Chapter 110
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[(Shock)]
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Before I could even figure anything out, I grabbed the hammer first. When? How? I didn’t hear anything… when did it…
Figuring out how it got in wasn’t difficult. The statue showed itself. It walked little by little so the bell wouldn’t ring. Half a step, half a step.
With the most optimal movement to avoid making any bell sound. And now, holding a mace, it was looking at me. It was definitely a statue, and its head was entirely covered with a veil, so I couldn’t see it.
But it felt like it was grinning ear to ear.
Was that just my imagination?
Clink.
Rrrrrk.
Now the statue wasn’t hiding it anymore.
Clink. Clink.
Rrrrk. Rrk.
Clink-clink-clink.
Rrk. Rrrrk.
Clink-clink-clink-clink-clink.
Rrrrrrrk. Rrrk.
Clink-clink-clink-clink-clink-clink-clink-clink-clink-clink-clink-clink-clink-clink-clink.
No… it was making noise on purpose.
As if shouting: I’m here. There’s prey here.
It was using “sound” intelligently. They said it had lost its reason. Clearly lost it.
“Lee Hoin!!”
I shouted to Lee Hoin somewhere in the next room, and at the same time raised my hammer, circling to the side to avoid the statue approaching with the mace. I had to get out. I had to.
The statue lightly swung its mace and slammed the floor.
Crack!
Clink.
The mace embedded in the wooden floor, splitting it in half, then slowly rose again.
‘Ha, what a pain.’
I had to shake it off. There was nothing good about making this much noise here.
“Hey, Nam Muyeong!”
Lee Hoin called me from the hallway.
Of course, I needed to shake it off… but the problem was that the statue was perfectly blocking the door. Even though Lee Hoin was calling me from outside, the statue remained locked onto me as its target.
It knew. To get out, I had to go that way.
So…
‘It’s blocking me.’
—
[Its intelligence is quite considerable. Should we change the narrator?]
—
Craaack!
Clink!
The mace lifted again and smashed the floor. I wondered why it kept breaking the floor, but…
‘Ha, it’s making obstacles.’
It was creating an environment where I couldn’t properly plant my footing. So that when I approached, I’d expose an opening.
For a moment, I frowned and stayed in a standoff. Then, at some point, Lee Hoin approached from behind and raised his hand high to smash the statue.
Clearly, he thought turning around would require too many resources. However…
Grrrk.
Rrk.
The statue moved differently. As if front, back, left, and right didn’t matter at all, it simply twisted its neck with a grinding sound and swung the mace toward where Lee Hoin was.
Clink!
With a loud bell sound, the mace smashed the floor where Lee Hoin had just been standing.
Damn it, what are we supposed to do if it moves like that?
Rrrk.
The statue looked back at me again.
For a moment, I let out a hollow laugh… From far away, faint bell sounds and grinding noises echoed.
The statues were gathering.
At the very least, I had to get Lee Hoin out. Or finish this quickly and leave.
—
[Do you think you can overcome this situation alone?]
[After always receiving help, now you’re acting distant. (Laughter)]
[For someone who always says, “I can handle it myself,” your success rate isn’t very good.]
—
…That wasn’t wrong.
“Ha.”
I exhaled once and slowly approached, stepping only on intact sections of the floor.
“Lee Hoin, greatsword. Use your greatsword! See that head joint? Cut that joint off. I’ll attack from the front too.”
Speaking calmly, I raised the hammer. Once I took a ready stance, the statue turned to face me again.
Rrk.
As I exhaled, I lifted the hammer first and brought it down on the head. At the same time, the statue spun its body widely as if rotating and swung the mace.
And while that mace was heading toward me, Lee Hoin slashed horizontally with his greatsword.
Thunk
It sounded like something got caught… as if it snagged on something. Undeterred, Lee Hoin pushed harder. With a grinding noise, a gap began to open.
Kagagagak!
As if to knock away the greatsword, the statue forcibly tried to rotate its body. I raised the hammer once more and brought it down on its arm.
A sharp vibration rang through my hand, like I had struck solid rock.
“Ha…….”
