Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Monkey Dream
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There are two types of people in this world.
Those who read a ghost story and just forget it, and those who fall into the ghost story.
Those who forget dismiss the ghost story as just a passing tale. They think it's interesting, but they don't dig any deeper.
It remains nothing more than a hazy memory, like a scary story told around a campfire on a summer night that fades with time.
But those who fall into it are different. For them, a ghost story is not a simple form of entertainment.
For them, a ghost story is an addictive world from which you can never escape once you set foot in it.
I am the latter.
The kind that has fallen in very, very deep. The kind that stays up all night as a matter of course once I start reading a ghost story, and sometimes even spends days rereading the same story, trying to find the hidden meaning.
I first fell into ghost stories while in the military. It started with the Catastrophe Foundation ghost stories I began reading out of boredom during my personal maintenance time.
Was it from then on?
I started collecting all the ghost stories hidden deep within the internet.
I can still vividly remember that moment, reading ghost stories on my smartphone under a blanket in the barracks.
At first, it was just a way to kill time. But I gradually fell deeper and deeper in. As I read the Foundation's containment documents one by one, I fell deeply into the charm of the hidden world within them.
The descriptions of the containment targets were especially impressive. They weren't just scary; they had their own unique ecology and characteristics.
The realistic descriptions, like watching a documentary, were captivating. The hobby of collecting ghost stories, which started that way, has now become a huge part of my life.
After being discharged and returning to university, my life as a Korean Literature student was boring. My major courses were interesting, but something was lacking. I always felt a thirst even while studying Korean literature. I had come to know that there were new stories that couldn't be explained by existing literary genres.
I discovered the Ghost Story Gallery by chance. After finishing all the Catastrophe Foundation documents I had read in the military and looking for something else, I found a link to the Ghost Story Gallery on a blog.
At first, I just went in to kill time like I did in the military, but what was this? It wasn't just any ordinary dead gallery. It was the most active community dealing in ghost stories, with dozens of posts going up every day.
─Title) A call comes in every day at 3:33 AM.txt [41]
ㄴ So much fun
ㄴ This is so scary, I check the clock before picking up every time a call comes in
ㄴ Could this be a series?
ㄴ The author's writing is amazing
─Title) I'm a newbie on the ghost gallery. My first ghost story post [12]
ㄴ You totally give off newbie vibes, but it's cute
ㄴ The style is a bit awkward, but the material is fresh
ㄴ Looking forward to the next part!
─Title) Japanese Yamanaka-san ghost story translation.txt [876]
ㄴ As expected, Japanese ghost stories have a different atmosphere from the start
ㄴ The translation quality is insane
ㄴ Where did you get the original?
The ghost stories I had only ever seen in print were alive and breathing here. The author and readers communicated in real-time, added flesh to each other's stories, and sometimes even collaborated to create new ghost stories.
What especially caught my eye were the veteran users.
Authors who serialized stories with their own unique worlds. The gallery would buzz every time their new works were posted. Dozens of people would react and debate in real-time in the comments.
At first, I just lurked. I read the newly posted ghost stories, saw other people's reactions, and occasionally left comments, learning the gallery's culture. There were unwritten rules here, enforced by the regulars.
[Newbies should just lurk silently for 3 months]
[Don't just insert your own worldviews into other authors' works]
[We hate it the most when people promise daily updates and then just drop it]
[Plagiarism and trolling get you blocked]
After lurking for about six months, I posted for the first time. It was a manual ghost story titled "Guide for the Late-Night Library Reading Room." To be honest, I didn't expect much...
ㄴ Oh, this is interesting
ㄴ Anyone who's a university student would relate
ㄴ Let's make this a series
ㄴ Looking forward to the next part
The response was surprisingly good.
My heart pounded at the praise I was receiving for the first time. Was it around then that the Ghost Story Gallery became more than just a hobby, but part of my identity?
Now I go into the gallery several times a day. Checking for new posts or interesting discussions has become a hobby.
No, maybe it's more accurate to say it's become part of my daily routine. I'd secretly go into the Ghost Story Gallery during class, and even write about ghost stories in the critique papers I had to submit as assignments.
"I wonder what's been posted this time..."
8:30 AM. I was on my way to school on the subway.
At this time every day, I read ghost stories in the crowd of commuters. While others check the news, look at stock charts, or chat on KakaoTalk, I read the Ghost Story Gallery.
I accessed the Ghost Story Gallery with my smartphone. Posts from the early morning were piled up.
More ghost stories are posted in the early morning. Is it because people's imaginations become more lively as darkness falls? Or is it just because of the special nature of the nighttime hours?
Anyway, I especially liked the posts that go up during this time.
─Title) Late-Night Bus Boarding Rules.txt
ㄴ So much fun, for real
ㄴ This is a masterpiece
ㄴ The author's writing is insane
ㄴ I looked up this author's other works and they're all amazing
ㄴ I wish this would come out as a series
Hmm. Manual ghost stories are the trend these days.
In the early days, there were many stories that were simply about 'this is how you die,' but these days, they've become more sophisticated. They have characters, a narrative, and foreshadowing. You could say they're evolving beyond simple horror into a form of literature in their own right.
As I scrolled, I started to get sleepy. It seemed my sleep pattern was completely ruined from staying up all night reading ghost stories until 4 AM again last night.
But I have no regrets. Anyone who knows the taste of ghost stories read at night will understand.
Just as my eyes were about to close, a strange message appeared on my smartphone screen.
[Synchronizing with Ghost Story Gallery... 100%]
'What is this...?'
