Chapter 99
“See? Isn’t it much better when you’re honest? Sorry about hitting your forehead.”
“Forget it. It doesn’t really hurt.”
Saying that, Dan Seohyeok took his hand away from his forehead.
No, wait—his forehead is really red. That has to hurt a lot, right?
‘L-Let’s just pretend I didn’t notice.’
I subtly averted my gaze and changed the subject.
“Alright. Then let’s整理 this again! My goal is to completely break free from the radio ghost, and yours is to find your parents. That right?”
“Yeah. And if possible, it’d be even better if I could get revenge on the bastard who kidnapped them.”
“We’ll see about that. If it gets dangerous, let’s prioritize bringing your parents back safely.”
“Okay.”
Dan Seohyeok nodded more easily than I expected.
“I’m not so blinded by revenge that I’d mess everything up.”
Well, he is a rational guy. I guess I didn’t really need to worry. If it were me—or Machohae—maybe, but not him.
“Have you thought about how to find them?”
“Honestly, I was thinking of trying to use that urban legend community ghost you mentioned, but…”
Wait, what? You tried that behind my back?
‘After lecturing me so much about being reckless!’
This guy seriously went and did something risky on his own without even consulting me?
“Don’t look at me like that. There wasn’t any response anyway.”
Dan Seohyeok sounded calm. There wasn’t even a hint of regret in his voice, which made it seem like he hadn’t really expected to find them so easily in the first place.
“The quick-service ghost said it would know, but I think I’ll have to search in other ways too.”
Even the quick-service ghost—who had managed to track down Machohae’s whereabouts—said Dan Seohyeok’s parents were untraceable.
Given that there’d been no further comment since then, it might be information of a kind that even that ghost couldn’t obtain.
“Tak Yeonho said he’d look into other methods too.”
“Using urban legend–related information?”
“Yeah. It’s not all reliable, but you did find your sibling through that kind of info, didn’t you?”
I nodded.
‘As soon as I realized this was a horror novel, I assumed my sibling’s disappearance was caused by a ghost and tried using urban legends too.’
It seemed Dan Seohyeok had reached the same conclusion.
‘So how should we go about finding his parents?’
In the early part of the original story, it only depicted Dan Seohyeok struggling through various urban legends. The only real clue he ever got was during the truth game in an escape room.
For a while, neither of us said anything.
“Should I ask the urban legend community ghost one more time?”
“And what if that causes something bad to happen to you?”
I recalled the chat messages that had reacted as if it were watching me.
It really was scary, but still…
“But what it told us before was accurate. There really was an entrance to the auction house where Chohwae had been in Eden Villa, and it even led us to the quick-service ghost.”
“Yeah. That’s why I wanted to try using it too.”
Dan Seohyeok seemed uneasy about entrusting such a dangerous task—communicating with ghosts—to me. He was probably just worried about me, right?
“I’m fine. We have a contract, and Millie will protect me, so I won’t be threatened so easily by other ghosts.”
“Even so… haah. No, I guess I’m not in a position to refuse help.”
Letting out a sigh, Dan Seohyeok looked at me seriously.
“Please.”
“Don’t mention it. Since we’re talking about it, I’ll try using my phone right now.”
“Okay. …Good job.”
“What are you talking ab—ah.”
As I was about to scold him for the sudden praise, I realized something. A dry laugh escaped me.
“You’re saying that on purpose because of the contract, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. …But nothing’s happening.”
Dan Seohyeok scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
[No misuse allowed.]
After not being seen for a while since parting with Red, Millie appeared again. The way she naturally sat down in the chair beside me was absurd.
Other people couldn’t see her anyway, but like that, she really looked like a person.
“So just praising someone verbally doesn’t work?”
I asked Millie while looking at Dan Seohyeok, making it appear to others as if I were talking to him.
Millie, realizing the question was for her, answered calmly.
[If abilities could be granted that easily, I would have given them already.]
“So giving someone power isn’t easy, either?”
[Even the dead interfering in the lives of the living is a problem.]
