Chapter 415

Chapter 415

Chapter 415

Screaach–! Boom–!

I whirled around a corner; the room marked on the map was in the immediate vicinity. I made a mad dash for the room and barely managed to slip through the half-closed door.

Bang Bang Bang–!

The monster attacked the door as if it was going to smash it down, but fortunately the door held steady and firm.

"Haah, haah..." I exhaled and took a moment to catch my breath. Then, belatedly, I looked around at my surroundings.

"...Dolls?" I discovered numerous shelves filled with dolls.

The dolls in this room felt different from those in Bang Eunji's [Vengeful Ghost Memory]. The dolls I saw back then were beautiful, porcelain humanoid figures, all the dolls in this room were made of cloth and stuffed. In addition, the dolls were all animals.

‘Am I supposed to find something here?'

Instead of touching the stuffed animals carelessly, I carefully scrutinized them. However, I couldn't find anything strange with my undiscerning eyes.

‘...Are these perhaps... Shikigami?'

I suddenly recalled the stuffed pony Dawon had been hugging. I turned my gaze to a small monkey doll on the nearest shelf. After staring into its round button eyes for a moment, I abruptly clapped my hands...

Clap–!

However, my applause only echoed hollowly in the big room; nothing reacted. At that moment, I sighed; my nervous shoulders drooped down as I exhaled.

"Haaaah.... Honestly, what am I supposed to do?"

I then picked up the monkey doll. I inspected it thoroughly, even checking its bottom, but nothing stood out. Therefore, I placed the monkey back on the shelf.

[Screech Screeeeech!]

"Argh!" But, as soon as my hand retreated, the stuffed monkey suddenly jumped as if it were alive. I was so startled that I stumbled back and fell onto my bottom; the monkey, which had been a doll until just recently, sat on top of another book shelf and stared down at me.

"W-What is it?"

[Ook. Oo-kkee-kee.]

And the monkey doll... started throwing other dolls at me.

Thud–!

I glared at the stuffed monkey while holding the rabbit that hit my head. The monkey stared at me, as if waiting for my reaction.

Angered by that provocative, taunting gaze I gave it a stern warning, "I-Is throwing all you can do? That doesn't hurt at all!"

[Screee! Screeech!]

"Arrghhh! This crazy monkey!"

Then, as if it had understood what I said, the monkey began wildly lobbing dolls at me. I tried to stop it, but I couldn't beat the tremendous speed at which it threw the dolls–its machine-like mannerisms were hard to endure. Furthemore, I couldn't reach it since it nimbly ran across shelves that were high on the wall.

Frustrated, I shouted at the monkey that kept taunting me; it kept hovering around me and throwing dolls whenever our eyes met.

“If I catch you, I won’t let you off easy!”

From that moment on, I held the monkey around my neck as I tried to search for something other than the dolls. However, I couldn't see anything except for dolls on the shelves.

"Mmm... Then, what can I do with these dolls here?"

When it heard my complaint, the monkey suddenly jumped out of my arms.

"Hey! Where are you going?!"

[OoKee Kee Kee!]

As I instinctively tried to catch it, the monkey made chattering sounds again, drawing my attention. It continued to evade my grasp and slowly guided me somewhere.

At first, I thought it was merely playing around again, so I tried to ignore the monkey...But then it started throwing dolls at me again. After being beaten and hit by dolls a few times, I realized what the monkey wanted and walked with it.

"You want me to go in here?"

Before long, I discovered a hidden door at the very end of the shelf. The monkey jumped onto my shoulder after I stood in front of the door.

[Screech!]

Judging by its excited attitude, I didn't think there was anything horrible behind that door. Also, the map didn’t show any [monster] indicators. I slowly pushed open the dusty door and entered.

"This is..."

Inside the room, there was nothing more than a mundane desk and bookshelves; my tension until that point felt unnecessary.

"Cough..."

The sheer dustiness of the space made me cough, but nothing else seemed particularly strange. I looked through the room and glanced at the books left open on the desk. Although the text was unfamiliar, I could surprisingly read it.

"[Insert spell paper inside the doll's mouth]...? What does this mean?"

I flinched when I saw a drawing next to the open page. The illustration resembled the crumpled paper I had taken from the attendant’s mouth when I received the map.

"......" Then, I turned over the cover of the book to see its title.

[Introduction to crafting Shikigami]

The straightforward title caught my eye.

And, simultaneously–

–[Are you Choi Lee-kyung?]

"Hargh!"

When I heard a man's cold voice, the space around me began to rumble and distort.

I looked straight ahead, eyes wide open.

Soon afterwards, Jo Chanyoung appeared before me.

Become a member!

TL: This is like simultaneously my dream and my nightmare. I used to have enough stuffed animals to be able to make a literal nest that I could sleep inside of. Chucky, the horror movie, made it so I couldn't sleep inside my room for like two months. Moving stuffies would be great....and also traumatizing for me lmao.