Deceived by Ghosts
Only wooden pillars occupied the space there.
"Ye-rin, do you see anything?"
"Hm? No?"
Ye-rin seemed to be in the same boat.
"There's nothing there. Why are you messing around, Min-woo oppa?"
"N-no, there was something. I swear there was!"
Mu-hyuk stared blankly at Sung Min-woo.
He definitely looked flustered.
Didn't seem like he was joking.
"Maybe a stealth-type monster?"
"Y-yeah, maybe?"
Mu-hyuk summoned skeletons and spread them out, ordering them to swing wildly at the surroundings. Tree trunks and branches were sliced from all directions, but aside from the skeletons' movements, nothing unusual stirred.
"Was there really something?"
"I swear there was."
"What did it look like?"
"Uh, well..."
Sung Min-woo began his explanation.
"A kid? Yeah, there was a kid. Our eyes met for a second or something..."
"Oh, come on, man."
Mu-hyuk lightly smacked the back of Sung Min-woo's head and pressed forward.
"A kid? You messing with me?"
"I-I'm serious!"
"Whatever. Hurry up and follow."
"Ugh, so frustrating!"
Whether Sung Min-woo followed or not, Mu-hyuk and Ye-rin moved ahead. With no choice, Sung Min-woo trailed after them and soon fell into step beside the pair.
"Haa, this is weird."
He was certain he'd seen kids.
That chilling gaze was still vivid.
How startled he'd been.
That brief moment had been pure terror. Even now, cold sweat trickled down his spine.
It was real.
I saw it, I tell you.
But it was strange.
Kids in a dungeon?
That's why he couldn't insist too hard.
Damn, whatever.
He had no choice but to chalk it up to an illusion.
The more he thought about it, the creepier it got—he wanted to forget it.
"Hoo."
He shook off the tangled thoughts.
Yeah, it'll be fine somehow.
As he walked on with that mindset, the unnatural silence hit him. He glanced at Mu-hyuk and Ye-rin. They were staring straight ahead, steps steady.
"Hey, Mu-hyuk."
"Yeah."
"We're selling this dungeon once we clear it, right?"
"Gotta."
"For how much?"
"Dunno."
Short answers.
Annoyed?
Or just focused.
"Tch, let's talk somewhere comfy."
"Sure."
Just then, the dim forest path ended at a fork. Straight ahead, the path cut off. Left led to a vast plain.
The moment he turned that way—
"Where you going?"
"Huh? What?"
"That's a cliff."
"What're you talking about?"
Ye-rin nodded in agreement.
"It's a cliff, oppa."
"Huh?"
Flustered, Sung Min-woo turned back.
Left was still a plain to him, right a cliff. But Mu-hyuk and Ye-rin insisted left was the cliff, right the plain. Unbelievable, he started toward the left plain—
"You'll fall!"
"..."
He had to stop.
"Why do you keep trying to head for the cliff?"
"Uh, well. It looks like a plain to me."
"What does that even mean?"
"Uh, the right looks like the cliff to me?"
"For real?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm."
Mu-hyuk pondered briefly before speaking cautiously.
"Hey."
"Yeah."
"You said you saw something weird earlier."
"Oh, right."
"What if something cast an illusion?"
Sung Min-woo had locked eyes with that kid.
Those deep, dark pupils.
If that kid was a monster. If it had used a skill.
It was possible.
"Maybe."
"Pretty sure, actually."
"Hmm."
"You'd have died if we'd been a bit later."
"Hoo, yeah."
"Once we leave this forest path, it might wear off. Let's head to the plain."
"Okay!"
Sung Min-woo took a step.
Then stopped at the cliff's edge.
A sudden doubt.
Is this really the way to the plain?
Endless darkness waiting below?
What if it's not a plain?
What if this cliff I see is real?
Gulp.
One misstep meant death. And that equaled failing to clear the ancient dungeon. Only one shot at it.
Worried, confused, he turned. Mu-hyuk and Ye-rin entered his view.
Why...?
Why aren't those two moving ahead?
*
"A kid? Yeah, kids. Our eyes met for a second..."
Mu-hyuk tilted his head at Sung Min-woo's words.
A kid?
Something felt off, but he brushed it aside and lightly smacked Sung Min-woo's head.
"A kid? You messing with me?"
"I-I'm serious!"
"Whatever. Hurry up."
"Ugh, so frustrating!"
Regardless, Mu-hyuk and Ye-rin pressed on. But no footsteps trailed from behind. He glanced back—Sung Min-woo, who should have been there, was gone.
Vanished?
"O-oppa? Min-woo oppa's..."
"Yeah, I see it too."
In that instant, a memory fragment flashed through Mu-hyuk's mind.
Ancient dungeon.
Forest.
Kid.
Disappearance.
The pieces shifted, forming a complete puzzle.
Two videos related to ancient dungeons he'd watched sharpened in his mind. One matched this start perfectly.
Delusion?
