NOVEL WEB Chapter 31 – Engraved
The sticky note that was originally white, had now turned yellow.
I turned over to Allena, “Hey! Take a look, the sticky note changed color.”
Allena was confused at my yellow sticky note, “Huh? Wait… How?
Nothing happened when I placed mine down…”
“See, I told you.
All you needed to do was think about a question before placing it onto the board.”
I smirked.
“Still think this was a ‘worthless detail’ Mrs. Side Character?”
Allena glared at me, “You…
All it did was change color. How the hell is that supposed to help us get out of here-”
Rumble. Rumble.
What the..?
Allena and I backed away from the bulletin board. The bulletin board was shaking and the sticky notes around mine started moving as if it gained life.
My yellow sticky note was eventually submerged into the cluster of moving sticky notes. Then after a few seconds, the sticky notes parted away from the area where my sticky note was placed.
Leaving one sticky note behind that read…
‘Clock-in for work’.
Both of us stared confusingly at the note left behind.
Allena spoke out first,
“‘Clock-in for work’? What does that mean?
Just what exactly did you ask?”
I shared the same reaction, “Huh… What the…”
I thought back at what I asked before placing down the sticky note.
‘How do we leave this place?’
Wait… If that was my question, then to leave this store… We have to ‘clock-in’ for work?
I recalled what I thought over to Allena, “Umm… Well, I asked if there was a way to leave this place.
But well...
This answer just prompted us for another question…”
Allena widened her eyes, “So you’re saying we have to clock-in to leave this place?”
“I mean… It says so on the sticky note-”
Allena wasted no time to grab another sticky note from the stool.
She then turned to the board and yelled, “Hey! Whoever is answering our questions… How exactly do we ‘clock-in’ for work?”
She placed her white sticky note on top of the yellow note at the center of the board.
Rumble. Rumble.
Same as before, Allena's sticky note had changed color. After fully converting from white to red, the sticky notes started shifting around again. Fully submerging her note, and unveiling another red note from the parting sticky notes.
‘Unable to clock-in before being engraved. Please engrave yourselves over at the table next to the fridge.’
Okay, what the fuck..?
The answers were literally so mysterious that it’s only prompting us to ask more questions.
Allena frowned, “The hell is being ‘engraved’ supposed to fucking mean?”
She kept shouting at the board. Meanwhile, I was already walking over to the table at the left side of the room. As I got closer to the table, I noticed something that was lying on top.
This is… Huh?
There was a piece of paper lying on the table.
What the… “An employee resume..?”
The text had an overly pretty font that made it bit unreadable, so I slowly moved my eyes and began to scan the contents of the resume.
NAME: YOHLAN DAINEN
SOPHISTICATION: SIGHTSEER
EXPERIENCES:
> Trial of Light - Conducted by The Bystander
* Senior Note: Despite lack of ability, applicant demonstrated high adaptability in intense situations. Eventually unravelling the trial's purpose and finding the resolve to face their obstacles. Additional points for uncovering the rules of the infinite storage room, and discovering the truth needed for completing the trial.
ROLE: Limited are those with eyes that lie. A seer that is not blinded by deceptive illusions created by superficial light. Gifted with sight that’s able to perceive the unseeable, the Sightseer.
NOTABLE SKILLS:
> Endowment(s) [2]
> Bestowment(s) [0]
> Settlement(s) [0]
This is… Mine..?
As soon as I finished reading, it felt like the paper had gained sentience. It split outwards into a spiral and wrapped around my hand that was holding onto it.
What the fuck?!
I fell backwards-
Thud.
Allena, who heard me fall down, turned over to my direction.
“What the-?
Oh, you just fell.”
Allena was mocking me from afar, “Pftttt, did you seriously trip over nothing?”
But I ignored her words, I desperately tried scratching off the piece of the paper that was crawling up my arm. However the smooth paper surface was adjusting itself to avoid my grip.
While stumbling over the floor on my knees, I yelled over to Allena, “Fuck!
Allena, give me your pair of scissors!”
Allena noticed something was wrong and rushed over to me, “What the-
What’s going on?!”
The paper traveled up from my arm and onto my neck… Then it nestled itself and started choking me.
This feels… Familiar..!
I struggled to take off the paper.
“HURRY! The paper! Cut off this fucking paper!”
Allena stared at me, “What paper?!
What the hell is going on with you?!”
Wait, she can’t see it?!
I fell backwards and held onto my neck. My survival instincts took over and I started scratching the skin underneath my neck to somehow grip the paper. However, the resume paper continued tightening and was gradually stopping my breathing.
Allena grabbed both of my shoulders and started shaking me,
“Yohlan! Yohlan! What the fuck is going on with you?!”
Then suddenly… Everything around me was being distorted and it felt as if time was slowing down. A voice resurfaced from the back of my throbbing mind…
‘With this mark…
This is proof…
You now belong to me.’
A crazy blindfolded lady, with long white hair surrounding my head, was on top of me. From the positioning, it was obvious that she was clearly choking me.
“NO..! NO, NO, NO!
Stop it! Get off of me!”
I grabbed onto wrists that were on my neck.
“Stop it!”
Everything started to become blurry, I was gradually losing consciousness.
“I said stop it you crazy bitch..!”
After a few seconds, the grip on my neck was gone. I rolled over with my hands holding tightly onto the wrists that I presumed to be choking me. My vision was hazy and my throat started to relax.
Gasp, cough! cough..!
Pant... Pant…
Fuck… What’s happening..?
Confused and stressed from the situation that just happened, I lowered my head and rested on a soft surface that stopped me from hitting the marble floor.
Then-
“I knew it, you piece of shit.”
I lifted my head.
For a second, I thought I had died because I was staring at a demon with a pissed off face who was glaring daggers at me.