I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 31: Wonderland

Armed Forces Before the Purple Gate of the Sun and Moon

A fully armed force stood in front of a purple gate adorned with the symbols of the sun and moon.

Before them, a man and a woman were engaged in conversation.

Unlike the heavily armed man, the woman, dressed in a nun’s habit, carried only a handgun at her waist.

The man seemed intrigued by it and asked the woman a question.

“Is that an SG-21? I’ve never seen one with my own eyes before.”

Though the man asked out of curiosity, the woman’s voice took on a sharper tone, as if she found his remark distasteful.

“It is not an SG-21. It is called Seren’s Grace. You people sure like slapping your own codes onto things that don’t belong to your division.”

Despite the obvious jab, the man didn’t bat an eye. Instead, he asked again.

“...So, it is an SG-21, correct, Agent Maria?”

The woman, now called Maria, locked eyes with him for a moment before letting out a sigh and shaking her head.

“You... haah. Yes, you’re right. You’re always like this, Agent James. I have no intention of disobeying orders from the organization, so let’s put the power struggle aside.”

Only then did James appear satisfied, turning his gaze toward the gate.

This was a specialized containment passage authorized by the organization.

The fact that they were using it meant that infiltrating this world by any other means was extremely difficult.

Yet, the number of troops entering was remarkably small—an unusual move.

It might have seemed like negligence on the part of the organization, but there was a history behind why they had failed numerous times to send large forces into that world.

The reason?

Too many people or overly powerful weapons were outright rejected by the world itself.

For such a small and isolated space, its restrictions were absurdly strong.

"Is it rejecting cheats?"

James shook his head at the thought.

More than half of what he had encountered in his line of work defied explanation, so speculating was pointless. He decided to focus on the mission.

But this time, he had a bad feeling—this mission would be far more dangerous than the others.

James did a final check on the six key items required for the SR Procedure, then led the troops toward the gate.

Step. Step.

Creeeak...

A void of absolute black stretched before them.

The space between worlds.

It was completely empty.

They were breathing, yet they couldn’t tell if there was air.

They were walking, yet they couldn’t feel the texture beneath their feet.

It was impossible to tell what they were even stepping on.

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The sheer strangeness of it made them instinctively frown.

“...?”

One of the soldiers flinched in shock. James immediately turned to him.

“What is it?”

“Nothing... I thought I saw a white rabbit, but I must have been mistaken.”

“If anyone else experiences similar symptoms, report immediately. It could be an unidentified lifeform.”

The soldiers’ tension spiked.

But nothing happened.

Even for them, the thought of something lurking in the void between worlds was difficult to imagine.

They continued their march through the endless darkness.

And then—after taking one final step forward—their surroundings shifted.

A cityscape unfolded before them.

James carefully observed the world they had stepped into.

Its basic structure was eerily similar to their own world.

It was convincing enough to pass as a parallel universe.

However, it had an unusual abundance of plant life, and an ominous energy pricked at his skin.

“Agent Maria. What do you make of this place?”

“...It’s horrifying. The malice toward humans is overwhelming. I wouldn’t be surprised if something was already roaming around.”

"Horrifying."

James had worked with Maria before, though not often.

This was the first time she had ever used such a word to describe a mission.

Hearing her say that, he decided lingering outside wasn’t a good idea.

Their immediate goal was to secure a large building to use as a base.

James took the lead.

"First, let’s get out of this narrow alleyway."

But the moment he turned the corner, his breath caught in his throat.

There was no other way to describe it—this was a land of nightmares.

Even as Maria gasped in horror beside him, James knew he had no time to waste.

Without hesitation, he threw a smoke grenade and sprinted away from the scene.

He had no idea how many of those things were lurking around. Using a firearm recklessly wasn’t an option.

“James! Hurry!”

As he glanced back, he saw that the graffiti on the walls—the ones they had just passed—were moving.

They crawled along the walls, as if alive, chasing them.

At first glance, they looked like childish doodles, but their grotesque forms were far too disturbing for any child to have drawn them.

The moving drawings were faster than their running speed.

In seconds, they had caught up.

One soldier’s arm was suddenly grabbed.

[Come here. Come here. Come here.]

“Shit, let go of me!”

He slashed at the hands with his dagger, severing them.

But more and more hands swarmed toward him.

A gun wouldn’t be enough. And if they wanted to avoid making more noise...

