Surviving Among the Entities

Ah no, should I say ‘she’, or ‘it’?

[Male is my gender. Aren’t there two genders, male and female?]

Separate from the unfamiliar yet familiar name ‘United Asia Union’ and the sense of commonality from using Korean, the world beyond the well was starkly different.

[Huh? What are you talking about. There are sebulleum, pandenia, oguist, leveling, hominos, pangea – six genders, not two.]

A place with similarities but even more differences.
That was the world beyond the well, and it piqued great curiosity.

[Wow, how strange. I learned in class before that the Korean peninsula region used to be called ‘Korea’ 500 years ago!]
[Is that so? How large is the United Asia Union’s territory? I’ll enclose a map.]
[Really strange. For the land to be this narrow, it really must be another world?]

Many parts of the map Singu Hwerang sent back were blotted out.

[This is about how big our world is.]
[The landmass is at least twice as large. What about the population?]
[It just surpassed 20 billion not too long ago.]
[20 billion?]
[Ah, that includes the colonies too. Only 1 billion live on the main planet.]

A future world, yet not the future.

[Does your world still use fossil fuels? Good heavens! Coal! Oil! Gas! Primitive energy sources I’ve only heard of in science class!]
[Then what kind of energy does your world use?]
[Festorium, of course. It’s a room-temperature superfluidity with many uses. If you mix in arsenic, it becomes a solid room-temperature superconductor. As a fluid, it can fuel any machine. As a gas, it’s the core of anti-gravity propulsion devices.]

An Earth-like world, yet not Earth.

‘What a strange world.’

In the Age of Exploration, the discovery of new continents led to the exchange of novel goods.

[What’s the chemical formula or molecular structure of festorium? Can I perhaps obtain some?]
[They sell it at charging stations, I can buy you a bottle.]

Unfortunately, the festorium I received immediately evaporated the moment it crossed over to our world. Despite being inside a bottle, as if denied existence here, it only briefly squirmed like superfluids climbing up walls before vanishing.

“Why did it disappear?”

Through further knowledge exchange, it turned out the world beyond the well follows similar physical laws to ours, but not all physical laws are identical.

[The chemical formula you sent seems a bit off. The molecular structure has two extra atoms.]
[The water I received was weird too, it said H2O? Isn’t that oxygen?]

Substances with differing physical laws from our world disappear immediately upon crossing over. This was confirmed through several cross-verifications.

[Too bad. I wanted to see diamonds with my own two eyes.]
[I’m disappointed too.]

Afterwards, Singu Hwerang and I continued steadily exchanging knowledge, leading to a shocking realization.

[About that history you told me, Seung-hoon, of discovering the New World and extracting gold?]
[I don’t quite understand that part either. The context of discovering the New World and extracting luxuries like wood seems strange.]
[Well, of course gold is useless. It’s heavy, soft, has large volume – what can you even use it for?]
[Isn’t wood just an ordinary plant that grows anywhere in the ground?]

A world where everything is different, even common sense.

[Then how do you make paper?]
[For paper, you just grind up dust minerals into a fine powder, soak it in water, then spread it out, no? Does your world use gold as a luxury?]
[We use it as a luxury and an important electronic component.]
[Gold? If it’s for electronics, optical redition would be 11,000 times more efficient, no? As a luxury, ollerria is 10,000 times superior.]

I unexpectedly found a place to obtain financial resources.

[Shall we trade?]

[I have to go on a business trip to Mars for a while. Let’s discuss the trade again after that.]

Unfortunately, interdimensional trade could not happen immediately. In the meantime, I prepared what I had to do.

“Sir, what do you think?”
“I like it, but I want to look at some other places too.”

First, I acquired a home. From the small studio apartment I had been renting, I moved to a large two-story detached house with a basement and yard.

“Not bad. I’ll take this one.”

Combining the money I earned from the illegal gambling and my existing funds, I could purchase a house in the suburbs that met my conditions.

“You made a good choice. It was built by a retired elderly couple, but they put it up for sale after living here for just a few days, saying the suburbs were too inconvenient. So it’s practically brand new.”

Since I acquired a detached house, no outsiders would know what I was doing inside.

[I’m back from my business trip. Let’s resume the trade we discussed before!]

Around the time I finished moving, Singu Hwerang returned from their business trip.

[What are the gold prices on your side?]
[With minimum wage, you could buy one ingot. How about wood on your end?]
[Similar for us too.]

I purchased construction lumber and placed it in the yard. Some pieces were cut and taken down to the basement, then dropped into the well.

“Oh…..”

Shortly after, a gold ingot came flying out of the well along with a note.

[Yahoo! Seung-hoon! I’m rich now! Please keep working with me!]

I wrote a reply and put it into the well.

[I’ll keep counting on you too.]

I had acquired the alchemical ability to produce gold from wood chips.

On the pallet in the basement, gold ingots slowly piled up.

[Let’s trade slowly and periodically. We both need time to process the goods we’re exchanging, right?]

Fortunately, the gold from their world and our world’s gold had identical molecular structures, the same metal. By cutting off a portion of an ingot and selling it at a gold exchange, I could confirm it was indeed the gold I knew.

‘The current gold price is 650 million won per 12.5kg.’

The ingots that came over weighed 15kg each.

‘Selling them directly would be difficult.’

Gold has long been a symbol of wealth, a liquid asset that modern nations directly hold – if I sold it directly, even after processing, the source would be suspected.

‘It might be fine once or twice, but to acquire absolute financial resources, I need a long-term and stable place to sell the ingots.’

