Ch. 34 - Sixth Ghost Story - CSAT Banned Song (8)

“G-great… Let’s get out… quickly.”

With my legs shaking, I managed to open the car door and get out first.

I could vaguely smell the sour scent of urine coming from somewhere.

‘With that crazy ride, I guess someone couldn’t help it.’

Wait, was it me?

I looked down at my pants. Luckily, I was fine.

I tried to coax the club members out of the car one by one, but I could see that Gyeongwon was collapsed in his seat.

“Gyeongwon. Gyeongwon?”

He was completely limp, and his pants had a dark spot on the front.

Gyeongwon had fainted.

“What should we do?”

Sunah asked with a concerned expression.

After considering the options a bit, I decided to bring Gyeongwon along by carrying him. I had stated that, if it were a rough situation, we were to leave people behind… Luckily, things were still quiet.

‘Gyeongwon is useful because he knows a lot. It’s better if we bring him along for now.’

I looked over at Dukhun. Unlike the rest of us, who had been cramped into the backseat, he had traveled comfortably in the passenger seat.

Once I gave him a look, he started kuso-ing as he went to drag Gyeongwon out of the car.

Even if he was three hundred pounds of water and fat, he was still plenty strong enough to pick up and carry the lean Gyeongwon.

“Teacher, are you not coming?”

“……”

Possibly because she couldn’t put any strength into her legs, she continued to sit there behind the wheels while her hands were trembling slightly.

“I-I’ll be… waiting here……”

With her having driven all the way here, smashing through people and barriers, Teacher Hwaeun had done more than enough to fulfill her role.

I quietly nodded and led the other club members away.

The first floor of the broadcast company was a very wide hall. This was a famous music broadcast company.

Fourincess had first debuted here, and later on this was the epicenter of all of the chaos.

As it had been where the phenomenon first started, I had thought that it would be more chaotic.

Maybe because everyone had already spread out in order to spread the song, there were only a few employees sprinkled amongst the corpses that we could see from afar.

Luckily, the hall was quite spacious.

We moved as carefully as we could in order to avoid meeting people. We were avoiding all of the broken glass to avoid making sounds. Around the corner we could see some elevators, so we headed in that direction.

“Welcome to the Broadcast Station!”

As we turned the corner, we discovered two female staff members. They started to rush towards us in high heels.

“Aack!”

Jinhee stepped in front of us and punched the first staff member in the chest. She then subdued the woman before twisting around and kicking the other lady in the neck, breaking it.

Smack, smack.

Crumple-

“It’s dangerous! Please back up!”

Hearing the noise, a male bodyguard dressed in a suit ran towards us.

“Not listening to the song is dangerous!”

“F*CK!”

The bodyguard ran up with explosive speed and tackled Jinhee, sending them both tumbling on the floor.

Crash!

“F-f*ck this sh*t!”

We tried kicking and hitting the man as he was on the floor, but he didn’t budge because of all of his muscles.

“J-Jinhee!”

“Hurry up and get out of here you morons! Run!”

As Jinhee struggled against the man, she shouted at us.

“Sorry!”

We had to leave Jinhee behind as we scrambled to escape the scene.

Some of the employees had rushed over when they heard all the noise, but luckily they ran in Jinhee’s location.

Trample- trample-

We ran to the elevators and hid inside.

“Dukhun, in here.”

“Wheeze.”

Possibly because it took a lot of damage during the chaotic situation, the elevator was working in a very unstable manner.

[Going Dow- … Going Dow- … Going Dow-]

The elevator was repeating the same phrase over and over, and the lights were flickering rapidly, making the small area even scarier to stay in.

“Wheeze, wheeze.”

[Beeeeeeep- The capacity limit has- next one- next one - capacity limit has been - next - next one- ]

Once Dukhun got on the elevator while carrying Gyeongwon, the elevator capacity limit warning began to ring.

“Damn.”

