Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 248

‘The missing corpse → Someone cleaned it up → Who?’ A natural train of thought.

The entire group froze, stunned, before returning to the living room on the second floor. Everyone was silent until Junseong buried his face in his hands.

“Ah, this isn’t a variety show; it’s a thriller……”

Ah, I really want to tease him, but I can’t because I’m the youngest. It’s such a shame.

Gyeongwoo looked at Junseong fondly before opening the conversation.

“Did that cousin come in and clean it up? Why?”

It’s an irrational choice.

“I know, if it were me, I would have cleaned *us* up first.”

“Please don’t, my heart hurts……”

“It’s okay, what more can you do than die, Junseong?”

“There’s nothing worse than that, so it’s obvious.”

“Everyone dies at least once in their life.”

Since death is inevitable in life anyway, Junseong, as well as the other two older members, stared at Hanho in shock at the remark that he was being too dramatic.

Philosophically, it was correct, so I nodded.

Ah, right. Should I say this or not? I hesitated for a moment before opening my mouth.

“It’s a story that could just make you meaninglessly scared.”

“Then please don’t tell it, Donghwa *hyung* [older brother or male friend]! I’m begging you!”

Our proud and respected *hyung*, Junseong, who we want to rely on, suddenly knelt down and grabbed my pants leg.

“It’s overwhelming enough as it is!”

“Kanghee, deal with him. How dare he silence the youngest?”

“Yes, *first hyung* [referring to the oldest member].”

“Give our fourth member some love too, *hyung*.”

“We should have given him love before the youngest came, right.”

Junseong’s mouth was naturally blocked, and I explained step by step.

“There are about three strange things.”

First, the recording file.

If the victim recorded it, it’s hard to understand why the recording is complete. It would be more reasonable to assume the culprit recorded it, but then it doesn’t make sense for it to be next to the corpse.

Second, cleaning up the corpse first is strange, as Hanho *hyung* said. It would be faster to run away or deal with us in that time.

And third.

“The corpse disappeared, but there were no bloodstains.”

It’s too strange. The characteristic of this program, which emphasizes immersion, led that suspicion to conviction. In other words.

“…It’s a germophobe!”

Kanghee *hyung*.

“That, I didn’t expect, but considering it’s a germophobe, isn’t it a little dirty here?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Tapping his head and muttering, ‘Still, you did great,’ he looks so cool. Self-esteem.

“So what’s the conclusion?”

“That corpse, it must be the grandmother’s cousin.”

“…Whoa, that’s right.”

The two oldest members immediately understood and hugged each other.

Our Junseong *hyung*, with his long list of titles, rested his head on my shoulder with a blank expression, or rather, an expression that didn’t feel anything at all.

“Donghwa.”

“Yes, *hyung*.”

“That’s not really important, is it?”

“That’s right. Whether the culprit cleaned it up, or the corpse is the culprit, it doesn’t change the fact that they’re in this building with us.”

“…I see.”

A moment of silence.

“Donghwa.”

“Yes, *hyung*.”

“Save me.”

“I can’t do that, but I can die with you when you die.”

“That’s touching.”

Even when he says that, his expression is so blank that no one would believe he’s touched.

“The door?”

“I checked it when we went down, and there was a mechanical device.”

“Ah, that guy, if I catch him…, no, don’t catch him…, just let us out……”

Looking at Junseong’s expression, which seemed more numb and empty than someone who lost their entire fortune at a casino, I felt a little pleased.

“Junseong *hyung*, there’s also a good thing. If that corpse is the culprit, then there must be another path on the first floor.”

If someone came in from the outside and cleaned it up, it would be difficult to touch because we wouldn’t know where the passage is, but if it disappeared from the inside, the range is limited to the first floor.

“…Is that, a good thing?”

“Of course! It’s a good thing!”

The sound of clapping rang out. Gyeongwoo got up from his seat and shouted.

“Let’s go down and search. There’s a secret space. Ugh, you trash-like bastard. Just you wait until I see you.”

“Second, you’re the weakest in our organization’s combat power.”

“…Is it an organization?”

“Oh my, it’s a company secret, and Donghwa found out. Anyway, shall we get up?”

Listening to Gyeongwoo’s glib words, I patted Junseong and pulled him up.

Cheer up, *hyung* with the longest list of titles.

* * *

We kept silent while going to the first floor, then suddenly burst into conversation. Whispering to each other in very quiet voices.

“This is the diary we found on the second floor earlier.”

“…Why now?”

“It’s boring on the way, isn’t it.”

“…That’s ambiguous.”

I almost burst out laughing again at Gyeongwoo’s words.

“Hey, in this morning’s diary, he wrote that he caught a rat. That he killed the rat that had been tormenting him since he was young.”

“…That’s also ambiguous.”

And the laughter disappeared again.

No matter how you look at it, the rat seems to mean a person.

“Right? No matter how you look at it, it sounds like he caught a person.”

“What’s even more surprising is that there were a total of three such diaries.”

“So Grandma was used to it.”

Because there would have been dead rats in the drawer every time.

“What kind of grudge does he have to kill three people?”

“I’ve seen them kill without grudges on American dramas, *hyung*?”

“Kanghee, cut back on American dramas. Your sensibilities don’t match Korean sentiments because you watch that stuff.”

And we arrived at the first floor. Everyone stopped even whispering and held their breath.

From behind, Junseong squeezed the hand on my shoulder and trembled.

“This person definitely has a grudge.”

The trembling hand gradually stabilized, and he let out a sigh of relief mixed with relief, as if he had regained some emotion.

“W-we can rest assured, right? We don’t have any motive.”

Hanho, who had been listening to the conversation, threw out a cynical remark.

“We created it when we came in here.”

That’s right.

