Chapter 126: Red Flower Blooming Shrine (2)

The third floor of the nightmare corridor. A dark shrine.

We had fled into a nearby shrine, scared by the jingling bell sounds, and were greatly surprised by Yang Juhee's words.

"You're saying that's your sister's clothes?"

The reason Yang Juhee was actively cooperating with us was to find her missing sister and restore her family's happiness.

The fall of a once-happy family.

Having experienced that process myself, I knew well that Yang Juhee's wish was by no means small.

For a child who had an unhappy childhood, a harmonious family was everything.

"Look! It says Yang Do-hee on the uniform!"

The clothes hanging on the altar were covered in something red. Looking closely, it was an extremely shortened women's school uniform top.

The name tag said 'Yang Do-', with one more character after it, but it was hard to make out due to the red stain. However, Yang Juhee had no doubt that it was her sister's uniform.

"Unnie! Unnie was here!"

"Shh! Be quiet!"

Jung-seok covered Yang Juhee's mouth with his palm. Then he put his index finger to his lips and made a shushing sound as if warning us.

Because we all fell silent, the bell sounds from outside the shrine seemed even louder.

Jingle! Jingle!

Jingle jingle jingle!

Jingle! Jingle jingle jingle!

The bell sounds grew louder until they made a piercing high pitch.

Flicker, flicker-

The candles lit in the shrine where we were hiding started shaking violently.

Whatever it was, I was too scared and cold.

Wanting to feel human warmth, I grabbed Yang Juhee's side and hid behind her. Hiding behind Yang Juhee always made me feel more secure.

Usually, Yang Juhee would get angry when I grabbed her side, saying "It tickles!", but now she just kept her mouth shut, probably too preoccupied to care.

Jingle, jingle...

Jingle...

The loud bell sounds gradually decreased, and the world became quiet again.

The candles that had been flickering as if they would go out any moment stabilized.

...Whatever it was, has it passed?

I thought so but didn't say it out loud. It might be superstitious, but speaking ominous words might bring misfortune.

Squeeze-

I tightened my grip on the talisman in my hand. And I said to everyone.

"I'll open the door slightly and look. We need to see if there's anything outside. We can't stay in here forever. I'll look. I have the talisman... I'll go out..."

I mustered my courage.

Ready to escape if necessary, I slowly opened the shrine door and stretched my foot outside.

It was quiet as if everything was dead silent.

It would have been nice to have a flashlight.

I thought that as I looked around. Then, I came to regret it.

"......"

Beyond where the torches were shining, something was half-showing its face from behind a thick pillar.

A face revealed between long, ink-black hair.

A face so pale it looked blue, with no eyebrows and eyes with such large whites that the pupils looked like dots.

Even more terrifying was the mouth. The mouth was mercilessly sewn shut with something like black thread, and those stitches were so ominous and terrifying that I felt like wetting myself.

It wasn't smiling or angry. A complete lack of expression.

That inhumanly emotionless face felt like it was stealing the warmth from my heart.

"...Gasp..."

Having encountered various ghosts, I could tell.

This was different from the ghosts we had seen on the first floor, and completely different from what we had seen on the second floor.

"...Oh shit..."

I wanted to cry. No, maybe I was already crying.

Jingle! Jingle jingle jingle! Jingle! Jingle jingle jingle!

Jingle! Jingle jingle jingle!

The piercing bell sounds started ringing as if torturing our ears.

My reason flew away, leaving only instinct. My instinct wanted to confront it.

Squeeze-

I raised the camera I was holding, aimed, and... pressed the button.

Bang-!

The camera's flash burst incredibly bright. It was so bright that even I, taking the photo, had to squint.

It was like lightning striking right in front of me, but the woman was still looking at me as if she wasn't dazzled at all.

"Ah..."

At that surreal scene, my reason coldly returned.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

Screaming loudly, I returned to the shrine where everyone was hiding.

I had no leisure to look back.

"It's there! It's there! It was still there! It was hiding!"

"...We saw it too when we opened the door. With eight arms... Like a spider..."

Jung-seok was frozen stiff like a mouse in front of a snake. Could this thin shrine door protect us from that thing?

We might really all die.

Slide-

Just then, the shrine door that I thought I had closed tightly opened on its own.

Slide-

Long, thin fingers grasped the edge of the open door. And a bluish woman's face appeared, sticking to the floor between black hair.

Oh god, we're definitely going to die.

"Jewel Fairy! With light! LuLu Shine Ruby Power!"

Just as I was giving up on life, Yang Juhee chanted a very strange spell.

Whoosh-

The toy magic wand in Yang Juhee's hand emitted light.

Right! The barrier-creating magic wand!

With that, we could block even a powerful evil spirit from approaching.

As I was feeling relieved, an unexpectedly long arm reached into the shrine.

There was a flower tattoo on the back of the hand, though it was hard to tell what kind of flower, but that wasn't important right now. Jung-seok's ankle had been grabbed.

"Aaaagh! Help me! Aaagh!"

Jung-seok disappeared outside the shrine, screaming like a dog being dragged by a high-speed bus with its ankle tied. The expressionless woman vanished along with him.

