I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game

"Are you reading a comic? Jack O'Lantern?"

Carol casually snacked on candy while scolding Jack O'Lantern, who was leisurely reading a comic.

Every day, he would spout profound sentences about uncovering the secrets of the world, but when it came down to it, all he wanted to do was play.

"Ah, well. Yeah. It's a work by some guy called Yeto Junji or something. It's pretty interesting."¹

Jack O'Lantern shoved the comic toward Carol, suggesting she read it, but the page happened to be the most gruesome part.

Carol stiffened.

"Ugh... That's gross. Why are you reading something like this?"

"You're only looking at the surface and missing the essence! Look at this!"

Jack O'Lantern pointed to a cute(?) snail drawn in the corner of the comic.

"Doesn't it look funny?"

Carol gave him a cold stare but eventually shrugged and agreed.

She often didn't understand Jack O'Lantern, but deep down, she considered him a friend, so she often humored him.

Having escaped death and finding herself in a strange environment with unfamiliar people and the damn monsters that filled the world, Carol had no one else she could call a friend.

"It's creepy. Hmm... Now that I look at it again, it's kind of cute... But I still don't think it's suitable for kids."

"What are you talking about! The scarier it is, the better for kids. It's fun because it scares them!"

"You think it's fun?"

"Of course, and you're fun too, screaming in a feminine voice every time I try to scare you, even though you were originally a man."

"If you prank me one more time, I'll kill you. Really."

At Carol's deadly glare, Jack O'Lantern feigned innocence.

As Carol sighed, Jack O'Lantern opened his mouth, which smelled of pumpkin and candy, to continue the conversation.

"But this work isn't very stimulating."

"You call that not stimulating?"

"I've seen this author's other works. The previous ones were much more brutal and horrifying. That's why they were funnier. If it were him, he would've unleashed even darker imagination in this scene..."

Carol had a thought in response to Jack O'Lantern's question.

"Ah, that's probably because of censorship."

"Censorship?"

"The editor. They cut out the parts that were too brutal. There's a line that shouldn't be crossed in human ethics..."

Jack O'Lantern trembled with anger at the editor's tyranny.

Carol noted on a memo pad that he used to only shake his head when he was just a head, but now he shakes his hands too.

"Oh my god! That's unreasonable!"

"People often say things like it's like a fairy tale or it's like a cartoon, right? Just let it go."

"Tsk. Does the editor think they're some kind of god?"

"Well... From the perspective of the characters in the comic, that's not entirely wrong. They're like an ideal god."

...

POV Switch - Ha-rim

Boom...! The building shook.

Eunjeong flinched at the loud noise and looked around nervously.

The vibration didn't seem to be caused by a gas explosion or an earthquake.

It didn't feel irregular or chain-like either.

Just in case, I tapped on the mirror to contact Alice.

No response.

"Alice seems to be fighting. She's not responding even when I call her through the mirror."

That guy who introduced himself as Freeman.

He seemed suspicious, and it turns out he's a bad guy after all.

"Will Alice be okay? We should help her."

Suho looked worried.

If Alice is fighting, it usually means the opponent is extremely powerful.

Even if it's a monster capable of shaking buildings, Alice wouldn't have a hard time dealing with it.

But if we interfere carelessly, we might end up as collateral damage in a fight between monsters.

"Of course, we should help... But without information, it could be a hindrance."

"Right. I saw Alice fighting the Machine God! Even I, a devil, couldn't dare to intervene."

According to Jack's chattering, when Alice fought the Machine God, Jack and his friend Ariel couldn't join the fight due to compatibility issues.

Not all tale devils are strong, and even if they have manageable abilities, if the opponent can crush them with overwhelming physical force, it's pointless. Ɽ𝘼₦ỌꞖĘȿ

Originally, the means to subdue a powerful opponent is through abilities, but if those abilities don't work, running away is the standard procedure.

Jack added that if the Machine God felt like a programmed AI., Ariel might have been able to subdue it.

"So, Alice is compatible?"

"No. She fights using sheer numbers and pure strength. Among the devils I know, it's a ridiculous level of strength."

Boom-!

The building shook again.

If this continues, the building might collapse.

