I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game - Chapter 66

Creak. Rattle. Clank. The sound of iron gears and wood creaking.

In a room filled with such sounds, someone stops while trying to use the wrench in their hand.

“The petty thief… I guess he failed. I thought the Institution guys wouldn’t have the strength to deal with Rulers, but things don’t always work out that easily. It would be nice if things were resolved as easily as a screw.”

‘I turned a blind eye to the theft of the dolls, but I only suffered a loss. This is why people who only believe in anomalous abilities…’

 

Wooden hands and rolling prosthetic eyes. A mechanical device that replaced internal organs. Even at first glance, they weren’t human.

They talk to themselves with their creaking mouth.

The occasional malfunctioning mouth was something they couldn’t fix.

“It’s good for me and humanity too that the Institution is alive and well. Thanks to that, there are no interruptions when I’m working… Ah, after all, peace is the best.”

‘It’s a pity that I couldn’t get the necessary ingredients…’

 

The item they were trying to obtain from the Institution was a golden cog.

It is one of the essential items to strengthen their power and deal with upcoming threats.

One day, they will obtain all the ingredients and fulfill their wish. For that to happen, it is best not to be disturbed.

Whether it’s the Institution or another organization.

“But… It will be soon. Instead of gears, you can hear the unpleasant whirring sound of metal. The first of the Rulers will appear, a selfish machine god, intent on breaking through the Institution’s shallow defense and taking control. That’s annoying…”

POV Switch – Ella

 

‘I’m bored. Because of the cognitive impairment device, the only kids who talk to me are Ha-rim’s group. And if we talk face-to-face, they will recognize me to some extent.’

 

If it’s just my face, they won’t recognize me, but if I get too close, it’s still a problem.

Moreover, if I don’t talk to them from time to time, they will become distant again and forget my existence.

“What are you thinking, Alice?”

Ha-rim approached me as I sat blankly. I came up with a suitable answer.

“I was thinking that I didn’t want to think about anything.”

“You said something profound.”

Ha-rim responded to my answer by saying that she did that too sometimes and laughed.

She seemed to notice that I was bored, which is probably a luxury I don’t like to admit to myself.

After thinking about it for a while, she told me her own way to ease boredom.

“Hmm… Sometimes when I’m bored, I look around. For example, see those unclaimed scissors sitting on that desk?”

I looked at the scissors that Ha-rim pointed to with her finger.

These are scissors with nothing special about them.

“If you keep them with you, it could be helpful when you need something sharp. Sometimes you can open a locked bathroom door with it.”

Open a locked bathroom door. I didn’t even think about it.

I didn’t bother to ask how that was feasible.

Ha-rim continued.

“You can’t see it from here, but there’s hand sanitizer in the restroom. If I spray that on me, I can slip away when someone comes to get me, right?”

“That’s a creative idea.”

Not soap, but hand sanitizer.

Yes, that would be slippery too.

It was obvious, but I didn’t think about it either.

When it comes to ideas, Ha-rim is better than me.

“And most of all, look at all the bags and old clothes left on the playground! Don’t you want to look through them? You might find something useful!”

“No… You’re the only one who wants to go looking through trash cans or leftover bags on the street…”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

This kid still lives with the feeling of being the main character in the game and interacting with all the interest points.

In fact, hadn’t she already researched everything about the school?

Of course, she would have refrained from going through someone else’s desk because she would be accused of being a thief.

It feels like she knows where all the loopholes are.

“Hmm… If you’re tired of looking at things, look at the students in our class. Do you see them over there? There’s a rumor going around that they’re dating.”

Ha-rim pointed at the young couple chatting sweetly in the hallway.

I was shocked by that.

“Are they already dating the opposite sex?”

“Already. It’s normal.”

“Is it… ?”

I showed my doubt. Ha-rim took that as a sign of interest.

She started asking me questions about dating.

“Alice, are you interested in dating too? Is there a boy you like?”

“Well…”

A boy. I was originally a man. So, seeing men as members of the opposite sex… Honestly, I couldn’t help but feel repulsed.

However, it was amusing to tease Suho and Kyeong-min using the fact that my body was female.

…Now that I thought about it, I did feel quite a bit like a woman.

Yet, somehow, loving a woman feels oddly unsettling.

There was a feeling of reluctance and resistance to doing this and that.

It’s confusing to think about gender identity at this age.

“Was it a sensitive question?”

As my worries grow longer, Ha-rim asks me.

“What do you mean?”

“I learned in class that there is diversity in love and that we must respect it… But in reality, when you are in the minority, it is difficult to easily reveal your true feelings, and there is no good in saying it, right?”

I thought Ha-rim had become an ethics teacher for a moment.

She was so serious in explaining things clearly and coherently that it embarrassed me.

