Chapter 77
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Monster Tale Specialist Office: The Invisible Person (12)
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Thud.
“Ha… You really thought this would stop someone?”
Woli let out a deflated sigh.
“Even after seeing me?”
Sometimes there’s tape strung at ankle height. Or some weird thing dangling at face level.
This wouldn’t stop Woli, let alone an elementary school kid. It just meant something slimy suddenly brushing her face, or tape sticking to her clothes, which was a bit annoying.
“You knew I ran all the way up here, and you still tried to block me with this?”
“Ah, haha….”
At this point, she felt stupid for even thinking it might be dangerous. Woli let out a deep sigh.
“And the guy himself doesn’t even show up.”
She muttered as she slowly walked forward.
“You’d better come out while I’m still asking nicely.”
Woli grumbled in a half-threatening tone.
“If you don’t, I’ll come back tomorrow, and the day after. And every day after that. We’re not the type to give up after one empty-handed day.”
“Hey, so what happens if we don’t ask nicely? Do you use mean words?”
Seol-i asked, sounding puzzled. Woli chuckled at the cute idea.
“No, I mean we won’t use words at all.”
Whether her words had an effect or not, a voice finally rang out.
“Stop, stop! How long are you gonna keep this up? Just leave already!”
It was a man’s voice, a little angry. Woli tensed her body.
“You finally showed up. I was starting to think you’d hide till the end.”
The voice didn’t reply. Woli quietly asked Seol-i in a voice only she could hear.
‘Can you see his face?’
The man was right in front of them. She could pinpoint his location from the sound. But he was invisible.
If she could see him, she’d be fine with using some forceful methods.
‘No… I can’t see it…’
Seol-i replied, sounding a bit disappointed. There was a faint ripple around that area, like something was there, some traces, but the person himself was nowhere to be seen.
If even Seol-i couldn’t see him, that meant he was physically invisible. Trying to grab an invisible person by force would be idiotic.
‘…Too bad.’
But him showing up right in front of them wasn’t the worst-case scenario. It was dozens of times better than a surprise attack. There was only one invisible guy, and knowing he was in front meant Seol-i behind her was basically safe.
“Don’t come closer.”
Plus, the invisible man’s voice sounded desperately urgent. No need to provoke him.
“I won’t come any further. That okay?”
Even as Woli spoke, he shook his head.
“…No. Just leave. Don’t come in here for fun.”
“We’re not here for fun. Who comes to a place like this at this hour for kicks? Especially a spot with nothing to do? We came to meet you. Not for fun.”
At Woli’s words, the voice replied gloomily.
“If you’re not here for fun, then what? Just curious about the invisible guy from the rumors?”
“Why else would we come? We have business with you.”
“I don’t. I even sent you a note.”
Passive and anxious tone. Just like Seol-i had pointed out.
“Just leave. If it wasn’t for fun, I apologize. But still, go.”
“Hmm. What now?”
Woli glanced to the side and asked.
“He’s talking like that.”
“Of course not.”
Seol-i smiled as she spoke. They could finally meet him.
“We’re here to help you. If we just leave, how can we do that?”
Seol-i smiled friendly-like, but her voice wasn’t bright at all.
“I don’t need it.”
The voice said coldly.
“When did I ask for help? If you wanna help me, just stop looking for me.”
“But you look like you need it?”
“I don’t need any damn help. You just wanna drag me out in the end!”
“We’re not planning to force you… but,”
Not yet, at least. Woli left the rest unsaid.
“Good, if you’re not gonna force me. I just wanna stay here.”
Groveling, but stubborn. The two exchanged glances.
“You don’t need help, and you wanna stay here forever?”
“Yeah.”
The voice was icy.
“That’s a lie.”
“A lie?”
“Yeah. What else could it be? You showed up right in front of us, didn’t you?”
“…So what?”
The voice protested.
“Isn’t it normal to tell intruders to get out of your home?”
“No. In this case, you knew we wouldn’t leave if you didn’t speak up, right?”
