I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 41: [Boss Battle] Innocent Mary
Mary’s stroll continued.
I am in Mary’s park.
I am in Mary’s police station.
I am in Mary’s church.
I am in Mary’s...
Mary had never traveled such a long distance before.
New and unfamiliar sights.
Some people might have felt uneasy, but for Mary, it was actually comforting—it helped suppress the thoughts that filled her mind.
[What... are you thinking about, Mary...?]
The voice speaking to Mary came from an unfinished ragdoll.
Mary had picked it up while walking.
Or rather, it had approached her, but Mary hadn’t noticed.
Mary liked having someone to talk to.
So, in her usual absentminded manner, she answered immediately.
“Mary isn’t thinking about anything.”
[Liar. You just don’t want to think. Mary doesn’t like it when things get too complicated.]
“...Mary doesn’t lie. Mary hates lies.”
The ragdoll had hit a nerve, and Mary, too cowardly to argue further, fell silent.
Mary was always searching for someone.
Finding them... and stabbing them to death—that was Mary’s one and only wish.
Just thinking about it sent a boiling rage through her.
She hated it.
[Selling fresh meat! Fresh, high-quality meat! Kidneys, lungs, hearts—everything available!]
“...Meat?”
At that moment, a promotional voice called out nearby.
It was an anomaly born from the fear of human trafficking—a fat man selling human meat and organs.
He looked at Mary.
But, as anomalies were generally indifferent to one another, his gaze soon wandered elsewhere.
“...Smells like meat...”
However, Mary had no intention of ignoring him.
She picked up a telephone receiver from her hat and dialed a number.
Ring-ring...
[...?]
The anomaly’s body suddenly sprouted a telephone, as if it had grown like a plant.
With a sharp click, the line connected to Mary’s phone.
From the receiver, her voice echoed:
“Hello. I’m Mary.”
—I am standing right behind you.
Before the man could even turn around, there was a loud crack! as his neck was pierced through.
Mary wiped the blood from her dagger and, expressionless, resumed walking.
[Mary, you’re taking out your anger again.]
“Mary does whatever she wants. And Mary doesn’t get angry.
Ella is the one who gets angry.”
[I see... But Mary, you can’t deny that your heart is restless. It’s time for you to reach a conclusion.]
The ragdoll urged Mary to make a decision.
The decision about her wish—the answer she had once asked the clown man for.
The answer she never received, because she hadn’t been able to reach him.
Now, she had to answer it herself.
But Mary wasn’t ready yet.
“One last time... Just one more time, I’ll try to contact him.”
Mary was like a lost child in the woods.
Unable to find her own way, she had always relied on others.
Ring-ring-ring...
Mary called Piero.
Would he pick up?
Slip...
While Mary was focused on the call, the ragdoll quietly moved out of her sight.
It exerted its power, creating a black telephone in its hands.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The ragdoll manipulated the phone.
Click.
[Hello. Ah! Is that Mary?]
The voice of Piero came through.
But it wasn’t real.
The ragdoll was imitating him.
There was static, distorted pronunciation, and occasional audio glitches.
But the naïve Mary didn’t notice the difference.
“Hello, Clown Man.”
[I’m sorry for not answering before. What made you call today?]
“The question I asked before... I never got an answer.”
[Ahh... that question. Yes, the answer to that is... ‘Yes.’]
“I see.
Clown Man never lies.
I guess I can believe you.”
[*Mary, don’t hesitate. Be honest with yourself. You should act more freely, as you always have.
No one is trying to deceive you, so there’s no need to overthink things!*]
Mary had spoken with the Clown Man more than anyone else.
He had always brought her amusement.
Children were naturally drawn to fun adults.
And demons... knew that very well.
...Ah, no.
There was one person.
“...?”
[Ella. That ill-tempered girl! She’s hiding the person you’re looking for!]
“Ella is a bad person? She’s hiding them?”
[*Mary, if you want what you desire... a fight is inevitable.
I’m quite busy, so I can’t help you directly, but... ah! I have just the thing!
This is a special item your father left behind.
It will surely be of use to you.*]
Click.
The call abruptly ended.
At Mary’s feet lay a music box.
On the lid, the letters M.P. were engraved.
Mary picked it up and looked around for the ragdoll.
But it was nowhere to be found.
