Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Why This Mansion Ghost Story of All Things?
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07.
Among the countless mansion ghost stories scattered everywhere....
Why this one of all things!
=======
[Discovery Record 1]
At the time of first observation.
A report came in about twenty civilians vanishing as a group.
We launched an investigation.
The ghost story in question.
Received an unprecedented direct assignment of "Rank A" after evaluation.
=======
A Rank A ghost story, different from the others right from the start.
[I Hate the Dark!] is a ghost story with that notoriously tricky mental damage as its sole gimmick, plus resistance to physical damage, making suppression by force impossible.
Normally, even if you geared up with every "Mental Damage Resistance" item provided by the Association before entering.
It's one of the toughest spots.
And now here I am, standing atop that ghost story in nothing but my bare skin.
"No...."
They said the first job would be simple!
How much more do they need to screw with me before they'll feel better, damn it!
I hurled curses at the Announcement Broadcast in my mind.
But nothing changed.
By the time I came back to my senses and looked straight ahead again, I noticed the mansion's front gate was slightly ajar.
"......"
Ah, I hate this.
I really, really don't want to go in.
Ghost stories are only fun.
When you're just reading someone else's story.
Too late to back out now.
The whisper that just drifted into my ear.
It's the signal that the ghost story has begun.
=======
The moment I set foot in the mansion, as if to block any attempt to turn back, an inexplicable "eerie shadow" clung to my back like it was trying to stop me. A creepy sensation washed over me.
And instinctively, I realized.
Under no circumstances.
Should I turn around....
=======
What if someone, under that pressure, strongly expresses the will to turn back anyway?
=======
[Exploration Record 5th Attempt]
Employee Lee Hyun-seok couldn't overcome his unease and forcibly twisted his body to try escaping the mansion.
At that instant, his lower body refusing to turn and his upper body insisting clashed, each claiming their right.
Zzzt!
[Censored].
On the floor rolled the two halves of Employee Lee Hyun-seok's body.
=======
No need to experience that situation with my own body.
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly.
Park Yeon-jeong, face grim, slowly advanced toward the mansion one step at a time.
For a mansion in a remote valley, its exterior looked surprisingly well-maintained.
Even though I'd entered a ghost story, I couldn't help feeling awkward about trespassing into someone else's home.
"Knocking should be fine, right?"
Knock knock knock.
A utterly meaningless act.
Just something to make myself feel better. Park Yeon-jeong grabbed the doorknob with trembling hands and opened the front door.
The first thing that caught his eye inside was.
"......Brighter than I thought."
Lights so bright they hurt the eyes.
A strange mix of cozy warmth and inexplicable sense of security hit at once.
And again, a small whisper tickling his ear.
『The inside is cleaner than I expected?』
Ah, damn it.
The absolute worst line you never say in a horror story like this.
Crackle!
Ah....
In an instant, every light illuminating the mansion went out. The gentle warmth faded away just as quickly.
In its place, a chilling cold pierced through his body.
In pitch darkness where he couldn't see an inch ahead.
Fwoosh.
Dozens of candles slowly lit up, illuminating the mansion's interior.
...It's starting.
The prelude to the main story of this ghost story had finally begun.
=======
[Exploration Record 46th Attempt]
Deputy Manager Jeong Sang-un, the moment he entered the mansion, immediately began swiftly extinguishing all the candles noted in the manual.
=======
Right, the core point for this [I Hate the Dark!] ghost story is.
Speed and memory.
In simple terms, just extinguish all the candles lit by our ghost story lady who hates the dark.
It looks really straightforward.
And in reality, the candles to put out are just ordinary ones we know, so it seems like a ghost story with nothing special—just snuff them out.
So how many candles need extinguishing?
A total of 112.
Still, looking on the bright side.
I remember the positions of every single candle in this mansion.
I don't know if the Announcement Broadcast intended it, but thanks to the cheat-level glasses "Top Student Glasses" that let me recall everything I've seen even once, finding the candles' locations isn't a big issue.
The biggest problem here is.
Escaping from the ones who interfere with me extinguishing the candles.
=======
Deputy Manager Jeong Sang-un, having smoothly extinguished 21 candles, swallowed dryly upon hearing a large tremor from behind him, realizing he'd been spotted by them.
The "little friends" began to move.
=======
Nicknamed "little friends."
