Surviving Among the Entities

Memory is imprecise. Like how distorted childhood memories led daughters to falsely accuse their fathers, causing an uproar in 1990s America, human memory is easily distorted.

Even setting that incident aside, the déjà vu experience we all have at some point is one of the typical errors created by memory. The uncertainty of memory is absolute, something I cannot avoid either.

“The memories I possess will also dissipate and become distorted, diverging from their original form.”

Nostalgia is embellished. I think this saying stems from memories becoming distorted.

“Therefore, my memories of ‘Surviving Among the Entities’ will be no different.”

It has been about half a year since I stopped playing the game. Even before that, I did not obsessively immerse myself in it. It was just a time-killer, nothing more or less, so by the end of this year, there will likely be many holes in my recollection.

“Unfortunately, I am not the protagonist of a web novel.”

I do not possess total recall abilities that allow remembering a novel’s title, the protagonist’s name, countless incidents, and even the names of trivial extras years or decades later.

‘At least not yet.’

I opened the notebook and held a pen, closing my eyes. After about a minute, the memory I had recalled was revised, and I wrote it down in the book.

[If you write about an entity in this, what you wrote will be completely memorized by the writer. This is unaffected by other entities distorting memories, and is maintained until the written content is erased.]

But its effects do not end there.

[It is presumed to have the ability to recover memories if you cannot recall what you want to write. It seems to forcibly remind you of the content you wish to write down, acting like a memo pad.]

Over the half-year period of not playing the game, I was able to recall memories that had already dissipated, and that is how I recalled the content I am currently writing as well.

[If you draw illustrations, those too will remain in your memory. There is no issue reproducing illustrations in your memory elsewhere, and according to test subjects, ‘it feels like the illustrations are drawn in my mind’ – that’s how deeply they are etched into the brain.]

I’m not sure where I can utilize this, but since I am not lacking in drawing ability, there may come a time when I can make use of it.

[Very occasionally, answers are given to questions you have written down. It is unclear if the notebook has a self-awareness, or if it is connected through some unknown route that allows someone else to provide the answers, but this has yet to be confirmed.]

As creepypasta treats the unknown as horror, no revelations have been made about this. It may have just been plausible-sounding content without any actual meaning, but now that is no longer the case.

‘There is fun in discovering it.’

I quietly wrote the equation “1+1=?” at the very top of the first page.

‘Perhaps an answer will come eventually.’

I revived my memories again and wrote down the book’s information.

[If you write a name on the cover, the book will return to that person’s home address within 24 hours if lost. Erasing the name removes this function, and any records written in the book can be erased with an eraser, regardless of what was used to write them.]

According to the recollected information, it seems there is no issue even if I lose it.

[The delivery fee for the returned book is paid by the recipient, and the first page will have a bank account number for depositing the fee. You must transfer the fee to that account within 30 days, otherwise the book will disappear. The delivery fee is a fixed 1,000 won regardless of how many times it was lost.]

My Mind’s Notebook is not a particularly important entity, so a single look at the wiki was all I needed. Yet it can so vividly revive memories I had only seen once before.

[Attempts were made to trace the bank account number, but [REDACTED]. Tracing this account is strictly prohibited.]

And it seems I had underestimated the notebook’s abilities. In the game, My Mind’s Notebook’s effect was simply displaying a white window in the corner of the screen where you could write text and check it during gameplay.

[This entity does not diminish with continued use. It appears pages increase in proportion to usage, but the book’s thickness does not increase, and there have been several attempts to check the total page count, though none were successful.]

The current abilities were merely wordplay settings that were never implemented in the game. However, now that those settings have become reality, it could not be better – far from the ridicule of the past.

“Alright then…”

I stretched and properly gripped the pen.

“From now on, I will record all the information I can recall about every entity.”

“It’s done.”

A week had passed. I had finally recorded all the information about the entities I had witnessed and experienced.

‘At least, I wrote down everything I know.’

This is not complete. Even before I stopped playing, the developer consistently released updates.

‘At minimum once a month, at most twice.’

The updates didn’t necessarily introduce new entities every time, but over half a year there would have been at least 6 updates. That was enough for me to assume there were entities I didn’t know about.

“Hopefully any entities I don’t know about are in the safety grade.”

But knowing the developer’s tendencies, that was unlikely.
I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes. After staying in this motel room for a week, it now felt like my own home.

‘Just one more thing to go.’

When I decided to survive in this world, there were five things I wanted to prepare:

Knowledge about the entities.
Minimum force to survive crisis situations.
Means to identify future dangers.
An identity that allows free movement anywhere.
And financial resources to maintain a livelihood and easily obtain necessities.

‘Of those five, the only one I’ve obtained so far is knowledge.’

