Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Destination is Hell, Hell
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29.
I was already experiencing the overwhelming terror of Kim Ha-eun approaching, her eyes gleaming with a madness that seemed half-broken.
“…….”
Thud thud thud thud!
Kim Ha-eun started charging straight at me.
Eek!
“I, I’m sorry! Spare my life at least!”
Stab!
Suddenly, Kim Ha-eun threw herself into my arms.
My heart pounded like it was about to burst.
The intense pressure against my chest made me think this was it—I was done for.
But.
……Huh?
It……didn’t hurt.
Far from hurting, it was just a little stuffy.
Compared to throwing herself into my arms, Kim Ha-eun wasn’t attacking at all. Not even the slightest movement.
What?
What was this?
……Um, excuse me?
Some new torture method or something?
I grabbed Kim Ha-eun’s slumped shoulders and checked her face.
……This woman.
She had passed out.
She must have been running on fumes just climbing onto the bus and walking here.
But for now.
“……I survived.”
I had made it.
The heart-pounding that felt like it would explode gradually calmed.
Having narrowly saved my neck, I let out a sigh of relief.
Once we reached the next stop, I planned to lay Kim Ha-eun on a nearby bench and vanish back home.
Just dump a woman on the street?
-What an irresponsible guy!
-Your personality’s trash!
-You’re the worst.
……Think whatever you want.
Anyone saying that had never experienced Kim Ha-eun firsthand—they were just hypocrites spouting off.
In my eyes, this woman Kim Ha-eun wasn’t.
A woman.
She was nothing more than a ticking time bomb that could go off any second.
And if some creep approached our unconscious time bomb with impure intentions.
That guy would be tomorrow’s front-page news.
Congratulations.
You could be a protagonist too!
Naturally, not alive to enjoy the attention.
Besides, the one who touches an unconscious woman deserves it anyway.
All self-inflicted.
Park Yeon-jeong immediately looked for the exit bell to get off at another stop.
He wanted to separate from this headache of a woman as soon as possible.
But.
……What?
It was gone.
The exit bell that should obviously be on the bus wasn’t in sight.
Had the bus policy changed without me knowing?
And the windows outside had been completely fogged up for a while now. Like driving through fog, I couldn’t see outside properly.
As inexplicable doubts piled up.
【This stop is ‘Greed.’】
【Passengers, please check your manifests in advance. Do not mistake your stop.】
……Huh?
Manifest?
Were bus companies doing weird collabs these days as a trend?
And the next stop name just now was weird.
‘Greed’?
Staring blankly at the situation in bewilderment.
Screeech.
The bus stopped.
The back door opened, and I, who had planned to get off here.
Didn’t.
Something just felt off.
Getting off here felt like I’d run into something unimaginable.
I hurriedly hung my employee ID from my pants pocket around my neck.
And put on the Top Student Glasses right away.
Honestly, I hoped it was just paranoia.
I hoped this chilling sensation was just my imagination running wild……
The bus driver, seeing no one get off.
Hiss.
The back door closed.
I desperately hoped this was just a normal bus with no issues.
But.
The bus didn’t start moving again right away.
My gaze shifted to the front door opening belatedly.
……Someone getting on from the front?
I held my breath and kept watching, soon spotting a shadow stretching into the bus.
Splat.
!!
A man struggling up the bus stairs.
“Aigoo, sorry about this. I’m a bit slow on my feet, you see. Forgive me, everyone!”
With a hearty laugh, the man boarding late came into view.
At his words about taking so long to run because he was slow, my gaze blankly dropped to below his body.
Weird pants?
Something on his pants?
Some pervert without pants!
……All wrong.
That man.
Had no legs.
Where his lower body should be, there was nothing.
Like his lower half had been cleanly sliced off—utterly gruesome.
But the man boarded the bus so casually. And apologized to me.
“Sorry, young man!”
Splat!
With a dragging sound, the man crawled toward Park Yeon-jeong.
“Made you wait long?”
“……No.”
“…………Yeah?”
There was no tremor in my voice.
No change in my expression.
If I hadn’t sensed the danger and put on the Top Student Glasses, I would’ve screamed the moment I saw this man.
I definitely would’ve dry-heaved.
And if I’d shown that reaction to him.
Probably.
My legs would’ve been ripped off by him.
Splat……splat.
Crawling forward slowly, hands on the floor.
Every handprint left a red trail, the bus floor instantly stained with blood.
Hearing my reply, the man casually sat in the very back seat. And shouted loudly.
“I always love the back seat! It’s like everyone’s under my feet!”
“……….”
A situation that would’ve gone viral on the crazy customer forums, and I envied Kim Ha-eun passed out peacefully beside me more than ever right now.
Of all the buses, I had to board this hell bus.
Who could’ve known!
=======
/Ghost Story Log.
[Destination is Hell, Hell.]
ID: Cd-F-4444
【Announcement for passengers. Our bus runs one-way only, not round-trip. Please take note and board accordingly.】
[Preferred Passengers]
- Suicides (self-inflicted or otherwise).
- Accidental deaths (traffic accidents/natural disasters included).
- Lonely deaths.
- Murder victims (no age limit).
【If a passenger does not qualify as a preferred passenger.】
【Please check your manifest and safely disembark at the corresponding stop.】
【We always prioritize passenger safety.】
Physical restraint: Limited.
Mental damage: Very high.
*Additional notes.
A few survivors from this ghost story suffered various symptoms for a while.
The same symptoms only appeared in employees with high mental damage resistance.
=======
Even on the weekend, Park Yeon-jeong’s bad luck struck again, sweat beading around his eyes.
Of all buses, he had to board another damn ghost story one.
