal was neither malicious nor a bad person.

Faced with Du-pal’s trusting gaze, Su-myeon nodded as well.

“Yes. For now, it seems safe.”

Su-myeon bent down again and picked up another unfamiliar object.

It was a name tag with the word “Guardian” written on it.

“...Don’t tell me.”

When Han-su trailed off at the sight of it, Su-myeon pinned the name tag to the T-shirt beneath his outer clothes.

“Yes. It’s probably exactly what you’re thinking.”

***

Ha ha ha ha!

“.......”

As though it had never cried at all, the young baby monster was now roaming around the playroom, laughing brightly.

Ha-min had practically folded himself in half to squeeze his large body beneath a child-sized table.

Ju-hee had climbed all the way to the ceiling using the horizontal bars installed around the room and hidden herself inside a vent.

“.......”

But either of them could be discovered at any moment.

If it catches them....

I’ll lure it away.

Neither Ju-hee nor Ha-min knew that the other was thinking exactly the same thing as they steeled themselves.

Ha ha ha ha!

Along with the laughter, the sound of the monster crawling closer became increasingly distinct.

It was an unpleasant, sticky sound—the noise of heavy flesh dragging itself across the floor.

As they focused on the approaching sound, another noise reached their ears.

Something lighter than the monster’s movements.

Footsteps.

The hurried footsteps of what sounded like three people running....

“...!”

Relief surged through Ha-min, and he almost twisted his neck trying to look toward the source of the sound.

“Tee-hee?”

Unfortunately, the first thing that entered his field of vision was an enormous head accompanied by an innocent little voice.

At some point, the baby monster had crawled right up to him.

Its huge head dipped down halfway as it peered beneath the table where Ha-min was hiding.

“Aaaaaagh!”

Ha-min screamed before he could stop himself and scrambled out from beneath the table.

And just as he was about to bolt—

“Stop!”

Su-myeon, who had arrived just in time, shouted while catching his breath.

At the sound of Su-myeon’s voice, the monster, which had been about to charge excitedly after Ha-min, flinched and froze.

“Woo?”

Despite its grotesque appearance, the voice coming from it was as bright and innocent as that of a small child.

“Ooooh?”

Working its enormous mouth, it slowly approached Su-myeon.

Then, after a moment, it rolled onto its back right where it was, exposed its belly, and began acting cute.

At the sight, Du-pal turned his head away as though he simply could not bear to watch.

“Behave yourself and go play on that slide over there.”

Su-myeon spoke firmly, like a parent scolding a misbehaving child, and the monster obediently listened.

It truly behaved like a child who had only wanted someone to play with.

Although it cast him one last lingering look full of regret, the baby monster did as it was told.

Seeing it crawl away, Du-pal finally relaxed a little.

Ju-hee, equally relieved, emerged from her hiding place as well.

The only one still in terrible shape was Ha-min, who had once again been the sole person to scream at the top of his lungs.

“Hueeeng....”

Ju-hee patted the back of the high school student, who was practically wedged beneath the children’s table and looked ready to burst into tears, then asked,

“But how did you do that?”

Although she appeared unharmed, one hand was pressed to her chest, as though her heart was still hammering from the tension.

After giving everyone a moment to calm down and catching his own breath, Su-myeon pointed to the name tag attached to his T-shirt.

[Guardian]

It was a slightly old-fashioned metal badge, with the word engraved into its surface and painted yellow.

“It seems to recognize whoever has this as its guardian. I went and took it.”

At Su-myeon’s words, everyone stared at the name tag.

Under the weight of their gazes, Su-myeon began wondering whether it looked as though he were monopolizing too many items, so he asked,

“Does anyone else want it?”

Young monsters only appeared here.

Beyond this point, the name tag probably would not be particularly useful anywhere else in the hotel.

It made sense to distribute items that suited the others, earn the group’s goodwill, and hold on to the things he genuinely needed.

However, no one seemed eager to become the guardian of such an ominous monster.

As everyone vigorously shook their heads at Su-myeon’s suggestion, Du-pal unexpectedly raised his hand.

“If nobody else wants it, can I have it?”

Su-myeon looked at him for a moment before nodding.

“Yes, go ahead.”

Ownership of the Guardian Name Tag passed to Du-pal.

After watching Du-pal pin the name tag to his suit jacket, the group gathered together again and resumed moving.

“Then let’s head up again.”

The maze-like Kids Club was riddled with traps.

Fortunately, they discovered an unexpected way to identify and avoid them.

“The places the monster goes are usually where the dangerous traps are.”

The weights that had dropped onto the stairs earlier were only the beginning.

The slide they found after climbing higher had blades lining its surface like a giant grater.

Perhaps because it was a monster, those blades seemed to feel like nothing more than a slightly bumpy surface beneath it.

The baby monster happily played on the slide, laughing all the while.

To that creature, the traps scattered throughout the place were nothing more than entertaining toys.

The group watched with stiff, awkward expressions as the baby monster crawled around, casually avoiding spikes that shot out here and there.

“But....”

Ju-hee, who had been watching it, suddenly spoke.

“What about Ki San-hyeok’s group that went ahead of us earlier? Do you think they’re all right?”

At her words, everyone fell silent again.

How had they made it through this place?

Had they even made it through at all?

Before those thoughts could grow any darker, the group found the staircase leading upward.

And there, they discovered traces of Ki San-hyeok’s group.

“My God....”

What they found was a torn bag and a trail of bloodstains.

When Han-su carefully lifted the bag, they discovered all kinds of supplies inside.

Several water bottles had burst, but a few intact ones remained.

Despite their discomfort at the circumstances, they took the chocolate bars and drank some of the remaining water.

As they did, Su-myeon frowned.

“This.... I don’t think they have any supplies left now.”

Ju-hee seemed to have realized the same thing.

She spoke cautiously.

“The person carrying all the luggage either died... or disappeared after leaving everything behind.”

The two of them had personally checked the clothing and condition of Ki San-hyeok’s group before.

At this point, Ki San-hyeok’s group probably had nothing left except whatever they happened to be carrying in their pockets.

“For now, we could be in danger too. Let’s keep moving.”

At Han-su’s words, the group, which had stopped for a moment, resumed walking.

No matter how unpleasant Ki San-hyeok was, he was still leading a far larger group of people than they were.

None of them wanted to imagine every one of those people meeting a gruesome death.

“They won’t be able to eat or drink anything carelessly in a place like this.”

Su-myeon gave no answer to Ju-hee’s words.

Before long, the group safely found the stairs and climbed to the next floor.

Han-su, who was walking at the front, replied,

“...At least drinking shouldn’t be a problem.”

At Han-su’s words, Su-myeon raised a hand and pointed ahead.

At last, they had reached the fifth basement floor.

They had made it roughly halfway up.

Su-myeon’s fingertip pointed toward the sign mounted beside the stairs.

[POOL]

“Next is the pool.”