I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 94: Jack is coming to play.

"So... you met with the higher-ups of the Organization?"

"That’s right."

It had been a while since I last saw Carol, and she spoke as if it was no big deal.

She even seemed more composed than before, which was oddly reassuring.

"Summoning Peter Pan was a huge deal in a lot of ways... I got seriously scolded, you know?"

"For an organization as massive as the Organization, they only scolded you? That’s it?"

Among the Story’s Demons, Peter Pan’s power was immense.

With his ability to create Neverland and abduct people in an instant—only to disappear himself—he was practically a natural disaster from the Organization’s perspective.

They probably couldn’t even have a proper conversation with him before I managed to put him down.

Summoning someone as unpredictable as Peter Pan was only marginally better than launching a missile—it was an extremely reckless move.

"Who knows~? Maybe they’re surprisingly lenient. After all, even the heads of the Organization are just humans in the end. That’s why they keep letting you off the hook too, right?"

The Organization definitely had ways to deal with me.

And yet, they let me roam so freely—it was suspicious, to say the least.

This wasn’t the first time I had questioned it.

But unless I met them directly, I had no way of finding out why.

If they really were just humans... then what was it that they wanted from me?

"Hard to believe. But still, I’ll return kindness with kindness. Everyone makes mistakes."

"..."

Carol understood the meaning behind my words.

But she didn’t bother to respond.

"So, Carol, has anything big happened lately?"

"Hehehe... I’d love to say that everything’s peaceful! But, well... not really."

I focused on Carol’s words.

What kind of world-shaking incident had happened this time?

Or perhaps, it was something that had been happening for a while now.

But despite my full attention, Carol shook her head hesitantly, reluctant to talk.

"Still, it’s not something I should tell you, Alice.

You’re not some all-purpose worker, nor are you responsible for taking care of us.

This world is full of chaos and monsters.

I can’t involve you in everything.

Just like how we can’t always rely on you, either."

Her last words particularly stood out to me.

And I agreed with her.

"...That’s true. Besides... it’s not like I can handle everything on my own anyway."

"Exactly. Alice, you don’t have to take on everything. You’re strong and beautiful, but still... you’re just a kid."

I noticed how Carol’s voice carried more energy than usual.

She seemed strangely excited that I was acknowledging my own limits.

That left me with an uncomfortable feeling—so I quickly denied the part where she called me a kid.

"I’m not a kid."

"Want some candy?"

"If you’re offering, I’ll take it."

I popped the honey candy Carol handed me into my mouth.

Classic flavors were the best.

And just to be clear—liking sweets has nothing to do with being an adult or a child.

So stop looking at me like that, imaginary readers in my head!

"Ufufu..."

"That laugh is annoying, Carol. Anyway... I’ll let this slide since I haven’t seen you in a while. I’m gonna sleep, so take care~ Oh, right."

I had one more thing to ask.

Just as I turned toward my bed, I stopped and looked at Carol.

"I haven’t been able to reach James. Do you know where he is?"

"James is on a mission. Don’t worry about him. If he gets into any real danger, I’ll let you know right away. But with the Red Shoes Special Forces accompanying him, his safe return is practically guaranteed!"

I didn’t know what the Red Shoes unit was, but it probably meant he was safe.

It wasn’t like I had any particular desire to protect James.

He had his own trials to face, and if he died along the way, that was his fate.

It wasn’t something I should interfere with.

...Unless something happened that no human could possibly survive.

"..."

When I had tried to protect James, he hadn’t taken it well.

Unlike when I had tried to keep the kids under my wing, James had reacted completely differently.

Maybe... he had been trying to point that out to me.

I should try to listen to James more from now on.

After hearing Carol’s reassurance, I thanked her and headed off to sleep.

As Alice drifted into slumber, Carol stepped out of the containment room and murmured to herself.

"Alice has really grown... it makes me so happy~"

With that, she erased the smile from her face and looked down at the pen in her hand.

A faint ticking sound came from it—inside, a powerful force was sealed away.

"...But don’t try to take on everything. I don’t want you to grow that much."

Carol feared the thought of a child becoming an adult.

-----

Lunchtime.

I sat under a tent on the school field, watching the kids play.

They looked like they were having fun.

That was when Soo-ho, who had been playing ball, stopped and waved at me before jogging over.

"Hey, Alice."

I waved back.

"Hey, Soo-ho."

"What’s on the lunch menu today? Why are you just sitting here instead of eating?"

