27 – 27.
It was around the time I realized that I couldn’t escape from this room on my own, after the failed first attempt.
“There must be… There must be some way.”
Restless from lack of sleep, I paced around the room, racking my brain for ideas.
Knock, knock. I heard someone knocking on the bedroom door.
“!”
I thought someone had come, so I quickly ran and opened the door…
“……?”
Contrary to my expectations, there was no one standing in front of the door.
Instead…
“…food.”
A tray filled with fresh and appetizing food was placed in front of the door.
“They really intend to raise me properly.”
They even brought me food, despite forcibly locking me in this room.
They seemed ready to cater to my every need.
“Do they think I’ll eat without a fuss?”
I tried to protest by closing the door, expressing my objection with the same sentiment as Hansel and Gretel, who were captured by the witch.
…That’s definitely what I intended to do…
Clunk.
But I couldn’t ignore the food right in front of me, so I quietly brought the tray into the room.
“Well, I have to eat first to think straight.”
I’ve been starving for almost 24 hours now, since I forcibly skipped breakfast this morning.
At this rate, I won’t be able to come up with an escape plan smoothly.
…It’s not like I’m surrendering to hunger.
“It’s disgustingly delicious.”
As I chewed and cleaned the tray, fueled by the gradually increasing energy, I looked around again.
The only way to escape from here right now is either for me to escape on my own or for someone to help me. Or it’s all up to the Maze Book letting me go.
Among them, it’s practically impossible to escape on my own, as the experiment results have shown, so let’s exclude that for now.
And being let go by the Maze Book is no different from surrendering to her, so it’s excluded from the options.
“Then what’s left…?”
Getting help from outside.
“There were definitely people in this house.”
The fact that there was freshly prepared food and that I was moved to the bed when I passed out.
There seemed to be quite a few people in this house besides me.
It doesn’t make sense for there to be only me in this big house to begin with.
Anyway, after finishing the meal, I looked around the room again, thinking about ways to communicate with the outside.
“…Come to think of it…”
Suddenly, a scene from a novel I read before came to mind, where the protagonist stranded on a deserted island struggled to escape.
With the determination to grab onto even a straw, the scene where they put a letter in a glass bottle and threw it into the sea.
“Ah.”
Just like me, trapped in this room.
“This is it!”
I quickly searched around the room for a place where there might be a pen.
But unfortunately, whether it was the bedroom or not, I couldn’t find any writing materials.
“No, how can there not be a single pen here.”
And at that moment.
“……?”
Something caught my eye from a decorative shelf installed on one side of the wall.
It was a large feather adorned with an exquisite plaque.
And it was accompanied by a golden ink bottle.
“!”
I approached the shelf and looked closely.
On the plaque, which supported feathers as thick as a pinky finger, was written, “[New York Tower 10th Floor Strategy Guide]”.
It was the one that caused a commotion for a while, claiming success in the strategy with her exploits.
“…10th floor….”
I suddenly realized how strong of a presence she was.
“…Why did she summon me to such a powerful subject?”
Thinking about it again, I felt unjust.
If there was something special about me, even if it was a little, I would have understood.
Being locked in this broken room and only being able to rebel felt completely unreasonable to me.
I was just resentful of myself for no reason.
“For now, let’s get out and see.”
With that in mind, I overcame the injustice and carefully took out the commemorative plaque from the shelf.
And I discovered that the thick feather on the plaque had a golden pen tip attached to it, and the ink bottle had a sealed thread.
It was a real usable item.
‘Of course!’
I quickly looked around the empty room, making sure no one was watching, and discreetly grabbed a feather and ink.
Then, I tore a blank page from one of the books on the shelf and prepared it as a letter.
Although it felt slightly guilty to tear apart a perfectly fine book…
‘Can’t be helped.’
Surviving comes first.
‘Looks like I won’t die anytime soon.’
hehehe. As I laughed while looking at the hastily prepared pen and letter, I used the sharp tip of the pen to pierce the thin silver foil attached to the ink bottle.
And then.
Swoosh. I could faintly see the ink being sucked up into the golden pen nib.
‘This is it!’
With a soundless cheer, I immediately wrote a message on the letter, asking for someone to contact Hanyeo-won’s SNS account.
[Please. Please, share my news on this Instagram account…]
In case of any language issues, I wrote it in both English and Korean.
My English skills weren’t great, but it was enough to convey the message.
‘This should be enough, right?’
Satisfied, I looked at the completed letter, then carefully folded it and placed it between the empty plates on the tray.
Leaving it there, just in case someone came to clean up, was a move of faith.
‘Please… Please help me. Goddess…!’
I, who never even sought out the goddess, now offered a prayer, and placed the clean tray in front of the door.
After some time had passed, I cautiously opened the door, and as I expected, the tray was gone.
“Forget it…!”
All I could do now was hope that someone kind would come to help me.
*
By the time the beautiful scenery outside the window had been engulfed in darkness,
It was late at night when Mayeonseo returned home.
“Did you wait quietly?”
When she came back to the room, she smiled and reached out her hand towards me.
Feeling annoyed by her actions that seemed like she was treating a pet, I lightly avoided her hand.
“Are you upset?”
Mayeonseo made an expression that seemed so adorable it could kill and let out a soft laugh.
I couldn’t understand what was so good about it.
“I’m sorry. The work took longer than expected. You must have been bored being alone.”
“….”
“What did you do today?”
Despite my consistent disregard, she persistently spoke to me, so I glared at her and replied curtly.
“Don’t talk to me.”
Upon hearing that, she smiled faintly and asked again.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Really?”
“….”
“Fine. Then I won’t say a word and treat you as if you don’t exist. Is that clear?”