***

When Jung-seok's screams could no longer be heard, the bell sounds also stopped. 

Everything was quiet and silent.

"...Spider. Didn't it look like a spider?"

The first to speak was Yang Juhee, the bravest among us. But even the brave Yang Juhee now looked quite frightened.

That thing just now.

The woman with only an upper body had eight arms. It looked just like a spider, and as far as I knew, Yang Juhee was uniquely afraid of spiders in the world.

"What the hell was that! What kind of ghost is that! What happened to Jung-seok! That bastard!"

Scratch scratch scratch-

Yang Juhee scratched her head nervously. Her stress seemed to have reached its limit due to fear.

Is that a ghost?

No, I didn't think so. That was "something" beyond a ghost or evil spirit.

What exactly it was... I didn't know either, but normal progress was no longer possible.

The camera didn't work, and we didn't have a box cutter.

Even Yang Juhee, who had been our most reliable member, had lost her fighting spirit.

Just as I was thinking there was no answer left, Yoo Dahee, who had been quiet all along, stood up.

"I'll go out and look around."

"Dahee! This is hell!"

"We can't just stay here forever. You guys rest here."

Yoo Dahee's attitude was quite detached.

Isn't she scared?

Suddenly, I remembered Dahee's status window.

『Name. Yoo Dahee Lv.5

Trait. 《Elegance》

Disposition. Innocent

Quirk. None

Possession. Lucky Paper Crane

She's a rich young lady who seems to have popped out of a story. She likes to play pranks and create and keep secrets. This girl will become a surprisingly excellent companion in crisis situations bigger than usual.』

Elegance that doesn't lose its dignity. Who knows if that shows superhuman resolve in a major crisis?

"Wait here."

Swish-

Yoo Dahee slipped out of the shrine before I could stop her. Now, only Yang Juhee and I were left.

Yang Juhee was shivering, holding the clothes presumed to be her sister's uniform.

"Spider..."

Spider.

Yang Juhee, who had entered the science room without hesitation despite the mirror ghost lurking there, was still unable to escape her fear of spiders.

While it was girlish to dislike scary bugs, I thought there must be some reason why Yang Juhee, who was brave to the point of being hot-blooded, was so afraid of spiders.

"Did something happen with spiders? Why are you so afraid of just spiders?"

"......"

Yang Juhee, who had been dazed for a while, glanced at my face. She seemed about to say something, her lips moving, but then she started retching.

"...I don't want to talk about it now."

Yang Juhee, barely coming to her senses, drew a line. She clutched her sister's uniform tighter and stood up.

"We can't stay like this. I need to find my sister. I think my sister was definitely here. This clothes is proof. She must have been nearby."

Yang Juhee regained her courage.

"Ha Young-won. I'll protect you. If it seems dangerous, use the talisman to escape."

As Yang Juhee regained her spirit, I was also able to somehow regain mine. So we left the shrine.

I looked around, wondering if that weird spider woman would pop out from somewhere, but she hadn't shown herself since kidnapping Jung-seok.

Come to think of it, when that woman appeared, the bells hanging around would ring loudly as if giving an alarm.

I thought if we used that well, we could navigate this third floor.

Pitter-patter-

Light footsteps were heard from afar. It was Yoo Dahee.

"Guys, you came out! I found something interesting! Come here!"

Something interesting?

Yoo Dahee's expression was always relaxed and gentle. Now her face seemed to radiate hope, and I wanted to trust her. 

In this situation, I'd probably agree even if she asked me to vouch for her.

"It's close by!"

Yoo Dahee started walking ahead.

We walked through this ominous and eerie shrine.

There were collapsed stone statues here and there, and red flowers were blooming in the flower beds visible in between. Flowers. I was surprised to see flowers in a place like this, and Dahee explained.

"It's rock chrysanthemum, also called paradise flower. Its flower language is reincarnation. Sad memories. Death..."

Paradise flower. A flower of death?

It was eerie.

"It's over there."

Where Yoo Dahee pointed, there was a small warehouse-like structure among the paradise flowers.

As we entered, warm air touched our noses.

"Wow, fire."

It was a place with a bonfire burning. The warmth of the flames seemed to melt away our cold and tense feelings.

Where is this? The width is about the size of a single room.

The interesting point was that various items were displayed, like in a countryside stationery store I had visited when I was very young.

The types of items were very diverse, including common things like lighters, bandages, and cigarettes, as well as many strange items whose purpose was hard to guess.

An antique shop?

That was my first impression.

I called it a shop because there were signs with numbers like "100", "200" in front of the items. Anyone could see they were price tags.

"Is that a real gun?"

Yang Juhee showed interest in an item hanging on the wall.

There was a handgun in a luxurious-looking case. The case was locked and looked very sturdy.

"How is it, warm, right?"

Yoo Dahee, who had found this place and guided us here, chuckled.

It was indeed a perfect place to hide. Just then, text appeared before my eyes.

『Mysterious Shop』

『You can buy and sell various items using mysterious currency.

However, absolutely do not steal items. We take no responsibility if caught!』