Chapter 287
The girl had a small wish.
A wish to travel around and see fascinating things.
However, her grandfather never allowed the young girl to go outside.
Maybe that’s why the girl dreamed every night.
As if this were her only escape.
She had three types of dreams!
The first was a dream of exploring Seoul, reflecting the girl’s heart, which couldn’t go out.
In that dream, she felt a bit frustrated because she couldn’t move freely, but it was a discomfort she could bear.
The dream showed a variety of landscapes that reflected her wishes.
In the dream, she could see and feel every corner of Seoul.
Moreover, the dream was so diverse that it never seemed to end.
When she woke up, she mostly forgot the contents of the dream, but some scenes vaguely remained in her mind.
“I saw a huge tower in my dream. The enormous tower that can be seen from grandfather’s house. I really wanted to go inside….”
But no matter how much the girl turned the doorknob in her dream, the tower’s door refused to open.
Click, click, click.
Only the sound of the doorknob echoed loudly.
It absolutely wouldn’t open.
The second dream was about her friends visiting her in the dream.
Her only friend, who was just like her.
Those friends in her dream looked exactly like her.
They would show her unclear memories.
Memories filled only with really joyful things.
In those memories, the girl traveled to various places, laughing and having fun.
The grandfather in the memories was a bit cold, but unlike the real grandfather, he told her to roam freely anywhere.
The object hazard area looked especially fun for the girl.
A tree bubbling with soap bubbles.
A lake emitting a scent so delightful it could make your head spin.
A valley with water flowing like transparent crystals.
A forest where a cute kitten, the size of the girl, was playing.
In such wondrous places, the girls were smiling happily.
But those memories always abruptly cut off at some point, as if they were severed.
Like the feeling of watching an amusing comic and suddenly it cuts off.
“I want to see more.”
But no matter how much she begged to see more, the friends who looked just like her only shook their heads.
The third dream was truly unpleasant.
A dream where a sticky red liquid constantly clung to the girl.
A gooey liquid that was impossible to remove alone.
Moreover, when that liquid stuck to her body, it seemed like she heard a strange voice.
There shouldn’t be a color in the voice, but it felt like a red voice.
And just when it felt like she was about to be buried and sucked into that liquid—
The only friends the girl had pulled her hands with all their might.
And in the moment she escaped the liquid, she forgot about her dream and friends and woke up.
Always.
*
In the center of Seoul, the mansion of Oh Muryong.
Oh Muryong’s granddaughter was sitting by the window, staring blankly at the beautiful fireworks bursting from the doll exhibition hall in the city.
As the colorful fireworks adorned the night sky, excitement bloomed in the girl’s heart to attend the festival.
“I want to go for sure…”
It was when the girl was lost in her thoughts of imagination. A kind butler, always by her side, approached and gently spoke.
“Miss, I’m sorry, but the chairman is calling for you.”
At the butler’s words, the girl nodded.
Putting her imagination of the festival aside for a moment, she eagerly walked to find her grandfather.
Where the girl arrived in response to her grandfather’s call was a space she had never seen before.
The place was filled with unfamiliar machines, and at the center was a tank filled with a disturbing liquid.
The girl felt strangely cold and ominous, making her shrink back.
Her grandfather, standing next to the tank with a smile, beckoned to her.
Curiosity and fear mixed in her heart as she cautiously approached.
“Grandfather?”
The girl, slightly uneasy, called out to him, but Oh Muryong only handed her a blindfold.
The girl did as her grandfather instructed, putting on the blindfold and submerging her body in the liquid.
The liquid felt a bit warm and sticky.
It was certainly a texture unfamiliar to her memory, but strangely familiar.
And in her ears, a strange sound began to echo endlessly.
The sound of something being blended in a mixer, and the sound of something being poured into the liquid she was in.
Blend, pour.
Blend, pour.
Blend, pour.
The more she added whatever was blended into the liquid, the stickier it began to feel.
“What on earth is that sound?”
The girl wanted to peek through the hole in the blindfold, but strangely, she felt a voice telling her not to.
“We are fine, so don’t look.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t stay with you until the end.”
Though she didn’t know who it was, it felt familiar, like a friend’s voice.
And the moment she heard the sound of something being blended for the last time.
Suddenly, pain began to creep in.
Chopping with something sharp.
The pain that started at her toes slowly rose up.
‘!!!!’
The girl, unable to scream from the unbearable pain, lost consciousness.
