Chapter 48
This room was the biggest mess.
No—maybe the owner’s mind was the real mess.
“W-what? What’s wrong? What’s in there?”
“Nothing too serious, Yeonho. There are a lot of photos of corpses on the wall. Are you okay with that?”
“As long as it doesn’t smell, I’m fine.”
At Yoo Chaesong’s explanation, Tak Yeonho stepped boldly into the room. When he saw the photos, he muttered in shock:
“Did he kill them himself?”
“If the dream I saw is accurate, it’s entirely possible. There was no hesitation at all.”
Chaesong slowly looked around the chaotic room and continued:
“Judging by this room, the dream must’ve really happened.”
“Seriously? Then if someone like this kidnapped Choyeon, she could be in huge danger. What do we do?”
“Should we hide here and wait until he comes back?”
“That’s… not a bad idea.”
When Chaesong suggested something surprisingly bold, Dan Seohyuk nodded approvingly.
Yeonho was the one horrified.
“Guys, even so, facing a murderer directly is—! …Huh? Wait.”
Fwoosh—!
The old computer, which had been turned off, suddenly powered on.
All three of them turned toward the suddenly bright screen.
“What the—?”
Chaesong blinked slowly, confused.
The mouse wasn’t moving, yet the cursor on-screen drifted on its own.
An internet browser opened, and letters slowly appeared in the search bar.
Tap. Tap.
The keyboard pressed itself, slowly and quietly. Yeonho stepped forward cautiously to see the search words.
“A… urban legend community?”
The unexpected search term surprised them even more.
A familiar website loaded, and the cursor moved again without hesitation.
Free Board.
Then it stopped.
“What’s this? Is it trying to show us something?”
“Seems like it.”
When Yeonho asked, Chaesong nodded.
Seohyuk sat in front of the desk and grabbed the mouse.
The board was full of titles posted by random users.
<Thank you, ghost, for letting me find my son’s letter.> (+1)
<You guys ever really experienced a ghost story?>(+4)
<Still hearing about disappearances in O○ district? Is this real?>(+3)
<I finally passed on my suicide dream…….>(+99)
<Sharing how to get sleep paralysis ㄱㄱ>(+11)
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
“I came here before when I was researching something.”
Yeonho pointed at one specific post title.
“This one. The title changed. And the comment count suddenly exploded.”
<I finally passed on my suicide dream…….>(+99)
Passed… a dream?
A suicide dream?
Frowning, Seohyuk clicked the post.
<Title: I finally passed on my suicide dream…….>
Author: TheOneWhoCannotSleep
Content:
Now I can finally sleep in peace. She stopped me.
Now SHE will be the one dreaming of dying!
Just like how I kept dreaming of my own death after blocking someone else’s!
└ FangOfConfusion: ?? What is this nonsense? Why are there so many comments?
└ PeaceJoyHappiness: Seriously;;
└ GravekeeperPark: The original post wasn’t like thisㄷㄷ
The content keeps changing so people keep checking it
└ FangOfConfusion: Changing? How?
└ GravekeeperPark: Someone summarized the previous versions. Hold on
└ GravekeeperPark: Reposting the summary someone made:
Witnesses a suicide in a dream, then dies in the dream as well
To escape the loop, they prevent the suicide in the dream
After that, the dream-suicide becomes their suicide, changing method/location each time; they even feel the pain
They start seeing the dream locations in real life
For the first time, they witness someone else’s suicide in the dream
That person later dies the same way in reality; they’re terrified their own dream suicides will also come true
Current post suggests they “passed” the dream to the person they stopped
└ GravekeeperPark: So the next dream will probably be the woman who stopped them
“A dream coming true in real life?”
Yeonho looked anxiously at Chaesong, but she shook her head.
“It’s different from my case.”
“That’s a relief… I guess. Then the one who received the dream is the real problem. A dream about suicide? That’s horrific…”
“But why show us this? What message are they trying to give?”
