Chapter 56
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Reunion
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Reunion
[One-man Hide-and-seek]
【What You'll Need】
A doll with the stuffing removed (It must have arms and legs!)
Rice (enough to fill the doll)
Thread (red)
An awl (the sharper, the better)
1 cup of saltwater (alcohol is also acceptable)
A hiding place (somewhere you can safely escape to)
Your own fingernails, hair, blood, or flesh
【Procedure】
1. Before beginning One-man Hide-and-seek, prepare all the necessary items.
The ‘doll with the stuffing removed’ serves as a body for the ghost to possess.
Your fingernails or hair act as a sacrifice to summon the ghost into the physical world.
Blood or flesh can be used as a substitute, but it is not recommended. They act as powerful amplifiers.
A ghost that cannot be handled by conventional exorcism methods will latch onto you, so you must never use them if you wish to live.
2. Remove the stuffing from the doll and fill it completely with rice. Then, add your fingernails (or hair). Once it is full, sew the doll shut with the thread.
Finally, give the doll a name, and the preparations are complete.
3. Turn off all the lights in the house and turn on the TV. However, you must tune it to a channel that shows only static, not a picture.
4. Place the prepared doll in a basin in the bathroom, and stab the doll near its heart with the prepared needle.
5. After stabbing the doll’s heart, count to ten in your head, then call the doll’s name.
6. This next part is important.
From this point on, no matter what changes occur with the doll, pay it no mind and hide in your hiding place.
You must take the saltwater with you at this time.
If you forget the saltwater and fail to bring it, kill yourself immediately.
You must not look back while moving, and you must head to your hiding place quickly.
The hiding place should ideally be completely sealed off from the outside, with several layers of doors.
Things like windows leading to a veranda must also be securely locked to prevent the doll from entering.
7. Observe any strange phenomena that occur while you are hiding.
However, you must not fall asleep or lose consciousness.
8. If you wish to end the game, leave your hiding place and find the doll.
Once you find the doll, take a mouthful of saltwater and spit it on the doll.
Then, shout ‘I won!’ three times.
This is to make the doll aware that the One-man Hide-and-seek is over.
As long as you follow the instructions above carefully, the One-man Hide-and-seek will conclude successfully.
Note) The doll used should be burned if possible, as resentment may linger within it.
**
“...What is this?”
I blinked, dumbfounded.
The title was bizarre enough, and the text was so long it took ages just to read through it.
One-man Hide-and-seek?
Glancing over it, it seemed to be about playing tag with a doll.
Speaking of dolls.
The cat doll that was probably searching for me in the hallway came to mind. That thing was roaming freely all over this house.
And that wasn't all.
It was even trying to kill me.
Somehow…
The current situation was strangely similar to the ‘One-man Hide-and-seek’ described on the computer.
“No, it can’t be…”
I tried to shake my head, but the circumstances fit perfectly, even if I wanted to deny it.
Logically, a doll couldn't move on its own. It wasn't some kind of robot.
The possibility of the cat doll being a robot, or actually being a real cat, was zero, even if I died and came back to life.
Therefore, this incident had to be a paranormal phenomenon. The true nature of the current situation was none other than ‘One-man Hide-and-seek.’
However, there was something suspicious.
Why was One-man Hide-and-seek being performed in Ju-hee’s house?
Did Ju-hee do it?
I fell into deep thought. No matter how I looked at it, Ju-hee wasn't the type to choose to do something like this.
Maybe her best friend, Do-yeon, but not her.
The Ju-hee I knew was a staunch realist who had lived her entire life by the book.
Knowing her personality, if I had told her about One-man Hide-and-seek, she would have dismissed it as unrealistic nonsense without a second glance.
I couldn't believe that she would attempt such a bizarre and nonsensical ritual, even out of curiosity.
But Ju-hee’s house was already overrun by the doll.
That made it all the more puzzling. Why did Ju-hee perform One-man Hide-and-seek?
Or was there someone else I didn't know about?
Whatever the case, I needed to find out the detailed circumstances of this incident.
But in Ju-hee’s current state, I couldn't even have a proper conversation with her.
To bring her back to normal, I needed the tranquilizer somewhere in this house.
However, moving around the house secretly while avoiding the eyes of a crazed doll was impossible, even for me.
Even if time rewound to the save point every time I died, there was no telling how many times that death would be repeated.
A death count, like in a game.
The number of times I’d died so far was well over ten.
Dying and coming back to life didn't mean the death was completely over.
The pain of death, the emotions of death, the experience of death remained vividly in my mind.
Even now.
So I didn't want to die. I didn't want to add a new experience of death. I didn't want to feel the pain of death again.
“...This sucks, seriously.”
I let out a heavy sigh.
The path forward felt bleak.
How many more times would I have to die?
It might not just be double digits; it could easily surpass triple digits.
A direct approach was clearly impossible.
There was no search more inefficient than wandering around the house while trying to avoid the doll's gaze.
After a moment's thought, a paradigm shift led me to a new idea.
“...What if I fight back instead of running?”
Suddenly, a thought flashed in my mind.
I immediately went back to the computer and pulled up the text I had just read.
I focused on the section titled ‘How to End One-man Hide-and-seek.’
The content could be summarized as follows:
[Splash saltwater on the doll and shout ‘I won’ three times to end the game of hide-and-seek.]
