Bunny Girl Heading for the Summit (6)
8. Inside Hoewolsan, you must operate under codenames only.
Even if a survivor asks, you must never reveal your real name.
Be sure to give survivors nicknames as well before proceeding with any activity.
- My name is Han Yeseo, a first-year student at ○○ High School.
- I was dragged into this mountain in ○ month of the year ○○○○.
- If you make it out alive, please contact ○○○-○○○○-○○○○.
- Please tell my mom and dad that Yeseo loved them.
The air settled cold and heavy.
Han Yeseo’s mouth parted slightly, then closed again. In that unfinished silence I thought I heard a scream that never quite made it out.
“Ah……?”
Come to think of it, that was right. My own guide clearly stated that real names were forbidden inside Hoewolsan. The civilian rulebook she must have received almost certainly said the same thing.
Yet she had written her name anyway—because she was already half-resigned. Rather than hope of walking out alive, she had simply wanted whoever came next to carry word of her. Civilians, more than anything, tended to treat the rulebooks a little too loosely.
“I…… I never said it out loud, so I thought it would be fine…….”
Far too light a notion to stake a life on.
Do you know how many deaths it takes for a single rule to be written down?
Do not drink contaminated water.
Never perform surgery with a knife that has dissected a corpse.
If you dive deep, you must take enough time to surface again.
These commonplaces we take for granted today were only properly understood and established as early as the nineteenth century, as late as the twentieth. There was a time when filthy scalpels were worn like badges of honor among doctors. How many lives were lost before then? How much grief soaked the world?
Everything in this world is a golden tower built of blood and death.
"Writing and speaking are, in essence, the same."
"You offered your name yourself, so your name has been seized by this mountain."
Even in the rigorous domains of logic and science it is like this. How much harder, then, to uncover a single rule in the realm of ghost stories?
The Anomaly Management Bureau’s rulebooks are never written carelessly. Every line on those pages is blood; every phrase is someone’s sacrifice. If a path through a ghost story feels well-paved, it is only because countless corpses were stacked to make it so.
The weight of those lives pressed down on Han Yeseo.
“Um…… Hunter-nim. I’m sorry. You went through so much to save me this far…….”
“No. Don’t give up already.”
But I knew. Research that began with contaminated water led to the study of bacteria and hygiene. Those results became the foundation of modern medicine and public health. The countless, seemingly meaningless deaths were never meaningless. Their deaths are saving countless lives now, and will save still more in the future.
Likewise, what the Anomaly Management Bureau bought with oceans of blood was never just a few lines of rules. Humanity does not spend sacrifice so cheaply. We have already found hope.
“There has to be another way. There must be.”
Inside a ghost story, a path to survival always exists. Finding and using that path is simply difficult. There is no such thing as a ghost story of certain death. That knowledge itself is the blood-price the Bureau paid.
So until you die, it isn’t over.
I never abandon a survivor standing in front of me.
“Could I hand over my cup in her place?”
"Pointless. That cup only opens the door. That child has no name with which to cross the gap."
In conversation with an anomaly, not a single word may be taken lightly.
The cup only opens the door. And a name, as far as I could tell, was needed “when crossing the gap.” Did a name serve as some kind of passport?
Either way, if we could reclaim a name by any means, she could leave. And the wolf had never once said the name had to be her own.
“Is there a way to get it back? If not, what about using my ‘name’ to get her out for now?”
"Difficult, and better not attempted. You are one of the living. If the living wears the living’s name, you will not fully achieve what you desire."
The wolf answered in surprising detail. Not the answer I wanted, but it gave me a hint.
Because I was alive, I could not lend my name.
In that case—
“What if I brought a dead person’s ‘name’?”
"If the living borrows a masterless name, it can serve as an anchor in the gap."
“Could there be problems after getting out? Even something minor is fine.”
"A name is like the shadow of a soul. A name without a soul holds no meaning. Just as a shadow follows its master, it will return of its own accord."
