I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 8: First Achievement
“Are we supposed to defeat a ghoul and collect the talismans?”
Kyung‑min asked in return.
“Exactly. Whether it’s a ghoul, a monster, or a ghost—any will do. The point is, you have to gather the talismans if you want to survive. I’ll explain later why we need to collect them.”
Kyung‑min had a million questions, but he figured that if he pressed too much, someone might draw a knife—so he decided to stick to the essentials.
“But... how are we supposed to deal with those monsters?”
If the security guard charged at us again like before, someone as big as Soo‑ho wouldn’t stand a chance and would be finished in no time. After all, we’re just elementary school kids—we wouldn’t even put a scratch on a monster without a gun. Objectively, that was a perfectly valid concern. Ella went on to explain.
“There’s no need to outright kill a ghoul. Most ghouls have their own proper way to be repelled. Sure, some might require special conditions or physical methods, but at the very least, the ghouls living in this school have a countermeasure. Think of it like solving a riddle.”
The idea that you could repel them without causing any physical damage made Ha‑rim imagine some kind of exorcist using mysterious powers to vanquish a ghoul. But none of us had that kind of power, and it wasn’t immediately clear what method she meant.
“If things get really dangerous, you can call Ella with the hand mirror—but only for trivial matters, you know?”
Kyung‑min nodded reluctantly.
“...So, Ella isn’t coming with us?”
“Ella can’t handle everything on her own. There aren’t enough mirrors here, and that little hand mirror won’t let her fully unleash her power. Besides, if she can’t even manage this much in this world...”
“Can’t manage...?”
“Then she’ll just end up dying, won’t she?”
Ella shrugged her shoulders as she spoke. There was no option to run—the only choices left were to live or die. It came across as a warning: if you try to take the easy way out by running, you’ll just get killed. Ha‑rim said in a resolute tone,
“Alright then. How many do we need to collect?”
“Four in total. We just got one, so that leaves three. And don’t get too worked up—a few might be surprisingly easy to find. Now, now, go find a ghoul. Disperse!”
Ella urged us on, and the kids—terrified of her—didn’t dare to object as they were herded out of the classroom. Just before Ha‑rim left, she slipped out two locations: the men’s restroom on the third floor and the animal pen.
Before Ha‑rim could ask what that meant, she turned around only to see that Ella had already vanished.
Standing in the corridor with all eyes on her, Ha‑rim could feel the nervousness radiating from the others. “It’s alright,” she assured us as she led the way down the hall.
“Where should we go?” someone asked.
“...The third‑floor restroom. Let’s check there.”
Kyung‑min hesitated at the oddly specific location, but he reasoned that as the club leader with the most experience in paranormal spots, Ha‑rim must have a keen sense for where ghosts are likely to appear. So he agreed.
We descended the stairs and soon found ourselves standing in front of the men’s restroom. Soo‑ho and Ha‑rim led the way, while the rest of us stepped in cautiously, constantly on guard. Inside was a large mirror. As we all caught our reflections, a thought struck us—what if Ella was watching us through that mirror?
Where did Ella go? No, first we need to check the restroom.
“Let’s open the door panel by panel,” Ha‑rim suggested.
“Wait a minute,” Kyung‑min interjected, lifting his glasses as he stopped Ha‑rim. He pulled out the notebook he was holding.
“We should prepare ourselves first—figure out what kind of ghost might jump out at us.”
“What kind of ghost? Can we even know that?”
Kyung‑min loved gathering information. As a member of the Mystery Exploration Club, he’d spent countless hours on the internet collecting urban legends and ghost stories—and he had all of that written down in this notebook.
“There isn’t much on Ella, but there is something here about that monster that chased us before. It’s probably Slender Man from some foreign urban legend. Teleportation, emaciated frame, towering height... plus, he’s faceless and has tentacles!”
There were far too many coincidences for it to be mere chance. Ha‑rim caught on to what Kyung‑min was trying to say.
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“So you’re saying these monsters are linked to urban legends?”
“Honestly, I’m not 100% sure, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”
“...Yeah... I guess. Speaking of which, what urban legends are there about restrooms?”
The first ones that came to mind were Hanako-san and the red‑tissue, blue‑tissue ghost. Restrooms—being confined spaces that everyone uses—are naturally rife with ghost stories. Aside from those two famous ones, nothing else really stood out.