“……”
What’s with her attitude again? She added a meaningful remark and put her luggage aside.
And then, without any warning, she started taking off her clothes.
“What, what is this again?!”
There was no habitual offender.
Swoosh. Swoosh. It was a moment when I turned my body quickly and ignored the sound of clothes brushing against me.
Buzz. Buzz. The sound of a cellphone ringing started to come from the direction of the bed.
“Speak.”
Ma Yeon-seo, who was changing clothes, answered the phone in a very cold voice, unlike when she talked to me….
In that moment.
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, her eyes widened.
“…Cellphone?”
The communication device that I had been desperately searching for appeared in the room!
“Cancel everything.”
Ma Yeon-seo, who gave orders in an annoyed voice, quickly hung up the phone and walked briskly towards the bathroom.
This was my chance.
Gulp. Holding my breath, I started searching for the cellphone as soon as I heard the sound of water falling from the bathroom.
“Oh, it’s not here?”
However, I couldn’t see the cellphone anywhere.
“She must have taken it with her…!”
It seemed like Mayeonseo had taken it to the bathroom.
“…But there’s still a chance.”
Returning to my original seat, I decided to wait for Mayeonseo to fall asleep.
I planned to secretly use the cellphone while she was sleeping.
“Mayeonseo, you underestimated me.”
Even without unlocking the phone, it’s common sense to be able to use the emergency call function.
Taking advantage of Mayeonseo’s carelessness, once I get hold of the cellphone, everything will be over.
I can finally escape from this damn corner of the house!
“Make sure to pay the price for underestimating me…!”
…That’s what I thought.
“…When the hell does she sleep?”
Unlike the previous day, today Mayeonseo didn’t immediately fall asleep and instead stayed in bed, playing with her cellphone for a while.
What the hell is she looking at? Occasionally, she even smiled, enjoying her time alone.
“You wicked woman. How can you make someone like this and still laugh?”
As the waiting time grew longer, I started to feel anxious and nervously bit my lip.
Since the summoning, I haven’t been able to sleep a wink, and my consciousness is starting to blur.
Sitting quietly on the soft sofa in the dark and cozy room, it was inevitable that sleep would gradually overwhelm me.
“I absolutely must not fall asleep!”
How long had it been since she clenched her teeth and pinched her thigh, engaging in a battle against drowsiness all by herself?
“…Did I fall asleep?”
Finally, Mae-yeonseo put her phone down, and some time had passed.
“…Huh…”
“…?”
Suddenly, a strange sound pierced through the darkness.
“…Haa… haa…”
A mysterious breathing sound that clearly indicated she hadn’t fallen asleep.
“That crazy woman…”
Mae-yeonseo started to “comfort” herself this time.
“Is she really in her right mind…?”
I should have realized earlier that she would treat me like I don’t exist.
“…A… Yoo-chan… Huh…”
She pulled the blanket back and subtly began calling my name as if she wanted me to hear.
Crackle. Crackle.
The body instinctively responded to the sound that pierced through my ears and her mysterious voice.
Never before had my body felt so cursed as it did today.
“Don’t listen. Yeah. Just ignore it…!”
I completely blocked my ears and crouched down, waiting for her actions to end.
The hazy manuscript in my memory was even more shabby than Hanyeo Garden, so I thought it would surely end soon.
But…
“…haa…haa…Yoochan…!”
Even though she seemed to have reached the end several times, she didn’t think of stopping.
Is she really determined to continue all night like this?
It felt like I was going crazy.
“…I have to endure….”
I forced myself to regain my composure in the worst environment and waited for her actions to end.
“…I have to endure….”
And before long, I lost consciousness…
*
“Whew….”
Ma Yeon-seo, who had been enjoying a pleasant time after a long time, got up with a strange displeasure on her face.
She had tried to tease Kang Yoo-chan, but she couldn’t reach the end like before.
As expected, she couldn’t do without him.
“Are you awake?”
Yeonsuh, who quietly got up from the bed, approached the sofa where Yoo-chan was sitting.
“….”
Before she knew it, he was deeply asleep in an uncomfortable position.
After not sleeping like that all day.
Recalling the CCTV footage I had seen earlier, my lips curled up unconsciously.
“How cute.”
Since parting ways with Yuchan, she had hardly smiled. But ever since he appeared, a smile had never left her lips.
To Mayeon, Kang Yuchan was that kind of presence. Just being around him made her feel overwhelmingly happy.
“….”
How long had she quietly observed Yuchan, deeply asleep like that?
For some reason, her lower abdomen started to feel restless.
It was the bubbling up of desires that she had not yet resolved.
“…Just a little…”
Momentarily overcome by instinct, Mayeon unconsciously reached out towards Yuchan…
“…No.”
She abruptly came to her senses and hastily withdrew her hand.
If she couldn’t hold back and touched him first, everything would go awry.
She had to wait until his stubbornness was broken.
Only then could she truly shake his heart.
“…Still, just moving him to the bed…”
But unable to bear the discomfort of Yuchan’s sleeping position, Mayeon quietly summoned tentacles and moved him to the bed so he wouldn’t wake up.
“It’s not like I’m actually touching him.”
And then, with a feeble excuse, she cautiously nestled herself into Yuchan’s embrace.
“…Ah….”
How long has it been since I was this close to him?
The frozen heart that had been so cold finally started to melt away.
“…It feels good….”
With her face buried in Yonseo’s chest, she closed her eyes tightly.
On that day, for the first time, she was able to sleep deeply without sleeping pills.
It had been such a long time.
i’m bored now
I’m gonna read Another World Escape Ninja now