NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25
S#. 2 Small Village (Night/Outside)
A man, walking alone, glances around nervously.
Kim Jae Heon: “I have no idea what’s going on.” (eyes wide open)
As if staring at something invisible in midair, the man’s focus blurs and he begins to talk to himself.
Kim Jae Heon: “I can’t see anything at all.”
Kim Jae Heon: “What even is this situation? Did I get sucked into another dimension like a cube?”
Lost in thought, he suddenly spots the entrance to a village and stops dead in his tracks.
Kim Jae Heon: “A village…? Wasn’t this just a road a moment ago?” (looking around in confusion)
Someone calls his name.
Kim Jae Heon: “Who’s there?!”
The man scans the area.
Kim Jae Heon: “I can’t see anything.”
He frowns.
??? : “Over here.”
A girl in a black dress appears. The man freezes as he sees her.
Kim Jae Heon: “You…?” (with a look of shock)
??? : “Long time no see.” (with a gentle smile)
Kim Jae Heon: “Why do you look the same—”
??? : “Is that what you’re most curious about after all this time?” (giggles softly)
Kim Jae Heon: “Then what else would I be curious about?”
??? : “Well, wouldn’t a friendly ‘How have you been?’ be nice?”
Kim Jae Heon: “I’m not in the mood for jokes. Something’s off here. My eyesight—”
??? : “It’s blurry, isn’t it?”
The man stares at the girl, caught off guard. She simply smiles.
??? : “It can’t be helped. But don’t worry.”
Kim Jae Heon: “How do you know about my eyes? I was perfectly fine when I last saw you.” (with a voice full of suspicion)
??? : “That’s not true.” (shaking her head with closed eyes)
The girl looks up at the ceiling of the stage.
Her water-colored hair flows in the wind.
??? : “It sounds like your eyes are the ones that are strange now.”
Kim Jae Heon: (falls silent)
??? : “You’ve always been you. And no matter what happens, you’ll always be you.”
Kim Jae Heon: “You…” (his expression grows serious)
Step, step.
The man turns at the sound of footsteps, horror etched on his face.
He grabs the girl’s hand, but she shakes her head and pulls back.
??? : “I didn’t come here to run away with you.” (still smiling gently)
Kim Jae Heon: “What are you talking about?! Do you know something about this?” (raising his voice in urgency)
??? : “Of course I do.”
The girl covers her mouth, laughing maturely. Shock flashes across the man’s face.
Kim Jae Heon: “You—”
The man stares above the girl’s head.
??? : “Now that you’ve seen everything, can I share my story?”
The girl takes the man’s hand and points to the audience.
??? : “Don’t forget the exit. And stay strong. I’ll always be watching over you.”
The girl sparkles with a black light and vanishes, leaving the man looking around in disbelief.
Kim Jae Heon: “Hey! Where did you go?! Hey!” (shouting desperately)
Step, step.
The man stands frozen, turning around.
Kim Jae Heon: “What the hell.” (voice filled with dread)
He turns and runs madly away.
—
S#. 3 Forest (Night/Outside)
Kim Jae Heon: “Huff… Huff…” (breathing heavily)
As he looks back while running, the man trips over a rock and falls.
Kim Jae Heon: “Agh!” (screaming in pain)
Rolling down the forest path, he looks back and runs faster, gasping for breath.
Step, step.
Kim Jae Heon: “Damn it, damn it.” (muttering continuously)
Running like a madman, he soon reaches a dead end, surrounded by towering stone walls.
Kim Jae Heon: “No way.” (with a look of despair)
From the shadows, someone appears before him.
Step, step.
Kim Jae Heon: “There has to be a way, there has to be!” (ripping his hair in frustration)
He stares into the air, shrinking back as fear envelops him.
‘Red Lady’ appears before him.
The man freezes in horror.
With a thud, a book falls from his pocket.
His eyes are drawn to the book.
[[[Please commit suicide right now.]]]
The man hesitates, reading the text. He searches his pockets but finds no gun.
The ‘Red Lady’ draws closer.
The man approaches the cliff, beginning to bang his head against it.
Kim Jae Heon: “Ah! Please! Just die! Please!” (banging his head against the cliff crazily)
He continues to slam his head.
(E) Thud, thud sound.
Kim Jae Heon: “Please… kill… me…” (bleeding from his head)
(E) A sound of something breaking.
The man collapses. His forehead is caved in.
‘Red Lady’ stops.
*
“Ugh!”
My heart feels like it’s about to explode.
I rise from my seat only to crash back down onto my knees.
What just happened? What did I just witness?
I quickly touch my forehead.
It feels just like a normal forehead.
Thank goodness. Not broken.
Let’s think back to what just transpired.
I was suddenly… in the middle of a road, then suddenly found myself in a small village, and then…
A sharp pain shoots through my head.
I remember meeting that girl.
I recall what she said to me.
But, I saw something from her. What was it exactly?
I can’t remember.
It’s as if someone plucked that fragment of memory right out of me.
