### Chapter 350 – Hell of Gluttony (4) Fin
—
“Hey Ari, how does it feel? Isn’t my place different from the last time you came?”
As soon as the door opened, the gleaming marble floors and freshly painted white walls came into view, leading to a living room so spacious it could probably fit a small army.
Considering it was right in the heart of Seoul, anyone could guess it was a premium apartment with a price tag that made you reconsider your life choices.
Every time Soyun stepped into her home, she felt moved, thinking to herself that she had succeeded.
At that moment, however, Ari’s silence caught her attention, prompting Soyun to turn around.
“Ari?”
Instead of admiring the apartment, Ari was wrestling with a panting poodle named Louis, while her tongue lolled out like she’d just run a marathon.
“Did you get a dog, unnie?”
“Hahaha! What nonsense! You know Louis! He remembers you and is so happy to see you. Hold on, I’ll take care of Louis.”
Once Soyun pried the poodle off, she led Ari to the newly installed home theater.
The room was set up like a mini cinema, and Ari was taken aback, realizing that Soyun definitely planned on showing her a movie.
Finally, Ari spoke after much internal conflict.
“Unnie, I didn’t come here just to watch a movie.”
“What?”
“Did you forget what I mentioned earlier? About that thing appearing at home—”
“… I kind of overlooked it in the heat of the moment, but who told you that story?”
Ari felt a little flustered at that question.
Come to think of it, what exactly had Kanghyeok said while explaining Soyun’s troubles?
‘Hah… don’t tell her that I mentioned it…’
‘Don’t say I told you.’
“…”
“Kanghyeok, right? He stressed not to tell you!”
“That’s a big mistake. You should scold him tomorrow, and for today, let’s talk.”
Ari’s assertive, nearly audacious attitude made Soyun laugh without realizing it.
Somehow, she thought it might be good to actually share her worries.
Maybe it was because today, Ari seemed strangely reliable.
After all, she’d just scared off Kim Seokmin in spectacular fashion.
Initially, she worried the police would show up, but now that they were in the elevator heading home, she felt differently.
After all, keeping today’s events from leaking wouldn’t be great for Seokmin either.
Before Ari had threatened him in the car, Seokmin had crash-landed in her life with threats of his own!
Ari was smart enough to navigate that minefield, so far.
Soon, Soyun found her lips moving.
*
Three days ago, there was an unknown entity that appeared in Soyun’s house.
To uncover its identity, Ari started reviewing footage filmed inside the house.
Much of it was recorded by motion-sensor pet cameras that Soyun had set up, and the sheer number of clips was impressive.
“Is this the video that Kanghyeok and the staff checked?”
“Yup. Oh, and we also got the outside CCTV checked with help from the management office.”
After watching videos for over an hour, Ari’s expression subtly shifted.
Soyun, curious about what was wrong, asked.
“Did you find something? Should we check the outside CCTV too?”
“I don’t think we need to go that far.”
In the last video Ari watched, there was Soyun.
With a cute elephant and teddy bear plushie scattered around her bedroom, the video showed a terrified Soyun wandering through the room.
“…”
“Phew… Seeing that day again is chilling. What on earth could that entity outside have been?”
At that moment, Ari asked Soyun.
“Where’s your bedroom? Let’s head over there.”
Once they reached the bedroom, Ari paused.
“Stay here for a moment. I’ll be right back; I just need to talk to the management office.”
“The management office? Can’t I go with you—”
“Just stay here. This is part of the checking procedure.”
“Oh? Oh?”
Ari’s firm demeanor left Soyun unable to object and she stayed behind in the room.
Suddenly, she felt that Ari was completely different from the girl she remembered.
It was as if a ‘different person’ was controlling Ari’s body.
This new side of Ari wasn’t too bad.
As Soyun felt the space Ari occupied expand, she waited for Ari’s return.
…
…
…
The air chilled.
Without anyone explaining why, Soyun understood immediately.
It was just like three days ago.
An inexplicable entity was occupying the house.
At that moment, the feeling she had was strangely one of relief.
If this happened while Ari was right next to her, they’d both be in trouble. Luckily, Ari had gone off saying she needed to check something with the management office.
If something dangerous were happening, it was better to face it alone.
Repeating this mantra, Soyun leaned against the wall, trying to calm her breathing.
— Tick!
She sensed a presence, clearly not her own.
Something, an incomprehensible entity, seemed to be lurking outside the room, poking its fingers at things around the house.
