Lee Tae-hwa’s intention in putting us here was obvious.
“Probably trying to get us closer or something.”
Moreover, it’s Noah who gets scared easily.
-Kehehehe!!
“Hiiii…!”
Even just hearing a sound from the speaker is enough to make him faint.
Noah clutched my hand even tighter, completely terrified.
“It’s not scary… It’s not scary… It’s not scary…”
“Noah.”
“Uncle… Can I stick close to you a little longer…?”
The kid clung to me like glue, showing no sign of letting go.
We haven’t even started properly yet.
Already, this has me worried about what’s coming.
As we walked along, we came to a fork in the road.
Left and right. On the left, there was a corpse with half its skin missing, and on the right, there was a monster holding a kitchen knife.
What should I say…
“This is grotesque.”
“Noah, which way do you want to go?”
“B-but I don’t want to go either way.”
“I think we have to choose one.”
Looking at the fork in the road, Noah stared at me intently.
“Well… Uncle, can we go the way you think you can win against?”
Win against…
“I think I’ll lose both ways.”
I’m confident I’d be defeated if I fought.
Whether it’s zombies or monsters.
Still, if I could transform, I’d probably go for the monster side.
I’ve faced them a few times already.
Let’s go that way then.
As I took a step towards the monster, Noah followed cautiously.
“Noah, don’t be so tense. They’re all actors, you know.”
“I know… but it’s still scary…”
“Ugh. How are we supposed to fight those guys?”
“Of course, that’s scary too. But…”
Noah trailed off and looked at me.
“Because I can cuddle with Uncle…”
This cute kid.
You’re the only one who fights as a magic girl just to cuddle.
Instead of patting his head, I patted his cheek.
His tense gaze relaxed, and soon he looked relieved.
“Don’t worry, Noah. I’ll definitely take you to the exit.”
“R-really?”
“Of course. So let’s hurry—”
-Who thinks they can just run away…?
Right after that, a shriek rang out.
Cherik! Noah froze.
It happened when he felt someone looking down at him.
When a spider-like monster slowly descended from the ceiling.
‘Ah, this is bad.’
One thing Noah fears:
Monsters.
Another thing Noah fears:
Spiders.
Especially combined, a spider-monster.
“Hh…Haaa…”
-Hey there, little miss…
“Aaaaaaah…”
-Uh huh… You look quite tasty… I want to take you home…
“Uncle… Please… Help me…”
“…”
I shone the provided flashlight at the monster.
As the light spread across the dark space, the creature screamed in agony.
-Craaaack!!! Krrreeeak!! Uuuaaaaahhhh!!! KeeeEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
“Hiiiieee…! Uncllllle! Uncleee!! Hurry, let’s go, hurry!”
“…Alright.”
-Heeey…! Stay there…!
Even while telling us to stay, the monster continued to scream in pain.
Only after running until we couldn’t hear the monster anymore did Noah collapse, his legs giving out.
“It was scaryyyyy…”
“…”
“Wasn’t Uncle scared?”
“Uncle…”
I swallowed the words that came to mind.
Uncle is… most afraid of money.
Kyeok! That noise must have hurt my throat.
‘…Life is tough.’
To have to put on such an all-out performance just to make a living. Thinking about it now, I feel more kinship than fear toward those monsters.
Next was the same.
-Hahaha!! I’ll chase you, you bastard!
“Yaaaaaaah!?”
“…”
Even when a hunter monster jumped out.
-Fire baptism for you!!
“I don’t want it! Don’t want it! Don’t want iteeeee!!”
“…”
Even when a fire-breathing demon suddenly appeared.
-If you can’t escape from here…you will die.
“NoooOOOOOOOoOo!!!”
“…”
Even when a skeleton on a cart chased after us.
The only one who got startled every time was Noah.
I, on the other hand, was only impressed.
How much effort must have gone into achieving this level of quality?
They’re truly amazing people.
Well, as for Noah…
“Huuuuuh… I’m tired now…”
“Noah, it’s okay. Let’s just go a little further, alright?”
“Sniff… Okay… Hold my hand, please…”
“Here you go.”
Noah, whose face was drenched in tears, grabbed my hand.
Looks like he’s the type who gets startled easily.
Startled enough to leave me behind and run far away.
Though, he does come back crying, which is kind of cute.
“Wuuu… I don’t know anymore…”
Noah buried his face in my chest.
He didn’t care about seeing ahead; he was content to follow wherever I led.
“Noah, are you going to be okay? You said you wanted to try this.”
“I don’t know… I don’t know… I don’t want it… It’s scary…”
“Tsk.”
“Uncle… I trust you… Please, save me…”
Anyone listening would think it’s a princess kidnapped by a turtle monster.
“Huuuuuuu…”
Noah’s life points were already at zero.
Maybe I should just keep things like this. At least this way, he won’t see any monsters.
While walking like this, I made eye contact with one of the actors dressed as a green monster.
“…”
“…”
Nod.
Nod.
“Uncle… There aren’t any, right? There really aren’t any monsters, right…?”
“Mm, there aren’t, so let’s just go.”
They let us pass without issue.
Noah must have looked pretty pitiful for them to do that.
