038. Spooky Abandoned House Exploration
038. Spooky Abandoned House Exploration
The unidentified human male had unceremoniously annihilated Seoksang-i while it was sleeping.
...To be honest.
The first emotion I felt was joy.
［Seoksang-i is too mischievous. It gouged out my eye. It's bad.］
But this was no time to be simply pleased.
Because the next turn would surely be mine.
I thought the man was undoubtedly an exorcist who had come to purify our mansion.
Exorcists hated yokai more than anyone.
Even if I begged for my life, there was no way they would spare me.
So I hid in a safe place.
It was a perfect place where no one could find me.
And I was certain that if I just kept hiding like this, I would be safe.
No matter how strong that exorcist was.
He couldn't defeat the ruler of this mansion.
The Red Room at the end of the hallway.
The true ruler of this mansion dwelled there.
A yokai so powerful it couldn't even be compared to Seoksang-i.
If that door were to open, an exorcist would be reduced to minced meat in an instant.
So.
All I had to do was stay hidden without being discovered until then.
***
I was discovered.
As if he possessed some tracking ability, the man found me with absurd ease.
The moment I met the man's eyes, I fainted on the spot.
And I thought I would never wake again.
While I was unconscious.
The exorcist would annihilate me.
That expectation of mine was wrong.
The man did not kill me.
Furthermore, he didn't seem to be an exorcist either.
According to what I heard from Seoksang-i, exorcists annihilate any yokai the moment they spot them.
But the man, after sparing my life.
Even went so far as to gift me one of his eyes.
There was no way an exorcist would bestow such grace upon a yokai.
［He's not an exorcist. He's not a bad human either. He's handsome.］
The feeling of fear disappeared.
The way I looked at that man changed too.
He was the first being who ever treated me this kindly.
［I want to get close to him. He's handsome.］
I grew fond of the human male.
I wanted to play together.
But the man, as soon as his business was finished, left me behind and departed.
［I want to follow him.］
My desire to follow the man burned fiercely.
Because I was utterly sick of this place now.
Especially since I didn't dislike humans.
If I had the chance, I wanted to get close to him.
But...
［...He might dislike it if I followed.］
I couldn't chase after the man.
Because I was a yokai.
Because I was the natural enemy of humans, a devourer of human souls and flesh.
Of course, I had never once eaten a human.
［I don't eat humans. I don't really want to become strong.］
But the fact that I was a yokai didn't change.
［But in the end, I'm still a yokai...］
So it was right not to follow him.
Because the human would surely hate it.
Just as I was sinking into gloom.
A fact I had forgotten flashed rapidly through my mind.
［...This is bad! The human is in danger!］
I hadn't given a warning because I was pretending to be a doll.
［You must not open the red door!］
If he carelessly entered that room.
He would be devoured by the master of this mansion.
［The human is not an exorcist! He's kind! He must not die!］
Or, because he was a male human, he might be turned into a seedbed instead of being eaten.
I did not wish for such a terrible future.
［I must save him!］
Hop.
After jumping down from the table.
I quickly chased after the man.
***
Gomdori, who appeared suddenly with a terrified expression, warned me to never, ever enter the Red Room.
Of course, even if Gomdori hadn't stopped me, I didn't have the slightest intention of entering that room.
Because I had an ominous feeling about it for some reason.
The red door had opened by itself, but I could just close it back up and be done with it. It didn't open again.
Afterwards.
I picked up Gomdori and returned to the room with the vanity.
And I set Gomdori down on the table.
"Gomdori, hold on a sec."
［...］
I checked my smartphone for a moment.
【Reformed Guburi】─Fuck, the stream's finally working properly.
【Hottie Licker】─What happened? Why'd it suddenly cut off?
【Drift AI】─I will state. I report that I took measures to prevent the broadcast from ending.
Once I moved away from the red door, the chat window became active again.
Apparently, the internet connection had been briefly interrupted.
【Yoho】─Nothing happened to you, right, Streamer?
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Whew. I thought you got sucked into a place with no signal.
【Plum Tree】─You okay? Did a yokai show up or something?
【Dick Lover】─Se-hun, are you alright?
【Qkrnfl892】─Seriously scared me.
"Don't worry. Nothing happened."
