Chapter 63: It’s how I feel

It was humiliating.

The fact that I couldn’t breathe and let out choking sounds when the ghost suddenly appeared, and that it was all transmitted live through my mic.

The fact that I couldn’t respond to the viewers’ laughter and teasing—it was all a humiliation.

I reminded myself that the game was known for its high difficulty level.

Before starting, I recalled how rare it was for anyone to clear it without a single game over, as mentioned in the earlier explanation.

But “rare” still means at least one or two people managed it, right?

I was frustrated that I wasn’t among them.

What’s so special about them compared to me?

Still, what’s done is done. I had to keep going.

I couldn’t give up now, not after coming this far.

Since I’d resolved to reach the ending and wrap up the stream today, I gripped my mouse once again.

[From zero: Restarting Terrified ᄃᄃ]

[??? : Look, it’s the starting village!]

[I can hear the sound of your teeth grinding over here.]

The viewers were having a field day teasing me.

Since it had come to this, I decided to act shamelessly.

“Welcome to Molru’s high-quality stream! Today, we’ll be playing Terrified, a horror-puzzle game recommended by a viewer.”

I even clapped along with the opening screen, raising my energy level.

[Excuse me?]

[Dormammu on]

[Your voice sounds unusually hoarse today^^]

[Is there something wrong with the streamer’s throat?]

[Current stream time: 2:03:11]

[What even is this?]

[Oh no.]

[Get it together.]

Yes, get it together.

I’m the streamer, the host. This is my domain.

Behave if you don’t want to get kicked out.

Thus began the horror game all over again.

Since I’d already been through this part, I quickly skipped through it.

“If you look at the shoe rack in this hallway, there’s a clue here. Grab it, and as soon as you do, the background music changes, and a ghost appears. Just circle around three times, and it disappears. I’ll handle the movements.”

[Why is she so good at this?]

[Is this really her first time?]

[Did she practice beforehand?]

[ᄅᄋᄏᄏ If you call that practice, sure.]

[This looks familiar.]

[Ugh… my head…]

It felt like a speedrun tutorial as I smoothly explained each step and progressed through the game.

Skipping the tedious parts of searching for clues, I made it back to the spot from before without any trouble.

The 2-A classroom—I unlocked the lock without hesitation.

“Ugh, let’s just grab the notebook quickly and get out.”

[It only took 30 minutes to get here…!]

[That’s Molru for you. ᄋ이]

[Are they pretending not to know or genuinely clueless?]

[We’ve lost our memories.]

This should be about right.

After retrieving the clue from the desk where I’d found the notebook earlier, I was about to leave.

“Since I exited through the back door last time, I’ll go out through the front door now.”

[Last time?]

[Last time, you say?]

[The concept broke.]

[Just go with it. ᄏᄏ]

My character slowly approached the front door and opened it.

But contrary to my expectations, that thing was standing right there again.

“Wait, why is it here?”

This time, I wasn’t startled.

Just a small hiccup escaped me.

It seemed that finding the clue triggered the ghost’s appearance.

But was the front-and-back door pattern randomized too?

The 2-A classroom was quite large, with a considerable distance between the front and back doors.

The ghost’s build alone made it unlikely for it to move instantly.

Or maybe it was because I opened the front door, and that’s why it was there.

[A highly advanced AI is indistinguishable from a human.]

[We were all dancing in the palm of the ghost’s hand, lol.]

[Probably just programmed that way to guarantee an encounter.]

“That’s probably the case. Guess it’s just how it works.”

Leaving the ghost that lunged at me behind, I ascended the dim staircase.

A man sat there.

In a dark room without any lights, only the man’s face was illuminated by the glow of the monitor in front of him.

His expression was serious, focused on something important on the screen, as a woman’s voice played from the speakers.

“There aren’t any more clues, huh? This game takes longer to find clues than to avoid the ghost. Maybe it’s because of the puzzles?”

“True, lol.”

Suddenly, the man’s face twisted grotesquely, and a sinister smile crept across his lips.

He muttered something and tapped on the keyboard, immediately sending a chat message.

However, the flood of other messages buried his, sweeping it far up the screen like a wave.

“D-damn it…”

He felt a flash of anger but quickly suppressed it.

It didn’t matter anymore.

Because he didn’t need to rely on such trivialities now.

