Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Dorimcheon Station - 2
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Blood rushed to my head as a torrent of related information poured in from the serum's effect. Numerous fragments began to fit together like a puzzle.
Kisaragi Station.
One of Japan's urban legends, a story about a nonexistent, unmanned station. It was said to be a station in another world that one would arrive at if they fell asleep on a train and woke up. There were many versions, but they all agreed that those who arrived at this station never returned.
It had the characteristics of time flowing differently from reality, GPS not working, and mobile phones being useless. In some versions, there were even rumors that this station was a gateway to the underworld.
⟨ Sanzu River ⟩
That's why the moment I saw the sign for the station exit, my heart skipped a beat.
Perhaps because I was soaked, the cold air dug deep into my lungs, and a chill crawled up my spine.
The Chinese characters and Hangul, clearly engraved under the fluorescent lights, burrowed into my mind. In that moment, I knew. This place was no longer reality.
The red moonlight that filled my vision was as chilling as if it were made of blood. The moonlight dyed the entire street an unreal red. Below it, blackened cherry blossom petals scattered like ash.
The street was filled with strange signs mixed with Hangul. A line of signs with such bizarre combinations of letters that they couldn't be called normal shop signs.
'Je-gam-to-ji-ryu-i-neun'
'Guk-to-mu-gang-si-rak-nam'
'Hwa-jip-gong-gan-baek-ma-ru'
Signs that were nothing but a jumble of Hangul, with no discernible meaning.
Looking more closely, the letters seemed to move faintly. It was enough to create the illusion that living insects were crawling across the signs.
"What in the world is this..."
Narae's voice trembled. Her usual confident and haughty demeanor had vanished without a trace, and her face was filled with fear and confusion.
Even for her, a powerful youkai called a three-tailed fox, this sight must have felt unnatural. Her shoulders were trembling slightly.
What was even more startling were the beings roaming the street. No, to call them people... Their very existence proved how abnormal this space was.
"What is that..."
A sigh escaped my lips without my knowledge. Giants that looked to be over three meters tall were roaming the streets with paper bags over their heads.
They were dressed in suits or casual clothes similar to ours, but their gait was somehow mechanical. They were like robots mimicking human movements.
The subtly out-of-sync timing with every step they took, their poses that were too precise to be natural, and above all, the paper bags covering their heads were terrifying.
Cold sweat ran down my spine. I quickly pulled out my smartphone. I pressed the power button with a trembling hand, and the screen lit up. The clock came into view.
9:35 PM.
'What...?'
We had entered Dorimcheon Station at nine o'clock. Considering everything we had been through, at least an hour must have passed, but only 35 minutes had gone by. The flow of time itself was strange.
The same went for the GPS. An error message saying it couldn't recognize the location kept popping up. It couldn't connect to any nearby cell towers, so there was no signal from my carrier.
But strangely, I could still access the Ghost Story Gallery normally.
"What do we do now?"
Narae asked in an anxious voice. The playful tone she usually had was gone. Instead, a genuine tremor of fear was evident in her voice.
For a youkai that's been around for decades, this must be a first.
I fell into thought for a moment. In a situation like this, it would be better to borrow the wisdom of the Gwitoon users than to make a decision on my own. I held out hope that they, who had dealt with and researched countless ghost stories, might have an answer to this situation.
"For now... I need some time to think."
I logged into the Ghost Story Gallery and made a post. My fingers trembled as I typed on the keyboard, but I tried to explain the situation as calmly as possible.
─Title) I'm at Kisaragi Station right now, WTF
─Author: [Baek-ya]
─Content: Remember the Dorimcheon Station ghost story I posted on Gwitoon before? I thought I'd clear it without any trouble and go home, but suddenly, on the last floor, black water started pouring from the stairs, I got swept away, passed out, and when I came to and went up to the surface, I was at some unknown station called Sanzu River. The moon is red, and the signs are a jumbled mess of Hangul. WTF, how do I get out of this?
YWo5aW9peUx5cktZYXhyU2hzY1VsMkQ0VFE2R2RhMXB6c295UE5rcnRSZWl2dG5DNkdBVnNLTHQ5Y3lyMTdETXZEag
The moment I posted the article, comments immediately started appearing. The reactions of the Gwitoon users were as fast as ever.
[Hikiko]: Sanzu River? Are you possessed or something?
Hikiko. A veteran user with extensive knowledge of mystical ghost stories from the East, such as shamanism, Taoism, esoteric Buddhism, and Buddhism. Seeing him react this way meant the situation was far from normal.
└[Baek-ya]: That's impossible. I'm wearing the Golden Branch Brooch right now, so I'm immune to mental contamination from C-rank or lower ghost stories.
