Chapter 5: Chapter 4: The Other Side (2)

"We won't be fined for driving without a driver's license, right?" Na Bori cheerily drawled, Lee Jihye in the passenger seat at the front and me in the back as the streets sped by, devoid of any inkling of people except for the parked cars on the side of this empty road.

If only real-life streets were like this. It would be a lot less agonizing getting anywhere.

Along with me enjoying the seat at the back, the expression on Lee Jihye's face was equally excited as the wind whipped the hair into her face.

"There's no police here, dummy," Lee Jihye spoke as the wind took her words away from her fully-rolled down window.

Rewind a few moments ago, we had gone to Na Bori's place and stolen -ahem, in Na bori's word's, borrowed - her family's car.

I patted the three lamps beside us refilled to the brim. Without these, the journey wouldn't have been so smooth.

[Huff-huff, man it took quite a bit of pr0bab^li+y for me to find this place!]

An unwelcome interruption came along, and all of our faces stretched into an ugly expression at the familiar voice.

I thought we had lost this darn Dokkaebi, but it still found us. I guess it discovered we were gone after we were gone for a solid 10 minutes in the real world.

Well, for a scenario to function, it needed its messenger, a Dokkaeibi to be present, so it was no surprise it could come here.

[Wow, you have discovered a hidden dungeon already! I am very mighty impressed by you earthlings. Your sponsors have been really concerned about you.]

Then a stream of indirect messages popped up.

[Maritime War God is surprised at where incarnation 'Lee Jihye' is.]

[ Lily Blooming in Aquarius, curs-feels relieved that incarnation 'Na Bori' is safe]

I straightened my back in surprise at the modifier, because I knew who that was. Who knew that such an archangel participated in streams such as these. However, it seems they were particularly concerned with Na Bori.

I looked at Na Bori thoughtfully.

[Some constellations are asking who the incarnation in the back is]

I ignored that message, not sure how to react to it.

Well, even if there was now an unwelcome audience, they wouldn't be able to affect anything. Unless that accursed Dokkaebi would do something.

Honestly, it was still a perfect chance to open the Dokkaebi bag, but I did not want to associate with this Dokkaebi who felt utter disdain for us.

Perhaps I would be forced to use it in this scenario, but not now.

So I offered no explanation on the events the constellations had missed, leaning my head against my arm as I stared dazedly out the window, listening idly to Na Bori and Lee Jihye.

[Excuse me, are you ignoring me?]

I felt a little isolated, but it was natural between two best friends and a random classmate that they only got to know in one day.

Somehow, I felt like I heard a whisper drifting in and out, like a dream. [Remember us.]

And then I woke up after my head almost lolled off my arm.

I felt frustrated with myself. How could I fall asleep in the midst of a scenario?

"Hey you! Awake now, sleepyhead?" Lee Jihye jeered.

[Maritime War God does not approve of lowering their guard.]

[Lily Blooming in Aquarius thinks there's no fault in being dozing off when there's no danger.]

I felt a little irked at the term after just waking up.

"We've arrived, so what are we supposed to do next?" Without me noticing, Na Bori had parked the car.

I quickly blinked the drowsiness out my eyes.

"First, we need to refill the lamps. There is one refilling area somewhere near the entrance."

I first handed back the almost extinguished lamps and gestured to get out of the car. Every second counted now as we strolled into the museum without a ticket.

Just as we entered, another message rang in our ears.

[1 hour has passed in the scenario. Restrictions of "ghosts" has decreased. "Ghosts" can now possess specific inanimate objects. Please pay heed]

"Looks like the difficulty has increased. Be careful everyone," I drawled in a light-hearted way. I caught myself just as the sentence came out, noticing I said it the wrong way. That was deadly. It seems the post-nap had not exited my system just yet.

Trying to become more alert, I cleared my throat,

"No, seriously, we need to be more careful. When these ghosts possess inanimate objects, the deterring effect these lamps have will decrease. We may even be attacked."

I turned around after we refilled the lamps to look at my companions.

Na Bori's face fell even more at the mention of "attack" and Lee Jihye's eyes held a more cautious glint, though her body language was casual,

"C'mon, what can these objects even possibly do? Have a teddy bear smack you?"

I wanted to inwardly snigger at the words that sounded ridiculous to the me who knew how Lee Jihye suffered in the turn she tried to defeat these so called "teddy bears", but I would refrain from bursting her bubble. Because honestly, only Lee Jihye could fight effectively out of us three.

If I tried, I would probably be the one who had their bottoms handed to them in the first ten seconds.

Our feet passed the threshold of the museum, and a new landscape opened up.

"Hmm? What's this?" Na Bori curiously looked through the display case of a set of farmer's equipment in the first exhibit hall.

Magically, a panel floated above the display with a description.

[List of Items:]

- Replica of a Replica: Farmer's hoe

- Replica of a Replica: Farmer's till

- Replica of a Replica: Farmer's rake

+

Na Bori curiously tapped on one of the items on the list.

[Item: Replica of a Replica: Farmer's rake]

Rating: F

Description: A replica of a replica of a Farmer's rake. If it is a replica of a replica, can it still be called a replica of the original? Due to the history of the original rake, it retains the same function.

+

"Wh-what is this?" Na Bori exclaimed, surprised.

