Hell's Handbook

Chapter 293: A Meme

Su Jin’s eyes widened as he jumped up with a start. His hands rubbed his eyes in a frenzy, as though he was about to dig his own eyeballs out.

“Mr. Su! Mr. Su! What’s wrong?” Kevin’s voice rang in Su Jin’s ears as Kevin tugged on his shirt.

Su Jin froze immediately. He saw Kevin staring in shock at him, but… but how was this happening? Didn’t he die?

Su Jin panted heavily. The terrifying feeling of death overcoming him made his body tremble. This was a feeling he didn’t have even when he went through his very first Challenge, because he had never had such a close brush with death before.

“Mr. Su, are you alright?” Kevin looked confused. He had no idea what was going on with Su Jin.

Su Jin slowly calmed down again. He looked around and realized that he was still in the same place as they were before. It was as if they had never moved at all.

“Mr. Kevin, have we… have we been here all this time?” Su Jin asked Kevin.

Kevin looked even more confused, but he nodded and said, “That’s right. I still haven’t fully regained feeling in my body, so it’s not possible for us to move elsewhere.”

“It’s only been an hour and we have to survive 72 hours on this island. What do we do with the rest of the time?” said Kevin as he looked at the mechanical watch on his wrist.

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Su Jin was still reeling in shock from what happened earlier, but he instinctively replied, “Let’s think of how to get out of here and find our teammates first.”

Kevin hesitated, then said to Su Jin, “If… it’s just the two of us, wouldn’t it be easier to get through this Challenge by finding a good place to hide ourselves?”

“Didn’t I…” Su Jin stopped himself mid sentence, because he felt like he had heard this very same answer not too long ago.

He looked a little puzzled as he said quietly, “That’s impossible. This island is filled with monsters, so it’s impossible for just two people to survive. Besides, did you think the Handbook would allow for such a loophole? If we stay in one place for too long, I’d argue that doing that is the most dangerous thing to do. Besides, my teammates need me, so I will not try to survive on my own.”

Kevin nodded after giving it some thought. He stretched his legs out, then nodded at Su Jin. “Give me a little while more. I should be able to move soon.”

That was the same response Kevin had given him before. Su Jin remembered that clearly. Both his answers and his movements were something that happened just minutes ago. It was as if… this scene was being replayed.

“Is this… a meme?” Su Jin frowned. He was very sure that everything that happened earlier wasn’t a dream. It had felt too real. Adding that to how Kevin had seemingly replayed all his responses, there was only one possibility. The graveyard they were in was beginning to show how dangerous it was.

A meme in this context referred to a small distortion of the dimension they were in. It was something seen commonly in Challenges, especially those involving the supernatural. Most memes were not able to directly kill owners, but they were able to cause their deaths.

That was because memes often trapped owners in very specific illusions, like the nightmare that Su Jin just went through. If the owner could not find a way to break the meme, they would be trapped inside forever and go through the same nightmare again and again. And because this distorted dimension was not technically in the same dimension as the Island of Mistakes, even if Su Jin and Kevin went through this again and again for three days, they wouldn’t complete the Challenge.

While Su Jin was still hesitating, a white mist had begun to surround them. He knew that even if he stayed here, he wouldn’t be able to tear this meme apart. The way to resolve this was by observing, searching, and experimenting.

“Let’s go! We can’t stay here any longer. This place is a graveyard!” Su Jin said to Kevin as he helped Kevin to his feet. But this time, he chose to head west, instead.

The two men did not walk quickly, and Kevin could sense Su Jin’s cautiousness. He could vaguely sense that Su Jin seemed to be hiding something from him.

After walking for about ten minutes or so, the white mist around them grew thicker. Just then, Kevin pointed to something behind Su Jin in horror, but Su Jin didn’t duck this time. He turned to face the thing behind him. Just like before, it was a horrifying face that used its hands made from the white mist to strangle Su Jin’s neck.

The veins on Su Jin’s forehead bulged, but he did not intend to fight back. He was going to observe this vengeful ghost carefully and try to find a way to break the meme.

But Su Jin’s efforts were futile. Everything went black as he stopped breathing, while Kevin was dragged into the mist. It was quickly followed by shrieking, then Kevin’s blood sprayed on Su Jin.

“Woahhh!” Su Jin’s body shook violently as the same bright light from before hit him and he returned to the same place where they were resting. Kevin was still seated next to him like before.

