Min-joon did not turn around.
Do not look at them directly.
The breathing continued. In and out. So close he could feel cold air on the back of his neck.
Min-joon spoke quietly, testing his power. "There is nothing behind me."
The lie took effect. The breathing stopped immediately.
Min-joon waited a few seconds, then slowly turned around. The hallway was empty. Whatever had been there was gone.
His power worked on the creatures. That was good to know.
He continued toward the stairwell, speaking carefully as he walked. "I am alone on this floor. Nothing is hunting me."
The words reshaped reality. The oppressive feeling of being watched faded away. Min-joon felt lighter, safer.
But lying used energy. He could feel it draining something from him. Not physical energy exactly, but something deeper. Each lie took a piece of something important.
He would have to use it sparingly.
The stairwell door appeared ahead. Min-joon pushed it open and started down the stairs. Just one more floor, then a straight path to the exit.
His phone buzzed.
TIME REMAINING: 0:58:12.
Less than an hour now. He could do this.
The first floor was different from the others. The hallways were wider, and there were signs on the walls pointing toward various departments. Emergency Room. Surgery. Morgue.
Min-joon followed the signs toward the main entrance. The exit had to be near there.
The hallway opened into a large lobby area. There were benches along the walls, a reception desk, and glass doors at the far end. Sunlight streamed through the glass.
Red sunlight.
The exit.
Min-joon started toward the doors, but stopped when he heard a voice.
"Min-joon."
He spun around. The woman in white was standing behind the reception desk, smiling at him.
"You," Min-joon said. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to check on your progress," she said. "You are doing well. Better than most."
"Most? How many people have done this before me?"
The woman's smile did not change. "Many. The Debt System has existed for a very long time. You are not the first person chosen. You will not be the last."
"What happened to the others?" Min-joon asked.
"Some succeeded. They completed enough tasks to erase their debts and returned to normal lives. Others failed."
"Failed means died," Min-joon said.
"Yes."
Min-joon gripped his bat tighter. "Why are you really here? To give me advice? To warn me about something?"
"Neither," the woman said. She walked around the desk and approached him. "I am here to remind you about your curse. You have been using your lies to change reality. That is smart. But you should not forget the other half."
"Speaking truth causes pain," Min-joon said. Even saying that much made his chest ache. "I remember."
"Do you?" The woman tilted her head. "Because you have been avoiding it. You have barely spoken any truths since receiving the curse. You are afraid of the pain."
"Of course I am afraid. It feels like dying."
"Pain is just sensation," the woman said. "It cannot kill you. Not on its own. But avoiding truth can kill you. Let me show you something."
She reached out and touched Min-joon's chest. Her cold fingers pressed against his shirt, right over his heart.
Suddenly, Min-joon felt it. A pressure building inside him. Like water filling a closed container, pressing against the walls, looking for a way out.
"Every time you lie, a little bit of truth gets trapped inside you," the woman explained. "You are storing it, compressing it, forcing it down. But truth cannot be contained forever. Eventually, it will burst out. And when it does, the pain will be much, much worse than if you had simply spoken it in the first place."
The pressure in Min-joon's chest grew stronger. It hurt. Really hurt.
"How do I stop it?" he gasped.
"Speak the truth," the woman said. "Release the pressure. Small truths, spoken often, will keep you balanced. But if you only lie and never speak truth, you will explode from the inside."
She removed her hand. The pressure eased slightly but did not disappear.
"How much time do I have?" Min-joon asked.
"That depends on how much you lie. Days, maybe. A week at most." The woman stepped back. "Now go. Your time is running out."
She gestured toward the glass doors.
Min-joon wanted to ask more questions, but his phone was buzzing urgently.
TIME REMAINING: 0:43:27.
He ran toward the exit.
The glass doors were heavy. Min-joon had to push hard to open them. On the other side, he found himself standing on a cracked parking lot. The red sky stretched overhead. The dead trees surrounded the hospital on all sides.
But there was a path. A narrow road leading away from the hospital, disappearing into the trees.
That had to be the way out.
Min-joon started running down the path. His feet pounded on the broken pavement. The trees seemed to lean toward him as he passed, their branches reaching out like claws.
Behind him, something roared.
Min-joon glanced back and saw the creature from the forest. The one he had seen through the window. It was massive, easily three times his height, with too many limbs and a head that was just a mass of eyes.
It was chasing him.
