Editor’s Survival Guide — Chapter 22
Episode 5. Shopping! The Warehouse Mart! (2)
Warehouse marts sell goods very cheaply, but only in bulk.
That meant I, living alone, almost never had reason to use one.
In fact, I had visited one exactly once.
Several years ago, during a company workshop.
We usually bought the supplies we needed online, but the manager who sat in front of me had suggested that we shop at a warehouse mart in person.
He said he had just bought a membership.
I went along and looked around, and that became both my first and last visit…….
—Do you remember the response manual for this Special Zone?
Cha Si-eon’s voice roused me from my thoughts.
I forced myself to answer calmly.
“I remember it.”
Most of what I had done at the Bureau was read rulebooks.
So I remembered clearly.
The rules for this place.
And just how meaningless they were.
—
Rules of Conduct for Missing Persons Inside the 「Warehouse Mart Rigged with Traps」
You are currently inside the 「Warehouse Mart Rigged with Traps」, which is under observation by the government of the Republic of Korea.
This is an emergency in which you may not only lose your life but also experience severe pain. Please familiarize yourself with the rules of conduct below and respond with caution.
■ General Precautions
General precautions are not recommended inside the 「Warehouse Mart Rigged with Traps」.
■ Code of Conduct for the 「Warehouse Mart Rigged with Traps」
The 「Warehouse Mart Rigged with Traps」 is a warehouse-mart-shaped Special Zone fitted throughout with invisible traps.
The traps here remain invisible until activated, making them impossible to predict or disarm.
Once triggered, a trap has real and lethal effects on its target. These effects manifest as stab wounds, gunshot wounds, burns, crushing, severing, explosions, and other forms of injury.
Furthermore, every being that roams this Special Zone is hostile to humans.
These hazardous entities will attack as soon as they discover you, and their physical abilities far surpass those of a robust adult man.
For that reason, attempting to fight a hazardous entity is not recommended.
For the reasons stated above, attempting to escape this place is equivalent to crossing an active battlefield unarmed.
All civilians are advised to assess their own capabilities carefully before either attempting escape or choosing repose.
—
The most hopeless of all Type 1 Special Zones.
That had been my impression after reading the rulebook for the 「Warehouse Mart」.
Besides, Gwak Jae-gyeom had said something beside me too.
—It’s Three Steps, One Death.
—Three Steps, One Death?
—The warehouse mart you’re looking at right now, Hyung. They call it “Three Steps, One Death” because someone dies every three steps.
Gwak Jae-gyeom’s face as he laughed insensitively hovered before my eyes.
The place I had been dragged into was that vicious.
Vicious enough to earn the self-mocking nickname “Three Steps, One Death.”
Vicious enough that even the Bureau had subtly washed its hands of the matter by using “rules of conduct” instead of “survival rules.”
—As you already know, invisible traps are installed throughout this Special Zone. In addition, every active entity in this place is hazardous.
Cha Si-eon explained gravely.
The Bureau classified the nonhuman entities roaming Special Zones as either “hazardous entities” or “neutral entities.”
Hazardous entities were things like the 「Moving Gun」, which attacked humans indiscriminately.
Neutral entities were things like the 「Railway Police」 or the 「Something Wearing an Old-Style Uniform」, which at least did not attack without reason.
But the 「Warehouse Mart」 contained only hazardous entities.
Worse, that fact connected unpleasantly with Cha Si-eon’s next explanation.
—This Special Zone’s exploration rate is only seventeen percent. We have identified its spatial structure, trap types, and varieties of hazardous entity, but neither a strategy for clearing it nor an escape route has yet been confirmed.
In short, escape was impossible.
It was an inevitable conclusion.
Escaping the 「Railway Station」 had required a ticket.
And a ticket could only be obtained through interaction with a neutral entity.
Following the same pattern, there was no way to find an escape method in a place populated only by hazardous entities.
At this complete dead end, I murmured despondently,
“Then am I going to die here?”
—A rescue team has already departed.
Long live the Bureau!
—Escape is impossible, but destruction is not. When the Special Zone is destroyed, everyone inside will naturally be expelled.
Long live brute force!
—However, there is a problem we must resolve first.
Just as I threw both arms up in delight, Cha Si-eon doused me in cold water.
—As the rescue team breaks through the 「Warehouse Mart」, there is a risk that you will be caught in an explosion or collapse. You must therefore move to a safe location before the rescue team reaches you.
“Where should I go?”
—The underground parking garage.
I had received a mission.
Proceed to the underground parking garage while avoiding traps and hazardous entities.
The reward is survival.
—This Special Zone spans from the second floor above ground to the third basement level, and each floor covers roughly one and a half soccer fields. Your current position is the first-floor sales area, and your destination is the parking garage on basement level two. You will use moving walkways to descend between floors.
Taking a moving walkway down two floors.
Even that would not be easy in the Special Zone of Three Steps, One Death.
Fortunately, the Bureau did not overestimate me that badly either.
—You will follow my instructions all the way to the destination. Even a minor mistake could be fatal, so remain focused.
In other words, a team leader was going to direct me personally.
Because if he told me to make my own way there, I was obviously going to die in three steps.
—We will depart once your heart rate recovers. Before then, put on your protective equipment and in-ear monitor.
My heart rate?
Oh, right. This smartwatch belonged to the Bureau.
But no one had told me they would use it to spy on my biometric data…….
Read only on MUGEX
I found it absurd, but for the moment I did as instructed.
The special vest the Bureau had given me to wear held all kinds of things.
I took out goggles and a mask, put them on, and tightened my belt.
Since I couldn’t keep holding the smartwatch to my ear, I put in the earpiece as well.
Then, just as I was pulling thick, cut-resistant gloves onto both hands—
Boom—!
