By Zephyria 
“That was Sunbae earlier, right? Has he already become an Aberration strong enough to enter an Aberrant Realm?”
Jeil Heon, who had been lost in thought with one hand on his hip, relaxed his expression. He explained things to Yoo Jiha calmly, as if giving a lecture.
“Well, for starters, Aberrations mutated from urban legends don’t stray far from their origins. But it’s strange for Park Jun-yeol, whose presence has vanished, to show aggression with his joints bent like that, isn’t it? What did you think?”
“It could be the result of a clumsy imitation of a human… but he looked like a doll with its joints put in wrong. Or maybe a marionette?”
“I thought so too. You didn’t see any True Eye Text, right? No matter how high the rank of an Aberration, at least one unidentifiable character of the True Eye Text is usually visible. But the complete absence of True Eye Text means only one thing. It wasn’t the main body.”
“Ah…”
“I suspect the darkness that sucked Park Jun-yeol in is closer to the main body. It wasn’t Park Jun-yeol who entered the escape room cafe, but the darkness.”
“…Could it be the Aberration that manipulated the hospital’s CCTV?”
“Probably. Above all, the mutation speed is too fast. The entity that kidnapped Park Jun-yeol at the hospital likely contaminated him.”
Jiha’s mind became even more cluttered. He had heard he would become an Aberration, but facing it in person was more shocking than he had expected.
As he sat crouched, letting out heavy sighs, Jeil Heon took off his jacket and spread it on the ground.
“Save the worrying for after we escape. You’ve suffered a lot in an Aberrant Realm without even a Procedure Manual.”
“Right, I really feel like I’ve suffered. It felt like I walked 100,000 steps. But is it okay if I sit on your jacket? It looked like a new one…”
“I wore it to look pretty for you, so I’d be honored if you sat on it.”
Even as he tentatively lowered his backside onto the jacket, Jiha’s lips twitched involuntarily at the words. It would be a problem if he looked any prettier than this.
The two lay side by side in the wilderness. The night sky, mimicking reality, was filled with stars that were hard to see from the outside. There was at least one thing worth seeing in an Aberrant Realm. Above all, lying under a night sky overflowing with stars made it feel a bit like a date.
“I was really looking forward to today’s date. I was planning to comfort you if you were scared of the escape room cafe.”
Jeil Heon, who had been letting Jiha use his arm as a pillow, reacted sluggishly to the comment before slowly speaking.
“Jiha. Actually, this old man is trembling because he’s so scared right now.”
The robotic, stiff delivery—like reading from a textbook—made Jiha burst into laughter. Laughing excitedly, Yoo Jiha lightly tapped Jeil Heon’s chest.
“I’m telling you, an AI would be better at acting than you. How did you ever film movies with that acting back in the day? Was it silent films, after all?”
“How did you know there were no lines?”
As it turned out, his role had been a fantasy man so beautiful that the protagonist, who possessed bleak and dried-up emotions, fell in love at first sight. Because he was a distant, unreachable fantasy, it was a role that truly only required his face.
“Actually, there were lines, but after a few readings, they revised the script so I wouldn’t say a single word.”
“There… there weren’t any kissing scenes, right?!”
“Mm-hm. I’ve never held hands with anyone except our Jiha. This old man is as pure as the white snow of those snowy fields.”
“There’s no snow here, though.”
Regardless, the anecdotes he shared about filming a short movie 30 years ago were entertaining. Jiha had been indifferent to retro things, but after meeting him, he felt a retro preference developing.
After chatting happily for a while, Jeil Heon’s hand slowly brushed against Yoo Jiha’s lower lip.
“It’s true that I was scared.”
Jiha wondered if this was another joke. But from the familiarity felt in the deep, dark gaze, Yoo Jiha knew he was being sincere. Whether he was lost in thought or chatting, his eyes were constantly checking on Jiha’s well-being.
Looking into his left eye, which held a dim light since it wasn’t entirely dark outside, Yoo Jiha asked quietly.
“…When?”
“When Park Jun-yeol appeared.”
If it hadn’t been for him, Jiha would have surely suffered a major injury and a great shock to his heart. Because Jeil Heon was there, it ended with a momentary fright, but the same wasn’t true for him. The only weakness of this man, who was so straight and strong that he feared nothing, was Jiha himself.
Amidst a poignant ache that felt like it was tightening deep in his chest, Yoo Jiha moved his lips.
“…I’m okay.”
But it was so faint that it was barely audible even to his own ears. Putting strength into his abdomen and raising his voice slightly, he hugged Jeil Heon’s shoulder.
“I’m okay as long as you’re here.”
