I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 99: Alice’s Maze (Spicy Flavor)

2:00 A.M.

Most of the children were asleep, and any guest with manners would never visit at this hour.

Kim Eun-jung lay in bed, hugging her doll tightly as she slept.

She never imagined that, in such a quiet and defenseless moment, someone might come in through the window.

Clack.

The window opened.

A man and two women entered the room, each holding a cross.

Their feet touched the floor lightly, yet not a single sound was made—so unnatural it gave a sense of wrongness.

It was clearly the effect of one of the sacred arts they possessed.

The male priest glanced around cautiously and asked his companions,

“Do you think the Organization noticed?”

“No. Not even the Organization could detect the combination of the three sacred arts—sight, sound, and heat suppression. You worry too much, Teren.”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking, Priest Werin. What does Priest Aylee think?”

“The surveillance here is weak. For someone close to a major figure like Alice, she should be under heavy watch... Maybe the Organization is being ‘considerate’ for once.”

“Good. Let’s proceed, then.”

Once Teren received confirmation from Aylee and Werin that the infiltration had succeeded, he nodded and approached Kim Eun-jung, who was still peacefully asleep.

What they were about to do was simple.

They planned to use the children favored by Alice to manipulate her—a tactic fitting of third-rate villains, yet one they intended to pursue regardless.

After all, they'd already fired a red holy spear at Alice—an attack that required immense divine power.

Why not try something as simple as this?

The question lingered not only in Teren’s mind but in everyone else's as well.

Wasn’t the Church supposed to be hostile toward Alice?

Then why wasn’t the Church being more aggressive in their attacks?

And why was the Organization being so lax in their surveillance of Alice?

These questions circled endlessly in their heads.

“Kidnapping a child... doesn’t sit right with me. Do you really think we can catch Alice with this method?”

Priest Aylee finally spoke, prompting Teren to answer.

“You may detest the demon Alice, but until now no one considered using her close ones against her—because as servants of God, that would be a sin we couldn’t wash away.

But we, who already have dirtied hands, might finally be able to capture Alice by carrying out this act.”

Thanks to the sound-concealing sacred art, Kim Eun-jung remained fast asleep no matter how much they talked.

Werin, staring quietly at the sleeping girl, finally asked,

“...What do you plan to do with her?”

Teren responded as if it were obvious.

“We’ll draw out Alice... Use this girl as bait—either to kill her or nullify her power.

If she refuses to respond... then I’m ready to commit a great sin with my own hands.”

Teren slowly reached out toward the sleeping Kim Eun-jung.

He wasn’t going to hurt her.

Of course not—his goal was Alice, not to torment an innocent child.

But then, a dry, bony hand grabbed Teren’s wrist.

“What?!”

[...]

The hand belonged to a tall, gaunt man as skeletal as the hand itself.

His face was blank, like an empty mask, and the longer one looked at it, the more static filled their vision, triggering dizziness.

It was the power of Slender Man, one of Alice’s entities.

At Alice’s request, Slender Man had been watching over the children to ensure their safety.

Though it was unsettling how much he enjoyed watching them, at times like this, it proved useful.

Clang!

Werin’s bat struck Slender Man in the head.

It was imbued with divine power, causing his grip on Teren’s wrist to weaken and release.

“Draw your weapons!”

A fight broke out in the small room.

Though the sacred art continued to suppress sound, the clash of supernatural forces and sacred power caused spiritual shockwaves that couldn’t be easily hidden.

“Mmm...?”

Kim Eun-jung rubbed her eyes and sat up.

And the first thing she saw was a gaunt man swinging his long arms to attack the priests.

“Don’t look at his face!”

“Damn it! He’s teleporting! Light it up—quick!”

“...Is this a dream?”

Normally, after experiencing trauma, a person reacts more sensitively to similar situations out of fear.

Yet despite once being attacked in her sleep, Kim Eun-jung remained surprisingly calm and tried to fall back asleep again.

You could say she handled the previous incident so well that no lingering fear remained, or more realistically, she was just being complacent.

[...]

Unable to stand it, Slender Man hurled a teddy bear and smacked her in the face.

“Ugh!”

Realizing the situation, Eun-jung began searching her bed for the mirror.

“Mirror... mirror...”

She turned her head toward the priests, just as a sudden attack came from her blind spot.

Alice’s minions, demonic in nature, had a natural disadvantage against divine power.

He took a pretty severe hit.

Slender Man began turning transparent, his form reverting to the mirror.

[...]

From behind Slender Man, Werin—who had hidden herself using Teren’s sacred art—spoke.

