Chapter 75
Hong Mi-ri suddenly went crazy and tried to strangle me. She really intended to kill me.
As I ran away, I dispatched a mercenary to myself from the Mercenary Group. It was the 'Elevator to the 4th Floor'.
Someone might ask why I chose to dispatch the elevator. If Yang Juhee were here, she would definitely have asked that.
How could I decisively take down Ms. Hong Mi-ri?
I racked my brains over this and came to a conclusion.
The hell elevator where I could get information about Ms. Hong Mi-ri. That death floor space seemed perfect for confusing Ms. Hong Mi-ri.
On that fourth floor, there was a "Rolling Head" and a "Headless Wandering Body". When that head joined with the body, the head had clearly said:
─This isn't my body.
It had gone its own way.
In other words, the head was looking for its matching body. The body also seemed to be looking for its head.
And on Ms. Hong Mi-ri's neck, there was a mark that looked like it had been cut by something sharp, like a mark where the neck and head had been separated and reattached.
The hypothesis I could draw from this was one. What if Ms. Hong Mi-ri's body and head weren't actually one set?
What if they were connected like different Lego pieces, parts from different people? There wasn't concrete evidence, but there were several circumstantial proofs.
When drinking at the soup restaurant, Ms. Hong Mi-ri's body turned very red like a boiled crayfish, but her face remained white. As if only the face was a different being.
The conclusion was this:
If we consider Ms. Hong Mi-ri's head as A1, her body as B2, and the rolling head in the elevator as B1, and its body as A2, many things seemed to fit.
What would happen if we helped them find their correct bodies and heads?
"The situation will definitely change!"
I had once returned the body to Gu Hyena, who was a head ghost, and evolved her into the absolute complete form of a "High School Girl Ghost".
There was no guarantee that something similar wouldn't happen this time.
I hid in the corridor of the orphanage that was thought to have burned down long ago.
Click. Click.
I heard the sound of high heels on the corridor.
I peeked around the corner, sticking out just my head, and saw Ms. Hong Mi-ri walking in the darkness, looking around.
Hong Mi-ri had also come into this 4th floor elevator! I thought it was natural.
The teacher was wearing high heels, so it would have been inconvenient to use the stairs. If there was an elevator, she would naturally have taken it.
Of course, if it had been the hell elevator with only the number "4", she wouldn't have ridden it. That's why I colored all the buttons with this fluorescent pen.
[Eternal Glow-in-the-Dark Pen: A pen that's visible even in darkness. Marks made with this pen can never be erased unless you use the eraser on the cap.]
It seemed Hong Mi-ri had fallen right into my trap. Now it's up to me.
Swish-
I took out my flashlight and walked around the corridor at a fairly quick pace, illuminating the surroundings.
I was looking for the head and body on this fourth floor.
They had to be here!
The ghosts I had so desperately wanted to avoid. Now, I was desperate to see them.
As I was thinking about how unpredictable life can be, while walking around the corridor:
Roll roll roll roll-. Thud, thump, roll-
I heard a loud sound of something rolling around.
Swish-
When I shone the flashlight, I saw a terribly distorted face rolling like a ball. I was both very happy and scared.
"There it is! Hey! Hey! Wak!"
I shouted on purpose.
It was to draw the head's aggro. And my provocation was successful.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Wak! There it is! Yaya! Yayayayayayayayayayayayayaya."
The head ghost started rolling towards me, mimicking my voice.
I ran with all my might. Towards where Hong Mi-ri was!
***
'This place is...'
Hong Mi-ri looked around, shining her phone light.
She saw a place labeled "A-1". There was also a "Principal's Office".
It was the moment when Hong Mi-ri's old memories were awakening. This was the orphanage where Hong Mi-ri had lived until high school.
An orphanage affiliated with the Yeongji Foundation.
Hong Mi-ri couldn't understand why this place, which had burned down 10 years ago, was on a non-existent 4th floor.
'This is an unpleasant place. Ha Young-won. Did you pull some trick? Or is it a coincidence?'
Hong Mi-ri suspected that the elevator she had ridden was itself some kind of horror, ghost story, or corresponding mystery. And there was a high probability that such horror appeared because of the escaped 'Ha Young-won'.
Ha Young-won's aptitude as an Observer was very high, high enough to make Hong Mi-ri herself feel jealous.
'Those who gaze into the abyss will also be gazed upon by the abyss. Being an Observer means you can see the horrors and mysteries, and the horrors and mysteries also look at you.'
The horrors and mysteries were beings that wanted someone to look at them.
To these strange phenomena, Observers who could clearly recognize their existence were as captivating as a light blooming in darkness, like an oasis appearing before vagrants crossing a desert without a drop of water.
'In other words, it wouldn't be strange if this elevator phenomenon suddenly appeared due to Ha Young-won's aptitude. Ha Young-won. Running away like this. Lucky bastard. You must be somewhere around here too?'
