People say that in life, there are times when you just have to do something reckless.
Moments when a single thought strikes your mind like lightning, and before you can even examine whether it makes sense, you have to voice it out loud.
I have no doubt that this is one of those moments.
"A tasting event? What were you even thinking?! Didn't you see what's on those displays?"
Han Se-hee stared at me with a horrified expression. I completely understood why she was reacting like that.
"There wasn't any other way."
"Well… that's true."
Even Han Se-hee, who had been about to argue further, soon accepted it. I wasn't wrong. We didn't have the luxury to think things through.
If we had stayed still, we would have been dismantled into fresh cuts of meat, packaged neatly, and placed on the display shelves.
"Are you saying you wish to participate in the tasting event?"
The reindeer-masked figure, who had been speaking brutally in casual speech as if it were about to kill us, switched back to polite language.
That alone was proof that my choice hadn't been entirely wrong.
"Will you pay the price, or would you like to proceed with the on-site event?"
It seemed that to attend the tasting event, we either had to pay the price or complete the on-site event.
"What is the price?"
At my question, the reindeer mask answered immediately.
"One measure of precious memories."
One measure of precious memories.
Setting aside how strange the unit was, paying with precious memories was something I absolutely could not afford.
I looked at the others. They seemed to have reached the same conclusion.
"What's the on-site event? How do we clear it?"
"I cannot tell you, but you will find out."
As soon as it finished speaking and stepped aside, a trapdoor that hadn't been there before appeared on the floor where it had stood.
With a creaking sound, the trapdoor opened.
"If you enter, I will consider the on-site event to be in progress."
We took a moment to breathe deeply. We had to go down there. We didn't know what awaited us, but facing the reindeer mask in front of us meant certain death.
"Even if inevitable death awaits us down there, at least our deaths will be postponed by a few seconds."
"That's true."
I nodded at Yu Sang-chul's words. The choice had already been made.
"But… judging by the meat they're selling here, even that tasting event—"
At Oh Min-hyeok's words, I shook my head. I could easily guess what the high schooler was thinking.
"Don't forget. It's a five-course meal made of selected options. We get to choose what we eat."
Among the meat sold in this butcher shop were horrifying things you couldn't even imagine putting in your mouth, mixed together with meat we ate regularly.
We just had to avoid the bad ones.
Honestly, that was an overly optimistic way to put it.
"What if all the menu options are terrible?"
Yu Sang-chul, who had been listening quietly, flicked his hand once and spoke.
"There wasn't enough time to consider every possibility. Kim Sang-seon's judgment is right. We go down."
Everyone immediately fell silent. It wasn't just anyone's opinion; it was Yu Sang-chul's judgment. That alone demanded respect.
"I'll lead."
With Yu Sang-chul's words, we stepped onto the dark staircase where we could barely see our footing.
The moment my foot landed, my vision swam, and an abnormal hunger swept over my body. A monstrous hunger, as if my stomach had a hole torn through it.
"Khk…."
I slapped my own cheek and lifted my head to look ahead.
Countless massive hooks hung from the ceiling. Pale, hairless corpses dangled from them, swaying back and forth.
There wasn't a single drop of blood on the floor, as if they had been completely drained.
From far away came the faint sounds of bone saws and meat grinders in operation. The distinctive stench of refrigerated meat hung unpleasantly in the underground space.
"I get the idea. Don't even think about eating anything in here."
Yu Sang-chul immediately gave the order, befitting an experienced sanitation worker. When you're hungry, you start wanting to eat.
The fact that this contaminated zone was doing this to us meant it wanted us to eat what was here.
"Well, damn…."
Han Se-hee and Oh Min-hyeok's expressions hardened as they stared at the hanging corpses.
"Either way, I have plenty of things I can eat."
I had packed plenty of items into my inventory. All of them were edible.
"Oh, right. We've got Kim Sang-seon."
The two of them looked a little relieved. Everything inside this contaminated zone was forbidden, but we had a countermeasure.
"Still, endure it if you can. If you eat something and suddenly have to fight, you might not react properly."
Yu Sang-chul had a point.
"So do we just keep moving forward?"
Han Se-hee asked. We had no idea what we were supposed to do here, or when this so-called on-site event would end.
All we could do was swallow our saliva while staring at the hanging corpses.
"If you can't even endure this, you won't last long as a sanitation worker."
"Understood."
We smacked our lips unconsciously, then forced our gazes away from the corpses.
At that moment, the vibration detector I was carrying let out a sharp beep. It meant unexplained vibrations had suddenly appeared nearby.
"Something's coming."
And it was approaching us. At my words, everyone immediately prepared for combat.
The corpses hanging from the hooks began to sway violently. The heavy footsteps grew loud enough that we didn't even need the vibration detector anymore.
"Son of a—."
Curses bubbled up. It wasn't just me. Han Se-hee covered her mouth reflexively, and Oh Min-hyeok's body trembled.
The owner of the footsteps revealed itself. Giants wearing reindeer masks, wielding massive butcher knives and sharp bone knives. They looked exactly like the terrifying shop owner we had seen upstairs.
― Head… burn the hair, remove the eyeballs, boil and press to set.
