Chapter 38: Return (3)

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"Mmm.... It's cleaner here than I expected."

Cheshire, now upright atop the computer tower, toddled across its surface.

The little doll that had spent most of its time silently watching from the sidelines whenever Su-myeon entered a paranormal phenomenon.

That deranged thing was now moving around in the real world.

"The coins. The ones you picked up. Aren't you going to put them in~?"

Cheshire lazily waved a paw, completely unfazed by what was happening.

It was absurd, but the timing was convenient.

Su-myeon had already decided to earn as much goodwill from Cheshire as possible, so he chose to play along with the suggestion.

He pulled out the Rose Coins he had picked up after sniping the Pied Piper.

He had not managed to collect every last one, but the handfuls he had scooped up came to eleven coins in total.

"......."

Su-myeon studied Cheshire for a moment, then placed the coins into his Inventory.

[Rose Coin: 32]

"You knew you could move around like this out here, didn't you?"

Only after taking care of all that did Su-myeon finally manage to ask his first question.

Sprawled flat across the warm computer tower, Cheshire answered in a languid drawl.

"Nah. Didn't know."

Su-myeon stared at the absurdly carefree cat doll for a moment, then sat down across from him with a faint sigh.

Whether Cheshire was telling the truth or not, the fact remained that he had been helpful in one way or another.

If that help was nothing more than impulsive goodwill born of curiosity, then the smartest thing to do was squeeze every last drop out of it.

"You know what I'm trying to do, right?"

At Su-myeon's question, Cheshire merely waggled one foot.

Whether that meant yes or no was impossible to tell.

The reaction was inscrutable as ever, but Su-myeon continued.

"I'll keep giving you something worth watching, but if you want me to keep putting on a spectacular tour, don't you think I should get a little something in return?"

Su-myeon wanted to get his parents back.

But he wanted to do it as safely as possible.

His parents surely would not want him to throw his life away to save them.

Leaving aside whether Su-myeon himself even had the courage to do that.

For that purpose, Cheshire's usefulness was undeniable, so Su-myeon chose to indulge him and cater to his tastes.

Apparently pleased enough by the offer, Cheshire let out a giggling laugh.

"You know what~?"

Cheshire spoke very slowly and deliberately.

As though savoring every second he had been given, he continued at an unhurried pace.

"I was born in Ellis Hotel, but I work as Belle's errand runner."

Cheshire had been born under Ellis's dominion and had later become Belle's errand runner.

Apparently there had been a minor dispute between Ellis and Belle in the process.

"But, weell.... That's none of your business or mine......."

The UTG worldview Su-myeon already knew was complicated enough as it was.

Ghost stories—entities given substance by people's rumors and beliefs.

Their roots lay in countless folktales and fairy tales that had been passed down through the ages, distorted, and reinterpreted over time.

Especially those whose original forms had been lost in the modern era and gradually faded from public awareness—they made up the majority of the masters behind ghost stories.

Following that line of thought, the "Belle" Cheshire was referring to had to be......

"When you say Belle, you mean that......"

"Yep~ The beast-lover."

No, Su-myeon had not intended to put it quite that strongly.

He was taken aback, but the answer was clear enough.

He vaguely remembered from a childhood storybook that "Belle" was the name of the beauty in Beauty and the Beast.

He also had a hazy recollection of reading somewhere that Belle was the daughter of an inventor.

"Then all the things I've been buying and using from the Secret Shop are her......"

Su-myeon suddenly remembered the Ellis he had seen in Ellis Hotel.

Could that thing even be called a person?

"In any case, they're Belle's inventions?"

"Hmm~"

As Su-myeon's questions continued, Cheshire waved an arm dismissively.

He was rolling around on top of the computer tower, practically using his own body to wipe away every last speck of dust.

"Wouldn't it be faster to just... meet her~?"

"Meet her? Where am I supposed to go to do that?"

Su-myeon asked reflexively.

Cheshire stopped rolling and turned his head.

Green button eyes.

Being watched by those eyes had never been pleasant, though by now the sensation was no longer quite as revolting as it once had been.

"But if I just told you... that wouldn't be any fun, would it?"

And naturally, the doll had to say something infuriating on top of everything else.

Su-myeon considered asking again, but instead stopped to think.

An inventor.

Inventions......

One place immediately came to mind.

No—if Belle truly was the inventor responsible for everything sold in the shop, there was only one place she could be.

"......I think I know."

UTG: The Inventor's Castle.

When Su-myeon had played the game, he had never made the connection that this was specifically the Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

But now that he was putting the pieces together, nothing else fit as well.

Cheshire, who had been watching Su-myeon intently, spoke.

"If you can, go alone."

"...Alone?"

"Yep~"

It was obvious that asking why would get him nowhere.

Su-myeon wondered whether the place would be dangerous.

At times like this, he could not help wishing someone would simply give him a clear, definite answer.

But wishes like that were meaningless.

In the end, the decision was his alone.

After a moment of deliberation, Su-myeon picked up his phone.

[I need to go somewhere for a bit.]

The moment he posted that in the group chat with everyone who had gone through Ellis Hotel together, questions began pouring in.

Su-myeon followed up as casually as though he were stepping out for a walk around the neighborhood.

[I'm heading into a ghost story. I'll be back.]

As expected, messages of concern immediately followed.

But regardless of whether he trusted Cheshire, Su-myeon believed there were times when going alone was the better choice.

More people meant more potential help.

But it also meant more unpredictable variables beyond his control.

If there had to be a gamble, he was willing to gamble with his own life.

He had already chosen a path that required him to throw himself into danger again and again.

Su-myeon chose to accept Cheshire's condition and go alone—not because he trusted Cheshire, but because he trusted himself.

"I'll take your word for it."