Reflexively, I dropped the hammer and exhaled sharply.
Thud!
At the same time, the statue’s head fell off. The statue stood motionless, as if paused, and I took a brief moment to catch my breath.
‘…It’s not showing “defeated”?’
Whatever.
Run.
I grabbed the hammer and immediately leapt over the statue, heading into another room. I couldn’t even tell where I was anymore. The mansion was vast, and every hallway looked the same.
Like a backroom maze.
Breathing heavily, I hid in a dark room and waited for the insane grinding and clinking sounds to pass. Just in case, I even controlled my breathing.
Then…
Something rustled in a corner of the dark room.
Lee Hoin reacted quickly and drew his sword, and I pulled out my phone and shone the flashlight.
There was a drawer shaking, its door rattling.
‘What now?’
I’m sick of this. Frowning, I pressed my ear against the door behind me to consider leaving… but in the hallway, the statues were still lingering, the clinking sounds continuing.
‘Now that I know they can control that sound precisely.’
I couldn’t relax at all. In the end, it was better to deal with this before it suddenly jumped out and created another variable.
—
[You might end up poking a sleeping lion’s whiskers.]
—
Still, I had to check. I stood up slowly and carefully approached it.
Honestly, I thought it might be a person.
It felt like the trembling of someone gripping a doorknob in fear. The drawer itself was small enough that I could easily subdue whatever was inside.
The moment I opened it and reached out to cover its mouth…
Lee Hoin grabbed the handle and signaled.
One. Two. Three.
Click.
As it opened, I quickly covered the face with a cloth and immediately shone my phone light on it.
“……!!!”
White cloth. And beneath it, a small head.
Holding its mouth shut as it tried to cry out in grievance, I didn’t even need to hear it to know what it would say.
Thief. Intruder.
***
“If I let you go, you have to stay quiet. Got it?”
When I spoke softly, the child, still glaring with defiant eyes, furrowed his brow deeply at me. After a long standoff with his mouth covered, he finally nodded.
Even so, I didn’t relax. Kids are good at lying… and fickle. Especially ones this defiant.
When I loosened my grip slightly, he mumbled:
“You–what are you? Why–!”
As expected, his voice started rising, so I covered his mouth again.
“I said be quiet.”
“Mmph…!”
“Good. Want to see who gets tired first? Stay gagged, or speak quietly.”
I had 20 years of experience living in an orphanage. Not that I was particularly great with kids, but…
Eventually, the kid nodded tearfully. I let go again.
“Stay quiet. Don’t raise your voice.”
“Okay……”
Up close, he looked about seven years old.
‘If he’s part of the Bernhardt family…’
He might be the key.
“You live here?”
When I asked, he answered as if it were obvious:
“This is my house. You nasty intruder.”
“Then you know your way around.”
“Obviously. Who doesn’t know their own house?”
This is it. This place was impossible to navigate… but if we take him along, he could guide us.
‘…Still, just in case.’
The fact that he was a child bothered me. He was likely an agent of the “Nightmare Brat.”
As I stared at him, the blanket shifted slightly. From inside, a small, soft white hand popped out.
It pointed straight at me.
“Get out. You monster.”
What a personality. Should I sign him up for some child counseling program?
—
[I am curious.]
[All servants here have become statues.]
[The only ones that appear alive are “adults” and “special taggers.” Then what is this being?]
—
Exactly. What is he?
I frowned. If he’s a Bernhardt, then who’s the special tagger?
“What are you, exactly? Who are you?”
“What does it matter to you?”
This brat… with his sharp and rude tone was clearly a pampered young master.
“Are you going to keep talking to adults like that?”
“Adult? Adult? That’s hilarious! What kind of adult is an intruding robber like you?!”
When I glanced at Lee Hoin, he had already moved far away. Well, he didn’t seem like the type to be good with kids anyway.
Watching the kid’s voice rise again, I finally pulled him out of the drawer and subdued him physically.
You know… the kind of restraint you see in parenting programs.
Let’s fix this brat’s attitude first.
“I told you to stay quiet. Where did you learn those manners?”
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