Chapter 74: The Mountain of the Red Cloak (2)

[2. In The Mountain of the Red Cloak, electronic devices are basically unusable. As an exception, ghost-story items can be used, but these are classified strictly as special cases.]

Click-

The sound of Han-su turning on a flashlight could be heard.

As the dark surroundings became considerably brighter, they found themselves surrounded by a mountain thick with dense undergrowth before they knew it.

Unlike the mountain they had been on just moments ago, where the fresh green of early spring had only just begun to emerge, this place was completely overgrown.

“.......”

After taking in the scenery before him, Su-myeon turned around.

Behind them stood a single dilapidated shed that looked ready to collapse.

Hwi-yeon, who had come out last, grabbed the shed’s doorknob again.

Creeak- Creak-

Even when she opened the door, it did nothing but groan on its hinges.

Inside was nothing more than a small storage room, completely empty except for dirt and dust.

It looked cramped enough that just the three of them entering would fill it completely.

Even though the three of them had just opened a door and walked out of the lodge, the space they saw when they turned around was entirely different.

It defied common sense, but for people accustomed to ghost stories, it was not particularly unfamiliar either.

“We successfully entered.”

Hwi-yeon murmured while looking at the phone that had already changed into a Heartphone.

Su-myeon also looked at his own phone and nodded.

In The Mountain of the Red Cloak from the game as Su-myeon had known it, no electronic devices could be used.

That was why the flashlight Han-su was carrying was not one of the LED flashlights commonly seen these days, but one fitted with a filament bulb.

“......I wondered if it might work, and sure enough.”

But perhaps because they were items from inside a ghost story?

Strangely, the people who entered together with Su-myeon were able to use their Heartphones.

Just like in every other ghost story.

'This feels strange.'

He did not know whether it was fortunate or not, but one thing was certain: the feeling was peculiar.

To conserve the battery, Su-myeon dimmed his phone screen and deliberately spoke as though it were nothing.

“At least that’s a relief. We can use this much, at least.”

It was true, after all. Repeating that to himself, Su-myeon immediately opened Dokkaebi AI.

It was to continue with the question he had been most curious about over the past few days.

What exactly was Cheshire? Did this app know?

Generating data

The AI, after receiving the question, displayed only a simple phrase and began loading.

Apparently, generating an answer was taking longer than expected.

A notification even appeared saying that Bell’s Secret Shop app had been updated, but Su-myeon suppressed his curiosity.

Depending on Cheshire’s true identity, his level of trust in Bell would also change.

It was true that Bell had been useful so far, but there was no way to know whether that would continue.

'To begin with, I got this app from there too, so I don’t even know whether I can completely trust it....'

For now, he thought it would be right to decide after seeing what it said.

Out of sight, out of mind. There was probably nothing good about looking at new items for no reason.

“Then, for now... should we organize the items first?”

While Su-myeon was checking his phone.

At Hwi-yeon’s words, Han-su took out the things he had carried on his back.

Weapons and all kinds of supplies covered the dirt floor.

Su-myeon took ammunition for the firearm he was familiar with, along with some food, and placed them into his inventory.

[5.56mm Rifle Magazine (30/30)] x5

[Dried Jerky] x5

[Bottled Water 500ml] x2

[Oil Lantern]

[Kerosene 500ml] x2

[Energy Bar] x20

Seeing the items being listed in his inventory made Su-myeon feel reassured.

Except for the weapons each person had taken, all the supplies were the quantities each of them had personally brought.

“...I’m not sure whether I should call this convenient or creepy. It’s a little confusing.”

Hwi-yeon said that as she repeated the bizarre act of pushing objects into her phone screen dozens of times.

“For now, let’s just say it’s nice because it’s convenient.”

It was impossible to tell whether all of this was because of him or thanks to him.

Without showing his unease, Su-myeon answered calmly, finally finished organizing his belongings, and stood up.

He took the lead holding a flashlight, while Han-su and Hwi-yeon followed behind him with their weapons in hand.

The dim mountain trail was exactly like an ordinary Korean hillside they were familiar with.

“Ah, shit!”

