Walking into Hell #3

Whoosh, whoosh—. The woman swinging violently from side ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to side matched the beat with her mouth. “Tick-tock, tick-tock.” It was an incredibly grotesque and bizarre sight. Even I, who had faced countless ghosts before, couldn’t make sense of it. Why? Why the hell was she doing that?

I gave the ghost in the music room a name: the Rhythm Ghost. Fortunately, it simply hung in midair, swaying left and right while muttering “tick-tock.” Still, I knew better than to let my guard down.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—. A frantic, spine-chilling presence rushed past right beside the music room. Thud-thud—thud-thud-thud—thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—. The presence faded after about ten seconds. Only then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could I catch my breath.

The identity of that massive presence that had passed through the corridor… It was…

“It was dancing…”

A Dancing Ghost. A ghost that stomped its feet violently and flailed its arms in every direction without any pattern. I couldn’t begin to understand why it was behaving that way.

“Tick-tock… tick-tock… tick-tock… tick… tock…”

That was when it happened. The voice of the ghost that had been keeping time with its mouth grew fainter and fainter. When I looked closer, I saw that the pendulum-like swaying left and right had noticeably shrunk in both range and interval compared to before.

If this kept up, the swaying would stop. And… whether it was just my imagination or some kind of instinct or sixth-sense warning, I had the distinct feeling that something very bad would happen to me the moment that movement ceased.

“Shit.”

Cursing out loud to steel my nerves, I slipped out of the music room. I had to get out of here!

“…Paper crane…”

Where the hell had the paper crane gone? I frantically scanned the area, searching for the crane that must have flown off somewhere while I was hiding in the music room. But it was nowhere to be seen.

“You damn paper crane! Did you really have to fly off that fast?”

I had thought it moved slowly, but I never expected it to vanish so quickly while I was holed up in the music room.

Thud—!

At that moment, a loud, dull impact echoed from the music room I had just escaped. It sounded exactly like “something the weight of a person that had been hanging high up had fallen to the floor.” I didn’t know why I pictured it that way. I didn’t particularly want to know, either… but what mattered was that the music room door had opened.

Creak—. Soon, someone’s head poked out from the music room. Just the head. A face tilted slightly to the left, peeking out, met my eyes.

It was the Rhythm Ghost.

“Hello?”

A ghost whose eyes were completely bloodshot red spoke to me. Could it actually talk…? For a split second, Gu Hye-na flashed through my mind. After we’d been able to communicate, she had become a little less terrifying. Maybe a ghost I could talk to would be… a little less scary, too.

“Hello?”

The Rhythm Ghost greeted me again. I… what should I do here…?

“H-hello?”

Grin—. The Rhythm Ghost smiled at my reply. Soon its face drew closer, as if approaching me. A neck that had to be at least a meter long looked utterly horrifying, and my vision began to spin.

“Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?”

“Y-you son of a bitch.”

Thinking it could actually converse had been a mistake! I realized the sound wasn’t conversation at all—it was bait to lure me in—and chose to turn and run.

“Shit!”

Run! Run with everything I had! And right behind me, the Rhythm Ghost gave chase.

“Hello? Hello? Hahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahaha!”

What the hell was so happy and fun about this?! I glanced back and saw the insane ghost charging at me with its mouth stretched wide open. The sight was so vicious and grotesque that I felt like I might have a heart attack. Still, blindly running to escape the ghost paid off. I spotted the flying paper crane!

Spin-spin—. The paper crane was circling in front of a certain place. It read 「Principal’s Office」.

I opened the door, praying it would be unlocked, and locked it behind me. Soon, a pounding sound echoed against the principal’s office door.

“Hey! Come out! Teacher isn’t scary at all. Hey. Come on out. Come on out. Teacher will stick her tongue in your ear and suck out your brain. It’s not scary at all. It doesn’t hurt one bit.”

The Rhythm Ghost calling to me from outside. I shouted back at it.

“Fuck off, you crazy bitch!”

“Heeheeheeheehee! Heeheeheeheeheehee! I memorized your voice! Your voice! I memorized it!”

I wanted nothing more than to cover my ears. That was when my eyes landed on a statue placed inside the principal’s office. It was in the shape of a saint hanging from a cross. However, its neck, like the other statues on this floor, had been severed. A talisman attached to the statue. The moment I obtained it, my mood soared, and whether it was adrenaline, endorphins, or insulin, I could feel confidence surging through my body.

“Come on in, you crazy bitches! Come in! You goddamn pieces of shit! Come in!”

If I just tore this, I could escape. The thought made me feel like a hero wielding a holy sword. And I was furious. Why did I have to go through this hell? Why?!

“You goddamn bastards! Even after dying, you’re still causing trouble, you parasitic ghosts! Selfish ghost bastards!”

After shouting my lungs out, I felt a little better. Whether it was because my curses worked or for some other reason, the noise from the Rhythm Ghost outside the principal’s office had stopped. It was quiet. So quiet that it was terrifying instead.