"Stir-fried eggplant, seafood miso soup, vegetable fried rice... and for dessert, mint chocolate ice cream."

"I was thinking of eating, but that last part ruined it."

Soo-ho grimaced.

He seemed glad he had spent his lunchtime playing instead of suffering through that meal.

"Guess it’s snacks for today. I don’t like mint chocolate either."

I stood up, planning to sneak out to the convenience store.

The teachers didn’t like it when students left school, but as long as it was just a quick trip across the street, they usually let it slide.

"Ah, there you are. Here’s some bread for you, Alice. And this one’s for Soo-ho."

Just as I was about to leave, something hit me in the chest.

I instinctively caught the bread against my body.

It was a skill I had developed from playing ball with Soo-ho from time to time.

Seeing how the bread didn’t slip at all, I must have gotten pretty good at it.

When I turned around, I saw a flustered Kyung-min standing next to Eun-jung.

"Oh... was that you, Kyung-min?"

"Y-Yeah! I guess you could say that!"

"Thanks~"

As I munched on the bread, I noticed Kyung-min was searching for someone.

"If you’re looking for Ha-rim... she’s over there."

Near the school gates, Ha-rim was arguing with someone.

A blond-haired boy in green clothes...

Jack.

"Your name’s Shin Ha-rim, right? You got that book from Peter Pan, didn’t you? Let me see it!"

"Shh... shush!"

"What are you guys doing?"

As I approached, Ha-rim swiftly tucked something into her bag with magician-like speed and responded as if nothing was wrong.

"Ehehe... I was just observing a suspicious person, and then this kid suddenly appeared."

"Oho! Alice! I, the great Jack, have arrived! I saw something interesting going on, so I decided to join in."

Ah.

I hadn’t expected him to actually keep that vague promise from last time.

Honestly, Jack wasn’t particularly dangerous, and we were more or less on cooperative terms.

Letting him hang out with us wouldn’t be a problem.

As I reacted positively, Jack got excited and started talking rapidly.

"Alice! I have so much to say! When you blasted Peter Pan away and went bam!—that was so cool! It was a truly dazzling and beautiful sight!"

"I’ll take that compliment, thanks."

"You used adversity as nourishment and accomplished something incredible! That 'ending' was truly ideal."

The word "ending" made me waver slightly.

Ending...

It was a word that always lingered in my mind.

But no, not now.

This wasn’t the time to think about it.

"..."

"What's wrong, Alice?"

"It’s nothing. Jack, did you come here because you wanted to play with us?"

"Hmph. You could say that! I’ve had enough of watching Ariel laze around and sing all day! I wanted to go on an adventure of my own!"

I wasn’t sure how Jack had been watching our adventures, but it seemed that the sight of us taking down Peter Pan had left a strong impression on him.

If he wanted an adventure, I saw no reason to stop him.

I nodded.

"Jack, what exactly can you do? Demons usually have some kind of special ability, right?"

As soon as I allowed it, the kids turned their attention to Jack.

"Me? I’m strong!"

"That’s it?"

"...Yeah, that’s all..."

That was surprising.

Ariel, Pinocchio, and Peter Pan had all naturally used their abilities, but Jack... didn’t seem capable of doing the same.

"D-Don’t be discouraged! We were the ones who assumed things on our own. Besides, being strong is already pretty amazing!"

Ha-rim handed Jack her share of bread as she spoke, and Jack looked touched.

"Ooooh... Alice’s friends are so kind-hearted."

Ignoring Jack, who proceeded to swallow the bread whole—plastic wrapping and all—I turned back to Ha-rim.

"By the way, what were you doing just now?"

"Do you see that person over there?"

Ha-rim pointed toward two people in the distance.

If I had to pick the suspicious one, it was obviously the person on the left.

Because that person was wearing a weird mask with a painted-on smile.

"The one with the smiling mask? Oh, I know them!"

Since Eun-jung recognized them, I turned to her curiously.

She quickly answered my unspoken question.

"It’s that new volunteer group. Their goal is to make everyone smile."

A volunteer group.

That sounded perfectly wholesome, but somehow...

To people like us, who had faced so many horrifying things...

"That’s really suspicious."

—There was no way ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) we wouldn’t be skeptical.

When a creepy-looking person suddenly approaches you in a horror movie, the first thought is usually, Is this guy a serial killer?

That was the kind of paranoia we had developed.

