[NOTICE] Here are some tips for newcomers.
Author: Kozmo – Posted: 10 years ago.
1. Don’t wander around just because you’ve woken up in an unfamiliar place.
First, grasp the situation, even roughly, by checking the gallery.
2. Ask as many questions as possible.
Even if everyone here is strange, they will answer your questions.
3. In an urgent situation, for the love of god, don’t write posts; just flee to a safe place.
4. If you’re lucky enough to encounter an F-rank urban legend, somehow kill the anomaly there and survive in that spot.
I repeat, *4* is crucial.
Even if you’re a complete coward and a weakling, if the guidebook shows anything below a C-rank urban legend,
You absolutely must deal with the anomaly or strange phenomenon there and live in that location.
If you lack food or water, you’ll have to leave, but…
Otherwise, do not proceed to the next area.
I’m posting this multiple times because it’s that important.
5. This isn’t particularly important, but…
There are no known cases of escape yet, so, well, try to survive on your own.
It probably won’t be dangerous from the start, so click to absorb more information.
That’s the most important thing.
I’ve written a lot based on actual experiences rather than my own speculations, so it should be quite helpful, right?
– Anonymous) Isn’t number 5 the most important thing?
– Elevator Ghost) Number 4 is the most important.
I’m really emphasizing this: number 4 is the most important.
– Dark Dark Dark Dark) Wow, this is incredibly useful, isn’t it? Why is it only being posted now?
– Admin) Can I make this an announcement?
– Kozmo) That’s what I wrote it for.
– Admin) Thanks, thanks.
I’ll give you a ban exemption pass, hehe.
Or do you want to be a sub-admin…? (Anomaly emoticon holding out a love letter)
ㄴ Grandma’s Divine Skill) Admin, don’t cross the line…;;
“What in the world is this?”
I had been dropped into an unfamiliar place.
Before my eyes, a gallery appeared.
Amidst countless posts, only the announcement was highlighted in crimson red.
Upon tapping the one with the most views,
“How many ‘Read More’ buttons are there? Damn it, no matter how much I scroll, it never ends.”
This was unsettling.
First, why had I been dropped here?
…I couldn’t recall.
Okay, it’s possible not to remember.
Given that all my previous memories were intact, it seemed I only lacked memories from just before arriving here.
If that were the case, this was clearly an abduction or a summoning…
“For now… I should just read.”
As I began to read, an eerie chill snaked up my spine.
Goosebumps erupted, and an urgent need to urinate washed over me.
“Damn it all… shit…”
My surroundings were enveloped in pitch-black darkness.
However, what was certain was the unpaved dirt road, and the absence of any distinct city smells, suggesting…
…that I was in the countryside.
Or perhaps the Joseon Dynasty, damn it.
In a space devoid of even a single light or streetlamp,
I relied on the faint glow emanating from the gallery to first search for a wall.
‘I’d feel a little safer if I could lean my back against something.’
It was an instinctive action.
If something were to spring out from either side, I might be able to react,
but if something were to emerge from behind…
…I would surely die, utterly unable to cope.
At the very least, if there was a wall or some cover to protect my back, I might endure.
‘Still, I shouldn’t go too far.’
I stretched out my arms, concentrating as much as possible on the surrounding sounds and scents.
My self-imposed maximum movement range was three steps.
Moving within that limited area, my hand fumbled until something touched my palm.
‘What… is this?’
After fumbling a few more times, I gathered my courage and pressed down firmly, realizing it was an object made of collected hay bales.
‘Ah, it’s like those marshmallow-shaped things you see in the countryside.’
The fortunate thing was that there were signs of human presence, right?
That was at least some comfort.
When I shone a light on it, a white form was revealed.
Leaning my back against it, I began to thoroughly read through all the sections of the announcement post.
It seemed I was undoubtedly in the middle of a rice field.
Honestly, despite the rather surreal situation,
I was adapting surprisingly well.
Perhaps it was because a familiar gallery appeared right from the start?
Or perhaps it was because I had lived in the countryside for quite a long time as a child, making me accustomed to its darkness and smells?
Or was it because I had memories of being in even more fucked-up situations?
Whatever the reason, my pounding heart was gradually settling down.
‘They keep mentioning a guidebook, but where the hell is it? I haven’t seen anything unusual.’
In a place so cold it sent shivers through me, yet utterly still without a breath of wind,
until a rustling sound broke the silence.
“Damn it… ngh.”
It was instantaneous.
The scream that had nearly erupted from sheer terror was stifled mid-way.
Logically, screaming would certainly spell disaster.
Yet, I felt I could now understand why horror movie protagonists cry or scream in critical situations.
When faced with a situation like this, especially one so sudden,
anyone would likely scream.
“Hup… h-hup.”
It was a stroke of divine luck that the scream had been swallowed back.
That was at least some comfort.
For if I had screamed and then heard something rushing towards me, I probably would have lost my mind.
‘Focus… damn it, focus…’
I held my breath, concentrating as much as possible on my hearing.
My surroundings were plunged into a vast darkness that swallowed the faint light.
In this silent world, devoid of even a single gnat, only the frantic pounding of my own heart echoed.
