I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 108: Red Riding Hood – The Place Where Red Riding Hood Awaits

“Hmm...”

“What’s wrong, Alice?”

As I absentmindedly made a subtle expression while gazing at the city, Kyung-min asked what was going on.

The reason was obvious.

“I came here to stop Red Riding Hood, but with the James thing, and now the fact that there are two Dominators, I just get the feeling this is becoming way too big.”

Who could have known there would be two Dominators?

And they’re pretty powerful enemies too. In the case of the Cosmic Bird, I could go over there and beat it to a pulp right now if I wanted!

From what I heard, it’s been a thorn in the Organization’s side for a long time...

Why the hell did James get dragged into something this massive?

...Well, not like he got involved because he wanted to.

I mean, he’s part of the Organization anyway, so maybe it was inevitable that he’d be deployed?

“Yeah, that’s true. But personally, I think it’s actually better this way, with things being a bit complicated.”

“Why?”

If Kyung-min slipped up with his words, I was planning to immediately shout, <Hey you little punk, are you saying you like ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) that people are turning into wolves and there are two Dominator-class enemies here right now???> and teach him that one careless word could turn you into trash in an instant.

“Because we can be of help to you, Alice, when you’re having a hard time?”

“Oh my. Really? Ufufu...”

His unexpected response was so sweet, I couldn’t help but smile.

Eun-jung started pointing furiously and shouted at me.

“You’re treating Kyung-min better!”

“Eun-jung, don’t pick fights over nothing.”

While I gave Eun-jung a light flick on the forehead, Kyung-min tossed his opinion to me.

“Let’s handle things step by step. We chased off Red Riding Hood’s demon, but I think we should prioritize finding Mr. James first, then go after Red Riding Hood, then clean up the rest of the monsters. Taking it one issue at a time like that would be best.”

“Now that you’ve laid it out, I feel a lot better. Thanks.”

“I don’t have anything to give you even if you compliment me.”

Kyung-min scratched his cheek shyly.

I pointed to his pants pocket and said,

“You’ve got chocolate in your pocket.”

“?”

I created a mirror next to his pocket and swiped the chocolate.

I popped it in my mouth.

A spine-tingling, sweet sensation that buzzed through the back of my head.

I never get tired of it. Ah, this makes life worth living.

Leaving the dumbfounded Kyung-min behind, I stretched my arms high overhead.

“Yup~! Sugar recharged. Like you said, let’s go find James before dealing with Red Riding Hood. Now let’s see, the remote mirror I stuck to James...”

I was planning to use the remote mirror connected to James to move over to where he was.

But contrary to expectations, the mirror had been shattered.

That meant I couldn’t reach James through the mirror.

I couldn’t hide my disappointment and told the kids,

“The mirror broke while I was distracted.”

“What? And you didn’t notice until now?”

No, that’s not fair.

Just because there’s a CCTV doesn’t mean people are watching it 24/7.

It’s not like I’m on shift or something.

Besides, the farther away I am, the duller my senses get, so normally I wouldn’t even know if it broke.

As their doubtful gazes gathered on me, my mouth instinctively activated its defense mechanism.

“You guys forgot about the mirror too!”

“How are we supposed to know if your mirror broke, Alice!”

“Ugh, feel guilty for once!”

...Yeah, it was my fault.

So instead, I puffed out my chest and declared proudly,

“As long as I make up for it, that’s enough. Hm, anyone got a good idea?”

“Ugh, how shameless! Saying you’ll fix it and immediately asking for someone else’s idea!”

“Shut it!”

I growled like a wolf.

Ha-rim came up to me and said she had a suggestion.

Seriously, there’s no one like Ha-rim.

I wanted to give her a sticker that said “Good Job.”

She paused for a moment, then shared her thoughts.

“If the fish monsters imitate humans, then I think they’ve probably imitated the system too.”

“By system... you mean like law enforcement?”

“Yeah. Since we’ve been hit-and-running all over the place, fast, long ones like cutlassfish started chasing us. They’re probably like the police.”

I listened closely and nodded for her to continue.

Then Ha-rim pointed toward the moon that had risen as it got darker.

“Mr. James turned into a ‘Moon Wolf,’ right? If Moon Wolves, unlike regular wolves, only show aggression toward monsters, then it’s only natural he’d come to a city full of monsters.

But... out of all the wolves, why would Mr. James be the only one to come here?”