Su-myeon deliberately added those words for Cheshire to hear.

He had expected the doll to respond with nothing more than a lazy wave of the paw, but Cheshire stared at him fixedly.

As things stood, Cheshire was the only being who might be able to give Su-myeon the answers he needed.

There were differences between Su-myeon and the others who had experienced ghost stories and discussed this crisis together.

Things they did not possess.

Things unique to him alone.

If he wanted the freedom to ask about those things, he needed to meet Cheshire's conditions.

No matter how complicated the situation became, there was no reason for that judgment to change.

"What if it's a trap~?"

Cheshire, who had been silently watching Su-myeon, drawled.

There was a faint note of amusement in his voice.

Perhaps even excitement.

Having already made his decision, Su-myeon answered without hesitation.

"If you were really determined to screw me over, there wouldn't be much I could do about it anyway."

That was the same reason he had kept Cheshire all this time instead of throwing the doll away.

As long as Su-myeon continued entering ghost stories in search of his parents, Cheshire would follow him regardless.

Su-myeon did not know the full extent of Cheshire's abilities, but he knew of at least two for certain.

Spatial teleportation.

Object storage.

What if Cheshire decided to store Su-myeon inside that belly of his instead of an object?

There would be no way for him to escape.

Of course, that did not mean Su-myeon blindly believed Cheshire would never harm him.

"Besides, I don't think I'm the only one who has to follow the rules."

Ghost story worlds were built on rules.

"You can't break the rules either, can you, Cheshire?"

Cheshire fell silent.

Su-myeon took that silence as confirmation.

Even if Cheshire tried to harm him, he could probably only do so within the limits imposed by the rules.

He could not simply kill someone for no reason.

And there would be no reason to do so in the first place.

Su-myeon was satisfying Cheshire's curiosity while taking advantage of the rules himself.

"So I'll go. Alone."

***

[Ghost Story] Resort Ghost Story

Author: Anonymous

Nothing major, just a story from the ski resort where I work part-time.

You know that story about the ski lifts moving after the resort closes and all the power gets shut off?

It's pretty famous online, right?

Honestly, I didn't believe it. How's a lift supposed to move without electricity? But I saw it myself yesterday.

Seriously, after all the power had been turned off and the shops had gone dark, I was heading back to the dorm.

Then I realized I'd left my portable charger behind.

I need to charge that thing overnight if I want to use my phone at work the next day.

The battery dies crazy fast when it's freezing out.

Anyway, I ran back to get it, and that's when I saw them.

The lifts were moving.

At first, I thought the wind was just making them sway, but that wasn't it.

In the pitch-black darkness, the lifts were actually moving.

The moon was bright enough to cast shadows across the snow, and those shadows were moving too.

Slowly swaying from side to side.

Scared the hell out of me, but I still grabbed my charger lol

But by the time I got it and looked again, they'd stopped.

So I asked some of the senior staff about it, and they told me to take tomorrow off instead of coming in for my shift.

Apparently everyone who sees it ends up quitting afterward.

No idea why.

Anyway, I looked it up, and there's some rumor about getting taken to a castle that grants wishes?

I mean, if I got my wish granted, would I still be working this shitty job?

Anyway, I'm sneaking back out tonight to check it out lol

I'll post my field report tomorrow

***

Su-myeon packed light before heading to the location where The Inventor's Castle was supposed to take place.

A resort near a ski slope in the countryside.

The place was crowded with families, friends, and couples.

Among them, Su-myeon—arriving alone with almost no luggage—stood out as an unusual guest.

It was not as though he knew how to ski, either, so there was little for him to do.

All around him stretched the scenery of a resort where everyone seemed happy and carefree.

In the middle of it all, Su-myeon sat alone in a café with nothing but the Cheshire doll in his hands, idly passing the time.

'The ghost story calls it the Castle of Wishes, but the game's title is The Inventor's Castle. I did wonder about that.'

UTG: The Inventor's Castle.

This, too, had been a short fan-made game.

Su-myeon mentally reviewed everything he knew about the castle.

Since the story did not begin until after the resort closed, he still had time to spare.

As he watched the slopes bustling with cheerful people, a strange feeling gradually settled over him.

Even though they were all occupying the same place, it somehow felt as though his world and theirs were entirely different.

"...They're something else."

Unexpectedly, quite a few people remained even after closing time.

A few late stragglers came gliding down the slope.

Then the safety staff began patrolling the ski runs and circling the area, busy with their final checks.

After that, the food and beverage outlets became packed.

It looked as though it would take quite some time before the ski resort went completely dark.

Feeling awkward about occupying a table by himself for so long, Su-myeon decided to head outside and scout the area.

"Ugh, it's cold."

Su-myeon hunched his shoulders against a cold far harsher than anything he was accustomed to in Seoul.

After scouting around for a while, he found a secluded spot where the staff were unlikely to notice him.

He tucked himself away in the deserted corner and waited for more time to pass.

Eventually, even the food and beverage facilities went dark, and every light in the ski resort was extinguished.

"......."

Silence and darkness swallowed the surroundings.

Not even the faintest birdsong could be heard from the midwinter forest.

As though pressed down by the darkness saturating the landscape, Su-myeon's heart began pounding with a strange intensity.

Beneath the hazy moonlight, the faint outline of the mountain ridge came into view, along with the ski lifts suspended in the void.

They swayed ever so slightly in the wind.

Su-myeon watched their irregular motion while repeatedly clenching and unclenching his frozen hands.

When he checked his phone, a considerable amount of time had already passed.

[PM 11:59]

At this rate, he was going to freeze to death before any ghost story got the chance to kill him.

Just as he was about to give up for the night,

CLUNK.

A heavy metallic sound rang out.

The swaying lifts began to move.

Slowly.