Evacuating outside is an option, but we can't just leave Alice to fight alone.

If we don't have information, we'll just have to get it...

I told the group.

"Let's go further underground. There must be something important down there. The deeper you go, the more important things tend to be."

Boom-!

"The sound is getting closer!"

Kyungmin urged us.

As always, there's no time to hesitate.

I led the group and hurried further underground.

There, a masked man blocked our path.

He seemed ready to stop us, taking a stance before we could even attack.

[From here on, only authorized personnel are allowed.]

"Let's go!"

At my signal, we all charged at once.

I grabbed a notebook with doodles from my bag and threw it at the masked man to block his vision.

"I can draw too, so now I'm authorized personnel!"

[Your skills are a bit lacking.]

Even with his vision blocked, the masked man inflated his body with ink, determined not to let anyone pass.

Suho raised his shield and charged at him, but the man didn't even try to dodge, ready to take the hit.

"Jack!"

At that moment, Jack, who had been hiding behind Suho, leaped out as Suho changed direction and threw a punch.

Bang!

Jack's punch pierced through the man's chest, and ink poured out.

Fortunately, it didn't seem to be a person like last time.

If he had been, I might have lived with guilt for the rest of my life.

We continued on, leaving Jack jumping around excitedly, saying that this was his first time trying such an impromptu strategy.

The path continued to be complicated, but we managed to find the stairs to the next floor.

Just as we were about to descend further...

Click!

We heard something being pressed under our feet.

Just as I was about to feel a chill down my spine, thinking if I stepped on a landmine, I noticed dozens of masked people running towards me from behind.

"Phew."

"This doesn't seem like the time to relax!"

Kyungmin blocked the passage with chains and ran ahead.

The chain wall, which we believed would buy us time, was quickly breached by the ink monsters with their slimy bodies.

Eunjeong grimaced at the sight of those monsters.

"Ew... It's a bit disgusting."

Eunjeong shook a bell, increasing our speed.

Jack seemed fascinated by the strange items we were using.

He also looked a bit depressed.

Maybe because even though we weren't demons, we had unique abilities, while Jack hadn't shown any special powers.

I hadn't spent much time with Jack, but he easily reveals his emotions.

Just like Alice.

"Huff... Huff... Huff..."

"Whew... Huff... Huff..."

We were out of breath from running so frantically.

Even though we've dodged monsters while running more than once or twice, it's been a while since we've been this out of breath.

Realizing this, I started to feel something was off.

"It's weird."

We had shaken off the masked monsters and entered a room with black doors, white floors, ceilings, and walls.

In the distance, we saw another black door and ran toward it.

But what's this?

The black door didn't seem to be getting any closer.

A bizarre phenomenon was happening before our eyes.

No matter how much we ran, we couldn't move forward.

If the trigger we stepped on had activated the building's defense system, this must be a trap to stop us.

"Let's stop for a moment."

We stopped running and caught our breath.

Then, as if we were on a conveyor belt, our bodies started moving back toward the entrance.

No matter how fast we ran, the floor moved at the same speed in the opposite direction.

We were essentially running in place.

"Damn, what do we do?"

Running in place without even realizing it.

It's quite a ridiculous sight.

Just as I was thinking that, I heard laughter.

[Heh. Heh. Heh. Heh. Heh.]

It was the laughter of the ink monsters chasing us.

Where is it coming from?

We quickly tried to locate the source.

"...What are you looking at?"

Jack tilted his head and pointed to one side of the wall.

Only then did we notice the monsters laughing.

They were watching us from behind a transparent glass wall, laughing at our foolish actions.

It was absurd that we hadn't noticed this earlier.

"Jack. Can you break that?"

Jack slowly approached the wall and punched it.

Bang!

There was a loud noise, but the wall didn't even scratch.

They could observe us, but we couldn't interfere with them.

It was like projecting the fourth wall.

From our perspective, it was just a flimsy wall.

"We can't move forward. The wall is moving, so even trying to advance by driving an awl into it or using chains is impossible."

"Isn't there a device to stop the movement?"

"Hmm..."

If the walls and floor were moving, there should be some gaps, but none were found.

As we pondered, Jack got into a jumping position.

He seemed to think he had to do something.