— Zzzzz!
There was a sound resembling something scraping the wall and a slight vibration resonated through the floor.
In that tense atmosphere, Soyun’s senses sharpened, relaying the smallest changes occurring in her house.
Her breath quickened.
The mere thought of what might be happening sent fear coursing through her.
— Creak!
When the door creaked open, Soyun couldn’t hold back her fear and shut her eyes tight.
Surrendering herself to the impending doom—
“Ari.”
“…”
“Ari, can you hear me?”
“Ah, Ari?”
As she opened her eyes, the familiar sight of Ari appeared in front of her.
“Right now! It’s dangerous!”
“Phew… I can’t believe this is actually happening.”
“What?”
“Ari, stop babbling and come out. Being traumatized like this for life is just…”
“Eh?”
With the tone of someone addressing a particularly foolish person, Ari overwhelmed Soyun’s panic.
If it had been any other time, she might have snapped back, but in the moment, the relief of being out of danger and her curiosity towards Ari’s unusual response took precedence.
*
– Kim Ari
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Watching the video Soyun showed me, I started realizing something absurd.
It was ridiculous that Soyun hadn’t noticed this ridiculous fact, and Soyun’s agency employees watching this video without a clue were just as amusing.
However, it’s not really fair to fault regular people for that.
There’s a saying: “You only see what you know.”
Even when looking at the same crime scene, how much information one can glean depends heavily on one’s skills.
Skilled detectives or lawyers who often frequent crime scenes could draw pictures of what happened last night simply by noticing stray hairs or fibers in the carpet.
But regular folks usually just gasp and hope they don’t mess up the scene too badly.
The same goes for situations related to supernatural phenomena.
Ghosts, evil spirits, monsters, demons—these entities fall squarely in the realm of the experts.
One particularly curious point in the video shown was Louis, the poodle owned by Soyun.
Ghosts or demons may not leave direct physical traces, but the sounds of things shaking and vibrations on the floor are undeniably physical phenomena.
Typically, dogs are more sensitive to these things, but Louis was curled up peacefully on the pillow while Soyun trembled in terror.
In other words…
For the dog, the entity causing the noise and vibration must be a ‘familiar presence.’
Nothing to be surprised or scared of—just a regular day where it could comfortably nap without a care in the world.
“Wait, the culprit is the robot vacuum?”
I informed Soyun with a slack jaw, who looked dumbstruck.
“The robot vacuum you bought must’ve cost a pretty penny, huh?”
“Yeah. Over 3 million won.”
“High-end models come equipped with their own AI. They analyze the layout of the house and navigate around obstacles.”
“I heard they have those features.”
“Controlling the settings reveals even more functions. They can even detect moving pets and avoid them. But here’s the key feature.”
I manipulated the robot vacuum’s display to show her.
“Auto Home Scanning?”
“It’s a feature that recognizes changes in the home’s interior. Usually, it operates autonomously at night to accomplish this.”
“…”
“You just redecorated the place, right? You asked if it looked different from when you last visited as soon as you entered.”
“… About four or five days ago, I did a big overhaul.”
“Therefore, it wandered around all night, checking where the furniture got moved, and if there were previously blocked or newly opened paths.”
“…”
“Of course, during the home scanning, it wouldn’t have recognized the furniture placements right away, so it probably bumped into various things while causing noise.”
After pressing a couple of buttons, the high-performance robot vacuum displayed its ‘home scanning record.’
Three days ago, when Soyun was gripped by the unexplainable presence and spent a sleepless night, the record was logged.
“I had a hunch it might be this, so I had it scan again. And that’s when you—”
“Ahhh!”
“…”
“Sorry, I feel so embarrassed…”
Soyun couldn’t lift her head up for a long time, utterly red with embarrassment.
As for me…
Well, it’s a relief everything got resolved easily. What was the big deal, after all?
Nothing special.
When you act as an agent in the Administration Bureau, you often find out that supernatural incidents turn out to be nothing more than an old house or a simple crime scene.
At this point, I was itching to head back to the hotel. I managed to save one gluttonous creature suffering in the process, so I felt somewhat fulfilled.
Soyun began to mumble excuses to me.
The incessant stalker texts and conflicts with her director had made her nerves frayed, so she ended up having a silly fear gripping her at the sight of a robot vacuum.
That made perfect sense.
People often see things and hear noises when they’re mentally and physically drained.
