Chapter 40
“Pretty fancy way of talking for a ghost.”
Dan Seo-hyeok sneered, but the blond ghost didn’t even blink.
[I merely stated the truth.]
Instead, its mouth moved very actively—no, aggressively.
Ah… no, calling it “blond” feels rude now, right? After all the help I received.
Okay then—dear benefactor ghost. Dan Seo-hyeok has a rotten temper, so provoking him might not be the best idea, you know?
“What are you plotting, pretending to help Ma Cho-yeon?”
Huh? He’s really bringing me up here?
“She’s so dumb that if someone’s nice to her she thinks they’re a kind ghost, but I’m not like her.”
“Hey, Dan Seo-hyeok…!”
Wow, that’s harsh! I opened my mouth to protest because it was so absurd.
[…That is indeed concerning.]
Benefactor ghost, you too?!
“Why are you two talking trash about me right in front of my face? At a cemetery, of all places!”
“If not now, then when?”
Dan Seo-hyeok’s sharp gaze struck me.
“If it disappears now, who knows when it’ll show itself in front of you again.”
“But if that ghost hadn’t helped us, we might’ve died in that escape room game! My life’s bene—!”
“Bene what? Don’t tell me you were about to call a ghost your benefactor?”
His senses are disgustingly quick!
Dan Seo-hyeok’s expression twisted like a goblin’s—scarier than most ghosts.
“Hey, Peanut.”
He glared down at me, jabbing my forehead repeatedly with his finger.
“Is your brain also peanut-sized? Is that why you never think? Seriously, you have no idea how dangerous ghosts—”
[Enough.]
The benefactor ghost shielded my forehead with its hand.
[Your behavior is worse than a beast’s.]
Yes, this rude finger! I agree completely.
[There is no special identity behind me.]
[You merely resemble someone I once knew.]
A foreign-looking ghost had someone similar to me—a Korean girl—in their past?
Did they meet a Korean woman in a past life? Or a friend?
Anyway, I finally understood a little why this ghost kept helping me.
But Dan Seo-hyeok still looked suspicious. He totally didn’t buy it. I ignored him as best I could and turned to the ghost again.
“Um! Thank you for helping this time—and also back then, with the keychain ghost.”
I owed a debt, so a proper thank-you was necessary!
“And you too, Dan Seo-hyeok!”
I turned toward him. He seemed caught off guard; his usual annoying poker face cracked a little.
Honestly, thanking him was way more awkward than thanking a ghost.
“…Thanks. Even though I said mean things, you still came to find me.”
I guess he did worry because he considered me a friend.
Until now I had thought of him as a pitiful protagonist or an annoying jerk.
So Dan Seo-hyeok and I were… friends.
Maybe he valued me more than I thought.
Still a jerk, but I should probably watch what I say from now on.
Damn, he’s actually kind of sweet sometimes. Kid knows how to judge people!
But Dan Seo-hyeok looked like he’d seen something horrifying.
“Why are you being creepy?”
…Should I take back the thanks?
Yeah, he’s still the same annoying jerk.
“Ahem.”
Anyway, after the thanks, I returned to the main issue and looked at the benefactor ghost.
Thankfully, it was still here, watching me.
“If you helped me because I look like someone you used to know… could you maybe stay nearby a little longer and help me again?”
“What the hell are you talking about now?!”
“Dan Seo-hyeok, be quiet.”
The ghost said nothing.
…Which meant it was listening, right?
“My younger brother is missing, and I think the cause is a ghost. I can’t give up, so I’m going to keep searching… but honestly, I have limits.”
It wasn’t just that ghosts scared me. I’d almost died several times in a very short period.
I looked down at my battered hands. How was I supposed to explain this to my friends or family later?
“I need your help.”
I asked plainly. Even if it refused, I had to try.
“I want to find my brother safely, quickly, and for sure. And this guy next to me—his parents went missing too, so he’s searching for them as well.”
“……”
“I… may not have much to offer you. And I can’t promise I’ll obey if you ask for something dangerous.”
Feeling shameless, I avoided its gaze. My eyes landed on the flowers placed in front of a nearby grave.
