Day 2 of Entering the Urban Legend
Author: oo(C-27)
(A photo shows a dimly lit room.)
I’m trapped. Feel free to ask questions.
(A ‘Geoi-con’ drawing a post.)
– Admin) What? There’s a hole in the window… (A ‘Geoi-con’ pulling a blanket over them.)
– Ghost Sword) Have you perhaps entered a penitentiary?
– Elevator Ghost) Haha, seeing you trapped makes me feel a sense of kinship.
– Gourmand) Why are you trapped??
[oo(C-27)] I swore at a kid.
[Gourmand] …?
[High Court] Is this a trait of a ‘manly man’ (TL Note: ‘Sangnamja’ refers to a traditional, tough, masculine man) or a ‘f*cking man’ (TL Note: ‘Ssangnamja’ is a derogatory term for a crude or ill-mannered man)?
Ultimately, I could not hold back.
Yet, given that my opponent was a child, I had at least softened my curses to the best of my ability.
I had initially assumed they wouldn’t comprehend Korean, having stated they were Japanese.
However, they understood me surprisingly well.
“Are you sleeping?”
“Wolyeong? No, I’m not.”
“For a moment, I feared you were possessed by a demon. How could a person utter such curses…”
“It wasn’t that bad. Truly.”
What Wolyeong brought was a private meal.
It seemed he simply couldn’t bear to see me starve.
It was a rice ball, subtly salty, yet heavily mixed with sand and barley.
“Ah… I’ll eat well.”
“Eat it all. Don’t leave a single grain. Precious rice has gone into this.”
“I wouldn’t dream of leaving any…”
Wolyeong conveyed several messages, then quietly departed after offering a final word of encouragement.
He struck me as a deeply responsible man, his loyalty proving truly extraordinary.
‘Am I truly meant to eat this?’
Even a superhuman could not suppress the craving for more palatable fare.
Moreover, this paltry amount seemed utterly insufficient to sate my hunger.
– Why call me again? You just hung up on me and went silent.
“Are you sulking?”
I called out to Kozmo.
The way they spoke, as if a pouting girlfriend, was utterly ridiculous.
Despite the analogy, Kozmo remained, to me, a perplexing and dangerous individual.
– One question per month.
“Oh, come on, don’t be like that.”
– It’s a contract, you know. If I just answer everything, it’s a breach of contract, and my body will burn!
“You’re tough, aren’t you? Can’t you endure it with sheer willpower?”
– Isn’t that a bit much?
When I tried to ask several questions at once, the only response I received was a refusal.
This was proving to be remarkably useless.
‘Just a moment.’
Then, a thought suddenly struck me.
It was said since ancient times, do not give a child a fish, but teach them how to fish.
Since I was an adult who could likely figure out how to ‘fish,’ I simply needed to find a good fishing spot.
In other words, extracting information from Kozmo?
That didn’t sound bad at all.
But what if there was a place where I could obtain similarly high-quality information?
“Hey.”
– Asking a question? Are you planning to just spend a month in that urban legend?
“Is there a place where I can get high-quality information? Better information than what I get from the gallery? And if so, how do I get in?”
Having posed the question with this thought in mind, there was a prolonged silence before the symbol on Kozmo’s palm glowed once.
– Ah, hot… Ouch…
‘Did this bastard actually get burned because they didn’t answer?’
My suspicion seemed correct, as Kozmo finally provided an answer.
If I could utilize this effectively, I could torment them from afar indefinitely.
– There is… It’s called a masquerade ball, held periodically where everyone wears masks.
“How do I get in.”
– If you have an invitation, then precisely at the full moon, a single drop of blood…
The detailed explanation sounded like some sort of ritual.
And it came with the assurance that the information obtainable there would undoubtedly be of high quality.
Setting aside their endless self-promotion, my curiosity was piqued.
“A full moon, you say…”
– Just so you know, it’s a bit dangerous there, okay? I’d be fine, but you’re a little…
“Why?”
– How to put it… You’re quite violent. There are so many ill-tempered individuals there.
When I fell silent for a moment, Kozmo explained the true reason, claiming it was a joke.
Apparently, apostles of Outer Gods, transcendent beings, and even intelligent ‘Geois’ (TL Note: A general term for supernatural entities or phenomena in Korean urban legends) entered that place.
Hearing this, the gallery seemed like a very shallow scope indeed.
‘Just how vast is this world?’
I was taken aback by the mention of ‘Outer Gods,’ but it seemed no harm would come to me within the masquerade itself.
The idea of wearing a mask also appealed to me.
“A full moon… it seems like a full moon is coming soon, but how do I get an invitation?”
– Question time over! No! Go back!
Why were they being such a buzzkill?
After a brief deliberation, I spoke.
“I asked how to get in. So, you should tell me where the invitation is.”
– Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?
“Listen.”
Imagine I got amnesia from a car accident.
My parents would hug me tightly in the hospital room, telling me to come home.
I would ask, ‘How do I get home?’
At that moment, would my parents only tell me the location?
Wouldn’t I need to know the location first, and then the house’s password to enter?
Naturally, it would be right for my parents to go with me and tell me the password, wouldn’t it?
“If you consider the invitation the password, isn’t that a fair point?”
– But then I won’t have anything left…
After a moment of apparent thought, Kozmo requested a condition.
– When you go there, never mention my name. Then I’ll give you an invitation.
“Why? Did you cause trouble there?”
– Something… like that?
This bastard was indeed a troublemaker.
No wonder their ability to provoke was beyond imagination.
Alright, so I just needed to abide by one rule: no mentioning their name.
“Hand it over.”
– If you treat me a little more carefully…
“I’ll try.”
A sigh was heard, and then light flowed into the symbol on their palm.
Subsequently, my body felt strangely lighter.
“What is it? Is this all the invitation is?”
– You’ll probably have a tattoo on a random part of your body.
“Hmm, maybe it appeared on the sole of my foot?”
I searched various parts of my body.
Well, not here, not here… and, damn it, could it be?
I vaguely asked about its size.
They said it was a tattoo the size of a pinky finger, so I tried using the gallery to take a picture behind my ear, just in case it was there.
Not on my back either?
“Damn it, no way.”
*Swoosh…*
I checked the most unsettling and undesirable location.
And then, only then, did I finally understand what the tattoo looked like.
****
“Attribute Enhancement.”
Until now, I had only ever utilized the fire attribute for ‘Attribute Enhancement.’
Pondering what other attributes might exist, I called to mind ‘wind,’ the most common.
Its effect proved quite astonishing.
“It seems to create multiple blades?”
With a single swing, supplementary attacks would manifest.
Though subtle, this alone significantly increased the probability of striking a vital point, making it an immense advantage.
‘I should have checked earlier. It’s a shame I only used fire.’
Even the translucent effect shimmering around the knife was to my liking.
‘Time to move on to the attribute I’m most curious about.’
Indeed, there was one attribute that piqued my curiosity above all others: wood, or perhaps earth.
Could these two attributes even exist?
Firstly, there was no wood (木) attribute.
I had hoped for vines to sprout or something similar, but disappointingly, nothing of the sort occurred.
Then, what about the earth attribute?
“Ugh…”
With a single swing, the knife’s weight dramatically increased.
A colossal sense of mass erupted from the tip of the knife, as if exploding, heavy enough to cause the floor to collapse.
In short, it was a weapon of pure mass.
“I wonder… if I’ll ever find a timing to use this in a real battle.”
Suddenly, the weighted additions in martial arts novels came to mind.
If a situation arose where I needed to dive quickly later, it seemed like it could be useful.
It felt perfectly clean to use as a miscellaneous technique.
“What about the water attribute?”
This was the attribute I had the least expectations for.
When one thought of water, it usually evoked images of something flimsy and lacking significant lethality.
Of course, if it could drown opponents or inflict a ‘slow’ debuff, I supposed it might be somewhat decent.
“Attribute Enhancement.”
And the result of using it directly:
“What the hell is this?!”
Why had I never used this before?
[The water (水) attribute imbues the military knife.]
[The knife transforms due to its fluidity.]
With a soft, yielding motion, it extended once.
It became malleable, like soft clay, allowing me to mold it as I pleased.
[The metal (金) attribute is unlocked.]
Water (水) and Metal (金).
Fluid like water, I could mold it to my will, then harden it solidly with metal.
As a result, when I forged it into a Japanese sword, the knife transformed, becoming long and rigid.
It was a Japanese sword in every sense.
“Its hardness… is still the same? Is it due to the metal attribute?”
Aside from the fact that it quickly reverted to its original form when changing to other attributes, I wondered why I had only just discovered this.
“I could use it as a key, or a hammer. Damn, this is like the god of junk! (TL Note: ‘Jjamtong’ refers to a ‘junk bin’ or ‘mess hall food scraps,’ implying something versatile but also crude or composite.)”
The god of junk.
I pondered for a moment.
‘If I could wield a ‘staff’ well, wouldn’t it be like handling the Ruyi Jingu Bang (TL Note: A magical staff from ‘Journey to the West’ that can change size and weight)?’
‘I definitely need to try wielding a staff later.’
Clouds seemed to have gathered, casting shadows in the room.
Since I couldn’t leave anyway, I decided to admire the scenery later.
The God of Weapons.
This bastard also had many curiosities.
And what was that ‘R’ prominently displayed next to it?
[???]
This still remained unsolved.
After rummaging through various things, and finding no solutions, I gave up and examined the titles.