Kyung-min seemed to realize something from her words and added,

“Oh, I see. If wolves with the same purpose started wreaking havoc in the city, those cutlassfish would start moving.”

Finally, Soo-ho continued the thought.

“Then if we track them in reverse, there’s a high chance Mr. James will be at the end of their trail... right?”

“Eh, what the heck. Why is everyone so smart? Now I feel left out.”

Eun-jung pouted.

Conscious of her comment about feeling excluded, I asked carefully,

“Are you upset?”

“My brain is comfy, so maybe it’s a good thing.”

“Uh-huh, I see...”

So it was nothing to worry about.

Still, I patted her head once, then went over to Kyung-min who was holding binoculars.

“Looks like you found something.”

“Over there—those aren’t running, they’re swimming—a school of cutlassfish. Let’s follow them!”

I summoned a monster we could ride immediately and gave each kid one that suited their tastes.

Soo-ho asked if he could use the lion and unicorn from school, but I told him that bringing them out near enemy territory would escalate things way too fast.

Besides, they were awkward to ride until they used their full strength—and if they did use their strength, the city would get half-destroyed, so this wasn’t the time.

“Here we are.”

We arrived at a place drenched in the blood of fish monsters.

The fight must’ve been brutal—there were claw marks all over the buildings, and the mangled remains of the monsters were twitching like they’d been tossed into a blender.

“Ugh. This is... a lot...”

“The smell is disgusting...”

Even kids with strong stomachs were shaken after seeing this kind of scene.

Good. That means they’re still sane.

Anyway, as we followed the trail of claw marks deeper in, we saw chopped-up cutlassfish monsters, and standing there was a bipedal wolf with white fur stained red.

“Must be a Moon Wolf. Doesn’t look like Mr. James though.”

It was wearing clothes—tattered, but still clothing.

The outfit was completely different from James, and more than anything, the aura was different.

Where James had a sharp, refined energy, this one was wild and much more vicious.

“That outfit... looks like a military uniform.”

“Now that you mention it, yeah. I’ve seen a similar uniform from the Organization before.”

Since Organization agents had been dispatched, it’s no surprise one of them might’ve turned into a Moon Wolf.

After a brief moment of reflection, we watched the Moon Wolf’s actions.

The fish monsters tried to block its path, but it slaughtered them effortlessly.

I was impressed by that power.

“For an ordinary person to have that kind of strength and swing it around against monsters—that’s a pretty big advantage.”

...If they can turn back into a person, that is.

The cutlassfish acting like police were all taken down, and then the monsters who had only been watching from behind began performing some kind of ritual using the blood that soaked the ground.

Curious what they were up to, I kept watching.

Bubbles began rising in the pool of blood, then it turned black like it was connected to somewhere else.

Splash—!

The black water rippled, and a massive merman hand shot out and grabbed the wolf.

Like snatching prey—it was too fast to react.

We couldn’t even breathe as we watched the wolf get dragged into the water.

“That hand’s owner... looks seriously strong.”

It must’ve been the one that caught the yokai in Brokken too.

Still, it’s not someone we can’t deal with.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“We lost him. What now?”

The children stared blankly, disheartened. I decided to offer them a solution so they wouldn’t be too disappointed.

“What else? We’re going to crack open the heads of the ones left behind over there.”

I pointed at the remaining fish monsters as I said this.

As we slowly crept toward them, they seemed to sense that something was off and tried to flee quickly.

“Get over here!”

I immediately grabbed one and summoned a monster.

This guy was a modified variant of a mind-reading monster called [Satori].

Originally, it was supposed to look like a hairy monkey, but now it looked more like a surgical machine.

Anyway, once I cracked open their skulls and started fiddling with their brains, they began to spit out information.

Since we didn’t speak the same language, I borrowed the help of a translator.

If it had been a language completely unrelated to humans, even the translator wouldn’t have worked.

[Upper... Authority’s subordinate. In charge of execution. Also manages the animal pens.]

“Animal pens? Are they raising livestock or something? Keep poking around.”

Poke, poke.

[Underground. Follow the flow of black water. G-g-g-gagagagagagagagagagag!!!!!]

“...Huh?”

Pop! The brain burst. I had to step back as brain matter and blood splattered out. Well, we got enough decent info.

“Tch. Gross.”

“Alice really has no mercy toward monsters. So ruthless.”

“That was... kind of pitiful.”

Eun-jung said that with a gloomy face.

I offered her a few words, out of concern.

“If you think of it as a person, sure. But I’ll vouch for it—that was definitely a monster.”