She was probably seeing another panel that asked her if she wanted to take the rake. Unfortunately, through the entirety of the museum, she would only be able to take the rake. In other words, only one item was allowed per person to take in this museum.

"Na Bori, Lee Jihye," I called their names to get their attention from their exploration,

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"As you can probably already tell, you can take an item from this museum, but only one. This gear will be an improvement to uh," I looked at Lee Jihye's meter stick pointedly.

"What are you looking at?" Lee Jihye snapped, hiding the meter stick behind her in slight embarrassment. "Beggars can't be choosers, okay?"

"So, would the other stores in Seoul also have items like these?" Na Bori raised her hand and asked.

I was startled.

Now that Na Bori mentioned it, her words held a lot of sense. I only chose the museum because it appeared in the original novel.

...So I may have wasted a lot of valuable time.

"That might be true. We should look around after choosing something from the museum." I said quickly, feeling bad for misleading the others.

"I say we split up for now since so much time has gone by already." Lee Jihye said, hoisting the meter stick over her shoulder.

I wanted to say that sticking together would be safer because the restriction was eased, but the museum was very large, and all our time would be eaten away if we all went together. It would be fine since the ghosts at this stage would not be as dangerous...right?

So instead, I said, "Ok, should we meet back here in at most an hour, since that's when the next restriction will be loosened?"

"Sounds good/sure." Both Na Bori and Lee Jihye nodded, and so we split up.

But I realized the saying "there's strength in numbers" was very accurate, because a few steps away and I already felt apprehensive.

Being in the museum, all alone, was a whole different experience.

Should I go back now...? I hesitated.

Slapping my cheeks lightly, I forced myself to focus on the task at hand and get a move on. I checked my phone, remembering the time so I would get back timely.

With a beating heart, I maneuvered my way through the exhibitions, finding my way into an open-air exhibition.

Looking at the gloomy sky did not make me feel less nervous, sadly.

[play...]

I whipped my head around at the source of the sound, but found nothing there.

My heart rate began to climb in the uncomfortable situation. Gripping a simple dagger close that I had gotten from one of the exhibitions, and the lamp with the other, I waited with bated breath for anything to happen.

[Restrictions on Ghosts have been loosened. Ghosts can now go on a "hunt".]

Huh? My heart dropped suddenly. It hadn't even been an hour yet, but the restrictions had lowered yet again.

This development did not happen in the original novel, and it made me panic. Without a way to guide me forward, I felt blind.

I bit my lip in stress, focusing instead on the things I could do in the future.

Next time, I would not make the same mistake. The things in the novel were true, yet could not be depended on. Next time, I would have to pay attention to the worst case scenario.

Therefore, what I needed to do was meet up with the others.

I didn't know if they would end up with the same thought as me, to go back to the agreed meeting place, but going anywhere else would be worse. It was a common occurrence to miss the other person when attempting to search for them, because the other person would also be moving, and you wouldn't know where they were moving to.

In the worst case currently, either the other two would be dead, or I would die before I meet with the others.

Problem was, I couldn't come up with a strategy to prevent the worst case scenario.

In the periphery of my vision, I saw a flower pot move.

Dropping down as my first reflex, it crashed to the ground beside me, sending dirt and porcelain bits flying everywhere.

I was shaking, unsure of how to fight the invisible enemy.

So I could only run, hoping for the best.

The rough breathing that came out did not sound like me.

The me who wished with all my heart that everything was just a nightmare did not sound like me.

I screamed as another flower pot exploded near me.

The person who regressed into a thoughtless thing trying to survive was pathetic.

But I just wanted to live.

[Hehe, you're a funny noona. I want to continue playing, but I can't right now.]

I looked blankly skyward, but did not see the ghost.

[Bye bye for now]

[Ghost hunt has ended.]

Collapsing on the ground, I gasped, trying to calm my state of mind. I felt nauseous again, but I tried not to throw up, as if that would keep my last vestiges of dignity.

"Where's the enemy?" Lee Jihye burst into the courtyard, now holding onto a sword. Following behind her was the rapid footsteps of Na Bori.

They must have heard my scream.

And I was just sitting here, pathetically on the ground-

A nameless anger and frustration brewed in me.

[The Maritime War God looks at you, shaking his head with disbelief at your weakness.]

[Lily Blooming in Aquarius is looking at you.]

[Some constellations laugh at your state.]

I glowered at all of the messages, but decided better. Hard as it was to admit, that person from moments before was me, borne from my own weakness. How could I have acted any different, anyways, when I was not like the main character from that novel? Always so calm?

"Are you ok? Can you stand?" Na Bori touched my shoulder.

In a rare act of compassion, Lee Jihye sheathed the sword and bent to help bring me to my feet.

"Lean on me if you need to." Lee Jihye said, and soon Na Bori supported my other side.

A complicated feeling of both shame at needing to be taken care of and warmth nestled in my chest.

"...Thank you for coming to my rescue." My voice sounded weaker than normal. 

It wasn't good, but it seems my mental state was worse than I thought.

I was in a daze for most of the time when we exited the museum and entered the car. When Na Bori and Lee Jihye noticed I looked even paler than before, they suggested for me to rest, which I did not refuse.

And so I feel asleep.

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