Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Unlucky Day
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31.
I thought that if I just sent Kim Ha-eun back, no one else would bother me anymore.
Definitely.
That's how it should have been.
“…….”
Rattle, rattle, rattle.
The chair had been shaking nonstop since earlier.
It wasn't the bus's vibration.
Nor was I the one shaking my leg.
That shaking was felt only in the seat where Park Yeon-jeong was sitting.
Rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle.
“…You hate me, don't you.”
“W-What?!”
Otherwise, there was no way she'd harass me so blatantly like this. But the blonde ghost burst into a rage, as if asking what nonsense that was.
“W-What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“You've been shaking your leg nonstop since earlier.”
“T-This is… essential tremor!”
“…….”
……But that's your hands?
I desperately wanted to point that out, but I barely suppressed the urge and focused on what I had to do.
The next stop, 'Gluttony Station,' was just moments away.
I pulled out my revolver, aimed the barrel at my temple, and the blonde ghost, who noticed a beat too late, yelled with a face drained of all color.
“Hey! Are you insane?!”
A perfectly natural reaction.
Before the blonde ghost could stop the man in front of her from making an extreme choice, the trigger was pulled.
Click!
A feeble dry fire echoed as only air escaped the barrel.
And soon after, a single flag popped out from the muzzle.
The blonde ghost muttered in disbelief.
“…A white flag?”
“……….”
…White means.
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/Item List
Final Trigger.
(Check today's fortune!)
.
.
.
*Note: The white bullet is a 'dud.'
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A dud.
As expected, my luck had been good back with the Match Girl.
The bullet color I was hoping for was the one that had made its flashy debut in the previous stage.
Yellow bullet.
The moment it was fired, it swallowed up every target in range with overwhelming destructive power.
If I'd drawn that bullet, no matter how many passengers boarded at the next Gluttony Station, one shot would have ended everything.
But the color of the bullet that entered Park Yeon-jeong's view as he checked the revolver's cylinder was none other than.
White.
Unlike the yellow bullet time, all six chambers were filled to the brim with white bullets.
The white one that Park Yeon-jeong had just drawn was indeed the dud color.
And the description for the white bullet was as follows.
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/Final Trigger
[White Bullet]
: An unlucky day. (A normal bullet that inflicts a slightly larger wound on the hit target.)
*Basically a slightly stronger version of an ordinary bullet. (Obviously capable of taking down a normal human with one headshot.)
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Think of it as a slightly enhanced version of the bullets we know.
But in truth, a version just a bit stronger than a normal bullet was essentially meaningless in a ghost story like this.
If this white bullet had come up in the Match Girl ghost story.
I would have despaired.
Against the Match Girl's overwhelming numbers, I wouldn't have even used up all six bullets before turning into black ash.
But now was different.
'Please, fewer than six… please!'
The passengers boarding this time were ones with a fierce obsession for gluttony.
And what they loved most was.
Human flesh.
Especially young, sturdy men.
The moment they boarded the bus, they'd probably lunge at me, a living human, to tear into my flesh.
I could see it coming without even looking.
But the difference from the Match Girl ghost story was.
Their physical abilities weren't much different from an average adult male.
Their weaknesses weren't much different from a human's.
Meaning, a bullet to the heart or head would take them down.
【The next stop is 'Gluttony.'】
Not much time left.
It would start the moment the bus's front door opened.
Grip.
A faint tremor ran through the hand gripping the revolver.
I'm tense.
My heartbeat pounded in my ears like thunder.
Cold sweat dripped endlessly from my palms.
Was it because of that tension?
Countless worst-case scenarios flashed through my mind.
What if more than six passengers boarded the bus?
What if I couldn't take down all the rushing passengers within six shots?
Then they'd chew me up, tear into me, savor me, and enjoy me to the fullest…
Why is it always like this?
Why do only the worst scenarios come to mind?
For now, all I could do was desperately hope fewer than six would board.
【This stop is 'Gluttony.'】
【Passengers disembarking, please check your manifest and exit at the appropriate stop.】
Hiss.
The bus stopped, and the back door opened first. Then, as the front door followed suit.
“Smell! Delicious human smell!!!”
Three shadows boarding the bus.
They're coming!
They looked human, but like rabid dogs foaming at the mouth, three cannibalistic beasts.
Bracing their arms on the ground, they charged fiercely toward Park Yeon-jeong.
The moment I recognized them as inhuman.
Snap!
The revolver's barrel aimed at them without a hint of hesitation.
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-Bullet loaded: 1 shot.
-Today's personal color: 'White.'
-An unlucky day. (Details omitted)
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Bang!
Thud!
“!!”
The bullet fired from the muzzle shattered the head of the one charging fiercely at Park Yeon-jeong.
'Got it!'
As expected, they could be taken down.
Two left now.
Whoosh!
The moment they saw their comrade collapse from the gunshot,
The beasts instinctively split to both sides and moved.
-------
-Bullet loaded: 1 shot.
(Details omitted)
-------
Bang!
Thump.
The second bullet from Park Yeon-jeong lodged precisely into another one's head.
But the next problem was.
“Fresh meat!!”
The one that had split aside, out of Park Yeon-jeong's firing line, charged straight at me.
-------
-Bullet loaded: 1 shot.
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Bang!
Ting!
The bullet missed the target.
The instant the third shot, which should have hit, whiffed due to an aiming error.
Grip!
“Gaaahhh!”
The price for missing the shot came straight back to Park Yeon-jeong.
