GDCG c294

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Chapter 294

I walked.

“There was an accident in the tunnel.”

I kept walking.

“It was a white Matex compact car. Someone’s waving from inside the driver’s seat door. Right there, directly behind you.”

Tap tap.

The sensation of something continuously tapping my right shoulder.

“Turn around.”

A whisper beside my ear.

The presence walking directly beside me through the dark tunnel, matching my footsteps exactly.

Very close. 

“I think it was a hit-and-run accident.”

I kept my eyes facing forward.

…The broken headlights of the white Matex compact car shone from behind me. Because of that, my shadow stretched out ahead of me.

Inside that car….

Sway… sway….

The shadow of someone waving.

“You saw it, right?”

Goosebumps crawled up from my shoulders as my heart pounded violently. Something was beside me. Something was there. Something was….

“Mr. Cat, please start your scary story!”

My heart nearly dropped out of my chest.

“Wasn’t that just a scary story? Saying there’s suddenly someone next to you when nobody’s actually there.”

“Ahaha. Was it?”

…!

I barely managed to open my dry mouth and answer.

“…That’s right. A scary story.”

Right.

One must never turn around and run, nor act alone.

With this many people around, it probably wouldn’t happen, but honestly, blurting out that there was something beside me and begging them to do something about it would be idiotic.

'Ignore it.'

I had to suppress my panic.

Ignore it as naturally as possible.

To do that….

'I need to pretend it’s part of the scary story.'

“Then continue the story. There’s someone beside you.”

Ha.

“…It seems one of the people who disappeared or died in this tunnel is pretending to be part of our group and walking at the far right side.”

…….

“Beside me.”

“Why would you say that? Why would you say that? Why would you say that? Why would you say that? Why—”

The strange presence, breathing, voice, cold breath, and bizarre smell right beside my face.

“Assistant Manager Dolphin mentioned earlier that there’d been an accident in this tunnel.”

“Oh, right.”

“What accident?”

“The hit-and-run where a car driving the wrong way crashed into a compact car carrying a family. The entire family disappeared.”

“Oh, then is one of that family walking beside Mr. Cat right now?”

“…Who knows. But one thing’s certain… it seems to have attached itself to us while pretending to be Assistant Manager Butterfly’s missing companion.”

“Hehehe.”

I barely restrained myself from clenching my fists. It felt like cold sweat was pouring from my limbs, but the reptilian body’s cold heart suppressed the sweat glands.

“So what’s the ending of the story supposed to be?”

“When he turned his head, there was nobody there….”

I deliberately whipped my head toward Baek Saheon.

He flinched.

Thank you. That let me get slightly farther away from the ghost.

“Wouldn’t that be scary enough?”

…….

“That’s lame.”

“Hahaha. Sorry about that.”

If there wasn’t something that had just been confirmed as an actual ghost clinging beside me right now, maybe I could’ve told a more convincing story.

'No, why is this thing targeting me in the first place…!'

If it was going to blend in pretending to be part of Assistant Manager Jin Nasol’s group, why couldn’t it have attached itself to her instead?

'That woman wouldn’t even have blinked!'

Could ghosts actually choose targets based on the person? Did it notice I was a coward and decide to mess with me because of it?

It didn’t target the guy left alone by himself, and instead specifically chose me…….

…….

“Alright then, now that everyone’s had a turn, I’ll start again—”

“Wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

Slowly, I turned my head a little farther.

And I glanced toward the person walking directly opposite me.

The person standing at the far left end.

“…..… Assistant Manager Butterfly.”

“What?”

“Earlier, you said your companion panicked and ran away backward, disappearing.”

“So?”

“Did only the two of you enter together?”

“Otherwise why would I have been waiting there for you guys? Annoying.”

"......."

"......."

“So in other words… only two of you entered… and then one of you ran away and disappeared.”

“And?”

“As far as I know, you’re not supposed to be left alone in here.”

One must never turn around and run, nor act alone.

“And yet you were left alone.”

"......."

“…Not only did you allow that situation, you didn’t even try another method… you just stood there quietly, waiting for the next people to enter?” 

"......."

"......."

“Yes. Because I was waiting for the white Matex compact car.”

I froze.

“Because there’s definitely someone inside the driver’s seat over there. They’re waving.”

“Excuse me. Look behind you. You can still see it. The white Matex compact car got into an accident. There’s someone inside.”

I hastily snapped my head forward again.

To avoid looking left or right.

'Damn it.'

Damndamndamnit!! 

I should’ve just stayed ignorant!

Why did I ask?! This was like suspecting the serial killer’s identity in a horror movie and then asking them directly.

