I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 112: Red Artemis – Episode Complete

"After that, I came to define the emotion of anger as evil. So I tried my best to hold it in, but in the end, I had another episode and unleashed that anger all over again."

It’s pathetic—I couldn’t even laugh.

I should have held it in, again and again. What the hell was I thinking?

It was nothing but foolishness.

"Every time I see monsters treating people like livestock, I remember the past, and I commit that sin called anger again—I turn people into wolves, turn cities into forests. Again and again. Over and over."

On dark, shadowed nights,

wherever I pass through the brush, only madness-soaked rage remains behind.

Because my unchecked fury corrodes even others, turning them into wolves.

Why is it that my anger only ends after I’ve wounded something deeply?

Is it just a natural law—like the way you hurt your own hand when you punch a wall?

I know this anger is evil, so why is it that I, who once aimed to be a good child, continue to commit evil?

My anger. My own, personal anger.

My rage swept over the livestock like a wave,

and in the end, there was nothing left.

It’s selfish.

Turning others into beasts like wolves through my anger, making them targets for arrows in the end—that’s what I did.

How am I any different from the monsters who treat people like livestock?

Why am I still wandering around with Maria?

Did I think I could change?

Did I think I could atone?

Even though all I do is lash out selfishly?

As Red Riding Hood condemned herself, Alice appeared beside her.

Alice spoke.

“Even so, you still commit the evil that is rage, Red Riding Hood. If you want to uproot that evil, then you need to understand where that rage comes from.”

Thump.

What am I angry about?

When I saw those unreasonable monsters devouring people,

when I saw people lose their humanity and fall into monstrosity.

I thought—they were like livestock.

I remembered my mistake back then, and it made me angry.

“That must have made you angry too. But look deeper.”

Thump.

...When Mister Pig stepped forward to be eaten in my place, I was filled with fury.

Because I had cherished Mister Pig.

“Was that really all?”

Thump.

...No.

I’m not a good child!!!

I—I'm an incredibly selfish person.

I was angry.

Not just because something I cared about was hurt,

but because of that idiotic face, calmly accepting something so absurd.

Damn it! Why don’t you resist?! Why don’t you question it?! Why don’t you get angry?!

Yeah. I finally realized it.

I was angry at myself.

At the me who couldn’t speak up about what I wanted.

At the me who couldn’t overcome my fear.

At the me who never rebelled.

At the me who pretended not to know, acted like I didn’t understand, and kept trying to remain a good child.

At the me who couldn’t even push myself forward.

That’s right!

Do you know why I got angry when that boy who was being bullied chose to give in?

Because I saw myself in him!

And because I saw myself in the livestock too!

That pathetic submission to injustice,

that lazy, indifferent acceptance without even a flicker of resistance!

It felt like looking in a mirror, and it made my blood boil!

“You always thought it was okay to endure—but when you saw your reflection in someone else, did it make you feel miserable?”

Yes!

I wanted that boy to just lash out, even if it meant he’d get hurt, even if it meant he’d be unhappy later!

I wanted him to become something more savage, scarier—like those wicked wolves!

That’s how selfish I am.

Even though the people who became livestock submitted for valid reasons—because they were powerless, because they would suffer if they fought back—I shattered the order just because I got angry.

And this is the result.

I turned the people who had become livestock into wolves with my rage,

and like eggs thrown at a rock, they all ended up dead.

This was the pitiful outcome of my wild, helpless fury.

“You’ve faced your anger. But don’t look only at the bad side of it. Isn’t that right, Mister Pig?”

Mister Pig?

Mister Pig walked up behind Alice with heavy steps.

He should’ve been dead—killed by the hunter’s arrows.

I took a step back in fear.

Surely, he must hate me.

But Mister Pig’s voice was filled with joy.

“Hey, Red Riding Hood. Do you remember that time? When we went out for a night walk?”

I remember.

The full moon bloomed beautifully in the sky,

I was caught up in its energy and ran wildly,

and I chatted away with Mister Pig.

“That time was very precious to me.”

Why are you speaking so gently?

Why are you sounding so wistful?

Back then, I only brought you along to indulge my mood.

“You know, Red Riding Hood? That’s why... you became precious to me.

Living in hell as just an animal, I never once felt the value of being alive.

But during that time—

I think I experienced something more precious than I ever did even when I was human.

Because before I fell into hell, I lived a completely passive life.”

“...Me too.”

“So when the Pretas attacked you,

I stepped in without thinking and took the hit in your place.

Because I was afraid of losing you.”