“Hanako-san and the red‑tissue, blue‑tissue ghost, huh... So, Hanako‑san is the ghost that answers when you knock on a restroom door, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right. But I’m not sure if there’s even a proper method to repel either of them.”
“The Red Tissue/Blue Tissue Ghost appears from the toilet bowl and asks,
[Shall I give you red tissue? Blue tissue?]
They say that if you choose the red tissue, you’ll end up covered in blood and die, and if you choose the blue tissue, you’ll choke and turn blue as you die.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Meanwhile, as for Hanako-san, it’s not even clear that he actually kills people—and the method to deal with him seems to vary by region. But here in Korea, it’s all rather ambiguous.
“Umm...”
At that moment, Soo‑ho interjected,
“Hold on— isn’t there a special ritual you need to perform to summon Hanako-san besides just knocking on the door?”
“Right?”
“Isn’t that just spirit channeling? Ella said she’s a creature from ‘inside’ the school. That means she’s a ghoul you can encounter without doing any extra rituals.”
Kyung‑min nodded, as if in agreement. That left us with the red tissue/blue tissue ghost as the likely culprit. Even if it isn’t exactly that ghost, it’s better to be prepared.
No matter which you choose—red tissue or blue tissue—you end up dead. So what can we do about it?
“—In other words, it’s like a riddle.”
Ha‑rim mulled over Ella’s words, and then an absurd idea suddenly struck her—a simple notion that any kindergartner might come up with. If, as Ella said, it’s like a riddle...
“Guys, I’ve got a great idea!”
-----
Ha‑rim and the club members cautiously began opening the restroom stalls—stall 1, stall 2, stall 3... until they paused at stall 4.
Stall 4 exuded an eerie aura; it felt like the kind of place a ghost would be hiding. Soo‑ho went ahead and opened the door.
Inside was a toilet. Four pairs of arms were emerging from the bowl, writhing in a nauseating fashion. Eun‑jung looked on, utterly repulsed by the sight of those flailing limbs.
[Shall I give you red tissue? Blue tissue?]
Without a moment’s hesitation, Soo‑ho answered,
“Red tissue, please.”
[Red tissue... red tissue, indeed.]
“..........”
[You already have it.]
With those words, the ghost vanished—leaving behind a brilliantly glowing white talisman.
“I’m glad that worked! And I’m relieved that the ghoul really was the red tissue/blue tissue ghost!”
Ha‑rim’s plan was ingenious: using the Color Light app on Kyung‑min’s phone to bathe Soo‑ho in red light.
Since they had chosen red tissue, and Soo‑ho’s body was already drenched in red light—nobody needed to touch him—and the white tissue he’d been keeping just in case ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ had turned red under the light, it was treated as if he already possessed the red tissue he was supposed to receive.
Soo‑ho wiped the cold sweat from his brow, genuinely delighted,
“Not exactly a proper exorcism, but we managed to pull it off!”
-----
“[Your body must be dyed in the chosen color, and you must have the corresponding tissue]”—fulfilling those two conditions so neatly... Ha‑rim, are you practically a playable character?
That’s what Ella thought as she secretly watched the kids celebrating near the edge of the bathroom mirror.
In the game, you’re supposed to paint your body with red chalk found in the classroom and then dissolve it in water to dye white tissue red. But trying an entirely unexpected method like this even made someone as versed in strategy as herself nervous.
“Luckily, we won’t have to worry too much.”
When unforeseen attacks—like Slender Man’s ambush—strike, the kids need to be able to fend for themselves. Not to mention, with only so much time to operate outside, if there isn’t a mirror nearby they’d have to rely solely on their own power. A small hand mirror can only help so much.
If they can’t even overcome an easy ghoul like this, it’s going to be nearly impossible to survive in this world.
“Ah.”
Ha‑rim and I locked eyes.
Startled
“Are you really going to be shocked every time we make eye contact?”
I raised my index finger to my lips, signaling for her not to spoil the cheerful mood.
“....?”
Apparently, she didn’t quite get it. Anyway, now that I’ve confirmed the Mystery Exploration Club is dependable, I’ve got to get on with my own task.
Our destination is the 5th floor. Up to the 4th floor, we could move easily by marking other mirrors using Ha‑rim’s hand mirror, but for the 5th floor we must materialize directly.
There, lurking in the dangerous depths, is a ghoul known as [The Would-Be Suicide Note]—a creature far too perilous to leave in the kids’ hands.
‘I will defeat that creature.’