It was only the five of us. Normally, the elevator should have easily carried all of us and then some. It must have been a lot more damaged than I originally thought.

I tried ignoring it and pressed the close door button, but that didn’t work.

“What should we do?”

“……”

Our only options were to kick someone out or to split up. However, just crossing the hall to get this far was close to a miracle already. Splitting from the group would surely be a death sentence.

As we were all looking around at each other, Hayoon suddenly stepped off of the elevator.

[Doors Closing.]

“See you soon, Joon.”

“……!”

Through the gaps of the closing doors, I could see Hayoon smiling brightly as she waved.

“Uh, um… uh……”

Clank.

The elevator didn’t even give me the opportunity to say goodbye, closing the doors. Then, in a scary and unsafe way, it began to move.

Although the doors were already closed and she couldn’t hear, Sunah quietly mumbled in her direction.

“Thanks, Hayoon……”

And then, a bit later…

“Uh, guys?”

“Yeah?”

We could only hear the whirring of the elevator as I quietly asked them a question.

“What floor are we going to right now?”

“……”

Suddenly, the three of us looked at each other, confused.

“Isn’t the elevator moving because someone pressed a floor to go to?”

“I didn’t press anything OwO~”

Gyeongwon was still knocked out. Sunah had a look that already showed she had no idea how the elevator was moving either.

“I… was also just… standing… still……”

“……”

I looked up at the number to see what floor we were on, but possibly because it was broken, the number was distorted. After we stood there for a while, I asked another question.

“Is this elevator even moving?”

“W-well, it did start moving before… and hasn’t stopped since……”

We did feel the shift when it first started moving, and if we didn’t feel anything else, did that mean it was still moving?

“What the f*ck? It’s been like five minutes at least……”

“Wheeze, wheeze.”

Dukhun must have been tired as he finally placed Gyeongwon onto the ground.

“Whew, I’m exhausted UwU… Wheeze.”

He wiped off his sweat with his sleeve.

Sunah started to fidget nervously and pointed something out.

“J-Joon… look at that number.”

Sunah pointed at the display over the door, and I could see that the distorted numbers had settled on a specific number.

[44]

“… Something’s weird.”

“Yeah… It’s scary……”

I tried to reassure the shaking Sunah, and soon another five minutes or so passed.

“Puuu- huuu… puuu- huuu……”

“Haaaa, haaaa, haaaa.”

“Huuuu… huuu…. U-uuum…”

We were all splayed out in the elevator.

“Are you guys also having difficulty breathing?”

When I asked, the other two nodded in agreement. Gyeongwon was still knocked out. More time passed.

I could definitely feel the lack of air. I was on the verge of asphyxiation.

There was no way that I would die in such a stupid way, right? Teacher Hwaeun, Jinhee, and Hayoon had all risked their lives and sacrificed themselves! We were almost at the end!

All we had left to do was to find the dressing room!

“Haaaa, haaaaa…”

I started to get back up, shaking. I then started to kick the elevator door.

Bang, bang!

“Open! Open you sh*tty f*cking door!

The elevator began to shake dangerously.

However, the thick steel doors didn’t even budge.

“Haaaaa, huuuuu.”

I tried to put my fingers in between the doors to try and wedge them open, but these elevators were drastically different from the normal elevators in my apartment building.

We were sealed in the airtight elevator in a large broadcast station.

“Haaaa, haaa.”

“Haaak, haaak.”

More time passed.

The decreasing oxygen levels made my chest feel like it was tightening. I could try breathing in large amounts of air, but my chest was still feeling uncomfortable—as if I was just breathing in my own carbon dioxide.

It seemed like there was no more oxygen.

“Haaak, haaaak.”

“Haaaa, haaa. Does anything feel like it will open?”

“No, nothing… Sorry……”

Sunah had been on my shoulders, hitting the panels on the ceiling in hopes that something would open.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t find anything.