That was the last memory I had while conscious. As if someone had flipped the switch on my consciousness, everything suddenly went dark.
"...Huh?"
When I came to, the inside of the subway was strange. A familiar yet unfamiliar sight. It looked like the subway I had seen just before falling asleep, but something was different.
The first thing that caught my eye was a purple light.
Not the cold white light of fluorescent lamps, but a blacklight-like purple hue that illuminated the entire passenger car. Under that light, everything was grotesquely distorted.
Ordinary subway seats writhed like living creatures, and the handgrips on the ceiling swayed like hangman's ropes.
And the passengers... they were all tied to their seats. Bound tightly by black straps, sitting like livestock being led to a slaughterhouse.
But it was strange. No one was making a sound, and they were all just staring ahead with blank expressions. No one was crying or resisting. Like dolls fixed in their places, they just stared straight ahead.
I, too, was tied to my seat.
And...
Wretches in rags were wandering through the passenger car. They wore black rags and held glinting blades in their hands.
[The next station is Hweojigi, Hweojigi Station.]
As the automated announcement rang out, the wretches approached the front seats. Their movements were as precise as machines. As if they had repeated the same action thousands of times.
"Wait..."
The words that left my mouth seemed to freeze in the air. No one heard them. No, even if they had heard, it wouldn't have changed anything.
Four passengers were sitting side by side in the front seats. A young man in a suit, a female student in a school uniform, an uncle in hiking clothes, and a casually dressed young woman. Just ordinary commuters on their way to work.
There was no emotion on their faces. As if they couldn't understand the situation at all, or had perhaps accepted it, they stared blankly ahead.
It was at that moment.
The six wretches moved simultaneously. Pairing up in twos, they positioned themselves in front of the passengers. And the blades flashed in unison.
For the first time, emotion flickered across the faces of the four people. A mix of fear and pain. Piercing screams filled the passenger car, one after another, or rather, almost simultaneously. As if they had just become aware of their situation for the first time, the four of them thrashed about and wailed like madmen.
The wretches' blades flashed as they began to slice away the flesh. Like fish on a conveyor belt, the four bodies began to be disassembled simultaneously.
The movements were intricate and rhythmic, like a group of skilled chefs at work, but the subjects were living human beings.
A foul, metallic stench filled the passenger car. The four people's screams blended into a single discordant harmony. The female student's sharp scream, the man's deep groan, the young woman's sobbing, and the uncle's pained wailing all mixed together.
The other passengers remained expressionless. Despite the horrific scene unfolding before their very eyes, there was no emotion on their faces. They just sat quietly, as if waiting for their turn.
This... I've seen this somewhere before...
A memory flashed through my mind. A ghost story I read two years ago. A train that appears in a dream. A ghost story about people being brutally tortured and killed.
It was far too similar to the situation I was experiencing now.
'This is... Monkey Dream.'
The moment I realized it, the wretches turned their heads toward me.
[System Notification]
Sync complete.
Welcome to the Ghost Story Gallery.
A new game is about to begin.
Survive.
Or become a ghost story yourself.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
The scene before me was too much to bear.
The screams, the stench of blood, the grotesque writhing of the seats.
But I had to look.
I had to confirm it.
This was a ghost story I knew well.
If my memory was correct, there was a way to survive this.
I slowly opened my eyes.
The wretches had finished with the four passengers and were now dragging their dismembered bodies away.
The other passengers still sat motionless.
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it would burst.
My hands were trembling uncontrollably.
I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palms to try and steady myself.
Think.
I had to think.
In the ghost story "Monkey Dream," the wretches only target those who react.
Those who scream, cry, or resist are dragged away and dismembered.
But those who remain perfectly still, like dolls, are ignored.
The problem was, I was already tied up.
And I had already made a sound.
A small one, but I had spoken.
'Did they not hear me? Or did they just ignore it because it wasn't a scream?'
One of the wretches turned its head.
Its face was hidden by a tattered hood, but I could feel its gaze on me.
A cold, inorganic gaze, like looking at a piece of meat.
I forced my body to be still.
I stopped breathing for a moment and relaxed all my muscles.
I tried to look as lifeless as the other passengers.
The wretch slowly approached my seat.
It stopped right in front of me and tilted its head, as if examining something.
'Don't move. Don't make a sound. Don't even breathe if you can help it.'
I could feel cold sweat running down my back.
The stench of blood was so strong it made me want to vomit, but I held it in.
If I threw up now, it would all be over.
The wretch raised its blade.
The cold, metallic light reflected in my eyes.
'This is it. I'm dead.'
Just as I was about to give up all hope...
Ding-dong.
The sound of the door chime echoed through the passenger car.
The automated announcement followed.
[The next station is Dorimcheon Station. The doors on the left will open.]
The wretch froze.
Then, it slowly lowered its blade and turned away from me.
It and the other wretches began to move toward the doors, dragging the dismembered bodies with them.
They were getting off at this station.
I watched them go, my body still frozen.
The doors opened with a hiss, and the wretches and their gruesome cargo disappeared onto the platform.
The doors closed.
The train began to move again.
Only then did I let out the breath I had been holding.
My whole body was trembling.
The adrenaline had worn off, and the sheer terror I had been suppressing came crashing down on me all at once.
What the hell was that?
I looked around.
The other passengers were still sitting in their seats, unmoving.
The seats that had been writhing were now still.
The handgrips hung limply.
But the bloodstains on the floor and the lingering stench of iron told me that what I had just witnessed was not a hallucination.
