I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 16: It’s dangerous to interfere during a fight

We Walked Into That Damn Suspicious Temple

Despite our instincts screaming at us, we moved toward the eerie temple. Normally, temples were grand and ornate, but this one was small enough that its entire structure could be taken in at a glance.

Well, it wasn’t like this was a boss battle, so there was no need to make the map unnecessarily large.

A few headless Buddha statues stood scattered around, the small pond had completely dried up, and all the Buddhist structures were wrapped in thick layers of cobwebs, making them almost unrecognizable.

Cobwebs were the best at creating a creepy atmosphere, no doubt about it.

But... wasn’t this too much?

Had the reality patch affected this too?

Or was something else at play here?

With those thoughts in mind, I ordered the others to open the # Nоvеlight # sliding door and enter the building.

Clack.

"Ella, I think it’s locked."

Ah, right.

We were supposed to solve a puzzle and find another entrance.

...What a hassle.

I slipped out of the mirror for a moment and kicked the door down.

Slam!

Ah, that felt good!

Who wastes time looking for keys or alternate routes when you can just kick the door down?

I get that puzzle-solving was part of the game’s mechanics, but I hate tedious obstacles.

"..."

"What?"

The kids were giving me a look like I had just defied all common sense.

Ignoring them, I returned to the mirror.

I had limited time outside, so I needed to conserve every second.

The layout of the temple was simple.

A single hallway surrounded a central room—essentially, a big square with a smaller square in the middle.

All four sides of the room had sliding doors that moved left and right.

It was structured perfectly to allow easy surveillance of anyone walking through the hallway.

If you can picture that, you can probably guess how this fight will go.

It was similar to [Red Light, Green Light].

At the center of the room was a Buddha-like ghost singing a sinister lullaby.

This lullaby was a curse—blocking your ears wouldn’t protect you.

If you got caught in it, your ears would be sliced off, and you'd die instantly.

That’s why we needed [Sacred Chime] or some other purification artifact.

But if we purified the curse, the ghost would realize our location and open the doors to attack.

So we had to hide behind objects in the hallway to avoid detection.

That was all we needed to survive.

As for defeating the ghost? That was even simpler.

We had to strike a specific Jizo statue.

There were four Jizo statues, one at each corner of the hallway.

Only one of them was different—it was missing ears.

Hitting that statue three times would banish the ghost.

I whispered softly.

"Are you ready?"

The kids nodded, determination on their faces.

Alright.

Let’s begin.

As soon as they stepped inside, the broken door regenerated, and the surroundings darkened.

A voice began singing from the central room.

[At the corner of the silent village...]

[The ear-cutting monk stands...]

The kids moved quickly, rounding a corner.

The Jizo statue here had ears—not the one we were looking for.

[How many, how many are standing here?]

[Three and one are standing here.]

They moved to the next corner.

Was this the right one?

No.

It also had ears.

The song was already halfway through—time to ring the chime.

I whispered to Eun-jung.

"Watch out for the branches—stepping on them makes noise. And ring the bell. Don't forget to find a hiding spot."

[The ear-cutting monk, snip-snip goes the blade.]

[Snip-snip, off goes the crying child's ears.]

Ding!

The moment the bell rang, the malicious curse dissipated, its unsettling energy scattering into the air.

"Ugh..."

I had to clamp my mouth shut to stifle the ticklish sensation.

Slide—

The door to the central room opened, and the Buddha statue peeked out into the hallway.

If it didn’t see us, it would simply close the door and continue its chant.

But then—

Tap...

A single step echoed from the statue.

What?

I quickly slipped out of the mirror to check what was happening.

The Buddha statue was exactly as it had appeared in the game.

But something was wrong.

Creeping out from the statue’s abdomen were spindly spider legs and a grotesque, twisted head.

It looked as if a spider had parasitized the Buddha from within, but the statue, being a ghost rather than a living creature, seemed indifferent to its invader.

