A Beautiful Farewell

Believing I had finally submitted, the parents pulled the mouth of the black trash bag wide open.

Inside, a bottomless darkness swirled, seeming to swallow all light.

The children stepped back one by one, clearing a path for me to discard the doll.

I walked right up to the trash bag.

Then, raising my head to look the parents in their blank faces, I slowly lowered my hand holding the Susie doll into the bag.

"Yes, that's it. Good child."

I smirked up at them.

"Like hell I am."

I spun on my heel.

Slipping right past the parents, I bolted down the dark hallway at full speed.

"Gggh...!!"

Perhaps because they hadn't expected this, their reaction was a beat too slow.

A sickening, screeching friction echoed behind me.

I ran with everything I had toward the child's playroom—the room I had noted down while scouting the house earlier.

Reaching it in seconds, I threw myself inside without a moment's hesitation.

I slammed the door shut and dragged a heavy wooden chair over to barricade it.

Thud! Thud! Crash!

They began to batter the door like madmen from the other side.

"Pant... pant..."

My lungs burned, gasping for air.

Black mold began to slither through the cracks of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠door like snakes, and the wallpaper shrieked as it tore itself apart.

There was no time.

Let's end this.

I had to finish it before they broke through.

I quickly scanned the room. This was my impromptu stage. The final stage where I would turn this tragedy into a comedy—or at least, a sad but beautiful story.

I dragged over an empty toy box sitting in the corner. It was sturdy and much larger than a shoebox.

Next was the bed—a small cot the child used for naps. I ripped off the fluffy blanket, folded it with care, and lined the bottom of the box with it.

On the desk lay colored paper, scissors, and glue.

I began to cut and fold the colored paper like a madman. Red, yellow, blue. With clumsy hands, I fashioned crude paper flowers and stars, pasting them all over the inside and outside of the box.

Now, this was the most beautiful bed in the world, a small "coffin" for eternal rest.

Right on cue—

Crash!

The chair barricading the door splintered into pieces, and the door flew wide open.

The faceless parents and children glared at me from the darkness.

They had completely shed their human guises, transforming into pure monsters.

Turning my back to them, I gently laid the Susie doll in my arms down into the box.

"Susie," I whispered, looking down at the doll as I began the final lines of this play.

"You aren't old and worn out. You're just tired from playing with me for so long."

As my voice echoed through the room, the monsters froze. They watched my actions, seemingly unable to comprehend what was happening.

I gently stroked the doll's head.

"So, I'm not throwing you away. It's just time for you to get some well-deserved rest."

I took a brief breath and added the most important line.

"Thank you, my best friend."

It was finished.

The tragic premise of an abandoned doll.

The shackles of guilt that forced the child to become "bad."

All of it had been rewritten into a completely new narrative: a beautiful farewell to a friend who had fulfilled her duty and was now honorably retiring.

The very source of guilt had been fundamentally severed.

I repeated the words once more.

"Thank you, my best friend."

The moment those final words left my lips...

The bizarre, suffocating darkness and the murderous intent of the monsters that had broken through the door vanished as if they had never existed.

Ah...

Instead of the stench of rotting earth that had filled the room, the faint, warm scent of sunlight began to drift in.

The first to change were the faceless parent monsters standing at the door.

They were the physical manifestation of the guilt pressuring the child—the terrifying image of the parents carved deep into the child's mind.

Perhaps because that guilt had vanished, or perhaps because they no longer had a reason to exist, they began to shimmer like a heat haze. Their stiff, mannequin-like bodies turned translucent and dissolved like mist.

Next were the children surrounding me—the ones trapped inside the doll skins.

They were the souls of the children who had fallen victim to the curse before.

Bound to the curse by their shared sorrow of abandonment, the resolution of the curse brought the light of life back to them. The black tear tracks staining their cheeks washed away completely.

They looked at one another, then bowed their heads deeply toward me.

As if offering their thanks.

Then, one by one, they dissolved into particles of warm light, floating up into the air and vanishing. Leaving behind peaceful smiles, they faded into tiny points of light and disappeared.

Finally, there was the Susie doll lying in the small box-bed I had crafted.

The hostile red glow in its remaining glass eye faded completely.

It returned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to being an ordinary rag doll. No longer filled with resentment or sorrow, it held only the worn, gentle gaze of a toy that had spent a long time by its friend's side.

The end of everything.

As the tension left my body, a wave of profound exhaustion washed over me.

The stage of tragedy had lowered its curtains.

Exactly according to the new ending I had written.

"I guess it's time to go back."

I closed my eyes.

Once again, I felt the sensation of passing through a vast, distant tunnel. The only difference was that this time, instead of falling, I felt like I was rising.

"Gasp!"

I drew in a sharp breath and opened my eyes.

The hum of a computer fan buzzed in my ears.

I was in Yoo Minhae's room, the safe sleeping quarters I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠set up.

"Senior!"

"Hyung! You're awake?"

The door burst open, and Yoo Minhae, Kang Deokhu, and Kim Seyeon rushed in.

Their faces were etched with exhaustion and extreme anxiety.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere, are you?" Yoo Minhae shook my shoulders, gripping them tightly.

I nodded and asked, "How... how long has it been?"