"...Oh, the security guard is watching them too."

"So we’re not the only ones finding them suspicious."

"I saw something like this in a movie! Those kinds of people usually brainwash others and go around killing people!"

"Eun-jung... That’s a bit much."

Even though we all found the masked person suspicious, no one was actively stopping them or calling the police.

After all, this was just our assumption—they hadn’t actually done anything wrong.

Maybe we were the ones being rude.

"They’re handing out chocolates as gifts?"

I wanted one.

But I wasn’t an idiot who would accept food from a stranger I already found suspicious.

Of course, my friends wouldn’t either—

"Hey! Give me some chocolate too!"

—Except for Jack.

Before we could stop him, Jack was already standing behind the masked person.

Wait... Had he been there the whole time?

I had my doubts, but the masked person, ever polite, simply handed him some chocolate.

"...? Ah—sure, here you go."

"Wahahaha! Thanks!"

Jack devoured the chocolate in seconds.

With that bright, innocent smile, he really was just a kid.

"That idiot..."

And kids like him were the easiest targets for bad adults.

The masked person immediately started talking to Jack.

"Are you interested in joining our Laughter Alliance?"

"Laughter Alliance? What’s that?"

"We’re a group created with the hope of spreading laughter. We help gloomy and sorrowful people by putting smiles on their faces. You could say it’s both an artistic and charitable endeavor."

"Ooooh! That sounds amazing! Helping people smile—that’s truly beautiful!"

"Right?"

The Laughter Alliance, huh...

At first glance, it seemed like a good group, but something about the artistic part bothered me.

In a world overflowing with anomalies, art could easily become a medium for something twisted beyond human comprehension.

Jack responded positively to the Laughter Alliance.

For a demon, he sure had an appreciation for human happiness.

Then again, he had been human once, so maybe it wasn’t strange.

Peter Pan and Pinocchio also wanted to "save" humans in their own ways.

Maybe Jack had something similar in him, too.

"Laughter! What a wonderful thing!"

But in the midst of Jack’s enthusiasm, I caught a faint whisper.

A voice so cold it sent a chill down my spine.

—What’s the price?

"..."

"If you’re interested, please visit us~"

"Thanks!"

Jack returned to us with a handful of chocolates and a small map.

Soo-ho sighed and scolded him.

"Next time, at least say something before running off."

"The chocolate looked too good, so I couldn’t help myself!"

"Sigh. Well, whatever. It’s not like you’re the type to get into trouble."

Soo-ho seemed to think Jack was pretty strong.

Maybe after seeing what happened with Peter Pan and me, he had naturally come to that conclusion.

"Munch, munch... That’s right! I’m not as strong as Alice, but... munch, munch..."

Man, he was really enjoying that chocolate.

This was bad. If he kept eating like that, this fool Jack was definitely going to get diabetes.

"...Give me a bite."

"NO!!!!"

Did he really have to add four exclamation marks?

...What a cheapskate.

"Hmm... This place is near the supermarket. There’s a karaoke place if you keep walking past it. I thought it was being remodeled, but I guess these guys bought it."

Kyung-min studied the map and made that observation.

Ha-rim spoke up.

"Are we going?"

"I mean... I’m bored. Wanna check it out?"

"Yeah, let’s go after school!"

The group’s reaction was positive.

So, we unanimously decided to visit the location after school.

"Hmm."

At that moment, Jack tilted his head as if something was bothering him.

Ha-rim noticed and asked,

"What’s wrong, Jack?"

"I mean... You guys are human, right? Why are you so eager to walk into a suspicious place? From what Ariel showed me, this is the part in horror movies where the characters move into a haunted mansion and all die. So, basically..."

"Basically?"

"You guys are crazy."

"Eh."

Ha-rim froze as if her entire worldview had been shattered.

Honestly, this was the normal reaction.

Knowing the risks yet still deciding to go anyway was definitely weird.

...But maybe that weirdness was what bonded us together.

Sometimes, it’s better not to think realistically.

Don’t look too deep.

If you see it like a dream, you can enjoy the surface-level fun.

Ha-rim smiled at Jack.

"But Jack, you came here for an 'adventure,' right? This is completely normal!"

Jack stiffened.

She had hit him right where it hurt.

His expression briefly turned cold before he quickly returned to his usual cheerful self.

"...Then I’m coming too! I’ll wait here until it’s time!"

"You’re not a student here, so you can’t sit in on classes."

