I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 92: Tea party with a friend

Past Event – Carol and Jack O’Lantern

"Hey~ Carol! Want to check out this amazing poem I wrote?"

Jack O’Lantern—one of the entities under my management.

From the moment we first met, for some reason, he kept talking to me.

Well, the more information I had about my assigned anomalies, the better.

So I humored him.

Besides, before Mephistopheles’ predicted birth of Alice, I had nothing better to do.

It was a good way to kill time.

Good, except...

"Sigh... Jack O’Lantern? Please don’t forget that our relationship is strictly that of ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a containment entity and its administrator."

No matter how I looked at it, calling me seven times a day was excessive!

And to make things worse, he refused to talk to any other staff because he found them ‘boring.’

My head ached.

"Come on, come on, come on! Just read it already!"

Jack O’Lantern eagerly shoved a piece of paper into my hands.

Through our many conversations, I had—against my better judgment—shared bits of my past and hobbies.

Once, I had mentioned writing poetry in the past.

Ever since then, he’d been shoving his poems at me.

Most of them were crude jokes, nothing more.

A handful, however, did take on something resembling actual poetry.

Even if they were insanely hard to understand.

Eventually, I realized he hadn’t actually intended for me to understand them.

His goal was to mess with me—to watch me struggle over the meaning, only to smugly reveal, "Surprise! It never meant anything at all~!"

...That part was kind of funny, if I was being honest.

I kept my expectations hidden and nonchalantly scanned the page.

"Hmm... hmm? This one isn’t one of your usual first-letter wordplay tricks."

As I read further, my expression hardened.

This wasn’t just a poem.

It was a string of flowery, metaphorical expressions about love.

In short, it was basically... a love letter.

Suppressing my growing alarm, I turned to Jack O’Lantern.

"Jack O’Lantern... is this a confession?"

The ridiculous pumpkin-headed fool spread his arms wide—

As if he were some grandiose bard performing a love ballad.

Since his body was larger than mine, it felt uncomfortably imposing.

"This glorious me! This is my first-ever confession of love!

I do believe we have developed a deep bond—so, what do you say?!

Would you consider a serious romantic relationship with me?!"

I instinctively took a step back, completely repulsed.

And then, with perfect clarity, I responded.

"I already told you—I have Alice. Besides, I was originally—"

"Originally?"

...Ah.

I almost said something I shouldn’t have.

This wasn’t exactly something I should be telling people.

No, it was more of a secret between myself and Mephistopheles.

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to keep it buried.

But strangely, I felt like I could tell this pumpkin-headed fool.

Maybe it was because I had spoken to him the most in this branch.

Or maybe because we had shared our interests so many times.

Whatever the reason, I suddenly felt curious—

What kind of reaction would he have?

I smirked, amused.

"I was originally a man."

Silence.

A long, agonizing silence.

Maybe twenty seconds.

I couldn’t even hear him breathing.

Jack O’Lantern was the one who finally broke it.

"...? A-Ahahahaha! That was the funniest joke you’ve ever made, Carol!

Wow, you really got me with that one!

I suppose that wicked humor of yours was part of your charm!"

"......"

I just smiled.

Jack O’Lantern’s face stiffened.

"...Wait. You were serious?"

"Yes."

"SON OF A—!!!"

Jack O’Lantern threw his beloved lantern onto the floor in fury.

Then, realizing his mistake, he dived to catch it—just barely managing to save it.

Unfortunately, he forgot to account for his own head—which smashed straight into the floor.

"GAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Jack O’Lantern screamed and flailed on the ground.

It was pure slapstick comedy.

"Pfft—!"

"YOU—!! You never laughed at any of my jokes before, but this is what gets you?!"

I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

I burst out laughing.

"AHAHAHAHA! Jack O’Lantern!

Of all the ridiculous things you’ve done, this was by far the funniest!

Puhahahaha!!"

Jack O’Lantern’s pranks were often aggressively chaotic.

But this? This was just pure stupidity.

Maybe that old saying was true—

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

"Even the hardest tree will fall if you hit it ten times."

And this was the moment that finally got me.

As I kept laughing, Jack O’Lantern trembled—

Then let out a sigh.

"...Whew."

I looked at him curiously.