I had to get out quickly. Just as I thought that and moved to tear the talisman, I noticed a lamp. A desk lamp on the table. Click—. When I pressed the button, light filled the room and brightened the principal’s office slightly. My eyes met a portrait hanging on the wall. It was labeled 「Self-Portrait」. It was identical to the painting of Cheon Daegon I had seen in the mansion.

“Ugh, creepy as hell.”

I reached out to take the painting down and lay it face-down on the floor. As I lifted the frame and set it down, I noticed a small safe behind it. It was the kind that opened by entering a code, like a door lock.

“This looks seriously suspicious.”

Next to the safe, someone had written something in fluorescent marker. 「□4□1」

Was this the password? It looked like a four-digit number, but the first and third digits were smudged, making them hard to read. I could tell the second and last digits were 4 and 1, though. Did that mean I had to try every possibility? How many combinations would that even be…? It would’ve been nice if Jeong Seok were here. Anyway, since I had the talisman and some breathing room, I decided to look around the principal’s office. I was curious if there was anything else worth farming. Maybe there was a hint for the safe’s password. I didn’t know what was inside the safe, but there might be something good.

Then my eyes caught a single sheet of paper lying on the floor. Rustle.

The writing on the paper ended there. There were many points that bothered me, but the most concerning was the part about the portrait. There was no portrait in the principal’s office? Then what had I seen? I looked at the frame I had dropped on the floor. My own face was reflected in it. This wasn’t a portrait at all… It was a mirror!

“Aaaagh, shit!”

Startled beyond belief, I tore the talisman. This called for an emergency escape!

# # #

I opened the fridge to get some water. “Aaaagh! You scared me!”

Skitter-skitter-skitter—. The reason I nearly pissed myself was because two cockroaches the size of my thumb were crawling around the living room. They were genuinely massive and pitch-black. Skitter. Skitter-skitter-skitter. Skitter-skitter-skitter.

“Aaaagh!”

Two cockroaches at dawn! This was a disaster. This was hell! It was so unfair! Why did I have to suffer like this?!

“Yeongwon. Son. What’s all the commotion so early in the morning?”

Creak—. Mom opened her door and stepped out. It was 6 a.m. She frowned at the mess in the living room.

“Hey! What are you doing at dawn? Why did you trash the living room like this? All the dishes are broken, too.”

“No, I didn’t do this.”

The living ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠room looked like it had been ransacked by a thief. When I checked my phone, I learned there had been an earthquake of magnitude 6 or higher in the Gaeryong City area. What a day. Thinking that, I washed up, ate breakfast, and headed out for school.

On the way to school, cracks ran across the asphalt in various places, and utility poles leaned at odd angles—unfamiliar sights everywhere. Was this damage from the earthquake at dawn? Students wandering the streets were all talking about the quake.

“It shook like crazy yesterday.”

“My apartment was swaying so much I woke up and couldn’t sleep until now.”

“Our whole family woke up and hid under the table—”

The earthquake seemed stronger than I’d thought. Strong enough to wake everyone up. I hadn’t noticed because I’d been inside the Nightmare Corridor. While walking, someone called out to me.

“Ah! Yeongwon!”

“…Sojin.”

It was our class president, Jeong Sojin.

“Yeongwon, yesterday’s earthquake was really something, right? They said it was the largest since the 20th century in Korea.”

“Yeah, apparently.”

“They said Gaeryong City was the epicenter. It shook like a boat floating on water.”

My condition was already bad from the nightmare and the cockroaches, and now having to talk to Jeong Sojin first thing in the morning was pure torture. She kept chattering away.

“I think this earthquake is because of the spiritual water vein beneath Gaeryong City. Did you know? There’s supposedly a massive river flowing under Gaeryong City. They say it wasn’t originally a suitable place to build a city.”

Even Jeong Sojin was going on about the spiritual water vein. What was with everyone today? Had she developed an interest in ghosts, ghost stories, and the occult after surviving the corridor? Listening to her, I arrived at the classroom. The classroom was also in chaos—desks overturned, chairs knocked over.

“Guys! There’s a crack in the schoolyard!”

“No way!”

“There are cracks in the hallway too!”

The new building was damaged by the earthquake everywhere. While the kids made a fuss, I looked out the window at the old building. Though the entire school was in an uproar from the quake, the old building stood unchanged, like a grotesque relic.

Tap—! At that moment, someone placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Hey.”

“Mom, you scared me!”

I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠genuinely startled. When I turned, Hong Miri was frowning at me. She had approached without a sound again and scared me!

“Hong Miri, what’s the matter?”

“What happened to you last night?”

“……”

I could tell she was trying to probe me. She was asking if I remembered what happened in the corridor.

“Yesterday’s earthquake was really scary, right? I almost wet myself thinking North Korea had launched a missile.”

I pretended to know nothing and talked about the earthquake. Hong Miri stared at me with narrowed eyes before turning and walking away without a word. It seemed she was still suspicious of me. This was going to get annoying. At this rate, I’d have to take some kind of action against Hong Miri within the week. I already had a plan in mind.