That’s why the analogy didn’t fit.
“You should compare it to running into a wild animal that’d slink away if you stayed quiet. My friend here even seemed a bit scared.”
“Eh? Wild animal?”
Woli shot her a slightly annoyed look, but Seol-i ignored it.
“But you still showed up and talked to us. That’s weird, right?”
If he wasn’t sure whether they were there, he could’ve just let it fizzle out. But he appeared.
“You guys seemed like you’d keep coming….”
“No, no.”
Seol-i shook her head.
“Then you should’ve stayed hidden till the bitter end.”
“What’re you trying to say?”
“You actually want help.”
Seol-i’s words were direct, and that made them sink in deeper.
After a brief silence, the voice said.
“No.”
Awkward tone, devoid of emotion. Like he’d deliberately stripped it away. So Seol-i pressed on.
“That’s how it looks to me. That’s why I’m interested.”
“Don’t lie. People aren’t interested in other people. Don’t talk like you know anything!”
“Yeah, we don’t know why you think that. But we know something tormented you enough to make you invisible.”
“You don’t know shit…!”
The voice cut itself off. Seemed like his emotions choked him up for a moment. But soon, it spat out angrily.
“You don’t even know what’s tormenting me, or what I want.”
The voice shouted, furious.
“I wanted to die. Been thinking about it for ages.”
Seol-i started to say something but swallowed it. The raw emotion in his words felt pitch-black, clinging like tar.
“Jumping off the roof is messy. Don’t wanna see blood. I didn’t even wanna leave a body behind. So I tried the bridge. Drowning means no one finds you. But that failed too.”
Choppy voice. Spitting the words out like they tasted bad.
“Coming into this world wasn’t my choice. So at least leaving it should be, right? But I couldn’t even do that.”
The voice said bitterly.
“Now I just wanna vanish like this. Nothing left I wanna do. Just wanna be a nobody.”
“That’s…”
Seol-i furrowed her brow.
“You wanna help? Then help me disappear. Or leave me here so I can stay. Please.”
“…We can’t do that.”
“See? You wanna help your way, but you don’t even know what I want.”
The voice sneered.
“Sorry. I didn’t know. I figured you were cornered, but not this bad.”
Seol-i apologized sincerely. She really hadn’t guessed the extent.
“But then, should we find out?”
Seol-i asked.
“Huh?”
“Find out about you.”
She said it with a serious face.
“You said not to talk like we know you. So we’ll learn, okay?”
“No one’s ever been interested in me. Now you wanna figure out who I am?”
The voice fell silent for a moment.
“…Go ahead, try.”
“Promise? If we find out, we can talk like this again?”
The voice sounded annoyed.
“Don’t talk to me till then.”
With that, the voice vanished. He wasn’t visible, but she could tell he’d left the spot.
“Man, the more we talk, the ruder he gets!”
Woli finally vented the anger she’d been holding.
“Even if we help, he’d pull that crap!”
She’d kept quiet figuring it wasn’t her place to butt in, but treating would-be helpers like that really pissed her off.
“If I’d seen his face, I’d have grabbed him and dragged him out!”
“…That’s why he didn’t show, maybe?”
Seol-i gave an awkward smile. But her expression was a bit stiff.
“Anyway, he showed an opening—huh, what?”
Mid-sentence, Woli absentmindedly stepped forward. Something caught on her ankle.
Then, a loud thud echoed from afar. Probably whatever was on her ankle was rigged to make noise when tripped.
“Huh?”
The snoring stopped. Woli went pale.
“Run!”
* * *
Luckily, they didn’t get caught. But playing hide-and-seek in school at midnight wasn’t good for mental health.
The next day, Seol-i was practically groggy, and Woli was a bit tired too.
“…Gonna make that jerk pay… Definitely….”
Funny thing was, they weren’t the only ones out of it.
“But why’re you late? First time I’ve seen it.”