My smartphone was still in my hand.
The screen still showed the same message.
[Synchronizing with Ghost Story Gallery... 100%]
I tried to touch the screen, to close the app, but my finger passed right through it.
It was as if the screen was a hologram projected directly into my retina.
'This is bad. This is really bad.'
I had fallen into a ghost story.
No, more accurately, the ghost story had become reality.
And I was trapped inside it.
But I wasn't completely without hope.
I knew the rules of this world.
I knew the patterns of the monsters.
I had read and analyzed countless ghost stories.
That knowledge was now my only weapon.
I had to get out of this subway car first.
According to the ghost story, the subway itself is a closed space where the rules are absolute.
But once you get off at a station, the rules become a bit more flexible.
The problem was getting off the train.
I was still tied to my seat.
I had to get these black straps off me.
I tried to struggle, but the straps were incredibly strong.
They didn't budge no matter how much I twisted and turned.
They seemed to be made of some strange, elastic material.
As I was struggling, something fell from my pocket.
It was a small, metallic keychain.
A keychain shaped like a little devil.
[Leon's Keychain]
A name and a simple description appeared in my vision, as if I was looking at a game tooltip.
Leon's Keychain.
A keychain that can undo any knot.
A memory surfaced.
It was an item from a ghost story I had read a long time ago.
An item that could untie any knot.
I had written a review about how useful it would be, and now it was in my pocket.
'Is this the gallery's doing?'
I grabbed the keychain.
As I touched it, the black straps around my body began to loosen on their own.
As if the knot itself was being untied, the straps fell away from my body.
I was free.
I quickly stood up.
The other passengers were still sitting, so they didn't react to my movement.
I looked toward the door.
The train was still moving, but it would be arriving at the next station soon.
I had to get off at the next station.
But I couldn't just stand by the door and wait.
There might be other rules I didn't know about.
I carefully made my way to the door, trying not to make any noise.
The floor was slippery with blood, and the air was thick with the stench of death.
I did my best to ignore it and focused on reaching the door.
Just then...
[The next station is Kisaragi Station. The doors on the right will open.]
Kisaragi Station.
A station that shouldn't exist.
A station that appears only in certain ghost stories, a place that leads to nowhere.
Panic surged through me.
If the train stopped at Kisaragi Station, I would be doomed.
The rules at Kisaragi Station are completely different.
It's a place where all logic breaks down.
I had to get off before we reached Kisaragi Station.
But the train was already slowing down.
I grabbed the door handle.
I had to force the doors open and jump out.
Even if I got injured, it was better than going to Kisaragi Station.
But the doors wouldn't budge.
They were locked tight.
No matter how much I pulled, they didn't even creak.
'Damn it!'
The train came to a complete stop.
A familiar automated announcement echoed.
[The next station is Kisaragi Station. The doors on the right will open.]
The doors began to open with a hiss.
I looked out the door with a sense of despair.
But the platform outside was not Kisaragi Station.
It was a brightly lit, clean station.
The sign on the platform clearly read 'Dorimcheon Station'.
'What? But the announcement said...'
As I stood there in confusion, the doors opened fully.
A cool breeze blew in from outside.
It was a refreshing breeze, completely different from the foul air inside the train.
I hesitated for a moment, then made up my mind and stepped out onto the platform.
The moment my foot touched the platform, the doors behind me slammed shut.
The train began to move again, quickly accelerating and disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel.
I was alone on the platform.
Wait.
Was I really the only one?
I looked around.
The station was quiet.
There were no passengers, no station staff.
Just the fluorescent lights humming overhead.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
Why did I get off here?
The other passengers didn't move.
They just sat there, waiting for their turn to be dismembered.
Why was I the only one who got off?
Was it because I was tied up?
No, that didn't make sense.
The other passengers were tied up too.
Was it because I used the keychain?
Or was it because I had knowledge of the ghost story?
'No. There's only one difference between me and them.'
I looked down at my smartphone.
The screen was still displaying the message.
[Synchronizing with Ghost Story Gallery... 100%]
I was the only one who was 'synchronized' with the gallery.
As I was lost in thought, the screen of my smartphone changed again.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
You have successfully survived the first stage of 'Monkey Dream'. You have earned 50 Talents.
A system notification. Just like in a game.
Talents. That was a term I knew well from the gallery. It was a kind of point, the main currency used in the ghost story world.
'So this is how it works.'
I felt a strange sense of calm. The terror had been replaced by a strange sense of immersion, as if I was playing a game. Or perhaps my mind was trying to protect itself by making me see this as a game.
I looked around the station again. Dorimcheon Station. It was a real station, but it felt strangely empty. As if it was a stage set just for me.
What should I do now?
I could try to leave the station and contact someone. But would the outside world believe me? And would this world even let me leave so easily?
Or I could accept this situation and try to survive. The system notification mentioned 'stages'. That meant this was just the beginning. More trials would follow.
The gallery... the system... it was giving me a chance. A chance to use my knowledge of ghost stories to survive in this world.
I looked down at my smartphone again. The screen had changed to show my status.
⚔ STATUS ⚔
⚡ Strength: 11
💨 Agility: 13
✨ Magic Power: 9
💪 Stamina: 12
🍀 Luck: 15
🛡️ Endurance: 10
The stats were displayed. They were all around 10, which seemed to be the average for a normal person. My luck was a bit higher than the others, which might have been what saved me.
And I had 50 Talents in my inventory. I could probably use these to buy items or abilities.