【Bubblegum Collector】─Wakyapya... So why did the stream cut out?
"Dunno. When I stood in front of the red door at the end of the hall, suddenly your chats stopped showing up."
【Plum Tree】─? It blocked the signal??
【Hottie Licker】─The fuck you mean blocked
【Reformed Guburi】─Whoa, the red room?
【BigGirl】─There was a room like that too?
"Yeah. And I smelled that stench Plum Blossom mentioned coming from there. I got really bad chills, too."
【Yoho】─Gasp...
【Qkrnfl892】─Fuck, it really does seem like a haunted mansion.
【Plum Tree】─??? Seriously? You feeling okay physically?
"I said I'm fine. How many times you gonna ask?"
【Plum Tree】─More importantly, where are you right now? You didn't open that door and go in, did you?
"You think I would? It obviously gave off bad vibes. What kind of idiot opens a door like that and goes in?"
【Plum Tree】─That's a relief. Whatever you do, don't even think about opening that thing, and get out of the mansion before it gets dark. I think I was way too casual when I said it'd be fine. Hearing this, it seems like a dangerous place for an ordinary person.
【Bubblegum Collector】─Wakyapya. So is today's abandoned house exploration over?
【Qkrnfl892】─It's dangerous, so heading back is the right call.
【Min-ji】─I think heading back is the right call too!
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─But honestly, I'm kinda curious about that red room thing.
【Yoho】─If you're so curious, go check it out yourself. ^^
【Reformed Guburi】─Yeah, you fucking bitch. If Gye Bastard-hun gets in danger, are you gonna take responsibility? You wanna die? -_-
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─O-okay...
The viewers were surprisingly worried.
I had expected them to tease me for getting scared and send chats telling me to go back and open it.
"Anyway, I've got stuff to talk about with Gomdori, so I'm muting the stream sound for a bit. Maybe because it feels self-conscious, it won't talk when the camera's on."
【Hottie Licker】─Hmm. Se-hun. You're not actually sick or something, right?
【Bubblegum Collector】─Wakyapya. Have you actually gone insane?
【Reformed Guburi】─I wanna talk to Gomdori too!
I ignored the chat window.
I lowered the stream sound to zero.
And I angled the camera so it was pointing at the room's entrance.
So I could slowly have a conversation with Gomdori.
***
［You have to get rid of the camera. If I'm exposed, it's dangerous. Exorcists will swarm here.］
"Your face, obviously, but your voice isn't going out either, so don't worry and just talk."
［Understood. You're a kind human, so I trust you. You're handsome.］
"..."
Gomdori began explaining the reason it had stopped me.
It wasn't a very coherent speaker, so I only barely understood after listening two or three times.
To roughly summarize.
Beyond the red door, the ruler of the mansion resided.
That ruler was called a Greater Yokai.
The Greater Yokai was strong. Scary. I'd die...
‘Ah, fuck. I felt like I was gonna catch its speech pattern.’
In other words, it was saying not to go in because a dangerous yokai was there.
For reference, the stone statue I broke earlier was apparently a yokai as well.
Something about it being the second strongest?
I didn't quite believe it, but since a fellow yokai was saying it, I decided to trust it.
［Kkwangkkwangnamu can't even be compared to Seoksang-i! It's super, super strong!］
"So that Greater Yokai's name is Kkwangkkwangnamu?"
［That's right!］
"Hmm... Well, more importantly, are you really gonna be okay? If you think about it, you basically interfered with that yokai Kkwangkkwangnamu's meal."
［...Ah!］
Gomdori seemed like a kind but dim-witted yokai.
Well, as long as it was kind, that's all that mattered.
"But Gomdori. You said that red door is fine as long as you don't open it, right?"
［That's right! Kkwangkkwangnamu's body is fixed in place there, so it can't move! But at night, it can stretch its body, so being on the third floor is dangerous!］
"Then we should start heading down soon. Looks like it'll get dark before long."
The moment I said that, I scooped Gomdori up into my arms.
Gomdori looked up at me with a bewildered expression.
"Let's go together. It'll be dangerous if you stay here, too."
［...］
I decided to take Gomdori home.
Because it might get hurt by that yokai called Kkwangkkwangnamu for helping me.
