Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Match Girl
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23.
So… cute.
Extremely so.
Of course, not as much as our Bear Doll Trio.
The sight was just like looking at a dainty children's toy, and my eyes sparkled without me realizing it.
But it seemed the Conductor didn't like my reaction at all. The guy, now shrunken to the size of a Bear Doll, got all worked up.
♯! ff!♪!
It was definitely yelling at me.
Notes filled with curses directed at me, the one who had trapped him in this tiny book.
Chiiik-
[How about that! No matter how ferocious the ghost story, if I just seal it inside this special book of mine!]
Swoosh.
Suddenly, the White Librarian appeared in front of Park Yeon-jeong, grabbed the tiny Conductor by the scruff of its neck, and lifted it up.
[It turns into something this adorable, a pet ghost story you'd want to bite right away!]
[Well, whether to use this item as a pet ghost story is up to the consumer who buys it, of course.]
After hearing Noise's grandiose explanation, I looked back down at the book in my palm.
…This is insane!
Even the GRA Agency doesn't have the technology to contain a ghost story this perfectly yet.
Of course, that doesn't mean they have zero ability to contain ghost stories.
It's just that they select only safe entities without ferocious aggression—like not this Conductor guy.
They isolate and manage those, though even that isn't perfect.
So.
Capturing ghost stories with intense aggression, like this mad Conductor who turns people into instruments to play, is still impossible for the Agency.
That's why, right now.
The 'book that can contain ghost stories' Noise showed me is a balance-breaking technology that could upend the entire world.
I was curious.
What on earth he planned to do with a book that could contain ghost stories.
“…What do you plan to do with it from now on?”
My pure curiosity was piqued.
[What do you mean? Park Yeon-jeong Employee, surely you haven't forgotten why we capture ghost stories.]
“…You're saying you're going to sell this?”
This thing that's too precious to give away?!
You're really going to sell it!!
[Yes! Of course we have to sell it! You didn't go through all that blood, sweat, and tears to fetch it just for that, right, Park Yeon-jeong Employee?]
[We can't just keep something you worked so hard for as mere decoration.]
…My eyes were getting misty at the thoughtfulness toward my efforts.
But still, I seriously wondered if we should really sell this.
[Well then, Park Yeon-jeong Employee.]
…Yes?
Wait, the vibe of this conversation… no way!
[I trust you'll bring in another fine item today as well.]
…That's too much, really.
Kiiik.
It already felt like the empty darkness beyond the door was smiling at me, beckoning me to come.
A deep sigh escaped me naturally.
I'm tired of wasting emotions on every little situation like this.
I had to accept it now.
I have to.
In a situation where I might have to pass through that white door who knows how many more times.
No more big emotional expenditures.
It just wears me out.
Totototototo!
But once again, the three Bear Dolls came toddling straight toward me without fail.
'Looking at them heals me.'
The one healing spot for me in this ghost story.
Totototo!
As always, the cute ones acted like they wanted me to take them along.
“…Maybe one.”
That should be fine, right?
Park Yeon-jeong, who had already survived a near-death experience in the previous ghost story.
If I'd brought these Bear Dolls along then, I might have easily subdued the Conductor's Red Orchestra.
No, I definitely could have caught the Conductor early without even using his 'Thousands of Gazes'.
He had etched the meaning of 'librarian hardship' deep into his bones—very, very deep!
Swish swish!
I picked up the one among the three Bears that was waving its arms at me the hardest from the front.
You’re the one.
!!
The remaining two Bear Dolls, not chosen by Park Yeon-jeong, froze in shock right there, as usual.
But if I brought all three and they popped out of the Employee ID on their own like last time, wandering around, that would be trouble.
So.
One should be enough coverage.
I slipped one of the Bear Dolls called 'little friends' into my Employee ID and finally started walking.
[I've prepared another ghost story that's not too difficult this time! Have a good trip, Park Yeon-jeong Employee!]
Yeah yeah, super easy ghost story, got it.
Loud and clear, Mr. Noise.
Park Yeon-jeong's third-day work began.
*****
Clack.
The sound of my heels hitting the hard ground.
My dress shoes.
I was feeling uncomfortable in shoes I wasn't used to yet.
Shoooo-
Suddenly, a fierce wind slammed into my skin, snapping me alert.
Cold!
All I was wearing right now.
Was the black suit Noise had made me wear.
…That was it.
At least give me a hot pack or something!
This is too much!
I felt the bone-chilling cold wave piercing my whole body, like it would shatter me any second.
My body wouldn't stop shaking, like it had turned into a vibrating phone.
Peek.
Swish swish!
Before I knew it, the first Bear Doll had poked half its body out of the Employee ID, waving its arms up and down at me.
And as soon as it made eye contact with me, it jumped right out of the Employee ID.
Thud!
The Bear Doll landed limply, then immediately stood on the ground and waved both arms at me.
…P-playing? Is that it?
I had no idea what it wanted to say.
More importantly, it was too cold right now!
My head was freezing.
My whole body was freezing.
My eyes… closing.
…Huh? Mom, Dad?
Park Yeon-jeong was one step away from being lured by the illusion of the River of Three Roads.
…Poofy.
?
My hand, which had reached out toward Mom and Dad, stopped at an inexplicable fluffiness.
…Fur?
What blocked my path to the River of Three Roads.
Was a massive furball.
It wasn't a hallucination from the cold.
The Bear Doll that had been small and waving its arms at me just moments ago.
Was now bigger than Park Yeon-jeong's own height.