Distracted by escaping Kim Ha-eun, he’d failed to check the bus number—his mistake.
I immediately rolled up my right sleeve and checked the number on my wrist.
【7】
Damn it!
Of course, things hit rock bottom right now.
……Then Kim Ha-eun.
I checked the nearly half-dead woman’s wrist too.
【4】
……Fitting for her.
This number matched the “manifest” from the announcement earlier.
If you got off at a stop not matching your manifest.
=======
/Destination is Hell, Hell.
Some employees, ignoring their manifests in panic, got off at random stops.
‘…Huh, was the sky always red?’
Later revealed: that was the final destination, Hell itself.
=======
Hell.
And it’s the Hell we imagine. Exploration records called it “Hell itself.”
The order of stops on this Hell Bus is as follows.
-Greed Stop.
-Wrath Stop.
-Envy Stop.
-Lust Stop.
-Gluttony Stop.
-Sloth Stop.
-Pride Stop.
Number of passengers boarding per stop is random.
From 1 to 7 in that order, themed passengers board, and Pride Stop #7 is my exit.
For Kim Ha-eun, Lust Stop is hers.
The stop we just passed was the first: ‘Greed Stop.’
Passengers from Greed Stop all board with some body part missing.
If you react in surprise.
Or ask a question pinpointing the missing part.
-You’re the one standing upside down!
And with that.
The passenger makes the target match their missing body part.
This Greed Stop had a lower-body-less passenger, but we passed it safely.
“The high life is the best! Hahaha!!”
“…….”
If not for that noisy back-seat laughter nonstop.
【This stop is ‘Wrath.’】
【Passengers disembarking, please check your manifest and exit here.】
Hiss.
Already at the second stop.
Back door closed, front door opened again.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Three passengers boarded at Wrath Stop.
Unlike the Greed man, they were silent.
……No, they had to be.
These three had nothing but emptiness where a human head should be.
Unlike the hollow fakes from the Conductor’s space.
These had intact bodies everywhere except the head area.
The moment these three climbed the stairs, I dropped my gaze to the floor.
Strategy for this stop.
Eyes down.
These passengers mimic a famous random assault case from the news.
Random beatings.
They fit the term perfectly.
=======
Employee Jeong In-ah boarded this Hell Bus heading home after a company dinner.
Despite being drunk, her veteran instincts safely passed Greed Stop.
But the moment her gaze met the eight headless ones from Wrath Stop.
The eight headless rushed her at once.
Jeong In-ah/Beaten to Death.
(Found with all bones shattered.)
=======
Shit’s avoided not because it’s dirty, but because it’s scary.
…Front and back mixed up?
Everyone’s got their own view.
I avoid shit out of fear.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
Relying only on sound, I waited for them to pass by.
Clack.
Clack.
……….
The sounds stopped.
They passed?
But no letting guard down.
As my gaze followed the floor to confirm.
……!!
A single black shoe stopped right at me and Kim Ha-eun.
Why stop in front of us?
Swish.
!!
One even bent down toward us, shoving its faceless head in.
This is scary, teacher!
Rumble.
But with the bus engine starting right then.
……Clack.
The footsteps receded.
S-survived.
Nailed this one too.
But……only past the second stop.
Blood pressure through the roof.
Kim Ha-eun, dead to the world in my arms, ignorant of it all—hated her right now.
Silver lining.
Next is Envy Stop.
Unlike prior ones full of physical threats.
Envy and Lust are different.
Pure mental damage zones.
Free pass for me.
【Next stop is ‘Envy.’】
Envy Stop has various resentful spirits who died on this Hell Bus.
Wandering the nine heavens unjustly.
In other words.
Real ghosts.
=======
Employee Kang Na-rae was already scared of what freak would board next to torment her.
“……Son?”
“……D-Dad?”
Kang Na-rae met her deceased father there.
=======
Samdocheon Bus ver.
Hiss.
The bus stopped at the destination, and this time, only one boarded.
Step.
In snowflake-white burial clothes.
A foreign-looking woman with long golden hair flowing.
Foreigner?
That’s what I thought at first.
Zap!
But the white-shrouded woman locked eyes with me the moment she boarded.
Blue eyes gleaming unlike Kim Ha-eun’s, approaching me.
Gulp.
Even knowing my glasses block mental damage, tension gripped me.
‘This woman in front of me……’
What bullshit would she pull.
Normally, meeting these ghosts brings splitting headaches.
Hallucinations, illusions, delusions, nausea—sometimes as deadly as prior stops.
But as I said.
For mental-immune me, it’s just dealing with whiny pests venting.
Step.
The white-shrouded woman stopped right in front of me before I knew it.
Come on.
Right now, I’ll be your emotional dumpster.
“…….”
“…….”
?
“……….”
“……….”
??
Tilt.
The white-shrouded woman cocked her head. I mirrored her.
No, aren’t you doing anything?
I’d psyched myself up for once.
All I got was lukewarm silence.
“If you’re gonna do something, make it quick.”
“!!”
Envy passengers won’t leave until you hear all their grudges.
This could get annoying.
So I wanted her to spit it out and leave fast.
The ghost glanced at me and the soundly passed-out Kim Ha-eun in my arms.
“No thanks.”
“……Pardon?”
“No, I don’t wanna talk.”
“…….”
???
Flop.
The ghost sat in the seat opposite us.
Propping her chin, staring blankly out the invisible window—our blonde ghost.
With a ridiculous thought, staring at the ghost avoiding my eyes.
I let out a small chuckle from sheer absurdity.
“…No way, are you sulking, ghost?”
“What! No, you jerk!!”
……Bingo.
This ghost just got offended by my words.
Big time.