“...”
Mary turned back and retraced her steps.
The world, which had been softening, now began to harden once again.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
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“Mary, huh... Is it the same Mary I’m thinking of? The one where anyone who answers her call dies...?”
“You got it. So you do know.”
I didn’t expect James to take an internet urban legend seriously.
“When you work in this field, you tend to be sensitive to rumors.
Besides, Mary was actually one of our containment failures, so there’s no forgetting her.”
“Containment... failure?!”
This was the story James told me:
There had been a failed containment of an anomalous entity that had been active outside.
Since they failed to erase all traces of the rumors, the anomaly still existed as an urban legend.
“It was a strange creature that parasitized telephones, but it didn’t actually have a human form.
People only associated it with a girl’s voice because of how it sounded.”
Now that was interesting.
Mary’s original form...
I might actually want to see it.
Would I ever get the chance?
“Do you want to see it?”
“Hm? Maybe just a little.”
“If you join the organization, you could get a look at it.”
“Oh...”
The organization, huh?
What did it look like?
Honestly, there was a time when I was really into secret organization stories.
I was curious to see how it compared to the image I had in mind.
“As soon as you get in, you’d probably be contained in the room next to it.”
Maria casually remarked while handing James his coffee.
I turned to James.
“...Busted.”
“Are you messing with me?!”
When you joke, it doesn’t sound like a joke!
“Anyway... I’m heading out to meet Mary.
It’s too risky to have the kids encounter a strong enemy head-on, so while I’m gone, make sure to protect them.”
“I promise you, I won’t die before the kids do.”
I liked that answer.
I smiled.
Now, it was time to go meet Mary.
Last time, she had been fine.
So this time should be fine too.
Mary was at the park, not too far from the school.
I made my way there.
Was it colder than usual?
For some reason, I felt a chill.
Maybe it was because the environment was shifting.
In this game, the stronger the anomalies get, the more the atmosphere changes.
By Day 30, the day the demon is born, the world turns into something close to hell itself.
Compared to that, this was nothing.
Come to think of it—
Even if I don’t defeat the bosses, won’t the half-formed demon still be born on Day 30?
Would it be able to manifest even if it doesn’t fulfill the story of the kids’ bad ending?
...Thinking about it, that does seem possible.
To crush Ha-rim with despair, the demon would have to show itself first.
And after that...
Maria: “I’ve seen weak demons grow stronger by fulfilling a story, but this is new. It’s incredibly complicated.”
Ah. This is it.
Even within the game’s system, the demon can appear.
But by the hidden lore, a demon must fulfill a story to truly be born!
A system-generated demon is nothing but an empty shell—
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A husk with raw strength, but nothing else.
To obtain its true form, to be properly born, it needs Ha-rim.
...Still, I have no idea how strong even a hollow demon would be.
I can’t let this drag out to Day 30.
As I was lost in thought, I arrived at the park before I knew it.
Even though I had seen it before, this place still felt off.
“Mary, are you there?”
...No response.
Should I go in further?
She wouldn’t attack just for stepping inside her territory... right?
Pushing aside the tangled vines, I moved forward.
Electronic devices, phones upon phones, were hanging from the vines like fruit.
The damp, humid air felt disgusting.
As I continued, I found a small clearing where the plants were less dense.
In the middle of it—
There was a relatively clean telephone booth and a swing set.
Squeak. Squeak.
Mary was on the swing.
She was swinging forcefully, but her expression never changed.
I couldn’t tell if she was having fun or if she was bored.
“Mary?”
“Oh, Ella came first. Hello.”
Squeak. Squeak.
“Yeah. Hi, Mary. I wanted to ask you something.”
“Before that.”
“...?”
“Before that, Mary wants to ask something first.”
“...”
Something was off.
The atmosphere was different.
Colder.
I hoped it was just my imagination.
“Alright. I’ll answer.”
“Say, Ella... are you hiding something?”
Thump.
“...What do you mean?”
“Like... hiding people?”
How did she know?
No—calm down!
She could just be fishing for a reaction.
I had to act.
I had to wear my mask.
I couldn’t put the kids in {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} danger.
“No.”
Even I was surprised by how cold my voice sounded.
Mary simply nodded, as if she understood.
“I see, Ella.”
...You just lied, didn’t you?