“…*First hyung*.”

“Okay, let’s find the secret passage. Where did that guy disappear to?”

Ignoring Junseong’s plaintive call, Gyeongwoo directed the situation.

We separated and searched every corner of the first floor, and Junseong, who was terrified, cautiously called me.

“*Maknae* [youngest]!”

I went to the sound of his whispering shout.

Then, as if drawn by a magnet, the others gathered nearby.

“Here, this is strange.”

“…*Hyung*, your vocabulary is quite….”

“What can I do? I’m scared.”

Following the tip of Junseong’s finger, which showed signs of infantile regression, there were traces on the floor that looked like something had been dragged.

The end of the trace was a production line.

“Oh, hey, it looks like this can be pushed?”

The large Kanghee naturally gave it a push, but it didn’t budge. Sighs echoed repeatedly.

Hanho looked closely at the middle of the production line, touching the bottom.

“No, what is this?”

Something fell out, revealing a small keyboard inside.

I naturally lay down and examined the keyboard. It’s an English keyboard, but some letters were missing.

The keyboard lined up read ‘a most uper’. The spaces between the keyboards were literally spaced like a space, so everyone read it that way and wondered.

“…The most high?”

Kanghee muttered blankly, and Junseong, the most reliable *hyung* who was scared but still said what he had to say, retorted.

“The grammar doesn’t make any sense?”

“There should be one more P. Isn’t it U, P, P, E, R?”

“Oh? I know this. Isn’t the superlative EST?”

“Did you get a little less education?”

“…*Hyung*, you and I shouldn’t say anything about education. Donghwa is just standing there.”

“That’s right.”

All the *hyungs* added a word each.

“So if we assume it’s a mistake, should we go to the top floor?”

That’s not it. Maybe that means we have to enter something.

Besides, the fact that only those specific English letters were left means that it’s right to assume that they will be entered at least once.

So, like an anagram.

“Rat……”

“Okay, listen up, our newbie will explain.”

Gyeongwoo gathered his attention. He hasn’t said anything yet, but you can see how quick-witted he is when it comes to broadcasting.

“There’s a word that can be made with those letters. A word related to rats.”

I squatted down and pressed the keyboard under the production line, reading each letter one by one.

And the moment I pressed the last letter, the word ‘Mousetrap’ was completed.

Almost without any sound, the middle part of the production line came out. Amazing, how did they design it to be so quiet.

Everyone covered their mouths when the appearance of the stairs underneath was finally revealed.

We could reasonably guess who is in here.

“Wow, that’s why we didn’t know on the second floor.”

However, Kanghee, who opened his mouth without noticing, had to endure the punishment of Gyeongwoo next to him.

* * *

A strange atmosphere, but between the stairs, it was a little dark red, whether blood had splattered.

The hallway with a strange light, neither yellow, orange, nor red, was musty.

It’s as if it’s telling the victims who were dragged here that this is the perfect place for people like you.

“They completely separated the place. The place to dispose of the corpses and the place to live.”

“Well, if it were me, no, what am I saying? Not if it were me.”

The hallway consisted of a total of four rooms, and we stepped into the first room.

“…Ha, I almost cursed as soon as I saw it.”

Three steel boxes. Blood flowing out and hands sticking out. A visual that marked the pinnacle of the grotesque.

Junseong, who has a weak stomach, gagged.

“…That corpse was the culprit. We hired a good new employee.”

“There are name tags in front of the boxes.”

“Wow, he’s completely crazy.”

A physiologically repulsive visual.

I didn’t want to touch it, but I rummaged around nearby. This is what the program is for.

“If I can’t eat meat for a while, can I sue the production team for damages?”

“We signed the contract, us.”

“…Unfair contract! It’s an unfair contract.”

“If the *hyungs* say that, I have no choice but to resign.”

I finally found a blood-stained notebook and grabbed it.

Fluttering, the pages unfolded. It had a bizarre title called Mouse Observation Journal.

“Mice do not know what a friend is. When they think they are at a disadvantage, they can pass all the blame to the mouse that was their friend. In fact, some mice were bitten to death even though they did not kill other mice.”

“What are you saying, you crazy grandson……”

“Mice do not know what tolerance is. The fault of one mouse is sufficient cause to persecute the entire mouse family. In fact, some mice are born with the stigma of being bitten.”

Fixed gaze, grotesque space. Sentences that see people as mice.

The feeling was so different from when I saw other people as animals that even I frowned.

“Mice do not know what forgiveness is. In fact, some mice were not forgiven for crimes they did not commit, and their son mice did not forgive other mice.”

And the last line of the short text.

“So mice know how to use mousetraps.”

I quickly read through the rest of the paper, turning the pages.

Everyone’s expressions rotted as each page turned.

The creaking sound of the lights was added to my voice like background music. An eerie and unpleasant air licked the back of my neck.

“…Conclusion, all mice are dead or will be dead.”

“So, what are you saying?”

I closed the notebook and looked up.

I hope the eyes that met everyone’s were those of a reliable *maknae*.

“If you summarize what’s written in the notebook, it seems like the grandson’s parents were falsely accused of something similar. So, he killed them with resentment.”

The words that all mice will die.

“And, this person is also referring to himself as a mouse, so maybe…”

He’s planning to commit suicide.

After finishing the short explanation, I felt like my mouth was dry. Wow, I didn’t know I would get so immersed.

I put the notebook down for now. I think I’ve checked everything I need to check here.

“Then, shall we go out?”

“T-that’s right, but, wow, my feet, won’t, move.”

Kanghee suddenly said that.

“It’ll be okay.”

Wouldn’t it be okay if I went out first and showed them that it was safe?

It was when I moved my foot and went out the door.

Thud. Someone grabbed my hand and pulled me.