I’m Just an Ordinary Human

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“Puha, I can finally breathe.” The boy with bright blonde hair said as he exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

He didn’t look very young, but he didn’t exactly come across as an adult either.

It wasn’t the case of being an extremely youthful appearance.

After all, he was wearing a school uniform.

Additionally, the boy wasn’t alone.

“Look at this crazy smoker’s face?”

“I can’t help it! I can’t even smoke in the neighborhood anymore!”

After getting caught sneaking a smoke, the boy wasn’t able to smoke in the neighborhood anymore.

Wait, considering he was trying to quit out of fear of getting caught by an adult, could he be surprisingly well-behaved for a boy?

“It’s all your fault! Can’t you even keep watch properly?”

“S-sorry.”

Actually, that didn’t seem quite right.

The boy, with an angry expression, threw the cigarette he held at a smaller boy.

The lit cigarette hit the smaller boy’s arm, which was revealed by his short sleeves, leaving a burn, but more than that, he seemed to shrink back in fear as he apologized in a trembling voice.

Seeing this, the blonde boy lit up another cigarette and said.

“Well, I’ll let it slide. If you knew a place like this existed, you should’ve said it sooner.”

The blonde boy looked around.

It was a shabby, old building that had been neglected and was a complete mess, but being in a place like this, at least he didn’t have to worry about getting caught.

“But there are such abandoned schools near the neighborhood?”

“Scared?”

“Scared, my ass.”

The blonde boy, slightly nervous, let out a curse at his friend’s remark.

Then, as if a fun idea struck him, he looked at the group and said.

“How about we take a courage test?”

*

“Ah, ah, can you see me well?”

– Oh? Is today outside?

– Is this a night broadcast?

– Isn’t this the first night stream for you?

“Hmm, well, that’s how it turned out.”

I was attempting my first night stream since I started broadcasting.

Huh? What do you mean, what kind of night stream?

– Of all times to do a night broadcast.

– So where is that?

– I’m going to meet the reality.

“Oh, here?”

I smiled and signaled in response to the viewers’ questions.

Then, an entity began filming the scenery with a camera.

– ???

– ?????

– ?

Looking at the chat filled with hooks, I brightened my smile and said.

“Today’s content! Exploring an abandoned school! Let’s begin!”

– Hyung, you’re crazy?

Whoa, that’s a harsh comment.

*

Now, having tossed off the bonds and shackles of the world, the man looked at me and said, [Abnormality that Eats Anomalies].

I think I’m just an ordinary human, but I can’t shake off this unsettling feeling.

Huh? Did I kill someone?

What a terrifying bunch.

I just said I kept them in the backroom.

Anyway, that’s not this world, right?

By now, they should be nursing their injuries while receiving care from the entities.

Whether or not they can return to their senses, I’m not sure.

Anyway, I came here for an experiment, searching for a ‘place where ghosts might appear,’ commonly referred to as a spiritual spot.

My household entities are basically mass-produced so they’re unsuitable for experiments like this.

I need to check if they disappear when they die, but facing monsters that respawn infinitely is not exactly ideal.

Well, I can’t destroy my home, [Ordinary Apartment], so I had no choice but to come here myself.

Why did I even go live to do this?

What kind of obvious question is that…

It’s an exploration of an abandoned school, right?

It’s like a courage test.

If I weren’t doing it, I wouldn’t know, but if I weren’t broadcasting, I’d be unqualified as a streamer.

– No, hyung, it’s dangerous!

– Outside is risky…

– Didn’t you watch the news?

Let me clarify again, this world is full of ghost stories.

In a world where ghost stories gain real power and move, that’s absolutely not a good thing.

However, there haven’t been many notable supernatural incidents, which can be attributed to the [Alliance]’s efforts.

They manipulate the information at the scene using [Abnormality Entities] or slightly distort the journalists’ perceptions to report things like ‘serial killers’ or ‘random murders’.

Thanks to that, the perception is that exploring abandoned schools or hospitals is dangerous not because of ghosts but because of murderers.

“It’s okay, I’ll win.”

– Acting tough isn’t meant for this situation.

– Haven’t you heard that there are killers hiding in abandoned schools?

– Even homeless people are dangerous.

– You’re not a martial artist, how are you going to win against someone with a knife?

“I really can win…”

Unless my opponent’s trying to come at me with a truck, shouldn’t I be the strongest among humans? Han Yu-seong thought with his pride deeply wounded.

After all, he had already beaten entities charging at him with cars, so perhaps he wasn’t completely wrong.

“Anyway, I won’t take no for an answer! If it’s decided, a man sees things through!”

A man doesn’t hesitate!

Kuhuh! That manly force is insane.

“Anyhow, I’m going in for now.”

I decided to ignore whatever was continuously rising in the broadcast chat.

It probably says something about danger again.