I hugged Mister Pig.

I wanted to hear the rest up close.

“We were so used to submission that we eventually forgot how to be angry.

We were sinners, living as animals as punishment for the sin of neglecting ourselves in our previous lives.”

What are you trying to say?

“But when you turned us into wolves,

we finally learned how to be angry—for our own sake.

Even if the outcome wasn’t good,

we learned what it means to rage.

Originally, we were supposed to be reborn in the pens and repeat that pain again and again.

Do you understand now why we didn’t revive as livestock?”

Are you saying—

That what I did... meant something?

Really?

Even though I did something so bad?

Even though I scattered my one-sided, selfish anger?

Do I have any right to be comforted by the idea that the result was good...?

“I’m a bad kid...”

“The order this world imposes isn’t kind.

Sometimes you have to bare your teeth.

And if it’s too hard to do alone,

sometimes you need a bad friend to give you a push.”

A bad friend...

“What do you want to do?”

“I...”

What I want is—

“I want to become the moon.”

When I looked up, I saw the full moon in the sky.

A moon glowing with a red light.

Its crimson glow was soft and beautiful,

but in the West, such a moon was said to be ominous.

Just like the word ‘lunatic’ means madness.

I wanted to defy that inevitable order everyone resigns themselves to,

and share madness—anger—with them.

Madness is viewed as something negative.

In today’s world, where standing on pure reason is seen as a virtue, madness is treated as a sin.

But in the old days, madness was considered divine inspiration given by the gods.

A gift that pushes reason forward.

“I want to become the moon.

I want to push people forward,

so they can get angry when they need to.

Even if all I did was express my own anger after seeing people suffer like I had,

I still didn’t want them to go through the same pain as me.

Even if they had a reason to endure,

even if this is just my selfishness,

I want to believe... that it’s the right thing.”

Because I too—

“When I was being scolded by my parents,

I wished someone would push me forward—so I could fight back and say I was right, even if I had to get angry.”

For the people who are enduring because they have no choice...

I want to stretch out my crimson, moldy anger and become their bad friend to push them forward.

Of course the outcome might not be good.

They might get hurt instead.

But just once,

I want to tell them to forget the fear that comes with reason and helplessness,

and even if they get hurt, to bite back.

To get angry.

To growl.

To rampage—as a devil committing evil.

But may that evil be part of a greater good.

May the evil that is human rage be what drives out the evil of the world.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

-------

Red Riding Hood completed herself as a devil.

Her wings spread wide, and she unleashed her power as a demon.

The wolves howled in unison with her, and the Sea King, sensing its impending defeat, began collapsing its physical body in a last attempt to let its soul escape.

But—

The Sea King, bound by its victims and the black blood, was bitten by ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) the very wolves it had brought in to absorb, making escape into the mental realm impossible.

The wolves, having endured so much pain resisting the Sea King until now, tore into it with ruthless and unrelenting strength.

Red Riding Hood raised her bow.

Solving a problem is like striking a target with an arrow, they said.

With an arrow tipped with the dull moon—

Now, to finally resolve her own problem.

She exhaled slowly... and released the arrow.

The arrow, having found where it needed to go, soared straight ahead.

And then—

The Sea King collapsed.

The one who had devoured humans through erosion and made them his livestock crumbled beneath the force of fury.

Though those devoured by the Sea King’s erosion would not return in life, may this bring peace to their rage.

“Thank you, Mister Pig. Like the others... rest well. And someday... let’s meet again.”

Red Riding Hood said her farewell to the fading Mister Pig.

Now, her rage would never lose its way again.

As she gathered the crimson moon, having vented all her fury, the sky welcomed us back with its serene blue.

...After the Sea King’s death.

The terrain that had turned into a forest, and all the wolves, were returned to human form by Red Riding Hood.

It seemed she could now perfectly control her power.

James, too, was safely restored from his wolf state.

“How did it feel, being a wolf?”

“For a long time... it felt like I was dreaming. I even feel refreshed.”

James seemed relieved, as though something heavy had been lifted from his chest.

It made me think—perhaps Red Riding Hood’s power was the power to help people release their rage.

“You did well.”

“Fufufu...”

The evil called rage—

The evil within people becoming part of a greater good that repels external evil... has a nice ring to it.

Just as I was thinking it was time to head back,

I had the nagging feeling I’d forgotten something really important.

Chzzzt!

Oh, seems the comms are working again.

Carol contacted me.

Her voice was urgent—something big was about to happen.

“Alice! Not yet!”

“What’s not yet?”