"WHAT?!"

Watching Jack despair, I sighed and pulled a small mirror from my pocket, handing it to him.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

-----

"Thanks to Alice’s mirror, Jack can join us for class, so that’s a relief."

"Same here!"

"Wow, you even know fancy words?"

Jack spoke from within Ha-rim’s compact mirror.

Tch. That was supposed to be my spot.

Having my place taken by Jack left me in a foul mood.

And when I was feeling down, the best thing to do was sleep.

...Zzz.

"So... what’s Alice doing?"

Jack asked Ha-rim.

Alice was lying flat on her desk, openly sleeping—it was obvious she wasn’t paying attention in class.

"She’s sleeping."

"She doesn’t need to listen to the lesson?"

Ha-rim gave an awkward smile.

"...Sometimes, Alice takes advantage of the cognitive interference device to... well... take a break."

"I see..."

Alice was sleeping.

I also got sleepy during class sometimes, but to blatantly nap in the open...

"Should we mess with her a little?"

Jack, hearing the word prank, perked up in excitement.

Ha-rim took a glass marble from her pencil case, balanced it on her finger, and aimed it at Alice’s chest.

"The cognitive interference device becomes unstable even with small shocks. I found that out last time when I poked a sleeping Alice."

"Ooooh..."

"Watch this?"

Ting—!

Ha-rim flicked the marble.

It landed perfectly on Alice’s chest, right where the cognitive interference device was.

"Mmm...?"

"Who’s sleeping during class?!"

"Mmmp?!"

Alice jolted awake, startled.

The entire class turned to look at her.

Her face turned bright red.

"Wait... Was she always in our class?"

"How did we not notice? She’s really pretty."

Even the teacher seemed unsure of Alice’s name.

While the students whispered among themselves, the teacher glanced at the seating chart, searching for Alice’s name.

"Hmm? Hmm... Alice? Why don’t you explain the solution to the problem I just went over?"

"Uh... so..."

Alice quickly flipped through her textbook.

But having not listened to a single word of the lesson, there was no way she could even identify the problem.

Her eyes darted around before she finally gave up and hid her face behind her textbook in shame.

"...I’m sorry. I was asleep from the beginning."

"Stand with your hands up for ten minutes."

Ah.

I hadn’t expected my prank on Alice to escalate this far.

"..."

"Alice looks really pissed at you."

I know, Jack.

I avoided Alice’s burning glare for the rest of class.

"...Sorry, Alice."

"Ha-rim, you...!"

"Aagh, I’m sorry, Alice! That hurts!"

I pinched Ha-rim’s cheek.

She struggled, but she wasn’t strong enough to escape my grip.

Realizing she couldn’t win with brute force, she suddenly shoved the compact mirror into my field of vision and gently—then firmly—stroked it.

A shudder ran through me.

T-Ticklish!

This was a secret only Ha-rim, who had been observing me for a long time, had figured out.

Alice unconsciously synchronized with any mirror she looked at.

Using that against me was unfair!

As I trembled from the ticklish sensation, Ha-rim seized the chance to escape.

"You little—!"

"But it hurt!"

"Calm down!"

Kyung-min, Soo-ho, and Eun-jung struggled to hold me back while Jack laughed.

"Wahaha! It’s great to have so many friends!"

In the midst of the chaos, Eun-jung attempted Ha-rim’s trick on me, shifting the target of my revenge onto her instead.

Ignoring that small scuffle, Ha-rim turned to Jack.

"So, Jack, how was school?"

"Sitting down and learning together isn’t as boring as I thought."

"Did you never go to school?"

"I learned a lot from the people in my village, but I never attended a school."

"..."

Ha-rim felt a twinge of pity for Jack.

But she didn’t show it.

Because she knew that unwanted sympathy could be just as hurtful as an insult.

"Then, we have to show you everything school has to offer!"

The kids decided to give Jack a tour of the school.

I had once been given a full tour by Ha-rim too.

If I recalled correctly, the first place she had taken me was...

"This is the bathroom."

"Is the bathroom really the first place you should introduce?"

"If something weird starts chasing you, this is the safest place to hide."

"...I don’t understand you sometimes."

Ha-rim ignored my complaint.

Jack didn’t seem to mind either.

As he explored the boys’ bathroom, he commented,

"Ohh... It doesn’t smell like cigarettes in here!"

"Oh, wow. School bathrooms sure are different from other places. Hey, Alice, what’s the girls’ bathroom like?"