Hmm... should I explain this in a simpler way?

“It’s kind of like a zombie, if I had to compare it to another monster.”

“That makes it crystal clear. My guilt just vanished completely.”

The line between human and not-human needs to be made clear.

Just as heaven and hell are distinct, we have no need to empathize with monsters.

“Alright then, let’s head underground based on the info.”

To dig, I picked the Death Worm.

A familiar monster from fantasy desert settings.

The kids poked at the thing’s fingers that were digging into the ground like shovels and played around with it.

I gave it a try too.

Poke. Poke.

Feels like rubber.

“It’s wet. Smells weird.”

As we descended, we started to feel the damp, humid air.

This must be the “black water” the creature mentioned.

I wondered for a moment why it was black.

“It’s obviously oil! If we tip off the U.S., they’ll turn this place into a crater!”

Eun-jung blurted out another weird idea.

“How did you get to that conclusion?”

I dipped my finger into the water.

Let’s check whether it’s toxic or not.

It would be a pain if it turned out to be something harmful to the body.

Hmm...

“...!”

[#&#&#&#&#&÷×(+[+[1????#,*×&×&&]

A flood of massive thoughts flowed into my head.

Are these the thoughts of a monster?

No. They’re human thoughts.

Like the internet, countless voices overlapped and poured in.

It didn’t sound like a conversation.

It was more like people moaning as if caught in nightmares, or screaming in resistance.

Most of the voices were shouting in anger.

A strong, overwhelming fury could be felt.

“...Hmm.”

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I let my consciousness follow the stream of thought.

The flow of this black water was swift, and I could roughly tell how large it was.

The entire city.

This black water is the bloodstream of the city.

Is the city itself considered a living being?

Then why are human thoughts flowing through this bloodstream?

“...No, that’s not it.”

It’s not just human thoughts. The thoughts of this city’s monsters are included too.

But unlike humans, they don’t think on their own or display intense emotions, so their voices are harder to hear.

Then the thoughts I’m hearing now...

‘The humans cursed by the Sea King... thoughts of those refusing to become subordinates... How is this possible? I have some idea.’

It’s because humans turned into wolves.

Those who were once human and then became wolves.

Even after transforming into wolves, they retained their humanity.

The keywords line up.

Before becoming wolves.

They were cursed to become merfolk while still human, but by becoming wolves, they managed to resist the curse?

It’s a weak theory, but it’s the only explanation for why people who became fish monsters still retained some form of consciousness.

They became wolves, and though they were linked to the Sea King and the curse, they remained human.

“Red Riding Hood... is this what you were aiming for?”

I murmured, and the kids came closer, looking confused at my words.

I told them not to touch the black water and explained what I was thinking.

“Then Red Riding Hood is on our side?”

“That’s still uncertain, but for now, I’m leaning in that direction.”

“As soon as we find Mr. James, we’ve got to go after Red Riding Hood right away.”

What we needed to do hadn’t changed.

We mounted swim-capable monsters and crossed the river of black water.

Then—suddenly. The monster came to a stop.

“This must be... the animal pens they mentioned.”

We found ourselves in a maze of countless cages made of thick iron bars.

Creeeak... The entrance swung open without much concern for security.

The sheer number of cages crammed inside made it painful to look at.

And within them were the very wolves we had been looking for.

They didn’t seem to be in good condition.

Their fur was falling out in patches, and some parts of their bodies had already turned back into human skin.

It was similar to the treatments performed by those plague doctor-like merfolk outside.

You might think it’s good that they were partially human again, but we already knew what happened to wolves who returned to being human.

Unable to withstand the curse, they would end up turning into fish monsters instead.

“They may look like animals, but they’re still human... and yet they’re being treated like livestock. It’s tragic.”

These wolves, unlike the fully turned merfolk, are still human.

I don’t feel good about this.

As much as I wanted to free them all, doing so right now would only cause more chaos and wouldn’t solve the root of the problem.

The goal is to help the wolves return to being human—but without turning into merfolk again.

There’s also the option of storing them in mirrors, but considering how the Dominator playing leader among the merfolk had gone to such trouble to keep them here, there must be a reason for it.

Before we could properly confront anything, first—we had to meet Red Riding Hood.

Only then would we gain the key to fulfilling our entire objective.

“Let’s go a bit further inside. Since Uncle James is a Moon Wolf, he’ll be deeper in.”

Agreeing with Kyung-min’s words, we pushed further inward.

