Side Story Chapter 50 – The Children’s Fear.
It was an impulsive visit to a Haunted House, but the beginning wasn’t too bad.
However, if you were to ask whether there were any problems afterward…
Honestly, it was quite difficult to say there were none at all.
That was a matter due to the characteristics of the emotion called fear.
It’s all about familiarity.
When you think about it, other emotions aren’t all that different either.
Once any emotion is stimulated, it craves further stimulation.
Naturally, it seeks more intense stimulation than the first.
Familiarity increases the threshold, leading to an inevitable flow.
However, with fear, this tendency is particularly pronounced.
If presented in a short span, it can be quite effective.
But once it drags on a bit, all that’s left is apathy.
When ghosts first appear in horror games, players are terrified.
By the later stages, they regard them as bothersome nuisances, typically.
In reality, familiarity with fear is pure poison.
“Kraaaaah!”
“Mom, Dad. Another ghost showed up!”
“I thought it was time for them to come out.”
And here, familiarity was working lethally against fear.
A ghost suddenly broke through the ceiling, but Yumi and Yeonwoo remained unphased.
The calmness they exhibited was almost hilarious, considering how startled they were upon entering.
This part was a bit regrettable.
The ghost’s makeup was so exquisite that even Ayeon and I were fooled.
The timing and positioning of the actors jumping out were great.
Their methods of startling people were impressively diverse as well.
Had an average person experienced this, they would have praised it endlessly.
It was just that the opponents were our children, making it a problem.
When the real ghost started showing up in the beginning, they weren’t like this.
Instead, Yumi and Yeonwoo tightly hugged each other and screamed their hearts out.
I was genuinely worried that Yumi might use her ability out of fright.
However, the kids’ demeanor afterward was completely different.
Were Yumi and Ayeon’s kids exceptional?
Or did they simply possess an unusually high adaptability?
Or perhaps they were already immune thanks to Hyeji?
Whatever the case, it was quite troublesome that the children had become so accustomed to fear.
“Woon~tong~ha~gu~na~!”
“Yumi, I think the ghost has something to say!”
“Hey ghost! Speak a bit louder! I can’t hear!”
“…….”
Even when a chillingly dressed person came up close, they showed no fear.
“At this rate, you might as well attain Buddhahood.”
“Yeonwoo, this is becoming a malevolent spirit. A malevolent spirit.”
“…….Sniff….”
Instead, they poked at the person while giggling.
Meanwhile, perhaps feeling a heavy sense of crisis due to the children’s reactions,
The frequency of ghost appearances drastically increased in no time.
They must have had some kind of predetermined setup to match the users.
However, it seemed excessive; this was a bit too much.
“Waaaaaaaah!!!”
“You, son of a dog!”
“……Um… I am indeed a dog beastman… but still, to speak like that…”
“I’m sorry… I was just too scared…”
I momentarily forgot I was in front of the kids and let a curse slip.
“Ayeon, are you okay?”
“Are you truly scared of something like this?”
– Dut. Dut. Dut.
Unlike me, Ayeon remained composed in the face of the scene.
[It seems like water’s leaking from below.]
‘……Let’s pretend I didn’t see that.’
Of course, Ayeon’s body was a lot more honest than her face.
We were so confident we had been trained enough to handle various situations,
But when it came to scares like this, there was no immunity, making it pretty terrifying.
However, the children showed a completely opposite reaction:
“Who am I!!!!!!!”
“I was a NEET for 20 years, only playing at home, but I came to work because my parents kept pushing me!”
“…….”
It was so extreme that the ghost, whose role was to scare, was actually surprised instead; do I need to say more?
“My phone is cluttered with mobile games, and I watch all sorts of weird stuff online!”
“…….S-Stop it…”
Not only were they not surprised, but they were also hitting back quite fiercely.
Maybe because it was coming from the kids, it felt sharper and more stinging.
The ghost suddenly sat crouched silently in place.
He must have come with big plans, prepared to work hard,
But he never expected he would end up hurt like this.
In the end, a situation unfolded where Yeonwoo comforted the ghostly worker.
“Well, our dad is still a NEET; you’re doing better than him.”
“……Thank you…”
Meanwhile, a deep scar was etched in my heart.
Anyway, the current situation was seriously concerning.
The Haunted House was an impeccable facility with no flaws.
Yet our children became accustomed far too quickly.
Just when I thought this was a waste of time and was considering leaving,
An unexpected object suddenly came into view along the fork in the road.
“Dad, Mom. Why is there a desk here?”
“Right…?”
“There’s something like a letter on top.”
The brightly lit spotlight shone on a desk with a letter placed on it.
