Chapter 33

Let's take stock.

While tracking down a missing person, I had encountered a bizarre, horrifying phenomenon and been sucked somewhere.

The conclusion was simple.

I had gone missing, just like the person I was looking for.

Swallowed by a ghost story.

"O-Officer...?"

And these kids probably had, too.

Five or six kids in middle school uniforms were looking at me, their faces full of hope and misery.

Seeing their faces actually dispelled my sense of being overwhelmed and brought me back to my senses.

'First things first.'

I needed to figure out the situation...!

"I'm not a police officer."

I showed them the <Daydream Inc.> logo on the front of my security uniform.

"I work for a private security company."

"Oh..."

Apparently, they had mistaken the security uniform for a police uniform.

Resignation and fear began filling their faces. I hastily added,

"But I can still report this and take security measures. So, could you stay calm and explain what's going on?"

"Uh, yes...!"

The student with bobbed hair who had spoken first swallowed hard, then began in a trembling voice.

"Well. We, we... came here on a school trip."

The first-year students from a middle school in Seoul had come to Gyeongju on a school trip.

The teachers had divided the kids into groups to make them easier to manage. These kids, who had ended up in Group 3, seemed to be a particularly lively and curious bunch.

"Th-There was a mountain behind where we were staying. And we saw something like a pavilion... so we said we should go there to test our courage."

They had decided to sneak out to that "pavilion" by themselves in the dead of night.

'Whew...'

Normally, it would have ended with them getting caught and scolded by their teachers, or looking around and returning in fits of laughter.

But...

"There was a painting in the pavilion."

This was a ghost-story universe.

"It was a picture of a w-weird-looking house or something..."

The student swallowed hard.

"Someone was looking at us from inside that house."

"..."

"So we were, like, daring each other to go closer..."

"And you touched it."

"..."

The student nodded, then began sobbing in choked gasps.

"A-And all of a sudden, the painting started saying things like 'Well done, well done,' and laughing, and then... something weird came out, and—"

When they came to, they were in this sinister abandoned house.

"There are weird noises outside the windows, and even when the sun comes up, we can't see through the fog... W-We can't get out..."

Behind the student, a mischievous-looking boy was sniffling, too. They all seemed on the verge of panic.

'Ha...'

I deliberately kept my voice calm as I asked,

"Did that painting happen to look like a hanging scroll?"

"Sniff... A hanging scroll?"

"Something rolled up like this."

"Oh... uh, no, it wasn't... It was a traditional painting? A traditional painting... you know, um, done with a brush like this..."

"... An ink-wash painting?"

"Yes!!"

The middle schooler nodded vigorously.

Then... perhaps that was what everyone dragged into this ghost story had in common.

Hanging scrolls were usually old-fashioned objects.

'The painting in the reviewer's scroll was probably a traditional ink-wash painting, too.'

That bizarre dark red liquid thrashing around in the restroom—ugh—had looked like ink, after all.

To sum it up...

A ghost story in which an eerie ink-wash painting swallowed anyone who touched it and sent them to a terrifying place.

'... I think there are about five or six of those.'

That narrowed it down considerably. The problem was that not a single one of those Darknesses was easy.

'These are seriously old-school ghost stories...'

Superstitious terror that tightened around your throat.

The kind of scary story with a whiff of shamanism about it.

"..."

I was in serious trouble. I was already bad with ghosts...

'This looks way more intense than the convenience store ghost...'

Grasping at straws, I wanted more people here. Having more people around usually made things less scary!

Wasn't there anyone else?

Come to think of it, where had that security chief gone? He could easily have been swept in with me, but he was nowhere to be seen.

At least I could have leaned on him if he were here. As things stood... I couldn't exactly rely on the kids.

'This is driving me crazy.'

Still, I kept that to myself and asked,

"You must have been really scared. How long have you been here?"

"A-A day...? I don't know..."

"Aren't you hungry?"

"We had some snacks... so we ate those."

"I see."

'These kids must be at their limit, too.'

Kids barely out of elementary school, trapped here all by themselves?

Fear was keeping them hyperalert, so they weren't noticing how much energy they were burning. At this rate, they could easily collapse from exhaustion without warning.

"I-It's so scary, and our phones don't work, so..."

"Okay. I'll look for a way out. In the meantime, keep your hands off everything else..."

Wait.

"Then are you the only ones here? No other adults?"

"An adult! There is one, but, um...!"

