Editor’s Survival Guide

“I will tear you to death. Seo Do-un.”

Ryu Dan-a spoke the sentence with a melody in her voice.

“I’ll rip you to shreds. Wait. Do not touch him now. This devilish bastard. Not yet. I have to go back. I’m hungry. I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him. Die, die, die die die die.”

Ryu Dan-a whispered with a smile, and I stopped breathing as I was.

It felt as if a curse-like whisper were licking my skin.

-It is a lie by concealment.

At that moment, Cha Si-eon’s voice cut off the unpleasant tension with a snap.

-She is only saying partial truths in order to hide the truth.

A lie by concealment, made by saying only partial truths.

Then that means the words she just said themselves are true. Swallowing my bewilderment, I asked back.

“……What on earth does that mean?”

“How would I know? I’m only saying what I heard.”

-That is true.

I loosened the necktie choking my throat a little.

“Hyung! I will play the filtered recording file first.”

Jae-gyeom shouted toward me.

If Ryu Dan-a spoke without context like this, we could not understand.

So we were going to play the recording in question and ask Ryu Dan-a the meaning of each section.

But Ryu Dan-a sharply refused.

“No, do not play it! I do not want to hear it!”

At the unexpected refusal, we looked toward Ryu Dan-a.

Then Ryu Dan-a spoke with a haughty face.

“It is only 140 seconds anyway. I remember everything, so do not play it. If you play that, I will not do this.”

-That is true.

How arbitrary.

Or does she have some hidden scheme?

But even if Ryu Dan-a insisted stubbornly, we had no way to force her.

Ryu Dan-a was not a criminal in this matter, and rather, she was cooperating with us.

“Why are you telling us not to play it? Is there some kind of problem?”

“It gives me the creeps!”

At my question, Ryu Dan-a shouted again.

-That is true.

Even with filtering, she does not want to listen to it again?

This does not look easy from the start.

-Mr. Seo Do-un, Acting Team Leader Oh says to proceed as is. Question No. 71 without playing the recording.

It felt vague, but there was nothing we could do.

“Then I will listen to the recording separately and continue asking questions.”

I stood and went toward Jae-gyeom.

Then I put on headphones and listened to the recording in question once more.

The first thing I heard was 20 seconds of silence.

And then static followed.

Hiss— hzzzzzz—

Crackle— crackle— tss-tss-tss—

Krrk— krr-krrk—

Hzzzzzz— hzzzt—

KREEEE—! Krr-krr-krrk—!

The sound that gradually grew louder continued for 36 seconds.

Aaaaaagh—!

And then a scream rang out.

This was a sound I had made.

It had been confirmed through voice analysis.

After that, there were another 13 seconds of silence.

“What happened……?”

“Why, until now…… could not…….”

“What on earth…… is …… exactly…….”

“Four times…… does that mean I already ……?”

“Why me, of all people?”

The section from 69 seconds to 132 seconds was filled by my voice.

I spoke very slowly, and there were gaps between my words.

As if I were listening to someone’s answer.

Then there was silence again for 12 seconds.

After that, what could be heard was the sound of the Bureau agents who had found me.

It was distressing even hearing it again.

Especially the final question.

“Why me, of all people?”

It seemed this question would follow me for a truly long time.

Sighing inwardly, I sat across from Ryu Dan-a again.

“What section was what you said earlier?”

“The very first part. From there until before you screamed.”

-That is true.

She had to point out that I screamed.

Looking at Ryu Dan-a’s mischievous smile, I asked back.

“Is this sound, by any chance, what you were afraid of, Ms. Ryu Dan-a?”

“Yeah, that is right.”

-That is true.

“Why is this sound frightening? To me, it only sounds like simple noise.”

“You just said it yourself. To you, it is just noise, so it is not scary.”

-She is glossing over it.

“Then are the things you mentioned earlier what frighten you, Ms. Ryu Dan-a? Words like ‘I will tear you to death’?”

“Yeah, because they are frightening words.”

-Lie.

Yes, anyone could see this was a lie.

When she had repeated them with a bright smile, and now she said she was frightened?

“Do you know what these things are, Ms. Ryu Dan-a?”

“No, I do not.”

-That is true.

“Was the one that made this sound a single entity, or were there several?”

“Several.”

“How many exactly?”

“For now, three are making sound.”

-That is true.

“What do you think they are, Ms. Ryu Dan-a?”

“I told you, I do not know.”

“An estimate is fine, so please tell me what you think.”

“There are a lot of strange monsters there, right? Maybe they are that kind of thing?”

-Lie. It is a moderately evasive answer.

How should I interpret this?

It was true that she did not know their identity, but when I asked what she thought, she dodged the question?

Accumulating information, I asked again.

“If you have another guess, please tell me.”

“I cannot say it.”

But Ryu Dan-a suddenly refused to testify.

When I was flustered by her confidence, Cha Si-eon cut in.

-That is true. Ask her the reason.

“Why can you not say it?”

“It is the same as you. Do-un, you cannot say it either.”

What is that supposed to…….

-That is true.

“…….”

When Cha Si-eon’s verification mixed with Ryu Dan-a’s cryptic words, it became even more confusing.

Before any needless misunderstanding could form, I clarified exactly.

“It is not that I cannot say it. I have no memory.”

“Yeah, I know. But even if you remembered, you would not be able to say it.”

-Truth. And light teasing.

At the word “teasing,” I furrowed my brow.

In reality, Ryu Dan-a was smiling like a cat.

