Chapter 63
It was a humiliation.
The fact that I couldn’t even breathe and was gagging because of the sudden ghost appearance, and that it was all broadcasted through Mike.
Not being able to say a word in response to the viewers’ laughter and ridicule – all of it was humiliation.
This game is known for its high difficulty.
Before starting, I reminded myself of the explanation that someone who cleared it without a game over was rare, and braced myself.
But “rare” still means there’s at least one or two, right?
I was frustrated by the fact that I wasn’t among them.
What am I, some kind of loser?!
But what can I do now that I’ve already died? I just have to keep going.
I’ve played this far; quitting isn’t an option.
I decided that I would see the ending today and end the broadcast, so I grabbed the mouse again.
[Let’s start again from zero in TerrorFied ㄷㄷ]
[??? : Look, it’s the Primeval Village!]
[I can hear that divided sound from here!]
The viewers were having a blast, spinning me around in excitement.
Since it’s come to this, I decided to be shameless about it.
“Welcome to Mollru’s high-class broadcast! Today, we’re going to play the horror puzzle game TerrorFied as recommended by one of our viewers.”
I was alone in the game’s opening screen, and I even applauded and lifted my spirits.
[Huh?]
[Dormammu on]
[Your throat seems to be raspy today ^^]
[How’s the Bangjang’s throat status?]
[Current broadcast time: 2:03:11]
[What the heck is this?]
[Heh]
[Get a clue!]
Yeah, get a clue.
I’m the BJ, the Bangjang. I’m the master of the room.
If you don’t want to get kicked out, better behave.
And so, we were at it again with the horror game.
I quickly skipped through the parts I’d already done.
“Hey, if you look at the shoe cabinet in this hallway, there’s a clue. Grab it, and just when you do, the background music changes and the ghost pops up, right? Just turn around about three times and it will disappear. Let me move.”
[Why are you so good at this?]
[Is this really your first time?]
[You must have prepped for this.]
[For real, LOL. If it’s a prep, then it is!]
[I’ve seen this scene somewhere.]
[Ugh… my head…!]
The broadcast went smoothly, like the speedrun strategies.
Skipping the boring parts as I searched for clues, I safely reached that location again.
In classroom 2-A, I opened the lock without hesitation.
“Uh, I need to grab this notebook and get out quickly.”
[It only took you 30 minutes to get here…!]
[As expected, it’s Mollru ㅇㅇ]
[Are these guys pretending not to know? For real?]
[I’ve lost my memory.]
This was about right, wasn’t it?
I was about to head outside after finding the clue at the desk where I’d looked for the notebook earlier.
“I came out through the back door earlier, so I’ll go out the front now.”
[Earlier?]
[You mean earlier?]
[You broke character!]
[Just roll with it, LOL.]
My character slowly approached the front door, ready to open it.
But against my expectations, there it was at the door again.
“Wait, why is it here?!”
This time, I wasn’t surprised.
Just the slight hiccup sound?
I got that finding clues triggers the ghost to appear.
But were the front and back door patterns randomized too?
The 2-A classroom was quite spacious, so there’s a significant distance between the front and back door.
Even for a ghost, it wouldn’t be easy to move instantly.
Or maybe it was there because I opened the front door?
[Highly advanced AI cannot differentiate between humans!]
[I was just playing around in the ghost’s palm, LOL!]
[Guess it’s programmed that way? Always bumping into you!]
“I suppose so. Seems like it just is.”
With a slight stumble, I dashed up the dark stairs, leaving the ghost behind.
*
There was a man.
In a dimly lit room with no lights on, only the man’s face was illuminated by the glow from his monitor.
What could be so important? His serious expression belied the voice of a woman flowing from the screen he was staring at.
– Is there no other clue… This game seems to take longer finding clues than dodging the ghost. Is it because the puzzles are mixed in?
“Real Hheung,” he muttered with a face twisted like an evil spirit, letting out a gloomy laugh.
As he murmured and tapped away at the keyboard, chat messages popped up immediately.
However, among the multitude of messages, his got swept away, lost in the tide of the chat.
“Th-th-that’s…”
Anger flared up momentarily, but it was fine.
He didn’t need to sweat the small stuff anymore.
‘I’m special.’
What is chat, anyway?
