I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game

"Don't make me laugh!!!"

Peter Pan was furious and tried to thrust his huge fist like a spear.

But I easily caught it with my smaller hand.

I spoke indifferently to the heavily breathing Peter Pan.

"It's too late to resist, War Game. Jabberwock has already decided to destroy this world. Neverland will crumble just from his existence."

"I won't listen to anything you say!"

A shotgun appeared from his body.

If it were just an ordinary shotgun, it wouldn't cause me much damage.

But the power I felt from this weapon was anything but ordinary.

So I destroyed it.

Peter Pan wore a dumbfounded expression and stomped heavily on the ground.

As the ground cracked and my center of gravity seemed to falter, he summoned the gun again.

"It's useless."

I had wings, so there was no need for me to stay on the ground.

Even now, I was subtly floating, unaffected by the stomp.

I kicked him as fast as light.

Peter Pan flew like a cannonball.

He stopped after piercing through several buildings.

Though each pebble on the street was made of soft material, the substances that made up the buildings were tough, so it seemed like he took quite a bit of damage.

"Urgh! Such incredible strength for a body like that of a kid!"

"Do you have the luxury to leave such comments?"

"!"

I was next to him.

As expected, using mirrors for teleportation is quite advantageous in battle.

I grabbed him and flew into the sky.

The sky was crumbling under the influence of the Jabberwock.

The fragments that had been the sky, tainted in chaos, fell to the ground of Neverland, and the citizens screamed.

Peter Pan was horrified.

"Stop... It!"

Bang!

"Oh. You're strong."

Peter Pan shook me off and flew toward Jabberwock.

To charge at the monstrous dragon devouring this world without hesitation- he's quite brave.

Peter Pan stood proudly in front of the dragon and gathered all his demonic power into his fist, then struck.

Bang-!!!!

A loud noise that could be mistaken for an explosion struck my eardrums, and Jabberwock, the dragon of calamity that seemed invincible, threw back its head.

I felt a sense of dissonance at the fact that Peter Pan, who was much smaller than Jabberwock, had done this.

But that was all.

Jabberwock spoke to Peter Pan.

[You dream of an unattainable wish. You are just like me. I, who was destined to be abandoned by my father's love. So do not struggle- end your fate and be reborn.]

Jabberwock tore Peter Pan apart with its sharp claws.

Peter Pan fell to the plaza of Neverland, severely wounded.

Blood dripped steadily, and it seemed his lungs were damaged as he made wheezing sounds.

Though he would soon recover with the devil's unique regenerative ability, the pain must have been excruciating.

Nevertheless, he stood up.

"I will never... Let you take away my ideal land... Citizens of Neverland! Return to the safety of your fences, I will protect this place!"

Jabberwock slammed down its gigantic fist, larger than a building.

Peter Pan took the blow alone.

His bones cracked, and his clenched teeth were damaged, yet he raised that fist with even more strength than before.

I was stunned by his strength and persistence.

But, on the other hand, I also felt a strange sense of admiration.

"Now I'm curious. Why are you so obsessed with Neverland, Peter Pan?"

When I asked, Peter Pan, while struggling to push back Jabberwock, answered sincerely.

"Horror Game... You would understand! People desire a safe place. Raining bombs, the screams of people, endless war! The world. The anomalous monsters that fill it. People are weak, so they can't endure in that hell. They seek their own utopia. I'm just helping them achieve it, it's for humanity!"

"And what does that have to do with people becoming drug addicts?"

"Because if everyone is intoxicated by drugs, asleep in pleasure, no one needs to fight. Enemies and allies alike, all are trapped in utopia. If no one fights, war doesn't exist! Neither does fear! Humans won't need to fight against irrationality anymore!"

"Hmm..."

When I showed interest, Peter Pan started to talk more freely.

It would have been better if we had talked before fighting, but it seemed Peter Pan only resorted to this after being cornered.

...It felt war-like.

"I was in an endless war. The only way to stop the war, endlessly repeating, was to use all the things in the game and the power of a devil to create a spell... Tinker Bell."

I see.

I nodded.

His game is a never-ending war.

He trapped both enemies and allies in an illusion (utopia) so no one could escape.

That's why he's Peter Pan.

Such a twisted idea.

I asked him, who was talking so proudly, one thing.

Because there's an obvious contradiction.

"But, Peter Pan, let me ask you... Where exactly is there no fighting?"

"...What?"

People were not going back home, but fighting each other. Even the citizens must have realized it by now.

This world is no longer safe.

The citizens had no intention of taking down Jabberwock, helping Peter Pan, or even cheering him on.

They were just fighting each other to steal someone else's drugs to escape this fear.

"Look at the people who are terrified. Do you think their behavior is ideal? They are not caring for each other; they are only fighting to get drugs to either be safer or escape reality. Is this the image you wanted for the people in Neverland?"

"..."

Peter Pan didn't respond.

I took the chance to gesture at Jabberwock to put his fist down.

The Jabberwock seemed displeased with my commanding attitude but eventually moved its fist away and rose into the sky again to destroy Neverland.

