The Grudge in Room 203
The current time is 6:00 PM.
“We’re here. Turn on the stream.”
At my words, Jina turned on the broadcast with her phone. Immediately, the viewer count began to climb at a speed incomparable to last time.
Unlike the first broadcast, the current viewer count was at 100.
“O-oppa!”
Overwhelmed by the number, Jina was restless and didn't know what to do. She froze, forgetting the script she had painstakingly memorized. On top of that, I could see the viewers continuing to increase even at this very moment.
Could Jina adapt to this situation quickly?
The answer is NO. At this rate, the flow of the broadcast would only be interrupted.
Having finished assessing the situation, I took over the broadcast in Jina’s stead.
“What the, why are there so many people? Since we’re working on the weekend, today’s daily wage is 500,000 won per person, for a total of 1 million won.”
Truth be told, even as I said it, one part of my brain was wondering if the daily wage was too high.
Regardless of my abilities, 1 million won is a significant amount of money.
But then, what do you know?
[GhostLover donated 1,000,000 won.]
-LET'S GOOOOOOO!
The target amount was filled the moment I finished speaking.
“...I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but from now on, donations are non-refundable, okay? GhostLover, you should rethink this even now.”
[GhostLover donated 100,000 won.]
-Go go, you beta male
The faces of Jina and me, dumbfounded by the successive donations, were broadcast on the screen exactly as they were.
Is this the true taste of labor...!
Just then, a noticeable chat message scrolled up quickly.
“HeadAdmin? What’s that?”
At my question, the viewers started chattering excitedly.
To summarize, two of the viewers from the first broadcast were users of a place called the ‘Ghost Experience Gallery’, and they had brought the other gallery users here.
“So, in a word, you’re a group of perverts.”
“Are you not going to fold? You guys are perverts, right?”
“O-oppa! Calling the viewers perverts! I’m sorry.”
Jina, who had belatedly come to her senses, tried to soothe the burning chat window.
But really.
If you call a pervert a pervert, what else are you supposed to call them?
“You’re trying to feel intense stimulation from the expectation of things happening that are impossible to understand by your own common sense, and the fear brought about by unknown terror—that’s a pervert. Isn’t it?”
“B-but still, ‘pervert’ is a bit much.”
Jina’s voice trailed off at my logical explanation.
Well, I suppose it is a bit much to keep calling them perverts.
“Then I’ll call you ‘Ghost Knights’. You guys have no complaints with that, right?”
Having reached an agreement with the viewers, we proceeded with the broadcast in earnest.
“The haunted house Oppa and I are going to today is an abandoned motel in Incheon. About 10 years ago, a murder case happened at the motel you see there, and after that, the business failed and it’s been left as is until now. We got permission for the broadcast in advance! Thank you to GhostLover who tipped us off!”
“Thanks, GhostLover.”
As Jina introduced it, the place we arrived at today was an abandoned motel in Incheon.
“Wow, just like Oppa said, I guess the Ghost Knights really are perverts.”
Jina slowly captured the panoramic view of the abandoned motel on her phone.
“How can you come to a place like this in your right mind?”
“That’s why I said they’re perverts.”
“Ugh, I want to go home quickly.”
The motel captured on the screen was closer to a giant concrete tomb than a building. The outer walls were cracked like a turtle’s shell, and rainwater stains flowed down like tears, adding to the hideousness. The sparsely broken windows looked like empty eye sockets, and ivy was wrapping around the building as if to suffocate it.
“Don’t they manage it?”
“It’s a haunted house because they don’t manage it. Oppa, are you stupid?”
“Ah.”
The sign that must have read [OO Motel] had most of its letters fallen off, making it impossible to recognize its shape, and the remaining neon sign hung precariously like a rotten tooth, looking as if it would fall to the floor at any moment.
Eventually, we arrived in front of the building entrance.
The rusted glass door was half-open, as if beckoning us to come inside.
“Oppa, I’m not being any help at all, do you want to do the broadcast by yourself?”
“Jina, how can you try to get a free ride through life like that?”
These guys really are perverts.
“I really can’t go in any further.”
As we entered the front desk, unlike Jina who was hesitating, the chat window was a festival.
“Oppa, this is as far as I go. So you do it.”
However, Jina seemed unable to go on, and she held out her phone.
No, she held it out, then took it back.
[Anonymous donated 50,000 won.]
-Jina, don't be scared, go go
[GhostUserA donated 10,000 won.]
-If you don't give up, I'll send 100k after the broadcast ends
“But I won’t give up...! Oppa, lead the way!”