A thunderous noise rang out from somewhere.
When I tensed, Cha Si-eon explained.
—A civilian who just entered the Special Zone has died.
“Is someone else in here?”
—At present, you are the only one, Seo Do-un. You were also the only one before that explosion occurred.
A chill ran through me at Cha Si-eon’s words.
I was alone here.
And I had been alone before the explosion too.
Then what about the person who had just died in that blast?
They had been dragged in immediately beforehand and killed.
All in the blink of an eye.
Perhaps before they had even taken three steps.
Without realizing it, I touched the bandage wrapped around my head.
Come to think of it, I was in no position to talk about anyone else.
I had been struck in the head the instant I arrived here too.
I was only alive because it had grazed me by sheer luck.
—Are you ready?
“……Yes. I’m ready.”
Luck or otherwise, I needed to focus only on surviving now.
—Then climb onto the top of the storage rack. We will move above the racks to avoid the traps in this section.
But it was difficult from the very beginning.
The warehouse mart’s storage racks consisted of bare metal frames.
They had three tiers and stood an estimated five meters tall in total.
They weren’t even shaped in a way that gave me anything to step on.
But what could I do? If I couldn’t manage it, I would die.
Stepping on the rack’s frame and the goods stacked inside, I forced myself to clamber up.
Cr-runch—!
As I climbed on top, the boxes stacked on the highest shelf crumpled and swayed.
Argh. This wasn’t going to cave in, was it?
Swallowing my anxiety, I lay flat.
My head touched the ceiling, so I couldn’t stand.
I crawled precariously onward until I soon reached the opposite end of the rack.
—Cut off a piece of your bloodstained clothing and drop it.
I used my knife to cut away part of the T-shirt under my vest.
Then I casually tossed the scrap of fabric, stiff with dried blood, onto the floor.
Clang—!
The instant the fluttering cloth touched the ground, it came apart into individual threads of warp and weft.
“……Are you sure we came the right way?”
—You have a line launcher. We will move to the rack opposite without touching the floor.
“…….”
My struggles after that were pitiful.
I fired the line clumsily.
Clung to it and crossed to the other side while trembling all over.
Barely reached the next rack, then labored my way back up.
Crawled along on all fours, then fired the line again.
After repeating the process four times, my forearms felt ready to tear apart.
“Nnngh……!”
With every last scrap of strength, I hauled myself onto the fourth rack.
Then my field of view suddenly opened up.
Thankfully, this was the last of the tall racks.
Ahead was a section where various goods were displayed on shelves about as tall as a person.
And beyond that, the moving walkway leading underground.
At last.
But it was too early to celebrate.
—There is a hazardous entity.
“Yes. I see it.”
Something was darting frantically between the displayed products.
It wore something resembling clothing and walked on two feet, but it wasn’t human.
A huge barcode scanner in place of a head.
And a body that looked like a crude imitation of a person.
It was a 「Stocking Employee」.
—As you already know, 「Employee」-type hazardous entities with barcode-scanner heads will attack humans without exception upon discovering them.
I nodded silently at Cha Si-eon’s warning.
Of course I knew.
That 「Employee」 was one of the vicious pillars underpinning Three Steps, One Death.
—The 「Stocking Employee」 roams its assigned section and straightens disordered merchandise. This hazardous entity perceives its surroundings through visual information alone.
The smartwatch flashed as Cha Si-eon explained.
A floor plan of the shelving section appeared on its display.
Then a red line moved across it, leaving a trail as though solving a maze.
—That is the route of the 「Stocking Employee」. You must pass through the shelving section without entering the employee’s field of vision.
The employee’s route was as irregular as an agitated scribble.
And it moved far too quickly.
—I will make the judgments. You need only move as instructed. Maintain the highest speed possible. My directional commands will be forward, back, left, and right.
I released the breath I had been holding at Cha Si-eon’s demand.
Hoo—
First, while the employee’s back was turned, I climbed down from the storage rack and pressed myself against the nearest shelf.
A moment later, Cha Si-eon enunciated firmly.
—Forward.
I kicked off the floor and ran.
—Forward, left, right.
I followed the next set of instructions exactly as well.
Once I moved without hesitation, his commands grew faster.
—Forward, right, forward, stop. Back, forward, forward.
I kept moving like a game character controlled with directional keys.
But I couldn’t seem to make any progress.
Because of the employee’s frantic movements and high speed, I too had to keep darting back and forth through roughly the same area.
—Back, left, forward, forward, right, right—maintain speed!
Cha Si-eon roared.
I was gradually growing short of breath.
It would have been one thing if I could simply run straight ahead.
But changing direction constantly, stopping and starting over and over, rapidly drained my stamina.
—Back!
Cha Si-eon demanded that I retreat, and I pushed off the floor again.
But I knew instinctively.
I was one beat too late.
There were still several steps between me and the straight aisle into which I needed to retreat.
The employee’s shadow fell across the aisle where I stood.
Just as I thought we were about to come face-to-face, Cha Si-eon shouted,
—Push the display!
I slammed my whole body into the shelving unit with all my strength.
The large television displayed on top of it wobbled, then toppled noisily away from me.
Cr-rash—!
The sound of an expensive appliance shattering.
Bip-bibibibibip—!
And the sudden, urgent shriek of an electronic alarm.
The next instant, the shadow approaching me disappeared.
—Forward!
At Cha Si-eon’s shout, I ran for all I was worth.
—Unwrap your bandage and throw it away!
Without question, I tore off the bandage around my head and flung it.
The moment the bloodied bandage rose above my head—
Fwoosh—!
What? What was that!?
The bandage I had thrown burst into flames.
Even as I stared in horror at the scattering ashes, I kept running.
I vaulted the railing ahead without stopping, and the moving walkway to the floor below welcomed me.