That was when it happened.

... From far away, I heard a shout.

"Aaaagh!"

"..."

"He's over there, shouting all by himself... That man scares us."

"... I see."

He scared me, too...

'But I can't drag you kids along...'

At times like this, having a warm, comforting stuffed doll (alive) might be an advantage after all.

'Braun.'

I called to the Good Friend in my pocket.

Come to think of it, he'd been rather quiet.

"Mr. Roe Deer."

His voice sounded somewhat subdued.

"I'm sorry. You went all the way to that filthy, unhygienic place to give me a present..."

He seemed to be feeling quite guilty. I chuckled.

'It's fine. We just have to get out.'

It was not fine, actually.

But getting angry wouldn't let me drop out halfway through... It would only make a mobile, murderous stuffed doll resent me.

"You truly are bold! That's a splendid talent for an entertainer, too!"

No. I was a coward.

So please help me out here, and give it everything you've got.

'Will you help me get out?'

"What do you need? Just say the word! I, Braun, shall have it ready..."

Hmm. At this rate, even if I couldn't get the fifty million, I didn't think his affection for me would suffer.

After patting Braun through my pocket as he promised his full cooperation, I headed deeper into the abandoned house.

... Toward the screams.

"I'm going to check it out. Could you wait here a little while?"

"Y-Yes...!"

Of course, I had a five-hundred-won coin loaded and ready so I could use the remote hand at any moment.

And a flashlight, too.

'Thank goodness it came attached to the uniform.'

I went farther, relying on its narrow beam.

"Aaagh...! No, don't...!"

"... Help me, help meeeaaagh!"

As I drew closer, the voice grew clearer, resolving into words and sentences.

The screams from beyond the walls of the dark, abandoned house were horribly vivid. Ha...

'H-Hold it together.'

A chill ran down my spine, and I wanted to run away.

Forcing myself to endure it, I rounded the corner.

"This f*ing world! This f*ing company...!!"

I saw a familiar face.

"... The manual reviewer?"

The office worker in his forties, who had been writhing in front of wooden boards plastered with talismans, saw me and widened his eyes.

It was the missing Section Chief Lee Byeongjin.

"S-Security...??"

Oh, right.

I was wearing a security uniform.

"G-Good heavens! Are you with the security team?!"

His face lit up, and he came crawling toward me, trembling all over.

"You've come to find me!!"

No, I'd been dragged in here, too.

'Why is he being so deferential, though?'

Oh, was it because he'd mistaken me for security?

Since landing in this world, I had almost never seen company employees grovel like this.

I glanced down at my borrowed security uniform.

'... The office staff do tend to look down on the Field Exploration Team...'

More specifically, its junior regular employees. They could die anytime, anywhere, so the office staff treated them carelessly and couldn't be bothered dealing with them properly.

I remembered the administrative employee whose attitude had subtly changed upon learning that I had almost joined an Elite Team.

And now there was Section Chief Lee Byeongjin before me, sweating coldly, eyes darting around as he tried his hardest to smile.

Hmm.

Let's make a little use of this.

I clasped my hands behind my back and spoke like a member of security.

"We received an internal missing-person report. I was conducting a search."

"I-I see. Haha! Ha, hahaha...! I knew it!! The company hasn't abandoned me...!!"

Actually, it had.

"Th-Then, um, you'll smash this Darkness to pieces, right? Yes?? Since you're security..."

I deliberately adopted an indifferent tone.

"Smashing Darknesses is not the security team's job."

"...!"

"We suppress disturbances."

"Th-That's right. Yes, haha... I, uh, don't have much experience with field exploration like this, you see."

Okay. That more or less established the right atmosphere.

"Explain the situation."

"Pardon??"

"Please describe what you have experienced since your disappearance, in chronological order."

I needed to compare his account with the kids' and figure out just what this ghost story was!

"Ah, yes, yes!"

He scrambled to his feet, then began talking at a rapid clip.

"W-Well, I, I found a very valuable-looking hanging scroll at a souvenir shop near, ah, Jirisan..."

It was almost identical to what I'd heard at the office.

After the shopkeeper had quietly told him that it would "grant wishes," he had bought the suspicious scroll, and his financial luck had noticeably improved.

"He said to keep it close to water and not touch the scroll... and I really won the lottery!! Second prize!!"

But...

"I began hearing strange whispers..."

Section Chief Lee Byeongjin's eyes twitched. He began clawing at his hands, spitting as he spoke.

