How a Regressor Conquers the Tower of Urban Legends
Chapter 53
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
The sea and I really didn't have a good relationship.
The hospital was one thing.
Then there was the whale on Floor 3.
Whenever the sea got involved, things always seemed to go wrong.
"...Wait."
Still, I had to check what needed checking.
In a place where I had no information at all, being able to find other people at all was already fortunate.
The mascot shone the flashlight ahead.
This time, I took the lead and approached the bodies.
I'd expected something strange.
But this was even stranger than I'd imagined.
The app was called the National Emergency Escape App.
Yet the actual emergency escape location had nothing inside except corpses scattered across the floor.
That wasn't exactly what I'd pictured.
Suppressing the nausea rising in my throat, I carefully approached the bodies.
I really hated how used to this I was becoming...
But that was one thing.
This was another.
I took a deep breath and examined them.
"..."
Something was strange.
"They're too clean."
"?"
"They look like they died in their sleep."
Even the word died didn't feel quite right.
If anything, it looked more like they'd simply fallen asleep.
Every one of them had their eyes peacefully closed.
"People don't usually die this peacefully."
"..."
Images from Floor 1 surfaced in my mind.
I'd cleaned up more corpses there than I could count for the sake of the people coming after me.
Until my hands were stained red with blood.
I'd dry-heaved several times.
Eventually, I'd even thrown up everything in my stomach.
But I'd still finished the job.
And while clearing those bodies and opening a path, whether I liked it or not, I'd learned what people looked like when they died.
"..."
One of the corpses had fins.
It looked like the kind of mermaid I'd imagined from books or films.
In a different way from the mermaids I'd seen at the hospital, this one looked genuinely mermaid-like.
"!!!!!"
"Don't worry."
The mascot raised both hands in alarm.
I calmed it down and examined the bodies more carefully.
Let's see.
Seven corpses in total.
All of them had fish-like fins attached to their lower bodies.
And none of them had any external injuries.
"Did they drown?"
"..."
The mascot came closer and examined the corpses too.
It poked and prodded them for a while.
Then it vigorously shook its head.
"Not drowning?"
"!"
"Then how did they die?"
"?"
"How do you know it wasn't drowning if you don't know what killed them?"
I grumbled, but in the end, there was only one conclusion.
"Let's go."
"!"
We'd already come this far.
There was no turning back.
BEEEEEP!
Emergency alerts were still arriving.
<Water levels continue to rise due to record-breaking rainfall.>
<The national drainage system is currently unable to handle the amount of rain. Citizens are strongly advised to avoid going outside.>
<If you are already outdoors, beware of electrocution.>
<Residents remaining indoors should also prepare for possible power outages.>
I briefly looked outside.
The water had only reached my thighs earlier.
Now it was high enough that we'd have to swim.
"Haah."
We had to keep going.
I looked upward and carefully started climbing.
For a while, only my footsteps and the mascot's soft steps echoed through the dark stairwell.
Then...
"This is it."
"!"
A tightly shut door appeared ahead.
A wrinkled sheet of paper, swollen with moisture, had been crudely attached to it.
[National Emergency Escape Point]
"..."
Even the name was bizarre.
The design wasn't any better.
I carefully opened the door.
Creeeak.
The mascot stepped inside first, gripping the kitchen knife we'd brought from my house.
I tightened the Silent Headset over my ears, tied the softest pillow from home around my arm, and followed behind.
"!!!"
"I saw."
The mascot cautiously checked ahead, then nodded to show that nothing seemed wrong.
I followed it inside and looked around.
It was an ordinary home.
Just an old apartment unit.
There was a musty smell, the kind you'd expect from somewhere damp and poorly maintained.
Maybe it hadn't been renovated.
Or maybe the endless rain had soaked everything with moisture.
Either way, that was all.
"...!"
The mascot carefully looked around while holding the knife.
Then it nodded.
I let out a breath of relief and examined the place more closely.
"This doesn't look like an escape point at all."
"!"
Who would've thought an "escape point" would just be an ordinary apartment?
"Then the people downstairs..."
The corpses immediately came to mind.
Had they all come here and changed into that?
Or...
"!!!"
"What?"
The mascot suddenly began flailing its arms.
I cautiously followed it.
"...!!"
It came hopping toward me with a sheet of paper in its hands.
"What is that?"
"!!!"
I know you're excited.
What is it?
I carefully began reading.
[Report Regarding the Current Rainfall]
[Disaster Response Division — Kim Daeun]
[1. The torrential rain currently falling does not originate from ordinary meteorological causes.]
[2. It is not rain produced by scientific or weather-related conditions. It appears to be falling from somewhere without cause.]
[3. Scientists across the world are currently investigating the phenomenon, but no cause has yet been identified.]