Before she could say anything more, I cut off the conversation.

“Wait! Can you stop being so profound all of a sudden?! Even if you tell me that, I’m not particularly interested in dating!”

“Honestly, me neither. But I do have an ideal type. I like someone who stays with me all the time! It’d be better if they’re a good person. I think it’s even better if they’re fun too.”

“Umm… I.”

They said love comes in many forms, right?

Maybe I was thinking of it as too physical.

In my head, I imagined someone making a sincere confession that they loved me.

The other person may be male or female, young or old.

I came to a conclusion.

“… Honestly, if someone says they love me, I don’t think anyone could deny it. What can I say… I feel like I can’t reject it?”

Is it a little strange? I waited for Ha-rim’s reaction.

She smiled bitterly at me and said.

“I read in a book that women who are too easy are not attractive!”

“What books have you been reading?”

I couldn’t help but retort.

Ha-rim added that I sounded like an old man.

Once again, when one topic ended, she moved on to the next one.

Class is starting soon, so this should be the last topic.

She pointed to a boy dressed in black and wearing a hoodie in the corner of our class.

“Let’s see… How about the guy over there who watches anime during break time?”

“Huh?”

“I once saw him watching an anime called ‘Card King Earth’ when I was bored. Was his name Yong Tak-gu? Let’s go ask him what anime he was watching.”¹

“Wait a minute. That’s not possible. It’s really not.”

“Why?”

‘There’s definitely a reason he’s watching it while alone!’

 

“He may be timid and delicate, so I’ll go alone and ask him.”

If you’re watching an anime and the bubbly girl in your class asks you what you’re watching, you’re probably going to be embarrassed.

You’re most likely going to think, Uh, what? This is a little awkward.

Not that I would ever know.

Because no one else had approached me except for the Senior.

As a former loner, I feel like I could empathize.

“Hey… Do you mind if I ask what you’re watching?”

I asked as discreetly as I could.

“Uh, what? This is a little awkward.”

A sense of betrayal creeps into my heart.

But I apologized without a hint of annoyance.

“Uh… Um… Sorry I interrupted you. I was just curious.”

“Well, let me show you a little bit then. It’s not really an anime.”

His demeanor changed.

He realized that he wasn’t the one to be judged.

Loners are naturally paranoid.

I can’t believe I didn’t take that into consideration.

“Oh, it’s a virtual YouTuber.”

“Do you know them?”

“I know. I watch a lot of game livestreams. Streamers are changing a lot these days.”

The 2D character is moving around while playing the game.

This person is a virtual YouTuber.

A way to make it more fun is to slightly break down the boundary between 2D and reality by broadcasting while acting as a cute anime character.

“This is a Monster Hunter series game, right? It was released a while ago.”

“So you know? It was first released overseas.”

“Well, I’ve been waiting for the Korean version of the game since I’ve watched the foreign livestreams.”

I continued talking excitedly with him for about 5 minutes.

At this time, I realized that Ha-rim was looking at my back with a dissatisfied expression.

“…Alice… You’re having fun without me…”

“Oh. I’m sorry!”

“Uh… Um…”

“It was fun. Let’s talk next time.”

“O… Okay.”

Ha-rim and I returned to our seats. Tak-gu put his hoodie back on and started looking at his phone.

[Where are you looking? If you are my fan, watch my broadcast! I don’t like you flirting with that girl!]

“I’m… I’m sorry, Lost.”

Before I knew it, class was over and I was on my way home from school.

Originally, I should have avoided getting too close, but the other kids had work to do and quickly returned home, so I didn’t want to leave Ha-rim alone.

While this was happening, I asked her about what bothered me.

“Ah, Ha-rim, didn’t you buy something like a crystal ball at an occult shop before?”

“Oh, that’s right! I bought it, but I think I dropped it while playing near the window. When I looked for it, it was broken outside the club room window. But how did you know?”

“It’s just. When you think of occult items, it has to be a crystal ball.”

“As expected! Alice thinks so too, right?”

I can clearly see what kind of thinking process she and the children went through when they bought it.

That crystal ball. There was clearly an anomalous power.

A strange song came from the crystal ball.

The singing voice had an effect even on me, who probably has a higher resistance than normal humans. It must have been the product of quite a strong being.

I should ask James to reinvestigate the occult shop and collect the broken crystal ball later.

“I see. Was there anything suspicious about that crystal ball?”

Ha-rim thought lightly at my question.

“Well… When I fell asleep with it, I had a strange dream.”

“What dream?”

“Something like… I felt like I was at an idol concert?”

“Eh?”

“That’s all.”

Come to think of it, the music playing felt like a pop song.

Step, step.