Drip-
At that moment, blood flowed from Hong Mi-ri's neck. When she touched her neck with her palm, she could feel the scar on her neck throbbing and starting to heat up.
'This feels awful. Let's just deal with Ha Young-won and get out of here quickly. Come to think of it, I'm lucky too. People who disappear in such a strange realm can never be found. Ha Young-won. You're going to die here.'
Hong Mi-ri moved slowly, clutching her neck.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
She felt something like a presence near her ear.
It was coming from a place labeled "B-3".
"Young-won. Are you in there? Teacher is sorry. Come out quickly. Teacher suddenly went crazy... I scared you. Let's make up~"
Hong Mi-ri acted like a kind teacher. As she did so, she slowly opened the door to "B-3".
"As an apology, teacher will grant you one wish. Any wish. Even an embarrassing one. Even worries you can't tell others. So come out. Teacher is scared here."
Boys of Ha Young-won's age were no different from horny monkeys. And they would surely have some fantasy about a young female teacher.
Hong Mi-ri planned to lure Ha Young-won out like this, and finally shone her phone light towards the source of the rustling.
"Found you!"
'It' was rummaging through lockers in a place that looked like a classroom labeled "B-1". And 'it' had no head.
"...!"
Hong Mi-ri was greatly startled by the headless being. It was clearly something that could be called a strange phenomenon or ghost. And it didn't seem like a simple ghost.
Blood began to spurt from Hong Mi-ri's neck with tremendous pain.
"Aaargh~!"
The pain was so intense it made her dizzy. The headless body approached Hong Mi-ri in this state. When she got a close look at the body, Hong Mi-ri felt her hair stand on end.
"Get lost!"
Hong Mi-ri decided to run away for now. It seemed like the best thing to do. As she ran, Hong Mi-ri encountered Ha Young-won in the corridor.
"You bastard!"
Ha Young-won was running straight towards Hong Mi-ri. She thought she'd bite his nape and kill him right here, then leave this place- As Hong Mi-ri was thinking this, the boy lunged at her.
"Yaaah!"
Thud-!
It was a body slam. Because the student was running at full speed, even Hong Mi-ri couldn't help but fall flat on the floor. It was hard to keep her balance because she was wearing heels.
Hong Mi-ri recalled that she had recently experienced such an attack. It was when Kwon Suho attacked her and knocked her down in the Nightmare Corridor. As that memory came back, Hong Mi-ri felt like blood was spurting from her whole body.
"Ha Young-won! You bastard! So you escaped back then!"
"Here! Here! It's here! Here!"
Ha Young-won roughly pressed down on Hong Mi-ri's body from above. His breathing was very rough, and his bloodshot eyes made him look like a sex-crazed maniac. Hong Mi-ri struggled to shake off this boy, but his strength was stronger than she expected.
"You bastard, acting like a man!"
"Here! Here!"
Ha Young-won's mouth kept shouting the same thing as if trying to call something. What was he calling? Hong Mi-ri would soon find out.
Roll roll roll roll roll roll roll-
She could see something rolling from far away.
It was a face with eyes cracked like glass windows. Hong Mi-ri's eyes met those vicious eyes, and she could see herself in them. It was natural.
If someone looked closely, they would have noticed that the face of that horrible head looked very similar to Hong Mi-ri's face.
"Mi... Mi-ri."
Hong Mi-ri said her own name. Soon, the head ghost lunged at the man and woman huddled together.
"Aaargh!"
The boy screamed as he was attacked by the hair. But that was only for a moment. The head attacking the boy suddenly moved towards Hong Mi-ri.
"L-let go of this! Let this go! You bastard! Let go! I said let go!"
Now, the only thought in Hong Mi-ri's mind was that she had to escape this place. Her jealousy and murderous intent towards the boy, and all her other thoughts, turned pale.
Struggle struggle struggle-
Hong Mi-ri moved her arms and legs frantically, but the boy's hands were still firmly gripping both her arms. His strength was stronger than she expected.
"You bastard! You pervert! I'll let you do it once! Let go of this! I said let go! Yaaaaaaah! Yaaaaaaaaah!"
Hong Mi-ri kept screaming. The hair strongly wrapped around Hong Mi-ri's limbs. And the hair crept into Hong Mi-ri's hot scar.
"Aah! No! Ha Young-won! Young-won! Teacher is sorry! Let this go! Let go and let's talk! Ha Young-won! Teacher will love you now! Hey! You bastard!"
"......"
"You bastard! I treated you like a person and now you're trying to be my equal! You bastard! Biting the hand that feeds you! You bastard!"
Crack, snap-
Hong Mi-ri vividly felt her head separating from her body. It felt like something that shouldn't have been joined was forcibly connected and now coming apart again.