But something was different. How should I put it? It lacked vitality. Like the fundamental difference between a real tiger and a tiger seen on a screen.
"It's not that bad. Snap out of it."
Yu Sang-chul spoke up. It seemed he had thought the same thing I did.
But maybe he wasn't very good at snapping people out of it quickly.
I pulled my rifle from the inventory and fired a single shot at the head of the reindeer mask standing in front.
With a thunderous gunshot, 5.56mm explosive death flew out and shattered the ugly head of the reindeer mask wearing a rubber apron over its naked body.
The headless reindeer mask stood still for a moment, then collapsed sideways.
"See? It's nothing."
Would the terrifying reindeer mask that had threatened us in the shop really have taken damage from my shot?
Of course not. Even if it had been hit, it wouldn't have had a scratch. With that realization, the other two regained their courage.
― The cartilage and tendons behind the knee can be used for soup.
― Remove the base of the tongue and peel the skin for good grilling.
― The thighs are tender and fatty.
― The groin and armpit sphincters smell bad, so be sure to remove them.
It seemed the enemies had also steadied themselves.
Spouting incomprehensible words, they charged at us, swinging the enormous butcher knives in their hands.
But really, once we knew that a single bullet to the head finished them off, there was no reason for us to be scared.
Han Se-hee moved first. With her inhale, white mist flowed out of the reindeer masks and was drawn into her.
As their movements stalled briefly, Oh Min-hyeok extended his hand forward.
The heads of the three reindeer masks instantly turned into candles and burst into flames.
"Is that all?"
It didn't take long to wipe out the roughly ten fake reindeer masks.
For all the talk about on-site events from the real reindeer mask upstairs, this was pretty underwhelming—
"What? Where did the bodies go?"
The corpses of the reindeer masks vanished like mirages.
― The rump has good chew and moderate fat, so slice it thick for grilling.
The vibration detector's warning beep rang again, along with the grotesque voices of more reindeer masks from afar.
"This is really going to hell."
We entered combat again. We dealt with every reindeer mask that charged at us.
The corpses disappeared, another group of fake reindeer masks appeared. Kill them all, the corpses vanished, and another group appeared.
This cycle continued for two hours. We fought a total of five battles. The fights themselves weren't particularly difficult.
They kept coming, but they weren't strong. And they gave us plenty of breathing room between waves.
The problem was—
"I seriously feel like I'm going to starve to death."
The intense hunger steadily gnawed away at both our bodies and minds.
"This isn't just feeling hungry."
Han Se-hee stated firmly. I agreed. This wasn't an illusion of hunger.
We were fighting as if we had actually gone days without eating. Our bodies wouldn't move properly.
"At this point, I think we really need to eat something. Fighting is getting harder and harder."
As he said that, Oh Min-hyeok waved the lighter in his hand.
"You can eat this and still fight right away."
I agreed with that. The corpses hanging from the hooks were dangerous to eat, but I had plenty of edible items.
We weren't talking about stuffing ourselves. Just chewing something occasionally to recover some energy. There were quite a few quick snacks in my inventory.
"Yeah. That seems right."
Yu Sang-chul gave his approval. At that moment, my thoughts became tangled. I needed to retrace them carefully.
"..."
I consider myself pretty good at being objective about my own thinking. They said three teams had gone in before us.
Seeing the poster and then coming up with an escape method before acting. Was that really such a novel, ingenious, genius-level idea that no one else could think of?
No.
There were three experienced full-fledged sanitation workers, and nine trainee sanitation workers like me.
All or some of them must have tried the on-site event the same way we did. Don't eat the corpses hanging here?
With the overwhelming hunger that hits the moment you enter the basement, it's hard to notice that.
But they never came back. Which means they died.
Why?
"Ah, finally, we're eating something."
While I was continuing my thoughts, Oh Min-hyeok brought the lighter toward his mouth.
I reached out and knocked the lighter out of his hand.
"…? What are you doing all of a sudden?"
Oh Min-hyeok stared at me blankly. For someone whose food had just been knocked away while starving, his reaction was surprisingly calm.
"Don't eat. I thought it through, and something about this situation is wrong."
I immediately shared what I had been thinking up to that point with the others.
"That's why I stopped him."
When I finished explaining, everyone fell silent.
"So if your theory's right, that means our heads are already messed up."
At Yu Sang-chul's words, I nodded. Things we can eat, and things we must not eat.
"You all felt the dizziness, right?"
Everyone would remember the intense vertigo the moment we stepped into the basement.
Maybe that was when our minds were tampered with.
"On-site event complete."
A chilling voice echoed from behind us. When we turned around, the very same reindeer mask that looked like the shop owner was standing there.
Just meeting its gaze sent shivers and goosebumps rippling across my body.
The difference between it and the reindeer masks we had been fighting until now was unmistakable.
"I will guide you to the tasting venue."
The reindeer mask stepped aside again. In the empty space stood a lone door.
"Five courses of your own choosing."
Once again, I recalled the tasting event we had agreed to participate in.
"Damn it."
The distinction between what we can eat and what we must not eat has vanished from our minds. And it's highly likely that this condition will persist until we leave this contaminated zone.
Then…
How are we supposed to avoid the landmines in the course meal like this?