I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game
Chapter 124: Illusion Collapse

One month had passed since Carroll disappeared.I could no longer find any trace of her.

The fact that Bellman didn’t reappear probably meant Carroll was still somewhere in this world.

But where on earth are you, Carroll… My sadness must have reached the children because they were worried about me too.

To at least feel some relief, I told them about what had happened to me.

“So, in the end, you couldn’t find that person named Carroll?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find her. It seems she’s somewhere we can’t reach.”

“You must be very upset.”

“Yeah… honestly, my heart aches. I’ve been winning so much lately that maybe I was getting too complacent.”

“Alice. You don’t have to blame yourself like that. It was a surprise attack, that’s why. If you were properly prepared, you would have finished it in an instant!”

“Yeah. If I had the right conditions, I could have taken her down. If the same thing happens again, I just need to overcome it. And I’ll definitely find Carroll. Yeah… Thank you.”

They’re trying so hard to cheer me up, I can’t just keep being sad.

But I guess feelings aren’t something you can control at will.

I should go for a walk to clear my head.

“Then why don’t we go to this place?”

Kyeong-min handed me a photo.

“This is Japan. Why here?”

It was a photo of a Japanese shrine landscape.

I wondered why he was showing me this.

“Look closely. What do you think this gate-like thing is?”

“It’s a torii. A gate that divides the realm of the gods from the realm of humans.”

“Dividing realms. If Carroll is still somewhere in this world, I thought she might be in a mystical place like this. It’s all superstition, but superstitions might not be entirely false, you know.”

I understood what Kyeong-min was saying.

Yeah. With all sorts of mysteries overflowing and the Institution’s suffering from it, I can’t just dismiss these superstitions as completely fake.

“…There’s no guarantee that Carroll will be there. Still, it wouldn’t be bad to investigate a little while taking a walk.”

“That’s right! Sadness won’t help solve things. Let’s go energetically!”

“…Hehehe… Thanks.”

He suggested it because he was thinking of me.

I don’t want to refuse.

I decided to put aside the sadness of Carroll’s disappearance for a while and spend time with the children.

“Are we going to Japan? Wait, give me time to pack! I need to stop by home for my passport and…”

Eun-jeong hurriedly stuffed snacks and such into her schoolbag.

There’s no need to pack since we’re going back and forth using a mirror.

By applying the fear of photographs, we can even figure out the coordinates in a photo taken by chance on the internet and move there by mirror.

Or, we can summon mirrors at regular intervals and move faster than an airplane.

Both methods are illegal immigration though.

“You don’t need to pack.”

“Really? Then I just need to bring Dad’s camera.”

After school, after class.

I used the photo monster to open a mirror that directly leads to Japan.

The scenery on the other side, honestly, it’s no different from here.

Maybe because it’s in a remote area.

Shall we cross over?

“Heave-ho.”

We arrived in Japan beyond the mirror.

We could go straight to look for the torii, but it would also be nice to just walk around.

“Hey Alice, do you feel anything?”

“What do you mean?”

“Japan is supposed to have tons of Yokai, right? Can’t you feel any, Alice?”

“Hmm.”

Come to think of it, among the monsters I use, there are quite a few Japanese monsters.

Maybe it’s just because there are many types, or because I’ve seen them often in media.

I should have tried using original Korean Gwisin like Geuseunsae or Eoduksini… I feel like I’m only borrowing ghosts from other countries.¹

“Hmm… I don’t really see anything.”

“Disappointing…”

Even in Korea, sometimes when I walk down the street, I see things that look like ghosts passing by, so I thought it wouldn’t be strange to see at least one Yokai, but surprisingly there doesn’t seem to be any.

Or maybe the Institution caught them all.

When they couldn’t find any Yokai, the children’s gazes naturally turned to the street.

“Ugh, it’s a remote place, so there’s nothing fun to see.”

“Still, the subtly different scenery is interesting and nice.”

“I wonder if there are any maid cafes.”

