Chapter 95

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on February 25, 2025

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Pinterest Telegram

First of all, it was simple curiosity.

Seoyeon’s class president, Gil Da-hyun, was actually not a big fan of thrillers.

However.

“Are you going to watch *The Chaser* today?”

“Huh?”

“It’s starring Sooyeon Joo, isn’t it?”

The curiosity sparked by the words of her classmates.

In reality, Gil Da-hyun hadn’t been exposed much to video media due to her studies.

TV or YouTube, dramas or movies, even animations and the like. She barely came into contact with them except for the occasional movie.

“Yeah, at the festival, she really excelled in her ghost acting, right?”

“That’s true, right?”

During the festival, Seoyeon’s ghost performance was remarkable.

Truthfully, Gil Da-hyun hadn’t properly seen it, being too busy managing things.

But after hearing stories later…

“Are you serious?”

“I nearly fainted.”

To that extent, they had described it.

What was it like?

Secretly, Gil Da-hyun regretted not having experienced the haunted house herself.

Thus, was it?

“Alright. Let me watch it once.”

She agreed readily with her friends to watch the movie.

And then…

Right now.

“?”

Baffled expressions were directed towards Seoyeon within a two-meter radius.

Even though she knew it was just a simple role, her impression was that impactful.

“Seo-Seon-ah, hi?”

Her friends could only awkwardly greet her, trembling faintly at the corners of their mouths.

‘Hey, Seoyeon, is this acting for real?’

She wanted to ask, but she realized how foolish that question would sound.

To that extent, Cha Sooah had reigned supreme in terror during the entire 2-hour movie.

‘Could it be that the reason Seoyeon doesn’t show any facial expressions is…’

‘Hey, that can’t be true, right?’

To that extent, questions arose.

Moreover, Seoyeon’s red eyes were bothering her.

‘Not red right now, but…’

Does it occasionally turn red? Is it her constitution?

Such doubts began to emerge while overlapping with Cha Sooah’s face.

‘I won’t be able to go to the convenience store for a while.’

‘Ah, make sense.’

The image of Seoyeon holding a red fire ax and her appearance in the movie overlapped.

It was that impactful.

The sight of Cha Sooah chasing her victims…

“Hey.”

When Seoyeon spoke, the students’ gazes instinctively moved farther away.

“Excuse me.”

Again, the students distanced themselves.

Embarrassed.

“Ah, this isn’t really avoidance.”

“Well, then…”

“Movies are just movies, right?”

Their words said one thing, but their bodies revealed the truth.

No one could meet Seoyeon’s gaze.

No, it’s not that no one looked at Seoyeon.

Every student’s gaze was directed towards Seoyeon’s.

The ax and hammer held by Cha Sooah in the movie, the various凶器, were still vivid.

‘She’s unarmed.’

The students’ eyes seemed to be whispering that.

The distance that had briefly closed seemed to have widened into a vast chasm again.

‘Hmm.’

Seeing this, Seoyeon thought,

‘…For a while, I’ll have to take a break from making friends.’

Seoyeon felt a little down.

Actors often leave a strong impression when they play intense roles, and this was exactly that kind of situation.

She could only hope that *Dream Future* would erase this image well.

Seoyeon thought like that.

“What should I do?”

“You try talking to her.”

“Need to mentally prepare a bit.”

Of course, the students looking at her squirmed in place.

Among them was Gil Da-hyun.

‘Ah.’

She wanted to speak.

But it wasn’t out of fear of Seoyeon like the others.

It wasn’t even to console her.

Instead, quite the opposite.

She genuinely wanted to have a serious conversation with her, simply as a fan.

‘Really, she’s an actor.’

This was the first time Seoyeon had properly seen her act.

She had only seen her in variety shows and *Dream Future* ads until now.

But the Seoyeon in the movie was completely different.

She was terrifying and had made Gil Da-hyun shiver for the entire two hours.

That experience was undoubtedly thrilling but simultaneously gave Gil Da-hyun a new kind of excitement.