“Another Dominator is coming! Refractive index rising. But detection is impossible! It’s the Cosmic Bird!”

Ah. That one.

Now that the Sea King is gone, there’s no longer anyone blocking its path.

Looks like it came to strike us while we’re weakened from the battle.

Another Dominator appearing threw everyone into tension.

The agents who had barely returned from wolf form showed a mix of anger and fear on their faces.

Just when it felt like it was all over, another enemy arrives to ruin everything.

For the combatants who had no equipment left, it must’ve felt like a nightmare.

But as long as I’m here—there won’t be any nightmares.

I raised my voice, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I told you before, Carol. That one and I don’t get along.”

To locate the Cosmic Bird—whose position I couldn’t even sense precisely—I had to concentrate intensely.

What I caught was the faintest trace.

Seeing how it hadn’t caught fire from Lizard Bill’s flame,

it seemed true that all physical and supernatural attacks didn’t affect it.

It looked almost invincible—but there was a glaring weakness.

“The evil of humanity repelling external evil. Isn’t that my specialty?”

Isn’t it strange?

That such a monster could exist—something unseeable, incomprehensible.

But it makes sense. You already understand that monster.

Fear is a way of understanding.

Even if one can’t reach the essence, human understanding ultimately lies in subjectivity.

The same applies to my specters.

Just because you fear the universe doesn’t mean you have to understand its true nature.

They're ominous things imagined freely.

Evil born from the human subconscious.

Ghosts are defined entirely by human standards—what we find frightening.

I stretched out my hand and summoned countless mirrors.

Each mirror floated, differing in shape and color.

“What do you think an invisible monster looks like?”

I asked everyone present.

As the agents hesitated, the children answered first.

“Maybe it has scissors for teeth. That’d be scary.”

“I think scary eyes are the worst.”

“I hate spider webs!”

“If something has horns, a shield wouldn’t stop it, and that’s terrifying.”

From the mirrors, specters related to scissors, sharp things, spiders, eyes appeared as black silhouettes.

Once the children answered, the agents began to add their own guesses, and every single one was different—that, I thought, was what made it fun.

For each monster conjured from someone’s imagination, the mirror silhouettes multiplied and shot off somewhere.

“...What the...”

One of the combatants let out a breath of astonishment.

The specters from the mirrors had found the Cosmic Bird and clung to its body.

They were able to find it because people feared the Cosmic Bird.

It was now surrounded and defined by these specters—

defined by fear, which is one of humanity’s methods of understanding.

“The evil within humanity, as part of a greater good, repels the external evil.”

The fault lay entirely with the opponent.

“I don’t even need to summon a special specter just for the likes of you.”

The moment the Cosmic Bird was defined as an object of fear,

its authority was effectively nullified.

The closer to invincible something is, the greater the cost.

Its physical form must’ve been far weaker than the rest.

“Carol.”

Voices erupted from the comms connected to Carol—cheers and disbelief from several people.

I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

“Yes!”

“I’ll leave the cleanup to you. You people always handle your work flawlessly, after all.”

Behind me, some agents whispered about joining the Alice fan club on the Agency’s intranet... why does that even exist?

I felt a tiny pang of guilt, having dumped all the annoying tasks on them while they looked so happy.

Anyway—I was tired.

I transferred the civilians and unarmed agents back to the Agency through the mirrors and said to the kids:

“Alright! Fire support will be here soon, so let’s head back before we get caught in it. That’s it for today!”

“Yay! Let’s go eat! I want spicy tteokbokki!”

“You’re just trying to feed me again!”

“Red Riding Hood, come with us!”

“M-Me too? I’d love to!”

We opened the mirror and ended today’s adventure, heading home.

As if it were the final scene, firepower support from the Agency—eager for their turn—was inbound.

------

Step. Step.

In the silence between shadows,

a man stood before a giant door.

Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.

“So the ones raising hell at hell’s gate are finally gone. Now I can get back to work.”

It had been fine up to making Oz,

but ever since that incident, he hadn’t been able to handle it. What a hassle.

The man reached out to open the door—but realized it was already slightly ajar.

Looking closer, he noticed a slip of paper had fallen from the gap.

[Snark Hunt]

“Hmph. Some annoying thing must’ve crawled out of hell. Looks like it’s gotten stronger. Should be no problem now.”

With a shrug of his shoulders, he opened the gate to hell and stepped inside.

“Then... let’s meet in the final chapter. Alice.”

Whether she likes it or not—

that’s how it’ll converge.

Creeeaaak.

Thud.