Chapter 2: Sia

I kept walking along the hallway.

It still seemed like an endless hallway, but something felt different.

I stopped for a moment and looked around.

The hallway in front of me still led to familiar wallpaper and a cold floor, but something looked faintly different in the distance.

I carefully moved my steps towards it.

The place that appeared was a completely different space from the hallway.

The narrow, long hallway suddenly ended, and a wide, empty room appeared.

The ceiling was high, and the walls were drabber.

The floor was rougher than the hallway and looked like old concrete.

This room didn’t seem to be just a large space.

Even the air was different.

The smell of dust and mold was much stronger, and even breathing was a burden.

There was also something scattered all over the floor.

As I got closer, I saw that it was pieces of a ladder.

Wooden boards and pillars that looked like part of a long ladder were broken.

The surface was rough, and there was a rotten smell unique to old wood.

“017…

…..

“What is it?”

I muttered lowly and picked up a piece of the ladder.

When I carefully touched it with my hand, I felt the sharp, rough cracks caused by the broken old wood.

I slowly looked around the room and examined the pieces further.

Most of the other pieces were similar in shape.

They looked exactly like part of the same ladder, but they were all scattered around in disarray.

Why is there a ladder in a place like this?

No, why is the ladder broken and scattered like this?

I instinctively started collecting the pieces one by one.

Every time I picked up a piece, I felt a slight stir in the air somewhere.

It was as if this room was watching my actions.

But soon, I felt a strange tension.

The more I collected the pieces, the heavier the air in the room seemed to become.

I didn’t know the meaning of the ladder, but it was clear that this room was not just an ordinary space.

I held the ladder piece and looked around the room once again.

And then I realized.

There was a small door in a corner where the wall and the floor met.

I had never seen it in the hallway before.

The door was about the height of an adult male’s waist and was locked.

As I looked around to see if there was anything to open the locked door, I saw a small hole in the wall on one side far away.

Looking closely inside the hole, I saw something faintly shining.

“A key?”

I caught my breath and looked into the hole.

It was definitely a key.

But the problem was the location.

The hole was at a height that I could never reach.

I looked around the room again.

Numerous ladder pieces.

Maybe if I stack these up, I can reach it.

I started collecting the rest of the pieces one by one.

Each piece was different in size and shape.

Some were so small that it was difficult to even hold them, and some had sharp broken edges.

I carefully stacked the pieces on the floor.

It collapsed several times, but I gradually balanced it and completed the structure.

“Please, hold on.”

I muttered to myself and carefully stood on the pieces.

I heard the wood creaking under my feet.

I crouched lower and balanced myself.

I slowly reached out and put my finger into the hole.

The inside of the hole was dark and cold.

The touch on my fingertip was a hard texture like metal.

I carefully moved my finger and pulled it out.

As expected, it was a key.

A small, old metal key.

Holding my breath, I slowly took out the key.

The subtle vibration-like sensation felt on my fingertip made my heart beat faster.

Finally, I took the key out of the hole.

“I got it…”

I took a deep breath and held the key tightly in my hand.

And I slowly came down from the ladder pieces.

I put the key on my palm and examined it once again.

The small, rusty key felt strangely heavy.

Can this key really open that door?

I held the key tightly in my hand, approached the door again, and inserted the key.

The old metal creaked and turned.

Click.

The sound of the lock opening echoed through the space.

“Ugh.”

I slowly push the door.

A new space is revealed beyond the door.

The room was wider than before, and the floor and walls were still yellowish.

But there were large and small holes all over the walls.

The inside of the holes was filled with black darkness, and nothing could be seen.

The air was strangely heavy, and the room was engulfed in deep silence.

But at that moment, I saw something moving in the middle of the room.

An adult woman was standing there.

I took a step back in surprise.

66

“Who are you?”

A low voice came out of my mouth.

She heard my voice and turned her head towards me.

And our eyes met.

“……!”

Her face lit up.

With a bright smile, she approached me without hesitation.

“Finally… I finally met someone!”

She suddenly grabbed my hand.

I instinctively flinched and shook off her hand.

“Ahh! W-What are you doing?!”

Startled, I shouted, and she stopped, looking embarrassed.

“Sorry… I’m sorry.”

She took a step back and raised her hands.

“It’s been a long time since I met a survivor… I was just so happy.”

I still looked at her with caution.

“Survivor… What do you mean?”

“It’s very rare to meet a living person in this space.”

Her tone was calm, but there was an unknown weight in it.

I didn’t know what to say and couldn’t speak for a while.

My fingertips were still trembling, and my mind was confused.

“What is this place…

……

?”

I asked in a trembling voice.

