I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game

"Is that wound related to Mephistopheles?"

Ariel was wrapping bandages tightly around herself.

Anyone could tell at a glance that it wasn't a minor injury.

A tale devil, being of a high caliber, should have considerable regenerative abilities... I wondered what could have happened to leave such a wound.

When I asked, Ariel answered.

"Oh, this? The answer to your question is no. There was a clash between the Cathedral and the Institution when the Mechanical God appeared last time. You know about that, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

I heard that the Cathedral suddenly appeared and attacked the Institution while they were trying to control the Mechanical God's minions.

My guess is they planned to eliminate the winner with the Holy Spear if the Mechanical God and I fought.

Since the Institution could have been a variable in that process, it seems they wanted to remove that variable... And the one who cast the hypnosis on me probably wanted me dead more than the Mechanical God.

Why on earth do these guys hate me so much?

More than a Ruler... I'm a bit shocked.

"There wasn't much I could do for you as a member of the Tea Party. The Ruler is too strong, and I'm weaker than even Jack. I'm probably the weakest among the tale devils."

Since she wasn't strong or brave enough to pick a fight with the Ruler, it seems she tried to secretly do something to help me.

Let's focus on waiting for the next words of Ariel.

She seemed to interpret my gaze differently and slightly furrowed her brows.

"...When only looking at the potential."

...?

"Anyway! At the very least, I tried to protect your children from the Mechanical God. But then, bam! Those priests suddenly attacked the Institution that was on standby."

She tried to protect the children at school while I was fighting...

She must have thought that would help me.

It's a good judgment. I like it.

"I got caught up in it and ended up killing the High Priest, but I got hit by holy power and ended up like this. You can laugh. In the end, I didn't really help much."

"..."

"In the end, I let those kids leave the school... And only took measures to ensure they could maintain their energy and vitality even if they got hurt, using a technique called Healing Marble."

Ariel shrugged, acting like it was nothing, but I found her attitude slightly puzzling.

No, honestly, I think it was helpful.

Looking back, the fact that the kids could reach me in such a battered state was thanks to Ariel.

If I had been weakened and focused on by the priests, it would have been dangerous.

The reason they retreated was probably because Ariel killed the High Priest.

"No wonder I didn't feel exhausted."

"The wounds also healed quickly."

After observing the kids' reactions, I spoke to Ariel.

"...I think I need to say this. Thank you, Ariel. I owe you one."

"..."

Ariel suddenly turned her head away. Seeing her ears turn red, it seemed she was embarrassed.

It's not good to poke at someone's embarrassment, so I decided to pretend not to notice.

"She's embarrassed! This girl is weak to this kind of thing!"

But Jack, oblivious, started teasing her.

"Shut up, Jack."

Ariel took a piece of candy, ate it, and then continued the conversation.

"Alright. Let's get to the main point. Mephistopheles is currently looking for Oz."

"Oz?"

Oz.

That word sounds familiar.

I've heard it somewhere before, but where?

"Yeah. It's confirmed information I got by infiltrating the Institution's server."

Ariel said this with a proud face, and Pinocchio, who had been quietly listening, reacted.

"That's amazing. The Institution's security is supposed to be top-notch."

It seems Pinocchio had tried to infiltrate the Institution's server before and failed.

Honestly, I was surprised that Ariel succeeded where Pinocchio failed.

She didn't seem like someone who had anything to do with computers.

"Are you a hacker?"

"No. I'm not a hacker."

As she said this, Ariel pulled out a worn-out laptop from under the table.

When Ariel turned it on and hummed a tune, some information from inside the laptop appeared on the screen.

As we looked at it, Ariel smiled with even more confidence.

"Huhuhu... Music breaks down walls and helps us understand each other's differences. I applied that."

"Ah, she's trying to sound profound by making it hard to understand."

"Shut up, Jack."

It is a great ability.

If I really wanted to, I could probably extract some information too, but using the power of a virus-related anomaly would mean destroying nine pieces of information to extract one, which is inefficient.

"Mephistopheles created a powerful reality manipulation device called Oz. Here, a device could be either a living being or a machine, no one knows."

"A reality manipulation device..."

"But the Institution, realizing this, launched an all-out war to reclaim Oz from Mephistopheles. However, Oz suddenly disappeared and never returned."

Disappeared?

Did it grow legs and run away?

Why would Mephistopheles create Oz in the first place?

Ah, honestly, if I could create something like that, I'd want to too.

Who wouldn't want the power to manipulate the world as they please?

But is that really all there is to it?

The reason Senior created the tale devils and the Rulers might be related to Oz.

"...That Oz thing. Is it the Oz from The Wizard of Oz?"

When Eun-jeong asked, Ariel nodded.

"Maybe. Just like our names are related to fairy tales."

"Oz..."

"So, is there a Dorothy too?"

Kyeong-min looked at one of the empty seats and said that.

"That's all I have to tell you. If we find Oz first, Mephistopheles might appear before us with a bam!"

"Indeed... But how?"

When Pinocchio asked, Ariel closed her mouth.

"Uh... Um..."

She looked troubled.

I thought she didn't know, but upon closer inspection, it seemed more like she was hiding something she didn't want to say.

Since I wasn't sure, I didn't press further.

Just as my eyes were about to sharpen, Jack spoke up.

"Ah. Dumb Ariel spouted an opinion without thinking again. Always pretending to be smart but knows nothing!"

"Ha...! This guy, seriously!"

Ariel couldn't hold back her anger and grabbed Jack by the neck.

Jack, who was stronger, easily shook her off and ran toward me.

"Waaah! This is why female devils are no good! They always do extreme things!"