Su-myeon irritably waved his hand around as mosquitoes kept whining beside his ears.

This ghost story was realistic on a completely different level from the places they had been before.

Not only were there insects in the grass, as though a midsummer mountain had been recreated exactly.

Caw- Caw- Caw-

Beyond the blue sky darkening with twilight, the cries of a flock of crows could be heard.

Natural sounds.

Literally, the sounds of nature.

It was more natural than any ghost story Su-myeon had ever seen.

“....”

Then just how many people had this ghost story swallowed?

Su-myeon continued deeper into the mountain, every step filled with tension.

***

It had already been three hours.

'At this rate, I’m going to die after getting lost in the mountains.'

Even though it was cool for summer, hiking through the mountain in a sukajan was seriously hot.

At least his shoes had finally begun functioning as a ghost-story item, so his feet were comfortable, but that was all.

Climbing a mountain used practically the entire body, so the fatigue was severe.

“Why haven’t we seen anyone?”

Eventually, Hwi-yeon also stopped walking and spoke in a troubled voice.

Including the time they had spent climbing earlier, it had been well over half a day.

The three of them had wandered around long enough not merely for their tension to fade, but for them to become completely exhausted.

The sky had long since turned pitch-black after sunset.

Considering how excessively natural everything around them was, it was obvious that a considerable number of humans were being held inside this ghost story.

It had already been quite some time since they reached that conclusion, so why had they still not seen anyone?

“Something’s... strange.”

That was the best answer Su-myeon could give as well.

Normally, by this point, they should have run into a group of survivors for his calculations to make sense.

And yet, why....

Rustle-

“......!”

At that moment, after what felt like an eternity, everyone stopped at the sound of an unfamiliar presence.

Han-su moved ahead and blocked the path in front of the group.

The sound of something stepping on dry fallen leaves and through the grass continued.

It was getting closer and closer.

Just as they thought that something had finally appeared.

Crack-

A sound like something breaking, or like something broken being forcibly fitted back together.

Along with that strange sound, something slowly emerged from the bushes.

What appeared beneath the flashlight was covered in shaggy hair all over its body, with its limbs bent at bizarre angles....

“A person...?”

Hwi-yeon said in a doubtful voice.

It was moving on all fours with its chest and stomach facing the sky, its limbs bent backward.

Even its neck was twisted far back, and its mouth was torn wide from the corners, exposing sharp fangs.

It looked more like a beast than a human, but it was obvious that its basic form had originated from a human being.

“One of them shouldn’t be a probl—”

Su-myeon tried to hand the flashlight to Hwi-yeon and draw his gun.

But he could not finish his confident sentence.

Grrrrr-

There was more than one enemy.

Along with low growls, more than ten of them thrust their ominous heads out from between the bushes one after another.

Every one illuminated by the flashlight was a monster twisted into the same form.

“...The ones I saw before were like those too....”

Hwi-yeon said in a slightly trembling voice.

The memory of running through the mountain with her younger sibling to escape those things suddenly returned as vividly as though it had happened yesterday.

Of course, back then they had looked a little more like wolves, while now they looked like something that had been more subtly mixed with humans.

Their appearance was so grotesquely mangled that it provoked an instinctive sense of revulsion.

In the meantime, Han-su counted the enemies beyond the darkness.

“There are fourteen enemies in total.”

“We’d better not fight them.”

At Han-su’s words, Su-myeon immediately reached a conclusion.

Hwi-yeon’s unstable condition, and the overwhelming difference in numbers.

If they were not going to fight in such an unfavorable situation, there was only one answer left.

None of the three needed any further discussion.

All three immediately turned around and began running down the mountain trail.

Bark! Bark!

The rough barking of huge canine wild beasts sent a chill crawling over the backs of their necks as they ran.

The dense undergrowth brushed against their running arms and legs, making it difficult to pick up speed.

Naturally, Su-myeon, who was carrying the light, fell the farthest behind, but thanks to Zephyros’s Wind, the gap did not become too large.

The sound of dozens of sharp claws kicking off the ground, the harsh snarls.

They were running, but there was nowhere to escape to, and all three of them were already exhausted.