First, I needed to get my bearings. I had to figure out where I was and what kind of ghost story I had been pulled into.
Dorimcheon Station. I'd heard of it. It was a real station, but there were also ghost stories about it. A story about a station that appears at night and leads to another world.
But the ghost story I was in now wasn't just about Dorimcheon Station. It was a composite of various stories. The 'Monkey Dream' subway car, the keychain item, the system notifications...
'This isn't a single ghost story. It's a world where all the ghost stories I've read have been mixed together and become real.'
That realization made my blood run cold. The number of ghost stories I had read was countless. If all of them became real, the scale of this world was unimaginable.
I had to get out of here. I had to find a way back to reality.
But how?
The system notification said to 'survive'. That implied that there was an end to this. A way to escape.
Maybe I need to clear all the stages. Or maybe I need to find a special item or a specific ghost story that has a way out.
First, I should look around the station. There might be clues.
I started to walk down the platform. The station was completely silent. The only sound was the hum of the lights and the echo of my footsteps.
As I walked, I saw something posted on the station wall. It looked like a notice.
I approached it and read the contents.
📜 NEW QUEST 📜
Survive the Night at Dorimcheon Station
📍 Location: Dorimcheon Station
⏰ Time Limit: Until sunrise
🎁 Reward: 100 Talents, Random Item
A quest. A literal quest had appeared.
Survive until sunrise at Dorimcheon Station. The reward was 100 Talents and a random item.
This was my first mission. If I completed it, I would probably get more information and a chance to become stronger.
I looked at the time. It was just past 9 AM. Sunrise would be around 6 AM. That meant I had to survive for about nine hours.
A whole night in a ghost story world. It was a terrifying prospect, but I had no choice.
I had to prepare. First, I needed to secure a safe place to hide. And I needed to check what items I could buy with the 50 Talents I had.
I focused my mind on the system. As I did, a new window appeared.
Talent Shop Current Talents: 50 1. Basic First Aid Kit (20 Talents) 2. Flashlight (10 Talents) 3. Nullifier (50 Talents) 4. Void Amulet (30 Talents)
A shop. The items were familiar. I had read about them in various ghost stories.
A first aid kit and a flashlight were essential. A Nullifier was an item that could negate a single curse or anomaly, but it was expensive. A Void Amulet protected against mental attacks, but it was also pricey.
I had to choose wisely. I had 50 Talents, so I could buy two items if I went for the cheaper ones.
'First, a flashlight. It's dark in the station, and I'll need it to see. And a first aid kit. I might get injured.'
I decided to buy the flashlight and the first aid kit. As soon as I made the decision, two items materialized in my hands.
A sturdy-looking flashlight and a small first aid kit.
I turned on the flashlight. A bright beam of light cut through the darkness of the station. It gave me a sense of security.
Now, I needed to find a place to hide. I should look for a room that can be locked from the inside. A station office or a storage room would be ideal.
I started to explore the station, flashlight in hand. The station was surprisingly large. There was a convenience store, a restroom, and even a small cafe, but all of them were closed and dark.
I tried the handle of the convenience store. It was locked. The same went for the cafe. The station office was also locked tight.
As I was about to give up and look for a spot on the platform, I noticed a small door at the end of the corridor. It was a door I had never seen before, a door that looked like it led to a storage room.
I approached the door and tried the handle. It was unlocked.
I carefully opened the door and peeked inside. It was a small storage room, filled with cleaning supplies and old equipment. It was cramped, but it was better than being out in the open.
I slipped inside and closed the door. I locked it from the inside. Now I had a temporary safe house.
I sat down in a corner of the storage room and checked my smartphone again. The quest was still displayed. The time limit hadn't changed yet.
I had to wait. I had to endure this terrifying night until sunrise.
I gripped the flashlight tightly. The cold metal felt reassuring.
Time passed slowly. The silence was deafening. The only thing I could hear was my own breathing and the sound of my heart pounding.
I tried to stay alert, but the lack of sleep from the night before and the adrenaline crash were making me drowsy. I fought to keep my eyes open.
How much time had passed? An hour? Two hours?
Suddenly, I heard a sound from outside the door.
Scrape. Scrape.
It was a dragging sound, like something heavy being pulled across the floor. The sound was slowly getting closer.
I held my breath and turned off my flashlight. I pressed myself against the wall, trying to make myself as small as possible.
The scraping sound stopped right in front of my door.
Then, a faint sound could be heard. A sniffing sound. As if something was smelling the door.
I could feel my body trembling. I clenched my teeth to keep them from chattering.
Knock. Knock.
Something knocked on the door. It wasn't a human-like knock. It was a heavy, dull sound, like a giant hammer hitting the door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The knocking continued, growing louder and more forceful each time. The door shook violently with each impact.
'It knows I'm in here. It knows!'
I was paralyzed with fear. My mind went blank. All I could do was stare at the shaking door.
The knocking stopped. Silence returned.
Did it give up? As I was cautiously beginning to hope...
Click.
The sound of the doorknob turning. I had locked it from the inside, but the lock was being undone from the outside.
The door slowly began to open.
A dark shadow was silhouetted against the light seeping in from the corridor.
I raised my flashlight, gripping it like a club. I had to fight. I couldn't just die here.
As the door opened fully, the shadow stepped inside. It was a tall, lanky figure, its body covered in something that looked like black oil.
It was a Howler. A monster from a ghost story I had read, known for hunting its prey by sound. It was attracted to noise.
That's why it had knocked. It was trying to lure me out by making a loud noise.