Millie continued in the same detached tone.
[That’s why I only helped in truly dangerous situations.]
“Then this contract… it’s not going to put you in a difficult position, is it, Millie?”
Are there rules among ghosts or something?
I’d been thinking too optimistically, so I asked out of concern. Millie replied:
[A child doesn’t need to worry about an adult.]
“…I’m not that much of a child, you know.”
There was no response.
Really now.
‘The fact that she didn’t answer this question probably means it really does cause trouble for her.’
I cast a worried glance toward Dan Seohyeok. He, who had been watching me the whole time, slowly shook his head.
Probably meaning, Don’t worry.
‘Right. It’s not like worrying would let us undo the contract anyway.’
I chose to believe that Millie had a way and that’s why she was helping.
I took out my phone again to use the urban legend community.
People were steadily logging into the café forum. Sitting across from me, Dan Seohyeok leaned forward, staring intently at the phone screen resting on the table.
Ding.
Just as I was about to log in, I turned my head at the sound of the door chime. A man wearing a hat had entered the café.
Despite the burn scars on his leg, he was wearing shorts that reached his knees. Well, being injured isn’t something to be ashamed of.
Thinking that he must be someone who didn’t care about the stares of others, I shifted my gaze back to my phone.
〈Title: I want to find my missing parents. Please help.〉
Author: MachoKing
Content: My parents’ life or death is uncertain. I’m begging you—please help.
They won’t tell me to go somewhere dangerous like Eden Villa again, will they?
Even as I posted it, I felt uneasy.
Then a question occurred to me.
‘Come to think of it, why was Dan Seohyeok in front of Eden Villa back then?’
The way he’d looked… it wasn’t like someone trying to find clues about his parents’ whereabouts.
I waited until before any comments appeared and asked him.
“Dan Seohyeok.”
“Hm?”
“About when we first met. Why were you at Eden Villa back then? From what you said, it sounded like you’d already gone in and come back out once.”
If you find a place to hide and hold out until morning, you can survive. That had to be knowledge gained through firsthand experience.
It wasn’t the kind of abandoned villa someone would just wander into by chance. That meant he’d had a purpose.
So why would someone as cautious as Dan Seohyeok…? What was he after?
“And back then, it wasn’t even raining, but your school uniform was wet, wasn’t it? That’s why I was even more on guard.”
The more I thought about it, the more suspicious everything seemed. At the time, I’d been too overwhelmed—seeing ghosts and meeting the protagonist of the original story—to ask these questions.
“…Going to Eden Villa had nothing to do with my intentions. When I opened my eyes, I was already there. And while desperately trying to escape, I learned how to survive.”
Nothing to do with his intentions?
I frowned, unable to understand. It’s not like someone had kidnapped him and dumped him there—so how?
‘Ah, wait. Don’t tell me the place he opened his eyes after regressing was inside Eden Villa?’
That would explain his vague wording.
‘Then being soaked would have been from before the regression? Does the condition right before regression carry over afterward?’
Dan Seohyeok was choosing his words carefully. Seeing that only strengthened my suspicions.
‘It’s not easy to talk about something as special as regression with other people.’
It was even more unbelievable than seeing ghosts.
Even as I thought that, part of me wondered if he still didn’t trust me enough to talk about it—though I knew that wasn’t really the case.
“I see.”
Despite the strange answer, I accepted it without pressing further. Dan Seohyeok looked at me with a curious expression.
“You’re not going to ask more? About why I ended up in a place like that against my will?”
“If it’s hard for you to talk about, why would I force you?”
I might’ve been curious if I didn’t know about his ability, but knowing it, there was no reason to push him and make things awkward.
What mattered right now was the ghost’s reply. Just like last time, when I’d forcibly shut down the computer after posting, I placed my finger over the phone’s power button.
Just as Dan Seohyeok was about to say something—
[Wait.]
Millie stopped me.
I quickly lifted my finger from the power button.
Flaaash!
All the lights in the café went out at once.