Along with the white gloves in the Announcement Broadcast's ghost story, another ghost story observed together in [I Hate the Dark!].
The candles act as a trigger to summon the "little friends."
As you extinguish candles in the mansion, our cute bear dolls start chasing the one putting them out.
Precisely, the moment you snuff a candle, you fall under the mansion's ongoing "mental domination," and that mental domination manifests hallucinations as reality.
As a result, what we knew as small and cute bear dolls swell to twice the size of real wild bears.
Some might say.
No matter how big the bear doll gets, it's just a lump of stuffing, right?
...Have you heard that meme?
-Bears tear people apart.
This bear doll tears people apart too.
It's just dressed up as a cute bear doll on the outside.
The bear dolls here tear people like paper!
I've been accounting for all this, yet minutes in, I haven't extinguished a single candle.
I'm just basking in the warm glow of the candles.
...So warm.
"I just want to stay like this."
I hate scary things.
I especially hate dying.
But my stamina won't let me dodge around dolls charging to rip me to shreds.
......This is checkmate.
I'm done for.
As I pondered if just starving to death here might be the wisest choice.
Rustle.
...Wind?
Dust on the mansion floor, stirred by a breeze from somewhere, perfectly settled into Park Yeon-jeong's nostrils.
It tickles.
A sneeze is about to...
No!
But there was no stopping the sudden physiological reaction.
Achoo!!
I let it out refreshingly.
And when my gaze returned to the candle in front of me.
The small warm glow was gone, leaving only a thin wisp of white smoke wavering before my eyes.
"......Ah."
Remaining candles: 111.
*****
How many hours had passed since entering the ghost story?
I'd extinguished a total of 11 candles so far.
Remaining candles: 101.
The result of searching as fast as I could and giving it my all.
......I know.
At this pace, there's no way I'll extinguish every candle in this mansion.
I'm a guy who can't run 100m in under 20 seconds.
With my running ability at the absolute bottom of the weakest tier.
The exploration records said even trained deputy managers barely managed to shake off the dolls.
So the day I encounter a doll, that's instant death for me.
Thud!
!!
Speak of the devil.
A faint vibration from the ground beyond the dim corridor.
It's the little friends.
If they catch me, death at minimum.
"Damn it!"
Dash!
I ran blindly.
Pushing my maximum speed just to survive.
No time to extinguish the candles lining the corridor—I just fled, eyes fixed ahead. Kept fleeing forward.
Thud!
Halt!
But this time, the footsteps came from straight ahead.
Vibrations closing in from both ends of the straight corridor.
Thump.
I'm dead.
Thump.
My heart pounded so wildly first it felt like it'd burst, cutting off my breath.
Thump thump thump.
Thud!
My legs gave out, and my hips—now heavier than usual—hit the floor... before I knew it, I'd collapsed limply.
It was hopeless from the start.
An impossible.
Thud!
Terror sealed my eyes shut.
I felt anew, with my whole body, how terrifying fear that squeezes your throat is.
Thud!!
The vibrations were close.
Probably... the distance to the bear doll was less than 30cm.
Sweat drenching my palms.
Trembling legs.
Soon, with fear split in two like "ssangssangba."
......Plop.
......Plop!
Plop! Plop! Plop!
..........What?
Had fear peaked and dulled my senses?
Plop! Plop!
A faint sensation like something small touching my leg. I didn't want to open my eyes out of fear.
But unconsciously, to check that mysterious touch, I opened them.
At the end of my gaze was a cluster of bear dolls clinging to my pant leg with all their might.
I'd spotted a group of bear dolls.
And tiny ones at that.
A cluster of bear dolls in a keychain-sized, adorably compact form, far smaller than Park Yeon-jeong had imagined.
Splat.
"Uh...."
One bear doll, desperately gripping and tugging at my pant leg.
Finally let go.
Splat!
And tumbled straight to the floor.
The other dolls who witnessed it hurriedly gathered around the fallen bear doll.
Helping it stand in a heartwarming scene straight out of a picture book.
"...These are the bear dolls that tear people apart?"
The words slipped out loud without thinking.
But.
No matter how I looked at it.
They were just cute bear doll keychains.
Maybe because I'd extinguished so few candles yet?
"Or...."
I figured there were only two possible variables in this situation.
I didn't really want to test it.