Min-joon ran faster. His lungs burned. His legs screamed. But he could not stop.
The path curved ahead. Min-joon took the turn too fast and almost fell. He caught himself and kept running.
The creature was gaining on him. He could hear its footsteps, heavy and thundering. The ground shook with each step.
Min-joon checked his phone while running.
TIME REMAINING: 0:38:15.
Still too much time left. He would never make it at this rate.
He needed to slow the creature down.
Min-joon stopped running and turned around. The creature was right behind him, less than twenty meters away. It opened its mass of eyes wide, all of them focusing on him at once.
Min-joon gripped his bat and spoke loudly, clearly.
"You are slow. Slower than a turtle."
The lie took effect. The creature's movements became sluggish. Its limbs dragged as if moving through thick mud.
Min-joon turned and ran again. This time, the creature could not keep up.
The path continued through the forest. Min-joon ran and ran, pushing his body to its limits. His vision blurred. His heart felt like it might burst.
But finally, he saw it.
A doorway.
It was standing alone in the middle of the path, unconnected to any building. Just a simple wooden door with a brass handle, floating in space.
The exit.
Min-joon sprinted toward it. He grabbed the handle and yanked the door open.
White light poured out.
He jumped through.
The world spun. Colors blurred. Sounds echoed and faded.
Then everything went still.
Min-joon opened his eyes.
He was back in his apartment. Lying on the floor. The morning sun was coming through the window.
Tae-hyun was shaking him. "Hyung! Wake up! Are you okay?"
Min-joon sat up slowly. His whole body ached. The scratches on his back stung. But he was alive.
"I am fine," he said. True. The pain hit him, sharp and sudden. He winced.
Tae-hyun's eyes widened with concern. "You are hurt. Let me see your back."
"It is nothing," Min-joon lied. The pain vanished, replaced by the strange pressure in his chest.
He checked his phone. The screen was normal. No red glow. But there was a notification.
TASK COMPLETE.
REWARD: 7,000,000 WON REMOVED FROM YOUR DEBT.
NEW DEBT TOTAL: 30,000,000 WON.
NEXT TASK WILL BE ASSIGNED IN 48 HOURS.
And below that, a bank notification.
Payment received: 7,000,000 won.
Twelve million won erased in two tasks. He was almost a third of the way there.
"Hyung, you are scaring me," Tae-hyun said. "What is going on? You fell asleep standing up. And you are bleeding."
Min-joon looked down. His shirt was torn and bloody from the scratches. He needed to say something, but what? He could not tell the truth without causing himself pain. But lying was building up that dangerous pressure inside him.
He needed to speak some truths. Small ones. Manageable ones.
"I am tired," Min-joon said. True. Pain flickered. "I have been working too much." True. More pain. "I am sorry for worrying you." True. The pain was getting worse, stacking up.
But the pressure in his chest eased. Like a valve releasing steam.
The woman was right. He needed balance. Lies and truths, both in measure.
Tae-hyun helped him clean the scratches and bandage them. The wounds were not deep, but they looked bad.
"You need to rest," Tae-hyun said firmly. "Call in sick to both jobs today."
"I cannot afford to miss work," Min-joon started to say.
"Yes, you can," Tae-hyun interrupted. "You said you have a new job that pays well, remember? So you can afford to rest for one day."
Min-joon had forgotten about that lie. He had told Tae-hyun he found a high-paying job. And lies became truth. So somehow, in reality, he now had that job. The Debt System was his high-paying job, in a twisted way.
"You are right," Min-joon said. "I will rest today."
Tae-hyun smiled with relief. "Good. I will skip my first period and make you breakfast."
"No, you go to school. I will be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." True. Pain. But bearable. "I promise I will rest."
After Tae-hyun left for school, Min-joon lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. His body was exhausted, but his mind was racing.
Forty-eight hours until the next task. Two days to recover, to prepare, to figure out how to use his curse more effectively.
He had learned important things. Lies changed reality, but they drained something from him. Truths caused pain, but they released pressure. He needed both to survive.
And he had a new strategy. He could use lies to weaken enemies, to protect himself, to reshape the nightmare world to his advantage.
If he was careful, if he balanced lies and truths, if he kept getting stronger, maybe he could actually do this. Maybe he could complete all the tasks and erase the debt.
Min-joon closed his eyes and finally let himself sleep.
He dreamed of white doors and red skies.
And somewhere far away, the woman in white watched him through a mirror and smiled.