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Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Arrival at the Isolated Villa
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"Ahahaha~! Back then, Miyoung said to me~!"
"Kyaa~! Park Si-eun~~! I told you not to bring that up~~!!"
Listening to the bubbly twenty-year-old girls chattering away noisily made a soft smile creep onto my face.
The raucous energy inside the van, which seemed like it would go on forever, gradually faded as we headed deeper into the mountains toward our destination: a villa in the remote wilderness.
The bright summer weather suddenly turned overcast, the sky and surroundings shifting into a gloomy backdrop that screamed something bad was about to happen.
"Hmm..., this place looks insanely rugged, deep in the mountains."
"I've never even known Korea had terrain like this. It's straight-up cliffs and drop-offs..."
'Of course. It's terrain the creator shoehorned in. Where the hell in Korea would you find shit like this?'
According to Junchang, the villa owned by his uncle was...
On an incredibly isolated plot of land you could only reach by crossing a thousand-foot chasm.
It was the kind of godforsaken spot where, if that single path got cut off, escape would be impossible.
'Heh..., but I'll make good use of that. Kukuku.
I'm planning to lock up these girls and fuck them too, so the rougher the roads, the harder it'll be for rescuers to get here.
And even if they do..., sniping them with a rifle from a place like this would be a piece of cake.'
The van Junchang was driving pushed deeper into the rugged mountain paths.
If I wanted to stop this whole chain of events from kicking off,
I could've just had him pull over right here—but I didn't want to.
'Gotta fuck my old female classmates in the isolated villa the serial killer prepared.
Just swap out the main course on the ready-made table—simple as that.'
I glanced at the back of Junchang's head as he focused on driving and grinned.
The van delved even deeper into the remote backwoods.
We passed a few iron bridges linking the cliff faces over the abyss.
'Anyone could tell that if those bridges go down, you're totally fucked and isolated.'
After navigating that perilous gauntlet of cliffs and chasms,
we finally arrived at the luxury villa supposedly owned by Junchang's uncle.
As we pulled up, the gloomy weather briefly brightened, diluting the ominous vibe around us.
"Whoa, I've never seen a villa like this."
"Eek, it's so pretty. I thought stuff like this only existed abroad?"
"Holy crap, insane. Totally gotta take a ton of pics."
The villa's exterior was a convincing three-story luxury build with an old-world charm.
In front stretched a wide grassy lawn garden, a hedge maze taking up one side, with fountains and flowerbeds meticulously manicured.
'What a load of bullshit forced setting. Who the hell maintains something like this out here? You'd need a small army—thirty-plus just for the groundskeeping on that massive maze park alone.... And the money? Insane.'
"Gotta snap pics and brag to the others~! ...Huh? Wait, what? Says we're out of cell range here."
"Huh? Really? Ah..., so no internet here either?"
"Nah, Uncle said there's a Wi-Fi router inside the villa. Should be fine there. Signal's crap this deep in the mountains."
"Oh, good. Phew~."
'Mountains my ass for no signal. He's jamming it with a signal disruptor.'
The girls in the van squealed with delight, gushing over how pretty the garden and flowers were.
I got out amid their excited squeals.
Stretching, I helped Junchang and the other guys haul the luggage from the van toward the villa.
The girls fussed about helping, but
they weren't much use anyway, and the guys were busy showing off their muscles and strength, telling the girls to just chill.
I went along with the vibe, quietly carrying stuff while keeping a close eye on Junchang.
'Not splitting off yet? That bastard should be making his move soon...'
I knew who the culprit was.
To cut to the chase: Junchang, the game's protagonist, was the killer.
He runs around trying to catch the murderer,
but it turns out he's the killer himself—a super obvious "twist" that's not really a twist.
'He referenced me or some shit, pulling that multiple personality crap.... Fuck, but what does "referenced me" even mean...?'
In the story's setup, Junchang—the super-genius scientist, developer, and programmer—does some experiment in a massive secret lab hidden in the villa's basement and ends up with a split personality.
'The other personality was called Devil or something? Total corny name anyway. I ragged on his naming sense back then.'
My guess was it was loosely inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Either way, that second personality invites his friends here and targets them—that's the lame hidden twist.
I kept watching Junchang without giving anything away.
He acted his usual innocent, simple self,
showing everyone around the villa's first, second, and third floors, plus their individual rooms.
Then he suggested they rest up in their rooms for a bit before hanging out,
slipping away from the group naturally.
He didn't stop the others from gathering in the first-floor living room, chatting noisily on the sofas.
Tired folks could unpack and nap in their rooms,
while the energetic ones gossiped and played on their own—that was the vibe.
The invited friends, figuring Junchang had driven them all this way, felt beat and didn't protest, sprawling out on the spacious living room sofas to chat and have fun.
When someone pulled out board games, cards, and hwatu from the living room supplies, it got lively in seconds.
Junchang smoothly and quietly peeled away from the group, heading to his room.
I hung back quietly and subtly tailed him.
I watched him enter his room.
- Rustle, rustle -
I crept up to the wall beside his door, eavesdropping on the sounds inside.
For a few seconds after he entered, it was just normal room noises.
But that didn't last.
- Creak. Rumble -
Something massive shifted with a heavy sound.
- Rumble. Creak -
'Went through the secret passage. First sound was the hidden door opening. Second was it closing.'
I counted silently in my head for a moment, then knocked on his door.
Playing it natural, just in case.
- Knock knock -
"Junchang? Got a question for you?"
No reply.
No one inside to answer, obviously.
I tried the door.
- Click, click -
'Fuck. Locked it behind him.'
I considered just heading to wherever he'd gone instead, changing plans since I'd waited around for nothing...,
but I glanced around first.
No one nearby.
The others were downstairs in the living room, making a racket.
'Could smash the door and no one'd notice?'
I thought about pulling my silenced pistol but nixed it—silencers are louder than you'd think.
If some sharp-eared friend heard and came up, game over.
'Just force it open. Should work.'
I carefully applied pressure to the door without making too much noise, ramming it a few times.
'One, two, hup! One, two, hup! One, two, hup!'
- Crack, craaack, thud. Bang. -
A normal door's durability...,
couldn't withstand the strength of a near-superhuman Tier 1 spec-ops level guy like me after a few solid hits—the doorknob snapped, and the door half-shattered.
I fiddled with the wrecked door and pushed into Junchang's room.
Now to open the secret passage he'd used.
'If memory serves, it was around this bookshelf..., hmm..., ah, there. Found it.'
A thick book caught my eye, like someone had just touched it.
It screamed "suspicious" to anyone with eyes...
I grabbed the thick book.
The moment I did, I felt it connected to some mechanism.
I shoved it hard into the shelf, and levers clicked inside.
- Creak -
A hidden keypad emerged from one side of the bookshelf.
Enter the code here, and the secret passage entrance reveals itself.
'...But what was the damn code...?'
I used to know it,
but now? Forgot.
'No big deal, though.'
I didn't know it.
But someone who would know it inside out did.
I slipped out of the Tower into the outside world.
Pulled out my smartphone and opened the recent calls list.
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