Chapter 193

All the lights in the inn were simultaneously turned off.

To clarify, this inn that Seoyeon had come to wasn’t actually a proper inn.

More specifically, it was once an inn, but after being shut down, it had been repurposed as a set location.

Of course, there was no problem with using it for lodging, and the facilities were all still intact.

It’s just that, since it had been converted into a set location, there were now more possibilities for alterations and changes.

“Good, all the lights are off.”

The actors involved in this project, observing the South Korean actors fumbling around in the dark, nodded their heads.

They appeared flustered under the infrared camera’s view, most of them looking taken aback.

On the other hand, two of them had already shown an apparent awareness.

One was someone quick on the uptake, while the other was the manager who’d already been informed.

However, that’s fine.

Because the real subject of this hidden camera segment, standing there vacantly staring into the darkness, was none other than Seoyeon.

“This isn’t the scared face I expected, you know?”

“Ah-ahh~, that’s not good, is it?”

There was a sense of deflation amongst the hardworking actors in terms of their makeup.

It happens sometimes.

Especially with hidden camera stunts involving scares, where one encounters those who act tough.

They may just be like that by nature, and even if they’re not genuinely scared, they still need to react appropriately for the show’s length.

The problem is, since this is a hidden camera, if they don’t get scared right away, it will be clear that it’s an act.

“First, let’s activate the devices and guide her.”

Listening to the actors’ conversation, Nanjou PD softly spoke.

Currently, they were upstairs from where Seoyeon was.

It was empty space created when the building was converted into a set.

“If she isn’t scared enough, we’ll just make it scarier.”

Having said that, Nanjou PD looked at Seoyeon through the camera.

She was already leading the others through the dark, walking down the now pitch-black corridor.

In search of the light switches, which needed to be turned back on.

***

“It’s not scary.”

Seoyeon thought this to herself as she walked down the corridor.

In doing so, a previous horror game she had played came to mind.

Back then, she thought the character she controlled was weak, so she herself got scared.

If she had been inside the game, with monsters or whatever — hey, she would have slashed away with a chainsaw, probably.

This kind of braggadocio still lingered in her thoughts.

No, at that time, it was the truth.

…But now, could it just be all bluster?

Such doubt started creeping into her thoughts.

Thud.

“Se-yeon? Why are you suddenly stopping?”

Park Eun-ha, the manager, panicked upon Seoyeon’s unexpected halt.

‘Ahh, this kind of atmosphere really doesn’t suit me.’

Even though she’d already been informed about the hidden camera, Park Eun-ha was frightened.

She couldn’t watch horror movies and never participated in horror games.

Her only real experience with such content was a room escape puzzle with friends in Gangnam, and it was in the horror genre. At that time, she’d almost passed out.

‘That time, we picked a Japan-themed horror content escape room.’

And it felt exactly like that.

If something suddenly fell now, it would definitely be…

Clang!!

“Kyaahhhhh!!!!”

Park Eun-ha let out a powerful scream.

A circular object suddenly fell from the opening ceiling.

Smack!!

At that instant, Seoyeon instinctively reached out.

It was a pure reflex action.

And Seoyeon’s hand pierced right through the round object.

“Wha-!?”

Narumi Sora let out a rare Japanese ‘Ah’ sound.

Seoyeon hadn’t punched; her open hand had pierced through the mannequin’s head.

‘Wait… wasn’t that… guan shu? Piercing with fingertips? What was it?’

How does that happen?

Even more unsettling than a human-head-shaped mannequin falling from the sky was this—how does one simply pierce through it?

Not swatting, not smashing. Just piercing through with one’s hand.

“…”

Seoyeon looked at her wrist, which had pierced into the thing.

Though it was somewhat dark, Seoyeon’s sparkling red eyes were unaffected by it.

She could clearly see the intricately crafted mannequin head.

In fact, Seoyeon didn’t even realize it was a mannequin.

Because of the sensation of the red fluid inside, combined with the unfamiliar texture underneath her hand, it was difficult for her to think it was merely a mannequin.

Human senses depend heavily on visual input after all.

Even while knowing it was a mannequin’s head, its lifelike form rendered it difficult to describe.

“Se-Seoyeon?”

Already trembling, Park Eun-ha was replaced by Sora asking a question.

For some reason, Seoyeon’s reaction seemed unusual.