Well, obviously confirming things was necessary if I wanted to respond properly, but still!

“Ahh, so both of them were ghosts.”

“Hah.”

Beside me, I heard a click of the tongue and cheerful footsteps.

From the place where Assistant Manager Jin Nasol—no, the thing imitating her—had been standing, came the sound of tapping Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s shoulder.

Alternating with the thing on my right tapping my shoulder.

Tap, tap.

Tap, tap.

“The crashed car is behind you.”

“If you look back, you can see the accident scene. You can learn the tunnel’s secret.”

“Well, can’t be helped. Then let’s have the three of us start the stories again!” 

…You can just brush this off? 

There are ghosts whispering on both sides of the group right now, tapping shoulders and telling us to look behind us, and that’s the end of the reaction??

Just how enormous are the guts of these insane Field Exploration Team people? They really think they can escape like this? No….

“Let’s keep walking!” 

At that moment. 

The tunnel lights turned on. 

Bang, tatatang.

The sudden noise nearly made me leap into the air. But nobody’s footsteps changed. 

“Oh, visibility’s better now. Much easier to walk.” 

“Yeah, I guess.” 

And we kept walking. No…! 

“Then I’ll start another story!” 

Why had the lights turned on? 

And in the next moment, I realized. 

“You can see the crashed car.” 

Back when the wrong-way collision happened, the tunnel had still been operational. Which meant the lights had been on. 

"......."

Kkiiiig. 

From behind us came the sound of an engine starting. 

“There was an accident.” 

The ruined engine roared to life with an unnatural grinding noise, while broken tires scraped against the asphalt.

The headlights. 

They followed me. 

The lights of the wrecked car cast shadows ahead of us. 

To my right was a bizarre silhouette. 

A human-shaped thing walked while clapping enthusiastically like it was dancing. It resembled one of those inflatable tube men, or perhaps a doll assembled with its joints in the wrong places, writhing around insanely. 

Thud.

Its two arms touched. 

Clap clap.

The sound of applause echoed beside my ear. 

Scary. This is sca— no. No. Endure it. 

“Ah, should I tell one more tunnel story? A rumor about the car that hit the compact car and fled.” 

Ah, please no. 

“Come to think of it, people say something about that was strange too.” 

“.......”

“When two cars crash head-on, even if one’s just a compact car… would the other vehicle really come out completely fine?”

Drrrrrrr… screech.

“The truth is, the other vehicle should've suffered major damage too, or at least been wrecked. So how could it leave absolutely no trace? Maybe….”

“.......”

“…Maybe it didn’t collide with another car at all.”

I swallowed. 

“There’s been an accident.” 

Behind us, the wrecked car slowly drove along the tunnel road, following us. 

As if preparing to accelerate, it surged forward slightly—then hit the brakes. 

As though it were about to run us over.

Screech, screech.

Like it might speed up and crush us at any moment.

"......."

This is insane. This is actually insane. 

'No.' 

But it was all fake. Ignore it and keep telling scary stories. Just endure it. 

Drrrrrrr… screech.

“So the theory is that it wasn't really a traffic accident between two vehicles….”

"......."

“Maybe that compact car encountered something cursed. Something occult. Something deeply inauspicious lurking inside this tunnel… and something happened to the people inside.”

"......."

“And perhaps the later disappearances happened because that inauspicious thing discovered how much fun it was to harm people.”

The compact car's headlights were directly behind us now.

The back of my neck and my ears felt stiff with fear. 

And then— 

“Well, that's the rumor anyway.”

"......."

I realized the presence on my right had disappeared.

The strange weight, sensation, and sounds vanished completely. 

Silence. 

I looked forward. 

The bizarre shadow that had been beside me was gone too. 

"......."

"......."

'Hooo.' 

I’d done it. I’d ignored it and gotten through it. 

Khh. For the first time, I was grateful that my current body didn't show much emotional disturbance as I restrained my sigh of relief. 

'I survived that.'

And once I realized that, I could finally pay attention to Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s ghost story again. Whew! 

“I think that's a fairly convincing theory.” 

“Right?” 

“Yes. There's a saying that ghosts do things in reverse. Perhaps it wasn't a car driving the wrong way at all, but something driving the wrong way through the tunnel in the middle of the night—” 

Correct.

Something lunged into my field of vision.

A malicious thing that seemed to imitate a human by attaching limbs to itself in a grotesque way. Its body hung together in fragmented pieces. Its abnormally large head moved. It exhaled. 

Right in front of my face. 

'Fuck.' 