They were simply lifelong buffs, and no percentages were displayed.
In this regard, it was needlessly uncooperative.
“I’m hungry, and where…”
Mileage.
[Current Mileage Held]
: 302P
The points were accumulating surprisingly quickly.
While I was at it, I checked the shop, meticulously reviewing each item and calculating its efficiency.
Assuming 2P for each head I’d taken…
A single cannibal was also 2P, a tiger around 10P… and the centipede I’d killed earlier totaled… hmm.
The conclusion was this:
Mileage spent on food was perfectly acceptable.
And for good reason.
A chicken set cost only 1P.
“Let’s set a daily limit of 10P or less.”
This decision was made as my immediate concerns about weapons had diminished.
‘Attribute Enhancement’ was proving to be unexpectedly useful.
A gun. To purchase one of these, an exorbitant 3000P was required.
Damn, they were selling it for an outrageous price.
‘Considering my capabilities, I’m already a human weapon. By the time I accumulate 3000P, I might not even need a gun.’
With that thought, I ordered a chicken.
Cold, hungry… trapped and afraid…
Author: oo(C-27)
(A photo of a steaming chicken leg.)
So I’m going to eat some warm, filling chicken!
(A ‘Geoi-con’ grinning, teeth showing.)
– Abandoned Soldier) This f*cking bastard!
– Ghost Sword) What on earth is that? Is that food?
– Fox Hater) Knowing that taste, it makes this woman even more disheartened…
[Ghost Sword] Who dares to claim such a title before this woman?
[Fox Hater] This woman is this woman. How audacious!
[Elevator Ghost] What are these idiots doing?
– Admin) (A ‘Geoi-con’ drooling.)
– Gourmand) ? Not drinking cola? Should I send you one?
‘I’ve noticed this before, but why is Gourmand so wealthy?’
Judging by the reactions of other users, it was clear everyone else was struggling financially.
While they were all starring in their own survival dramas, Gourmand was different.
Regarding food, they appeared even more affluent than a modern individual.
[oo(C-27)] How do I receive it? Do you send it by quick delivery?
[Gourmand] What are you talking about, haha. G_D (TL Note: A common Korean internet slang abbreviation for ‘Geu dae’ meaning ‘wait a moment’ or ‘hold on.’)
I’d been burned by that ‘G_D’ on forums quite a few times.
After those, something terrible would always circulate in the gallery.
However, this time, it was slightly different.
[Gourmand has opened a trade.]
[Do you wish to respond? (Y/N)]
Upon pressing ‘Y,’ a small window immediately appeared.
Items, trade request, one can of cola?
[Select item to trade.]
After a moment’s thought, I placed the rice ball Wolyeong had given me onto the trading interface.
[Rice Ball (F)]
Wolyeong’s rice ball was rated F.
Soon, the trading system began to operate.
And then,
“It actually works?”
A red can of cola materialized before me.
*Hiss!*
The refreshing fizz and coldness indicated it had clearly come from a refrigerator.
[oo(C-27)] You boastful bastard, you have a fridge? Anyway, I’ll take it well~~
[Gourmand] Hahaha, I’ve seriously never seen food with an F-rating before;;
[Gourmand] Anyway, enjoy the drink, haha. I’m really rooting for you, for real.
[oo(C-27)] Do you need anything? I’m an Awakened, so I can use the shop.
[Gourmand] …… If you happen to have a gun, could you… give it to me? My body is weak.
From what they said, they had fortunately entered a good urban legend.
However, they were living a very lonely and powerless life.
[Gourmand] Seeing you motivates me a bit. I want to leave too, but to leave here, I have to kill a ‘Geoi,’ and I can’t kill that bastard;;
Thus, they had asked me for a gun.
‘A gun… hmm.’
The rope gun carried by the Tiger Hunter (TL Note: ‘Chakhogapsa’ were special military units in the Joseon Dynasty tasked with hunting tigers) came to mind.
Perhaps if we became closer, I could ask for one.
Yes, Byeongson might not need it.
Deciding to keep that in mind, I refocused on browsing the gallery.
In the dark room, surrounded by silence, with the scent of chicken, the gallery was the only amusement available.
So I concentrated.
Or rather, I was about to.
“…”
The house, this room, that I had entered, had one window.
A window covered with traditional Korean paper (TL Note: ‘Changhoji’ is traditional Korean paper used for windows and doors), allowing only a soft moonlight to filter through.
As I opened a can of cola and was about to drink it,
My gaze suddenly caught something.
My eyes met.
A hole, seemingly poked through the paper with a finger.
And secretly, through the gap of that hole.
An eyeball, which had been watching me for who knew how long.
My eyes met.
“……”
I hoped it was Wolyeong, drawn by the smell of chicken. Damn it.
