The Dolls' Eternal Attendance
The basement was far more spacious than expected. But that vast room was crammed full of bizarre objects, creating an oppressively claustrophobic feel instead. The air carried a strangely fishy stench, heavy and thick.
"...What is this place?"
Mirinae's voice trembled faintly. "This is... a kindergarten, right?"
The flashlight in her hand shook violently, mirroring her fear.
"Mirinae, calm down."
"Hah, hah... S-Seorina... what the hell is this? Did you... know about it?"
"Hah, a little. Sit down and rest for now."
"Yeah..."
Unable to endure any longer, Mirinae slumped against the wall, her face pale as a ghost. I took the flashlight and phone from her, broadcasting the hidden basement scene to the stream.
The viewers were freaking out, as expected. No surprise there—even I, with fragmented memories from the director, felt a jolt of shock.
Tiny desks sized for children, matching tiny chairs. And on those chairs... dolls mimicking kindergarteners, "child-like figures" with "talismans bearing blood-red symbols" stuck to their foreheads. The clothes on the dolls even looked like real kindergarten uniforms.
Thud. Thud. Swish.
I picked up the dolls one by one, checking the name tags on their right chests.
Lee Da-hee
Kim Mi-jin
Yoo E-seul
Seo Ga-eul
"These... look like the names of kids who went to this kindergarten."
My absentminded mutter set off an explosive reaction in the chat.
"......"
One step, then another. I moved forward—not toward the child-sized desks, but to the room's only adult-sized one.
Thud. Thud.
The flashlight beam swept over the desk.
"An attendance book."
I picked up the whimsically decorated Sunshine Kindergarten Attendance Book.
I flipped open the attendance book.
Flip. Flip.
Skimming the pages by eye.
"......"
Names were listed: Lee Da-hee, Kim Mi-jin, Yoo E-seul, Seo Ga-eul... All matching the dolls' tags. And every single one circled—without fail. Not just weekdays, but weekends and holidays too. All of them.
"Seorina... what's that?"
Mirinae, somewhat recovered after resting, approached with color returning to her face.
"Wanna read it?"
"Sure!"
She took the book and read through it page by page. At the last page, she tilted her head.
"Just a normal attendance book? Creepy to find it here, but... nothing weird about the contents."
"No."
"Huh?"
"You didn't look closely."
I pointed to the date column on the open last page.
"Check the dates. Weird, right?"
"Ah... AHHHHHH!!"
Mirinae finally got it.
"Guys... look at this!"
Mirinae grabbed my phone and aimed the screen at the date column.
"The dates are kinda weird, right?"
Yes—the final page was dated today, complete with the year. No chance of mistake.
Putting it together, three possibilities:
"For some reason, the director pre-marked attendance up to today while alive." Lowest odds—no reason for that. Maybe some ritual, though.
"Someone sneaked in and checked off the attendance." Dust on the book made this unlikely too.
"Or... a ghost did it."
"Kiyaaaaah!"
Thwack!
At my last guess, Mirinae screamed and flung the book to the floor.
The chat exploded in disbelief.
"Seorina... l-let's go now, okay? Let's head back! This place is seriously wrong! Something's off!"
"Hold on."
"We don't have to exorcise the evil spirit ourselves... right? We can call a shaman or tip off a news station! Please!"
Her trembling grip on my arm, voice breaking with pleas—it was hard to ignore my friend's desperation. I'd have left before she panicked more, if possible. But...
"Sorry, too late."
"...Huh?"
"More precisely, we've been in the evil spirit's sights since we neared the kindergarten."
All I could feel was sorry for Mirinae. Because—our presence catching its eye was probably my fault.
My soul once bore the lofty spiritual rank of the King of Death Spirits, the Necromancer King. But huh? Not only shredded by a holy sword, but weakened further by dimensional travel? Was there ever prey more tantalizing to evil spirits?
Tap.
"Eek!"
See? The moment prey entered its lair, it pounced like a hyena lying in wait.
I spun around, shining the light. There—god knows when she'd appeared—a middle-aged woman in an orange suit smiled softly at us.
"...Wh-who are you?"
As Mirinae cautiously approached, I held out my hand to stop her.
"That's not human."
"Huh?"
Then, a donation popped up.
Anonymous Donor donated 1,000 won!
"N-no... no way...!"
"Mirinae."
"Y-yeah?"
"See her shadow?"
"............Gasp!!"
Just as suspected. Even without my Spirit Eye, she was a ghost—no twin or doppelganger.
I approached her slowly. The closer I got, the deeper her smile grew.
"Hello?"
A soft voice. It seemed like a normal greeting, but the chill laced within was unmistakable.
"Here to drop off a child, parent?"
"...No."
"Then why come to our kindergarten?"
"......"
"Ah, I see. Now I get it."
She nodded as if convinced.
"You all are—"
The director's eyes turned pitch black.
"—bad parents trying to steal my children from me."
Her lips stretched to her cheeks, then riiiip—tore open.
Shatter!!
The flashlight glass exploded, plunging the basement into horrific darkness.
"Kyaaaaah! S-Seorinaaaaah!"
Mirinae clamped her ears and collapsed. Cracks spiderwebbed across her phone screen too.
"Shut up, you're too loud."
I shoved a hand infused with Death Qi into the director's mouth, silencing her racket.
"I know how hard you tried."
"I get it, must've been tough."
I glanced back at the kindergarten dolls.
"So tough you couldn't survive without those spells."
"But—"
I thrust my hand deeper—something touched my palm. The Spirit Core. This evil spirit's origin.
"—the children you wanted to protect are all gone."
"What you're clinging to is just memories."
A memory flashed: the director sobbing, clutching a child's photo.
"Kuh!"
She lunged, claws raking my face. Pain flared, but I gripped the Spirit Core tight.
"—Farewell."
I crushed it with all my strength.
Shatter!!
From her hands on my face, the director ghost's body dissolved into mist. Some absorbed into me, sharing her raw emotions fully.
Undeniable sorrow—the grief of failing to protect the children.
"......"
Mirinae, watching blankly from behind, pinched her cheek with shaking hands and muttered shakily.
"..................This isn't a dream, right?"
The stream had captured it all. Viewer count was skyrocketing.