When I didn't respond, it came in to find me directly.
The Howler slowly turned its head toward me. There was no face, just a gaping, dark maw.
It opened its mouth wide.
A scream that was not of this world erupted from its mouth. It was a sound that shattered the mind, a sonic attack that could drive anyone who heard it insane.
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥
-50 HP
Sanity Shattering Scream
A sharp pain shot through my head, as if my skull was being split open. My vision blurred, and a wave of nausea washed over me.
I could hear voices whispering in my ears. Curses, insults, madness...
I shook my head violently, trying to shake off the hallucinations. I had to fight back.
I remembered what I had read. Howlers were sensitive to light. Bright light could temporarily blind and confuse them.
I turned my flashlight back on and shone it directly into the Howler's face.
The Howler recoiled, letting out a pained shriek. The scream that had been assaulting my mind stopped.
It worked!
I didn't waste the opportunity. I swung the heavy flashlight with all my might, aiming for its head.
The flashlight struck the Howler's head with a dull thud. It wasn't a fatal blow, but it was enough to make it stagger back.
I scrambled out of the storage room, pushing past the Howler. I had to run. I couldn't fight it head-on.
I sprinted down the corridor, not looking back. I could hear the Howler's enraged roar from behind me.
I ran blindly, just trying to put as much distance between us as possible. I turned corners, dashed down stairs, and leaped over obstacles.
Finally, I burst out onto a platform. It wasn't the one I had started on. This one was darker, more dilapidated. The sign on the platform read 'Dorimcheon Station', but it looked completely different.
This wasn't good. I had run into a different area of the station. A more dangerous area.
The air here was thick with a foul stench. The ground was covered in some kind of dark slime. The fluorescent lights flickered erratically.
Suddenly, I heard a sound from the tracks. A sound of something crawling.
I shone my flashlight down onto the tracks. My blood ran cold.
There were dozens of small, pale creatures crawling on the tracks. They looked like human babies, but their faces were twisted into grotesque masks of rage. Their mouths were filled with rows of sharp teeth.
They were 'Pale Baby'. Another monster from a ghost story. They swarmed and devoured anyone who entered their territory.
As my flashlight beam fell on them, they all stopped and turned their heads toward me in unison. Dozens of pairs of empty, black eyes stared at me.
Then, they began to climb onto the platform. A flood of pale, writhing bodies.
I was trapped. Behind me was the Howler, and in front of me was a horde of Pale Babies.
A sense of despair washed over me. Was this the end?
No. I couldn't give up. I had survived the subway car. I had survived the Howler's scream. I could survive this too.
I looked around frantically for a way out. There was a maintenance ladder on the wall of the platform, leading up to the ceiling.
I grabbed the ladder and started to climb. The Pale Babies swarmed at the base of the ladder, snapping their teeth.
I climbed as fast as I could. Just as one of the creatures leaped up and grabbed my ankle, I kicked it away with my other foot and scrambled up to the top of the ladder.
I found myself on a narrow catwalk above the tracks. It was dark and precarious, but it was safe from the Pale Babies for now.
I caught my breath and looked down. The Pale Babies were still swarming below, looking up at me. The Howler had also appeared on the platform and was staring up at me with its featureless face.
I was trapped on the catwalk, but at least I was alive.
I looked along the catwalk. It seemed to lead to the other side of the station. If I could cross it, I might be able to find a safer place.
I started to carefully walk along the catwalk. The metal grating was slippery, and a single misstep would send me falling into the horde of monsters below.
As I was halfway across, my smartphone buzzed in my pocket.
I took it out and looked at the screen. A new message had appeared.
[Your sanity has dropped below 30%.]
[Warning: If your sanity reaches 0, you will become one of the ghosts in this world.]
[A new skill has been unlocked due to your high knowledge of ghost stories.]
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡
[Ghost Story Analysis (Passive)] Lv. 1
Allows you to analyze the weaknesses and patterns of ghost story entities. High probability of revealing hidden information.
A skill. I had gained a skill.
Ghost Story Analysis. It was a skill that perfectly suited me, a maniac who had read countless ghost stories.
I instinctively activated the skill and looked at the Howler and the Pale Babies below.
Entity Analysis: Howler Weakness: Bright light, silence. Characteristic: It hunts based on sound. It cannot perceive targets that are completely silent.
Entity Analysis: Pale Baby Weakness: Fire, high places. Characteristic: They are afraid of fire and cannot climb high structures.
Useful information. I now knew how to deal with them.
The problem was that I was currently trapped. I couldn't use fire, and I was already high up, but I couldn't stay here forever.
I looked along the catwalk again. There was a door at the far end. It looked like it led to a maintenance room.
I had to get there. That was my only hope.
I started to move again, carefully walking along the catwalk. The Pale Babies below were getting agitated, and the Howler was letting out low growls.
I ignored them and focused on my footing. I had to make it to that door.
Just then, the lights in the station flickered violently and then went out, plunging everything into darkness.
I froze in place. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't even see the catwalk beneath my feet.
My heart pounded in the darkness. If I took one wrong step, I would fall.
I turned on my flashlight, but the beam was weak. The batteries were running low. The light flickered weakly.
'Damn it. Not now.'
In the dim light, I could see a shape approaching me from the direction I had come from. It was the Howler. It had climbed up onto the catwalk.
It was moving silently. It must have sensed my presence and was approaching without making a sound to avoid being detected by its own rules.
I was in a crisis. I couldn't run, and I couldn't fight.
I looked down. The Pale Babies were still swarming below. If I fell, I would be devoured instantly.