"Exactly three hours," Kang Deokhu said, checking his wristwatch.

It had felt like well over a day in the dream, but only three hours had passed in reality.

I pushed myself up from the bed.

My body felt heavy as lead, but my mind was clearer than ever.

I looked at Kim Seyeon.

"Did you find it?"

Without a word, Kim Seyeon turned her laptop screen toward me.

A post from a secondhand marketplace app was displayed on the screen.

In the attached photo was a worn-out doll that looked identical to the Susie doll I had seen in my dream. The post had been uploaded a mere five minutes ago.

Right around the exact moment I was facing the climax of the parents' pressure in the dream.

The Full Synchronization had succeeded.

While I was resolving the root of the disaster in the dream, time in reality had marched forward, reaching the brink of the curse's manifestation. The moment I resolved the issue and woke up, that dark future was halted.

"Refresh it," I said quietly.

Kim Seyeon swallowed hard and pressed F5.

The page flickered as it reloaded.

And the post had changed.

"It changed!"

Yoo Minhae covered her mouth in shock, and Kang Deokhu's eyes widened behind his glasses.

A perfect success.

This time, there were zero casualties.

Which meant absolutely no one had been hurt.

Right before the disaster could unleash itself upon the world, we had completely neutralized it.

"Whew..."

I let out a long, slow sigh.

Without a word, I peeled the scenario paper off the wall. Flicking my lighter, I caught the edge of the paper and blew gently. The sheet quickly blackened, crumbling into a handful of ash.

This was the moment we completely erased one of the remaining fifty-odd disasters, marking our third successful resolution.

Yoo Minhae offered me a faint smile.

A flawless victory for Team Kim Minjun.

Minhae quietly came over and sat beside me.

"Senior, what are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing. Just sorting out my thoughts. I'm fine."

"I'm so curious. What actually happened in there? During Full Synchronization, I mean. All we could do out here was try to imagine..."

At her words, Kang Deokhu and Kim Seyeon gathered around, their curiosity piqued. I chuckled softly and began to summarize the long, grueling battle in my dream as concisely as possible.

"Literally, I entered the scenario I wrote. I became the 'first child' who was forced to discard the doll. The house was filled with grotesque dolls and monstrous parents pressuring me."

I described the bizarre play I had to perform and the terrifying moments when the wallpaper rotted and peeled away. The three of them hung on my every word, swallowing hard.

"Wow... how did you survive that all by yourself?" Kang Deokhu asked in genuine awe.

"I didn't just survive; I acted. Like the protagonist of the scenario I wrote. But along the way, I realized something was different this time."

"What was different?" Kim Seyeon pressed sharply.

"The method of resolution. Think about it. At Pungwol Bridge, we called out the names of the wronged spirits to soothe their grudges—like a requiem. On the Jayuro highway? We drowned out the curse with physical sound waves to neutralize it. Both times, we used the weaknesses of the urban legends I knew, or rules I had pre-established, to banish or destroy the disaster. It was like fighting monsters using a strategy guide."

I paused, looking around at everyone.

"But this time was different. I didn't break or destroy anything."

"Huh? But the curse is gone. We verified it ourselves," Yoo Minhae countered, looking puzzled.

"It didn't disappear. The story simply ended."

I pointed a finger to my temple.

"What was the essence of that curse? It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠'the guilt of a child who abandoned their doll.' It wasn't raw power or pure evil; it was a sad story in itself. A tragedy of being forced to abandon a friend."

I stood up, gesturing as if I were a film director guiding an actor on set.

"I simply changed the ending of that story. I took the tragic ending of an abandoned doll and rewrote it into a beautiful farewell to a friend who had fulfilled her duty and was honorably retiring. I built the stage myself, prepared the props, and delivered new lines. And what happened then?"

"Ah...!"

Kim Seyeon gasped first, realization dawning on her face.

"The guilt that triggered the story was fundamentally prevented from ever forming! Because it was no longer a tragedy, the vengeful spirit had no reason to feel sorrow or anger anymore!"

"Exactly," I nodded with satisfaction.

"My greatest weapon wasn't just my knowledge of urban legends. It was my ability to understand a story, grasp the emotions of the characters within it, comfort their sorrow, and gift them a new ending. That is exactly what I, a film student and aspiring screenwriter, do best."

Hearing my explanation, Yoo Minhae and Kang Deokhu finally understood, showering me with admiration.

"Whoa, that's insane. So instead of just beating up ghosts, you basically shot a whole new movie, Hyung?"

"Seriously, Senior. You're a writer, a director, and a fixer all in one."

I scratched my head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Then, I looked up at the wall where the remaining forty-nine scenarios were pinned.

"I get it now. This might not be a curse after all. It might be an opportunity."

"An opportunity?"

"Yeah. Just like Deokhu joked before—an opportunity to personally prove and complete every single story I failed to get produced."

I stood tall. Strangely, now that my thoughts were organized, the path ahead didn't feel as bleak or terrifying as before. In fact, I felt a faint spark of anticipation. What kind of sorrow would the next story hold, and what kind of ending could I gift them?

Of course, in urgent situations like the Jayuro highway, smashing things to pieces would still be much faster.