Then, out of nowhere—

He held out his hand.

"Alright, alright. I give up. Let’s just be friends.

From now on, let’s get along."

"...What’s with the sudden change? We’re still just an anomaly and an administrator."

I felt conflicted.

But in the end...

I couldn’t bring myself to refuse the handshake.

I grasped his hand.

-----

Present – The Demon Hunt

"Alice! It’s coming your way!"

Kyung-min shouted as a massive bat-like demon emerged from the trees.

We had come here after hearing the ghost story:

"Huge animals lurk in the forests behind military bases."

We weren’t expecting to find an actual demon.

"Yeah, I see it. But this time, you take it down."

"It’s too fast!"

The demon was quick.

It dodged every single chain Kyung-min summoned with his artifact.

To me, it wasn’t impossible to hit—

But for Kyung-min, it was way too fast.

His chains had always been used for binding and control.

But what about dealing with high-speed opponents?

"Chains aren’t just for binding.

Think outside the box—solving puzzles is how we get through things, right?"

Kyung-min hesitated.

Then—he summoned chains from the trees.

While I kept the demon occupied, he wrapped a book around his waist and gripped the chain.

Then—

"Uwaaaah!!"

—He reverse-summoned the chain.

The chains snapped back at high speed—

Launching him forward.

If a chain could restrain something with force—

Then reversing the summoning would pull him forward like a slingshot.

"That’s it!"

"Are you sure this is safe?!"

Kyung-min soared through the air—

Then fired another chain and reversed it again, swinging forward like a certain comic book hero.

But his movements were shaky.

He was clearly struggling with speed control.

Well, that made sense—

He was essentially bungee jumping without a harness.

Ah.

I had to make this fun for him.

Because if there was one thing I did best—

It was making things fun for kids.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

I gently wrapped my arms around Kyung-min from behind.

He flinched, startled.

He needed to relax.

"Hmm? Don’t tell me you don’t trust me? Wow, Kyung-min, you’re such a scaredy-cat~"

I whispered in his ear, teasing him with a mocking tone.

His face turned bright red—was it from anger?

"Why do you always provoke me?!"

"Oh?"

I noticed something interesting—

His chain-casting speed had significantly increased.

So, was this the result?

If his spellcasting speed improved, it meant he was using his chains more frequently and maintaining better balance in midair.

Of course, that also meant he was moving even faster—making things much riskier.

At this pace, he was almost caught up to the bat demon.

But then, he suddenly slowed down.

"Hngh!"

A massive tree loomed ahead—he barely avoided crashing into it.

"Good job. Knowing when to slow down is important—opportunities and dangers aren’t the same thing.

To deal with different situations, you’ll need to learn how to handle various tools.

But first, mastering one properly will keep you from making dumb mistakes."

Kyung-min gripped his chain tightly.

"Alright... let’s try again. Just because your target got further away doesn’t mean you should get discouraged.

Now, slowly... take a deep breath."

Kyung-min steadied his breathing—

And took off again.

"Loosen up your body. Imagine it like you’re on a ride...

You can control yourself.

[Trust my words.]”

For a brief moment, a faint glow flickered around him.

Was that just my imagination?

Regardless, Kyung-min finally overcame his fear and adjusted to his speed.

He caught up.

"Hngh... CHA!!!"

He wrapped his chains around the bat demon—binding it mid-air.

As he plummeted back down, I ran over to check on him—

Only to find him punching the demon over and over.

"Hold still!"

—CRACK!

The demon’s neck snapped.

Wait, was Kyung-min always this strong?

I felt a tinge of suspicion but pushed it aside for now.

When I approached, Kyung-min grinned proudly.

"Haah... so? Did I pass?"

"Yep! You passed!"

If we were going to have adventures together,

They all needed to grow stronger.

Facing real monsters—ones without any predefined strategy guides—

Required adaptability.

And against Dominators?

That went without saying.

Of course, brute force wasn’t the only way to win a battle.

But still, being able to handle oneself was crucial.

"Alright, let’s go check on Ha-rim’s fight with the deer demon."

Just as I said that—

My phone rang.

"Hello? How’d it go over there?"

"It was tough, but we caught it!