A new ghost had interfered.

That much was acceptable.

But ghosts merging with each other?

I had never imagined that.

And why was it a spider again?!

Why did the subordinates of that boss keep appearing?!

This confirmed it—something had happened to the boss ghost, [Madame Spider].

It wasn’t supposed to appear until Chapter 3!

Why the hell was its influence stretching all the way here?!

I had to change the plan.

If the statue ghost was leaving the central room instead of staying put, that meant hiding was no longer an option.

We had to fight head-on.

Ha-rim’s voice trembled as she saw the statue ghost advancing.

"W-What do we do, Ella?"

"Find the earless Jizo statue!"

I leaped out of the mirror.

Then, I kicked the massive metal-bodied statue, sending it crashing back into the central room.

THUD!

The sheer impact shook the entire temple.

The spider-half of the ghost shrieked in fury.

"You're not supposed to leave the center, you damn cheater."

[KIIIIIEEEEHHH!!!]

Its grotesque limbs lashed out wildly.

Sharp spider legs and golden Buddha arms swung with incredible force.

The sound of the air splitting apart told me—

This thing wasn’t going to be as easy as the Spider Maid.

[At the corner of the silent village...]

[The ear-cutting monk stands...]

The haunting lullaby continued from the statue’s twisted mouth.

It could sing and attack at the same time.

This thing’s reach was longer than mine.

My best bet was to dodge, wait for an opening, and pierce its head in one decisive strike.

-----

Ella launched herself out of the mirror and kicked the ghost.

Holy shit.

That huge thing actually staggered backward.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

"Guys, let's go!"

The plan might have changed, but our goal hadn’t.

With Ella keeping the main ghost busy, we could finish this even faster.

She had a time limit outside the mirror, so we had to hurry!

"Ha-rim! Over there! That Jizo statue has no ears!"

Kyung-min pointed.

He was right.

It was the one!

[At the corner of the silent village...]

[The ear-cutting monk stands...]

The eerie lullaby echoed around them.

If the song finished, their ears would be cut off—and they’d die instantly.

They had to interrupt it.

"Eun-jung! Purify it!"

"Got it!"

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Ding!

The sound of Eun-jung’s chime washed away the foul energy lingering in the air.

Good!

Now we just had to strike the Jizo statue—

But before we could act, the statue in front of us trembled violently.

And then—

Sssk! Sssk! Ssssk!

Spider legs burst out from within the Jizo statue, and it scuttled away at a terrifying speed.

For a moment, we were too shocked to move.

"The Jizo statue is running away!"

"Ugh, that’s disgusting!"

"It’s too fast!"

And it wasn’t just the earless Jizo statue—

The other statues also sprouted spider legs, bolting in different directions.

They were too fast.

If we wanted to catch them, we needed to be faster.

I shouted at Eun-jung.

"Eun-jung! Speed boost!"

"Got it!"

Ding!

Eun-jung shook the chime in a different direction, and we felt our bodies lighten.

"Run them down!"

We sprinted at full speed.

But the hallway was too short for a proper chase, and cluttered with obstacles.

We wouldn’t be able to maintain our top speed here.

We needed another approach.

"Soo-ho, Eun-jung—circle around from the other side! This place is enclosed, so if we herd them right, we can trap them!"

"Got it!"

"And Eun-jung, keep purifying the curse at regular intervals!"

"On it!"

Crash!

Just as we split up, Ella came flying out of the central room, crashing through the door.

The Buddha-like ghost must have landed a direct hit on her.

"Ella! Are you okay?!"

"Do NOT come closer or interfere."

Her red eyes burned with fury, making us instinctively flinch.

She had warned us beforehand—

If an unexpected situation arose, we were to stick to the plan, unless it was something she needed to handle personally.

She radiated a murderous aura as she charged back at the ghost.

The room shook with the sounds of violent combat.

If we got caught in that fight, we wouldn’t even leave behind bones.

