Chapter 6: After the Abandoned Kindergarten Raid (1)
Who am I? And where am I?
My name is Lee Ha-eun. I'm 18 years old, a high school girl in the prime of my youth, enjoying life to the fullest. My streamer nickname is Mirinae—the pure Korean word for "galaxy," my name spelled backwards. My main content is all-purpose gaming, but I also do vlogs, chats, mukbangs, singing, storytime radio, you name it—super broad and varied.
Of course, I have a NewTube account, with 123,000 subscribers right now. And also—unfairly, after losing a bet with my viewers—I ended up doing an abandoned building exploration stream.
It was way too scary to go alone, so I begged my friend Baek Seorin to come with me. We finished the abandoned kindergarten stream together, and now we're on the bus heading home.
"……."
I sneak a glance at the seat next to me. My friend Baek Seorin, leaning back against the chair with her arms crossed, eyes closed.
What could she be thinking about?
Today was full of mind-blowing, overwhelming stuff I could barely handle. The ghost we met in the abandoned building was one thing, but the biggest shock was Seorin's true identity—the girl I thought was just your average straight-A student.
Even I, who gets scared easier than most, nearly had a heart attack several times... but Seorin just breezed through it all with a blank expression, like she was born without a fear bone in her body. And when she casually erased that ghost with one hand, I rubbed my eyes over and over, wondering if I was seeing right.
She doesn't even feel like the friend I knew anymore...
The Seorin I knew was just a poor kid forced to study like crazy because of her parents' pressure. I felt bad for her, so I always looked out for her in class. That's how we naturally became friends.
And honestly... out of all my friends, I picked Seorin for the abandoned building stream partly for calculated reasons. Streamer friends turned me down saying it was too scary or they were busy. Real-life friends said the same or didn't want their faces on camera.
But Seorin, from what I'd seen, owed me for all the times I'd had her back... and her personality seemed like she'd brush off the exposure and stay calm in there, unlike me. So I dragged her along.
But I never expected this.
I look down at my phone screen, still streaming. Seeing the cracked display makes my eyes well up.
It hasn't even been a full month since I bought this new phone...!
It's not like I'm too broke to buy a replacement. But who likes throwing away good money?
The stream chat was blowing up nonstop with viewer messages.
Mirinae's usual live viewer count hovered between 1,500 and 2,000. It had never broken 3,000 before—but today, it finally did.
If this were normal Mirinae, I'd be thrilled, chatting everyone up to hook even one more sub... if it were normal Mirinae, that is.
I have no energy...!
Mental stamina completely drained. Like a game where your MP's down to 0.1%.
Logically, as a pro streamer, I know I need to engage. But my body just wouldn't cooperate.
Thankfully, most viewers seemed to understand my state. Instead of bugging the stream host Mirinae, they were busy debating what went down at the abandoned kindergarten among themselves.
The fakers claiming it was all a hoax Mirinae cooked up were clashing with the realists insisting it was legit. Amid the chaos, some neutral viewers chimed in without picking sides.
Seeing the chats demanding the truth sparked my curiosity too. The vibe, plus how wiped I was, kept me from asking earlier... but I was dying to know.
What the hell happened at that abandoned kindergarten?
I cautiously turn to Seorin, eyes still closed, and poke her. She slowly opens her eyes.
"What?"
"Um... Seorin, the viewers are super curious. Could you tell us what really went down at that abandoned kindergarten? Like why there's a basement under it, what those dolls and the attendance book were... I'm kinda curious too."
Kinda? I'm dying here.
Surprisingly, Seorin nods easily at my question.
"That much? Sure, why not."
"For real!?"
Viewers went wild, of course. I scooted closer to Seorin, eyes sparkling, phone aimed her way. Like a kid waiting for grandma's old tales, heart thumping as I anticipated her story.
"Where did I leave off before?"
"Um... The kindergarten was called Sunshine Kindergarten, the director died in an accident five years ago, she was an orphan adopted by a teacher who saved her, and her dream was to build a kindergarten because of that? Oh, but she struggled big time with complaints from parents."
"Right, up to there."
Seorin closes her eyes, thinking hard, then continues.
"The director was a genuinely good person. Sure, she suffered from parent complaints, but there were plenty of normal parents too, and the kids smiling at her always gave her strength. No major issues back then."
"Then one day, trouble hit."
Seorin opens her eyes again, gazing into space with a distant, reminiscent look.
"One kid suddenly stopped showing up without a word."
"Huh...? Why?"
Seorin's gaze sharpens, locking onto mine.
"Wanna hear?"
"Uh... no?"
"Good call."
Instinct kicked in. This story was too heavy for stream. Hell, maybe too heavy period.
"Anyway, that became the director's lifelong trauma. She blamed herself for not watching closely enough."
"But that wasn't her fault... right?"
"Exactly. Not her responsibility. Even a director can't monitor every kid 24/7."
A bitter smile tugs at Seorin's lips.
"If she'd accepted that cleanly, it'd be fine. But she wasn't flexible enough to let it go."
"Guilt ate at her, breeding an obsession to protect the kids no matter what... even using sorcery."
Sorcery. The word instantly brought the kindergarten basement to mind.
"That basement...!?"
"Yeah, her way of protecting the kids. Not sure on the exact effect, but probably a guardian spell for the children."
"So she'd sneak down to the basement every night for the ritual... until, well, the accident we mentioned."
Would a director like that accept death quietly? No way.
"Her obsession—'Who'll protect the kids if I die?'—kept her bound to the kindergarten."
"So that line about protecting the kids..."
"Over time, it warped into nothing but that. Protecting them meant keeping the ritual going—"
The director's scream replays in my head.
"—and she saw us intruders as threats to it, so she attacked."
"Ah..."
It clicked. Who'd guess our random abandoned kindergarten trip uncovered that?
Right then, a donation pings with a viewer message. My heart drops.
Come to think of it... that ghost director's end was pretty violent, right? Not like she peacefully crossed over—more like Seorin straight-up obliterated her soul...
I check reactions, then glance nervously at Seorin, waiting.
If she says the soul got erased here... disaster.
"Don't worry."
Seorin smirks.
"She went to a good place."
"Ah, hahaha. Y-yeah, figured?"
"Yeah. A good place... heh."
For some reason—her eyes seemed to flash red, or maybe I imagined it.