I had no choice. I had to use the item I had been saving.
I took out the Nullifier I had considered buying earlier. No, wait. I hadn't bought it. I only had the flashlight and the first aid kit.
Then what could I do?
I checked my inventory again. I had 50 Talents. I could buy the Nullifier now. But it would leave me with nothing.
Was it worth it? A Nullifier could negate one anomaly. It was a powerful item, but it was a one-time use.
The Howler was getting closer. It was only about five meters away now. Its dark form loomed in the faint light of my flickering flashlight.
I made a decision. I would buy the Nullifier. Survival was the priority.
I focused my mind to open the shop, but just then, the Howler lunged at me.
I instinctively dodged to the side. My foot slipped on the slippery grating.
I was falling.
As I fell, I desperately grabbed the edge of the catwalk. My body dangled in the air. Below me, the Pale Babies were waiting with their mouths wide open.
The Howler peered down at me from above. It seemed to be contemplating whether to finish me off or not.
I had to pull myself up. I strained my muscles, but my hands were slick with sweat and I couldn't get a good grip.
'This is it. I'm really going to die.'
As despair washed over me, my smartphone buzzed again. I didn't even have the leisure to check it.
But the message was displayed right in front of my eyes, as if it was floating in the air.
[Your sanity has dropped below 10%.]
[Critical Warning! You are on the verge of becoming a ghost.]
[A hidden condition has been met. A new skill has been unlocked.]
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡
[Ghost Story Rewrite (Active)] Lv. 1
You can rewrite a small part of the current ghost story reality. Consumes a large amount of sanity. The more specific the description, the higher the success rate.
A rewriting skill.
I could rewrite reality.
A desperate hope surged through me. I didn't know if I could use it properly, but it was my only lifeline.
I concentrated my fading consciousness. I had to describe it as specifically as possible. What I wanted, and how it should be.
'A rope hangs down from the catwalk. I grab the rope and pull myself up. The Howler is startled by the sudden appearance of the rope and falls off the catwalk.'
I poured all my remaining sanity into that thought. The world around me distorted. The darkness seemed to twist and warp.
Then, something fell down in front of my eyes. A thick rope. It was dangling right in front of my hands.
I grabbed the rope without hesitation. As I did, the edge of the catwalk I was holding onto crumbled away. The Howler, which had been standing on the edge, lost its footing and fell with a shriek.
It fell straight down into the horde of Pale Babies below. The Pale Babies, enraged by the falling Howler, swarmed it instantly. A horrifying sound of tearing flesh echoed from below.
I didn't waste the opportunity. I pulled on the rope with all my might and scrambled back onto the catwalk.
I lay on the catwalk, gasping for breath. My head was splitting with pain, and my vision was blurry. My sanity had been severely depleted.
But I was alive.
I slowly got to my feet and looked down. The Pale Babies were busy devouring the Howler. They had forgotten about me for now.
I had to get to the maintenance room before they remembered. I ran along the catwalk, ignoring my dizziness.
I reached the door at the end and threw it open. I slipped inside and slammed the door shut, locking it.
It was a small maintenance room, just as I had thought. There was a desk, a chair, and some tools. It wasn't much, but it was safe.
I collapsed into the chair and checked my status again.
⚔ STATUS ⚔
⚡ Strength: 11
💨 Agility: 13
✨ Magic Power: 9
💪 Stamina: 12
🍀 Luck: 15
🛡️ Endurance: 10
❤ HP: 50/100
✨ Sanity: 15/100
My HP was half gone, and my sanity was almost at rock bottom. If I had held on for a moment longer, I would have been lost.
I used the first aid kit. My HP recovered by 30 points. It wasn't a full recovery, but it was better than nothing.
Now, I had to wait. I had to endure in this room until sunrise.
I turned off my flashlight to conserve the batteries. The room was plunged into darkness, but a sliver of light came in from under the door.
I sat in the dark, listening intently. I could hear the faint sounds of the Pale Babies from outside, but they seemed to be getting farther away. They were probably searching for new prey.
Time passed slowly. My sanity was slowly recovering, but it was agonizingly slow. My head still ached, and I kept hearing faint whispers.
I had to stay sane. If I lost my mind, it was all over.
I started to recite the ghost stories I knew. I recited the plots, the characters, the settings. It was a way to keep my mind occupied.
As I was reciting a particularly complex story, a thought occurred to me.
The Ghost Story Rewrite skill. I had used it to create a rope, but its potential was far greater than that.
If I could rewrite reality, couldn't I rewrite the ghost story itself?
For example, 'The Howler has a fatal weakness to a specific sound, and that sound is the ringtone of my smartphone.'
If I could write that, I could defeat the Howler with my phone.
But the skill consumed a lot of sanity. I had used it once, and my sanity had dropped from 30 to 15. If I used it again, I would probably go insane.
I had to save it as a last resort. A trump card.
As I was lost in thought, I heard a new sound from outside. A rhythmic, metallic sound.
Clang. Clang.
It sounded like someone was hitting the tracks with a metal bar. The sound was getting closer.
I cautiously approached the door and peeked through a crack. In the dim light, I could see a figure walking down the platform.
It was a person. A real person, not a monster.
The person was holding a metal pipe and hitting the tracks, as if trying to attract attention. They were wearing a hooded jacket, so I couldn't see their face.
'Another survivor?'
A wave of relief washed over me. I wasn't the only one. There was someone else here.
I was about to open the door and call out to them, but I stopped myself.