When the girl, who had closed her eyes, opened them again, she found herself in a pristine white space filled with blood rising to her ankles.
The place where she always dreamed her three types of dreams.
As she stepped into the dream space, the forgotten memories returned to their place.
A familiar space.
The only change was that blood, warm and comforting, was rising to her ankles.
Remembering the voices of her friends she heard while awake, the girl began to run around, seeking them.
“Where are you?”
But no matter how much she ran in the white space, she couldn’t find her friends.
After searching for a long while, just as she was about to give up.
“I’m sorry.”
“I just wanted you to be happy…”
A faint voice that sounded like a friend echoed.
The voice was coming from the blood filling the floor.
As the girl turned to look down at the blood, it began to bubble and boil.
And then, a small hand floated up.
“You were hiding here!”
With a bright face, the girl pulled that hand with all her might, but the friend was so light that she fell back into the blood.
The girl’s grasp only held her friend’s hand.
‘!’
From that moment, numerous corpses began to rise from the blood.
Corpses that looked just like the girl.
But they were mercilessly cut-up bodies.
“Why? Why is this happening?”
At that moment, a red light began to descend from the sky.
A red voice began to echo.
A thick red liquid began to gather and swallow her.
But there were no longer any friends left to pull her out.
*
In the doll exhibition hall in Seoul, the security doll exhibition room.
‘!’
I waved my hand at the ‘Hungry Ghost-level’ security doll as if it were watching me becoming ghosted.
When I shook my hand to the right, its eyes slightly moved to the right, and when I shook to the left, its eyes moved slightly to the left.
Is this really seeing a ghost?
It felt a bit odd that an association that can’t even create a ghost filming camera made a doll that could see ghosts.
Like making a computer without a calculator.
That’s the kind of feeling it gave me.
And after finding out that the Hungry Ghost-level could see ghosts, I tried waving my hands in front of the other dolls, but only the ‘Hungry Ghost-level’ security doll recognized my ghosting.
“Nothing special.”
I had entered the [Great Object Security Doll Exhibition Hall] with quite high expectations, but I quickly lost interest.
They were just dolls that were only fast and strong; it wasn’t fascinating at all.
As I moved outside the exhibition hall, the fireworks were still coloring the night sky beautifully.
Boom, boom.
As I walked with my head tilted up, watching the fireworks, something started to catch my interest.
The parade!
A procession of dolls in dazzling clothes dancing and singing.
The unwavering strength of the dolls and the sharp performances were enough to evoke admiration.
I sat on a lamp-post doll in a ghosted state and began to watch the parade.
“I want to show this scene to the Mini Reapers later.”
If I showed it to the Golden Reaper, they would surely start following along excitedly, so I wanted to see the Golden Reaper’s parade at least once.
Dolls beating large drums and playing trumpets.
The rhythm made me want to move along.
The parade was filled with joyous atmosphere, but it began to change strangely.
The marching dolls unnaturally stopped, and ominous sounds could be heard.
Sounds as if something was being blended in a mixer.
And the girl’s pain-filled groans.
The music that filled the doll exhibition hall, as well as the parade music, was drowned out by the enormous sound.
But no one else seemed to hear those sounds.
And the stopped dolls began to move again, but with awkward movements, it felt off.
Moreover, it seemed like the people felt the creaking movements as part of the parade.
Dolls showing terrible sounds and grotesque movements.
Clearly suspicious circumstances, yet no one felt anything weird.
Something went wrong.
I started to look around for the harmful object that was causing this anomaly, but I couldn’t sense any trace of it anywhere.
And when the blending sounds and the girls’ screams stopped.
Clank.
The dolls stopped once again.
And a red light slowly began to seep from the dolls’ eyes, with a foul smell starting to rise.
‘!’
I jumped up in surprise.
Suddenly, the dolls turned into harmful objects!
And the once innocent parade dolls began to spread among the people, pretending to be part of the performance.
Without a moment to lose, I looked at the parade dolls and tore apart the space.
As countless dolls shattered, the air in the doll exhibition hall changed.
As the humanoid dolls tore apart, people began to scream and flee.
The dolls that had played lively music now played eerie tunes.
And the dolls that had brightly lit the exhibition hall like street lamps spread a sinister red light.
Then all the dolls began to attack the humans simultaneously.
“Too many!”
Besides, on top of the fact that the dolls reduced to powder were slowly regenerating.