Chapter 188
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: There's a Monster Under Shinbi's Bed
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There's a monster living under Lee Shinbi's bed.
"It's because of me."
It was an utterly terrifying monster that had come to her house because Lee Shinbi had broken the rules.
"If I make even a single mistake, it'll eat up Mom and Dad too!"
It was two months ago.
Around that time, which now felt like ancient history, Lee Shinbi had been obsessed with flash animations.
"Mom, I finished it all! Phone time!"
Shinbi's mom hated seeing her glued to her smartphone, so she could only watch NewTube after completing her workbook.
"Mom's got stuff to do. Just watch one on Dad's phone and put it back~."
She was willing to do anything to watch videos.
She flew through the workbook in no time and even ate the broccoli she despised.
But such opportunities didn't come often.
"Okay!"
She promised to watch just one.
But her routine was to sneak in as many as possible without Mom noticing.
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Mom was busy with her phone, her older sister was at a friend's house.
Grabbing Dad's phone from where he napped in his room, Shinbi sensed a blissful weekend ahead.
"Just one more!"
One video done, then quickly a second.
She peeked through the door crack to check on Mom...
"Yes!"
Mom was asleep.
Total freedom!
As long as she watched her fill and returned the phone before her parents woke, she'd be fine.
Chances like this were rare.
Shinbi dove into the NewTube world unrestricted.
"Huh?"
But it was different from watching on Mom's phone.
Mom's NewTube main screen was packed with colorful animations, but Dad's was filled with boring news videos.
[What Happens If You Don't Follow the Rules]
Scrolling down rapidly, Shinbi paused.
She wasn't following Mom's rule and was up to no good.
"Ugh..."
What happens then?
Curiosity piqued, she tapped the video.
"Gasp!"
And just like that, she was hooked.
The backdrop was an elementary school.
A newly enrolled student receives ten rules from the teacher.
1. Don't talk during class.
2. Don't stand up from your seat during class.
3. Don't respond to friends who talk to you during class.
4. Don't run in the hallways.
5. Always answer the teacher's questions.
6. Don't lie.
And so on...
They weren't hard rules.
Basic ones that applied even in kindergarten.
But the kid protagonist breaks them.
- Jiyun! Jiyun!
- Yeah?
He responds to a friend talking during class.
- You can see me, huh?
At that moment, the friend's mouth tears wide in a ghostly grin.
"Eek!"
Shinbi screamed without thinking.
Is this what happens if you break rules in elementary school? How does her sister manage?
As long as she follows the rules perfectly...
"I haven't started school yet, so I'm safe."
As Shinbi swallowed hard, the next video autoplayed.
- Shiiiiiiek.
The chilling sound made her shiver.
"This feels like a foreign movie?"
Was it a sequel? No time to wonder—she was sucked in again.
The protagonist was a foreign boy Tommy's age.
One day, a creepy noise starts from under his bed.
- Shiiiiiiek—
What is that?!
Shinbi clutched her blanket in shock.
- W-Who's there? Who's down there?
- Hi, friend?
Sometimes strange noises, sometimes it spoke to him.
- This is my house! You're not my friend!
Tommy runs to Mom, but...
- What noise? A monster? There's no such thing.
Mom doesn't believe him.
- If something breaks in, Mom'll shoot it dead, so don't worry and sleep.
But something was definitely under the bed.
Nothing there in daylight, but at night it tempted him.
- Come here, friend. Let's play.
Even after telling Mom, the voice persisted.
- Gonna swap you for bigger prey?
This time Mom brushed it off, but the monster threatened: once she notices, she'll die first.
Acknowledging it makes you the target.
- Aaaah!
He blocks the bed space, sleeps at the table—useless.
- Shiiiiiiek!
The more Tommy feared and responded, the stronger it grew.
- Aaaah!
- There's no monster!
- But Mom, it's here!
One late night, to prove it, Tommy and Mom peer under the bed.
- Keeheeheeheehek!
Mom and son get devoured side by side.
- See you soon, friend?
The monster swells, turning serpentine.
And it spoke to Shinbi.
- You heard my voice, right? I'll visit tonight.
Shinbi shut off the phone fast.
"Shiiiiiiek."
Too late.
It had arrived under her bed.
"I-It came to our house too!"
Terrifying.
So terrifying.
"Can't acknowledge it!"
Shinbi froze in place.
No responding. Responding lets it notice and grow stronger.
Stay still, and it'll be trapped under the bed.
"Mom and Dad don't know."
If she slips and it targets them? If Mom gets eaten?
Too scary, but she couldn't drag her family in.
"Waaah! Uwaaaah!"
She tried holding it in, but tears kept coming.
She wanted to run, tell her parents everything.
"Why are you crying? Bad dream?"
"Nooo."
"Tell me."
But she couldn't.
"Sob, hic."
Can't lie either.
That'd break the rules too.
Shinbi just wept endlessly.
Follow the rules, pretend not to know!
"Hehehe."
Act normal at kindergarten—no monster there.
"Sob, hic."
But at night, she swallowed tears in secret.
"Shut up!"
When her sister yelled, it was a relief.
"Shiiiiiiek."
Sister couldn't hear it.
"Alright, this treatment strengthens your mind. Even scary things, one needle and you'll be strong enough to overcome them."
Two months since the monster settled in Shinbi's house.
Mom took her to the clinic.
Prick. Prick. Prick.
Stinging needles, medicine before bed.
The meds calmed her racing heart, brought sleep.
Even with the monster right below, she could forget and doze...