“Mr. Su, what’s wrong?” Kevin saw that Su Jin’s eyes were wide and looked unwell, and that prompted him to ask after Su Jin.

Su Jin shook his head. He shut his eyes and recalled everything he had observed, but could not reach any conclusion. That face had been terrifying and grotesque, but there was nothing significant about it.

He hadn’t discovered anything that could help with breaking the meme. Just then, Kevin spoke again, “It’s only been an hour and we have to survive 72 hours on this island. What do we do with the rest of the time?”

Su Jin sighed. Going through a replay of events at this rate could really drive one mad. After some thought, he purposely changed his response and said to Kevin, “Uh huh. Do you still need time to rest?”

“That would be best. I don’t think I’ve fully regained feeling in my body yet.” Kevin smiled apologetically at Su Jin.

Su Jin didn’t deny him the extra time and just nodded slightly. The two didn’t speak anymore and continued to rest. But after some time, the white mist began swirling around them again. This time, Su Jin didn’t get up and leave. Since he was going to die if he walked away, then what would happen if he just stayed here?

“Mr. Su, something… something seems strange around here! Don’t you think we should get away from here?” Kevin looked around cautiously. He could sense danger coming.

But Su Jin said calmly, “It’s alright, it’s just some mist.”

“No, there’s a problem with the mist. There’s definitely something wrong about this place, so we need to go!” Kevin was very certain, so he forced himself to stand up and dragged Su Jin away from their rest spot.

He’s the one who wants to leave this time, so let’s give this a shot, thought Su Jin. He walked out with Kevin, and Kevin chose to walk toward the east where they could move away from both the forested and rocky areas, like Su Jin did the first time.

They walked for a while and Su Jin remained behind Kevin. Suddenly, Kevin turned to say something to Su Jin, but when he turned around, his expression turned to one of horror.

Su Jin knew that terrifying face was back. This time, he shut his eyes. Not only did he not turn around, he also refused to look at that face.

But in no time, Su Jin felt like he was suffocating and losing strength. His eyes flew open instinctively and the veins on his forehead bulged again. About ten seconds later, Su Jin stopped breathing again. The ghost flung him to the ground and dragged Kevin into the mist. That was followed by shrieks and spraying of warm blood again.

Just like the previous two times, Su Jin saw a bright light again after a while. When he awoke this time, he remained calm and quickly inspected his surroundings.

But he was disappointed yet again. He was still behind the same rock as before and Kevin was still next to him. The cycle had not stopped at all. After dying, he was transported back here to wait for the next cycle.

“It’s only been an hour and we have to survive 72 hours on this island. What do we do with the rest of the time?” Before long, Kevin repeated this line as though he were a machine programmed to do so.

“Mr. Kevin, could you lend me your watch?” Su Jin said to Kevin.

Kevin didn’t refuse and passed his mechanical watch to Su Jin very nonchalantly. Su Jin looked at it and was sure that this watch must cost a ton. Diamonds adorned the watch face and a world renowned brand’s logo was imprinted on it as well, proving its high value.

Shortly after Su Jin put the watch on, the mist started gathering again. Su Jin immediately looked at the watch. He wanted to calculate how long it took from the mist rising to his death.

Just like the last time, without Su Jin saying anything, Kevin suggested moving away. Su Jin did not refuse and walked behind Kevin.

Suddenly, Kevin turned and pointed at something behind Su Jin. Su Jin kept his eye on the watch. Eleven minutes had passed.

The ghost grabbed hold of Su Jin and strangled him to death. Until he lost consciousness completely, Su Jin’s eyes never left the watch.

He had stopped breathing, but his open eyes could still see the movement of the watch needle. He only lost sight of everything after Kevin died in the mist.

When he woke up again, he could still remember the time taken for everything to happen. It had taken a total of 12 minutes and 37 seconds. He muttered to himself, “I could still see even after I died. Why?”

“It’s only been an hour and we have to survive 72 hours on this island. What do we do with the rest of the time?” Kevin piped up again.

“Mr. Kevin, could I borrow your watch?” Su Jin said to Kevin.

Kevin nodded without hesitation and passed his watch to Su Jin. After he put it on, he said quietly, “Alright, let’s go again.”

The mist rose once more, and Su Jin started calculating the time it took. But this time, besides counting the seconds, he also silently did something else.