It was the expression of someone who knew perfectly well that she was playing me this way and that.

And her eyes showed she was gladly enjoying it.

“……You also heard the part where my voice was recorded, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“At that time, was I talking to myself, or did I have someone I was talking to?”

“You had someone you were talking to.”

“That was…….”

“I cannot say it.”

Ryu Dan-a cut off the question with a smile.

“I cannot say what it was or what it said. If I say it, I will die.”

-That is true.

The context was a mess.

Meanwhile, because Cha Si-eon was directly hammering truth and falsehood into my head, I could not organize anything.

Unable to think for myself, my lost thoughts tangled into a mess.

“Are you frustrated?”

When I kept my mouth shut, Ryu Dan-a drew her eyebrows together and asked.

“What can I do if you are frustrated? I am being incredibly honest right now. Right?”

“…….”

“Whew, fine. Then I will teach you just one more thing.”

Pretending to read my mood, Ryu Dan-a spoke as if doing me a favor.

“You know the last question you asked in that recording.”

“……‘Why me, of all people?’”

“Yeah, that. This was the answer to that question.”

Meeting my eyes, Ryu Dan-a moved her small lips.

“Because I made you.”

It was nonsense.

No, it had to be nonsense.

But the sound burrowing into my ear did not even allow evasion.

-……That is true.

It felt as if the ground beneath my feet had collapsed.

As if I had been struck in the head, I stared at Ryu Dan-a in a daze.

Then I forced my voice out.

“What does that mean?”

“How would I know? Do-un, you were the one talking to that thing, so how would I know?”

-That is true.

“……Then why are you telling me this?”

“Because I do not know what it means. Why would I keep it secret when I do not even know the meaning? Do you not think so?”

Ryu Dan-a smiled brightly.

“Were you surprised? What can you do? That is why I told you. It is better not to know.”

Ryu Dan-a kept chattering, but it did not reach my ears well.

There were too many delusions surging in to fill the gap in my memory.

All I could do now was endure so I would not be swept away by them.

When my silence grew long, Ryu Dan-a whispered sweetly again.

“Do-un, how long has it been since you came here?”

“Hyung, you do not need to answer.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had been by the wall, cut in.

Ryu Dan-a glanced at Kwak Jae-gyeom and asked me again.

“How much do you trust those people?”

“No. 71, do not say anything useless.”

“Do-un, do not trust them too much. The real monsters are them. They stamp people as criminals or contaminated people and treat them as consumables. Do you know how ridiculous it is when you see that in person?”

“No. 71!”

Clatter—!

At Kwak Jae-gyeom’s raised voice, Ryu Dan-a kicked her chair back and stood.

Then she began glaring at Kwak Jae-gyeom as if she would kill him.

With eyes that seemed ready to bite him apart at any moment.

When Jae-gyeom flinched under that fierce gaze, Ryu Dan-a sat back down.

Then she murmured in a cold voice.

“How obnoxious. It is not as if I became like this because I wanted to. They treat people like germs. Who do they think they are?”

After throwing a fit once, Ryu Dan-a spoke to me again.

“Look at that. They keep saying 71, 71. They do not even treat me like a person. You might become like this soon too. No. 72, or maybe No. 73?”

“…….”

“What does that stalker say? Does he say I am lying?”

“No.”

“Then what? Did he actually admit it?”

“……He is saying nothing.”

“Hah, hilarious. Should the lie detector not be put on them?”

Ryu Dan-a snorted coldly.

Then she added as if she pitied me.

“Anyway, good people are the only ones to be pitied. They think others are good like them and just believe anyone like fools.”

“I am not particularly good.”

“No, you are good. Today, you were the only one who greeted me with ‘hello’ and called me ‘Ms. Ryu Dan-a.’”

Ryu Dan-a shook her head as she spoke.

Then she smiled sadly, like a cat soaked in rain.

“So do not trust anyone. You are in an incredibly dangerous situation right now.”

It felt suffocating, as if my throat were being strangled.

I slowly turned toward Cha Si-eon.

Beyond the glass window, he said nothing.

“You look tired. Shall we stop here? I have told you everything I can say.”

Ryu Dan-a spoke in a considerably calmer tone.

It was a voice one might mistake for concern toward me.

But I shook my head and declined.

“I am all right.”

“I have nothing more to say now.”

“I will ask just a few more questions.”

At my request, Ryu Dan-a reluctantly nodded.

As if she understood my confusion, Ryu Dan-a no longer smiled.

I looked at that Ryu Dan-a for a moment, then slowly began.

“Ms. Ryu Dan-a, do you know anything by chance about the side that talked with me and answered my questions?”

“No, I do not.”

-That is true.

“How many were they? They used the expression ‘we’. Were there multiple?”

“……I do not know.”

-That is true.

At Ryu Dan-a’s answer, I nodded.

“Are we done now?”

Ryu Dan-a asked while examining my expression.

As if there truly was nothing more to say now.

The length of that recording was only 144 seconds.

Excluding the blanks, the section where sound was recorded was only 1 minute and 30 seconds at most.

So this was enough to say we had dug out everything we could.

But there was still subtext left to read.

“Ms. Ryu Dan-a.”

“Yeah.”

“Earlier, you told that stalker over there to take off his clothes, correct?”

“Hm?”

At my question, Ryu Dan-a’s eyes rounded.

To that Ryu Dan-a, I asked back with utmost seriousness.

“By any chance, did you want to see that man’s body?”