It Seems I Must Go to Work Even After Falling into a Horror Story 053

Baek Sa-heon opened his eyes.

It would be more accurate to say he hadn’t slept a wink.

“Damn it.”

Since entering the Horizon Lodge, he had been on high alert, trying to find a way to survive with all his limbs intact.

Half of that was spent trying to read Kim Sol-eum’s mood and curry favor.

“F###er.”

There was no sense of shame. It was about survival, after all.

…Debating whether to visit Kim Sol-eum’s room now was in the same vein.

“I need to gather any information I can.”

That psycho definitely knew something. He needed to squeeze that info out to prepare a survival strategy.

But…

“…….”

Was Kim Sol-eum really a psycho?

More precisely, why did he save him…?

He already knew. Even multiple opportunities presented during the exhibition to kill him or use him as a sacrifice, Kim Sol-eum didn’t do it.

Though he was pranked a few times, in the end…

“No!”

It was just for fun. Having him alive was probably more entertaining and full of variables!

Baek Sa-heon quickly concluded. Such a nutcase was a first in his life…

“…Still, I don’t think he’ll deceive me with information.”

With this strange conviction, he opened his door…

There was something at the entrance.

“…!!”

The already darkened lodge was shrouded in shadows, revealing a silhouette mere moments too late.

A man of similar height.

…It was Kim Sol-eum.

“F###!”

He jumped back, but truthfully, he also felt a bit relieved.

Better than some unknown human, right?

At least he wouldn’t try to kill him.

“Hey…”

Just then, his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

In Kim Sol-eum’s tranquil gaze was a hatchet in his hand.

“…….”

“What?”

A hatchet?

For a moment, his last eye almost popped out, but then a reasonable guess came to mind.

“Did you bring that as a defense against any potential murderers…?”

Suddenly, another thought dashed into Baek Sa-heon’s mind.

The texts Kim Sol-eum had been sending.

[Be wary of serial killers]

Could it be… a warning?

“Take care.”

The hatchet swung down toward his head.

And the next morning.

The couple stepping out while hearing the sound of the torrential rain realized a familiar melody was mixing with the rain sounds.

Um, um-um, uuuh, um-um-um.

A humming tune.

“Isn’t this the song that played when my car navigation broke down?”

“Oh wow, it sounds just like it… Does the radio in this neighborhood play it?”

As they inhaled the lingering crisp dawn air, they headed towards the kitchen, cherishing the cassette tape like a treasure…

“GYAARGH!!”

They were met with something crammed into the kitchen’s fireplace.

Like someone stuffed fireworks and toys inside and set them off, the fireplace was oddly full yet charred beyond recognition.

Burnt charcoal.

And protruding from the singed, dark mass were two bent sticks.

On the ends were…

Sneakers.

Burnt human feet.

“AAAAAH!!”

“Mom! Is that a person!?”

“Oh my gosh, what on earth is happening, oh no!!”

Their exclamations of shock echoed through the lodge, and one by one, people came down at the sound.

And joined in the screams.

“What happened… AAAAH!!”

“GASP!!”

Be they university students or middle-aged employees, all fell into a panic.

Someone even slumped to the ground, their face pale as a ghost.

A youth who claimed to be an employee, struggling to converse due to a sore throat.

But wait… weren’t there two employees?

“No way!”

The couple pointed accusingly at the feet in the fireplace.

“Isn’t that the young man who came with that employee? Hey? The one wearing the eye patch…!”

The employee looked like he was about to peek at the burnt sneakers, grimly nodding as he covered his mouth.

“ACK!!”

A person was dead.

The one they had spoken to just yesterday!

As realization hit, cries and gasps erupted once again.

“Call 119 immediately!”

“What the heck is this F###!!”

“I told you, never use the old kitchen! It can lead to accidents like this!”

Yet, there was a faint whisper in the back of their minds.

“Was it really an accident?”

Could the fire have flared just like that, singeing only a person…?

In such a gruesome state?

“Maybe….”

In a panic, they rushed to call for help.

And a little while later.

Their spines went cold.

“I can’t make a call. There’s no dial tone!”

“Where’s the manager? There’s a dead person here!”

However, the lodge’s caretaker, who promised to take good care of them, seemed much like a figment of their imagination.

In the dark mountains, under the heavy downpour.

Only their hushed humming remained…

“…….”

“…….”

Um, um-um, uuuh, um-um-um.

Outside, the rain poured down brutally, and during the night, it even felt like a landslide happened, covering the bus stop in debris.

“The road… is completely buried!”

“My car!!”

The realization dawned on them.

Um, um-um, uuuh, um-um-um.

Something was definitely wrong.

“Is this… what’s happening over there?”

“…….”

Next to the corpse stuffed in the fireplace, a small, old analog cassette player hummed quietly.

Um, um-um, uuuh, um….

Tap.

A university student turned off the cassette player and took out what was inside.

An old, ivory-colored tape.

“…!”

The paled employee pulled out a notebook and, with trembling hands, scrawled down a note.

[It seems like the cassette that Baek Sa-eon had…]

“Holy…”

And that’s when the nightmare began.