That was exactly what Seohyuk wondered.
Whichever ghost was doing this clearly knew why they were here.
Seohyuk tapped the mouse twice, hit the Back button—
And found it.
A new post had appeared.
“Uh??”
Yeonho reacted the same way. He rubbed his eyes hard, as if doubting what he saw.
“That author… isn’t that Choyeon!?”
It was exactly as he said.
A new post appeared—written by ‘MachoKing.’
<Title: How to die without pain>
Author: MachoKing
Content:
*I don’t know if it’s a dream or what, but ever since I stopped some stranger from killing themselves, I keep dreaming of dying.
Hanging from a tree, lying on subway tracks, jumping into a river, etc. I think I’ve died quite a lot by now?
I’m guessing someone else has to stop me for this to end, but who knows when that’ll happen.
And who’s gonna help me just because I say this?
Oh, am I not supposed to say that either?
Whatever. If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.
Anyone know a painless way to die?>
└ TigerAppearsIfSpoken: Someone go stop this guy. Bad attempt at a concept lol
└ LongShell: For real. Probably just copying the popular post below
└ Colopoom: What’s with the weird “talking to a ghost beside me” gimmick? So cringe
└ BananaSprout: If it were real, no one would talk so cheerfully. Even maniacs don’t talk like that
“……”
“……”
“…So Choyeon is in danger… right?”
No one answered Yeonho’s trembling question.
Seohyuk rubbed his aching forehead and sighed deeply.
“Anyway… I think Choyeon got sucked into that dream and is trapped. What do you two think?”
At Chaesong’s question, Seohyuk nodded.
“I have no idea why she went into someone else’s dream and got caught up in this mess.”
“But if it’s really a dream, how do we help? Looks like someone has to ‘take’ the dream for Choyeon to escape.”
At least she didn’t seem to be in immediate physical danger.
Judging by the post, she hadn’t mentally collapsed yet, either.
‘Then… the person she keeps talking to must be that ghost Millie?’
Seohyuk thought. He didn’t like it, but having something with her was better than being alone.
“Should we comment on the post? Or send a private message?”
While Seohyuk and Chaesong brainstormed, Yeonho spoke up timidly.
All eyes turned to him, making him shrink for a moment before he pointed at the screen.
“Choyeon literally said this: ‘Who’s gonna help me if I say it?’ Meaning… someone can. Maybe someone told her to post it?”
Oh.
They hadn’t considered that.
Maybe Millie made sure we’d find this site.
Maybe connecting them to Choyeon was the whole point.
Seohyuk quickly sent a message to the author “MachoKing.”
<ReallySorry: peanut>
Would she reply?
They didn’t call her name, since they couldn’t be sure yet.
After a long wait—
Ding.
A reply arrived.
<MachoKing: rude brat?>
It was definitely Choyeon.
“Pfft.”
Seohyuk turned his head and caught Yeonho trying hard not to laugh.
<MachoKing: Can you hear my voice?>
<MachoKing: HEY HEY HEY!!! YOU RUDE JERK!! DAN SEOHYUK!!>
So the messages sounded like voices to her?
The “rude jerk” Dan Seohyuk replied:
<ReallySorry: Serves you right.>
<MachoKing: How can you say that to someone suffering?! Wow, even without your voice, your rude tone screams ‘Dan Seohyuk’!!>
<MachoKing: Anyway, help me! I don’t know how to get out of here!>
“Guess her voice sounds different over there… wow, Choyeon has audio support?”
Chaesong murmured, impressed.
<ReallySorry: How? The previous author escaped because you stopped them.>
<MachoKing: Ah, so that’s the problem? Damn it!>
<MachoKing: Then YOU come in here and stop me! Easy!>
Was she trying to pick a fight?
When Seohyuk reached for the power button, Yeonho grabbed his hand in panic.
Unnecessarily fast reflexes, as usual.