A side effect of slightly diminished presence for a few days is expected.
That much was nothing. Far better than being trapped here.
“One last thing…… how do I borrow a name?”
"I will help you. Count that as the ‘sincerity’ I will show."
Good. Deal sealed.
What I had to do was decided.
I climbed Hoewolsan from bottom to top. There were forks here and there, but according to the guide every path eventually led to the summit. I had swept every place a person might reasonably be.
And in that process, there was one person I had never found.
- At last there’s someone else here besides me.
- That ajumma’s condition is a little weird. Better not talk to her.
- I knew she seemed like a crazy ajumma. She was muttering some strange prayer and even told me to join her church.
- While I was sleeping the crazy ajumma ran off with all the food.
- May the light be with you. May the light be with you…….
When you thought about it, she was the root of this entire mess—the “ajumma” Han Yeseo had left notes about.
“You’re going to look for that ajumma?”
“I have to. Otherwise Miss Yeseo can’t leave.”
“A-are you going to be okay? We don’t even know where she is, and it’s bound to be dangerous.”
“Hunters get paid because the work is dangerous. I’ll definitely come back, so stick close to the wolf over there. It’s a sacred beast. It’ll protect you.”
“That ajumma might have already gotten out…….”
Well, that was a reasonable point this time. Still, I had no choice but to shake my head.
“I don’t usually say things like this, but she’s probably dead.”
“Dead? How do you know that?”
“The Jangsanbeom. You got lured by it once on the way here, right?”
The place where we met the Jangsanbeom had been full of footprints. It had been using that spot as a hunting ground long before Han Yeseo arrived. And the Jangsanbeom was a ghost story that created hallucinations and mimicked other people’s voices. Its specialty was seducing humans and leading them astray.
People with gaps in their hearts were especially vulnerable to that type of anomaly. Cultists, for example—people already toyed with by human lies. Even an ordinary person like Han Yeseo had been helpless. Could that ajumma really have resisted the Jangsanbeom’s whispers?
I gave the dazed Yeseo a firm thumbs-up.
“Everything’s going to be fine. Just trust me and wait.”
“……Okay. Please find that Jangsanbeom and teach it a lesson!”
“Nah, why would I go looking for it? It’ll guide me there itself.”
“Huh?”
From now on, I was going to let myself be lured by the Jangsanbeom.
A cool breeze blew under a clear blue sky. Clover-shaped cumulus clouds drifted overhead—four-leaf clovers for luck and three-leaf clovers for happiness floating side by side in perfect harmony.
And at my feet, a field of plants with vivid blue-green stems. Curious about their identity, I pulled one up and out came a sturdy, beautiful orange carrot—top-grade produce that would have scored perfect marks in any quality inspection.
“……Carrots?”
Maybe my reaction was too lukewarm. The field that had looked like a carrot patch suddenly shifted into a different scene.
This time a huge rabbit stood before me. In its arms was a carrot far larger than mine. White rabbits appeared all around, bowing their heads and gazing up with eyes full of envy.
The fact that I could tell those eyes held envy—and that I realized the big one was male—made me feel a deep sense of self-loathing.
The giant male hopped hop-hop, leading me somewhere. As I followed, the scenery changed again.
Inside a dark, damp cave. White rabbits stacked on top of white rabbits were a common sight. In other words…… that was…….
Are those rabbits mating right now?
What exactly am I supposed to do after seeing this? Get excited or something?
Unfortunately my prediction seemed to hit the mark. Deep in the cave the giant male tried to press down on my waist with a firm push.
I stared straight at it. The male vanished like a mirage.
A dark cave is far less suitable for a bunny girl than a luxurious casino.
……And just like that, the surroundings really did turn into a casino.
Gamblers absorbed in poker. The triumphant cheers of winners. Before I knew it a silver tray and cocktail glass rested in my hands. Looking at the glittering, noisy scene, a thought naturally came to me.
This level is reasonably satisfactory.
These two were completely out of their minds.