It didn’t seem to matter what form we took—an image of a wolf forcibly stuffed into a cage briefly flashed through my mind.

I felt a sense of déjà vu from it.

It resembled something we had already seen.

“Doesn’t it look similar to the livestock shed we saw in the forest?”

“Yeah. Same traits, in the worst way. Treating people like livestock.”

These damn monsters don’t even know their place and treat humans like toys.

One day, I’ll destroy them all.

I made that resolve and crossed through the forest of cages, heading deeper into the core.

The farther we went, the more the wolves thrashed and collided with each other, their blunt bodies slamming around, gnawing on the bars, their howls thick with heat.

There was barely any scent of fear—only rage. It was so palpable, even I felt my temperature rise.

And at last, we were reunited with the one we had been waiting for—James.

Wearing a fedora, his arm nearly severed, James looked like he had barely survived.

“Grrrrrrr...”

“James! Are you okay?”

“He looks like he’s in a lot of pain. Is... is it impossible to heal him?”

“It’s possible. But since he’s already regenerating, it might be better not to interfere.”

If James were human, his severed arm could only be healed through my anomaly.

But since he was a wolf, perhaps his very nature sought to preserve that body—he was already regenerating.

“First, let’s pull out the drug syringes stuck in him.”

This drug—it was clearly suppressing Red Riding Hood’s power.

If we’re being generous, it’s a treatment. If not—it’s the groundwork for consumption.

Still, something bothered me.

Why go this far?

Why go through the trouble of capturing wolves to turn them into subordinates?

Even if there were many wolves, turning one into a fish-man would be less efficient than losing a dozen fish-men trying to capture one and getting ripped apart instead... There had to be another purpose.

In any case, now that we had found James, we had to figure out how to turn him back into a human.

“How do we turn James back?”

“Yeah, what’s the condition for changing from beast to human...”

“The simplest method would be to go to the root. Red Riding Hood’s the cause, right? From everything we’ve heard so far, she doesn’t seem like an evil demon. So let’s find her and ask her to return everyone.”

That’s right. At first, when we heard Red Riding Hood had turned the city into a forest filled with wolves, we thought it was nothing short of terrorism.

But if the fish-men and smog birds had already extended their reach into that city, perhaps Red Riding Hood, with her power to fix humans in a wolf state, was actually protecting them.

If we could just communicate, we might be able to return everyone here to their human selves—and strike at the Dominator spreading the curse together.

“It’s decided, then. Now that we’ve found James, let’s go look for Red Riding Hood as planned.”

“Back to square one... So where would Red Riding Hood be?”

We sank into thought once more.

Soo-ho was the first to speak up.

“I don’t think she’s here.”

“Why not?”

“I was thinking—when we entered this city, the energy or whatever you want to call it... it felt completely different. Didn’t everyone feel it?”

The kids nodded. Maybe hanging out with me had sharpened their senses a bit.

“Hm. If the energy feels completely different from the forest, then Red Riding Hood’s not here... It’s a weak argument, but it’s not far from what I think. I also feel this city is a completely separate space from the forest.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The place Ha-rim went to—the smog birds’ territory. This place here, the fish-men’s domain. And the city we first explored, which was turned into a forest by Red Riding Hood. These three are all connected.”

“...Is that so? I mean, sure, Red Riding Hood only turned the city into a forest—it makes sense that a whole different city couldn’t have just popped into existence.”

Good. You’re following.

Now, this is my own theory.

“They say the activities of the fish-men and smog birds haven’t been seen outside since a certain point. I think Red Riding Hood sealed off the entrance between this world and the present one, turning it into her own realm.”

“Wait, then...”

You get it now, right?

Here’s the thing.

I said she ‘sealed the entrance,’ but to put it simply—it means coming in was easy, but leaving is not.

Unless we pass through a mirror, there’s no physical way for us to get out.

“So in the end, if we want to meet Red Riding Hood, we have to go back to the forest?”

“Exactly. Haa... This one’s even harder to meet than the other demons. I swear, when I see that damn face, if she acts hostile after all this trouble, I’ll blast her away.”

“Eh, it’s not like she did it on purpose. That’s kind of harsh.”

“Yeah, totally.”

“That’s cold! Just agree with me, no thoughts required.”

“Red Riding Hood, you bastard! Just you wait!”

“Hehehe...”

I immediately shoved the resisting James into the mirror.

Reminded me of that game where you force monsters into balls to make them fight.