Thud! Thud!

It was a very sexist remark, but Pinocchio and I had no choice but to bow our heads.

"...."

"...."

Me, who erased all memories to protect the children, and Pinocchio, who attacked the Institution to gain powerful reality manipulation abilities to remodel humanity.

Both are ridiculous.

Ughhhh!

I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have...

No matter how many times I regret it, what's done is done...!

I managed to recover with the children's comfort, but Pinocchio didn't seem to have that luxury.

While Eun-jeong went to comfort her, Jack got caught by Ariel.

"Everyone here is a girl except you, you idiot!"

"Stop hitting me!"

Watching Jack get beaten up, the kids started laughing, finding it funny.

Of course, Jack, who insisted he wasn't a laughingstock, was ignored!

"Somehow... Hehe. They seem close."

"They're like Alice and us."

"Let's play with them next time."

At the kids' reactions, Ariel snorted.

"Hmph. I have no intention of playing with kids."

"I do! I'll come play next time!"

"...Alright. Ariel, do you have any other information?"

Ariel started to think.

It seemed like she was sorting through information worth sharing.

She seems to know a lot; I should ask her more often.

"Those devils roaming outside. Yeah. The ones who can't even speak properly. Are they really devils?"

I expressed doubt at Ariel's sudden remark.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, I just have that feeling. They're definitely like us, but something feels off... This is more of a guess than information. That's it! The Tea Party is over."

Ariel declared the Tea Party over, saying she'd told us everything she knew.

She munched on the remaining snacks as she said this.

I asked for the chocolate candy back, but she refused.

Greedy woman...

"Keep an eye on the Cathedral, alright? Alice."

"I may dislike you, but I've come to realize that I need you~", Ariel said that and closed the door.

The space around us began to dissolve like bubbles.

Pinocchio, who had been with us, looked at me and said,

"...The space is disappearing. I came here because I heard you were part of it, but that girl Ariel seems to be hiding something. Don't trust her too much."

"I'll keep that in mind."

When we opened our eyes, we were back where we originally were.

...

POV Switch - 3rd Person

"Wahahaha, that was fun! And the snacks were delicious!"

"Hey, don't eat mine!"

After the Tea Party, Jack and Ariel were munching on the leftover snacks.

Ariel and Jack are poor because they have no income!

Of course, they don't need to eat or sleep, but they couldn't just give up the things they enjoyed when they were human.

After enjoying the snacks with Jack for a while, Ariel handed the remaining snacks to Jack when she was satisfied.

Jack happily popped the snacks into his mouth.

"Hey, Ariel."

Jack spoke up again. Jack always says silly things.

It's probably another pointless story.

Ariel wiped her greasy hands with water and a cloth as she answered.

"What?"

"Didn't you anticipate that Pinocchio would use Alice?"

"..."

Jack's expression was more serious than expected.

Ariel's face stiffened for a moment.

Jack ate the snacks like a child, but his tone was anything but childlike.

"Because of that, Alice almost died. Pinocchio became so powerful with the Mechanical God's power that he could break through most of the branches of the Institution."

"..."

"Ariel, what were you hoping for? Did you want Alice to die and Pinocchio transform the Institution into a wormwood field?"

"...Why are you suddenly like this?"

Ariel gulped.

She didn't want to meet Jack's gaze right now.

She hadn't expected to feel this kind of pressure from little Jack again.

Just like the first time...

"Just. I like you, Ariel. You were the one who embraced me when I was alone.... I don't want to climb a strange beanstalk and meet a tragic end."

"I knew Pinocchio would betray Alice! Everything went according to plan!"

...Under Jack's gaze that seemed to ask, "Is that all?" Ariel couldn't hold back anymore and confessed.

"Alright. I get it! Honestly, I didn't expect the Cathedral to intervene, and I didn't think Alice would be so physically and mentally weakened that things would turn out like that! What's with that red Holy Spear? And why did that Peter Pan guy show up there?!"

Ariel flopped down.

Jack looked at her with a bewildered expression.

Who knew she'd be this sloppy...

"Uh... I'm an idiot, but you're really an idiot too."

"Ughhh, I'm so frustrated! I'm jealous that Mephistopheles came to save Alice! And on top of that, she defeated Peter Pan and gained enough power to beat Pinocchio, who had become so strong! I'm jealous! Jealous!"

"Wow..."

Jack couldn't help but think that Ariel had many shortcomings.

...

POV Switch - Alice

"How was the field trip?"

"It was fun. They said a lot of interesting things."

"Honestly, I didn't really understand most of it."

"As long as it was fun, that's all that matters."

Fortunately, everyone seemed satisfied.

We might meet other tale devils often, so it's good to at least get familiar with their faces.

I noticed the deepening night and checked the time on my watch.

Even though clubs often operate at night, this was too late.

"It's gotten late. It's time to head home."

"That's too bad. I wanted to dig into some other ghost stories I've been hearing lately."

Even so, it's time to go.

Time to say goodbye~

But with Ha-rim, staying up all night talking has become a routine, so even if we go back, we'll probably talk for a long time.

"Tomorrow's plans are set. See you tomorrow."

We waved and headed to our respective homes.

I should return to the Institution too.

"...Huh?"

Just as I was about to call an agent, I received a call instead.

"Hello?"

"Waaah! Alice! It's me! Carol!"

It was Carol. I hadn't heard her voice in a while.

Carol seemed excited to hear my voice too, jumping around.

The sound of her jumping in place came through the phone.

"You're back."

"That's all you have to say?!"

As Carol complained, I got into the agent's car and headed back.

I'm meeting a lot of people today.

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