“…”
No, I can’t. As hard as I try, I can’t recall.
After several attempts to remember, I realize it’s a futile effort and I give up.
Let’s think of something else.
‘Red Lady.’
This memory is blurry too.
To be precise, I remember the ‘Red Lady.’ The issue is, I can’t remember what she looked like at all.
But one thing I can say for sure is that I was scared.
Just pure fear.
An instinctive terror towards something whose appearance I couldn’t even recall.
Am I the only one who’s awake now?
I look around.
All the audience members have their eyes closed.
On stage, the actors who greeted earlier stand still, like broken dolls.
I look at Song Ah Rin.
She still has a vacant look in her eyes, showing no sign of reaction.
“Hey. Wake up!”
I shake Song Ah Rin by the shoulders.
She doesn’t move an inch.
Someone places a hand on my shoulder.
“…”
A chill runs down my spine as I turn around.
A person with a neck bent at a 90-degree angle speaks to the side.
“Sir Sooon, in the classy space of this break time, and the good thing is, it is, allowed…”
“…”
Right now, I have no critical means, just a gun in my hand.
Naturally, the gun won’t do a thing.
For now, I have no choice but to play along.
Nodding, the person turns and leaves.
But there are other ways to contact them.
I discreetly pull out my phone.
Maybe I could ask Yu Da On and Jang Chae Yeon for help now.
[Out of service.]
The antenna section on my phone is marked with an X, blocking any communication.
“…Huh.”
The bile literally rose to my throat before going back down.
Can I get out of here?
I briefly worry about leaving Song Ah Rin behind, but that can wait until after I find the exit.
I stealthily rise from my seat.
The ghost that warned me earlier approaches again.
“Sir Sooon, in the classy space of this break time, and the good thing is, it is… prohibited.”
“…Understood.”
There’s nothing I can do.
In the end, it seems I’ll just have to sit quietly here until that break time arrives.
Then, I have to trust my eyes again.
First, I check the people standing like puppets on stage.
[Name: Theater Actor]
[Age: 22]
[Traits: X]
[Talent: X]
[Background: Once aspiring to be an outstanding musical actor, he decided to take on the new musical titled ‘Red Lady.’ But at the end, what awaited him was not becoming an excellent actor, but becoming a slave to the theater company.]
[Weakness: Just an ordinary person. If killed, he dies.]
“…”
I glance at the person whose head was bent at a 90-degree angle earlier.
[Name: Theater Guard]
[Age: 22]
[Traits: X]
[Talent: X]
[Background: He simply applied to the ‘Red Lady’ for some part-time work. Little did he know that he would end up not being a human, monster, or anything but a mere guard.]
[Weakness: Just an ordinary person. If killed, he dies.]
They’re all just people.
Once ordinary people.
I have no idea what this ‘musical’ is about, but for now, surviving in this musical is my top priority, and after that, I need to stop its performance.
But how do I do that?
“Ahhh!”
With a scream, Song Ah Rin bolts up, eyeing around wildly.
“What, what’s going on? Why? How? What…?”
She quickly wraps her arms around her head and begins mumbling to herself.
“…”
“Ahhh!”
I tap her shoulder, causing her to scream loudly.
“What the! Ah…! Ah…”
Soon, she starts to calm down a bit as she looks at me.
“…Did you see it?”
“…You too?”
Our eyes lock.
“Red Lady. Do you remember?”
“…”
Song Ah Rin’s expression turns serious.
“…No.”
She shakes her head.
“I don’t remember anything at all. How can this be?”
“Same for me.”
“You… how did you get out?”
“…Suicide. Banging my head against a stone wall. How about you?”
“…I also killed myself. Jumped off a cliff.”
Our gazes intertwine, drawn to the ringing bell echoing from the theater directing our attention back to the stage.
[It’s break time. Audience members, please rise from your seats.]
“Ugh!”
“I don’t want to!”
“Save me!”
“Stop it!”
After a prolonged silence, screams finally erupt from the audience.
It seemed as if everyone woke up from a stupor, trembling in fear.
Some were crying, others were muttering incoherent words, completely in a panic.
It was like a collective hypnosis had been broken.
[From now on, audience members who have exhausted all opportunities will join our lady.]
An announcement echoes.
“Join the lady? What does that—”
-Bang!
Before Song Ah Rin could finish her sentence, the person beside her ‘burst.’
A splash of blood sprays out, leaving the audience dripping in crimson.
Blood splatters across Song Ah Rin’s clothes, frozen in shock.
-Bang!
“Ahhh!”
“Stop it!”
“Save me! Please! I’ll do anything!”
-Bang!
-Bang!
-Bang!
People begin to explode.
Screaming, even those who still had their eyes closed burst into bloody chaos.
Blood stains my clothes too.
After several explosions, about 20% of the people in the theater had vanished.
A mechanical voice flows from the speakers.
[The musical will continue in 15 minutes. This time, you cannot escape through suicide. I repeat, you cannot escape through suicide this time.]
The smell of blood fills the air.