“Haaaak, haaak.”

“Puuu- huuu… puuu- huuu……”

“Haaaaa, huuuuu.”

More time passed.

The three of us were just splayed out on the elevator floor, clutching our chests.

“Puuu- huuu… puuu- huuu……”

As Dukhun’s large body moved up and down, he was taking in air three times as much as a normal human would.

Dukhun’s impact on our decreasing oxygen was probably the biggest.

“Haaak, haaak.”

However, there was nothing we could do. And it wasn’t like Dukhun was the one that stopped the elevator. In the end, the only difference was whether we died sooner or later.

‘H-how did we get into this stupid situation…? Why was this situation so…’

As my consciousness began to get hazier, I started flailing my legs in frustration.

“Huuuufff, huff…”

“Puuuu- huuu…”

I looked towards Sunah. She was clutching her chest, breathing heavily, her face completely red.

“Huuuuff, puff…”

“Huaaaa, huuuu…”

For some reason, Sunah’s face didn’t seem red because she was having difficulty breathing. I thought it looked more like she was angry.

She was trembling very slightly.

“Puuuuu-huuuuu. Puuuu-huuuu… Puuuuu, huuuuu…”

“Haaaa- haaak.”

Sunah’s glares started to feel like they could burn someone.

Why was she so angry?

“J-Joon.”

Sunah started muttering with her teeth clenched.

“Joon……”

As I expected, she was blaming me.

There was no other way. I was the one that had led these kids to their ultimate deaths. After all, people didn’t tend to think about the root of the problem, instead expecting someone else to take responsibility or even shifting the blame.

Suddenly…

“DON’T STEAL JOON’S OXYGEN!!!”

Sunah jumped up from where she had been leaning and dashed to where Dukhun was, both of her hands aiming for his throat.

“Mmmph! Mmmmph……!”

As the veins around his neck fat began to grow darker, his body started flailing, trying to get more air.

“Aaaargh! Aaaaaaargh!”

“Mmph! Mmmmph.”

Sunah continued to choke the life out of him as she glared down at him.

Although she only seemed like she would be a third of Dukhun’s mass, Sunah gripped his neck with monstrous strength from some unknown origin.

“Uaaah… uhhh…. S-Sunah… s-stop it……”

I powerlessly crawled over and tried to stop her, but her arms didn’t budge.

“Uaaaaah! AAAAAH!”

“Mmmmmph… mmmph……”

She was so outraged that not even a speck of her normally timid image could be seen. She had the strength of a monster.

“S-Sunah… don’t do this……”

Dukhun’s flailing arms smacked Gyeongwon’s face.

“Eurgh.”

That sound must have finally signaled Gyeongwon’s revival, as he was finally starting to move.

“Where… is this place……?”

“Uaaaah…. Uhhh… G-gyeongwon… Uaaah……”

“P-prez! What’s going on?”

“The a-airtight seal… of the e-ele… v-vator… ahhh……”

“Wh-what?”

He jumped in surprise as he saw me crawling while clutching my chest.

“E-elevator?! Oh, I got it! So, this is inside the broadcast station building!”

“Uaaaahhhh… Uhhhh……”

I felt like I couldn’t breathe any longer, so as I looked up at Gyeongwon, I let my head drop back onto the floor.

Right next to us, Sunah was still suffocating Dukhun in a rage.

It seemed like no one was in their right mind due to the lack of oxygen.

“I-I c-can’t b-b-b-b-brea- …”

“You can’t breathe?! There’s no way that’s true.”

“Uaaaaaaaah.”

As I was about to lose consciousness, I could vaguely hear the words Gyeongwon had started to shout.

“The fact that elevators are sealed air-tight is just an urban legend!”

“……”

My heartbeat went up drastically.

What was this guy saying? I could clearly feel how difficult it was to breathe.

“……”

There was no more air.

I could feel my lungs physically craving oxygen.