“You promised 100,000 won!”
‘Should I be happy about this or not.’
Seeing Jina like that, I sighed and stepped forward.
The abandoned motel was a 4-story building.
Our job was to look around the motel and show the viewers the ‘real thing’ they wanted.
As we walked along the creaking hallway, the musty smell of mold and dust pricked our noses.
“Eek!”
Just then, when a rustling sound was heard from the next room, Jina stuck to my back and screamed.
“O-oppa, did you hear that just now?”
“It’s a rat.”
“Oh, a rat?”
“Yeah, a rat. Nothing to be surprised about.”
Jina, perhaps thinking she had made too much of a fuss, pulled away sheepishly.
We continued to look around the guest rooms on the 1st floor. Most of the rooms were empty, or trash was scattered about as if someone had been homeless there.
“There’s nothing here, is there?”
“For saying that, aren’t you sticking too close? You need to film.”
When we climbed the stairs and reached the 2nd floor, Jina seemed to have adapted quite a bit compared to the beginning. She was still stuck to my back, but she didn’t scream like before.
Instead, she looked around and muttered in a small voice.
“Oppa, but isn’t it strangely cold here?”
It seems the aftermath of forcibly opening her senses last time was still lingering.
Of course, since it was really nothing, I continued the exploration.
“It’s a place where the cold air is gathered. It’s like the dregs of a soul. It’s nothing, so don’t pay attention to it.”
How many more rooms did we pass?
Finally, we stood in front of Room 203 at the end of the hallway.
Unlike the other rooms, the door to Room 203 was left slightly open.
“They say this is that room. The place where the murder happened 10 years ago.”
“Is that so?”
Creak—
When I opened the door, I saw an overturned table and torn wallpaper.
A dark red stain of unknown origin was spread widely on the floor.
The air inside the room was certainly much heavier and damper than outside, but...
“I-is it there? Is it there?”
“I don’t really see any vengeful spirits? Since they said the culprit was caught, I guess even if there was a grudge, it didn’t remain in this world.”
Jina, who had been peeking her hand into the room while holding her breath, blinked in confusion.
“Huh? They were murdered, but they ascended?”
The chat window turned hostile in an instant. It seemed an explanation was needed.
I sighed and spoke to the camera.
“You guys seem to be under a major misunderstanding, but not everyone who dies unfairly becomes a ghost. It’s actually the opposite. It’s common for most to accept their death and leave.”
However, it seemed insufficient to calm the hostile public sentiment, and the chat window was still burning fiercely.
‘Is this how a two-eyed person feels when they arrive at a village of one-eyed people?’
I was tempted to forcibly show the faint residual thoughts wandering around the motel on the screen, but I shook my head.
‘I have to draw the line.’
Money is the top priority, but I can’t abandon the respect for the dead.
Dragging out the final traces of those who have already left to make a spectacle of them? That’s just an insult.
“Of course, there are souls that wander this world because they have lingering attachments or grudges. But even those souls usually lose their memories as time passes. They forget why they remained here, and even who they hated. In the process of forgetting, the grudge is diluted, and they naturally ascend. If you keep holding onto hatred, you eventually just become an evil spirit.”
Some viewers seemed to agree with my explanation. However, because the number was so small, the chat window was still filthy.
As the saying goes, you should listen to the end of a statement.
“The thing you guys want to see is on the 3rd floor.”
“There are a lot of people who don’t want to see it. Can’t be helped. Jina, let’s turn off the broadcast.”
I signaled to Jina without a moment’s hesitation. It was a signal to turn off the broadcast.
Where do they get off trying to win against me.
That was when it happened.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[GhostLover donated 500,000 won.]
-Brother, I didn't educate the younger ones properly. Please, don't turn it off.
As I approached Jina, who was standing outside the door, the donations poured in.
“It would have been nice if you were like this from the start. Jina, let’s go to the 3rd floor.”
I stepped firmly onto the creaking stairs and headed to the 3rd floor.
And.
“Ah, shit. The broadcast is ruined.”
As soon as I arrived on the 3rd floor, I spat out an expletive.
Because I had gotten involved in a very troublesome matter.
“W-what? What is it, Oppa?”
As I frowned while looking at the end of the hallway, Jina ran over and stuck to my side.
“Is there something there?”
“Yeah.”
“W-what is it?”
Standing at the end of the hallway was a specter tied to its grudge, unable to leave this motel.
“There’s a corpse on the 3rd floor. Give me your phone.”
A land-bound spirit tied to somewhere was shedding tears of blood while looking at me.