“No eyes, yet your detection works just like a human’s, huh?”

[...]

Slender Man didn’t respond.

He simply returned to the mirror.

Teren realized that if they delayed any longer after fending off Slender Man, more like him might appear.

So he quickly rushed toward the still-groggy Kim Eun-jung, speaking gently as he pulled out a vial of sleeping incense.

“Oh dear, I woke you up. Don’t worry, child. This won’t hurt at all.”

“Sir, look behind you.”

Kim Eun-jung calmly said, pointing just past him.

A chill that hadn’t been there before suddenly swept through the room.

Alice was standing behind him.

Frozen stiff in fear, Teren couldn’t move.

“Why are you standing there?! Run, idiot!”

Werin shouted.

Teren considered taking Eun-jung as a hostage for a brief second—but quickly realized it was far too dangerous.

Using sacred art, the three priests concealed themselves and escaped through the window in an instant.

Alice merely watched as they fled.

“Alice... are you mad?”

Eun-jung asked anxiously.

Sometimes when Alice truly got angry, she would take on a grotesque, monstrous form.

She usually returned to normal quickly around the children, so to see her still like this—it was rare.

“Yes. I think... I’m a little angry, Eun-jung. But don’t worry. Go back to sleep. I’ll take care of our uninvited guests right away.”

“Okay...”

Kim Eun-jung closed her eyes for a moment—and when she opened them again, Alice was gone.

“...Alice is really mad.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

-----

Where is this place?

—was a question she shouldn't be asking.

Because she'd reviewed the terrain several times in advance for preparation.

And yet... it had twisted. Just like a maze.

The same alley corners and filthy trash bins repeated over and over again.

She threw a pebble as she turned a corner.

But no sound came when it hit the ground.

“Spatial distortion. That’s probably why I can’t see Teren, too.”

Seeing that Teren was nowhere in sight, Priestess Werin immediately connected herself and Aylee with a thread.

If they weren’t tethered together, one of them might pass through a certain point and become separated like Teren.

Though it was unfortunate to be apart from him, being with Aylee, who could wield fire, was at least some consolation.

“It’s like a maze. How do we break through this?”

Demons obstructing the senses and trapping people in hallucinations was nothing new.

But this time, it was a high-ranking demon—so the space itself had been distorted, and brute-forcing their way out with divine power wasn’t an option.

“Wait. Alice’s demon isn’t the type to just trap you. I’m sure it left a hint for escaping.”

Werin had heard about Alice’s demon before.

A demon whose identity revolved around fear and amusement—if it was angry, it would still leave an opening.

Probably.

“Look! Could this be the hint?”

Aylee held something up for Werin to see.

It was a blank piece of paper—but when Aylee passed it through firelight, a hidden message appeared.

[Time Limit: 5 minutes.]

Not exactly useful information.

It only added to the sense of urgency.

“There must be more papers.”

Werin used her sacred art to let sound flow through the area, scanning for anything suspicious.

That’s when she felt a strange vibration coming from inside a trash bin.

She opened the bin—and found it filled with severed rat heads.

Aylee let out a shriek.

She had a phobia of rats.

Knowing this, Werin quickly moved to shut the lid.

But suddenly, a hand shot out, snatched Aylee, and pulled her in before she could even finish screaming. The lid slammed shut by itself.

Werin desperately tried to open it—but the lid wouldn’t budge.

Meanwhile, the trash bin thrashed violently.

As the screams from within grew louder, and the sound of flesh being chewed echoed out, Werin’s imagination filled in the gruesome gaps of what might be happening.

“Aylee, no!”

FWOOOM!

Even sacred flame, imbued with divine power, was still fire—it burned.

And it couldn’t be said to be entirely harmless to people.

When the trash bin finally tipped over, Aylee lay there, barely recognizable, her corpse tangled among the rat remains.

“Sh–shit...”

The harsh words from her youth slipped out, shattering her calm facade.

‘A demon of amusement, my ass. It’s just trying to kill us all!’

Too late for regrets.

As Werin stared blankly, another paper fluttered to the ground.

[Choose what you want pulled out.

Her hand trembled as she held the sheet soaked in murderous intent.

She hadn't imagined that the demon, supposedly known for being “mild,” could be this brutal.

Now she understood why high-ranking priests considered Alice's demon the worst of them all.

Werin walked while using sound to detect the surroundings.

A few times, disturbing vibrations hit her detection spell—but thinking about rats, she figured it was best not to look.

Thunk.

Something hit her foot.

She looked down and picked it up—a large tooth.

“...?”

When she looked back up, there was a statue right in front of her.