First time ever since enrollment. It was during second-period break that Woli finally saw Boyoung.
Boyoung said sheepishly.
“Overslept a bit… Anyway, something unexpected came up.”
She’d slept in after being late, so Boyoung actually looked okay now.
“First time being late since elementary school.”
“Pushed yourself too hard. Well, the one next to me’s no better.”
Woli poked Seol-i, who was dozing off beside her. She’d made it to school somehow, but she wasn’t in good shape.
“I’m not asleep!”
“It’s break time?”
Woli scolded the reflexive retort. Then she looked at Boyoung.
“See?”
“Yeah. She looks seriously rough. Teachers wouldn’t even mind if she slept in class at this point. Why not just crash during class?”
“Studying in class is a student’s duty…”
Seol-i mumbled. Woli shook her head.
“Ugh, fine. Sleep. I’ll wake you for class.”
Seol-i slowly closed her eyes again. Woli couldn’t understand the effort— she’d nap right away if class got boring— but she couldn’t force a kid who swore off sleeping in class to rest.
“Anyway, that much trouble you went through to be late?”
“Yeah, did some investigating all night.”
Boyoung nodded.
“Remember I said the invisible guy was an alum?”
“Yeah.”
“I know who. Don’t know what he’s like yet, though.”
“You know who?”
Woli had figured she’d done something after bolting yesterday, but not that she’d ID him already.
“Not 100% sure, but.”
Boyoung smiled brightly. The kind of confident look only someone sure of themselves could have.
“How the hell did you….”
Woli groaned. She’d felt it yesterday, but this friend was unreal. Boyoung boasted.
“Hmm, I theorized about alums wearing uniforms in January. Three possibilities, if we split hairs.”
Boyoung held up three fingers.
“One: too poor to buy new clothes. Two: ran away still in uniform. Three: just likes wearing it. Cosplay or whatever.”
“Three’s not a problem.”
Boyoung nodded at Woli’s point.
“Obviously. No one cosplays by letting their own uniform get all filthy.”
Woli nodded.
“Anyway, excluding three left two options. And it had to be someone nobody paid attention to. Famous folks couldn’t hide in plain sight. So I checked ’em all, just in case.”
“Checked all what?”
At Woli’s question, Boyoung replied like it was obvious.
“Students who graduated right before we enrolled. Didn’t survey everyone, just hit up some senpais I know and had them exclude anyone they recognized from the roster. Oh, and cut all the girls from the leftovers too.”
Simple, but surefire.
“Filtered a ton that way. Only had to check four myself.”
“Unreal, seriously.”
Woli was genuinely impressed. Insane work ethic.
“Four’s a day’s work— wanted to say that, but I only checked three. Last one I wanted to confirm in person, but I crashed midway.”
“Where’s that? Sounds impossible.”
Two of the three were in the military, one was a college student not yet enlisted. She’d ruled out three definite no’s, leaving one possibility.
“So it’s basically done, right? Not almost— totally.”
Plenty to brag about. But Boyoung shook her head.
“Nah. Slight chance all four are wrong. Anyway, couldn’t pin down the last one. No clue where he is or what he’s doing.”
But in a way, that fit the invisible man profile.
“Know who the last one is?”
“Think it’s this guy.”
Boyoung pulled out her phone and showed a photo.
“Snagged it from a senior yearbook. Guess, but pretty plausible, right?”
Woli scrutinized the photo. Fun part: long hair, uniform wrinkled and crumpled. Those two traits stood out most.
“Wow, for real.”
“Right? Thought Grandma’s description was vague, but she nailed it exactly.”
Seemed almost certain. Woli nodded.
“Of course, we’d have to assume he hid in this school undetected for two whole years.”
Boyoung said, a bit regretfully. Woli glanced at sleeping Seol-i and said.
“Nah, no assuming needed.”
“No assuming? What?”
“Was gonna tell Seol-i when she woke up.”
But no need to hide it. Woli said.
“We met him yesterday. For real.”
“What the hell?”