Soo-ho kept charging in blindly, though, and had no idea how to handle a hit-and-run opponent."

They got it!

Though I had expected Soo-ho to struggle.

Soo-ho was a natural-born tank.

He blocked what he could, dodged what he couldn’t, and absorbed damage when necessary.

For enemies, he was a nightmare.

But a skittish demon like a deer?

It would have just ran away the moment he tried to counter.

And if he didn’t fully block a charge, he would have taken the full force.

Unless he had a way to leap after it.

"I see... I’ll have to give him some advice next time."

I thought about what to tell Soo-ho as we headed toward the others.

"Hey! Alice is here!"

Eun-jung ran toward me and threw herself into my arms.

I patted her head as a few uniformed people arrived to retrieve the deer and bat demons.

"Who are they?"

"Clean-up crew.

We have to hand the demons over to the Organization."

The Organization had cut me a deal.

They let me do as I pleased in exchange for handling their “requests.”

Before, they never gave me this much freedom.

But now?

It was almost like I was just another employee clocking in and out.

And they didn’t even restrict the kids either.

I once asked a staff member about it—

They just shrugged and said,

"They’re not considered normal civilians anymore."

"You guys aren’t civilians anymore, apparently.

Here, take these—temporary agent IDs."

I handed out temporary agent badges to them.

But why was the Organization treating me so well?

This was way too much privilege.

Carol had always given me special treatment—

But if even the higher-ups were backing this,

That meant they had some kind of plan.

Am I really that important to them?

"Whoa! This is so cool!"

Each ID had their names on it—

And a small inscription underneath:

"Do not interfere with Alice’s children."

...That wording was weird.

"So does that mean we’re in charge of Alice now?"

"Huh?"

"Alice, according to containment procedures, you need to give me a piggyback ride immediately."

...

I sighed and hoisted Eun-jung onto my back as we started heading down the mountain.

Halfway down, Ha-rim suddenly asked,

"Hey, Alice... you mentioned there are a lot of monsters out there, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Besides those, isn’t there anything else bothering you?"

Bothering me...?

"Hmmm... aside from the Dominators, maybe the Church guys."

"The Church?"

"Yeah. A group of priests who use holy power.

Since holy power works against both demons and anomalies,

They work with the Organization to hunt them down."

"Whoa. That’s actually real?"

Then Kyung-min spoke up.

"...I get why it’d work against demons, but why anomalies too?"

...Now that he mentioned it—

That was strange.

If demons and anomalies were clearly separate,

Then why did holy power affect both?

There had to be a reason.

I voiced my thoughts.

"Maybe it’s a misconception that holy power only works on demons.

Think about fire—it’s a symbol of purification.

But just because fire is ‘holy,’ doesn’t mean it doesn’t burn us too."

It was certainly deadlier to monsters than humans, but still...

"Hmm... or maybe demons and anomalies share some kind of fundamental similarity?"

"Wait a second."

Soo-ho suddenly interrupted.

"Does that mean Sister Maria is with the Church too?"

"From what I heard, yeah."

"...Then does that mean she’s our enemy?"

That made me pause.

I knew Maria wouldn’t turn against me just because I was a demon.

She was a pure-hearted person.

After spending time with me,

Her biases against demons had softened.

She even told me she wanted to reconcile with the Red Devil—her old friend.

...I wondered if she had succeeded.

"Mephistopheles—We've Got Information."

"I don't know."

I sighed.

"But that's something we need to ask Maria herself.

I haven’t been able to get in touch with James lately—so, for now, we’re in the dark."

I did want to see her again.

But she was still busy, huh...

"—Before that, shouldn't you be meeting another demon first, Alice?"

"Wha—?!"

A green-clad boy suddenly jumped out and blocked our path.

I had met him before.

This brat was...

"It is I! Jack!!!"

Jack eagerly launched into his usual self-important nonsense.

He greeted me enthusiastically, saying he had enjoyed my recent exploits.

The others, however, were meeting him for the first time—

Naturally, they were curious.

"Who’s this guy? He looks about our age."

"Jack. Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk.

He's a Story’s Demon, just like me."

"Whoa, so he’s a demon too? Where are your wings?"

Ha-rim casually walked behind Jack and started poking his shoulders.