Screech—

As I pushed the door, it began to open, scraping the rusty metal with a disgusting noise.

“Huh?”

There are marks on the floor…

“It seems someone else has been here first?”

– See! I told you it’s dangerous!

– It might be a shelter for homeless people.

– Run away!

“Eh, if it’s a person, I can win.”

Could it be that real homeless people actually took up residence here?

Thinking that way, I felt disappointed.

“I was hoping to show the viewers a ghost.”

– Ghosts? Where would they be in this world?

– That’s right, people are much scarier than ghosts.

– Hyung, you still have some childlike faith left?

This world is overflowing with ghost stories, yet the reaction to actual ghosts is as it stands.

It can be said to be a result of the [Alliance]’s pitiful efforts.

“Ghosts really exist, you know?”

It’s just that it doesn’t sit well with me.

The [Alliance] continues to foolishly conceal information even after exceeding their own threshold.

Well, they seem to be saying they’re the guardians of humanity, claiming it’s for world peace or something…

But fundamentally, the state of the world has largely come about because of the [Alliance].

Yet, despite that, with all the talk about confidentiality and control, their reasons are no longer relevant.

What they truly fear is losing the comfortable power unique to the hidden world.

‘But I certainly dislike those other organizations as well.’

Especially those called [Temple] or [Artist] seem to want to spread the word about [Abnormalities], but when I hear their purposes, I really don’t want to be friendly with them.

“Humans should have the freedom to choose their own future and move forward.”

– Hyung, your middle-school syndrome hasn’t been cured yet…?

– I bet he thinks he just said something profound.

– That dude has an incurable middle-school syndrome, there’s no cure.

He doesn’t even realize that they barely even think about him!

“Well, if it’s a homeless person, I’ll have to subdue them.”

Living in someone else’s building without permission.

As a law-abiding citizen, I cannot forgive that.

Of course, the police won’t do anything, so I plan to handle it myself.

– But with that logic, isn’t it illegal for you to go in there now?

– Shh! That’s not what we’re talking about!

*

A broken window.

The shabby exterior of the building, which hasn’t been maintained.

The eerie atmosphere that felt like something might pop out just by standing still!

“This really looks like a painted picture of an abandoned school.”

– Well, it’s an abandoned school.

– What a statement of the obvious.

Unfortunately, I still couldn’t find any homeless people, murderers, or ghosts.

What I found instead…

“Is this just a spot for delinquents to smoke?”

Just some discarded cigarette butts and a few footprints?

Finding something to call ‘discovery’ here felt absurdly trivial.

– At least it seems like a safe abandoned school.

– Doesn’t seem like there are any murderers?

The viewers appeared thoroughly relieved.

“This is totally a bust.”

– By the way, how many people did you bring with you…?”

“Huh?”

At that moment, a viewer asked.

Well, the entities weren’t directly captured on screen, but considering glimpses of reflections in the windows, it wouldn’t be strange for them to notice.

“I only brought a few. About 30?”

That number excludes the guy being used as the cameraman, of course.

– Aren’t we supposed to be worried about a homeless person instead of hyung?

Oh come on, if it were a person there wouldn’t be a need for this crew.

After all, I brought these guys intending to face [Abnormalities].

Up until now, I’ve easily beaten the [Abnormalities] I encountered, but according to the information I heard, even among modern ghost-type [Abnormalities], beings worthy of being called gods are common.

After all, it’s a well-established tradition across many media that the side of justice turns to brutal measures.

Even the heroes decked out in tight spandex gather five to take down one villain, and when going after a Demon Lord, it’s the warrior, mage, thief, and saint all coming together to fight.

So naturally, it’s justified for me, aiming to shed light on the dark truths of the world, to gang up on an [Abnormality] with 30 entities.

If it seems like a tougher battle, I can always sacrifice a few and run away.

Well, I don’t think it’ll reach that far no matter how severe the situation is.

Beep beep beep beep!

“Huh?”

A cute yet trivial buzzing sound, oddly matching the serious background, echoed through the air.

Then, an entity pulled out a phone from their pocket and answered the call.

By the way, that smartphone wasn’t something I got for them.

They’ve had it since they were born.

Once, I even thought about collecting that smartphone and selling it, but when I saw that they wouldn’t recognize anything unless they touched it, I cleanly gave up.

I may generally disregard them as mass-produced, but they are, in truth, beings with individuality and thoughts akin to real humans.

So that ringtone signifies that entity’s taste…

‘What a preference…’

While I was having such thoughts, the entity’s call ended.

“The team heading to the annex has discovered something.”

And thus we arrived at the auditorium of the annex.

– Heeek!

– Shouldn’t we report this?

– Whoa…

“Whoa… can we even air this?”

Well, it’s already airing so it’s a bit late to think about it now.

Thinking that, I looked at what was in front of me.

In the middle of what likely served as the school gymnasium, there lay the charred corpses of children.