"I haven’t been in it, but I assume it just doesn’t have urinals."

Even if it was the girls’ bathroom, it couldn’t be that different.

But from Jack’s perspective, it must have seemed like a mystical place.

He frowned at my answer.

"You’re a girl, so why haven’t you been there?"

"Demons don’t need to... use the bathroom, you know?"

"...?"

Jack looked confused, but we didn’t have much time before homeroom, so we quickly moved on.

"This is the music room. It’s where we learn music."

"Ariel would love this place."

Jack started bouncing excitedly when he saw a recorder.

He wanted to try playing it, but the owner wasn’t keen on letting someone else use it, so he gave up.

"There’s a rumor about this music room! They say the piano plays by itself at night!"

"Ah, that’s just a music-loving anomaly from my mirror. It promised to only play for a week, so it won’t show up anymore."

"Well, that ruined the mystery."

"...A ghost story?"

With nothing left to see in the music room, we headed to the next interesting spot—the art room.

The walls were covered with countless drawings done by the younger students.

"This is the art room! It’s where we learn about art. By the way, all of us are terrible at drawing, so our performance test scores were a disaster."

"So even Ha-rim has something she’s bad at, huh?"

Jack examined the drawings intently before suddenly pulling one off the wall and shoving it in Ha-rim’s face.

"Ooooh... This is truly awful. I don’t know much about art, but I do know when something is an insult to the discipline."

"Uh... That’s Alice’s drawing."

...This little—

"WAAH! That hurts! Ariel, help me!"

Dragging a battered Jack behind us, we moved on to our next stop.

There were still places to see, but since homeroom was coming up, we needed to wrap things up.

"This is the clubroom. There are all sorts of clubs, but you can’t just walk into any of them. The only one we can freely enter is ours."

"Sometimes, if you wait in front of the cooking club, the nice kids will share their snacks."

"So that’s why Alice sometimes turns off her cognitive interference device and waits there."

"Can you guys stop talking about unnecessary things?"

Our final stop was the Mystery Exploration Club room.

It was a fairly spacious place, so even with Jack joining us, it didn’t feel cramped.

"This is our clubroom. We’re the Mystery Exploration Club!"

"It’s pretty big, huh?"

"More importantly... what’s ‘Mystery’? What does that mean?"

Jack seemed more interested in the word mystery than in the room itself.

As club president, Ha-rim stepped up to explain.

"Hmm... Well, the eerie beings that live in Alice’s mirror are called ‘mysteries,’ but beyond that, we use the term to refer to urban legends—strange and terrifying things that are hard to understand."

"For example?"

"Okay, Jack, have you ever met someone who looked exactly like you?"

"I haven’t, but I’ve heard stories!"

"Exactly! That’s the Doppelgänger legend. Our club investigates these kinds of strange rumors!"

Jack seemed to understand, nodding as he fell into thought.

Then, his expression twisted into one of deep confusion.

"But... why do you do this?"

"Because it’s fun!"

"You think fear is fun? I don’t get it."

Jack was as straightforward as a child.

Rather than trying to convince him with words, it would be better for him to experience it himself.

Ha-rim seemed to think the same, as she shut him down with a single sentence.

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"You’ll understand soon enough."

"..."

Before Jack could say anything else, the bell rang.

It was time for homeroom.

"Ah, it’s homeroom time! We have to go back now. It’ll be over quickly, so wait here, Jack!"

We ran off toward our classroom.

As long as we made it before the bell finished ringing, we wouldn’t get scolded by the teacher.

Jack was left alone.

Watching the kids rush off, he muttered to himself.

"...Enjoying fear, huh... I still don’t get it. But... if that’s the reason you guys shine so brightly... No, I still don’t understand."

"Fear is uncertainty. Even things that seem certain can betray you. From the start, growing a beanstalk without knowing whether you can even climb it, or what’s waiting at the top... it’s strange. How can you be so sure the outcome of an adventure will be good?"

Jack had seen it.

He had seen Ha-rim and the others running through the Machine God’s monstrous horde.

Where did they find the certainty that they would reach Alice?

How could they keep running despite all the wounds they suffered?

Jack had thought about it countless times, but he still couldn’t understand.

"I don’t get it, Alice. I may be an idiot, but sometimes, when I’m not an idiot, things make even less sense. So tell me..."

Jack gazed up at the sky through the window and finished his thought.