I called out to Peter Pan, who was lost in thought.

"Peter Pan."

"Shut up!! It's just not complete yet. If I gain your power, I can create a perfect world! Give me that power! You bitch!"

This guy doesn't make sense either.

I understand why dealing with tale devils is so difficult.

Peter Pan charged at me again.

His strength matched his resolve.

It would be better to use tricks rather than engage in a straightforward physical battle.

I took out a monster and made my body transparent.

Peter Pan was startled.

"Vanished?"

"People sometimes fear invisible blades more than visible ones. This is a monster derived from that fear."

...Let's call it Cheshire!

I circled around Peter Pan, making it impossible to guess my location.

"It's here!"

Wrong answer.

Cheshire's power can make even mirrors invisible.

Invisibility and mirror travel, he'll never find my location by sound alone.

Oh, there's a gap.

"Yap!"

Crunch.

"Aargh!"

Peter Pan screamed, his arm broken by the kick.

He quickly regenerated and tried to find my location again.

The path he's walking, burning his body through pain, is so twisted...

I sighed as I watched him like that.

"Haa... Considering what you've done, I should be killing you, but in the end, you didn't directly try to kill the children, and even though you could have taken my power, you didn't... I'll give you a chance to fix your twisted thinking."

Peter Pan ignored my words and tried to find me by using the hearing and smell of the clock crocodiles.

"Come out, Alice! These crocodiles will chase your children! Aren't you afraid? Your precious ones will get hurt! So come out!"

I felt a little shaken for a moment, but I regained my composure.

Those kids shouldn't just be protected.

I don't want to lock them in a fence, forsaking their potential.

As much as they trust me... I will trust them.

'And he's just threatening with words but hasn't actually ordered the clock crocodiles to kill the children. Unconsciously, he seems to be reluctant to kill the kids.'

"Peter Pan. Will you look here?"

I revealed myself and pulled out a new monster from the mirror. It was the monster of trauma.

It took the shape of a tall person with a camera for a face.

It was a child, a teenager, and an old man all at once.

Peter Pan looked at me.

I calmly spoke to him, who was rushing at me while summoning a gun.

"The scenery I saw in this Neverland was truly bizarre. But it was also beautiful. There were so many flowers."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bullets were absorbed by the mirror and exited through another mirror.

Peter Pan frowned and threw away the gun.

Instead, he poured the demonic power into his fist again.

The space around his fist distorted, indicating that he was gathering enough power to end this in one blow.

"But I couldn't smell the scent of the flowers. The scent of alcohol and cigarettes that people consumed completely overwhelmed it. Even the flowers' natural scent had faded because of the narcotic substances that were forcibly inserted into them."

He swung his fist.

The force was enough to warp the space around it.

This punch could deal some damage even to Jabberwock.

Well, it wouldn't be enough to knock him down, though.

"Trauma. Bring out the unforgettable memories."

Flash!

The camera on the monster's head emitted a light.

Peter Pan staggered from the mental shock, and the strength in his fist dissipated.

I caught that fist and this time, I put power into my own.

"I don't know what you experienced in that terrible war. I don't know what you lost. But the graves and the photos hanging in Neverland that I see sometimes definitely tells me that you lost something and became twisted because of it."

"Urgh...!"

The trauma monster brings back unforgettable memories from the past.

Though it deals mental damage, it also gives a chance to face those memories vividly once more.

Peter Pan. This is the first and last chance I can give you.

Face your past and try to correct your twisted path, even just a little.

"Just like the precious friends I met in the game... Maybe you had someone like that too. Comrades... Or maybe a second family!"

"Urgh...!"

Peter Pan's reaction was strange. It seemed like he was recalling something.

"...Did you remember what you lost? Now, Peter Pan! It's time to bring this to an end! If you truly desire utopia, at least try to make it with your wits about you!"

POV Switch - 3rd Person

A radiant yet sinister power gathered in Alice's fist, and soon she extended her fist.

Peter Pan tried to dodge, but his arm was grabbed and he couldn't dodge.

A moment of doom and gloom.

However, Peter Pan felt something different than a sense of crisis.

It was comfortable and warm.

The hand of Alice, who was holding his arm, felt that way.

There was no killing intent in her grip, and even though she held him firmly, there was warmth guiding him.

He had felt this warmth before.

The moment he realized this, something completely different reflected in Peter Pan's eyes.

It was a woman he had met in the war game.

"...You."

Her voice stirred his mind.

...

"You're the weirdo who kept saying that this place is just a game, right? Why do you look so sad?"

...

"My name is Wendy. What's yours?"

...

"You survived this war too. Haha... Should I be happy about surviving? Idiot. Of course, you should be happy you survived! It's sad that comrades died, but I will survive and return home! To a home with a safe fence."

...

"Even if you ask how I can be so strong, I'm not really strong. Look at me. I keep taking the standard-issue tranquilizers, and my hands are trembling. Well, I don't use them as much these days. Because..."

...