"Ooooh!!! I'll try something!"

I wondered if Jack could fly like Alice, but Jack chose to run at full speed instead.

As Jack pushed off the ground, the space shook slightly from the impact.

Jack ran at full speed.

But the floor moved in the opposite direction at the same speed.

Of course, we were almost thrown into the wall by the moving floor, nearly hitting our heads.

"Ouch!"

As we all fell at the same time, Jack looked gloomy and apologized.

"Sorry..."

"Ouch... It's okay, Jack. Sometimes simple methods work. Your way will be needed someday."

"Bwah!!! You're so kind!!!"

My ears hurt...

Jack was moved to tears, even shedding a few drops that wet the floor.

"...Tears?"

A good idea came to mind.

If I couldn't think of anything, I was going to use the power in my necklace, but now I could save it.

I immediately rummaged through my bag.

"Harim, what are you pulling out?"

"It's an item called [Surely Not on a Day Like Today]!!"

I imitated Doraemon's voice as I pulled out an item Alice had given me.

Among the members, I had received the most items, so I carried them all in my bag to handle various situations.

Alice had said I didn't need to carry so many, but it's reassuring to have a lot.

"An item?"

"Um... It's more like an itemized anomaly... But whatever?"

What I pulled out was a frog-shaped stone.

I placed the frog stone on the floor and began to act.

"The weather is so nice today. Not a cloud in the sky, no need to worry about rain."

"...?"

I smiled brightly while looking at the ceiling, which blocked the sky.

The others didn't seem to understand what I was doing, tilting their heads.

But Kyungmin seemed to have a rough idea.

Or maybe he was just going along with it.

"You're right. The laundry will dry well. It's not like it's going to suddenly rain while we're drying clothes, right? Right, guys?"

"Huh? Uh... Yeah. The weather forecast said it's clear..."

"That's why we chose today for the sports day."

The others went along with it, and I gradually built up the act.

And I didn't forget this line.

"Right! What are the chances it'll rain on a day like today?"

This item was obtained from a probability-based ominous anomaly, as Alice had explained.

People fear the possibility of the unknown.

Imagine a button that has a 1% chance of ending the world.

Would you press it for fun?

Even a 1% chance of the world ending makes us uneasy, so we don't press the button.

But what if someone kept pressing it?

People would want to kill them on the spot, but some would think:

I want to see that fool regret their actions when the world ends.

Alice said that people want to define others who don't fit their ethics, ideologies, or norms.

Even if it's through extreme means.

This anomaly is similar.

We casually joked about how it wouldn't rain, excluding even the slightest possibility.

We exaggerated the story through our act.

From wet laundry to dams breaking and people dying.

But we laughed.

The chances are slim!

[...#... ₩*... x@@...]

A reaction came.

An ominous energy surged.

Dark clouds gathered in the white room.

Like a calamity god trying to awaken a sense of fear in those who don't understand the terror of probability.

The frog stone grew in size and turned black.

"Jack! Come and shout with us!"

"...?"

We called Jack and started circling the frog.

We taunted the frog, laughing casually as we shouted.

"""""What are the chances it'll rain on a day like today!"""""

The frog turned completely black.

Swoosh...!!!!

Rain poured down madly, and the white room quickly filled with water from the black frog.

"Whoa!"

In an instant, a third of the room was filled with water, and we hurriedly swam.

If we weren't careful, we'd drown, so we had to move fast.

[!!!]

The ink monsters on the other side of the screen, unaffected by the conveyor belt-like room, swam across and watched us in surprise before rushing off somewhere.

Probably to start chasing us again.

We reached the end, and as Jack broke the door, we successfully slid out like a water slide along with the water.

"Yahoo!"

"This is fun."

Others might think it's strange to say such things while being chased by enemies, but we couldn't help but smile.

"Forward!"

I shouted as we ran, but the building shook again.

This tremor was much stronger than the occasional shakes we'd felt so far.

Boom-!

It seems Alice and Freeman's fight is intensifying.

When Alice fights using anomalies, various sounds can be heard.

From animal noises to loud radio sounds, human screams, and even spaceship warp sounds!

It's a shame we can't watch it up close.

I peacefully thought this as we shook off the ink monsters chasing us and descended to the next floor.