“Agent Maria.”

“I know!”

Maria quickly traced a cross over herself and raised her crucifix high.

A divine light burst forth, repelling the creatures.

The freed soldier gasped for breath.

“How much power do you have left?”

“I can still use it several more times.”

Just as James was about to respond, a grotesque-faced woman peeked out from behind a lamppost.

It was far too thin for a body to hide behind—yet somehow, she did.

[I’m everywhere. I’m everywhere. I’m everywhere.]

Then, without warning, she lunged at them.

Maria immediately raised the crucifix once more.

But just then, another creature appeared—a monstrous spider-like entity.

James shouted the command.

“Permission to use firearms! Open fire!”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Bullets tore through the enemies.

The cross shone brightly, forcing the strange woman to flee, her head twisting violently as she disappeared.

“Forget the containment procedures. We might not even find D-888 or the missing kids at this rate.”

The gunfire had already drawn more monsters.

They had to move—fast.

“Guns work. We can’t waste time—RUN!”

They had barely entered this world, and James already hated it.

Turning the corner, they found a fork in the road.

At the center of the crossroads stood a mirror.

Suspicious. Very suspicious.

Then, a voice spoke from the mirror.

A girl’s voice.

Yet, something about it dripped with malice—as if it were leading them to their deaths.

“Go right.”

Right...

“...Which means we go left.”

They couldn’t trust it.

There was no reason to believe some benevolent force would be guiding them to safety.

At the very least, they needed to check the other direction.

James led them left.

And what greeted them—

Was a massive, mushroom-shaped creature, smoking a cigarette.

Its posture suggested it could lunge at them at any second.

James didn’t hesitate.

“...Open fire.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Rat-a-tat-tat—!

Muzzle flashes burst forth, riddling the monster with holes.

Its body wobbled, its flesh riddled with bullet holes—yet, in mere moments, the gaps sealed shut, regenerating seamlessly.

They had encountered an enemy immune to gunfire.

The creature exhaled a thick cloud of smoke in their direction.

The troops wore filters, so their breathing remained unaffected.

“Urgh!”

Yet, something else was happening—

Mushrooms had begun sprouting from their bodies.

Each one had an eye embedded in its cap, swaying eerily as they stood upright.

Slowed down by their growing afflictions, the monster swung its fur-covered arm at them.

James pressed a button on his glove, meeting the attack head-on.

BANG—!

The monstrous fungus flinched.

Maria seized the opportunity.

“Stand back!”

Maria raised her crucifix, and an explosion of divine light radiated outward.

This time, the brilliance was far more intense than before.

The mushrooms detached from their bodies, dropping to the ground in clusters.

“Fall back!”

A flashbang was thrown, and they withdrew.

This time, they took the right path—the one the mirror had suggested.

There, they found nothing but dense vegetation.

No monsters.

They took a moment to catch their breath.

“Agent Maria. How much power do you have left?”

“I used a lot just now... I have about three more uses left.”

"This is getting ridiculous."

James thought grimly.

There was no way they could clear out this entire world with such a small team.

And at this rate, even finding the children seemed like an impossible secondary objective.

“That voice from the mirror... what was it?”

“...It might have been D-888.”

Maria muttered under her breath.

The Mirror Demon.

From what she knew, D-888 had interfered during the D-867 containment operation, killing D-867 in the process.

The only other known fact was that it had referred to itself as a resident of the mirror.

James, as the squad leader, likely knew its appearance.

But judging from what they had encountered in this world so far, Maria could only imagine it was something horrifyingly grotesque.

With a young woman’s vivid imagination, Maria conjured up a disturbing image of the demon in her mind.

The thought of such a monster holding children captive made her clench her fists.

She had no idea why this demon had chosen to help them, but experience told her one thing—demons cannot be trusted.

“There have been suspicions that D-888 may be friendly toward humans. I think meeting it could be worthwhile.”

James' words made Maria hesitate, but she ultimately nodded.

Still, she felt the need to at least voice her concerns.

“Even if a demon acts friendly, there’s always something lurking behind it. You know as well °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° as I do—if there’s one common trait among demons, it’s that they’re unpredictable.”

“True. Every demon I’ve met so far has been missing a few screws. But don’t you think that’s a bit biased? You need to be more culturally sensitive.”

“Are you seriously making jokes right now—?!”

James ignored her frustration and knocked on the mirror.