So, I advised her to take a break.
Soyun mentioned she’d take a couple of months off once her current schedule wrapped up.
Then, she suddenly wore an expression as if she was making a decision.
“Hey Ari!”
“Yes?”
“You know how I said I didn’t come here just to watch a movie, right?”
“Yeah. Fortunately, your issue got resolved—”
“I feel the same way!”
“Huh?”
“I didn’t just call you to watch a movie. I planned on watching a movie too, but that’s not the only reason I called you.”
Things felt off.
“What do you mean…?”
“I wanted to tell you something I’ve been thinking since we first met a long time ago. It’s scary to bring this up, but—”
What the heck is this???
“O-Oh, if I don’t say it today, it’ll haunt me forever. Plus, seeing you excel just now made it super hard to hold back.”
“Uh, unnie?”
Please, no way!
We’re both girls, and aren’t we setting it up as relatives?
“Ari, I—”
“Sorry!”
“…”
“Maybe it’s better if we stop here? I want to remain a good little sister.”
Just before Soyun’s confession, I reflexively expressed my denial and instantly regretted it.
After all, it’s not like she’d remember it for long. Wouldn’t it be better to just accept the confession?
“Sorry. Perhaps I got carried away in the moment. Want to watch a movie instead?”
Thankfully, Soyun seemed to have anticipated my response to some degree.
Even though she might be sobbing on the inside, on the outside, she maintained her calm facade, gradually composing herself again.
At that moment, the air started to quiver slightly.
As Soyun’s trauma began to dissipate, the very stage they were on started to crumble.
Feeling relief, I was about to exhale—
The air froze.
“About the movie I prepared—”
Soyun’s words were drowned out.
Louis huddled up in terror.
Only at this moment did I realize I’d overlooked an important piece of information that earlier, I’d laughed at the ‘sloppiness of ordinary people.’
Kanghyeok had mentioned it!
Even though Soyun pressed the phone buttons repeatedly in fear, there was no response!
What does the robot vacuum’s home scanning have to do with her phone being dead?
A shadowy figure rose behind Soyun.
The true horror lurking in this apartment.
A colossal evil aura bled from it.
What on earth could it be? A ghost? A demon?
Either way, there was no way I would come out on top unprepared!
“Uh, Ari, don’t stress too much about what I said earlier. I think I’m just feeling a little sentimental today, so—”
At that very moment, Soyun was completely oblivious to what was unfolding.
Was her tension loosening so much that she didn’t notice?
Or was she lost in shock after my denial?
Whichever it was, fine by me!
The moment I figured it out, a brilliant idea popped into my head.
Let’s face it; today’s business was an ongoing issue from the past, just a memory of Soyun’s.
So, even if there was a genuine ghost or demon in her home—
“Unnie!”
“Don’t stress too much—uh?”
“I love you!”
“W-What?”
“I just mumbled some nonsense earlier out of shock, but now that I think about it, I realize it’s true. I love you, unnie!”
Believe me! Just trust me! There’s no evil spirit in your experience.
Everything was just a grand accident caused by the robot vacuum!
“What? Where is this coming from…?”
After all the stalker dramas, the crazed director, and now the unknown entity overshadowing her recollection—I’ll cover it all with an even more shocking memory.
— Glomp!
“Ahhhh!”
I lunged at Soyun, wrapping my arms around her.
Keep her from noticing the horrific entity rising behind her!
Don’t look at the danger! Just focus on me!
Forget everything that happened today!
With a determined spirit, I re-channeled Soyun’s heart.
Swinging the hammer of love to smash the horrific memories imprinted on her soul.
Human memory, after all, can be shaped to fit what one wants to believe.
And so, right as the horrifying memories of the stalker, the violent director, and the unknown evil faded from Soyun’s heart, only the illusion of ‘a successful confession’ remained at that moment.
At long last, tears flowed from Soyun’s eyes, and the entire space began to crumble around us.
“Ari! I love you!”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s okay…”
*
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 152
Current Location: Floor 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: X]
– Han Kain
“I’m back! I’m back!”
“…”
Like other companions, Ari suddenly appeared near the fountain in the lobby, as if she’d teleported.
Everyone rejoiced at Ari’s return.
Ari seemed clumsily lost for a moment, potentially because she had a tough time being the last one back.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m exhausted.”
“Huh?”
“This freaking hotel really puts you through the wringer…”
—
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