“Prez! Get your head on straight! No elevators available to civilians are sealed airtight! That’s a scientific fact!”

“……”

“All elevators have ventilation that allows air to travel freely in and out! It's the exact opposite of airtight, so get yourself together!”

“……”

At that instant, I could feel the walls of an assumption I had made come crashing down.

Pop.

[You have come across and survived the C-rank Ghost Story - Elevator Asphyxiation Hoax]

[You have earned 10 Ghost Story Points.]

“Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuph!”

I could feel the fresh oxygen rushing into my lungs and my cells screaming for joy.

“Huu, haaa, huuuu, haaaaa, huuuu, haaa!”

I breathed in and out deeply and tried to catch my breath.

The elevator suddenly jolted and the 44th floor label was gone, replaced with the numbers for the third floor.

“Huu, haa, huu, haa! …Wh-what exactly happened?”

“It’s a mistaken assumption ghost story! You know, those ghost stories where someone trapped in an unplugged freezer freezes to death?”

“Oh my gosh! Sunah! What about Sunah?!”

We looked around and found Sunah and Dukhun in a corner of the elevator. We tried to shake them awake.

“Sunah! Wake up!”

Once I turned her body face up, I could see that her extremely scary face had disappeared and she had returned to being adorable. Her eyes were closed, and she looked like a sleeping baby chick.

I put my ear to her mouth to listen in.

“Haa, haa.”

Fortunately, she was still breathing.

“Sunah, Sunah.”

“J-Joon……”

Once I shook her a bit, she started to wake up.

“Sunah… I’m so glad.”

Then I hurried over to where Dukhun laid. He wasn’t breathing. I thought hard to try and remember the first aid I learned in school before.

As I looked at his blue face, I put my hands on the center of his chest and started to do chest compressions. After a few reps, he finally started breathing again.

“Cough, cough.”

“Dukhun! Are you alright?”

“……”

Although he had started breathing again, he did not open his eyes. He must have been unconscious.

“G-get up, Sunah. Do you think you can walk? Let’s get out of here.”

“Y-yeah……”

I quickly led Sunah and Gyeongwon out of the elevator. We dragged Dukhun out as well and leaned him against the wall near the elevator entrance.

‘It’s so weird, no matter how much I think about it.'

The current situation was definitely weird.

Normally, a new ghost story would pop up only after the previous ghost story was resolved. However, we had a D-rank and a C-rank ghost story, the Ghost Possessed Person and the Elevator Asphyxiation Hoax, show up.

This was almost like……

Something was attacking us on purpose.

“This way!”

“Yeah!”

As we carefully looked around us, we could confirm that we were on the third floor. We went up to a large guide map near the stairs that had information on each floor, but unfortunately there was nothing labeled as a dressing room. I had just guessed that the dressing room mentioned in the hidden message in the song would be in the broadcast building, but I guess that was wrong. I had been planning to visit the dressing room first……

“Prez, here!”

Gyeongwon pointed at a corner of the third-floor map.

[Dressing Room]

“Dressing Room!”

The floor we got off the elevator on just happened to have the dressing room. I had used the lip-reading skill to find out from the youngest member of Fourincess that they would be on standby here in the dressing room just that morning. The origin of the phenomenon, the girl group, Fourincess.

They were on the same floor as us.

“Let’s see, dressing room, dressing room… I think we just have to turn the corner over there.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

The three of us carefully snuck over, pressing against the walls. We could see a few people at the far end of the hallway, near the emergency exit, moving around while doing handstands.

“Guys, let's go around this way so that we won’t get caught.”

“Yeah.”

***

“Y-young miss! How in the world… How did you get here……?”

“……”

“M-my apologies. Since this area is dangerous… It would be best to hide……”

“……”

“Th-then, I’ll be going first……”

The Chairman of the broadcasting company had run away after ending the conversation, but not long after that he was captured and dragged away by other people.

Comments