I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 33: Demon

I was quietly sucking on a piece of candy, hidden away in a place where no one would come.

If you ask why I’m sneaking around just to eat sweets, I can answer simply, concisely, and humiliatingly.

I have been banned from eating sweets by the children.

I did notice their strange looks after I was caught adding chocolate to the soup last time...

But to think they would forbid me from eating sweets entirely?

This tyranny is beyond imagination! I can’t believe it.

I don’t get sick.

Yet the kids kept insisting that I’d get diabetes, that it was bad for my health. They bombarded me with completely unfounded claims.

I argued several times that I don’t even use the bathroom, so how could I possibly get diabetes? But they refused to listen. It was beyond frustrating.

Couldn’t I just sneak some in and eat it?

No.

Because those little brats are keeping track of every single sugary item by counting them one by one.

For kids, their level of thoroughness is honestly terrifying.

That’s why even getting my hands on this precious candy I’m savoring right now required great sacrifice.

“Ella! I won’t tell the others, so give me your candy and let me sleep with you at night~”

Eun-jung likes to hug me when she sleeps.

Even though she brought a stuffed doll from home, she insists on holding onto me instead. She says I have a better grip than a stuffed toy or something.

Honestly, I don’t care about being hugged.

But burying her face into my back and sniffing me? That’s just weird.

Not to mention, it tickles, and I hate it.

Lately, she’s even started trying to bury her face in my chest, so I’ve been deliberately avoiding her.

...But now, I have no choice.

Eun-jung’s desire probably stems from her childhood memories of sleeping next to her mother... but why am I the one she’s using to satisfy that?!

Why do I have to endure this humiliation?

Oh.

There’s an obvious reason.

This damn sugar.

Oh, sugar—my light, my fire, my sin, my soul...!

“Haa...”

I sighed at the realization that # Nоvеlight # I had been reduced to selling my body to Eun-jung every night in exchange for candy.

If that sentence sounded incredibly inappropriate, that’s just your imagination.

“So this is where you were.”

Maria, an agent. She and James were operatives from the organization that entered this world.

For a nun, even if I’m only partially a demon, I must be an uncomfortable existence for her.

Sure, my demon identity is just a hidden setting in the game, nothing more. But for a religious woman like her, that might not be the case.

...Could she be planning to exorcise me?

I tensed slightly as I asked:

“...What do you want?”

“Want...? It’s nothing major. Just a few questions.”

Questions...?

“It’s about that time when you got angry at the kids.”

“Ah... that.”

Why is she bringing up my dark past?

I’d rather forget the moment when I, calmly chatting with James, completely lost it over candy and yelled at the kids.

I bit my lower lip and lowered my head.

“Are you embarrassed about it?”

“...Have you ever heard of the word ‘consideration’?”

“Sorry. But that’s not the point.”

“...”

“If you were so upset about the kids taking your candy, why didn’t you just take it back by force?”

...That caught me off guard.

Because not being cruel to children is common sense for any decent adult.

And more importantly, not resorting to extreme actions is just part of being a member of society.

It was the kind of answer you'd see on a basic ethics exam.

But sometimes, explaining common sense takes longer than expected.

After a moment of thought, I replied:

“They did it because they were worried about me, so I figured I shouldn’t be too harsh. ...Are you giving me an ethics lecture right now?”

Maria, who had been questioning me, was now the one speechless.

She had a complicated expression on her face.

Maria asked me a few more questions.

It felt like she was testing me.

She asked if I would kill for a goal, and I answered that I didn’t want to dirty my hands with blood unless necessary—but I also added that I couldn’t say “never” with certainty.

After all, even humans kill on impulse.

Why would I be any different?

And if a war broke out and I got conscripted, I’d have no choice but to kill.

Then she asked why I protect the kids.

I found it too embarrassing to explain in detail, so I just said, “Because they’re my friends.”

Maria seemed shaken by that answer.

Next, she asked if I fully understood human emotions.

I saw it as a philosophical question.

Because no one truly knows.

It’s impossible to completely understand anything.

When someone is sad, our emotions react before our minds process it.

Conversely, we can logically understand something, but not feel anything about it.

Human emotions aren’t about understanding.

They’re about feeling.

That’s why I couldn’t give her a definitive answer.

“This feels like some kind of therapy session. Can we wrap it up?”

“Sure. Thanks. You really are... different.”

“...What do you mean?”

“Your way of thinking. Your emotions. They’re too similar to humans.”

“That’s weird?”

“Even people from different cultures struggle to understand each other. But you—you’re not even human, yet you think just like one. It’s an anomaly.”