Today, the other kids went first because they had stuff to do, so it’s easy for silence to set in when one of two people stops talking.

The fact that it was us two was enough to make each other chatter, though.

I thought out topics of conversation in my head.

Then, unconsciously, one particular topic came out of my mouth.

“Ha-rim, you like the occult. What would you think if there were a lot of abnormal things like ghosts around you?”

“That might be fun?”

“Even if it’s bigger and more dangerous than you imagined?”

“For example?”

“For example… A monster bigger than a mountain watching us from the clouds in the sky?”

“That’s scary…”

I guess so too.

I wondered how she would react if she found out that this world was similar to the supernatural world she fell into before.

Would she despair? Would she start crying? I have to protect them so that that doesn’t happen.

As I was rubbing my chin and worrying, Ha-rim also rubbed her chin and frowned.

Am I making that kind of face?

Ha-rim, too engrossed in rubbing her chin, couldn’t see ahead. So it was quite inevitable that she would bump into someone blocking the path.

“Ah! I’m sorry.”

“…”

Ha-rim and I looked up.

He’s taller than us. Three boys who looked to be in their third year of middle school were blocking the road.

“Hey, what is this? A wallet just happened to be here.”

“What?”

From the first word, I recognized the clichéd tone of their voice.

“My brothers and I need some money for cigarettes, can you give me your wallet?”

It feels fresh.

Even though I’ve met murderous monsters, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a middle school student try to rip me off.

The memory of being robbed of money when I was a grown man comes back to me like a flashback.

“…I don’t want to…”

Ha-rim hesitates and expresses her refusal.

“Just do me a favor, hmm? Give it to me before you get your ass kicked and cry.”

“Hey, hey, hey, even I feel like crying if you do that.”

“Damn, you two are such assholes. Pfft.”

The gangsters are giggling amongst themselves.

Since they have no respect for the other person and are only thinking about taking our money, they let their guard down and they say whatever comes to mind.

I’ve experienced this before, but the curiosity in my mind is preventing me from moving my mouth and hand.

“Yes, I will give it to you.”

Ha-rim puts her hand on her pocket.

I was thinking of stopping her and scolding the bullies. And then paused for a moment.

…Is this something I should do?

This is not an insurmountable situation.

We can get away without a problem by just handing over our wallet and putting the money in Ha-rim’s wallet later.

It’s not a dangerous situation.

It’s just a small event in everyday life. Even if you get hurt, you won’t die.

I didn’t want to show my strength and make her feel uncomfortable about me again.

I watched Ha-rim as she was pulling her wallet out of her backpack.

…And what she took out was not a wallet, but an insect repellent spray.

She took advantage of their lack of attention and sprayed it into the eyes of the person in front.

The gangster’s screams rang out and Ha-rim grabbed my hand.

“Hey! Alice, let’s run away!”

“Uh, yes!”

I ran after her.

I could run faster, but I didn’t necessarily need to overtake her.

“Fucking hell!”

The gangster who got hit by the spray chased after us, swearing.

Including the two people next to him, there were a total of three people chasing two female elementary school students.

To be honest, there is a difference in speed and it is difficult to win by force.

Is Ha-rim afraid? I looked at her expression.

…She has a serious expression.

“Turn to the right and go up the slide!”

As soon as I turned right, I saw an old playground.

I climbed up the steep slide along her.

It was old, so it was less slippery.

We arrived at the second floor of a castle-like structure built for children to play.

Ha-rim kicked the gangster who followed us.

But the other two who climbed up the stairs rushed at us.

At this moment, Ha-rim hit the floor and broke it!

We fell to the ground.

I was shocked that she had the strength to break the floor.

“Woah!”

While I was surprised, she smiled and ran again.

“The rides at this playground have been degraded for a long time! Even the signs say there’s a risk of falling because they’re cracked!”

Even so, no one knew if it would break at once.

Right behind us, the gangster who had been kicked by Ha-rim and slipped, gave chase again.

Ha-rim took something out of her bag and threw it with great concentration, as if trying to time it.

It was a hard, round baseball.

Just as the bully’s foot touched the ground, the baseball got stuck between the sand and his foot, and he fell.

“Urgh! My ankle!”

“Sorry, it was intentional!”

One person was eliminated, so there are now two.

The two of them were so angry that they didn’t have any rationality left.

“You better run! If you get caught, you’re dead!”

On that side, there are middle school students.

On this side, there are elementary school students (except me!). The running speed difference is clear.

Even though Ha-rim is fast, the other side is faster.

It’s not surprising, since gangsters often play sports.

Ha-rim took a deep breath as if she had made a big decision.

“… I’m so sorry, but please have courage, Alice!”

“What?!”

Shockingly, after calculating the timing for a moment, Ha-rim turned and jumped into the path of a passing car on the side of the road.

