I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 102: Red Riding Hood – Where the Wolf Lives

The hospital was farther away than I expected.

On the way here, I’d run into over twenty wolves, and my shoulders were sore from having to subdue them without killing them.

If you think about it, it’s a lot. But depending on perspective, maybe not that many.

If they’d moved as a pack, I would’ve had to fight even more of them.

...Don’t wolves usually live in packs?

I ran my hand over the door, long neglected, coated in mold and damp to the touch.

From the unpleasant sensation, I could tell the place had probably been like this even before everything went to hell.

I threw the old door open with force. The screech of metal scraping echoed in my ears like something out of a horror movie.

The moment I entered the hospital, I realized the air inside was made of half dust and the rest silence.

In short, it looked like there was nothing here at all.

I passed the reception desk and walked toward the patient isolation ward.

If the wolf transformation had begun, wouldn’t they have tried to check into the hospital before fully changing?

I imagined a werewolf strapped down tight in a hospital bed and yanked the door open in one go.

Is there no one here!

“Nothing at all. But...”

The clumps of wolf fur scattered messily on the bed hinted that a wolf had been here.

Or maybe... had been restrained.

I noticed occasional bloodstains and unidentified medicines rolling around on the floor. It made me think—maybe the first wolf I’d encountered had escaped from here.

“This feels like a detective game... If James also turned into a wolf, maybe he passed through here.”

I thought about the things he used to carry—his gun, his fedora, his clothes—and started searching for anything that resembled them.

Unfortunately, even after rummaging through every patient room, I couldn’t find anything that looked like it belonged to James.

Caught up in the search like someone playing an escape room game, I’d completely forgotten about using the supernatural. That’s when I realized it was time for the kids to return from school.

I opened a mirror to use as a passage and called the kids through.

“You’re late, Alice!”

I’d promised to open the portal once school let out, but I was already an hour behind. Eun-jung puffed up her cheeks in frustration and scolded me.

“Sorry. I got too absorbed in chasing clues.”

“Anyway... where are we?”

“Troyes, in France. A romantic city where traces of the Middle Ages still linger. Although now, it’s all covered in forest...”

“Seriously. There are so many trees!”

Eun-jung pressed herself up against the window, not even noticing how filthy the frame was, and started marveling at the view.

Her eyes sparkled at the strange sight.

But soon, she sensed the creepy atmosphere and quickly came over to my side.

“So... what exactly happened here?”

Ha-rim wanted to cut to the chase.

When she’s tense, she gets impatient.

Ha-rim usually handles supernatural phenomena the most flexibly, but ironically, she also gets the most nervous the fastest.

“It’s the work of Red Riding Hood. Another one of the Story’s Demons. Red Riding Hood created a vast forest and turned tens of thousands of humans into wolves. James also disappeared somewhere around here.”

“Mr. James?”

Since my transformation, James had hardly interacted with the kids.

Still, the kids exchanged worried glances at the mention of his name.

I could tell from the unease in their eyes what they were thinking.

“Come on now. It’s fine to be anxious after we confirm the worst. And if he did become a wolf, the chances of him being dead are actually lower.”

I mean, monsters are usually pretty tough.

“You’re right... Hmph! Okay. Let’s find Mr. James and the demon behind Red Riding Hood.”

Soo-ho stretched his arms and declared confidently.

I handed the kids the few pieces of information I’d gathered here.

“When I first arrived, I saw a wolf with a syringe stuck in it. Someone was experimenting on the wolves. Whether they were trying to treat them or kill them, I don’t know.”

“That’s why you came to the hospital.”

Ha-rim immediately picked up on the fact that this place was worth investigating.

She flung open her ever-present backpack and started tearing through drawers, closets, and even the trash.

Whenever this girl puts her hands on something, something always ends up coming out. It’s uncanny.

Stacks of paper, syringes with nametags, moldy bread.

“Ha-rim’s getting better at scavenging, huh...”

When I asked her why she was keeping rotten bread, she said something absurd about preparing for extreme survival situations.

So I threw the bread out the window.

They confiscated my beloved giant candy before for being unsanitary... Everyone else probably forgot, but I still remember!

That was back when I was still Ella, but I’ve been holding onto that grudge ever since.

This was my revenge!

“...Hmm.”

Ha-rim, stopped from pocketing the bread, was now staring intently at something.

“Did you find something?”

“Yeah. But it’s just a regular newspaper.”

It was written in French, of course, so we couldn’t make any sense of it.

Even someone as smart as Ha-rim wouldn’t know French!

“Hmm... Mysterious corpses found near a pub... and a religious group roaming around at night...”

“What?! Ha-rim, you know French?!”

“Huh? No. I’m using a text-recognition mobile translator.”

“Oh.”

Why didn’t I think of that?

Embarrassed, I just stayed silent and continued reading the newspaper next to Ha-rim.

It was mostly mundane stuff—some daily happenings, a few jabs at politicians.

Same nonsense wherever you go.

...And apparently, a gate-shaped sculpture made by someone named Rodin had been stolen.

Seven pieces stolen. Pretty impressive.