I almost blurted out that I used to be human.

But instead, I felt like I should say something back, so I retorted:

“Isn’t it a bit much to judge someone just from a few conversations?”

Maria nodded as if she even understood that reaction.

“That, too, is very human.”

“...”

“If you were truly a demon trying to fool me, you wouldn’t have ruined your own act by arguing with me just now. And yes, you can judge someone from just a few conversations.

Demonkind is ‘self-indulgent’ by nature. That’s part of what makes them demons.

Unless they’re a high-tier demon, they get tired of pretending.”

...She was leaving me with no room to argue.

So what, was she going to hand me a certificate of humanity or something?

Or had she finally decided I was trustworthy?

“Can I ask why you’re bringing all this up?”

“...It’s a very personal matter. But will you listen?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Maria began to share her story.

She explained that she had gained recognition for her abilities within her religious order, and word of her skills eventually reached the organization. That was how she ended up working for them.

At first, she simply carried out the missions assigned to her. But as time passed and she earned the organization’s trust, she was given the opportunity to meet the entities they had contained.

Among them were those related to demons—every one of them monstrous, revolting, and utterly detestable from a human perspective.

“But... there was one demon that was different.”

There was an entity so dangerous that it was kept under the highest level of security—far beyond any of the others. No one had even seen its face.

Maria had only heard vague descriptions: something red, capable of turning people into black wolves just by looking at them, or transforming its surroundings into a forest with a single gesture.

A great demon, one so powerful that it could not be injured, let alone restrained.

“What the organization asked of me... was a conversation.”

Through a thick wall, she spoke to the demon.

Its voice was that of a young girl.

At first, Maria had thought it was just a trick—an attempt to lure her in with a sweet, deceptive voice. It disgusted her.

But the more they talked, the more she... liked her.

Back then, Maria knew little about the demon.

She became curious.

Were demons truly evil by nature?

Did they exist because the world needed them in some way?

Even if they had terrifying powers, couldn’t they still have rational thoughts?

After all, there were plenty of cases where people with special abilities lost control and accidentally harmed others. The organization had seen that kind of thing before.

Maria found herself thinking about the age-old debate of human nature—were beings inherently good or evil?

So she decided to ask someone she trusted in her order.

He was a man with the appearance of a delinquent, but he had always acted devoutly. That had earned Maria’s respect.

He hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke.

“This is highly classified. You can’t tell anyone else.”

What he told her was shocking.

That demon—the girl Maria had been talking to—was the one who had paralyzed an entire city in the United States, leaving behind massive casualties.

The organization was still struggling to exterminate thousands of wolves and restore the area, which had been completely transformed into a vast forest.

Demons were not human.

That was the truth Maria’s superior had made clear.

The scale of the incident was too enormous to dismiss as an accident.

Maria was left stunned.

She had genuinely believed that demons could be kind—but now, a seed of doubt had taken root in her heart.

Could that demon truly have been sincere in its conversations with her?

Or had it been deceiving her all along?

Still, Maria had a mission to carry out.

She continued to speak with the demon.

But this time, she pretended to be the same as before.

Yet demons were sensitive creatures.

The girl had noticed Maria’s change in attitude and said nothing about it.

Sometimes, she simply wept in silence.

And she continued to do so, even after that day.

“Even if she was a demon... if she truly had the capacity to understand people, then I need to apologize to her.”

“Because if it was all just a misunderstanding... then all I did was hurt her.”

Maria’s eyes were filled with sorrow.

“...”

Wait...

I wasn’t expecting such a detailed backstory about the outside world’s organization.

A whole city turned into a forest?

That’s terrifying.

And this happened in America? America is huge—the scale of that incident must have been far beyond what I could imagine.

...Hey, don’t shake up the game’s lore like this!

Just how many hidden settings did the developer cram into this world?!

This game was supposed to be a small, contained world with a handful of bosses.

But instead, it’s loaded with ridiculously complex backstories.

If I could, I would have given this game a one-star review before getting dragged into it.

...Well, whatever.

I just need to defeat the demons here and get out.

It’s not like this has anything to do with me.

So in the end, Maria was worried that she might have emotionally hurt that demon.

Her doubt was just a defense mechanism—an attempt to cope with her own guilt.

But.

“You left some parts out of your story, didn’t you?”

At my words, Maria’s pupils shook.

Her explanation had been too unnatural.

She had skipped over key moments, brushing past certain details too conveniently.

I could tell she was hiding something.

But I had no reason to pry it out of her.

“I won’t ask what you left out. I can tell that you genuinely want to apologize.”

