I followed Jelly into the damp mansion.
Whether it was because of the rain, the place was humid as though someone had turned on a humidifier in the middle of summer. To exaggerate a bit, it felt as though I were wandering through a jungle or swimming underwater.
Of course… while I had experienced such an environment on many occasions, and my body was not particularly affected, I couldn’t help but feel an odd sense of discomfort.
After all, even my usually sturdy body would sometimes feel slick or sticky in this high humidity. It was no surprise that my body would react this way to such conditions.
It’s true that similar poles of a magnet repel each other, but this situation seemed to be different.
Nevertheless… there was an inexplicable and unsettling sensation. A strange unease stirred within me as I followed Jelly. I checked my surroundings to see if something was reaching towards me, but I saw nothing unusual.
I glimpsed sporadic spaces pulsing strangely, but as they showed no other movement aside from the pulsing, they didn’t seem to be the cause.
Thus, the situation seemed to grow more puzzling.
There were no visible elements causing this discomfort.
As I continued walking with Jelly—step, step—I began to hear a peculiar sound emanating from Jelly.
Krrrek… krrrrlek… kkk.
A hair-raising, unprecedented sound, something so grotesque I had never encountered in all my life. Though confident in my resilience to most surprises, this subtle eeriness was somewhat disconcerting.
Unlike me, Jelly’s group, hopping energetically, seemed unfazed, urging me to hurry up.
“Hey… you don’t feel it, do you? This ominous sensation? Is it because you’re not connected to my Jelly? Maybe I should’ve brought a different Jelly.”
Actually, since it was me who instructed them to look for anomalies, making excuses in this manner felt somewhat ridiculous.
But what could I do about this ominous feeling?
Sometimes situations like this happen, don’t they? Like feeling unease leading you to try a different commute method, only to find later that an accident occurred on your usual route.
Though rare, once experienced, such feelings tend to linger in your mind indefinitely.
Right now, it felt similar. Following Jelly felt like walking into impending doom. If this were about resolving the mansion’s mystery, perhaps it would be acceptable, but my gut feeling suggested otherwise.
If someone were to ask why I was so unnerved when I couldn’t even see the source, I wouldn’t have an answer immediately. However, any person placed here would react similarly—maybe I should wager the remote control to prove it…
Ah, never mind.
Since there was no way to turn back, I moved reluctantly forward.
The lively Jelly led me to what seemed like a kitchen. As we drew closer, the strange sounds from earlier became clearer.
Krrrek… krrrrlek.
It sounded like something boiling. Too alien to be made by a human yet too human-like to be mechanical.
Ms. Hwang Bo-yul must be feeling unwell inside.
Even if she could hear me, Bo-yul wouldn’t respond, and my voice wouldn’t reach her, so this concern was meaningless.
I entered the kitchen.
The first thing I noticed was a large table—large, at least to me. It was covered with a tablecloth stained with some dark-red substance, making it look unsanitary. If this were where food was served, even Daesik or Sosik—let alone Jungsik—would probably avoid it.
Though, I’m unsure how the energetic little Jelly would react.
Thankfully, there was no food laid out on the table. If there had been, it likely would’ve been rancid, reeking with flies buzzing around.
Even in the Jelly industry, that wouldn’t qualify as a reward.
Next, I noticed the typical furniture you’d find in a kitchen—like the old-school gas range and a grimy sink with a faucet.
A cabinet filled with broken plates—and a refrigerator.
The reason I mentioned the refrigerator last? The strange sound—krrrek, krrrrlek—was emanating from inside it.
Under the faint, sleep-inducing lighting, the creepy sound kept echoing without respite.
Swallowing my unease, I cautiously approached the refrigerator.
One step. Another.
With each step, I noticed an oddly familiar smell—nothing pleasant to recall. It was a pungent smell—a metallic tang.
It was blood.
The stains on the tablecloth seemed like blood. The dark-red trails led straight to the refrigerator.
It looked like either something from the table went inside, or something from inside ended up on the table.
Anyway, to get to the source of the sound, I would need to open the fridge.
I took a deep breath and grabbed the refrigerator’s handle. It was then I realized something was off.
When you envision a refrigerator handle, what comes to mind? Typically, it’s rough or smooth plastic, perhaps even fabric.
But the handle I touched was none of those. It appeared normal, but the texture felt like bone—hard yet oddly bumpy, with a slightly slick sensation.
While my emotions warned me not to open the fridge, my rational side urged me to see what’s inside—though usually, emotions and logic are supposed to conflict, right?
Anyway.
After much internal debate, I slightly opened the fridge.
As I opened it, a faint light illuminated the interior.
And then…
“Grrrrlek… grrrlek… grrrrlek.”
I came face-to-face with a human face with a gaping mouth. The face inside the fridge was pressed against the back, and from the wide-open mouth came the sound “grrrrlek,” spitting out foul-smelling breath.
It was almost as if the person’s mouth had become part of the refrigerator. Instead of cool air, I felt the warm breath that should come from a human throat.
I tried not to scream as I yanked the fridge door fully open, thinking I needed to rescue the person who might have stumbled into the fridge.
But as the fridge fully opened, revealing its contents…
I unconsciously wrinkled my face. Even though I wasn’t a doctor or someone in a related field, what I saw was unmistakable—it was no longer human. Whatever it once was, it had now become part of the fridge. Or perhaps the fridge had become part of it.
The bone-like texture I had felt on the handle made sense now. Touching the fridge’s exterior revealed a grotesque resemblance to human skin, stretched and distorted.
Then the crimson streaks around the fridge must be blood, and the metallic smell—definitely the smell of blood.
“Grrrlek, grrrrlek…”
The sound from the unknown person’s throat grew louder as the fridge door opened, like the cooling mechanism emitting chilled air.
The head inside the fridge’s gurgling eyes rolled toward me.
But the mouth made no other sounds aside from “grrrrlek.”
I felt my Jelly trembling as I closed the fridge door and stepped back.
I had no idea how to handle this situation.
Should I destroy it to put it out of its misery? Was there even any consciousness left? Was the eye movement a deliberate act or merely reflexive?
My thoughts were chaotic.
I didn’t know what to do.
So, my chosen course of action was…
To retreat. Not exactly running away—it was a strategic retreat. No, even “retreat” seemed too dignified a term. It was simply following another Jelly that had appeared and was bouncing energetically elsewhere.
I thought I had become immune to shock, but clearly, this was arrogant thinking.
Though my heart didn’t race—since I don’t have one—the feelings of unease and revulsion were unmistakable. Meanwhile, I also wondered why my reaction felt too muted.
Would a human—non-Jelly—have already collapsed in the corner, retching, or gagging?
Why could I remain so composed?
That was something I didn’t want to dwell on too much. Perhaps it was just a survival adaptation.
Meanwhile, another Jelly led me to a different location.
There…
…I was greeted by other “human furniture,” distinct from the refrigerator.
I had asked for strange things, but finding something this bizarre…
Before I could vent my frustration, I heard a voice.
“Whoo… youuu…?”
Shit, that startled me!
