Chapter 73: Always Sincere (3)
Chapter 73: Always Sincere (3)
The practice session in the old school building.
While everyone else had marveled at Seo-yeon’s performance as a ghost, Seo-yeon herself was, frankly, unsatisfied.
How should she put it?
It was likely because she didn't fully understand the primal fear that a "ghost" was supposed to instill.
‘That feeling I had during the horror game.’
She had mentioned jump scares, but beyond that, there was a distinct, trembling sensation.
That tension.
The atmosphere a creature brought with it.
To be honest, Seo-yeon didn't think she had executed that well.
Suddenly appearing on the stairs to startle someone—that was just a jump scare, the very thing she had so desperately tried to avoid in the game.
Not that jump scares were inherently bad.
It was just...
‘Maybe I should reference a proper horror movie.’
Horror movies.
Even for Seo-yeon, who had spent her past life studying human emotions through various media, they were unfamiliar territory.
Horror movies operated on the premise that humans feel fear. For Seo-yeon, who didn't experience fear, their appeal was naturally halved, and she had never bothered to seek them out.
‘Right.’
Seo-yeon nodded to herself.
The reason she had been so shocked and... terrified back then was simply because the experience was so foreign to her.
‘If I watch a few movies or play a few games, I’ll get used to it in no time.’
Ju Seo-yeon: the woman who knew no fear.
Even if she had recently discovered what it was, she just had to become accustomed to it.
Her cheeks flushed as she recalled how she had screamed and thrashed around during the game.
“...That won't happen again.”
With that vow, Seo-yeon looked up horror movies online to use as references.
She focused on the masterpieces that had shifted the paradigm of the genre.
The most iconic scenes.
Among them, one particular staircase scene caught her eye.
A girl possessed by an evil spirit, her body contorted backward, crawling down the stairs on all fours.
“...”
Seo-yeon watched it intently.
Then, she fell asleep, shivering all alone.
And so.
In the deserted old school building, Seo-yeon had practiced to see if she could pull it off.
For the past three days.
After her own version of special training.
“Good.”
Seo-yeon nodded at her reflection in the mirror.
It was makeup her classmate! had worked hard to apply.
Actually, Seo-yeon had wanted something even scarier, but all they did was apply thick black mascara and powder her face to make her look pale.
Since her skin was already naturally fair, it didn't look that different.
Rumble!
“...”
Seo-yeon was on the second floor of the old school building.
Naturally, other students were waiting on the second floor as well.
Girls from each class were dressed as ghosts, waiting in their spots.
However, unlike the others who just had to stay in a specific area, Seo-yeon needed to move.
The central hallway leading from the second floor to the first.
Her job was to scare the students there once, then head back up to wait in the old faculty office at the end of the second floor.
In other words, Seo-yeon had to navigate the hallways of the old school building alone.
Shhhhhhh—
The sound of heavy rain pouring outside reached her ears.
The blackout curtains they had borrowed in bulk from the theater club were so effective that it felt like the middle of the night.
‘It’s stifling.’
Seo-yeon idly pulled back a curtain.
Doing so confirmed that it was still daytime.
‘They said the haunted house starts at ten.’
Checking the time, she saw there were about ten minutes left.
Wanting to take a deep breath, Seo-yeon opened the window to let in some of the cold, rain-soaked air.
Clatter.
SHHHHHHH!!
Thud.
The moment she opened the window, Seo-yeon realized something.
Ah, it wasn't just raining; it was incredibly windy.
The wind gusted in the moment the window opened, soaking Seo-yeon’s face. Her hair got wet too, and she could feel it sticking to her skin.
“...”
She closed the window and roughly wiped the water off her face with a handkerchief, feeling the glass rattle against the wind.
It seemed the wind had picked up even more the moment she opened the window.
Of all times, she thought.
It was already dark enough, but now the windows were rattling and lightning was flashing.
For a haunted house, it was a blessing; for Seo-yeon, it was a total disaster.
But who was she?
She was Ju Seo-yeon, hardened against fear by horror movies.
Something like this was...
“...”