It hurts!
It's hot!
Intense pain like my forearm was burning surged through.
The beast's sharp fangs sank deep into my flesh.
“Meat meat meat meat meat meat!!”
A maddening pain I'd never experienced in my life.
I bulged my bloodshot eyes wide.
Click.
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-Bullet loaded: 1 shot.
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With trembling hands, I aimed at the beast's head right in front of me. And without hesitation, I pulled the trigger.
0
Bang!
……Slump.
The strength in the jaws of the cannibal gnawing at Park Yeon-jeong's forearm weakened.
Thump.
Fortunately, the fourth shot pierced its head, and the body that had been mad just moments ago rolled toward me pathetically.
Oof!
As expected, I couldn't avoid injury at this station. And the corpse that had breathed its last on top of me was ridiculously heavy.
Just before Park Yeon-jeong, with one arm injured and unable to muster proper strength, was about to be crushed.
Flash!
Huh?
The weight of the beast, which had felt so heavy moments ago, lightened.
Seizing the chance, I shoved it straight to the floor, and as I gasped for breath, strands of blonde hair fell into view before me.
“You okay?!”
“…Yeah, somehow.”
I answered involuntarily to her desperately worried question.
Drip.
?
But the most bewildering sight was the blonde ghost bursting into tears.
“Thank goodness. Really… thank goodness.”
“……….”
She was probably… crying for Park Yeon-jeong's sake, I thought subconsciously.
Her tearful display for my sake stirred up all sorts of thoughts in me too.
……Why are you crying all of a sudden?
Were we that close?
This was the same person who, until just now, had been cursing me to drop dead, now shedding tears at the fact that I survived.
Tears of disappointment that I didn't die?
From one incident, nothing but strange misunderstandings piled up.
*****
“…….”
Grip!
“Owww, it hurts!”
“Hold still! A grown man who can't even take this.”
Right now, the blonde ghost was staunching the bleeding from my arm injured in the fight with the passenger.
With no suitable cloth around, she tore the hem of her own prison uniform and used it to wrap my wound.
“…Is it okay to use your uniform like that?”
“It's what I'm wearing, so who cares?”
“…….”
Best not to say anything.
“There, done.”
“Thank you.”
I thanked the blonde ghost, and she, receiving my gratitude.
“…Hey.”
Seemed to have more to say.
“Why… are you so fine? Normally, people freak out or faint the moment they see me.”
I didn't answer her question with 'Oh, it's because of these glasses!'
If she suddenly realized and tried to snatch them, it'd be more than trouble—I might not escape this place at all.
“Just got a unique constitution, that's all.”
“…Really?”
I brushed it off with a plausible excuse.
Seeing me answer her question so readily, it was like some weird switch flipped in the blonde ghost.
She started firing off questions rapidly.
“So, who was that girl next to you earlier? Crush? Girlfriend? Or… f-friends with benefits or something?”
“…Nothing like that.”
“But she seemed to like you.”
“…I'd like to ask you the same thing, actually.”
“Huh? What?”
“If someone you like said they wanted to break up, would you kill them?”
“What?! Are you crazy? Why would I kill someone over that? I'm not a psycho!”
“That's what I think too.”
“…No way, that girl?”
“……….”
I said nothing.
So, Kim Ha-eun, I'm not badmouthing you behind your back…
But the blonde ghost, deep in thought after my words, brought a finger to her lips and pondered.
“Then, what you said at first was true?”
“What did I say?”
“That it's not that you can't date. You just 'haven't because you're a total shut-in virgin nerd loser.'”
It was heavily distorted… extremely so.
But if I flared up here, it'd look like admitting it, so I held my tongue.
“…So, you've never even had a girlfriend. Total loser.”
“…….”
“Silence means yes, right?”
The moment Park Yeon-jeong wondered innocently if bullets worked on ghosts too and reached for his revolver.
【The next stop is 'Sloth.'】
The announcement signaling arrival at what would be my final trial, Sloth Station.
Thrust!
?!
And suddenly, the blonde ghost shoved her face right up to mine.
“…Sigh, what to do with this pitiful loser. You might die without ever dating anyone.”
“…….”
Should I shoot for real?
This is totally self-defense, right?
I was one step away from jamming the barrel into the blonde ghost's forehead.
Hiss.
The bus stopped.
And amid tussling with this ghost woman, I spotted the passenger boarding at Sloth Station this time.
An old man boarding with a cane.
This station's main mental affliction was like jealousy or lust.
The type was 'sleepiness,' that relatable feeling for anyone who's used public transport.
-…Ah! I dozed off and missed my stop!
But something that would never happen to Park Yeon-jeong, who had mental affliction immunity glasses.
So.
It's over.
Nothing left to threaten me now.
If I had to pick the worst downside for this station.
The bus wouldn't depart until this old passenger sat down.
And.
Slow……slow.
The old man's steps were ridiculously slow.
So slow he still hadn't even left the front door area.
Thinking we'd inevitably have to wait longer for departure.
Heh.
“Then…….”
A woman's voice in Park Yeon-jeong's right ear.
From her, directing at me an eye smile she'd never shown before, her voice dripping with charm, came words.
Truly unexpected ones.
“I'll be your girlfriend.”
“…………Huh?”
“Don't worry. I won't leave your side until you die… forever. How's it feel? Your first confession… exciting?”
…How does it feel?
Knowing the one confessing she likes you is a bizarre entity like you, not a normal human.
It brings tears to my eyes.
In the worst way possible.