Lunchtime.

Whether the lodge caretaker had prepared it in advance or not, a rather neat soup and rice was laid out, but everyone seemed to be avoiding it like an agreement.

Instead, they munched on energy bars and snacks they had brought, wandering the lodge in search of a place where their phones wouldn’t die.

Of course, nothing turned up.

In the torrential rain, the gloomy lodge was isolated and suffocating, without any connection to the outside world…

“I can’t take this anymore!”

One university student, repeatedly clicking a SNS app that wouldn’t turn on, sat in the living room, anxiously switching off their smartphone screen.

“F###!”

“Scared him half to death, that idiot.”

Nearby, members of the same hiking club nervously teased each other while jostling against the corpse that was just a leg in the fireplace.

Taking a few photos secretly as a joke, but their appetites had waned, and they hadn’t even touched the calorie bars or chocolate they had brought.

Still, they appeared more laid-back than the other frightened guests.

Counting on their numbers.

“We’re three, after all.”

Even if a potential killer was nearby. They weren’t fools; they wouldn’t prioritize a target with more numbers, right?

“They would most likely go after people alone or those left behind.”

In that sense, their anxieties had slightly eased.

“Hey…”

Just as one university student was about to engage a friend in casual chat.

A peanut butter chocolate bar was shoved right in front of his face.

Turning his head, he saw the pale employee holding up a notebook.

[Want some? I can’t eat it…]

“Eh? No thanks.”

He replied curtly, and a friend next to him giggled.

“That guy can’t eat peanuts.”

[Oh… Sorry.]

The employee sank back into silence as if back to his gloomy self.

Was it the chief who mentioned that? At first, he seemed quite amicable, but since witnessing the death of his coworker, he had clearly shriveled down.

“Looks like he’s scared.”

He’d probably crumple up at just a few beats.

“Hey, want to hit him once?”

“Yeah. I’m dying over here, F###.”

Amidst it all, two of his friends sneaked off for a quick smoke.

The employee clenched his non-functioning smartphone before glancing darkly at the fireplace one more time and headed upstairs.

Just then, a silence fell.

“…….”

Inadvertently, he found himself alone.

A chill crept over him.

‘In movies, this is when people get attacked.’

The college student fidgeted, glancing around with a vigilant expression.

Realizing the jackknife in his pocket gave him a momentary sense of relief, but it didn’t last long.

“Damn it, why did they go together…?”

Ultimately, he decided to go look for his friends out back.

Clutching the jackknife tightly, the unsettling feeling behind him quickened his pace.

He stepped through the back kitchen door into the raining backyard.

Clack.

A musty smell invaded his nose.

‘They must be under a roof.’

Surely, they wouldn’t wanna get drenched while smoking. So the college student thought to circulate along the roof toward a storage-like area to find his friends.

But with each step, something felt strange.

There was a pungent iron smell in the air.

‘Metal?’

It smelled like rusted steel.

There were supposed to be old items in the storage; it could be the scent of rainwater seeping in.

Thinking this, he turned a corner.

“Hey, Park Kyung-soo….”

And then, an overwhelming metallic scent hit him like a wall.

“Uh, uh…?”

Inside the back storage was an old construction shredder.

And it seemed the machine worked fine even when fed something other than wood.

Chug, chug.

From the machine’s outlet meant for expelling sawdust came a flow of ground meat.

Torn pieces of clothing along with blood, meat, and bones were all strewn all over the ground messily.

“…….”

What the hell is this?

This is… what?

In an instant.

With a brain refusing to process the situation, he finally pieced it together a beat too late.

He had found his party.

Shredded meat.

“URRRRGH…!”

As his mind spiraled into chaos, he began to vomit and scream.

But a different sound mixed in.

Coming from the old audio.

Um, um-um, uuuh, um-um-um.

The sound of the cassette tape.

“EEK!”

The university student spun around and dashed back into the lodge, his heart pounding.

Fear and chills raced up his spine.

“Student! Why are you running around…!”

“AAAARGH!!”

He threw off the hand gripping his shoulder.

“Get the f### away from me!”

“What, what’s happening?!”

When he looked up.

The puzzled faces of those staying in the lodge stared back at him.

And their commonality!

‘The tape!!’

Right!

If this psychopathic murderer did this because of the tape?!

The college student immediately rummaged through his pockets and pulled out his own tape.

“Look! This is it!”

His eyes glinted as he spat out words.

“I’m getting rid of this! Take it if you want! I, I’ve f###ing given up?! I’ve given it up!!”

Thwack!

The student hurled the tape to the floor and bolted back upstairs to his room, slamming the door shut.

Only after locking it could he let out a deep breath.

“HAHHH…”

Anxiety caused his eyes to dart around.

The mashed flesh and broken bones danced chaotically in his thoughts.

Thud.

Thud.

Should he barricade the door with furniture?

Thud.

No, that would probably just block his chance to escape.

Thud.

The college student stared at the antique wardrobe, wavering, then simply pressed his back against the wall, clutching the jackknife.

And he stared at the door intently.

Thud…….