"Uh, uh... 'Your wish has been granted, so repaying it is a scholar's rightful duty,' uh, whispers like that, every night, every night, the sound of water, and crying, animal cries coming closer from far awaaaay!!"

Eek.

"I couldn't, I couldn't take it anymooore! I couldn't stand it! So..."

"... So,"

I remembered.

The scroll I'd seen in that seemingly blood-drenched restroom, its center slashed to shreds.

"You tried to tear it up?"

"... Yes."

So, in broad daylight, he had gone somewhere other than his home—a place without witnesses, but where he could immediately flee into a crowd after tearing it up. Somewhere like...

'An unused company restroom.'

He had sought out such a place and torn the scroll.

"That's, that's what I was trying to do, but..."

"You were dragged here."

"... Gasp! Yes..."

Section Chief Lee Byeongjin panted harshly.

I rubbed the back of my neck.

'... How should I put this?'

He'd done every single thing that got people killed in ghost stories...

And the fact that, in his search for somewhere without witnesses, he'd gone all the way to a basement restroom at <Daydream Inc.> practically deserved a round of applause.

'Honestly, at this point, he wouldn't have much room to complain if he died.'

Holding back a sigh, I raised my head.

In front of where Section Chief Lee Byeongjin had been rolling around stood a wall covered in talismans.

There were far more torn talismans here than anywhere else.

'Why was he making such a scene in front of this?'

I shone my flashlight on the wall.

And realized why.

"... Is that a door?"

A handle was visible through a gap in the torn talismans.

And judging by the lock on the handle...

'A door leading outside?'

"I-It comes here!"

"Pardon?"

"The ghost! It comes here every day!"

Section Chief Lee Byeongjin crawled over, his eyes bloodshot, clung to my trouser leg, and began muttering.

"I-It comes to eat me. It comes to eat me... Th-The talismans! They're falling off every day!"

"That's..."

"I-It'll come again today—"

KNOCK KNOCK.

"..."

"..."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

The sound

came from the door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"It's back—"

I clamped my hand over Section Chief Lee Byeongjin's mouth.

"Excuse me."

"..."

"It's so cold outside. Could you please open the door?"

"..."

"Mister, don't you remember me? I'm Jeong Naeun, the seven-year-old who lived next door to you at Somang Apartments..."

The sound of a child sniffling and sobbing came from beyond the door.

"Please help me. I'm so cold and tired... I don't know where I am. Please open the door..."

There was a strange poignancy to it that made me forget my fear and feel sympathy despite myself...

Beside me, a trembling voice spoke as if entranced.

"N-Naeun."

"Mister."

A talisman on the door burned away.

Laughter crept into the sobbing voice.

"You answered again, huh?"

"...!"

"N-No!! Agh!! No! I didn't answer!! Go away! Go away!!"

Snapping out of it, the section chief went berserk.

But.

"I don't want to."

"I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to"

"Eeeek!"

BANG.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG.

The door began shaking as if it would break apart.

A burned talisman fell.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG.

Talismans rained down.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG.

I barely managed to move my arm.

BANG.

I tossed a coin into the air and summoned the hand.

BANG.

Then, somehow, I picked up the intact talismans from among the countless ones on the floor...

BANG.

And layered them over the door handle.

BANG.

The talismans tumbled off again.

"Hah."

But...

.

The pounding stopped.

Of all the talismans I had placed over the door handle, only one remained.

"..."

"..."

"So close."

Goose bumps rose on the back of my neck.

"Sob, heheheh..."

The trudging footsteps beyond the door slowly faded away...

"Gasp, haaah..."

Section Chief Lee Byeongjin collapsed facedown on the floor.

I clenched and unclenched my sweat-soaked hand.

'This is driving me crazy.'

I had nearly passed out when the door started pounding.

I hid my trembling hands behind my back.

A ghost story that trapped its prey.

A shamanic atmosphere, talismans, being eaten, temptation, a beckoning voice, terror...

'...'

I knew what it was.

* * *

Records of Dark Exploration / Ghost Stories

[Lord of the Mountain]

: A ghost story appearing in <Records of Dark Exploration>. Daydream Inc. identification code: Qterw-C-51.

A sinister Darkness in an ink-wash painting depicting ghosts of those devoured by tigers, who lure others to the same fate.

A total of 17 explorations have been recorded.

* * *

This was a Jangsan Tiger-type ghost story.