We had attached talismans to create a barrier, so we had some time.

"Wait! There's no path ahead!"

Jack, with his sharp eyes, noticed a giant door in the distance and the empty chasm between us and it.

We had to stop and figure out how to cross the chasm.

They've set up all sorts of devices to stop intruders...

"Wow. The door is huge."

"That must be the most important place."

Kyungmin tried to connect the chasm with chains, but they weren't long enough, leaving him frustrated.

If that's the core of this place, there must be a way for other monsters to enter.

Since it's a flat area, the most plausible method would be a long plank extending from either side to connect the gap.

But the chasm seemed hastily dug, making it hard to believe any device was installed.

"Hmm... Do we have any items that can help us fly?"

As I rummaged through my bag for something useful...

Jack walked closer to the chasm to see if he could jump across.

That's when it happened.

As Jack approached, something previously invisible was revealed.

"Right in front of the chasm... There are rakes."

Rakes...?

As Jack said, there were countless rakes.

Why are there rakes, of all things, here?

Could these rakes be a hint to cross the chasm?

"It's been a long time since..."

Jack poked at the rake as if it was a nostalgic item.

Then, he accidentally stepped on the rake's tines, causing the handle to swing up and hit him in the face.

"Ow!"

Jack covered his face and stepped back.

But then he stepped on another rake behind him and got hit on the back of his head!

"Ow!"

"Pfft!"

Eunjeong tried to hold back her laughter at the ridiculous scene, but it didn't last long.

It wasn't exactly a situation to laugh at.

Jack got hit on the back of his head and stumbled forward, only to get hit in the face again.

Then he stepped back and got hit on the back of his head again... At first glance, it looked like he was doing slapstick on purpose.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Now, Jack's nose was bleeding.

"He's stuck in a loop."

"Jack... That must hurt..."

"We can't move carelessly. If Jack's nose is bleeding from this, it wouldn't end with just a nosebleed for us."

We tried various methods to get Jack out of the loop, but the rule of (stepping on a rake, getting hit, stepping back, and hitting another rake) couldn't be changed.

Physical methods didn't work at all, so it was frustrating.

"...But this seems familiar, doesn't it?"

Kyungmin watched Jack for a moment and then spoke.

I thought about what Kyungmin said and slowly remembered.

"Ah!"

It came to me.

"That... The cartoon where the cat and the mouse always appear and chase each other?"

That's right. The ink monsters we encountered had a wobbly, fluid-like nature and often engaged in bizarre, unnecessary actions during their pursuit.

When Suho struck one of the pursuing monsters, its face froze in the shape of a shield, then changed to a bewildered mask before passing out.

And that was despite the fact that no other attacks worked on them at all.

On top of that, they even laughed when they saw each other in those states.

If their theme was cartoon logic, then it all started to make sense.

The reason Jack couldn't escape from the loop was probably because we were going about it the wrong way.

"...Jack. Just bear with it, even if it's hot."

I took a lighter out of my bag.

Seeing that, Suho immediately objected.

"You did this last time too, but why do you always carry a lighter?"

"Well, because it's an essential survival item? Why?"

"It feels more like you carry it around to set factories on fire, like last time."

"..."

I had no excuse.

...Because that was half the reason I carried it.

Honestly, setting that factory on fire had been fun.

I wanted to do it again.

When I smiled slightly at the thought, Suho gave me a look as if he were staring at a criminal.

So unfair.

After explaining to the club members how we would use the lighter to rescue Jack, I approached him, who was still suffering in the loop.

I brought the lighter close to Jack's butt.

In cartoons, when a character gets something hot on them, they scream and jump into the air...

With a strange sense of anticipation, I lit Jack's butt on fire.

"Sniff sniff... Where's that delicious smell coming from...?"

Jack realized that his butt was on fire.

"Kkiyaayaaaaah!!!!"

"Now! Grab him!"

Jack shot up like a rocket.

Using Kyungmin's chains, we linked Jack to ourselves, and used the flying Jack as a mode of transportation to shoot straight toward the door.

"You guys!!! Who do you think you're using as a vehicle?!!!"

"Sorry!"

Even as we apologized, we couldn't stop laughing.