But this phenomenon felt vastly different from the "little friends" I knew from the ghost story.
So right now.
I had to move.
I immediately started extinguishing the candles I'd passed by earlier while fleeing from the bear dolls, one by one.
Fsssh.
That brought the total extinguished candles to 25.
The exploration records said past 20, massive bear dolls inevitably appeared before the employees.
Gulp.
"Please."
I turned to check the bear dolls chasing me.
Thud!
A large vibration echoed from the thick darkness, as expected.
I tensed up a bit.
But the figures that emerged piercing the thick darkness and vibrations were.
Totter totter totter totter.
Little friends struggling to chase me in the same keychain size as before.
"......As I thought."
It's these glasses.
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/Item List
Top Student Glasses.
(Perfect for last-minute cram buddies.)
......Intense obsession with academics. Never swayed by other temptations.
=======
Even the [Ghost Story Archive] had scarce records of its use, so I didn't know how much mental damage it blocked.
But with these glasses....
I might be able to do it.
No, I can do it!
Thank you, Announcement Broadcast sir... no, Announcement Broadcast boss! I'll give it my all!
Before he knew it, Park Yeon-jeong had pledged loyalty to the ghost story.
Snap.
Experiencing the power of the Top Student Glasses in real time, Park Yeon-jeong's gaze fell on the ones barely keeping up with their stubby legs.
Crack.
He stretched and his eyes sharpened.
"Alright then... time to put out those candles?"
Operative Park Yeon-jeong.
Provisional firefighter position granted.
Suppression of embers... begin!
*****
Totter totter totter!
....
Totter totter totter!
.....
Totter... splat!
Don't these guys ever get tired?
Or since they're dolls made of simple cloth and stuffing, do they not feel fatigue?
Cute to look at, so that's fine.
Whenever extinguishing candles got boring, the bear dolls chasing me kept things from getting dull.
Of course, I had no idea what mindset they were chasing me with.
No need to know their inner thoughts.
Total candles extinguished so far: 101.
Fsssh.
Now 102.
Just 10 left.
It felt smoother than expected for a Rank A ghost story, easing my mind, but I kept a minimum of tension.
Since it's a Rank A ghost story.
Some twist could happen anytime.
Fsssh.
9 left....
Dash dash dash dash!
!!
Sudden frantic footsteps from behind.
The bear dolls?!
Splat!
No.
The bear dolls were still in my sight. The source of the sound from beyond the darkness was some other unknown entity.
"Damn, what now!"
So close to the end.
...No choice.
I didn't know how the situation was unfolding, but what I needed now was.
Speed.
I might be a bit slow.
Fsssh.
8.
Dash dash dash dash dash!
Big steps, hurried. But from the volume, the distance hadn't closed much.
Slightly slower or faster than me.
Manageable.
Fsssh.
Fsssh.
Fsssh.
Fsssh.
Good candle positions left.
4 remaining.
Dash dash dash dash dash dash dash!
The sound was drawing closer bit by bit.
It wasn't the chaser speeding up.
"......Haa!"
I'd slowed down.
This pathetic stamina of mine.
Fsssh.
"N-Now... just 3 more!"
『.........Will do.......』
A direct hit like a hammer to the head.
The chasing ghost story entity's doing?
But I have the "Top Student Glasses." This level of mental damage is bearable while running.
Fsssh.
2!
Dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash!
『......No.............』
Fsssh.
1!
Just one candle left.
Not far from here.
Second floor study, left corner by the window!
Extinguish that one.
『Noooooo!!!!』
Grab!
!!!
A sudden sensation like my left leg was seized.
Splat!
I lost balance and fell.
"............."
Caught.
Dead.
Definitely felt some force pulling.
"Almost there...."
So unfair.
If I'd been just a bit faster, if I hadn't been so sluggish at the start....
Panting roughly, I slowly lowered my head in the darkness, pupils dilated, to look at my left leg.
What was there.
A bear doll the size of a child.
『No! Don't... put out that fire!!』
The bear doll gripping my leg looked up, eyes meeting mine.
I stared at the bear doll for a while, then said in a trembling voice.
"...I-It’s a kid?"
Not a small bear doll.
A child with cute bear doll ears sprouting from their head.
The moment our eyes met, I thought, "Could this be a kid dragged into the ghost story?"
『Don't put out the fire!』
......Nope.