“Pl-pl-pl-please remove it.”

‘Huh?’

Seoyeon’s trembling voice could be heard.

When Sora approached, she finally realized that the thing stuck in Seoyeon’s hand was a mannequin head shaped like a human head.

‘Ugh, it looks so grotesque.’

Especially because it felt like Seoyeon’s hand had crushed the mannequin’s mouth, making the eyes bulge slightly.

Of course, it didn’t resemble a real human head.

Just a well-decorated mannequin head.

However, because it was surrounded by dim light, it evoked a strange, eerie unease.

“Alright.”

“…”

Unable to look at it even after hearing Sora’s words, Seoyeon’s tightly shut eyes suggested she was truly frightened.

‘So, Seoyeon also fears something?’

Sora felt an odd sensation seeing this vulnerable side of Seoyeon.

She had always seemed like an unyielding person, but was that wrong?

“I’ll be back soon, could the two of you try to turn the lights on first?”

“Huh?”

Did she just deliver a classic line from horror films right now?

“Ah-aha-I’ll do that.”

In normal circumstances, Sora and Eun-ha might have waited for reasons unknown, despite not understanding them.

But it was the middle of filming.

Thus, leaving Seoyeon alone would be a better decision.

Since the goal was more focused on Seoyeon rather than them, this was likely a better image.

“I’ll go turn the corridor lights on first!”

The light switch for the corridor was reached by walking straight and then turning right, walking further. It was quite a distance, given the inn wasn’t small.

“Uh-oh.”

After sending Sora away, Seoyeon stood there for a moment.

“My legs, they won’t move.”

This was unbelievable.

She couldn’t believe this situation.

To be honest, Seoyeon still didn’t think this was a hidden camera or any sort of filming.

She never watched hidden camera programs, and her generation wasn’t really into that. Moreover, she didn’t expect hidden camera stunts while abroad.

…The instant she pierced through the head, she had already become confused, which was the biggest reason.

“I’ve definitely never felt fear before.”

Except when playing games.

Could it be she was susceptible to this kind of fear?

She definitely wasn’t scared when she played the ghost back in school.

Seoyeon pondered.

When experiencing various emotions, she sometimes felt certain ones more strongly than others.

Mainly joy.

Or the sense of accomplishment from receiving praise.

These were the kinds of emotions that strongly resonated with Seoyeon.

But not fear, she thought.

No, she had never experienced that.

“But… why am I scared now?”

Her legs felt weak.

She couldn’t move forward.

With the creeping sense of terror rising, she failed to notice the surrounding sounds.

Thud.

A dull sound accompanied the movement behind Seoyeon.

***

“Right now! Now!”

Seoyeon was suddenly alone.

Seeing this, the actors dressed as ghosts hurried enthusiastically to their assigned spots.

They intended to guide her through the corridor and use other devices to separate her from the others.

But, this situation couldn’t have been better — she was already alone.

‘So, she’s scared of horror? She’s frozen solid!’

A well-known actress in various haunted attractions and theme park horror segments smiled faintly as she emerged first.

‘Let the mechanisms start.’

Suddenly, in the corridor, there came a series of dull “thud, thud, thud” sounds.

‘The atmosphere is set perfectly.’

The actress emerged from a secret passage prepared inside the building, slipping out from behind a partition wall.

It would seem to the others like she just appeared in the middle of the corridor.

Approximately three meters away from Seoyeon, she stopped abruptly and let out a sinister laugh.

“Ho, hohoho.”

A chilling, insane laugh, filled with the vibe of a lingering spirit.

It was the laughter that terrified audiences in countless ghost story-themed attractions.

At the sound of that, Seoyeon’s head slowly turned, making a creaking sound.

‘Yes, that reaction…’

The actress, delighted at the satisfactory reaction, suddenly froze in place.

Through the darkness, two glowing red eyes were staring directly at her.

‘Wha-WHY ARE THE EYES RED?’

Have they embedded lights in them?

As this thought crossed her mind, Seoyoen collapsed helplessly on the spot.

‘Huh?’

Overlooking the glowing eyes for a moment, the actress was momentarily shocked by Seoyeon’s collapsed form.

Why did she collapse?

Did her legs give out?

Then, how do they guide her to another location?

‘No, no! Maybe there’s something wrong with her body?’

