I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 28: A Walk with Mary

The day after the Monkey Dream Incident, Ha-rim handed me a note.

I was in the middle of being smothered by Eun-jung, who had grown overly clingy after the ordeal, when Ha-rim casually slipped it into my hands.

When I asked what it was, she simply said, "Piero asked me to give this to you."

[Chapter 4 Boss – Piero]

The strongest among the bosses.

If this thing had actually targeted Ha-rim, even she wouldn’t have stood a chance. She would’ve been dead before she could even react.

But instead of attacking, he had given her this note.

And not only that—he had even left behind a mirror, making sure I could reach him.

After checking, I confirmed that the mirror was one from my mansion.

...What’s his goal?

Clearly, killing the kids wasn’t his primary objective.

Unlike Mary, whose behavior was at least somewhat predictable, this guy was completely erratic.

Was the Spider Madame, the Chapter 3 Boss, acting the same way?

Regardless, there had to be some kind of clue in this note.

I stepped away from the others and unfolded the paper.

[Hello there, Miss Ella!]

I am absolutely astounded by your actions!

Not only did the weakest among us break free from her designated role faster than Mary, but you even fought off your murderous instincts to protect the children!

I can’t help but admire your resolve!

Protecting the children seems to be quite the nuisance for our little Half-Demon, doesn’t it?

But don’t let success go to your head.

If you become Target Number One, you won’t like the outcome.

Just look at Arachne.

And so, you’ve met Mary, have you? That girl is terribly ignorant.

Not surprising—after all, she’s the second weakest among us.

The first, of course, is YOU! Hahaha!

Just a joke, of course.

Anyway, don’t let Mary get in your way...

Though, I trust you’ll handle that just fine.

That’s all for now!

If I come across any information, I’ll be sure to share.

Until then, stay safe!

That was the end of the message.

I hadn’t expected to get this much information.

For now, let’s break it down—

Piero isn’t hostile toward the kids.He’s even willing to help me take down the demon.Arachne... Probably referring to the Spider Madame. Something must have happened to her.Mary and Piero seem to know each other well.That last part was especially important.

If the bosses were aware of each other, it meant they weren’t necessarily enemies.

This also meant Piero might actually be an ally...

But for some reason, that thought left a bad feeling in my gut.

"Ugh... this is complicated."

There were too many unknowns.

I folded the note and stored it in my locker.

"Ughhh..."

Piero’s cryptic way of speaking only left me with more questions.

Did his riddle-loving nature affect his personality this much?

Thinking about it gave me a headache.

Why the hell is he going off-script?! Where did the original story go?!

It was frustrating, but arguing with myself wouldn’t change anything.

I sighed and decided to deal with the headache the best way I knew how—

With something sweet.

I pulled out a giant lollipop from my locker.

It was a reward from that quiz challenge earlier.

I hadn’t finished it yet—it was massive.

Sure, I could just chew through it, but I was the type to savor my candy.

...And no, it’s not disgusting to keep licking a half-eaten lollipop.

Shut up, imaginary readers in my head.

My saliva is not dirty!

The sugar helped clear my mind a little.

But I was still frustrated.

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It would be nice if I had someone I could just... ask.

And as if the universe had read my thoughts—

Riiiiing...

"?!"

A phone was ringing.

I didn’t remember having a phone nearby.

I looked around.

And right beside me, a telephone had grown out of the floor like a plant.

'Is this an attack?'

No supernatural entity had the ability to summon a phone directly like this—

Except for one.

Mary.

I stared at the ringing phone.

She had told me to pick up if she ever called.

She wasn’t attacking me.

But still... something about Mary’s calls felt unsettling.

It was as if I was being given a choice.

[Mary is calling. Do you answer?]

[Answer.][Do not answer.]In a normal game, the right move would be to answer.

I ignored my unease and picked up the receiver.

Click.

A drowsy voice tickled my ears.

"Hello? It’s me, Mary... I’m calling from the park."

She said the exact line from her ghost story.

For a second, I almost thought she was about to attack.

But I kept my reaction in check and replied after a pause.

"...Yeah, Mary? What do you need?"

"Just wanted a change of pace."

...A boss monster just calling me for a casual chat?

Ridiculous.

But this was actually a stroke of luck for me.

I had things I wanted to ask her.

Maybe I could get some answers about Piero’s cryptic letter.

The note did say she was ignorant, but even a small hint could be useful.

"Actually, this is perfect. I had some things I wanted to ask you."

"Ask? Mary’s smart, so I’ll answer."