Jack yelped in surprise—

Then leaped three meters into the air.

"O-Oi! What the hell, girl?! You wanna see my wings that badly?!"

Jack flailed dramatically, attempting to fly with his arms.

For a moment, he hovered—

Then promptly fell flat on his face.

Dusting himself off, he sulked.

"Tch. I don’t have wings... Not every demon does, y’know."

I smirked.

"So, Jack. Why’d you come find me?"

"What do you think?

Alice, I came to invite you to the tea party."

He pulled out a fancy invitation.

If I tore it, we’d be instantly transported to Ariel’s domain.

It was about time I visited Ariel again.

"Hmmm... Alright. I had some things I needed to say to her anyway."

"Great! Then—"

"Wait. Can they come too?"

I gestured to the kids.

Jack shrugged.

"Dunno! But I don’t see why not!"

He ripped the invitation.

Immediately, seafoam surrounded us, pulling us into the deep abyss.

A wave of loss, sorrow, and strangely contradicting love washed over my skin as we were pulled through the dark void.

And then—

We arrived.

Ariel’s domain.

Idol music played in the background—

But Ariel herself was... wrapped in bandages.

She looked heavily injured.

"...Oh my. Alice. You actually came.

I had so much I wanted to—"

Ariel’s voice was relaxed—

Until she noticed the kids behind me.

Her expression stiffened.

She frowned.

"...Who are they?"

"My kids.

And my friends."

"...That’s not what I meant."

Ariel sighed and gestured for Jack to come closer.

Then she whispered,

"Jack, would you PLEASE tell me when you’re bringing guests?

Why do you keep messing up my plans?!"

"Since when have I EVER been good at following plans?

You should be used to this by now.

Besides, it’s not like them being here will cause a disaster, right?"

Ariel groaned.

"Ugh. You have no idea how much trouble you've caused me.

Do you know how many times I’ve almost gotten captured by the Organization because of you?!

If it weren’t for me, you’d be DEAD by now!"

"Yeah, yeah. But you saved me, right? So what’s the problem?"

"YOU—!!!"

As the two bickered, the kids whispered among themselves.

"...They kinda remind me of Alice."

"Maybe their personalities are similar?"

...

Excuse me?

"AHEM. AHEM."

I cleared my throat loudly.

Finally, Ariel turned back to me—looking mildly irritated.

"Ahem... anyway. Welcome back, Alice.

But your kids aren’t invited.

This place is for Story’s Demons only."

...A dismissal? Seriously?

At that moment, Ha-rim pulled out a bag of snacks.

She held them out innocently.

"We brought snacks.

Does that help?"

Ariel paused.

Then she sighed.

"Fine. But just this once."

...So that worked, huh?

"Jack? Set up some more chairs for them.

We only have seven in the tea room."

"On it!"

Jack grabbed some chairs and ran off.

Most likely, to set up the tea party.

We followed after them—

But before we entered the room, Ariel stopped me.

Her eyes were serious.

"Alright, Alice.

I know we have a lot to discuss.

But first—there’s someone I want you to see."

She opened the door.

Inside—

A familiar figure sat at the table.

Her mechanical parts were mostly missing—

But I recognized her immediately.

"...Pinocchio?"

Ariel nodded.

"Told you you’d see her again soon, Alice."

Jack grinned.

"We were surprised too!

She usually never cooperates—but she suddenly agreed to attend the tea party."

Pinocchio looked different.

Calmer.

More... human.

She must have visited Cashy.

She must have talked to her.

She must have found something.

"So you’re not my enemy anymore?"

Pinocchio sighed.

"I owe you.

That’s all there is to it."

"Haha. I like the sound of that.

By the way—has Peter Pan shown up?"

Pinocchio shook her head.

"Who knows.

He’s free-spirited.

Like me, he’s probably out there creating something for his own purpose."

...Yeah, that guy was unpredictable.

If he joined us, it would help.

But who knew when he’d show up again?

"Well. More people joining is a good thing.

Now—let me tell you why I called you all here."

Ariel took the center seat at the table.

The kids and I sat down, while Jack happily munched on cookies.

And then, Ariel finally spoke.

"..."

"We’ve obtained information—

About Mephistopheles."