It introduced her to a new world.

‘Someday, I must tell her I enjoyed it. Ah, I have to watch *Dream Future* too.’

Thinking that she must take care to watch all of Seoyeon’s movies and dramas.

***

Originally, word-of-mouth spreads like ripples.

And it doesn’t take long for ripples to turn into waves, and then into a tidal wave.

*The Chaser* was exactly like this.

“Woah, I watched *The Chaser,* and I’m speechless. This is a proper South Korean thriller movie that’s released after how long?”

The first person to rave about it was Han Bong-sik, with his channel approaching 1.2 million YouTube subscribers.

“It’s hard to explain without spoilers, but the culprit is quite small in stature and female, by the way? Not promoting gender bias, it’s just an atmosphere thing.”

Han Bong-sik went on to explain the scenes from the movie.

“In typical horror movies, ghosts are often female, especially in the East. Because of that, there’s also an element of emotional tension here. It’s scary.”

– He’s making a big fuss.

– I went and watched it, and this feeling is exactly right.

– Is it that intense?

– Yes, it’s that intense.

“The culprit has a backstory, a certain reason, but this doesn’t evoke sympathy, does it???”

Han Bong-sik had watched the movie, and Cha Sooah was certainly a pitiable woman.

But at the same time, she was too brutal to sympathize with.

“You have to watch this to really know. This will definitely reach ten million views. Ten million, I tell you!”

Han Bong-sik exclaimed with his reputation on the line.

It would be absurd if this didn’t reach ten million!

The South Korean thriller movie industry would collapse!

He shouted and made a fuss like that, and it became the first ripple.

“Is *The Chaser* that interesting?”

“Hmm, let’s check it out.”

First, it was just curiosity.

“I watched the movie the entire time with my eyes closed halfway.”

“So disappointing, it’s really no joke.”

“Not that it’s boring, but it was genuinely terrifying. But it was fun.”

With that, interested audiences began heading to the theaters.

With recent South Korean films showing weakness, it was inevitable that eyes would turn towards this sudden hit.

“Honestly, it’s just hype.”

“Watch and see if it’s boring.”

Most people generally don’t care who the actors are in a movie.

Ordinary people only memorize the actors’ names when they are truly famous.

Among these names, Joo Sooyeon was unfamiliar.

From past memories, and appearances in variety shows,

and even recent drama participations which weren’t significant.

So, people weren’t really interested in which actor took on the role of ‘Cha Sooah’.

Thus,

The moment the movie began, the viewers were able to witness the actor for the first time without any preconceptions.

It was the first experience with such intensity.

Seated, the audience watched as Cha Sooah appeared in the rain.

Her emotionless demeanor in dealing with the corpse.

Her behavior reminiscent of a psychopath left the audience horrified.

A humanoid creature that wasn’t quite human.

“Are you officers from the nearby police station?”

“Ah, I see. So if I call, you’ll come right away, right? How much does that usually take? Can you come immediately?”

Cha Sooah asks lightly, almost casually, when she first encounters the detectives.

This moment.

There was no background music at all.

“Why do you want to know that?”

The detective seemed to notice and asked.

Cha Sooah replied indifferently.

The tension was maintained in the silence until she took the bus and left.

Even though it was a normal conversation, the audience couldn’t take their eyes off Cha Sooah’s every word.

Her smile seemed oddly awkward.

This awkwardness brought discomfort.

And the discomfort evolved into fear when Cha Sooah’s following actions ensued.

“What, what did we do wrong? Why, why???”

As the victim screams desperately, Cha Sooah doesn’t say a word.

She just gazes silently.

As if she’s enjoying their reaction.

Or searching for some answer.

“I don’t know.”

“F***, what the…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the ax was embedded into the person’s head.

The scene wasn’t shown outright.

But that eerie sound alone had the audience trembling.

“Y-you bastards!!”

Detective Im Seung-cheol, arriving a beat too late in his rage, pursued Cha Sooah.