With his back leaning against the wall, his breathing quickened.

‘If you try to force it open…!’

Then he could swing the knife and shout like crazy. If more people came, what could he do?!

As long as he kept alert.

“I can’t do it, I can’t do it…”

The college student muttered frantically when…

Clack.

Gently,

The wardrobe opened.

And the next morning, the college student welcomed other people through the wide-open door.

His body bloated with the ugliest of shapes, like a sausage.

Allergic shock.

The hiking club was wiped out just like that.

“AAAAAH!!”

The moment a perfectly fine employee and three university students were discovered as corpses, fear sent everyone spiraling into chaos.

“Heritage! One of us must be doing this for the inheritance, right? Confirmed! They’re killing us all to silence us and take the tape freely!”

“Hey, that lodge manager is suspicious! That guy feels like a psycho?! Here….”

“It’s a ghost! We’re all possessed by spirits!! Hahaha!!”

The middle-aged man who shouted like that rushed outside, seemingly going insane.

“AAARGH!”

Thunder cracked ominously.

No, mixed with the thunder, another sound seemed to emerge.

BANG!

“…!”

“What, what is that!”

Startled at the deafening sound, everyone looked out the window.

A public official muttered grimly.

“…It’s a landslide.”

‘Just in time’ it descended once again.

Swept away by the rain-soaked debris, the middle-aged man who had rushed out into madness vanished down the mountain.

AAAAAH…

His screams faded into the dirt below.

It was certain he was crushed under the weight.

Rumble… BAM!

Thunder filled the outside of the lodge in place of the humming, and lightning flashed.

“……”

“……”

A suffocating silence flowed between the bewildered individuals…

Four remained.

On the second night.

The couple searching every nook and cranny of the lodge for a way to contact the outside world were panting as they returned to their room.

They had harvested nothing, but had realized something else.

“EEK, HICK…”

“Damn it! Quiet down while you breathe, you idiot!”

“ACK!”

The husband, who introduced himself as the wife’s companion, forcefully pushed her head back, his eyes wide as he dashed out into the living room and rushed up towards the second floor corridor.

Just then, he encountered someone cautiously exiting his room.

“Hey!!”

It was the employee he spoke with, looking startled at the sight of the red eyes of the husband.

He jolted back, pulling out a notebook as if to write something, but the husband waved him off first.

“That! The gold frame…”

He had brought back the very gold frame hanging in the living room.

He pointed frantically at what was inside.

The rabbit is baked in the kitchen

The deer is caught in the backyard

The pigeon is fattened in the room

The sheep is served a slice in the living room

“We’re dying here!”

“…!”

Someone baked in the kitchen, someone ground in the backyard, someone puffed in the room!

“The lodge manager is definitely messing with us! This, this could be broadcasted! No! It’s certain they’re playing with us!”

The employee’s eyes widened in shock.

As he reacted, the husband’s conviction grew.

“Now it’s this living room! Someone will be cut to death in the living room! I’m certain! We gotta find a way to get out of here….”

“Whoa.”

…Wait!

“Huh? Surprisingly perceptive, Brown.”

“Brown?”

Those were the man’s last words.

“Are you awake?”

With a headache and the fog of consciousness, the man lifted his head.

“Mmph! Ugh!”

Unable to speak as if gagged, he screamed nonetheless.

“Uuugh!!”

The reason he screamed wasn’t merely because of the dank, moldy smell of the basement or the stifling darkness that made it hard to see an inch ahead.

It was because there was another head right beside his!

Specifically, just the head!

“Mmph!”

A pallid, deceased face was placed on a platter right next to his nose.

He was losing his mind.

Tears, snot, and cold sweat streamed down, making the man’s face a complete mess as he screamed for his life.

Yet the gag silenced everything.

“Hmm, is it scary? Just hang in there. I’m holding up too.”

A calm, collected voice replied.

The man began to roll his eyes, trying hard to look away from the severed head above him.

Then he recognized it.

‘That employee…!’

A young man in black tracksuit stared down at him with a frown.

Then, he disdainfully regarded the blood-stained gloves he wore, then sighed as he slipped them back on.

And brandished an axe.

“Uugh!!!”

“Why do people scream first even when they know well that it’s pointless? We’re only tiring ourselves out.”

“Mmph! Ugh!!”

“Let’s not waste energy unnecessarily.”

He was insane.

This lunatic, he was the murderer…!!

The man desperately wanted to negotiate, plead, or retaliate in any way possible, but his tightly bound body and gagged mouth wouldn’t allow it.

Tears streamed freely from his eyes.

“Ah, the physical and mental pain are somewhat alleviated…? Maybe it feels like that.”

The employee spoke dryly as he gauged the time.

The axe blade scraped against the coarse fabric of the gloves.

“Fairly reasonable, but I’m still not satisfied.”

Its original purpose was fulfilled.

A gleaming swing sliced through the air.

Thump.

Ding…….

“……”

“……”

In the quieted workshop, Kim Sol-eum lowered the axe.

And spoke in a slightly brighter tone.

“Almost done.”

Remaining people, three.