I thought I wouldn't feel easy if Gomdori died because of me.
"Why? You don't want to? You look like you're not too keen on it."
［Ah, n-no! I'll go! No, I want to go! I was an outcast in the mansion anyway! All the other doll yokai ignored me completely!］
"Huh? You were bullied?"
［That's not it!］
Gomdori flared up.
Seemed like I had hit a nerve.
"It was a joke, don't get mad... But there are other doll yokai? I walked around and didn't see a single one."
［They're all asleep! I'm the only one active during the day!］
"Really? No wonder I didn't see hide nor hair of them. Well, anyway, let's head out soon. To my place."
［Understood! Good! Even better because you're male! You're handsome!］
"Are you female?"
［I have no gender! But males are better!］
"...Right."
And so, I ended up with one more member of the household before I knew it.
‘I was just thinking about hiring an employee, so this worked out well. Strangers rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. A yokai was better.’
When I got back.
Cleaning, laundry, cooking, stream managing, etc.
I'd have to put it to work on all sorts of tasks.
［I'm so excited! I'm going to play a whole ton!］
"Play, my ass. You've got to work."
［Work?］
"Never mind. Let's just hurry up and go."
［Understood!］
***
I ran into Ji Moon-hyeok's group on the first floor.
‘Come to think of it, that bastard Ji Moon-hyeok seemed like he was lying...’
Just in case, I asked again.
If he really had been up to the third floor.
But he kept insisting to the very end that he had gone up today, and even last night too.
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like a lie.
Because he asked what the doll I was holding was when he saw Gomdori.
If he had been up to the third floor.
There was no way he wouldn't have seen Gomdori, who was active during the day.
In addition, yokai would be actively roaming around at night, so the fact that he hadn't encountered a single one didn't add up either.
‘Why the hell were these bastards lying? I didn't get it.’
I considered saying something, but decided to let it slide since we weren't going to see each other again anyway.
It wasn't like they were trash sent here knowing there were yokai.
And even if they were, there was no way to prove it.
"Take care, then."
"Yeah. Take care!"
After exchanging those simple pleasantries.
I warned them that there were yokai on the third floor and to be careful, then parted ways.
Though they didn't seem to believe me.
***
Ji Moon-hyeok's group went up to the third floor.
Seeing Gye Se-hun return safely had given them courage.
"See? I told you there's no such thing as ghosts. That guy was wandering around just fine a second ago. I had my doubts because of the shaman, but, as expected."
"But didn't he say to be careful because there were yokai or something?"
"He was just messing with us. If there were things like that, how did he come back perfectly fine? Do ghosts pick and choose who they attack?"
"That's... actually a fair point."
"Moon-hyeok's right..."
"Enough with the pointless chatter! Let's install the ghost dolls on the third floor too. Our subscribers might ask why we only went up to the second floor when it's a three-story building."
Ji Moon-hyeok's group walked around the third floor, beginning to install various devices for their staged content.
About twenty minutes had passed like that.
"Oh? Guys!"
Ji Moon-hyeok discovered the red door at the end of the hallway and shouted out.
"Come here for a sec!"
At his call, the gold-spoon women quickly flocked to where Ji Moon-hyeok was.
Like puppies called by their owner.
"Whoa. What's this now?"
The gold-spoon woman let out an exclamation of admiration as she looked at the red door.
As if he had discovered something amazing, Ji Moon-hyeok spoke with a proud expression.
"How about it? The atmosphere is insane, right? Don't you think filming the highlight in this room would be good?"
"Umm... I don't have a good feeling about this... There's a weird smell, too... Can't we just skip this place?"
"Bad feeling, my ass. The smell is just because it's an old mansion. It smelled on the first floor too."
"It's different from the smell on the first floor..."
"Honestly, it gives me the creeps a bit, too. That guy from earlier told us to be careful, so maybe just..."
"Oh, for real! You believe that? Are you stupid?"
When the gold-spoon women made reluctant expressions, Ji Moon-hyeok threw a tantrum out of frustration.
"Why are you girls so scared? If you're so chicken, just get lost! I'll open it!"
In the end, Ji Moon-hyeok ignored Gye Se-hun's warning and swung the red door open.