And on a pretty wide road!

With perfect timing, she succeeded in avoiding all of the honking cars without stopping and crossing the road.

I started to sweat.

I’m afraid that Ha-rim will die, not me!

‘Ha-rim. The calculation of car speed is perfect. Are you really an elementary school student?! Even if you are bold, you are too bold!’

 

She runs calmly while apologizing to the drivers.

I’ve known for a long time that she’s not normal, but she always breaks common sense.

We stopped on a street between buildings a few moments later, and the lone gangster behind us gasped, having separated from the other two.

“Wow. Holy shit. You’re pretty good, I admit. But that’s it.”

Ha-rim found a long stick in the trash can and pointed it at the gangster.

“Ha! You want to fight? That’s ridiculous.”

The bully ran towards her.

Unlike the excited bully, Ha-rim was frighteningly calm.

I saw her eyes moving really fast.

My guess is that what Ha-rim glanced at was his shoulder, arm, and the other person’s gaze.

She easily dodged the bully’s fist and struck his head and stomach in a series of motions.

“Argh!”

And I sprayed the crouching bully’s eyes with the spray Ha-rim lent me.

She continued to hit the feet and legs of the bully who was rolling on the floor.

She was thinking of causing pain in his legs so he wouldn’t be able to chase us.

Honestly, it’s a scary idea.

If Ha-rim had been a little more scary, I think she would have slashed his ankles.

“You idiot! Why are you getting hit!”

“Urgh…”

The other bullies who arrived later scolded him.

I wondered if it was the beginning of another chase, but I only shook my head at the persistence of the thugs and felt no tension.

“…Officer~”

“Huh? What is it?”

There was a police officer directing traffic across the road.

This is a police officer whom Ha-rim sometimes greeted because it was close to the way home from school.

Ha-rim had deliberately walked towards him.

“They asked me to give them money, and they told me not to tell the police, but they looked suspicious… Is it okay to give them money?”

“…You three, follow me.”

The situation is over.

Ha-rim smiled brightly while wiping away the sweat she had shed while running.

“Hehe… That was close.”

“Lies…”

She was full of leisure.

After all, the main character is the main character.

Ha-rim stretched out her arms as if she felt refreshed.

And she spoke as if she had remembered something.

“That’s right. The topic we just talked about. I didn’t answer properly, did I?”

“Huh? Ah, that’s right. So much happened in the meantime.”

“Well… No matter how much I like the occult, I don’t think a world full of scary things is a good place, even more if they are just out there running around and terrorizing my friends.”

“I guess so… Right?”

“Yeah. But it’s inevitable that they are going to run into something and have to either run away or fight, but it’s weird that I get to decide that.”

I nodded. The thing named trial wasn’t always predictable.

It’s not like she can handle it every time.

“Yeah, I guess we don’t have a choice.”

“I don’t want a world where scary things roam around. But if I were in that world, I would try to overcome the scary things. If I try and work hard, I might be able to overcome anything. Like we did just now!”

Ha-rim was always like that. She never gave up, and even in the original game, she was the one who refused to give up on life until she was given the worst ending possible.

“And when I did it, it felt really good, like a feeling of being saved.”

“Yeah, you were amazing.”

“Me? Alice was there too.”

“Huh? I guess so.”

In the end, it’s no different from doing it alone. But I couldn’t predict what Ha-rim was going to say.

“It became even more special because I was with Alice. The bad guys were scary, but the chase became a fun memory for me and Alice… And Alice even smiled!”

“Smiling? Me?”

“Yeah! I just saw Alice smile brightly for the first time. If there’s a reward for doing your best, it’s Alice smiling at you, right? If Alice smiles, I might enjoy a few more chases.”

Ha-rim is happy.

As I was admiring Ha-rim’s smile, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Had I come forward to intervene, she wouldn’t have had any fun.

Keeping the children away from danger and ensuring their safety.

Keeping scary monsters away from the kids and if they meet any, erase their memories so they can return to their daily lives.

At first glance, that seems correct.

Children are precious and must be protected.

…But didn’t I rob the children of their adventure?

Haven’t I taken away their joy in exchange for seeking safety instead of adventure?

Even if what I erased was a minor incident, even if it was the Institution that erased the memories of that place full of the supernatural that was the game stage.

I thought it was the right thing.

Is this really right?

“I…”

Something fundamental inside me was shaken.

My power becomes unstable and ripples.

Alice who prevents adventures from happening is not Alice.

“Ah. There’s a food stall over there. Let’s have some snacks!”

Ha-rim said as we stopped at a passing stall. She took my hand and led me once again.

I surrendered to the hand, and in doing so, the ripples were calmed.

“…Sure.”