“But just listening to your story... it sounds too extreme.”

“Maybe the organization was fine with you getting close to that demon.”

“Or maybe it really was tricking you all along.”

“...”

“But if you really don’t know what to do... maybe you should just be honest with her.”

“If she considers you a ‘friend’—then your problem is her problem too.”

“Even if she might be deceiving me?”

Throwing out unverifiable possibilities only leads to going in circles and hitting a dead end.

“What Ella is trying to say is... turning away from fear isn’t always the right choice.”

“That’s quite unexpected. Demons are supposed to be the embodiment of human fear.”

“I said that, but... it’s not like I practice what I preach.”

“That, too, is very human. I like that about you. If we both make it out of here, I’d like to have another conversation.”

It seemed I had earned Maria’s favor.

This woman might be easier to deal with than I thought. People who are naturally wary tend to be the ones who soften the quickest.

“As a token of my gratitude, I’ll give you some candy I got from the kids.”

“Oh! You’re a good one!”

“...”

What’s with that smile?

Wait, didn’t this woman just spill highly classified information without hesitation?

I asked her if that was really okay, and she simply shrugged.

“As long as I don’t get caught, it’s fine. Besides, I’m not a full member of the organization anyway.”

...She’s not normal either.

-----

I spotted Eun-jung sitting alone, reading a book—an uncommon sight.

I approached her and asked:

“What are you reading?”

“Just a book. It’s a fairy tale, kind of weird but fun. The other kids think it’s childish, though!”

The title on the cover read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

A famous fairy tale, one that everyone knows about.

But if you asked me about the details... I couldn’t really tell you.

“What’s it about?”

“Hmm... Alice falls into a strange world, the Red Queen shows up and yells ‘Off with their heads!’... The flowers talk, and all the characters say weird things...”

...Wait.

Was that what Alice in Wonderland was about?!

That’s kind of shocking.

I had heard that older fairy tales were more brutal, but...

“So it’s basically no different from this place? Is this actually a horror story?”

“Huh? Is that how it works? But Alice has fun in the story, too.”

Alice, a curious and innocent child, wanders around a bizarre world.

To her, it’s just a nonsensical adventure.

But if a normal person were thrown into that setting?

It would be a straight-up horror story.

Fear and amusement aren’t so different.

And sometimes, the opposite is true as well.

Something that’s funny to a child might be nightmarish to an adult.

“You enjoyed watching that glowing ghost I showed you before, right?”

“Now that you mention it... yeah!”

“See? It’s just a fine line.”

The key difference is Alice herself.

She twists terrifying things into something fascinating and unique.

Of course, she still feels fear when it’s warranted.

But she’s a remarkable individual who turns horror into an adventure.

“Anyway, let’s get going. I’m going to explain the plan to defeat the demon and get out of here.”

“Okay.”

I had hoped we could just evacuate the kids, but that didn’t seem to be an option.

James had explained that he came here through special means, and there was no way to leave normally.

We had no choice but to work with the organization to destroy this world.

That was the most certain method.

-----

James sat in a classroom, recalling his conversation with Ella.

“I almost forgot the most important question. D-888, where is the demon you mentioned?”

Ella tilted her head.

“I don’t know... It’s around here somewhere, isn’t it?”

“You don’t know?”

James pressed on.

“Then let me ask another question. Why hasn’t it attacked this place?”

“What do you mean? We were already attacked once. It was bad, but we managed to deal with it thanks to the lesser ghosts we control.”

“That’s strange.”

“What now?”

“If we’re dealing with a demon powerful enough to create an entire world, wouldn’t it be odd for us to repel its attack so easily? If it really wanted to, it could wipe us out instantly.”

“......”

Ella fell into thought.

“It seems like it has a goal... Maybe... it’s trying to gain power?”

Why would something already so powerful need more power?

Was there another objective?

Jumping to conclusions would be dangerous.

Without enough information, speculation would only lead to fantasy and false assumptions.

“We need to investigate this further. There are too many unknowns.”

“Agreed.”

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“I’ll analyze past cases and see if I can find any clues. I’ll share anything I find.”

“That’d be a big help. But are you sure you can trust Ella already?”

“You don’t survive in this line of work without developing good instincts. Is that answer enough for you?”

Footsteps echoed in the hallway.

Light ones—probably the children.

James ended his thoughts there.

This operation would involve the kids as well.

Something that should have been unthinkable.

The door creaked open.

James had expected to see nervous, trembling children.

But instead, their faces showed not fear, but determination.

For a moment, he almost smiled.

“Alright. Are you ready to hear the plan?”