I instinctively threw a punch with all my strength. 

BOOM!! 

And a sound no human fist should ever make echoed through the tunnel. 

"...??"

Crash…

I turned my head.

An old rusted license plate that had been struck by my fist was embedded in the tunnel wall to my right. 

A moment later, the crumpled license plate tore free, bringing part of the concrete wall with it and exposing what had been hidden inside.

“…!”

“Ah!”

A stone wrapped in an old prayer bead necklace.

It looked almost like a memorial tablet. Though I couldn't read the vicious Chinese characters covering it, the thing radiated a sinister and ominous presence. It was stained dark reddish-brown, as if soaked in the dried blood of some unknown beast. 

It seemed like someone had secretly hidden it inside the tunnel wall during construction and attempted to seal it away. The moment you saw it, it inspired every unsettling possibility imaginable. And now— 

Crumble, crumble….

It was gravel. 

More specifically, it had shattered into pieces after being struck by a license plate propelled with overwhelming force.

The stone had become nothing more than a pile of fragments.

“.......”

And then—

Tap.

“.......”

“.......”

“Ah, there’s the exit.”

Light appeared in the distance. 

The tunnel exit with pale dawn light seeping in from outside. 

An exit that absolutely shouldn't have appeared yet.

“Oh. The sun isn't even up yet and we're already done.”

“.......”

“Wow.”

And finally, I understood what had happened.

'Physical exorcism….'

Section Chief Lee Jaheon.

Just what kind of life have you been living…?

***

“…So you're saying you escaped by destroying the tunnel?”

“Yep!”

Assistant Manager Jin Nasol looked at us with a clear expression of: 'What kind of insane nonsense is that?' 

Incidentally, when we spotted the exit, she had apparently found it as well and emerged shortly afterward, joining up with us.

In one hand, she was dragging her unconscious companion.

'So he really did try to run away….' 

As expected of an elite-team Assistant Manager, she hadn't simply let him go. Hoo. 

As for my explanation— 

“We didn't destroy the tunnel. An anomalous attack situation suddenly occurred. While responding, I may have used a little too much force.” 

What kind of insane line was that?

Even after saying it myself, I couldn't believe it. 

'This sounds like something an edgy teenager writing <Dark Exploration Records> would put into the dialogue of a Security Team employee.'

Maybe I should've just copied Section Chief Lee Jaheon and answered with a simple, “? Yes.”

Still, despite the suspicious look from Assistant Manager Jin Nasol, something fortunate happened. 

“Ah! No dream essence. Looks like it was just an escape.”

The team that had entered after us still hadn't come out.

'Hoo.'

At least that meant nobody would report that a suspicious stranger had entered and destroyed one of our dream essence sources.

…Though that also meant the tunnel had literally released us because the memorial tablet got destroyed and it panicked.

'So this is what happens when physical force is high enough.'

Actually experiencing it was astonishing. 

I opened and closed my fist and glanced toward Baek Saheon. More specifically, toward my reflection in the surface of the smartphone he was holding. 

The sleek snout of a black lizard. 

Hoo. 

“W-What?” 

“Nothing.” 

'…It really is a convenient body.'

Maybe there was a reason it wasn't simply given as a favor. 

The body of 'Us' was powerful.

But that also meant I now had a better understanding of just how strong Section Chief Lee Jaheon really was.

'He's even stronger than this.'

If Section Chief Lee Jaheon had punched the tunnel wall with everything he had, the result probably wouldn't have been reddish-brown powder. There might not have been anything left recognizable at all.

No, the entire tunnel might have collapsed.

'He's probably a more specialized individual.'

Which meant the lizard wasn't this powerful simply because it belonged to 'Us.'

'If even I can do this.'

What exactly did Section Chief Lee Jaheon do within 'Us' that made him so overwhelmingly powerful? The question briefly crossed my mind. 

And along with it came the realization that I really needed to learn how to use this strength properly.

'I'll ask him.'

Though there was something scheduled before that.

“Then let's go eat!”

“Ah, then—”

It was at that moment. 

Beep. 

Assistant Manager Jin Nasol looked at her smartphone, frowned, and turned toward us.

“Stop.” 

“Yep?” 

“Dolphin. Goat. …Cat.” 

The eyes beneath the butterfly mask swept over us one by one as though counting. 

“Director Ho is calling for you.” 

“.....??”

“He said to bring all three of you.” 

Excuse me? 

“Why?” 

“Haa….”

Assistant Manager Jin Nasol spoke in an annoyed voice, as though suppressing irritation.

“It's a project team company dinner.”

"…??"

 

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