"Ha-rim! Over there!"

Kyung-min pointed toward the ceiling.

A Jizo statue without ears was scuttling across it at high speed.

It was completely out of reach.

...But we didn’t need to physically hit it ourselves, right?

I grabbed a random object from the hallway debris.

If my necklace’s power worked the way I hoped, this might do the trick.

"Take this!"

[Luck]

The object flew in an unnatural arc, striking the earless Jizo statue directly.

"Yes!"

The statue wobbled and fell—

But it had ears now.

I hadn’t made a mistake.

Ella had told us that hitting an earless Jizo statue made its ears reappear, while a random other Jizo statue lost its ears instead.

"If the statue in Soo-ho’s direction changed, he’ll drive it toward us!"

And just as expected, Soo-ho soon appeared—

Chasing another spider-legged Jizo statue.

This one was earless.

Soo-ho and Kyung-min pounced on the statue, grabbing hold of it to keep it from running.

From inside its ceramic shell, a horrifying screeching sound erupted, making our skin crawl.

"Ughh!"

"Now!"

Slam!

Soo-ho smashed the statue with his shield.

Its ears reappeared.

One more hit left.

Where was the next one?

"Ha-rim! Next to you!"

A Jizo statue zipped past me.

We chased it around a corner—

Only to see it darting straight into the central room.

Just as we were about to follow—

We saw Ella grappling with the Buddha ghost’s massive golden arm.

She’s in danger!

We have to help!

I frantically scanned the area for something to throw—

Then I saw it.

The Jizo statue that Soo-ho had knocked over earlier.

-----

As I dodged the spider’s attacks, the golden arm of the Buddha ghost came crashing down—

I had no choice but to catch it.

Its sheer weight threatened to crush me.

But something inside me burned—

The more I fought, the more I felt my rage intensify.

"I may be a ghost... but I’m still a boss!"

I finally unleashed the telekinetic force I had been holding back—

Using every ounce of strength, I threw the ghost’s arm back at it.

The Buddha statue tilted backward, but its lower half—the spider—held firm.

Then, its spindly legs lunged for me.

Shit.

I can’t dodge this.

"E-Ella! Watch out!"

Just then—

Ha-rim suddenly hurled a Jizo statue at the spider.

The ghost hesitated for a split second—

It didn’t want to attack its own kind.

That brief opening was all Soo-ho needed.

With a roar, he charged in with his shield, slamming it into the ghost’s body.

A gap in its defense.

Perfect.

I dashed past its legs, sliced through its abdomen, and decapitated the spider’s head.

The stench of its blood sent a surge of energy through me.

But before I could breathe—

The Buddha’s golden arm came swinging down again.

"It’s already over."

I threw my sword—

Straight at the final earless Jizo statue.

I could tell from the kids’ reactions—

This was the third and final hit.

With a clunk, the Buddha ghost stopped moving.

It froze, like a machine whose power had been cut.

"Soo-ho, give me the shield for a second."

I took the police shield from him.

If this Buddha ghost had merged with another entity, then maybe—

As expected—

The ghost began muttering in an incomprehensible Buddhist chant.

And as it spoke its final words, glowing inscriptions appeared on the police shield.

A new artifact had been created.

The ghosts dissolved into mist—

And were absorbed into me.

My time outside the mirror was almost up.

It was a relief we finished in time.

If anything unexpected happened on the way back, we’d be in trouble.

I tossed the shield back to Soo-ho and returned to the mirror.

"Ella, is it over?"

"Yeah, it’s over now."

"Phew... That’s a relief."

Ha-rim relaxed.

...Which was a mistake.

"A relief? What’s so relieving about this?"

I smiled sweetly.

"...Huh?"

She blinked, confused.

"Didn’t I tell you to stay away?"

"W-Wait—"

"Why didn’t you listen?"

Ha-rim froze.

Her face was still smiling—

But her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

...Is she mad?!