...Well, at least she was cooperative.

Just as I was about to start, Mary suddenly added a condition.

"But only if Ella comes to meet me."

I frowned.

"Can’t we just talk over the phone?"

"Nope. Mary’s going for a walk. Ella should come too. If not, I won’t answer."

...This kid was seriously annoying.

Now I understood why Ella had snapped at her before.

Then again, I could leave the mirror for longer periods now, thanks to fighting those other entities.

A short walk wouldn’t be impossible.

And given the situation, I wasn’t exactly in a position to refuse.

"Fine. Where are you?"

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

"In front of the park..."

Click.

The call ended abruptly.

The phone in my hand vanished as if it had never been there.

Taking the kids along would be too risky. I had to go alone.

I carefully placed my half-eaten lollipop back into my locker before turning to the others.

"I’ll be stepping out for a bit. If anything happens, knock on the mirror."

Facing a boss-level entity directly was enough to make me tense.

Still, as long as there was a single marked mirror, I could escape anytime. No reason to worry.

With that, I left the school and headed toward the park.

Near the entrance, I spotted Mary standing quietly.

"Hey, Mary."

This time, I greeted her first.

"Hello, Ella..."

She looked exactly like a normal girl, yet she was a horrifying entity with tremendous power.

That drowsy expression of hers—she could stab someone without even blinking.

"Today, I’m going for a walk over there."

I decided to ask,

"Why are you going for a walk?"

Mary tilted her head, seeming to think for a moment before answering.

"Mmm... Mary hasn’t been outside much. I want to see more of the world."

So that was it.

Unlike the clown, who wandered around freely, Mary rarely left her designated boss stage.

I had suspected as much, considering the note said she knew nothing.

She must have only recently stepped out of her predetermined role.

...In that case, she might not be very useful for information.

Still, there was no harm in asking.

"Mary, do you know Piero?"

Mary blinked and tilted her head slightly, as if I had asked something obvious.

"Of course. Clown Mister asked me to connect the call. So we talked. Ella, are you stupid?"

This brat...!

No, calm down. I’m the adult here.

At least this confirmed that the bosses knew each other.

"Ahaha~ I just forgot for a second. Did Piero tell you anything interesting?"

"Recently, I couldn’t call Mister. The phone won’t connect."

...What?

Not that he wasn’t answering, but that the call literally wouldn’t go through?

Interesting.

"What do you mean?"

"If Mister is too far away, I can’t call him. I don’t know how far is ‘too far,’ though."

So distance mattered.

I had experienced something similar before—when the Elevator Entity dragged me into that bizarre space, my Mirror Travel wouldn’t work.

Maybe Piero was stuck in a similar separated space.

I decided to press further.

"Then do you remember the last conversation you had with him?"

"Mmm, Mary’s smart, so I remember... Oh, right, I asked him something."

"Yeah? And?"

"It was..."

Mary trailed off.

"...Mary?"

"..."

Her face twisted in confusion.

A bad feeling crept over me.

No way—

"Mary forgot."

"WHY?!"

Why the hell would she forget now?! That could’ve been important!

Her slow, drowsy voice combined with such a frustrating answer was infuriating.

My irritation spilled out, and I accidentally raised my voice.

No, calm down. It might not have been anything crucial.

Mary was still new to this world’s broken rules.

It’s unlikely she had asked anything significant.

Mary pouted.

"Ella, you yelled at me!"

"I didn’t yell—!"

"Mary’s upset."

She turned her head away dramatically.

Great.

Now I had a sulking ghost child to deal with.

This was giving me a headache.

I needed something sweet again.

Spotting a vending machine nearby, I approached it.

Coins? None.

So I just punched the machine, making it spit out its drinks.

I grabbed a chocolate-flavored one and downed it in one go.

Pure bliss.

"......"

Mary was watching me.

I tossed her a drink.

She took it and mimicked me, sipping it slowly.

She seemed to calm down.

As Mary quietly drank her beverage, a shadow loomed behind her.

[Hello?]

A grotesque creature stood before us—its body pitch-black, with nothing but a white, grinning face floating in the darkness.

It beamed cheerfully, as if welcoming guests.

This was Hypocrisy—a type of entity that only repeated the same words, blocking the player’s path without attacking.

A mere nuisance.

"Hello."

Mary greeted it casually.

I glanced at her.

"You know each other?"

She nodded.

"Yeah. It wanders around the park."

[Hello? Hello?]

Huh. So ghosts could make friends with each other?