Wait. This was a ghost story world. There was no guarantee that this person was really a survivor. They could be a monster in human form, or a ghost trying to lure me out.
I had to be careful. I had to observe them for a while.
The person continued to walk down the platform, hitting the tracks. The Pale Babies, which had been scattered around, began to gather toward the sound.
The person was deliberately attracting the monsters.
Why? Were they trying to clear a path? Or were they trying to lure me out?
The person stopped in front of my maintenance room. They turned their head and looked directly at the door I was hiding behind.
A chill ran down my spine. They knew I was here.
The person slowly approached the door. They raised their hand and knocked.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Three polite knocks. It was a stark contrast to the Howler's violent pounding.
"I know you're in there," a voice said from outside the door. It was a woman's voice. Calm and clear.
"I'm not a monster. I'm a survivor, just like you. I saw you run in here earlier."
"..."
"Open the door. We need to team up to survive until sunrise. It's impossible to survive alone."
Her words were logical. But I still couldn't trust her completely. I had been tricked by ghost stories too many times.
"I have a map of this station," she said, as if she knew what I was thinking. "I know a safe place. A place where you can wait until sunrise without being attacked by monsters."
A map. A safe place. Those were tempting words.
"If you don't believe me, I'll leave the map here and go. You can come out and get it after I'm gone."
She was being very considerate. It was suspiciously considerate.
But I couldn't stay here forever. My food and water were limited, and my sanity was still low. If another Howler came, I wouldn't be able to fight it off.
I had to make a choice. Trust her, or stay here and face an uncertain future.
I looked at my smartphone. The quest timer was still ticking. Sunrise was still a long way off.
I made up my mind.
"Who are you?" I asked through the door.
There was a moment of silence, then the woman's voice came again.
"My name is Kang Ha-na. I'm a member of the Anomaly Cleaners."
Anomaly Cleaners. That was an organization I had read about in a ghost story. A group of people who deal with anomalies, just like the Catastrophe Foundation, but they were more like a private organization.
"You know about us?" she asked, as if she could read my mind.
"I've heard the name," I replied cautiously.
"Good. Then you'll understand how serious this situation is. Please open the door. I have a lot to tell you."
I hesitated for a moment longer, then finally unlocked the door and opened it a crack.
A woman was standing there. She was in her mid-twenties, with a sharp, intelligent face. She was holding a metal pipe in one hand and a flashlight in the other. Her eyes were calm and unwavering.
She looked at me and gave a slight nod.
"Nice to meet you," she said. "Now, let's get out of here. We don't have much time."
As she spoke, I heard a loud noise from the other end of the platform. The sound of something massive breaking through the wall.
A new monster had arrived.
Kang Ha-na's expression hardened.
"Damn it," she muttered. "It found us already."
She looked at me with a serious expression.
"Can you run?"
I nodded, gripping my flashlight tightly.
"Good. Follow me. I'll show you the way to the safe zone."
She turned and began to run. I followed her without hesitation.
We ran through the dark station, the roars of the new monster echoing behind us. Our journey through the nightmare was just beginning.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I followed Kang Ha-na as we sprinted through the dark station. The sound of the new monster's roars grew louder, shaking the very foundations of the building. The ground trembled with each thunderous step it took.
"This way!" Kang Ha-na shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos. She ducked into a narrow service corridor, her flashlight beam dancing ahead of us.
I didn't hesitate, plunging into the darkness behind her. The corridor was tight, smelling of rust and damp concrete. Pipes lined the walls, dripping with foul-smelling water.
Behind us, a massive shadow loomed at the entrance of the corridor. It was too big to fit inside. A giant, misshapen hand reached in, clawing at the walls, trying to reach us. The concrete crumbled under its touch.
"It can't follow us in here!" I yelled, my voice echoing in the cramped space.
"Don't get cocky!" Kang Ha-na shot back without looking back. "This corridor connects to the main concourse. We need to get there before it circles around!"
We burst out of the corridor and into a vast, open space. It was the station's main lobby, but it was a twisted version of it. The ceiling was impossibly high, lost in darkness, and the ticket booths looked like ancient, moss-covered ruins.
And standing in the center of the lobby was the monster.
It was a colossal, humanoid figure made of what looked like tangled wires and rusted metal. Its head was a mess of flickering screens, all displaying static. It had no legs; instead, its lower body was a mass of cables that burrowed into the floor, making the ground ripple like water.
It was a 'Station Attendant'. A ghost story about a station's security system that had gone rogue, absorbing everything that entered its domain. It wasn't just a monster; it was the station itself.
Kang Ha-na skidded to a halt. "We're trapped."
The monster turned its screen-head towards us. A distorted, electronic voice boomed through the lobby.
"TICKET... PLEASE... SHOW ME... YOUR... TICKET..."
A quest update flashed across my vision.
📜 NEW QUEST 📜
Obtain a Ticket
📍 Location: Dorimcheon Station Lobby
⏰ Time Limit: 5 minutes
🎁 Reward: Access to the Safe Zone
A ticket. We needed a ticket to pass.
I looked around frantically. There were ticket machines scattered around the lobby, but they were all broken and dark.
"There's no time!" Kang Ha-na yelled. She pointed to a staircase leading down. "The safe zone is in the old subway tunnel! If we can get past this thing, we can make it!"
The Station Attendant raised a massive arm made of cables and swung it at us. We dove in opposite directions to avoid it. The arm smashed into the floor, sending cracks spiderwebbing across the tiles.
"I'll distract it!" Kang Ha-na shouted, scrambling to her feet. "Find a way to get a ticket!"
