Man-Eating Goshiwon Exploration Stream (2)
"What the hell was that???"
"Ghost already?? whoa whoa whoa"
"Show us too~"
Mirinae hurriedly moved the camera toward the window. But the shadow had already vanished.
"Ah, I don't see it either. Must've disappeared... right?"
As soon as Mirinae answered with full confidence, she glanced at me like a kid who'd solved a puzzle and was begging for confirmation. Having only recently awakened her spiritual senses, she seemed anxious about whether she'd really seen it right.
"Yeah, you're right. It's gone."
"Was that... a ghost?"
"Who knows... We'll find out when we go inside."
Sorry, but I couldn't give her the straight answer. My detection skills weren't as sharp as she hoped—not enough to spot someone four stories up with just my eyes, anyway. Up close, sure, but from down here? No dice.
Should I go check it out?
Lee Seola, who'd become my servant spirit and was always hovering nearby, glanced up and asked. As a spirit body capable of floating, she could definitely ID that shadow in a flash.
I pondered for a second, then shook my head.
It's not urgent. We'll check it out when we head up anyway.
"Let's go. Gotta wrap this up quick and head home. If we're late again, my mom might smack us silly."
"Ahaha... Tell me about it."
I took the lead, and Mirinae followed with an awkward laugh.
"By the way."
As we stepped through the entrance and walked the hallway, I scanned around.
"Why'd your uncle leave all the lights on?"
"Oh, that? He said it softens the horror vibe for the stream. Makes tenants more likely to bite after it airs."
"...Being a landlord ain't all it's cracked up to be, huh?"
Sure enough, with all the lights blazing, it didn't feel like a haunted hotspot. More like visiting a friend's family property.
"...Tsk, just my imagination?"
"Huh? What'd you say?"
"Nothing."
Even as we walked, I kept tilting my head. How to explain this?
Feels... easier to breathe?
My breathing felt a tad smoother, somehow. No clue why.
"Obviously not checking everything."
I spread three fingers wide while answering the chat.
"We're hitting three spots."
First: Room 404, where the murder victim's body vanished.
Second: Room 403, where the body was left behind.
Third: Room 402, where the tenant suddenly vanished.
That's it.
"Then... we call it no ghosts from the start, and the exorcism stream wraps up."
The shadow we saw? Optical illusion. Man-eating goshiwon? Just rumors.
We climbed the stairs to our first stop.
『Room 404』
The same room where we'd spotted that shadow.
"Mirinae, step back."
"Yeah, gotta be careful?"
Just in case, I positioned myself in front of her and flung the door open.
Whoosh!
I clapped a hand over my mouth without thinking. A massive dust cloud billowed out from inside.
"Cough! Cough!"
I waved my arm to disperse it. Once the dust settled, I blinked and peered inside.
"...What the fuck."
The curse slipped out on instinct. Mirinae and Lee Seola behind me gasped at the sight too.
"Oh my god! What is this!?"
Eek?! This place is gross!
It was nightmarish. The lights blazed like new, sure. But the interior they illuminated? "Intact" was a stretch.
The crumpled blanket looked abandoned mid-sleep. The pillow was compressed and soggy from moisture, all fluff gone. Cigarette butts littered the bed untouched. Empty beer cans cluttered the table, left wherever.
Worst of all... the stains smeared across every wall.
It was like... the room itself was diseased.
Even viewers who could stomach most things bailed. I hesitated to step in myself. Ghosts over filth any day.
But pro streamer Mirinae? Different story.
"...Let's go in."
"For real?"
Even for us, this is too much...
"We're pro streamers! Pros eat doenjang jjigae made from mealworms if they have to!"
Mirinae went in first, so we had no choice but to follow. That's when I spotted something and froze.
"What's up?"
"Hold on."
I reached out and picked up a cigarette butt from the ashtray on the bed. Mirinae winced instinctively.
"Eww... gross. Why?"
"It's warm."
"Huh?"
"Like someone just smoked it and stubbed it out."
And not just that. Cigarette filters turn brown over time. Dad's a smoker, so I knew the drill.
"But check this."
"...Pure white?"
"Exactly."
Ghosts don't smoke. Which means—
"—someone was here just now."
"Eek!"
I shot Lee Seola a look.
Scout around. Check for anyone hiding.
Got it.
Lee Seola phased through the wall and floated out. Meanwhile, we kept searching.
"Seorin!"
While checking under the bed, Mirinae suddenly called me. I turned to see her pulling something from the cabinet under the sink—a pretty big box—with a super disgusted look.
"What's this?"
"One sec."
I inspected the box top to bottom. About knee-high. Wooden, a bit wider than my shoulders.
Then I noticed something off again.
"No dust."
"Whoa, true?"
Everything else in the room was caked in dust. This box? Spotless. Like... someone had been in here, checked just this, and left.
"Step back."
I shoved Mirinae behind me and opened it.
Inside—
"Fuck"
It blew past anything I'd imagined. I'd figured maybe a curse doll or spell paper at worst. Not this.
"What the— Eek!"
Mirinae peeked and yelped. Viewers catching it on cam cursed too.
Women's photos. Black hair clippings. Fingernail clippings. Underwear.
Lipstick, pouch, bag, earrings, rings, comb, handkerchief—womanly stuff.
Half-eaten food containers, fork, chopsticks, spoon. Used wet wipes, toilet paper.
Stuff that'd creep out anyone, man or woman.
"Looks like the tenant was a stalker."
Not your average one either. Mad, chilling obsession.
Couldn't see her as anything but "property," or this level of shit wouldn't happen.
Regretting the peek, I went to close the box.
Right then.
Hic... sob...
A tiny sound—like someone crying.
"Seorin! That noise just now...!"
BAM! Creak! BAM! Creak!
The door slammed and flung open repeatedly, like in a rage.
Hic... Get... out...!!
The voice grew louder.
Whoooosh!!
—GET OOOOUT!!
A scream with a shockwave exploded. Beer cans from the table rocketed toward Mirinae and me.
"You little shit."
I snatched the one flying at her. A few clipped me, but kid-tantrum weak—no real damage.
Still pissed me off. Especially targeting my friend.
For payback, I scanned for the voice's owner.
"...What the hell."
Weird. Whether grudging ghost or evil spirit, it should be lurking, watching.
But... I couldn't pinpoint it.
I felt it. Problem was, the whole room reeked of ghostly energy.
Like... the room itself was the culprit.
Couldn't catch it like this—so I pulled out "that technique" for the first time in ages.
Kyaaaaaaaah!!!!
Necromancy's AoE spell: Banshee's Wail.
The spirit-infused scream resonated through the room!
The rattling door stopped. Shockwaves died down.
"...D-Done?"
Mirinae trembled, glued to my back. Viewers shivered through the screen.
Then.
Whoosh.
A translucent woman's spirit slid out from the corner wall.
A... ahh...
"Eek!?"
"This woman..."
Her face rang a bell. Then it clicked—the photo in the box.
Please...
Tears streaming, she repeated the same lament.
Get out... please, just leave...
"Hey, you."
As I stepped closer to ask who she was.
That man! He's waking up soon! Get out before then!! Hurry!!
That's when instinct hit: massive ghostly energy flooding the whole building.
Like the reservoir after dark.
"Huh?"
The wallpaper...
Twitched.
"Eek!"
The texture shifted. Stains wriggled like living things.
I felt it.
This room—
"Ah... picked the wrong door again."
—was already a Mimic Evil Spirit dungeon.