It wasn’t that difficult. The moment I received the gold ingots, one thought took root in my mind, refusing to leave.

“Trading with entities is risky, but unavoidable.”

To carry it out, I put some ingots in a bag and left the house. I had already purchased a vehicle, so I no longer needed to take the subway or bus.

[Input destination.]

I reached out and entered the destination into the navigation system.

[Korea Gold Exchange Headquarters]

The creepypasta genre has one weakness: a lack of plausibility.

‘The unrealistic premise that beings producing countless victims in the modern era, not the past, remain as mere urban legends, ghost stories or rumors until the very end.’

CCTV cameras exist everywhere you go.

“Hey, bachelor! Drive properly!”

People are socially connected to many others through SNS.

“You fucking asshole! Can’t you drive straight!?”

Technologies to locate missing persons and determine causes of death have all advanced.

“You stupid motherfucker! If you’re going to die, just go home and hang yourself quietly! Don’t be dragging innocent people into this on the road!”

That’s the kind of world we live in. If monsters, ghosts or transcendent beings appeared in such a world, their identities would easily be exposed and instantly publicized through the media.

‘Of course, there are beings that manipulate minds and memories to prepare for such situations, but not all of them do that.’

That’s why many creepypasta works feature an organization to fulfill plausibility – an organization that secretly isolates and manages those dangerous beings to protect society in this dangerous world.

The game “Surviving Among the Entities” also had such an organization, but it was an unremarkable place with the same cliched name as other works.

“You crazy fucker! Are you driving high!? Get out, I said get out!”

But the place I was headed wasn’t there. There was no way for me to be associated with them, and even if I was, it wouldn’t be for a good reason.

If there is one group, there are bound to be others – the place I was going was a special group that the Foundation keeps a watchful eye on.

[Destination arrived.]

To meet this overly special group designated as an entity, I got out of the paid parking lot in Jongno 3-ga that I had visited, and checked my vehicle.

“I thought my driving abilities would improve along with my enhanced physical abilities.”

Would people believe me if I said this car wasn’t even a week old?

“Driving ability and physical ability are separate, it seems.”

My knowledge grew.

The Korea Gold Exchange Headquarters is located in Jongno 3-ga. I headed there and stopped in front of the signboard, recalling the game’s information.

[Seeking to trade some gold ingots I acquired by chance, I visited the Korea Gold Exchange Headquarters.]

Before the glass door right in front of me, as I pushed it open, I muttered an incantation in a soft voice.

[But then I recalled the business card I had recently received. A business card from someone whose face I can’t remember, saying that if I recite the incantation while crossing the threshold of the Korea Gold Exchange Headquarters, I would be able to meet them. As if possessed, I opened the door while reciting the incantation I had heard then.]

“Gold can accomplish anything, therefore gold itself is God.”

An ordinary opening door, revealing an interior identical to what I had seen through the glass door.

“Welcome, customer! How may I assist you?”
“I’ve come to sell some gold.”
“Yes, please follow me!”

Entrusting myself to the friendly demeanors of the ordinary-looking employees, I moved to a room.

“If you could wait just a moment, one of our staff will come to begin the transaction. Please wait a little while.”
“Yes.”

As I sat on the sofa, I looked around the room. The first thing I noticed was the signboard hanging below the ceiling across from me.

“Hwanggeummangneungjoosikhoesa” (All-Capable Gold Corporation)

Elegant gold lettering, and below an identical golden inscription in a framed sign:

“We can trade anything. As long as you have enough gold!”

Soon after, an employee entered.

“Greetings. I am Suit Guy, in charge of this transaction.”
“I’m Seung-hoon Lee.”
“Yes, Mr. Lee. Then shall we begin the transaction? First, please tell me what you desire, and I’ll inform you of the appropriate amount.”

The employee who introduced himself as Suit Guy seemed quite ordinary. So ordinary that if I saw him outside, I wouldn’t be able to recognize his face.

“First, I’d like to exchange these gold ingots for cash.”
“Allow me to examine them first.”

Suit Guy brought his nose close and sniffed my gold ingots.

“Sniff! Haah, sniff! Oh, this scent, mmm!”

Next, he carefully pressed his ear against them.

“Oh, oohh, this sound! The pulse of gold!”

Then he lasciviously licked them with his gaze.

“This beautiful, exquisite form.”

And he actually licked them too.

“Oww, yesss! Oww! Wow! Wah! Woww!”

His body trembled violently for a while as he savored the afterglow, quickly regaining his composure.

“Truly superb gold. You pass. Would you like to exchange this for cash?”
“Yes. Not just a simple exchange, but for cash that will be completely unproblematic.”
“Please elaborate further.”
“Cash the nation won’t scrutinize, no tax issues, no suspicion about the source, an amount that won’t trigger audits from banks or the tax agency even as it accumulates.”
“In other words, you wish to avoid any interference.”
“Correct.”
“Including those conditions, I will purchase the ingots for 550 million won. Do you agree?”

Heavier than ordinary ingots, but the price dropped by 1 billion won.

“Yes.”
“The transaction is complete.”

Suit Guy happily cradled the ingots. At the same time, a transfer notification arrived on my phone.

[Web Transfer]
NH Bank 10/12 Seung-hoon Lee 550,000,000

The funds were immediately deposited.

“There’s one thing I’d like to ask – do you perhaps deal in information or other things too?”
“Of course! As long as you have enough gold!”

So I asked:

“How much gold would be needed to eliminate all entities from this world?”

Caressing the ingots with a blissful expression, he replied:

“You would need to gather every speck of gold in the entire universe. Not a single atom left out.”