“Huuu… Scary…”
A sobbing young girl with white hair and cat ears hanging onto someone. Yeah, I can see why the actors might hesitate dealing with that.
‘I’m never coming back to a haunted house again.’
Vowing never to bring Noah back to a haunted house, I kept walking towards the end of the passage.
After walking for a while,
‘This must be the rabbit costume guy, right?’
White body, red eyes.
Someone dressed up as a rabbit greeted us.
Though, they were actually just standing there quietly.
The rabbit didn’t do anything to us.
Just stared blankly.
Probably decided to let us pass without incident.
I quickly passed by the rabbit to get Noah out.
However,
‘…What is this?’
An unpleasant sensation.
Turning around with a ‘Kyeok’, the rabbit was staring intensely at us.
Its red, vacant eyes kept staring at us endlessly.
It had the gaze of someone peering into a deep well.
Until now, I had been passing through without thinking, but this time, goosebumps covered my entire body.
If this is acting, it’s very impressive… but if it’s not…
If this ominous feeling isn’t acting…
‘Shin Hyun, are you okay?’
‘Hmm, I’m listening.’
‘Something feels… strange.’
‘I know what you mean.’
The ominous feeling continues to grow.
What is this kid doing—
Tchaak!
The sound of snapping fingers echoed.
An unknown ripple spread through the air.
“…Tch.”
I picked up Noah in a princess carry and ran as fast as I could.
Tap tap tap tap, the sound of footsteps echoed.
That sound soon became…
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap.
Overlapping, stretching, echoing through the passage.
‘It’s following us…?’
This guy is chasing us.
Why? Is pursuit the final task?
While pondering that, something whizzed past me.
Tchk!
At the same moment, I felt a sting, and warm liquid trickling down the side of my calf.
Underneath my torn pants, I could see blood.
‘…This isn’t a game.’
That’s real intent to kill.
This guy is seriously trying to kill us.
…Then.
“Kid.”
“Yes?”
“Enhance physical strength.”
“Yes!”
Without knowing who the opponent is,
And carrying Noah, fighting is difficult.
For some reason, Noah
“Ugh… Uuuuh…”
Was grimacing in pain and had fallen asleep.
Gruuud.
My muscles expanded, and my body shot forward like an arrow.
Explosive speed coursed through my legs. After running for quite a while and seeing light, I finally stopped.
The exit.
Near the exit stood an employee, smiling.
“Congratulations on your successful escape!”
“Huff… Huff…”
“To those who successfully escaped, we have prepared a small prize—”
“That’s fine, but sister, I have one question.”
Exhaustion made my tone harsher than intended.
But it couldn’t be helped.
That rabbit. That kid, what exactly was it?
“Yes…?”
“What was that thing? The rabbit that chased us at the end.”
“Rabbit…?”
The employee wore a puzzled expression.
“Customer.”
“Why.”
“At our Monster House, there is no element related to the rabbit you mentioned in the monster route.”
…What?
“No, I clearly saw it! A weird rabbit chasing me! Look, there’s a wound here!”
I pulled up my pants to show the injury on my lower leg.
Yet, the employee didn’t seem convinced.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying…”
“If it doesn’t work, check the CCTV.”
The employee wore a puzzled expression before contacting somewhere.
Judging from the conversation, it was likely the control room.
If some intruder snuck into the course, it would be serious.
After waiting for a while, the employee approached me.
To inform me of the CCTV information.
“Uh… Customer. Regarding the monstrous rabbit you mentioned…”
“…”
“Our CCTV shows nothing anywhere. Perhaps it was a mistake…”
Nothing was captured.
Then what was that thing? What was that guy…
“…”
“…Sir.”
“…”
“Customer!”
“…Ah.”
I seemed to have spaced out for a moment.
“Are you alright? Should I call the medical team?”
“…I’m fine. Just… Hmm, I must have seen something wrong. Sorry for the trouble.”
I left my spot and finally laid Noah down on the bench.
This kid was still asleep throughout everything.
He fell asleep the moment I picked him up and remained asleep until now.
It was astonishing that he could sleep in such a situation.
Noah even talked in his sleep.
“Uuuuh…”
It must not have been a good dream.
Sweating this much indicates that.
“Noah.”
“Uuuu…”
“Noah!”
“U… Huh!?”
Blink.
Noah opened his eyes and sat up, glancing around frantically with a startled expression.
“Uncle…?”
“Why are you so startled, Noah? Your face says it all.”
“…I saw you in my dream…”
“I was?”
“Yeah…”
Noah poked my body while saying that.
“Really hurts…”
“What kind of dream was it?”
“It’s… Well, anyway, it wasn’t a good dream.”
“…How could you fall asleep in that situation?”
“I… I don’t know… I just…”
Shiver.
Noah’s hand trembled.
It must have been a pretty bad dream.
I, too, was troubled, but I am an adult.
I shouldn’t show weakness in front of a child.
I deliberately used a bright tone.
“…Well, shall we go eat something?”
“Eat?”
“Yeah. The food here is super delicious. Let’s go eat quickly. And… We have something to talk about.”
What exactly was that rabbit?
With that question filling my mind…
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