Seo-yeon headed toward the central staircase.
It was almost ten o'clock.
Time for the first guests of the haunted house to arrive.
However, there was one thing Seo-yeon didn't know.
The makeup she usually wore didn't run when it got wet.
But the makeup she was wearing now was different.
She had no idea what she looked like, soaked by the rain.
*
Most students gave up and turned back after encountering the ghost at the central staircase on the first floor.
But every so often, some made it up to the second floor.
“Man, maybe we should’ve just left.”
“You scared?”
“Psh, what is there to be scared of?”
Three male students chatted casually as they climbed to the second floor.
The ghost on the first-floor stairs had been scary, but everything else wasn't too bad.
It was mostly the rain, the lightning, and the general atmosphere of the old school building that fueled their fear.
“This is doable, totally doable.”
“Hey, I heard Ji-seok ran away as soon as he got here.”
“What a loser. What’s so scary about this?”
They clicked their tongues as they spoke, but their voices trembled slightly.
Finally, they reached the end.
The faculty office.
They had already heard that the ghost they saw earlier would appear here.
The red-eyed ghost they had seen crawling backward down the central stairs.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Can’t we fight back? Can’t we go in and scare them instead?”
It was called a haunted house, but it was just something put together by high schoolers.
They weren't staff or professional actors.
“Scaring them back sounds like fun.”
“Man, you know I swing first when I get startled. Better not. Someone’ll get hurt.”
Two of the boys bragged idly.
With the ambition of scaring the ghost instead, they stepped inside.
But.
“...”
The moment they entered, everyone froze.
In the middle of the faculty office, a girl stood with her back turned to them.
Darkness.
The sound of rain in the heavy silence.
The back of a woman standing still as lightning flashed.
‘Wh-what was the mission again?’
They just had to open a desk drawer and retrieve a bracelet.
“Hey, hey, she’s not moving. What are you doing?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Speaking in trembling voices, they moved slowly, keeping their distance from the stationary girl.
They hugged the wall, following the set path, and just as they slowly opened the drawer—
The girl’s body moved.
The boys froze, hands still on the drawer.
‘Is she... is she turning around?’
The moment that thought crossed their minds.
The girl’s waist snapped backward.
“GAAAH!!! FUCK!!!”
Clatter, clatter! They yanked at the stubborn drawer and grabbed the bracelet.
Any thought of her being just a student acting as a clumsy ghost vanished.
Humans feel fear when they encounter something that defies common sense.
You expect someone standing up to turn their body, not for their spine to just fold backward.
And then there was the atmosphere.
The black makeup melting down her face.
The red eyes glowing in the dark.
Her mouth hanging open as if in a state of terror.
She didn't look like a normal high school girl at all.
And then.
She flipped her body over and began to crawl toward them on all fours.
And she was fast!!
“Run! Hey, fuck, run!”
At that grotesque sight, the boys scrambled to turn around.
— Give me back my bracelet. Give it back. Give it back.
The girl’s voice, thick with a deep-seated grudge, echoed behind them.
They ran for what felt like forever until they reached the central staircase leading to the first floor.
“Huff, huff. Holy shit. That scared the crap out of me.”
“What the hell was that crawling...”
“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine. She was way back at the end of the hall.”
When they turned their heads after the sudden chase—
The girl was right in front of them.
“I thought you said she was at the end!!”
“She’s so fast! No, she’s way too fucking fast!”
The boys fled in a panic, racing down to the first floor.
Surely she couldn't crawl down the stairs on all fours that quickly.
But she was incredibly fast.
How could she chase them that quickly while flipped over?
Is she an actual ghost?
That thought raced through their minds as they bolted to the first floor.
At that exact moment.
They locked eyes with a group of girls who were just entering.
The ghost chasing the boys came to a dead halt.
“...Ju Seo-yeon.”
A voice filled with utter exasperation called out.
*
“Wow, the atmosphere is no joke. Ji-yeon, are you really going in?”
At her friend’s question, Ji-yeon nodded.
“It’s not like there’s anywhere else to go right now anyway.”
“Still...”