And even that is not perfect, but it’s a usable level at least.

‘Next I need to acquire force.’

Not the force to kill entities. I mean the minimum force required to resist and survive against them.

‘How could a human defeat an entity capable of annihilation or destroying entire cities through force?’

Was the game not aptly titled “Surviving Among the Entities”?
Exploiting weaknesses to temporarily incapacitate them, diverting their attention elsewhere, or temporarily evading them is one thing, but outright killing them is impossible.

‘What I need is physical abilities to flee, briefly shock them, lure them away, and so on.’

Such abilities can be raised through positive events, but since those appear randomly, the immediately available option is…..

“Right above me.”

I left the familiar motel behind.

“Gosung, Gangwon Province.”

“That’ll be 30,000 won.”
“Keep the change.”
“Oh my, thank you!”

As I exited the taxi, I took a deep, refreshing breath of the crisp clean air.

‘The air in Gangwon Province is always so fresh whenever I visit.’

Yangyang was part of Gangwon too, but since I only stayed in the city and a motel there, I didn’t have a chance to breathe such invigorating air.

“One moca latte and a chocolate cake, please.”

No matter how busy, one must have leisure time. Since I had set out without eating breakfast, I stopped by a nearby cafe to order a light brunch.

[In other news, a traditional Gangwon festival will be held soon, but as with recent traditional festivals, there is much controversy over price gouging. Regarding this, festival organizers have said…]

The cafe owner seemed quite interested in current affairs, playing the news broadcast instead of typical cafe music. Since I hadn’t kept up with recent news either, I didn’t mind.

[Amid abnormal temperatures continuing in the southern regions, this autumn is expected to be unprecedentedly short.]

By the way, one issue has arisen. Now that the game has become reality and my knowledge is clearer, I find myself suspecting if every incident is influenced by entities.

[Three men in their 50s fell from a breakwater while fishing and died. Around 3 AM yesterday morning, Mr. A was fishing on the tetrapods when…]

Could the short autumn be due to an entity’s influence? The fishermen’s deaths too? At this rate, I might become consumed by the thought that everything is influenced by entities.

‘After acquiring force, I must immediately acquire the means next.’

I checked my phone for the location of the mountain visible from the cafe.

“Unbongsan Mountain.”

That is where a safety grade entity capable of bestowing force resides.

“That was delicious.”

After finishing my meal, I purchased a cucumber and an iced water before heading towards Unbongsan Mountain. On the way, I recalled the event scene that appears upon encountering the entity I was seeking.

[With the pleasant weather in Gosung, I ascended the mountain to take a rest. Midway up, two diverging paths appeared.]

Past the trail entrance, I reached the midpoint. At the Mirukam junction, there was only one path I needed to take.

[Neither path appealed to me. With a spirit of adventure, I proceeded straight towards the summit.]

Straight towards the summit. There was no trail, only treacherous rocks and bushes to greet me.

[Something was amiss. Despite it not being a particularly tall mountain, no matter how far I went, the summit never appeared. When I belatedly tried to return to the original trail, the junction was nowhere to be found either.]

I periodically checked the time. Before I knew it, 12 hours had passed, and I was drenched in sweat, so I took a break to eat the cucumber.

[Despite considerable time elapsing, the sun remained directly overhead. It felt as if the flow of time had stopped, and I began to lose faith that I would ever reach the summit.]

Just as I was starting to feel exhausted, I finally spotted a valley.

[In the midst of this, I discovered a valley. It was not visible on satellite images, so why was there a valley here? Carefully, beset by trepidation, I entered it.]

And there, I encountered a young girl.

[In that place, I met a girl. The girl standing there with her eyes closed did not respond no matter how much I called out to her, nor did she react when I gently nudged her. What should I do in such a situation?]

A girl who appeared around six or seven years old with braided hair, wearing a pink dress, had her eyes closed just like in the game.

[Take the girl’s hand and descend the mountain.]
[Carry the girl on your back and descend.]
[Cradle the girl in your arms and descend.]

A safety grade entity that enhances the user depending on how they treat the girl.

“The Girl with Closed Eyes.”

Taking the girl’s arm and descending improves dexterity. Dexterity increases the chance of surviving against manipulative entities.

Carrying her on your back improves intuition, raising the survival rate against spirit-type entities. Cradling her in your arms improves physical abilities, increasing the survival rate against physical entities.

“Little girl.”

What I aimed for was cradling the Girl with Closed Eyes in my arms as I descended.

“May I carry you down?”

Just in case, I asked her. In the game, she never showed any reaction and the text stated she moved mechanically, so I didn’t expect a response.

“No.”

But to me, the girl spoke.

“Who are you?”