Chapter 56
Ep. 5. Familyship
There was no way to confirm whether the woman who had given Jang Hyun-woo the keyring really became trapped in a nightmare, but for now, we all returned to our respective homes to rest.
After returning to my dorm room, washing up, and lying on my bed, I stared blankly at the ceiling.
“Dan Seo-hyeok.”
Something strange was going on.
Everyone I passed on my way back to the dorm was surrounded by white smoke.
The smoke around ghosts wrapped their bodies like fog.
But the smoke around people fluttered and scattered like something alive.
‘But why does Dan Seo-hyeok have red smoke around him? Is it because he died multiple times to ghosts?’
Was that really the only reason?
I rolled around on the bed. Even if I asked him directly, he wouldn’t know.
“Millie, if I ask why I see red smoke around Dan Seo-hyeok, you won’t answer me, right?”
[…]
As expected, no answer again.
I let out a small sigh and tried again.
“Is this also because of your restrictions? You’re not allowed to tell me?”
[Yes.]
“What kind of restriction is that? Something like ‘you can’t help humans’ or what?”
[…]
“Millie, you have too many secrets.”
I grumbled with dissatisfaction, but then quickly corrected myself when I saw Millie’s expressionless face.
“But you know I’m grateful you always help me, right?”
I even gave a thumbs-up.
[…]
I ignored Millie’s baffled expression.
He wasn’t something I could casually use for small favors like a ghost delivery service, but he was basically a guardian spirit now, so I wasn’t lying.
He was always nearby, I relied on him, and he even gave me a useful ability.
Now I just needed to figure out how to use it well.
Not easy.
After thinking for a while, I grabbed my phone.
Now that I finally had a breather, I should organize the original novel’s plot in my notes app.
‘Up until now, I’ve been so focused on finding Cho-hae that I’ve neglected the original story.’
I thought it wouldn’t matter, but I was wrong. The escape-room incident made it painfully clear.
The better I understood the original story, the better my chances of survival.
And the more I stuck close to the protagonist, the safer I was.
‘There’s no choice now. I have to stay with Dan Seo-hyeok.’
At least until one of us finds our missing family member, we’d have to continue this partnership.
‘Which means I need to remember the original story more accurately.’
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you’ll win a hundred battles.
I worked hard to recall everything and began writing in my memo app. First, the characters!
The first was the protagonist, Dan Seo-hyeok.
Nineteen years old, lost his parents to the human-trafficking ghost, and then became entangled with ghosts. For some reason, he gained the ability to revive after death—a regression ability.
‘Typical fantasy protagonist setting.’
But meeting Dan Seo-hyeok in real life just made that ability seem pitiful.
And his other ability…
‘What was it again?’
I shook my phone as if that would jog my memory.
In the early part of the story, his regression ability was emphasized, and he spent most of his time suffering at the hands of ghosts, so he didn’t have many chances to use other abilities.
Hmmmm…
After thinking hard, I realized it.
“Oh, right. <Partnership>!”
Although the main theme was horror, it was still fantasy, so the protagonist and other main characters had special abilities.
Abilities related to ghosts—spiritual powers.
Some had spiritual sight, like me now, letting them distinguish ghosts from humans. Some could hear ghosts’ voices.
Some dreamed prophetic dreams.
But Dan Seo-hyeok, being the protagonist, had an especially unique ability.
The author called spiritual powers <Balance>.
‘A power given to fight ghosts—to maintain balance, I guess?’
Since talismans or spells didn’t work on the ghosts in the story, it wasn’t a strange term.
Before Seo-hyeok awakened his powers, <Balance> didn’t appear much.
But according to the explanation, <Partnership> was literally a business relationship with a ghost.
If he fulfilled a ghost’s request, he could use that ghost’s ability.
‘Honestly, it’s a broken ability.’
If he partnered with the “red paper, blue paper” ghost, then maybe he’d get unlimited tissue—anytime, anywhere.
“….”
…Maybe not.
Millie looked at me strangely, as if he had read my thoughts. I pretended nothing happened and continued thinking.
‘It’s a broken ability, but also a tragic one.’
Right. How did I forget this?
The demands of beings who wanted to harm humans were never normal.
Sometimes they asked him to kill someone, or offer a body part, or even a family member’s life.
Or the ghost would force him to have nightmares every night, keep him from sleeping, or hear the final screams of the ghost’s victims.
Ghosts used every method to wear Dan Seo-hyeok down.
Even if he gained abilities that way, it wasn’t worth it.
The stronger the ghost, the harsher the conditions.
‘The more I think about it, the more pitiful he is.’
Sigh.
Other than that, early-story Seo-hyeok was just like he was now.
I moved on to the second character.
Seo-hyeok’s first companion, Tak Yeon-ho!
A normal guy with no Balance. But since he was interested in urban legends, he provided lots of information to Seo-hyeok, who was clueless in the beginning.
‘Maybe he opened up more later, but early on, Seo-hyeok didn’t seem that close to him.’
He’s just cautious. So there wasn’t much information about him. Moving on.
‘Chaesong and I don’t appear in the original anyway, so no info there.’
Next was the female celebrity.
She got involved in a stalking-ghost case. Some readers even shipped her with the protagonist.
I don’t know if they ended up together, but she was pretty and bold, so she was popular.
Other than them… there was that handsome firefighter who appeared a lot.
Readers expected he’d become an ally later.
‘Okay, that’s it for characters. Now the important part—the episodes.’
The first was the disappearance of Seo-hyeok’s parents. He realized it wasn’t a normal case because he saw the human-trafficking ghost himself.
‘That ghost must be near final-boss level.’
It’s still causing people to disappear even now.
Including Ma Cho-hae.
I clenched my teeth as I recalled the description of the human-trafficking ghost.
A young boy wearing a white hospital gown. Hair and eyebrows described as white as snow.
More like an angel than a ghost—an unforgettable description.
Aside from being unnaturally white and alien-like, he didn’t seem scary.
Just… too white to feel like a being of this world.
‘He told Seo-hyeok that if he wants to find his parents, he should come find him, right?’
He could have at least said where.
I sighed and summarized the following episodes.
Escape-room game, online urban-legend ghost, hide-and-seek ghost, celebrity stalker ghost, nightmare party, Dongsan village case, etc.
There were more minor episodes, but those were the major ones I remembered.
The one that made many readers quit was the infamous “Dongsan village incident.”
Ugh. Just the title makes me nauseous. Skipping that.
‘The problem is… I don’t know which regression this is.’
In the original, there was no mention of Eden Villa early on.
Was it a mid-story event? Pre-regression? Or a skipped episode?
‘Since Seo-hyeok escaped once from here… it feels extra ominous.’
If this was before the novel’s official timeline started… then Seo-hyeok would likely die again soon.
Since the story should follow its original flow.
He would regress, but what about me? Would I have to survive alone and search for Cho-hae without the protagonist?
Or would the world cease to exist without the protagonist?
‘Even after organizing everything, my head is a mess.’
I looked down at my memo.
Everything was listed in random, out-of-order fragments.
‘…Maybe my head is messy for a reason.’
I wish I had the sharp memory of the original Yu Chae-song.