Then the video's contents resurfaced.
"Ah...!"
This was the Ghost Forest. If you heard a sound while walking the woods, never turn. Even if you did, never meet a child's eyes.
Met them?
You'd be deluded and vanish.
Just like Sung Min-woo now.
"Ye-rin."
"Yeah?"
"We gotta hurry."
"Huh? Why suddenly..."
Mu-hyuk couldn't explain what he knew.
"Monster probably grabbed him."
"Ah...!"
"Let's go."
"Y-yeah!"
The way to clear the Ghost Forest was crystal clear now.
"If you hear weird sounds, never look sideways."
"Got it."
"Eyes front only."
"Yeah."
"But pick up the pace."
Mu-hyuk and Ye-rin practically ran.
"O-oppa?"
"Yeah?"
"Hearing something weird?"
"Sound?"
"Yeah, like kids' voices maybe."
Mu-hyuk grabbed Ye-rin's hand.
"Just look ahead."
"O-okay."
How far had they gone?
They emerged.
The fork appeared.
Left: plain.
Right: cliff.
"Left."
"Yeah!"
The moment Mu-hyuk and Ye-rin stepped onto the plain, vanished Sung Min-woo reappeared.
"Oh? Min-woo oppa."
"Hoo, good."
He hadn't left the fork yet.
Not too late.
Relief hit—then Sung Min-woo headed for the cliff. He stopped at the edge, glanced back briefly, then stared blankly ahead, entranced.
Next, he lifted one foot, shifting his weight forward.
Leave him like that, and one more step would send him tumbling off balance.
Damn—Wind Step!
He dashed in with the skill, closing the gap.
At the same time.
Sung Min-woo was looking back at the two behind him.
"This cliff to me is actually the plain, right?"
"Yeah."
"But no matter how I look, it's a cliff. So you lead the..."
Then a gloomy sound echoed from somewhere, and the eyes he'd thought were Mu-hyuk's glowed deep blue.
"Gotta go."
Sung Min-woo's pupils flickered.
Then dulled.
"Y-yeah, gotta go."
Doubt vanished.
Doubt?
Was there such a thing?
Step.
Foot left the ground.
Empty air.
Sole dropped into void.
Eh...?
No footing—his body wobbled.
The instant balance failed—
——!
Someone grabbed his hand from behind.
"Hoo, close one."
"Huh?"
"You were possessed by a ghost."
"What're you saying?"
"Possessed, dude. You were listening to ghost bullshit and about to fall."
"But you said this was the plain?"
"Haa, just follow."
Mu-hyuk dragged Sung Min-woo onto the plain.
"This is the plain, idiot."
"Uh, uh...!"
Maybe leaving the plain broke it. The ghost's delusion lifted. Mind cleared, reason returned. Confusion gone.
"Holy shit!"
He realized he'd truly been tricked by a ghost.
"I-I was really possessed?"
"Yeah."
"Wait. Not sure yet."
"What?"
"What's the name of that girl you crushed on in college?"
"Ah, damn. In front of Ye-rin..."
"Name."
Mu-hyuk whispered in Sung Min-woo's ear.
"Uh, right. You're the real deal!"
"Yeah, I am. Asshole."
"Whoa, damn. Not messing around from the start."
Mu-hyuk shook his head.
Ugh, really.
Asking him to say his crush's name in front of Ye-rin.
He glanced at her—she wore a subtle smile. But he couldn't chew out Sung Min-woo more after the ghost possession.
"Ugh, yeah, no joke."
"Insane."
"Ancient dungeon."
Finally, Ye-rin approached.
"Oppa, you okay?"
"Y-yeah. Fine. No big deal..."
Probably not fine.
But his mentality wouldn't crack from this.
"Hoo, new experience, I guess."
"Must've been novel."
"Ugh, don't wanna go through it again. Chatting with it, and it was a ghost possession? Horrifying. But... weird experience."
"What?"
"Cliff and plain positions didn't swap. What I saw was real, but those ghost bastards' words from behind made me think real was fake. I saw it clear as day, yet believed their lie. Sure, I mistook the ghost for you so no suspicion... but still weird. For real."
Sung Min-woo had experienced the delusion.
Mu-hyuk only had video memories, couldn't imagine how bizarre.
But Sung Min-woo's expression told him it was uniquely strange.
"You good?"
"Y-yeah. Fine now."
"Let's rest."
"Yeah."
They sat. The vast plain came into clear view.
"Kinda worrying now."
"What?"
"How brutal will the rest be?"
True.
Ancient dungeon.
After Ghost Forest delusion, suspect everything now.
"Gotta stay sharp."
The three sat, thoroughly discussing the forest. Lingering awkwardness vanished.
"Hoo, really okay now."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, let's go."
He nodded and summoned the warhorses.
"Skeleton Warhorse Summon."
Mu-hyuk, Sung Min-woo, Ye-rin.
The three raced across the deceptively peaceful plain on warhorses.