Probably has nothing to do with our current situation.

“Alice~”

While we were reading, Soo-ho, Kyung-min, and Eun-jung came back after exploring the lower floor and called out to me.

“There’s a basement here!”

“How classic.”

Basements have a certain sinister charm.

It’s an unspoken rule in horror movies: all the shady stuff happens in the basement.

We headed down right away.

“Let’s see... Full of medicine. Like a witch’s brew. No labels on the bottles either...”

I entered the basement with a bit of excitement, but again, there wasn’t anything particularly eye-catching.

Just more wolf fur and syringes.

There was no journal or diary laying everything out cleanly for us.

Disappointing. I pouted, and Ha-rim pointed somewhere as if to comfort me.

“Doesn’t it smell kinda... fishy?”

“It’s probably because of the seafood over there!”

Following the kids’ gestures, I found a box swarming with flies, filled with rotting fish.

Well, parts of fish, really.

It looked like the skin had been peeled off and stored separately.

It didn’t look like it was meant to be eaten... and there were no signs of experimentation either.

But considering the size of the fillet, the original fish must’ve been about the size of a tuna.

“...”

Every time I looked at the fish meat, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

Something about that stench and filth... I’d definitely seen something like it before.

Probably in one of Pinocchio’s mental projections...

KUUUNG—!!!

“!!! That loud noise just now...”

“Let’s go. Judging by how the sound is fading, it’s not attacking us directly.”

I snapped out of my thoughts and turned toward the direction of the noise.

In a situation like this, a commotion usually means a new clue rolling in.

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We all knew exactly what that meant—and without hesitation, we sprinted outside.

Bursting out the front doors, panting, we saw it: about twenty meters ahead, a wolf far larger than any we’d encountered before was letting out a monstrous roar as it attacked someone.

“That wolf is huge!”

It was nearly twice the size of a car. The way it swung its massive front paws radiated sheer intimidation.

The one dodging its attacks wore all black and wielded a staff.

Even with a fish-shaped mask on, his large build made it obvious he was a man.

“@#$@$@@$2##%$!!!”

He said something while looking our way, but it was in French—we had no idea what it meant.

We pulled out the mobile translator.

“Hmm... Looks like he’s asking for help?”

“I could tell even without the translation.”

With him yelling like that, it wasn’t like we could just stand back and watch.

Kyung-min pulled out his book and swiftly summoned chains.

He began using them like a whip.

When a previously defined-use item starts being adapted to suit the user’s preference and ends up with entirely new applications—it’s hard not to smile.

“Letting it flee would be easier, so restraining it would be pointless...”

He used the chain’s reach for a long-range whip strike that lashed out at the wolf.

Even though it looked like it was made of some steel-like material, it swung with ease and surprising lightness.

It even had spring-like flexibility, just like a real whip.

What even is this thing?

I’d felt it back when we were doing skill-growth tests too—the kids’ weapons were no longer confined by set parameters.

Maybe it was the result of stepping outside the game and joining me in a larger stage of play.

Grrrrrrrrrr...

The wolf, lashed by the whip, responded with pure rage.

If it had been just a beast, it would’ve flinched or hesitated.

But this creature, consumed by emotionless fury with no hint of fear, charged blindly forward.

Even if it looked like a wolf, it was now clear—it wasn’t just a beast.

“Hmm...”

Kyung-min looked conflicted, as if he’d hoped to drive it away rather than fight.

Unless we directly took it down, this wolf-like creature would keep attacking.

“In that case...”

Ha-rim rifled through her bag, combining items on the spot.

What she pulled out was something called [Blindman’s Slaughter].

Just one look told you it was ominous—a grotesque mass of tentacles that any sane person would steer clear of.

It gave off such a sinister aura that even someone without sight could probably sense it and avoid it.

Even though we were using it like an item, it was originally a trap-type entity that lived on the floor.

Ha-rim lifted the repulsive tendrils with ease and hurled it at the wolf.

“Yeah. A beast like that probably won’t even recognize an obvious trap.”

The wolf, feeling not even the slightest fear, crashed straight into the trap.

The tentacles stretched out, wrapped around the wolf, and began to crush it.

It must not have been breaking down as easily as expected, because the tendrils stabbed themselves into the ground to brace and then slammed the wolf into the floor.

Leaving the unconscious creature behind, we approached the man.

The man, who had survived the attack, spoke, and we turned on the translator again.

{Thank you for saving me. I nearly died.}

Hmm. Yeah, the phrasing’s awkward—must be the translator.

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Hopefully nothing important gets lost. I should be careful not to put too much faith in the translator’s accuracy.

{...At a glance, you don’t seem like ordinary people.}

“???”

“He says we look suspicious or something.”

Who’s he calling suspicious?

Maybe he was surprised at the powers we used, so it wasn’t too far-fetched—but still, coming from a guy dressed like a plague doctor in modern times, that’s rich.

I shot back with a question.

“And who are you, wandering around this place? That mask of yours is shady as hell too.”

We translated my voice back to him, and the man replied:

{Personally, I find you people more suspicious, walking around here like it’s your own home... Anyway, I’m a doctor.}

“A doctor?”