As long as he was here, he was fine. He wasn’t scared at all. Even the worry or fear that he might not be able to escape after being stranded alone in an Aberrant Realm bypassed him.
Lips descended upon the fingertips that were quietly caressing his face. Soft lips traced his forehead and cheeks as if confirming his safety once more, passing over the bridge of his nose and philtrum before reaching his upper lip.
A slight shiver ran down his spine at the sensation of a light, sucking kiss. Heat tangled between their carefully overlapped lips. Buried in the touch enveloping his neck, Jiha moved his tongue as he had learned from him, matching his pace. Though it must have been incredibly clumsy, a low moan escaped from between their locked lips.
The slow, probing movement grew deeper. The heat, rubbing against the rough surface of the tongue and sweeping across the roof of the mouth, was dizzying, as if it were touching his consciousness directly rather than just his lips. He loved kissing him. The large hand that continuously caressed his earlobe and the nape of his neck while kissing felt like proof of how much he was cherished.
The warmth lingering in his mouth was quite tender, but Yoo Jiha knew another side of his kisses. The first kiss, which had pushed in roughly as if to devour him. He wondered. Why didn’t he kiss him like that now? The curiosity melted away as quickly as it had arisen amidst the rising heat. Gasping for air, Yoo Jiha clung to him with all his might.
Until now, Jeil Heon had kissed him while leaning over and keeping their bodies slightly apart, so this was the first time their bodies were pressed so closely together. That was why Yoo Jiha didn’t immediately realize what the sensation was when his leg brushed against the other’s thigh.
“…Haa.”
Suddenly, Jeil Heon pulled his lips away somewhat abruptly. He rubbed his face roughly and sat up. Yoo Jiha followed suit, sitting up in a daze.
“Why, why? Did another Aberration enter?”
Jeil Heon meticulously tidied Yoo Jiha’s hair, which had been messed up from kissing while lying down, before answering.
“Come to think of it, I believe the search team coming to rescue us should be arriving soon.”
“Already? It took a long time for you and me to solve the puzzles in there.”
“If I were the Head of section, I would have used an Emergency Measure.”
He soon found out what that ‘Emergency Measure’ was. The exit of the Ulala Escape Room Cafe burst open, and Song Hilda and an unfamiliar man appeared.
“Team leader! Jiha-ssi!”
The two, holding Major Abnormal Weapons in both hands, were carrying a lot of heavy-looking gear.
“Ugh, Sunbae! I missed you so much! The puzzles here are so perverted!”
“Me too! You’re not hurt, right?”
Only after the boisterous reunion ended did they realize that everything they had brought were bombs and rocket launchers.
“I threatened the painting, saying that if they didn’t open the exit, I’d blast through the wall with firepower! Do I seem a bit like the Team leader now?”
“Wow, Sunbae is the best! You’re totally like the Team leader!”
“I thought I’d have to set off a few bombs, but they opened it quickly. A bit disappointing.”
“The maid sisters killed people like that, but they’re surprisingly cowards,” the unfamiliar man, a tall Caucasian, chuckled and greeted Jeil Heon. His Korean was fluent, though he had a foreign accent.
“I am Jeong Ing-bar, Captain of the Fifth Response Unit of the Annihilation Execution Department.”
With that, the man held out his right hand, which was wrapped in a priest’s stole like a bandage, as if for a handshake.
“Bearer Sunbae.”
* * *
[Hidden World Record]
Name: Ulala Escape Room Cafe
Classification: Aberrant Realm-O-B.Ca-029
First Sighting Date: August 10, 202X
Survival Rate: Less than 10%
Exploration Rate: Estimated 7%
Unexplored Areas: Maid Sisters, Ghost Ship, etc.
Remarks: An Emergency Measure was used once during the 3rd exploration. As everyone knows, repeated use of Emergency Measures alters the interior of the Aberrant Realm, resetting the Exploration Rate. Of course, your life and safety are the most important, so please use them without hesitation in unavoidable cases.
Since it has been proven that it is safe while solving puzzles, we will first attempt to write a Procedure Manual without closing the area. Considering the peculiarity of this Aberrant Realm, where few personnel can enter, applications will be accepted individually rather than by team. We encourage many volunteers among Agents who have a deep interest in escape room games or puzzles.
During the 2nd exploration, it was confirmed that the ‘College Student Without Presence (Reference Link)’, presumed to have become an anomaly, intruded at the exit. A portion of the acquired body was analyzed, but no components capable of identifying the Aberration’s identity were found. This leads to the assumption that the body was designed from the start to have its arm severed. Do not lower your guard until you have completely exited.