‘I’m special.’

What is chat, after all?

A mere indirect means of communication between the streamer and their audience.

Until now, he had used that indirect channel to talk to her, but not anymore.

The man shifted his gaze to another monitor beside the one streaming the broadcast.

On the screen was a patchwork figure resembling a woman dressed in mismatched rags.

Her upper body wore a short-sleeved T-shirt, and her lower body sported dolphin shorts over her thighs.

Her left hand formed a peace sign, though the black coat sleeve flapping incongruously in the air suggested otherwise.

Only part of her lower face was visible as she appeared to speak into a headset mic.

The faceless figure resembled the person the man idolized.

Fatefully, the man had fallen for the streamer, Molru.

However, not much was known about Molru despite her fame.

So, he gathered information about her.

Her upper body and legs from half-cam streams during events.

The glimpse of her lower face from a fleeting scene carefully edited together.

The peace sign she made during a team dinner broadcast.

Each piece he collected made him feel closer to her.

He cut ties with his family and quit his job, creating an environment where he could focus solely on her.

Now, it was time to reap the fruits of his efforts.

“Everyone but Tex and Ryuah is in Seoul.”

“It’s because there are lots of college neighborhoods nearby.”

“Probably a one-room apartment. What’s the point of living in a big place alone?”

Piecing together the clues he had gathered, the man opened a map app.

Several potential locations were saved in his favorites.

These were places where Molru was likely to be found.

“Just wait a little longer… I’m coming soon,” he muttered with a sinister expression.

“Am I almost there?”

Humans are creatures of adaptation.

There’s nothing truly new in this world, and even things that once thrilled you become mundane the more you experience them.

The eerie atmosphere generated by the dark screen and chilling background music became less terrifying after a few hours.

I had also become less startled.

By maintaining a state of constant vigilance, I could manage with just slight flinches now.

As I neared the game’s conclusion, the ghost’s attacks began occurring more frequently.

Could it sense that its end was near?

“Oh, welcome, Bongsun.”

[Bong hi]

[Seeing Bongsun often has made me fond of her.]

[Are you taking Bongsun with you?]

[She might get lonely staying alone at school.]

“Lonely? What’s there to be lonely about? This is Bongsun’s home! She lives here! I’m leaving now.”

Bongsun, the name I gave to the ghost in the game, had grown on me.

She had an untamed hairstyle that was oddly endearing, and over time, her antics felt cute.

I even befriended her and gave her a name.

The viewers, who had initially wondered what I was doing, seemed to have warmed up to her too.

Judging by their comments, they were as attached to Bongsun as I was.

But that was that, and this is this.

One must always know how to separate business and personal matters.

As much as I liked Bongsun, it was time to finish the game.

I was getting a bit tired.

“Now it’s time for us to part ways~ See you again next time.”

As Bongsun’s signature background music played, my character’s movement began to slow.

The first time this happened, I panicked, thinking I was about to get caught.

But the game wasn’t so cruel as to guarantee death; if you ran with all your might, you could narrowly escape.

It was cleverly designed.

For a game I had picked up in a hurry, it exceeded my expectations.

But now, it was time to end it.

“Take this! Hi-yah!”

—Screeeeech!

As I drove a nail soaked in chicken blood into the suspicious shrine at the school’s rear, Bongsun let out a piercing scream.

So this was the solution. I had been torn between the shrine and the auditorium, but this was the right place.

It was too shady for there to be something like this behind the school.

[Bye, Bongba.]

[ㅠㅠ Bongsun…]

[But you said she was your friend…]

[What’s a mere ghost doing challenging the great human?]

[This is the streamer’s style. Letting her live would’ve been more unsettling, honestly.]

“Bongsun must’ve been suffering. I had to help her move on. You can’t leave her in that state forever.”

And so, I helped Bongsun find peace.

I uncovered the school’s secret and cleared the game.

With the game done, it was time to end the stream.

“Well then… shall we call it a day?”

[Don’t go!]

[LLLLL]

[I just got here!]

[But you played Dragonlord for over 8 hours!]

“Why are you being so clingy? We’re not like that.”

[What do you mean, we’re not like that?]

“Hm… good question. Let’s figure that out by the next stream.”

The broadcast screen faded offline, the chat still flooding with messages.

Feeling at ease, I stood up from my seat.

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