Approaching Seoyeon with that thought…

The moment Seoyoen, startled, started crawling backward on her hands to avoid the ghost in disguise, the ghost actress quickened her pace.

“Huh?”

She forgot she was supposed to be a ghost and inadvertently let out an exclamation.

Seoyeon, whose legs had given out, was crawling across the corridor faster on her hands.

What happened?

Wait, a moment.

Approaching more quickly, the crawling speed of Seoyoen only increased.

It was incredibly fast.

How is she crawling so fast with just her hands?

The moment she noticed that…

“Kyaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

A truly terrified scream began echoing throughout the inn.

***

“We should stay here and return to the room later.”

“Where’s Seoyeon?”

“At this point, I guess we let the shooting team handle her?”

Sora decided they had gone far enough from Seoyeon and stopped walking as soon as she took the right turn.

There was no point in lighting the lamps, and she wasn’t inclined to move through the eerie atmosphere.

Just staying put here, the filming crew would hopefully take care of Seoyeon.

She sighed, thinking this.

“?”

Lifting her head after that thought, Sora noticed something monstrous had appeared behind Park Eun-ha.

Technically, it was an actor dressed as a monster.

A large figure, holding a hatchet in one hand, wearing a grotesque, rotting mask resembling a zombie, with an overwhelming presence due to its size.

The appearance alone was unsettling.

“Ahhh!”

Realizing this belatedly, Eun-ha panicked.

Seeing the slowly approaching monster, she gripped Sora’s collar and began shaking it.

“We’re not supposed to be targeted, right? Swing the nunchaku like last time!”

“Oh, ah-no, we can’t. We weren’t allowed to bring them in.”

They’re considered weapons, after all.

At their reaction, the monster holding the hatchet seemed entertained and slowly approached them.

Then he suddenly stopped.

As if he saw something and his gaze became fixed.

“Hmm?”

The bizarre behavior made Sora and Park Eun-ha, who were already scared, feel even more puzzled.

Why is he doing that?

It felt like there was something behind them…

Turning around almost unconsciously, they saw it.

Something was coming at them at an incredible speed.

“…”

Sora suddenly understood what utter fear felt like.

Somehow, a certain ‘tsukuru’ game that was popular came to mind.

The “Witch’s House,” wasn’t it?

There, a witch with no lower body pursued the protagonist.

Now, moving with her arms, the scene was exactly the same.

Jet-black long hair, with two red eyes glowing between the strands.

The woman moving so fast with her arms that she almost didn’t seem human.

Her lower body was mostly hidden due to the darkness.

The important thing was that the woman was coming down the corridor at a tremendous speed.

Behind her was also the sound of something ghostly pursuing.

“Run, ru-run away!!”

At Sora’s words, the actor playing the monster fled first.

He dropped the hatchet he was carrying and began staggering off.

Following soon after, Sora and Park Eun-ha also started to run, assuming the actors who worked here would know the best route.

Bang!!

Upon hearing the noise while fleeing, Sora turned back and noticed.

The woman was crawling towards them, clutching the monster’s discarded hatchet.

Bang, bang as it hit the ground.

Why is she hitting the ground?

It’s terrifying.

Why, seriously.

Moreover, the speed had increased.

“Kraaaaahh!! …Khhkraaa!!”

The actors positioned to spring out on Seoyeon, noticing Sora and Eun-ha run past, yelled loudly, surprising them, before running for their lives as well when they saw what was chasing them.

“Over there! There’s a partition wall. Partition wall!”

The ghosts, forgetting their own roles, hurriedly struck the wall, opening a door.

“Quick, close it! Close it!!”

The partition wall was a way to ensure the pursuer couldn’t follow them.

It could be closed securely, they hurriedly explained while running.

As they closed the partition wall,

Clang, clang!

“It’s not shutting!’

Sora shouted.

Checking below, they noticed a hatchet wedged in the gap of the partition wall.

How did that happen?

Oh, wait.

Everyone’s gaze fell to the ground.

Click.

Through the gap appeared a pale hand gripping the partition wall.

The black hair flowing downwards, and the red eyes appearing through the widening gap, looking towards them.

The partition wall, which everyone had tried to hold closed, was being twisted open.

The moment they saw it,

“Ahh, this isn’t good.”

Sora passed out.

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