She nearly screamed but managed to hold it in.

She slowly examined the statue.

It was missing a tooth—probably the one she just picked up.

Oddly enough, the tooth was still warm... like it had just been pulled.

Unnerving.

She recalled what the note had said.

Choose what you want pulled out.

It was an odd phrasing, but maybe pulling out all the statue’s teeth would trigger something.

Werin began extracting them.

Plink. Plink. The teeth fell out one by one.

A sense of déjà vu washed over her.

From deep inside, disturbing memories began to creep up.

And when she pulled the final tooth—an earsplitting scream slammed into her eardrums.

Startled, she collapsed to her knees—and then, a hatch appeared on the floor.

Faded marker writing on it indicated it was the exit.

Werin didn’t believe it, but opened the door anyway.

And found herself face-to-face with her worst nightmare.

“This... no, it can’t be.”

Her middle school gym equipment shed.

The place was infamous for the brutal bullying that occurred there, a forbidden zone for students at the bottom of the school hierarchy.

She had only just transferred due to family circumstances and had no idea about the rules or rumors.

She had been going through puberty, desperate to hang out with the delinquents—so she pretended to act tough and went into the gym with them, unaware of what happened inside.

And then she saw it.

Blood-soaked, defiled gym mats.

Teeth scattered across the floor.

A boy tied up in a grotesque state, barely even human anymore.

The horrific sight nearly made her retch—but she forced a smile when she saw the cold stares of the others.

One of the delinquents handed her a wrench.

And they smiled unpleasantly, as if saying, if you don’t pull his teeth, you’re next.

In the end, Werin pulled that boy’s teeth.

And that became the trigger for her dropping out.

She wandered aimlessly for years, traumatized by the memory.

What was the boy’s name again?

Was he living well now?

Could she ever apologize?

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She lived with those questions haunting her.

But now—

“Please... help me!!!”

The boy was still having his teeth pulled.

“KYAAAAAAA!”

Werin finally let out the scream she’d been holding back.

It was a grotesque sight.

His flesh was rotting. Teeth grew not just from his gums, but from his eyes, scalp, and jaw—then were mercilessly yanked out by eerie green fairies.

Each time they pulled, blood and pus gushed, and the screams intensified.

Her limbs trembled—she couldn’t move.

And then she noticed something was happening to her own face.

Teeth were growing.

The fairies turned toward her, eyes empty like addicts spotting a fix.

They slowly approached.

“No! No! No!!”

Werin, driven by terror, fled back toward the door she'd ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) come through.

But it wouldn't open.

She pounded on it until her hands bled, but the tooth fairies seized her and dragged her into the darkness.

And they whispered—

[You were supposed to pull your own teeth.]

-----

After circling the same place countless times, Teren finally succeeded in encountering Alice.

Surprisingly, Alice didn’t look particularly angry upon seeing him.

Teren cautiously asked:

“Alice’s demon. Where are Priestess Werin and Priestess Aylee?”

“Hello, Teren.”

Alice responded with a greeting instead of an answer.

And with it, she radiated a strange, oppressive pressure.

Sensing the tension, Teren softened his tone.

“Ahem... Alice, what did you do to them?”

Alice replied in a friendly voice:

“Hmm... maybe, just as you imagined, they’re lying somewhere with all their limbs torn off, rolling around like broken dolls?”

But the content was far from friendly.

“I never imagined such a thing!”

“You just did, Teren.

That’s your problem—you’re always imagining the worst.

Is it because of your childhood? Or maybe it’s just your nature?

Or... was it that damp, nauseating breeze that blew through on that day?

When you stained your hands with blood at the lighthouse?”

“H-How do you...”

“Teren. You don’t know a thing about me.”

Alice shook her head as she watched him instinctively step back.

She saw straight through Teren’s fear.

“You’ve got quite the imagination, don’t you?

So much so, you mistake people for monsters.

And for someone who’s only imagining, you sure committed some horrific acts.”

Alice backed Teren into a corner.

She dug deep into his weaknesses, ripped open his wounds.

Teren began to run, afraid of the clash between his ideals and sins, terrified that his values were falling apart.

“Running again? You’re always running away.”

Alice didn’t bother chasing him.

It was a maze, after all—he would be back.

“Damn it!”

As Teren fled from Alice, he felt a gaze on him.

A gaze he had felt many times before.

The stare that tormented him every night.

That stare came with a lukewarm, unpleasant wind and the sound of crashing waves echoing in his ears.

When he looked up, a lighthouse—something that had no place here—was shining in the distance.

Teren kept running.

But the lighthouse grew closer with every step.