The two following behind Ji-yeon—Young-mi and Sun-hee—continued to fret, making Ji-yeon click her tongue.
“It’s just a haunted house made by high schoolers. What’s there to be scared of?”
“It wouldn't be scary if the weather were nice.”
“But with this rain and lightning... just walking through the old school building is terrifying.”
Ji-yeon tilted her head at their words.
Certainly, that could be true, but Ji-yeon was worried about something else entirely.
After all.
“I couldn't even make it to the second floor.”
“So you at least made it to the end of the first floor?”
She had overheard girls shivering as they talked.
“Ah, fuck. That was so embarrassing.”
“I saw you running away. You’re actually really fast, huh?”
“Shut up, I’ll kill you.”
“I almost threw a low kick because I was so startled.”
She had heard the boys talking like that, too.
Of course, it was obvious most of it was bravado.
The last guy was especially lucky.
Ji-yeon seriously thought that if he had actually kicked her, his leg might have been the one to break.
She hadn't known back then, but thinking about the incident during the middle school retreat...
‘The line is long.’
The response must have been incredible, given the long line of students snaking out of the old school building.
Since only a limited number of people could enter at a time, it was only natural.
When one team went up to the second floor, another team would enter the first floor.
In other words, two teams were inside at any given time.
Plus, with the heavy rain forcing many other booths to close, and the rest being ordinary stalls or recreation games, people flocked here even more.
In this kind of atmosphere, a haunted house was bound to attract students.
“Seo-yeon must be a really good actor. So many people are running away just from seeing her face on the stairs.”
“Only a few teams have made it to the second floor yet, right?”
“Yeah.”
She heard the students from Seo-yeon’s class, who were managing the line, talking.
Hearing that, Ji-yeon thought:
‘I doubt she’s just showing her face.’
She probably did that during practice.
But it wouldn't have been scary enough.
Judging by the reactions of the girls in their class, she could easily deduce that much.
‘Knowing her, she probably thought, “It’s not a ghost if it’s not scary!” and...’
She likely pulled a role from a horror movie or a game.
A character to use as a motif.
Seo-yeon was exceptionally good at mimicking things like that.
Was it because she was a born actor?
Or was it just pure talent?
‘If she gets too into it, there’s no telling what she’ll do.’
She had that boyish streak in her sometimes.
If the other person gave her a great reaction, she’d get excited and start doing things without thinking.
“Ugh, it’s our turn.”
“I’m sticking right behind you, Ji-yeon. I am NOT going first!”
“I get it.”
Ji-yeon sighed and stepped inside the old school building.
After handing their tickets to the student waiting at the entrance, they went in.
‘Certainly.’
The dark school building was creepy enough on its own.
But that was about it.
First, following the map they were given, they had to stop by designated classrooms on the first floor to complete missions.
The ghosts they encountered there tried to scare them.
But it was pretty standard stuff.
Honestly, it didn't even come close to the level of a haunted house at a theme park.
However.
‘The central staircase.’
That was where Seo-yeon was supposed to appear.
Ji-yeon stopped in her tracks as they approached the central stairs.
“AAAAAAAH!”
With the frantic screams of teenage boys, a group came charging down.
And behind them, she saw a red-eyed ghost.
Crawling on all fours, it seemed to be chasing the boys who had just sprinted past Ji-yeon.
“...!!”
The two girls behind Ji-yeon gasped at the sudden appearance of the ghost.
When people are truly shocked, they can't even scream.
The sight of a woman crawling down the stairs backward.
The black streaks smeared across her face.
Red eyes glowing in the darkness.
The sound of the two girls behind her collapsing as their legs gave out echoed in the hall.
And then.
“...”
“...”
Ji-yeon and the ghost’s eyes met.
Slither, slither.
Maintaining that same posture, the ghost began to crawl back up the central stairs.
Ji-yeon chased after the ghost, running up to the second floor.
“D-don't leave us behind!”
The two girls reached out desperately toward Ji-yeon.
“Ju Seo-yeon, are you crazy?!”
It wasn't a scream, but a shout that rang out at that moment.