It was a rather absurd solution, but given that the situation itself was surreal, I just went with it.
Anyway, according to this method, I could successfully defeat the doll. There was no reason to run and hide from it.
“Saltwater, huh…”
As I found a way to defeat the doll, a desire for revenge burned within me.
I immediately began to search for a way to get saltwater.
I could get water from the bathroom, so that wasn't an issue. The problem was the salt.
In a typical house, there was only one place where salt would likely be found.
Was there salt in the kitchen?
I dredged up a faint memory. I seemed to recall seeing a cabinet full of all sorts of food ingredients when I was searching the cupboards earlier.
The salt was probably mixed in there. That meant I had to go back to the kitchen to find it.
The doll wasn't waiting right outside the door, was it?
A needless anxiety crept up. Before heading out to find the saltwater, I opened the door a crack.
I perked up my ears and checked the hallway. Thankfully, it was silent, without a single sign of movement.
Should I go now?
I quickly slipped out of the room before the doll could spot me. Then I ran, fast. On guard for its appearance, I made a beeline for the kitchen.
“Hah, hah…”
As soon as I reached the kitchen, I tried to calm my racing heart.
Luckily, I hadn't run into the doll. We must have missed each other on the way.
But I couldn't celebrate just yet. Above all, I had a mountain of things to do.
Remembering why I came here, I dashed to the cupboards.
“Salt… salt…”
I rummaged through the cupboards, opening each one to find the salt.
[The inside is empty.]
[The inside is empty.]
[It is filled with miscellaneous items. Nothing useful can be seen.]
[Dishes are neatly arranged.]
I continued opening and closing them for a while. Then, I saw something shiny through the crack of a closed cupboard door.
“Found it.”
Upon opening the cupboard, I discovered the white powder that, with one taste, would make the doll drop dead.
[You have acquired Salt.]
All that was left was a cup of water.
The kitchen had a sink, so getting water was no problem.
But for some reason, I couldn't find a cup to put the water in. This meant I couldn't make the cup of saltwater mentioned in the guide.
I was tripped up by an unexpected obstacle.
It wasn't like I could just put water in a plate and stick my face in it as a temporary solution.
I scanned the area for any place that might have a cup.
Maybe there’s a rinsing cup in the bathroom…
I was a bit hesitant, but I decided to check the bathroom, grasping at straws.
I moved carefully down the hallway so the doll wouldn't find me. Most of the doors I had checked while running away earlier were locked.
This time, I moved to a hallway I hadn't been down yet. Ready to bolt the moment the doll appeared, I headed down the left corridor.
*Thump, thump.*
Even as I walked on my tiptoes to muffle my footsteps, a faint sound still escaped.
I swallowed the scream that threatened to erupt from my throat and walked on in silence.
As I walked cautiously for a while, I found a door that was halfway open.
…What’s this?
It was radiating a suspicious aura. I carefully peeked inside.
It was the bathroom. I scanned the interior with utmost caution.
A large basin sat on the floor. And inside it, something was floating.
…It was the cat doll.
Then, a shocking scene unfolded.
The doll, submerged in the basin, raised its right hand with all its might. And it plunged a kitchen knife directly into its own torso.
The blade slid deep into the fluffy fur. I couldn't believe my eyes.
Suddenly, I recalled the procedure for ‘One-man Hide-and-seek’ that I had read in the computer room.
[4. Place the prepared doll in a basin in the bathroom, and stab the doll near its heart with the prepared needle.
5. After stabbing the doll’s heart, count to ten in your head, then call the doll’s name.]
Was it just my imagination that the current situation lined up so neatly with the procedure?
Ten seconds passed after the doll stabbed itself in the torso.
It began to creak and twitch where it stood, letting out a series of bizarre sounds.
[Baelrun-dallarak-ttanggwael-luildung-rem-ttyu-nium]
According to the procedure for One-man Hide-and-seek, what the doll was trying to say was none other than its own name.
Soon, the doll stood stock-still. Then it opened its mouth and spoke in a clear voice.
[The School’s Devil]
…What did you say?
It was a familiar echo that sent a wave of irritation through me just by hearing it. I never dreamed I would hear that word here.
Devil.
The doll had definitely said ‘Devil.’
That couldn't be right.
I was sure that bastard was dead…?
Every hair on my body stood on end as I watched the bathroom. An ominous energy began to radiate from the surroundings and converge on the doll.
The ghost summoned by the One-man Hide-and-seek was probably trying to enter the doll's body.
But it was impossible.
Whatever was originally inside the doll began to chew up that ominous energy.
*Nom. Chomp. Crunch. Chomp.*
The doll devoured the energy ravenously, like someone who had starved for days. At the same time, the doll’s body slowly began to swell.
…It had absorbed the ghost’s soul.
After finishing its feast in an instant, the doll pulled the kitchen knife from its chest.
Now slightly larger, it creaked as it stood up. In that moment, through the half-open bathroom door, my eyes met the doll’s.
Those eyes.
I had definitely seen them before.
…At the school, in the dead of night.
“No way.”
Goosebumps erupted all over my body.
I tried to back away slowly, but my legs wouldn't move.
“Why are you here…”
I muttered in a small voice. At that, the doll gave a slight smile. And in a sweet, alluring voice, it replied.
[You caught me?]