{That’s right. Do you know about the phenomenon where humans are turning into wolves?}

“We know.”

{I don’t know why something this outrageous suddenly started happening, but at the very least, I’m sure the government doesn’t have the power to solve it. So I’m trying to fix it in my own way.}

A doctor, huh.

That long-mouthed fish mask might be his replacement for a proper medical mask.

Looks like he’s treating the wolf transformation like an illness and trying to limit direct contact.

Fair enough—we don’t even know if it spreads through the air or by skin.

“Really? I mean, I respect that you’re risking your life for a cause. But you might be biting off more than you can chew.”

{I have to do this. There’s no one else.}

In response, he pulled out a necklace from inside his coat.

In the center was a miniature picture frame—with a photo of a young boy.

Hmm... So that’s it.

{I’ll save my son with my own hands. I’m not waiting around for someone else to come cure him.}

Well, that’s a pretty solid motivation.

I couldn’t deny the courage of someone risking everything to save someone they loved. Might as well take him with us and gather information while we’re at it.

“...Fine. Then is that hospital back there yours?”

{No. But I did use it. The wolves I’ve tried treating are somewhere else.}

“Then could you take us there? We’re here trying to figure out what’s behind all of this too.”

The man nodded and started walking ahead.

We followed after him, whispering among ourselves.

“His son turning into a wolf... That’s heartbreaking.”

Eun-jung spoke with sympathy.

But Kyung-min didn’t seem quite as trusting.

“Still, he’s suspicious. If anything seems off, we take him down immediately.”

“Kyung-min, are you a T-type personality or something?”

-----

“This tavern feels more like a secret base.”

{Romance! Nostalgia for secret hideouts from childhood definitely persists into adulthood.

Or it could be a crime den used by drug dealers!}

“Yeah... I’m thinking the second one.”

The place the man led us to was a tavern connected by a hidden passage.

Not something you’d see often in Korea, but apparently they’re more common abroad.

Or... maybe not.

{Would you like some juice?}

“I was taught never to take drinks from strangers.”

I said it while brushing my hair aside with a mock haughty air.

But it was also a warning—don’t try anything stupid.

{Good lesson. But sometimes, doing bad things is fun too. You go to hell, sure—but that can be fun in its own way.}

When I refused, he casually put the juice away.

He seemed to be genuinely complimenting the kid, which honestly made it even more irritating.

Meanwhile, Eun-jung asked if she could have some, so I gave her a flick to the forehead.

The man, not offended, immediately moved on to show us the results of his work so far.

“...! That’s... they’ve almost turned back into humans!”

What he showed us were the wolves he’d attempted to treat.

They glared at us—wolves with patches of human skin now visible here and there.

The ones whose skin had partially returned looked like hairless cats, but those whose bone structures had reverted to human were... disturbingly grotesque in a way that was hard to describe.

It was hard to believe that an ordinary person could conduct experiments and actually make progress resolving this bizarre phenomenon.

An occult event being treated with medicine?

If this situation turned out to be caused not by Red Riding Hood’s power but simply by a pathogen, then the institutions that failed to resolve it would be in complete chaos—doomed to go down in history as a disgrace.

“But... this is...”

{Does it sound more like experimentation than treatment?

How could you develop medicine for something that only happens to humans without testing it on humans?}

The wolves had identification tags hanging from their necks like dog collars.

They were crammed into pens barely big enough to lie down in, like livestock. It wasn’t a pleasant sight.

They used to be people... That thought came to me automatically.

As I scanned them one by one, my eyes landed on a wolf that hadn’t received any treatment yet.

Unlike the others, this one was in a larger space—and instead of the bare floor, it was restrained on a bed.

“That one...”

Grrrrrrr...

When I asked, the man responded clearly.

{That’s my son.}

Perhaps, because it was his own blood, he wanted to treat him a little differently.

It looked like a form of fatherly love.

I wondered for a moment... What does it feel like to be loved like that?

I was lost in thought for a moment.

“Pss~”

Suddenly, Ha-rim blew into my ear.

“Kyah?! What are you doing?! That tickles!”

I flinched and snapped at her, and the man looked over at us.

Ha-rim just shrugged innocently, and the man, seeming to brush it off, said he would show us something else and gestured for us to follow.

The others trailed after him, but Ha-rim didn’t move. Instead, she tapped my shoulder.

She was saying she’d stay behind and investigate the area on her own.

“...It might be dangerous.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep in touch constantly. And besides... if we just blindly follow that guy around... you get what I’m saying, right?”

What Ha-rim meant was—if that man’s hiding something, we’ll never get close to the truth by just tailing him around obediently.

Her reaction wasn’t unjustified.

He was wandering around alone, didn’t even carry a self-defense weapon...

And somehow, he’d survived all the way °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° here, despite all those wolves? It didn’t add up.

It was strange that he was the only one completely unharmed, too.

I nodded at her and whispered for her to come back right away if she didn’t find anything.

“Got it! Leave it to me!”

She’s really something else—so bold.