I felt a little guilty about leaving the other wolves behind.

But it wouldn’t be hard to come back for them later, so I apologized to them and asked them to hang on just a bit longer as we prepared to leave the animal enclosure.

Rumble...

“Hmm?”

A huge something had noticed James’s absence, and we heard it swimming this way.

From the situation, it had to be the keeper of the animal cages—a high-ranking subordinate of the Dominator.

It could apparently swim through solid ground... Thinking of the smog bird’s high-ranking subordinates, it didn’t seem all that strong.

Still, maybe its physical strength was overwhelming.

As the subordinate crawled out of the earth and revealed itself, I and the kids quietly spoke to it.

“Mm~ We’re not gonna fight. We have a portal.”

That’s right.

Since we had the mirror, we didn’t need to fight.

Maybe one day we’d have to face it.

But right now? We’d been running around so much—it was just too much of a bother.

“Looks like it thinks it gets a boss battle just by showing up.”

“For real, lol~”

[ㅡㅡㅡ!!!]

It let out a furious roar.

It must’ve understood we were mocking it.

So even high-ranking subordinates have feelings, huh?

I opened the mirror right away and sent the kids through.

The poor subordinate looked... pitiful now.

Like, what do you want from us? We’re busy. Chase us if you really want.

I stuck out my tongue as I followed the others through.

“Bleh.”

Felt a little lacking, so once I crossed, the kids were already flipping it off. That was fun.

Right after, we returned to the forest.

The dim sky and the moon welcomed us once more.

“We’re back in the forest. Feels kinda empty.”

“It’s like when you don’t know how to use the kiosk at a restaurant, waste a bunch of time figuring it out, finally order, and then just have to wait for the food.”

“That’s a terrible analogy.”

“Just empathize blindly, please.”

“No!”

“Why am I the only one you bully?!”

Bicker, bicker.

“Eun-jung, Soo-ho, don’t fight now.”

Maybe it was time to rest.

We had been walking for a long while.

If we wanted to speed things up, we had no choice.

“I didn’t want to use this method, but...”

“What is it? What is it?”

I released the tracking anomalies from inside the mirror and ordered them to search for Red Riding Hood.

I couldn’t guarantee their accuracy.

They only worked effectively in open spaces, and unless she was clearly out in the open, it would be difficult to find her.

Still, it was better than wandering around on foot.

“Go find her.”

The anomalies scattered in all directions, setting off to locate Red Riding Hood.

“Why didn’t you use them before?”

“Even if they can find something, it’s hard to handle the trouble that happens in between... and it’s easy to miss small details.”

The kids gave me looks that said, Still, wouldn’t it have been better to use them anyway?

These brats always manage to pull my true feelings out of me, no matter how hard I try to keep them in.

“...If we find her too easily with this method, then I won’t have anything to do with you guys. Can’t I be a little greedy too?”

“Hehehe...”

“Don’t laugh at me!”

Until the anomalies brought back eyewitness reports, we decided to sit down and rest for a while.

Kyung-min, who had brought a thermos, poured warm tea for everyone, which helped ease our nerves.

Just as I swallowed the last mouthful—

A signal came from the mirror.

“She’s been spotted. I told them to find someone in a red hood, so there’s no mistaking it.”

“Wow! A new demon friend!”

“Hopefully this one’s like Jack and we can play together from time to time.”

Following the anomaly’s guidance, I stepped into the mirror and arrived at the indicated location.

It was a clearing in the middle of the forest.

The place was so wide, I hadn’t even imagined such a space existed here.

It was open enough to see the moon clearly, and it was... surprisingly beautiful.

“Huh? Where’s Red Riding Hood?”

She didn’t immediately appear within sight.

But her presence was strong.

A ferocious, furious energy hung in the air like a blade.

Even though I couldn’t see Red Riding Hood, something else came into view instead.

The trees had twisted like serpents, coiling tightly around something—and at the center, there was a human-shaped figure.

“...Sister Maria?”

Maria. The nun who had once traveled with us, hung there limply with her eyes closed, like a corpse.

“Awoooooooo—!!!”

As we approached Maria, the feral aura sharpened into a spear-like force that stabbed toward us.

Boom—!

A massive wolf wearing a red hood.

Far, far larger than any other wolf we’d seen, there was no doubt she was Red Riding Hood.

With a single thunderous step, she released a blast of rage.

One look was enough to tell she wasn’t in her right mind.

“Doesn’t look like we’re going to become friends easily.”

No kidding.