“Kyeong-min…”

“Just kidding. Why are you so serious?”

A maid cafe, I’d like to go there once.

It seems very burdensome for introverts to go, but being served by pretty people might not be bad.

“Alice, the apron on your outfit, isn’t Alice similar to a maid?”

“Why does it turn out that way? The feeling is completely different, you know?”

“Tsk.”

“Even if you make tsk sounds with your mouth, I won’t say maid things!”

I stretched out Eun-jeong’s cheeks, who was trying to make unreasonable requests again.

If I get caught up in this kid’s pace, I’d probably end up calling the kids “Master” at some point.

She always pretends to be dumb and teases me.

“It’s a Japanese convenience store! Let’s go in!”

“We don’t have Yen though?”

“I’m just going to look… Whoa. Look at this.”

“What is it? Whoa! These are adult magazines.”

Oh. I heard that Japanese convenience stores have adult magazines, but I thought the number had decreased, but they still have them.

And to look at this before even convenience store food, how lewd.

The models are almost naked!

Honestly, men!

“Oh my. If this is your taste, should I take off my socks or something?”

“Don’t tease me!”

I was teasing Kyeong-min and Suho, and then I realized, oops.

I usually don’t joke like this in front of girls!

I let my guard down for a moment.

“Ahem!”

To escape the gaze of Eun-jeong grinning and Ha-rim blushing, I hid behind the boys.

The girls were shocked, but as boys, please protect me when I’m in trouble.

Afterward, for about 2 hours, we wandered the streets, laughing, teasing, and resting, and we found out the location of the torii we were looking for.

The location was said to be a mountain far away.

We decided to walk there without using the mirror.

“Just looking around is really fun. The weather is sunny too. The sky is clear. I’m really happy.”

“Me too!”

“It would be even better if we could buy manga.”

“You can’t read Japanese anyway.”

We chat and enjoy this sunny and warm air.

The weather is so perfect, it’s really a fantastic day.“

…

“Fantastic day?

When Alice thought of the keyword fantastic day, she remembered what the Institution head, who was pretending to be an agent, said.

The words he said when he handed her the key.

-“It’s a kind of key that only opens on a specific day and after a specific time.”

-“A specific day?”

-“The day the world changes fantastically. You’ll naturally understand what that means when the time comes.”

As expected.

The key he gave Alice seemed to be activated, a faint light coming from it.

‘The fact that this turned on now means…’

Alice thought as she looked at it.

The biggest incident that has ever happened will occur.

And that premonition was correct.

The atmosphere of the world completely changed.

The change happened in an instant.

To express this phenomenon in lengthy terms, one could say this.

Tales. Legends. Ghost stories. Fantasies.

These are all derived from imagination, passed down by word of mouth.

If they are unlucky and cannot be passed down, wandering in the void, they eventually disappear like a mirage.

But isn’t that imperfect, tenuous, and poignant nature beautiful?

Perhaps the world is beautiful because it is destined to disappear like an illusion someday.

All things dark and terrifying, beautiful stories, humming songs, everything is ephemeral as it will eventually disappear.

Moment, how beautiful you are. And how sad you are.

Existing things wouldn’t know that feeling.

This is a phenomenon where 8 billion mirages quietly scatter.

The reversal of reality and illusion.

Illusion Collapse Begins.

…

Translation: Return! The Fantastical Grand Adventure That Summons the Storm!!!

!!!! Cliffhanger technique!!!!

Please don’t get angry, readers.

The next chapter will take a little longer.

Why can you read this so quickly?

Ordinary people would keep it bottled up longer, but-

If you knew the reason, you’d be sad.

Let’s wait for the next chapter.

1. Gwisin is the Korean equivalent of the word Yokai; Geuseunsae is an evil spirit found in fables related to Jeju island; and Eodugsini is a monster that symbolizes darkness which grows in size the more it is looked upon.

As always, if you spot any mistakes, feel free to let me know—and I hope you enjoyed the read!

—Chip>