Did it absorb moisture or something?
Or was I seeing things because it was my time to die?
As I sank into deep delusion.
Flash!
!!
The Bear Doll suddenly grabbed both my arms and hoisted me up in one go.
Craaack.
!?!?!?!
As soon as it lifted me, it opened its mouth wide and started shoving me inside.
“…Ugh! S-stop! (Hey! Wait!)”
My mouth was frozen from the cold, so I couldn't speak properly as I got swallowed.
The Bear Doll, which had started showing unexpected aggression—no, it had become a man-eating Bear Doll.
And I had adored it so much!
This is betrayal!
Betrayal!
Park Yeon-jeong, swallowed whole by the Bear Doll in one gulp… warmed up for a moment inside the surprisingly cozy belly of the Bear Doll.
…Ah, no!
Snap out of it, Park Yeon-jeong!
This is the belly of a man-eating Bear Doll!
I thrashed with all my might inside the massive Bear Doll's body.
Since I'd been swallowed headfirst, to escape, I turned my head toward its mouth as much as possible, parting the countless fluffy cotton bits, and barely managed to twist my body around.
“How can you… repay my kindness like this!”
I immediately yelled in anger.
…….
“…….”
…….
??
H-hello?
The thing that had been moving fine until it shoved me in its mouth moments ago… why wasn't it moving now?
I shoved my hand precisely into the Bear Doll's arm section.
Tap tap.
And lightly poked the Bear Doll's head.
Swish swish!
!!
Suddenly, the Bear Doll's arms started flailing up and down wildly with great force.
…What the heck?
The first Bear Doll showed no further harm.
…Maybe this guy.
Saw me shivering from the cold.
……I-it did this.
Good boy!
Sorry for misunderstanding you!
I believed in you from the start.
Our cute Bear Doll wouldn't have such evil thoughts.
Of course. Absolutely.
From now on, among all ghost story items, the 'little friends' are number one in my heart.
Let's stick together for life, my Bear Doll Trio.
Thanks to this unexpected new use for the 'little friends', I could now roam the ghost story free from the extreme cold.
Of course, to others, it might look ridiculous—a full-grown adult strutting around in a giant Bear Doll costume.
But better than freezing to death.
Plus, our 'Bear-didas' had surprisingly excellent insulation.
Only after escaping the skin-piercing cold did I start surveying the ghost story I'd entered.
European-style buildings at regular intervals.
Meticulously laid stone pavement, and streetlamps lighting the surroundings between the paths.
A ghost story themed after the 17th-century Renaissance era.
For ghost stories based on a specific era like this, it wasn't too hard to pinpoint.
Especially.
With this bone-piercing cold, only one ghost story crossed Park Yeon-jeong's mind.
=======
/Ghost Story Log
[Match Girl]
:Identification Code Cd-D-111
It's cold.
So cold.
So, so cold.
So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so… cold.
But don't worry.
My matches are here to warmly melt away the cold you feel. And my matches even grant wishes!
Anything is fine!
Anything.
Shout your honest desire loudly at my matchstick! (It's just you and me here.)
Then anything will come true.
Physical suppression possible.
No mental damage.
Exploration limit: 1 person. (Intelligent beings only.)
*Additional note.
One employee who made all three wishes in this ghost story reportedly returned to the Agency safely.
=======
The D-rank ghost story called Match Girl.
As everyone knows, its motif is taken from the fairy tale 'The Little Match Girl'.
A fairy tale containing the heartrending story of a frail girl who sold matches day by day in the bitter cold.
So, if you ask if this ghost story is also about such a frail little girl.
Half right.
Half wrong.
For one, the entity appearing in this ghost story also takes its motif from the Little Match Girl fairy tale, so it appears as a girl.
The difference here.
Unlike the frail girl in the original tale.
This Match Girl is insanely obsessed with the act of selling matches, fitting its ghost story name.
And while the original Little Match Girl was about her making her own wishes.
This one's difference is that the Match Girl asks for our wishes.
Like the genie from that certain blue lamp, it makes you wish for three things, and once the target has made all wishes safely.
The target can escape this place.
Of course.
Only if they safely make it to the final wish.
Tototo.
Park Yeon-jeong slowly walked the chilling streets, wearing the cute Bear Doll costume.
This place probably boasts the largest area among all the ghost story spaces he'd seen so far.
But despite the vast size, it was boring with nothing particularly noteworthy.
Park Yeon-jeong knew well that until the match-pushing girl appeared, he couldn't progress anything on his own.
Using this brief downtime.
He tried to pull out his newly bought 'Final Trigger' to test it.
Before entering here.
He hadn't forgotten to put the Final Trigger inside his Employee ID.
Squeeze.
Poofy.
…?
Instead of the Employee ID he should have felt, only a fluffy sensation reached his fingertips.
…Oh, right.
The Employee ID currently buried inside the Bear Doll body with him.
He had to take off this Bear Doll suit.
To get it out.
…But if I take it off, it's cold.
As he hesitated briefly, recalling the bone-chilling cold he'd felt all over.
Crackle!
A sound of something burning reached his ears.
Crackle crackle!
He scanned the surroundings at the mysterious sound again.
The sound of a small flame popping.
Crackle!
“…You've arrived.”
Our match-pushing girl.
Fizzle!
Along with a powerful heat he wouldn't have felt in this extreme cold normally.
Crackle!
The sound of firewood burning.
Fizzle.
And a girl's voice came.
【Hey, wanna buy some matches?】
The living firewood girl's match-pushing sales pitch began.