I frowned.

"Are you two... friends?"

Mary gave me that look again—one that screamed, Why are you so dumb?

...It was infuriating.

"Ghosts don’t have friends. Ella, you idiot."

"..."

I muttered under my breath where she couldn’t hear.

"Damn brat."

Ignoring ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the noisy entity, I tried to continue my conversation with Mary.

There were still questions I needed to ask.

But then, the creature’s body started warping.

[Hello? Hello? Hell... o...?]

"Uh... is that normal?"

"No."

The entity, which had been mindlessly repeating itself, suddenly reacted strangely.

Mary and I instinctively stepped back.

Its black form writhed, its flesh twisting—

Then, with a sickening pop!, spider legs burst out.

The same transformation I had seen in that Jizo abomination before.

...Was this related to what Piero had warned me about?

As I considered this, the now-spider-like entity lunged at Mary.

But she didn’t even blink.

Instead, she grabbed its head and slammed it into the ground.

CRASH—!!!

The spider twitched.

Mary tilted her head.

Then, as if thinking, Maybe I didn’t do it right, she lifted its head and slammed it again.

Like a child playing with clay, innocent yet incredibly brutal.

CRASH—! CRASH—!! CRASH—!!!

The spider didn’t even get the chance to scream.

It dissolved into smoke—which flowed into me.

Mary stared at it in fascination.

"The smoke got absorbed."

I narrowed my eyes.

"...Is this the first time you’ve seen something like that?"

"Yeah."

Before I could press further—

**Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch...

The sound of insects crawling filled the air.

The noise had drawn more creatures toward us.

So there wasn’t just one spider.

Mary, unfazed, walked toward the sound—her movements still lazy and relaxed.

Before long, multiple spider-creatures emerged from the darkness.

For me, these entities usually ignored me unless I was with the kids.

But these spiders were clearly targeting us—us, who were already part of the supernatural world.

Something was very wrong.

It felt like zombies attacking their own kind.

As I considered this, the spiders all lunged at Mary.

I briefly debated helping her, but—

She floated into the air, dodging effortlessly.

I scowled.

"Why can’t I fly?! This is unfair."

Above them, Mary spoke calmly.

"I understand. You’re suffering. But..."

[That has nothing to do with Mary.]

A telephone shape materialized above her head.

It vibrated.

Then—

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING—!!

The spiders’ heads vibrated in sync with the ringing.

Realizing the danger, the creatures attacked—

Shooting silk, jumping with their massive bodies, all trying to grab Mary.

But she dodged every single attack effortlessly.

No hesitation. No worry.

And all the while—

The ringing grew louder.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING—!!!

The spiders screamed.

Mary simply watched them indifferently.

"Time’s up. It’s over."

At that moment, all of their heads exploded.

SPLAT.

Black blood splattered everywhere.

This was Mary’s wide-range instant-kill curse attack.

Terrifying.

She floated back down, turning toward me.

I sighed in admiration.

"How do you fly like that?"

"Mary does whatever she wants."

...That wasn’t an answer.

She stared at me blankly.

She wanted to keep talking.

But my time outside the mirror was almost up.

"Sorry, but I have to head back soon. Can I ask you a few more things before I go?"

"Mmm. You went on a walk with Mary, so I’ll tell you everything."

Alright. Let’s start with the most pressing issue.

"The Spider Madame—Arachne. How is she doing?"

Mary’s answer was blunt.

"Auntie doesn’t answer the phone anymore."

...So something definitely happened to her.

Alright, next question.

"Before, you mentioned that the ghosts were ‘happy.’ What did you mean?"

"Not sure. But someone visited them. It made them happy."

Someone visited them?

Vague, but interesting.

Mary wasn’t much different from Piero in that regard—always too cryptic.

"Last question, Mary. I know you have a wish—just like I do. Will you tell me what it is?"

Mary pouted.

"I already told you. You forgot. Ella, you idiot."

"...Fine, just tell me again."

Mary tilted her head, then answered.

"Mary is looking for someone. Not the way ghosts look for people. Just... looking for someone."

She’s searching for someone...

Come to think of it, right before her boss fight in the game, she had muttered something.

So she wasn’t just making random calls—there was a reason behind it.

Still, she called anyone and everyone.

Like randomly dialing numbers, hoping to get lucky.

If she saw the kids, she’d probably try calling them too.

"What will you do when you find them?"

Mary’s answer was simple.

"Kill them."

...Yeah.

We are never becoming friends, Mary.