“What’s the matter? Why don’t you hold up your precious cross and face it? Or, like back then, just grab a knife and stab it into a stranger’s face?”

The lighthouse—or rather, something pretending to be one—split its vertical mouth wide open.

Its tongue sloshed like waves, and a gleaming, maddened light poured out.

At that moment, Teren’s mind was bombarded by a scream and the salty stench of blood, as if maggots were crawling into his brain through his nose.

“Urgh!”

“My, how filthy.”

Alice looked down on him with a disgusted expression as he vomited.

As Teren kept retching, unable to compose himself, Alice approached and tried to hand him a knife.

“Let me show you how to escape this pain. Here, take this knife.”

“What are you—”

“And stab your own eye. Just like you did to that person.”

When Teren hesitated, refusing to take the knife, Alice calmly held it herself and slowly brought the blade to his eye.

“Isn’t this better than simply dying?”

Teren resisted, but the blade drew closer.

He prayed silently.

That he wouldn’t be led into temptation.

“This isn’t a trial—it’s retribution. Take the knife, Teren.”

Regardless of her words, he continued his prayer, struggling to even breathe.

He wasn’t ready to be tested.

Just before Teren, under Alice’s pressure, could bring the knife to his own eye—

“You really aren’t ready?”

Alice asked.

Teren nodded, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

“Sigh... I was furious just a moment ago, but I don’t know why my heart softens so quickly.”

Alice let out a long sigh, then withdrew the knife and extended her hand to him.

As Teren stood frozen, unsure what to do, Alice said:

“Go on. Take my hand.”

She led him by the hand, walking him through the maze-like alleyways toward the exit.

“What you did, game-wise, was really poor sportsmanship.

Teren.

Even if we’re enemies, there are lines that shouldn’t be crossed.

Trying to use children... do you really think that’s right?”

“...I’m sorry.”

Alice scolded him like a mother scolding a child.

Teren realized that what was weighing on him now wasn’t fear—it was something else.

Alice spoke again, gently, as if she both understood and didn’t.

“You know why you did this, don’t you, Teren?

That crushing guilt must’ve kept you from even sleeping properly.

You probably hoped that capturing me would make up for that guilt you never managed to atone for as a priest.

But doing it this way will only leave you emptier in the end.

Fear doesn’t go away unless you face it head-on.”

Each word from Alice felt like a guiding light to the lost version of himself, and Teren couldn’t help but lower his head.

After a few more muttered words from Alice, they finally emerged from the maze.

Outside, his companions—Priestess Werin and Priestess Aylee—lay unconscious, but otherwise unharmed.

“...Here they are. Since this wasn’t an order from the Church but your own doing, you’d best keep that little secret to yourself.”

“Alice... about what happened...”

Just as Alice was turning to leave, Teren hesitated, stammering his words.

Sensing it, Alice scoffed.

“Are you seriously trying to apologize? To a demon—your natural enemy as a priest?

Don’t expect forgiveness.

What you did to those children is the worst sin in my book.”

“Even so... I’m sorry for what I did. Even if we meet again as enemies, I wanted to say this.”

“You’ve got some nerve.”

Despite her words, Alice’s tone softened slightly as she spoke again.

“...Teren. Go back to that lighthouse and hold a proper funeral, even if it’s a humble one.

If you don’t face it, the pain will never go away.

If you do that, I’ll forgive you—just this once.”

“Really?”

Alice flicked his forehead.

“Yeah. You idiot.”

With that, Alice vanished.

She was probably returning to that child’s home.

Alice was the scariest demon he had ever met—but at the same time, the warmest.

Had he... been changed by her?

In many ways, she was everything a demon was supposed to be.

Teren hoisted his unconscious companions over his shoulders and made his way toward the nearest church.

-----

When Alice returned to Eun-jung’s house, she found Kim Eun-jung rubbing her sleepy eyes, clearly having stayed up waiting for her.

She had done it on purpose.

Eun-jung glanced at Alice, trying to read her mood, and Alice spoke up first.

“You don’t have to worry. I’m not angry anymore... I just gave them a little scare, that’s all.”

“Honestly, when you looked like you were going to kill those people, my heart almost dropped.”

“...Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

Alice looked a bit sheepish.

Eun-jung smiled brightly at the sight of her.

“Ehehe. But I knew you’d let them off because you’re kind.”

Then she tugged Alice onto her bed.

It was her way of saying: Let’s sleep together.

Considering there had already been one attack tonight, Alice didn’t want to leave Eun-jung alone. She diverted more of her power to the doppelgänger stationed at the Organization and pulled the blanket over them both.