Silent Manor

“They say Memorial Park is along the narrow path beside the building.”

“This way, right?”

“Yeah. Oh, there’s a sign over there.”

Recalling the map we had seen inside, I spoke as I spotted the sign pointing toward the park.

The path was narrow.

Just wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

As we stepped into the trail lined densely with landscaped trees, the drizzling rain was blocked by the canopy, dwindling to almost nothing.

Even though no raindrops were striking the umbrella anymore, Ju Noeul did not lower it.

We walked the narrow path at a slowed pace, adjusting to each other.

We did not speak.

There wasn’t anything particular to say.

I simply fidgeted with the ticket tucked in my pocket and recalled the faces of my parents from the photograph earlier.

There had not been the slightest hint of a smile on their faces.

Unlike the others who wore faint smiles, they had looked excessively solemn.

‘They must have been serious people by nature.’

Not that I cared.

The moment I thought that, my grip must have tightened unconsciously.

I felt the ticket I had been fiddling with tear with a faint snap.

Ah.

I had meant to return it intact.

I pulled it from my pocket to check.

As expected, the perforated section had been messily torn halfway through.

Perhaps he had been watching me fidget with it, because Ju Noeul spoke in a tone of mild disdain.

“Why are you tearing that?”

“I wasn’t trying to. But it was given to be used anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

At his condescending tone, I shot him a slight glare and tore the half-ripped ticket cleanly along the perforation before slipping it back into my pocket.

“It’d be troublesome if someone else used it.”

“Oh, is that so.”

When I offered that blunt excuse, Ju Noeul let out a faint scoff.

After putting the ticket away and lowering my gaze for a moment, I looked forward and suddenly thought—

‘Isn’t this path a bit long…?’

Even walking slowly, it felt far longer than expected.

On the map, it hadn’t looked this long.

“But isn’t it farther than we thought?”

Ju Noeul spoke first.

I nodded.

“It’s different from what it looked like on the map.”

The moment I said that, the sound of raindrops hitting the leaves stopped abruptly.

The insects that had been chirping everywhere fell silent as well.

In the blink of an eye, everything around us became still.

Ju Noeul immediately threw the umbrella aside and grabbed my arm.

His grip was rough.

A dreadful premonition swept coldly through my entire body.

This feeling— no way.

[Special item usage has been detected!]

[Due to item activation, the event of one nearby individual centered on the player’s current location will automatically proceed.]

[Nearby individual detected.]

[Target ‘Ju Noeul’ event will proceed.]

As the messages cascaded rapidly, a sense of injustice surged through me.

‘What item did I use? I don’t even have anything like that!’

[Generating event based on player affinity.]

[!! Player affinity measurement is currently suspended.]

[Generating event randomly….]

[Random event generation in progress….]

This is a glitch.

If it’s a glitch, then stop!

Why are you generating an event?!

But as always, the system had never once listened to me.

Naturally, it ignored my protest this time as well.

[Random event generation complete!]

[Generating event field ‘Silent Manor’.]

[For smooth event progression, generating event field ‘Rift’.]

[Entering ‘Ju Noeul’ event field ‘Silent Manor’.]

[Due to personal event progression, sub-scenario ‘Ju Noeul 1. Trust’ will proceed.]

[Event objective generated!]

The long-unseen system window displayed thoroughly unwelcome messages.

While I glared at it, Ju Noeul and I were dropped into a Rift field called ‘Silent Manor.’

“The Rift just suddenly…”

As Ju Noeul muttered with a frown, the event objective was forming before my eyes.

He would see it too if he checked beside him, but he was too busy assessing the suddenly formed Rift.

So I saw the objective first.

He did not.

[Event Objective!]

[All individuals within this field must escape within field time ‘72 hours’.]

[The mandatory condition of this field is ‘Silence’. All intelligent lifeforms within the field must not produce any sound from this moment onward.]

The instant I read that, I reached up.

As Ju Noeul turned toward me, I covered his mouth with my palm.

“What—”

He tried to make a sound, muffled against my hand.

I gestured toward the system window.

Only then did he see the message.

He went quiet.

After confirming he had shut his mouth, I narrowed my eyes and met his gaze.