‘I need to see something to either scream or run… Damn it, I’m going crazy.’
Just in case, I exited the announcement post and began searching for a brightness adjustment feature.
Maintaining extreme vigilance of my surroundings, I started to understand the gallery’s layout.
And after frantically examining it, to the point where sweat beaded on my jaw,
‘Damn it, there it is!!’
To my immense relief, I discovered that I could increase the brightness.
Carefully, I raised my finger, keeping an eye on my surroundings.
The brightness gradually increased with the elevation of my finger.
As I incrementally scrolled to raise the brightness, my surroundings also grew lighter.
S-Ugh…
‘A wild animal? No, I just read about this in the announcement post.’
[– If you’ve woken up in a place like a mountain or the sea, don’t even think about hunting. There isn’t a single animal here.]
I had just absorbed the most seemingly useful information as quickly as possible.
Thanks to this, my tension was at its peak, yet my legs weren’t trembling.
The announcement post contained quite a lot of truly useful information.
Most of it was for motivation and mental fortitude.
Releasing the unnecessary tension from my body,
I held my breath.
Then,
Roll… roll… roll…
Something was rolling towards me.
It was a spine-chilling sound.
The sound of something snagging on a part of the ground, and something damp sweeping across the floor.
A heavier sound than the wind rustling through grass, as something brushed past.
The combined rolling vibrations of these sounds reached right to my feet.
Into my slightly brightened field of vision,
it rolled.
“Kihuhuhuhuhuk.”
It was a human head.
…I felt my PTSD flaring up.
After barely suppressing the sudden surge of nausea,
the head began to roll towards me at an unnerving speed.
****
Two pieces of information from the announcement stood out most vividly after reading it.
1. I had undoubtedly entered some kind of urban legend or similar phenomenon.
2. Anomalies, whatever they might be, could be killed.
They say that when people enter a crisis, they first seek to understand the ‘situation,’ and then they look for ‘hope’.
That certainly seemed to be damn true.
Damn true, as in, hitting me in the face with reality!!
“f*ck, fuuuck…!”
Understanding the situation was fine.
But hope?
How was I supposed to deal with a head rolling towards me like that?!
“Kihuhu, bweup, kihuhuk, bweup-kehuhu.”
That insane head.
It was rolling itself with its tongue.
Moreover, the head was larger than an average human skull.
There wouldn’t even be a military hat size for a head that big.
‘Damn it, am I really thinking about that cursed military in this situation?!’
And how incredibly long its tongue was.
Even after getting covered in dirt and some unknown foreign substances, it extended almost 50cm, rolling its own head like an arm.
f*ck, it was not just grotesque, but a horrifyingly disgusting sight.
It rolled almost as fast as a person running.
Almost like a soccer ball.
‘A soccer… ball.’
[– This is important, so I’m emphasizing it again here. Those of you who first fall into an unfamiliar world will, at most, have landed in a D-rank urban legend. If an anomaly looks weak at first glance, I recommend fighting it. You’ll need to judge based on the guidebook, but anomalies can be caught if they aren’t C-rank in danger. This is absolute. I’d attach an image, but they’re all too gross, so I’ll refrain. Catch it. First, catch it, then think. The only important thing is to kill it. Of course, if you’ve landed in a C-rank or higher urban legend, running away is your top priority.]
That post from the announcement flashed in my mind.
The problem was that my life was also flashing before my eyes.
At least I definitely knew what kind of world this was.
A world where it was disgustingly easy to fall into a panic.
“A soccer ball… Damn it all! It’s disgustingly big for a soccer ball, you piece of shit!”
I tried to somehow perceive that grotesque monster as something else,
but it was a failure.
It was coming with such horrifying sounds; how could I possibly see that as a soccer ball?
‘Damn it, I don’t know.’
Stopping my run, I instantly changed direction.
As I dodged to the side, the head swept the ground with its tongue to stop its rolling speed.
Ddddddeuk, the tongue seemed quite sturdy.
‘Compared to back then… this is survivable.’
There were two things I was incredibly thankful for.
1. I had memories of experiencing a situation where a human head rolled towards me before.
Of course, it wasn’t a *living* head then.
2. Thanks to that fucked-up memory, my rationality had returned.
Unlike then,
I had no gun in my hand, no grenades or radio at my side.
It was a true relief that this fact also applied to my opponent.
No, in fact, my opponent had even less.
PTSD was threatening to flare up, but…
…at least that grotesquely long tongue prevented those past memories from becoming too vivid.
“You don’t even have arms or legs.”
I pushed off the ground and kicked out at the head.
“You motherfucker—! Stop rolling towards me so terrifyingly!!”
Paaak—!!
The sound of teeth breaking.
And the sound of a powerful impact striking something was heard.
However, the sound I most wanted to hear was absent.
The whoosh of something flying away, or at least a pained cry of agony.
It seemed my uneasy premonition wasn’t going anywhere.
“…Oh, please, no.”
A sense of weight was added.
My foot felt heavy.
Sssiiik—
That insane head grinned.
Then, it latched onto my leg.
Its long tongue wrapped around my ankle.
My sock grew damp.