And then—

A figure emerged.

It was a girl.

Blonde, doll-like, and eerily beautiful.

Her red eyes gleamed as she smiled at them.

James had already seen her before, but Maria... Maria was completely dumbfounded.

“...I didn’t expect you to be the one calling for me.”

“Are you the one who informed the organization about this place?”

The demon’s answer was direct.

“That’s right. I warned them about the demon and asked for the children to be rescued. Judging by the fact that you’re still outside, the locals must be giving you quite the headache, huh?”

Her red eyes glinted as she gave them a small smile.

A mocking one, perhaps.

“Yeah. They’re a pain. We could use some help.”

James admitted.

For a brief moment, the mirror demon looked genuinely surprised.

“Is that so? I didn’t expect you to trust me. But I like that approach. Keeping an open mind, huh? Well then, I’ll give you some advice. The enemies you’ll run into are... the [Foot-Cutting Fairy] and some traps. Follow my directions, and you’ll make it through safely. I’ll take you to a secure location afterward.”

“Are you really going to trust a demon?”

“Agent Maria. The organization has experience with all sorts of beings. Consider this an extension of that experience.”

“...Fine.”

And so, following the mirror demon’s guidance, Maria and James led their unit forward.

The Foot-Cutting Fairy turned out to be a small goblin-like creature that exclusively targeted feet.

It resembled a grotesque version of the commonly contained gnome species—except its face was covered in festering wounds, and it was unnervingly aggressive.

Despite its terrifying appearance, it was easily dispatched with silenced handguns.

The real issue came when they encountered a series of water puddles.

Throwing a rock revealed that they were far deeper than they appeared.

And there were too many of them to avoid.

At that moment, the mirror demon spoke.

“Throw those plants growing by the road into the puddles.”

They did as instructed, tossing the eyeball-covered plants into the water.

The plants absorbed all the liquid, and their stems wove together, forming a safe path across.

“We’re almost there. The next thing to watch out for is—”

[Waaah.]

The moment the demon spoke—

The mirror shattered.

A colossal, translucent baby-shaped monster had suddenly appeared and attacked.

“Open fire!”

Judging by its size, handguns were useless.

They switched to assault rifles.

But—

The bullets passed straight through it.

No damage.

[Waaah.]

The creature wailed.

And immediately—

A psychic attack pulsed through their minds.

"Mental corruption—?!"

“Take U-312 serum! NOW!”

James quickly injected himself with the serum.

The malicious presence clinging to his mind receded.

“Agent Maria.”

“If we’re going to exorcise it, I’ll have to use everything I’ve got.”

“Do it.”

Maria stepped forward.

But before she could act—

A group of children suddenly appeared.

Maria hesitated, stepping back.

But as she took a closer look, she realized—these weren’t ordinary civilians.

“It’s dangerous! Come over here, quickly!”

But the children ignored her.

Instead, they clutched baby bottles and rattles, circling the massive infant monster.

Rattle, rattle—

Then—

They began to sing.

"Under the moonlight,

A tiny fairy sits by your eyes,

Sprinkling glowing dust,

A gentle kiss to help you sleep—"

"And then it whispers:

If you don’t sleep...

You will die, my beloved child."

The moment the lullaby ended, the baby monster vanished.

Maria, still in shock, turned to look at the children.

One of them—a larger boy—dragged over a mirror.

And from within it, the mirror demon—D-888—emerged.

She stepped fully into the world.

“This is your first time seeing me in person, huh? Follow me. As a resident of this world, I’ll take you to the safest place.”

James locked eyes with the demon for a moment—

Then nodded.

-----

“Oh... The atmosphere of the world has changed a little. What kind of variable has arrived, I wonder?”

Piero stroked his chin.

Even though he had no beard, he simply felt like doing it.

“The only one capable of pulling something like this... could it be Ella? Oho! My, my! How utterly delightful! It seems fighting that lonely half-formed thing was worth it, after all.”

Piero grinned.

Then, feeling rather drained, he sank into a chair to rest.

For some reason, this place sapped his energy.

A church.

The very center of this world.

He had come here hoping to find something significant, but nothing immediately stood out.

Yet, one thing continued to bother him—

Four empty boxes.

And an ominous inscription.

[A wish for the sinners. And mercy upon them.]

“Sinners... huh?”

Something about it pricked at his heart.

But—

“Well... I suppose time will reveal the answer.”