"Aaaah!"
Some nights she slept; others, fear made her scream.
"Will it really make me strong?"
Shinbi, lips tight during acupuncture, suddenly asked the doctor.
Until now, it was about relaxing the body, resting the overworked brain.
Strengthening the mind?
"Of course. Even I got super strong from needles, right?"
Shinbi blinked.
That strong? Stronger than Mom and Dad maybe—could she beat the monster?
"Ung."
She liked the doctor.
Needles hurt a bit, but the smile made her happy.
Wished for more smiles, more questions.
"No. Can't mess up!"
But she clamped her mouth shut.
She'd already messed up once, bringing the monster home—what if it burdens the doctor too?
"The doctor caught lots of monsters with friends?"
"...!?"
"Monsters..."
You know?
Shinbi's mouth gaped.
The doctor knows? It visited her house too?
"Gasp!"
But she didn't blurt it out.
What if it says, "You heard my voice?" and eats them both?
"Scared the doctor might lose to a monster?"
"...!"
Unlike trembling Shinbi, the doctor mentioned it casually.
"St-Still, it's oka...!"
Shinbi's mouth twitched, but the doctor met her eyes calmly.
"Or worried the doctor might be the monster?"
"No way!"
Shinbi answered instantly.
No way.
A monster couldn't look as kind as the doctor!
If it was wearing human skin, it'd have slipped by now.
"Then tell me. Where'd you meet the monster?"
"..."
"You have to answer the doctor's questions, right?"
"Oh."
Should she?
But, but.
Her mind went blank.
"No need to fear. If it shows, I'll slay it in one go. I'll tell it to protect Shinbi too."
"Protect me?"
The doctor pulled all the needles and led her to the exam room.
"Look here, my master's pet flying squirrel."
She flinched at the proffered phone.
- Chweek!
"A chipmunk?"
"Flying squirrel."
The video showed an adorable flying squirrel.
A normal animal munching nuts offered by a human.
"Wow!"
"Cute, huh? This friend will protect Shinbi."
"B-But it's..."
Looks weak?
Weaker than her, even tinier and cuter than the monster.
- Shiiiiek!
Right then, a snake appeared on screen.
"Eeeeek!"
Shinbi recoiled in terror.
- Chwak! Chweeeuk!
But the flying squirrel demolished the snake in seconds.
"Huh?"
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
The squirrel dominated. It pummeled the snake with paws, headbutted it.
Darted trees at blinding speed, hurled pinecones from afar.
Whoosh!
The pinecone rocketed like a bullet, knocking the snake out.
"H-How..."
"...My master's master trained it."
"Training? For real?"
"Real as it gets. That's how the doctor and squirrel buddy got thiiiis strong."
The herbal doctor smiled softly.
If you're this strong, with these skills, a mere monster is nothing!
"So the doctor can do this too?"
Shinbi asked urgently.
"Y...Yes."
The doctor beamed.
"Tonight, crack your window open a bit. The flying squirrel will come snag the snake monster."
"...!"
"Special secret. Promise?"
"Yeah, secret!"
"No more worries. Monster's gone from tonight."
"Okay...!"
Shinbi nodded vigorously.
It didn't show even after all this monster talk—can't appear before the doctor?
With the animal friend guarding, home's safe now!
"Thank you, Doctor. For real, right?"
Relief brought tears streaming.
"It trained to protect young, weak friends. No more fear—sleep soundly from now on. Tomorrow, check under the bed. Nothing there."
"Uuuung... Waaaaaah!"
Shinbi burst into sobs.
"Take your meds, keep coming for needles. See? Nothing scary."
She finally let go completely.
Hugging the doctor tight, soaking the gown.
And spilled every story she'd hidden from everyone.
- I never thought it'd actually work.
Seon Nayeon laughed hollowly from the screen.
"Mission success."
Me, Seon Nayeon, and Shinbi's guardian Kim Shinyoung—we three racked our brains, and the plan hit perfectly.
- How'd you even film that? Director knows AI too?
I know zilch about AI advances. Making it from scratch seems tough.
- Something like that, haha.
Seon Nayeon seemed clueless too, so vague it is.
Better than admitting I bribed the spirit flying squirrel with energy snacks.
- Worried Shinbi'd laugh at the monster talk, but she's all awe.
Yeah, tricky op.
Even when Seon Nayeon asked her son about trending ghost stories.
- Nothing like that.
- Scary dreams? Re-min's grown now, but a few years back, nightmares...
- Hm.
Her son mentioned a cartoon spider monster keeping windows shut in fear.
- Kindergartners cry over that stuff!
Showed trending comics and NewTube vids.
Seon Nayeon consulted Kim Shinyoung again.
- Meds help some nights, but wake-ups are sobfests still.
- Seen scary bugs, dinos, monsters movies?
- No recent movies. NewTube's kid-locked, nothing too scary... Ah!
Seon Nayeon listed possibilities; Kim Shinyoung recalled Dad's phone incident.
- This is it! Gotta be!
Playback history nailed the cause.
Still, tread carefully.
Obsessive from some mental twist—who knows—but the kid laughed days, silent otherwise.
Yell it's fake? She clams up.
- Give a talisman for protection?
- She might not know talismans...
As Seon Nayeon warmed up.
"Got an idea."
I pitched one.
"Say it'll come protect her."
Seon Nayeon got the link, truly baffled.
- ...This'll work?
"Guaranteed. Looks way tougher than some lame horror flick snake."
I boasted confidently.