“But I’ll visit your grave regularly and bring you pretty flowers, and thank you properly.”
After saying it, I felt embarrassed. I was asking for so much, yet offering only flowers.
[…]
Of course it would refuse. Maybe I should’ve offered something like Red had done.
[…Milly.]
Then, the ghost suddenly spoke.
Milly?
“What does that mean?”
[You may call me that.]
[It was the name used by the one you resemble.]
So it wanted to remember that person through me?
Whatever the reason, I was fine with it.
A ghost had a name. Or maybe that was its name in its past life.
If it told me its name, that means it’ll accept my request… right?
At the very least, I could tell it held goodwill toward me.
I couldn’t help but smile. I answered brightly.
“Yes! I’ll call you Milly from now on. Thank you!”
Milly silently watched me for a moment, then slowly faded.
Soon, only Dan Seo-hyeok and I remained in the cemetery.
“You really trust a ghost that much… sigh.”
“But you saw it too. If it wasn’t for Milly, we wouldn’t have gotten out alive.”
“Or maybe it’s lulling us into complacency so it can put us in danger later.”
“We’ll worry about that if it happens.”
If Milly wanted to harm us, it could’ve done so easily already.
“But we can’t be scared of things that haven’t even happened yet, right?”
“That’s…”
Dan Seo-hyeok sighed deeply.
“Yeah. That’s exactly the kind of person you are.”
When did he get to know me so well?
“Anyway, Peanut.”
“What now?”
“Think about how we’re getting back to school.”
“Why do I have to think about it?!”
“Who dragged us all the way here?”
“N-no one told you to follow me! You’re the one who acted like you’d die of worry so you followed me!”
“Who was I supposedly worried to death about?”
“You! You jerk Dan Seo-hyeok!”
“You were thanking me like a puppy a minute ago, now suddenly you’ve changed your tone?”
“I was not thanking you like a puppy! Don’t exagger—!”
BEEEEEP!
A horn.
“…?”
“…?”
We both turned toward the sound. A horn in a cemetery at dawn?
We looked—and there was a motorcycle.
With a familiar pink helmet.
BEEEP! BEEP!
The Quick-Service Ghost honked slowly, as if telling us to get on.
* *
“…What is even happening.”
“Let’s… think positively.”
I never imagined the Quick-Service Ghost would drive us all the way back to school. We didn’t even call for it.
Time outside hadn’t passed much—the sun was only just rising.
I stared at the ghost’s back.
I was holding onto the ghost’s waist, and Dan Seo-hyeok was barely perched behind me.
“This won’t… like… fall, right?”
Oh, so even he worries about that.
“It’s fine. He said he’ll deliver us safely.”
“Then why did the ghost only give you a helmet?”
“Uh… maybe it only has one for customers?”
“It didn’t give me one on the way here either.”
His tone said, So you got one, huh.
I laughed awkwardly and looked into the bike’s side mirror. The ghost’s face was still hidden by the helmet.
“Thank you for coming to pick us up. I didn’t get to thank you earlier when you dropped us off, so… thanks again.”
[Delivering items safely is my duty.]
“Even so, I appreciate it.”
[Did you meet your brother?]
“…No. But I did get confirmation that he’s alive.”
Honestly, I thought I’d finally find him this time.
But even this was something.
“It’s thanks to you. Thank you.”
The ghost didn’t reply. Soon, the motorcycle stopped at the alley where I first met it.
Luckily, no one was around.
Dan Seo-hyeok got off first, then I followed. The ghost handed me something.
A small box.
[Package delivery.]
“For me?”
[Yes.]
“Who is it from?”
Hopefully nothing dangerous.
Suspicious, I examined the box, but the ghost didn’t answer.
I carefully opened it—and found my fingers.
The three fingers I lost during the game.
[Delivery complete.]
Black flames rose around the fingers and around the stumps on my hand.
There was no pain or heat. Dan Seo-hyeok stepped toward me in alarm, but I held him back with a look.
Soon, the flames receded.
[Fortunately, the item is in good condition.]
My severed fingers were back where they belonged.