It’s an indirect communication window connecting streamers and viewers.
Until now, he had been conversing with her through this indirect medium, but that was no longer the case.
The man shifted his gaze to another monitor next to the one showing the broadcast.
It displayed a woman, looking like a hodgepodge creation.
On her upper body clad in a short-sleeved T-shirt and dolphin shorts was her thigh.
Her left hand making a V-sign, but oddly, the black coat’s sleeves were fluttering, and only part of her chin was visible, like she was saying something into a headset microphone.
The faceless woman resembled the one he admired.
He fell for the streamer named Mollru as if by fate.
However, despite her fame, little was known about Mollru.
And so he gathered information about her.
The top half and bottom half were collected from the live streams of competitions.
The partially visible chin was cut and pasted from that momentary shot.
The left hand making a V-sign was from Jacky’s team gathering stream.
Every time he discovered a piece of Mollru, he felt a little closer to her.
He severed all ties with the family that held him down, and with the job, he created an environment where he could focus solely on her.
Now was the time to reap the rewards.
– Except for Tex and Ryuah, everyone’s in Seoul.
– There are a lot of colleges around-.
– It’s just a one-room. What’s the point of living spaciously alone?
He opened a map app, combining the clues he’d heard earlier.
Several registered potential locations were bookmarked.
He scanned for spots with a high probability of Mollru’s presence.
“Just wait a bit… I’ll be there soon.”
The man murmured with a lecherous grin.
*
“Have I almost cleared it…?”
Humans are creatures of adaptation.
Nothing new exists in the world, and as you keep doing what was once entertaining, it gets familiar and dull.
Even the fearful atmosphere derived from the dim screen and creepy soundtrack became something to grow accustomed to after several hours of facing it.
The frequent shocks I used to get had somewhat faded.
Maintaining a constant state of tension made me hold on fairly well with just a little jolt.
As I got closer to clearing the game, the ghost’s rampages became less frequent.
Could it be sensing death draws near?
“Oh, Bong-soon, welcome.”
[Bong-ha]
[Because I’m seeing Bong-soon, I’ve gotten attached]
[Should we take Bong-soon with us?]
[She’ll be lonely at school alone.]
“Lonely? What’s lonely? Bong-soon lives here! I’m off now.”
Referring affectionately to the female ghost I named Bong-soon.
She had a distinctive messy hairstyle, and as I watched her, I found her antics cute, so I befriended her and even named her.
It seemed like the viewers, who were initially puzzled, had also grown fond of Bong-soon.
Reading their comments confirmed that.
However, that’s that; this is this.
People must have clear boundaries.
Regrettably, it was time to end the game now.
I was getting a bit tired.
“It’s about time we part ways~ Let’s meet again next time.”
As Bong-soon appeared, the unique background music played, and my character’s speed began to slow.
When I first got caught in this, I thought I was about to be captured and was worried.
But it turns out there’s no set rule to die; if you run with all your might, you won’t get caught at all.
This game is well-made.
For a game hastily found because I had nothing to do, it had exceeded my expectations.
But now, it’s all coming to an end.
“Die! Hyah!”
– Kyaaaaaah!
As I plunged a suspicious nail soaked in chicken blood into a shrine right in the center, Bong-soon let out a heart-wrenching scream.
So this was the right answer! I was a little confused with the auditorium, but this was the correct spot.
Finding something like this behind the school was highly suspicious.
[Bong-ba]
[Bong-soon ㅠㅠ]
[But you said we were friends!]
[How dare this possessed spirit mess with a great human!]
[This is the Bangjang’s style, right? ㅇㅇ It wouldn’t have felt right if you saved her!]
“Bong-soon must be having a hard time too; I have to help her pass on. How long will I leave her like this?”
So I helped Bong-soon to pass on.
Unveiling the school’s secrets, I cleared the game.
Having finished the game, should I end the stream now?
“Alright, then… I’ll be signing off?”
[Don’t go!]
[Noooooo!]
[I just got here!]
[You played Dragon Road for over 8 hours!]
“Oh, why are you being so clingy? We’re not that type of relationship.”
[What kind of relationship are we, anyway?]
“Well… I’m curious too. Let’s figure it out by the next broadcast.”
As the broadcast screen slowly transformed offline and chat messages flooded in, I calmly got up from my seat.