Han-su tightened his grip on the axe in his hand.

Hwi-yeon also prepared to draw her whip.

At this rate, they were going to be caught soon...!

“Wait!”

Han-su suddenly shouted, something he rarely did, and abruptly stopped.

Su-myeon tried to stop by digging his feet into the ground as though slamming on the brakes, but his body did not obey easily.

Han-su and Hwi-yeon, who were used to using their bodies, barely managed to stop, but it was not so easy for Su-myeon.

Su-myeon, who had been sprinting at full speed, failed to stop immediately and shot forward several more steps.

Crack-

Something thin broke beneath Su-myeon’s foot.

At the same time as every fine hair on his body stood on end, the ground beneath his feet flipped over.

“Ugh....”

Su-myeon could not get his bearings as his vision turned upside down.

Scratches from small branches covered his hands and face, leaving only the sharp stinging sensation clear.

Grrrr-

An unfamiliar sound reached him through the confusion.

When he raised his head....

“Aaagh!”

Su-myeon screamed reflexively.

Right in front of him was the form of a monster baring its sharp teeth.

Because its neck was bent backward, its eyes were positioned below, and its jaw was opened unnaturally wide....

“...!”

He did not want to look at it any more closely.

Startled, Su-myeon lowered his gaze and tried to back away, but the ground beneath his hands swayed.

Only then did he look down and see the net beneath him.

Like a fish caught by a fisherman, he had been trapped in a net and hoisted high into the tree.

The one fortunate thing amid the misfortune was that the monster was also trapped in another net, hanging there just like him.

'More importantly, a net?!'

He tried to get up, wondering what the hell this was, but moving like that inside a net suspended in midair was nearly impossible.

Forget standing up, it was difficult even to brace himself properly.

Looking down, he saw Han-su and Hwi-yeon’s startled faces.

Around them, all fourteen beasts that had been captured in the same way as Su-myeon were dangling from the trees like fruit.

And then.

“What’s this? New people came in?”

The voice of a perfectly normal person could be heard.

Turning his gaze in that direction, Su-myeon saw, along with a torch, the survivors they had been searching for so desperately.

“Oh, man, we caught a person too.”

“What are you talking so calmly for? Get that young man down first!”

“Which rope is that trap?”

“Ah, hurry up and find it! The young man must be scared!”

There were no fewer than five people chattering among themselves.

From where he hung in the tree, Su-myeon could see Hwi-yeon hurriedly hiding her whip, a weapon that would look suspicious to civilians.

Su-myeon deliberately pointed his flashlight toward the strangers.

“Who are you? What in the world is this... Ugh!”

He shouted to draw their attention, but it did not look very impressive.

The net Su-myeon was in dropped all at once, just as abruptly as it had been pulled up.

He landed on his butt, but it hurt like hell.

It would have been better if he had landed on his back while wearing the sukajan....

“Oh, sorry about that. I meant to lower you gently, but I made a mistake.”

“Mr. Park, one of these days you’re gonna kill somebody with one of those mistakes.”

The middle-aged men, casually chatting among themselves in rustic accents, gathered around Su-myeon.

There were five people of various ages, from around Du-pal’s age to younger.

They looked at the monsters caught in the other nets and calmly counted them.

'Are they really human?'

Pretending to endure the pain, Su-myeon pressed a hand to his forehead, covered his right eye, and looked at them with the Eye of Truth.

“....”

Their forms did not change.

They were perfectly normal humans.

The only thing that bothered him was that they seemed to be covered in something sticky and filthy.

They treated Su-myeon and his companions with simple, friendly attitudes.

As though they were very accustomed to new people appearing, the survivors naturally took control of the situation.

“For now, you’ll need somewhere to lie down right away. Right?”

“Is there... a place like that?”

For the time being, Su-myeon decided to pretend he knew nothing so he could understand the situation.

At Su-myeon’s question, they wore expressions filled with considerable pride.

A man who looked to be the youngest among them, somewhere in his mid-to-late thirties, stepped forward.

“Follow me.”

And the place he led Su-myeon’s group to was a surprisingly well-built camp.