└[Hikiko]: Separate from mental contamination, is there a possibility that the location itself is showing you a hallucination?
At Hikiko's point, I looked up at Narae. I thought her ability might be able to discern the true nature of this space.
"Is there a chance this place is a hallucination?"
Narae's pupils turned yellow. Her pupils, lengthened vertically like a cat's, scanned the surroundings sharply. It seemed she was using her Yougan to sense the area's energy.
"No. This is clearly real."
Her voice was full of conviction. I didn't know what this space looked like to her through her Yougan, but at least it was clear that this space was not a hallucination.
"From what I can see, this is like the underworld... There's so much malice here, it can only be the underworld."
For now, I relayed Narae's words to Hikiko.
└[Hikiko]: Hmm... If the place you're in is truly the real Sanzu River, the area should be filled with souls crossing the river. Besides, if you were swept away by the Sanzu River's water and drank it, your memories should have been completely erased. But from the way you're writing and describing things, that doesn't seem to be the case. It would be better to assume this isn't the underworld but another world or a parallel world and act accordingly?
Hikiko's analysis was sharp as always. According to him, this place was likely not the underworld. But that didn't make the situation any better.
└[Baek-ya]: If this is another world and not the underworld, how do I get out?
While my fingers were tapping on the keyboard, the bizarre scenery around us continued to press down on us. The footsteps of the paper-bag-wearing giants seemed to be getting closer.
└[Hikiko]: That's for you to figure out. You have better intuition and logic when it comes to ghost stories than I do.
At Hikiko's words, the serum's effect took hold. Numerous ghost stories related to other worlds came to mind one by one.
And from all those stories, the commonality of those who had returned to reality struck me.
It was 'going back the way they came'. No matter how dangerous the situation, they had to find the passage they had used to enter the other world and go back through it. That was the most certain escape route.
"Let's go back to the subway."
A slight look of relief crossed Narae's face. At least now, we had a goal.
"Got it."
We headed back down to the platform. Fortunately, this time, the hallway didn't repeat infinitely like at Dorimcheon Station. The footsteps echoing with every step down the stairs sounded strangely hollow.
The problem lay elsewhere.
"Those things..."
The giants with paper bags were getting off the train. They looked at us and started whispering in an unknown language.
It was a bizarre sound, like insects laughing or static on a radio. Hearing that sound made my whole body break out in goosebumps.
We boarded the subway bound for Sindorim. Strangely, the paper-bag people did not get on the train we were on. As if there were an invisible boundary, they stopped right in front of the train's doors.
Instead, they just stood on the platform, staring intently at us. Their pupils, faintly visible under the paper bags, flashed ominously.
"Hurry up and close... Hurry..."
The moment Narae's words ended, the automatic doors closed.
-KREEEEEEEEEEEEE!
A sound that felt like it was tearing my ears apart echoed. The paper-bag people all screamed at once. It was a horrific sound, a mix of scraping metal and radio static. A sound so sickening it made me want to vomit, and every hair on my body stood on end.
Their massive bodies charged at the screen doors like a horde of zombies.
THUD, THUD, THUD!
The sound of the giants' bodies hitting the glass shook the entire platform. It seemed the screen doors were bending under their weight.
"Ugh..."
Narae covered her ears. I instinctively crouched down as well. It was a scream that made me think it would be better to just cover my ears.
The paper-bag giants pressed their faces against the screen doors, glaring at us. The bright red eyes visible under the bags glinted like those of a beast eyeing its prey. The moment my eyes met theirs, I thought my heart would stop.
One of them lifted its hand as if to take off the paper bag. At that moment, with a cold metallic sound, the train began to move slowly. Their figures seen through the window grew farther away.
They clung to the screen doors until the very end, staring at us with those chilling eyes even as we disappeared from their sight. Even as they grew distant, that horrific scream lingered in my ears.
After about 20 minutes on the train...
"Wait, look over there..."
A platform sign was visible.
In contrast to the signs we had seen before, which were a jumbled mess of Hangul, this one was written properly.
[Sindorim]
At the same time, a message appeared on my smartphone.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
You have safely escaped the 'Dorimcheon Station' ghost story. You have safely escaped the 'Kisaragi Station' ghost story. A basic reward of 300,000 Talent has been granted.
+ 300,000D
The tension-frozen muscles in my shoulders relaxed. We had finally escaped this nightmarish situation. I looked to the side, and Narae was also letting out a sigh of relief.
"We're back..."
Narae's voice was filled with exhaustion. Her usual playful demeanor was nowhere to be found, but at least the terrified expression from before was gone.
The view of Sindorim Station outside the window was as peaceful as ever. A normal moonlight, normal signs, and normal people.
We had finally returned to reality.