Unfortunately, she had discarded her weapons just then.

Still, as she leapt out of the window, Im Seung-cheol chased her.

The ensuing chase sequence.

Tension gripped the audience’s hands.

Cha Sooah showed no fear in her movements.

Even in the chase scene, she kept glancing sidelong at Im Seung-cheol.

Upon spotting a fallen iron pipe, she immediately turned and struck Im Seung-cheol in the head.

“Khh!!”

Im Seung-cheol stumbled and collapsed backward.

Pulling out the cutter from his pocket as he advanced, Cha Sooah quickly noticed someone else’s footsteps and turned around.

“I-I’m fine! She went that way. Over there!”

Detective Seo Kwang-il, arriving late, was met by Im Seung-cheol, his face covered in blood, screaming desperately.

But Seo Kwang-il shook his head.

It was already too late to chase.

Besides, Im Seung-cheol was bleeding excessively, likely because his head was torn by the iron pipe.

“Damn me! I couldn’t catch her because I’m useless. Damn me…”

Tears mixed with blood fell.

His voice, filled with injustice and bitterness, echoed in his despair.

The audience empathized with Im Seung-cheol.

Focusing on his performance, they grew even more infuriated at Cha Sooah.

Detectives Im Seung-cheol and Seo Kwang-il clenched their teeth and relentlessly pursued every clue leading to Cha Sooah after uncovering her past.

Revealing each trace that led her to become a killer.

“Excuse me? Abuse?”

“Ah, this patient seems to have suffered from abuse by her parents.”

Even after neighbors reported it to the authorities, Cha Sooah continued to be raised by her abusive parents.

“Emotional Expressive Disorder?”

“Yes. Patient Cha Sooah can’t feel emotions properly. She doesn’t know how to express them.”

Through the doctor’s words, Cha Sooah pursues her next target.

The final victim.

Han Ye-hwa from the convenience store, who had greeted Cha Sooah with kindness.

Chasing her down, she slowly dragged her away after knocking her unconscious.

Though Cha Sooah would typically kill on the spot, she hesitates this time.

Perhaps it was the reappearance of forgotten humanity or morality.

The audience thought that Cha Sooah recognized those feelings when looking at Han Ye-hwa.

“I feel pain when I look at you.”

But Cha Sooah, looking down at Han Ye-hwa, her entire body bound with duct tape, said only that.

She was simply purely curious.

“Huh? No, how would you know?”

Cha Sooah murmured as she touched various tools.

Hammers, saws, axes.

Hard-gotten supplies.

“Something feels strange in my chest. It’s very hot, really, very… I don’t know how to describe it. I don’t know how to explain. Should I laugh or cry? Ah, am I angry? Or is it injustice?”

She knows the words for emotions.

But she doesn’t know how to express them correctly or if she even feels them properly.

Angr towards Han Ye-hwa, who treated her kindly.

Isn’t it strange?

To feel anger when treated kindly.

That’s why.

Maybe that’s why.

She didn’t want to kill her.

It wasn’t about humanity or some grand morality.

It was simply because she felt it would be such a waste.

Too much of a waste to kill her normally.

Han Ye-hwa stirred something in Cha Sooah’s heart.

What exactly?

A pure question arose.

She desired to know. And she feared she might miss the chance if she killed her like the others.

“Am I weird?”

On the screen, flashes of Cha Sooah’s past appeared.

Blinking images.

The abuse from her parents.

Being bullied by her classmates.

Each time, the heartbeat, “Thump thump thump,” echoed in the audience’s ears.

Just as she raised the hammer in her hand, stepping closer.

“Halt! Stop right there, you axe-wielding bastard!”

Seo Kwang-il broke through the doors of Cha Sooah’s house.

“Huh.”

Holding her blood-stained hammer, Cha Sooah’s head tilted slightly to the side.

As if representing her emotions.

Holding their breath, the audience watched her face fill the screen.

Eventually, Cha Sooah’s lips curved into an asymmetric smirk.