She was silent for a moment, then slowly opened her mouth.

“We don’t have much time, so I’ll get straight to the point. My name is Sia.

Now, look at those holes. You have to drink the water that comes out of there to get out of this room.”

I turned my head and looked at the holes she was pointing at again.

In the large and small holes, a faintly shining liquid was slowly flowing down.

The water was definitely pink.

It wasn’t a clear or transparent color, but an unrealistically vivid pink.

It looked like magical water that would appear in a fairy tale.

“I have to drink this?”

I looked at Sia with a look of disbelief.

Sia nodded and said.

“That’s right. This water is special. If you drink this, the door to the next level will open.”

She was so sure.

“Everyone who survived here drank this. So did I.”

Listening to her, I looked at the holes again.

The pink liquid looked strangely thick, and even the color was unnatural.

I didn’t even want to imagine what it would taste like if I put it in my mouth.

What bothered me more was that the water felt out of place in this space.

It was too… heterogeneous.

I thought to myself.

Sia was pushing me as if drinking the water was the only solution, but I instinctively found it hard to believe.

“Do I really… have to drink this?”

I tried to confirm her words once again.

Sia firmly nodded.

“Otherwise, you can’t get out of this room.”

I stood there blankly for a moment.

Many thoughts quickly tangled in my head.

And finally, I nodded.

“Okay.”

I answered, trying to be as calm as possible.

But in my heart, I was making a completely different plan.

Because the closer I got to the water, the more dizzy I became.

“Good. Drink it.”

I pretended to listen to her and slowly moved my steps.

Then I suddenly turned and ran to the corner of the room.

There was a faint door that looked like an exit.

The door was barely visible on one wall of the room.

Sia shouted in a panicked voice from behind.

“What are you doing?! That’s…!”

I ignored her voice and ran towards the door.

As I ran, I reached out and pushed the door.

Fortunately, the door was not locked.

“Please, please…!”

I opened the door and jumped inside.

I heard Sia’s voice from behind.

“Come back! That door is…!”

Her cry disappeared as the door closed.

February 1, 2025.

Day 1 in an unidentified space.

I met a strange woman today.

Her name was Sia.

When I first saw her, I thought I finally met a person, but something was strange.

Sia brightened up saying that I was the first survivor she had met in a long time.

Then she grabbed my hand, and I was so startled that I shook it off.

Ugh!

She apologized and said that to get out of here, I had to drink the water from the hole in the middle of the room.

The water was pink.

It wasn’t clear, but it was shining so brightly.

It was an incredibly unrealistic color.

Drink that?

Honestly, no matter how much I think about it, it’s impossible.

Sia said she drank it too, but did she really?

The expression and look in her eyes when she spoke seemed a bit off.

She didn’t properly explain what the water was or why I should drink it.

In the end, I couldn’t trust Sia.

Instead of the water in the hole, I chose the door I found in the corner of the room.

The door seemed like it shouldn’t be there, but it was open anyway, so I ran there.

When I opened the door and went in, I think I heard Sia shouting something.

But before I could hear what she was saying, the door closed.

Where I am now is another hallway.

But this time, something is different.

The flickering sound of the fluorescent lights is louder, and the air is much heavier.

I don’t know where this hallway leads.

But at least I won’t go back to the room with the pink water.

I don’t want to see Sia again either.

…I wonder if I made the right choice.

No, I had to.

Let’s not regret it.

Monster File: [Sia]

Form: She has the appearance of an adult woman.

She has long, sleek black hair and pale skin.

From a distance, she looks friendly and warm, but when you get closer, you can feel that her gaze is somewhat off.

Characteristics: At first, she approaches very kindly and friendly.

She greets the survivor with a welcoming face and tries to gain trust.

But there is a subtle discomfort in that kindness, and the longer you watch her, the more you feel a sense of incongruity.

She insists that the survivor must drink the pink water from the hole to escape this room.

Danger: Her claim sounds absurd, but there was a strange persuasiveness in her voice and attitude.

The pink water seems to have properties that cause hallucinations and mind control, not just a drink.

I felt dizzy just from the smell.

If I had listened to her and drank the water… Ugh, I don’t even want to imagine.

Weakness: Her physical strength doesn’t seem to be great.

Her influence seems to become stronger when the survivor drinks the water or believes her words, but it’s not certain.

If you doubt her or don’t respond to her claims, she seems to show a tendency to become impatient and lose control.

Caution: Don’t be fooled by her friendly attitude when you first meet her!

Never drink the ‘water in the hole’ that she talks about!

Her purpose and role in this space are not yet clear, but she doesn’t seem to be genuinely helping the survivor, so let’s run away for now!