‘You’re keeping it shut, right?’

I stared as if asking that silently.

He nodded in understanding.

I let out a silent sigh and returned my gaze to the system window.

[However, each individual is granted 3 opportunities to speak. Please communicate only when absolutely necessary.]

[For ‘Ju Noeul’, due to 1 spoken instance, 2 opportunities remain.]

After reading the message, Ju Noeul thumped his chest and raked his hands wildly through his hair.

He had wasted a precious speaking opportunity on “The Rift just suddenly…”.

Maintaining composure, I stared at him.

Filling my gaze with the word—

‘Idiot.’

“….”

He drooped his shoulders miserably.

Ju Noeul seemed to have understood my thoughts perfectly.

‘Idiot.’

Leaving the sulking Ju Noeul aside, more messages appeared.

[The owner of the Hidden Field ‘Silent Manor’ despises noise.]

[To escape, six record players located within the manor must be activated.]

[The owner, who despises noise, will expel from the manor the individual who activates a record player.]

[Escape is also possible by killing the ‘Owner’ of the Hidden Field.]

[[TIP! However, this method is not recommended.]]

[No other escape method exists aside from the owner’s death or activation of all record players.]

[The number of record players is fixed at six. Take care not to damage them.]

[‘Silent Manor’ periodically alters the positions and structures of all rooms.]

[[TIP! If separated from your companion, there is a high probability you may never reunite. Exercise caution!]]

[0/6]

The final window displaying the count of activated record players appeared, and the messages ceased.

After confirming everything, I struggled intensely to suppress the urge to scream.

Ju Noeul had clenched both fists before his forehead, eyes squeezed shut.

He looked just as frustrated.

“….”

“….”

After a long moment of simmering indignation, we finally calmed enough to look at each other.

Was it my imagination, or had Ju Noeul’s eyes lost focus?

They looked hazy with the desire to smash this entire manor apart.

Still, to escape this Rift, we had to do what the system demanded.

Not being able to speak was frustrating, but for me, it wasn’t the worst condition.

At the very least, it wasn’t demanding that Ju Noeul and I engage in something indecent.

The system had even allowed three speaking opportunities.

If a single opportunity could stretch into multiple sentences, perhaps a lot could be said in one go.

That was my optimistic assumption.

I held out my hand to Ju Noeul.

‘What?’

‘Take it.’

[!Warning! Communication through spoken words will also be counted as a speaking opportunity. Each individual has lost 1 opportunity.]

“….”

“….”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

The profanity was readable in Ju Noeul’s eyes.

He likely saw the same in mine.

After reading the floating message, we both shut our eyes tightly and bit down on our lips.

Rage surged violently.

Ju Noeul, having already wasted two chances, was restraining even greater fury than I was.

His anger was evident in the sharp rise and fall of his chest.

Now I had 2 opportunities left.

Ju Noeul had 1.

I pressed my lips firmly shut and grabbed his hand.

From this point on, we would have to read each other entirely through intuition.

I looked at him directly and tightened my grip.

‘We can’t get separated, so let’s hold hands. Got it?’

I lifted our joined hands slightly, hoping he would understand.

Ju Noeul sighed and nodded.

With his free hand, he gestured toward the wide hall we stood in, then raised one finger.

‘First floor?’

That was roughly my guess.

Whether I was right or not, there was no way to confirm.

I simply nodded as if I understood.

He then drew a large circle in the air with his raised finger.

I interpreted again.

‘Let’s search the first floor first.’

It was a reasonable assumption.

For now, this was all our communication amounted to.

But I could already foresee how suffocating it would become as time passed.

Led by Ju Noeul’s hand, I began walking.

Though I had been the one to grab his hand first, it was Ju Noeul who held on more firmly.

Even if I loosened my grip, he made sure I could not slip away.

Guided by his grasp, we opened the nearest door.

Like the hall, the room was barren.

The manor felt dry and desolate.

Even the name was tasteless.

Surely the owner was as emotionally parched as this room.

I fervently criticized the unseen owner in my mind.

The moment we stepped inside, the room suddenly trembled with a grinding noise.

‘What now?’