For some reason, it looked hastily placed.
Was this prepared to resolve the current situation?
Or was this all part of the original plan?
To be honest, it was all a mystery.
I felt it would be a bit difficult to solve this deadlock.
“Dad, what does it say?”
“Please read it.”
“Okay. Just a moment.”
Still, following the kids’ wishes, I decided to read the letter’s contents quietly.
Rough letters scrawled between chicken scratch and handwriting.
Fortunately, it wasn’t completely illegible.
I slowly began to read along the lines of the letters.
——
“Is this your first time here? I hope you enjoy your stay!
Who am I, you ask? I’m your senior!
I can hardly contain my joy!!!
It’s a blessing this isn’t a delusion!
I’ve lived here for seven years; it’s been worth the wait!
I prayed countless times! Please come!
Thanks to my accumulated karma, I’ve received this reward!
Once again, I hope you enjoy your stay! Let’s be together forever!”
—–
From just a glance, I could tell what type of fear was being induced.
It was completely different from the fear the Haunted House intended.
It evoked a subtle yet distinctly different form of fear.
At that moment, both Yumi and Yeonwoo noticed it and smiled brightly.
“Dad! I know this! Just take the first letters!”
“If you try, it says, ‘You can’t escape now.’ It’s quite a clever trick.”
A letter in the form of a horror story accompanied by a vertical pun.
A typical method used to send hidden messages.
Several media have successfully utilized similar examples,
Yet in this location, it was not particularly effective.
Even while bombarded with visual stimuli, the kids wouldn’t budge.
How could they possibly be startled by just this letter?
All it would accomplish would be to make them scoff like they did now.
In that moment, I noticed a folded part at the bottom of the letter.
“Hmm?”
“Dad, what’s up?”
“There’s something folded here.”
“Isn’t there an answer written in it? Just read it.”
It seemed like Renwoo was right; it likely contained the solution to this horror.
Still, to check what it was, I gently unfolded the paper.
There, instead of the answer we anticipated,
A short yet powerful message was engraved.
—–
“To get to the lab, take the left path right here.”
—–
Then, the smiles swiftly vanished from the children’s faces.
“Crazy grad student!!!”
“I’m a kidnapper!!!!”
Simultaneously, a strange sound echoed from the left of the fork.
Someone was crying while seemingly giggling.
It was unmistakably the sound of someone speaking,
But it was so horrific that one might consider a ghost’s voice preferable.
“Come quickly, junior!”
“Kaaahhhhhhh!”
“Help me! Help me!”
Thanks to that, the children let out loud, sobbing screams.
Even children must think grad school is genuinely terrifying.
Yumi and Yeonwoo dashed toward the right of the fork.
Ayeon and I quickly started chasing after the kids.
“Kids! Wait for us!”
“Don’t run! It’ll be a big deal if you fall!”
They were running so fast that in the blink of an eye, they vanished from view.
I felt an anxious tug, fearing something might happen to them.
But thanks to running at full speed, I was relieved to quickly spot them.
However, they weren’t just relieved; the kids were sobbing and screaming.
Following their gazes, I almost screamed in shock myself.
It’s only natural.
“Under the sea~!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Right there, “The Little Mermaid” was playing.
Not the past beautiful footage,
But mercilessly slaughtering memories in a literal sense.
The horrific trash film starring the Black Little Mermaid.
“F*ck you Disney son of a dog!!!”
“Stop it! Don’t violate the memories of the princess!!!”
Naturally, Ayeon and I reacted as intensely as the kids.
So much so that I slipped and cursed out loud.
Ayeon sat down, clutching her head.
It was dreadful, disgusting, and miserable.
It certainly qualified as horror fit for a Haunted House.
No, at this rate, would it be better to say that ghosts were several times preferable?
To be honest, even if it was a haunted house, I thought this was too much.
Meanwhile, Yumi and Yeonwoo wept loudly, screaming as they hurriedly opened the emergency exit nearby.
Overwhelmed by fear, they had lost all rationality.
“The mermaid is on board!!!!!!!!!!”
“She has no legs! The value of the goods has plummeted!!!”
……It was a bit strange to feel fear over such points.
But I could thoroughly understand why the kids reacted like that.
No matter how accustomed children became to fear,
They were just kids attending kindergarten.
Could those young children withstand the ‘Black Sighting’ gathered from human malice and madness?
[Is it because they’re Black that it’s called lighting?]
‘But doesn’t that make it Blinding?’
[Ah.]
All they could do in front of genuine fear was weep and run away.
In a way, it was a performance worthy of praise.
At the same time, it was truly a F*cked up Haunted House.
My mind was in disarray.