She ran towards the monster, waving her arms and yelling. The monster's attention focused on her.
I had to act fast. My eyes scanned the lobby. My Ghost Story Analysis skill was on cooldown, but I didn't need it for this. This was a classic ghost story puzzle. The solution was always hidden in plain sight.
Tickets... what kind of tickets? The monster said 'ticket', not 'pass' or 'token'. It was specific.
Then I saw it. On the wall, half-hidden in the shadows, was an old-fashioned, mechanical turnstile. The kind you find at the entrance to a subway platform. It was rusted, but it looked intact.
Next to it was a small, dark opening. A coin slot. But this wasn't a normal turnstile. It didn't take money. It took something else.
I remembered a ghost story about a turnstile that demanded a 'fare'. The fare wasn't money. It was a memory.
A memory of a journey. A memory of a destination you could never return to.
I ran towards the turnstile. "Ha-na! Over here!"
She was struggling to evade the monster's attacks. She heard my voice and sprinted towards me, the monster right behind her.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her behind the turnstile just as another cable-arm slammed down where she had been standing.
"What is this?" she panted, looking at the rusty machine.
"It's the way through," I said, my mind racing. "But it needs a fare. Not money."
"Then what?"
I looked at the monster. It was turning towards us again. We had seconds at most.
I thought back to all the ghost stories I had read. Stories about turnstiles, gates, and fares. There was one common theme.
"A memory," I said. "It wants a memory. A painful one. One that you can never get back."
Kang Ha-na stared at me, her eyes wide. "How do you know that?"
"There's no time to explain! Think of one! A memory you'd rather forget! Push it into the slot!"
I pressed my forehead against the cold metal of the turnstile. I had to offer a memory. What memory did I have that was painful enough?
My military service? The loneliness I felt when I first went back to university? The frustration of not being able to express myself in my critiques?
None of them felt strong enough.
Then, a memory surfaced. The memory of just a few hours ago. The subway car. The wretches with their blades. The screams of the four passengers. The feeling of utter helplessness and terror as I watched them being dismembered.
That was a memory I wanted to erase. A memory that was already haunting me.
I focused on that memory, pouring all my revulsion and fear into it. I pushed it towards the coin slot.
A faint, ghostly light glowed from the slot. A low hum echoed from within the machine.
Fare accepted. You may pass.
The turnstile's bar clicked open.
"My turn," Kang Ha-na said. She pressed her forehead against the machine. Her face contorted in pain. After a moment, the bar clicked open for her too.
"Go!" I yelled, pushing her through the turnstile.
We scrambled through, one after the other. The moment we were both on the other side, the Station Attendant let out a deafening roar of frustration. It couldn't cross the turnstile. The fare had been paid.
We didn't stop. We ran down the stairs, leaving the roaring monster behind. The stairs led to an old, abandoned subway platform. It was dark and dusty, but it was empty.
Ahead, at the far end of the platform, was a heavy steel door. A single light glowed above it. The safe zone.
We ran towards the door, our lungs burning. Just as we reached it, my smartphone buzzed again.
✨ LEVEL UP! ✨
1 → 2
+ All Stats +1
+ Skill Points +1
+ New Skill: Intuition
I had leveled up. The exhaustion and terror were momentarily replaced by a surge of energy. My stats increased, and I gained a new skill.
Intuition. A skill that would give me hunches and warnings about danger. It was another skill that was perfect for me.
Kang Ha-na was already at the door, fumbling with the lock. It was a heavy, electronic lock with a keypad.
"Damn it, it needs a code!" she cursed, pounding on the door.
I looked at the keypad. There was a note taped next to it. The paper was old and yellowed.
I shone my flashlight on it. The note had a riddle written on it.
"The time when the moon is highest, but the sun is not yet born." Enter the time, in 24-hour format.
A riddle. "The time when the moon is highest, but the sun is not yet born."
The moon is highest... that means midnight. When the moon is at its zenith.
But the sun is not yet born... so it's before sunrise. Midnight is 00:00. But the riddle says 'before the sun is born'. That could be interpreted as the time just before dawn.
Wait. The moon is highest. In Korean, 'highest' can also mean 'the first'. The first hour of the night. The hour of the Rat. 11 PM.
11 PM. 23:00. That's before midnight, and before the sun is born.
I typed '2300' into the keypad.
A green light flashed, and the lock clicked open.
Kang Ha-na looked at me in surprise. "How did you know?"
"I'll explain later!"
We pushed the door open and rushed inside, slamming it shut behind us. The door locked automatically with a heavy thud.
We were in a small, clean room. It looked like a break room for station staff. There were cots, a supply of bottled water, and even some packaged food. A single, steady light illuminated the room.
It was safe. We had made it.
Kang Ha-na slumped against the wall, sliding down to the floor. She was breathing heavily, her face pale.
I leaned against the door, my legs trembling. The adrenaline was fading, leaving me utterly exhausted.
We had survived the night. Or at least, part of it.
I looked at my smartphone. The quest to survive until sunrise was still active. The timer showed that several hours remained.
I sat down on one of the cots and looked at Kang Ha-na.
"Alright," I said. "Let's talk. Who are you, really? And what is this place?"
She looked up at me, her tired eyes meeting mine. A faint, wry smile touched her lips.
"It's a long story," she said. "But we have time. And it seems we'll be spending it together."
Our eyes met. In the quiet, safe room, the two survivors of the nightmare began to exchange their stories.
[Chapter 1 - End]