I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 13: The Second Round of Hide-and-Seek

The static crackling through the slightly ajar closet door faded into silence.

Hyesung swallowed dryly.

The gulp rang louder than it should have.

Perhaps he hadn’t truly expected anything to change.

With one hand clutching the warm stone Ayun had handed him, Hyesung raised his smartphone with the other to check the chat window.

A small part of him feared he might be the only one sensing it.

But he wasn’t the only one who noticed something strange.

The flood of chat messages confirmed that his ears weren’t playing tricks on him.

‘...What the hell is this sorcery?’

Even as he trembled, Hyesung recalled the description he had skimmed from various forums.

They said it was unscientific, most likely a malfunction in the TV itself.

Yeah, that must be it.

That alone doesn’t mean anything yet.

As if mocking his rationale—

The static grew louder, until a human voice began to seep through.

At first, it sounded like a line from a drama.

"I prepared this for you. Please, accept my proposal—"

The proposal, cut off as though the speaker had been dragged away, transitioned into a bizarre commercial.

"With this, you can achieve anything. Essential virility for men—"

The ad shifted again, as if someone sheepishly changed the channel.

"We're all going to die like this—"

An old man's cry flowed into a doctor's recommendation to end life-sustaining treatment.

"Further treatment would only prolong the pain."

As if the family had accepted the advice, the sound of an oxygen mask being removed followed.

Then, silence. The static was completely gone.

Hyesung tightened his grip around the stone.

It seemed to radiate warmth, but that was all. Cold sweat slid down his back.

‘...Could it be Ayun noona?’

The guess felt alarmingly plausible, prompting Hyesung to steady his trembling hands and send a message to his younger sister, Hyeyeon. He had silenced his phone earlier to avoid another mistake.

A photo came in from Hyeyeon.

Under bright lights, Ayun was sipping a drink.

She stared wide-eyed at the camera, as if the situation he was in meant nothing at all.

‘Now’s really not the time for a damn drink!’

The scream caught in his throat made it ache.

The chat, too, reflected similar frustrations from viewers. But Hyesung had no time to worry about them.

As the collective tension rose, a dragging sound echoed from outside the room.

It sounded like heavy metal chains being scraped across the floor—and it was drawing closer to the room where Hyesung was hiding.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

The sound passed the storage room where he was concealed and slowly grew fainter. Hyesung hadn’t dared to peek through the closet and could only wait for it to go away.

But the chat window exploded in rage and disbelief.

—What are you doing not filming that?

—Fakefakefakefakefake

—If that wasn’t the guy earlier making noise, can you please just turn the camera!!!

These bastards. Easy to talk big when it’s not their necks on the line.

Suppressing his indignation, Hyesung shakily typed a reply in the chat.

He couldn’t speak out loud, so he had no choice but to type with trembling fingers.

— I just checcked rn and hes in another room he’s okay. not fake

There were typos from his shaking hands, but he decided they were still legible and hit send.

As new messages rolled in, Hyesung squinted at them.

— Hands shaking huh?

— Proof plz

A sharp pain jabbed his temples.

Groaning at the sudden headache, Hyesung pressed his fingers to his forehead and thought,

...Yeah, this is enough.

If he posted the message thread with his sister, he could prove it wasn’t faked.

That should do, Han Hyesung.

You squeezed out all the content you could.

Time to call it quits.

To end this damned game of hide-and-seek, Hyesung decided to leave the closet.

Per the rules, he had to hold either saltwater or sake in his mouth, so he fumbled around the closet in search of it.

After a long moment of groping in the dark, something wet touched the sole of his foot.

“...”

Something was soaking his socks.

Hyesung’s face went pale.

The camera caught his foot and a spilled cup.

Trying to steady his now-erratic breathing, he took a deep breath.

It’ll be fine.

...Nothing’s going to happen.

There’s no such thing as ghosts.

Clinging desperately to the superstition that awareness made spirits cling harder, Hyesung forced himself to deny the presence of whatever was out there.

Clink.

Clink.

His efforts were in vain.

That same heavy dragging sound—metal chains again—now echoed from just outside the closet.

It would pass by again, like last time.

But contrary to his expectation, the sound stopped right in front of him.

Click.

The chains scraped over the door threshold.

Summoning what little courage he had, Hyesung slowly extended his smartphone through the crack in the door, hoping to check what was outside via the screen.

But there was nothing on camera—despite the loud metallic noise inside the room.

‘...Was it just a hallucination?’

But the chat, even on the dimmed screen, also mentioned the sound of chains.

Gulp.

It couldn’t be a hallucination.

He couldn’t leave without saltwater or sake for protection.

The only thing he had was the warm stone, so he clung to its heat and endured.

The stone’s owner came to mind.

Right. I’ll just ask Ayun-noona for help.

Still trembling, Hyesung typed out a message.

—plez hepl me

Smiling weakly, proud of how desperate and earnest the message looked, he hit send.

If he didn’t smile, he would’ve screamed.

Then, as he looked up absentmindedly—

He saw something red staring at him.

He wasn’t sure if it was really looking, but that’s what it felt like.

Painted a vivid crimson, it slowly twisted into a tear—

Like a human smile.

Before he could fully process the chill crawling up his spine—

Something invisible brushed over the top of his head.

CRACK!

They say people can be too scared to even scream.

“Kh, kkkh...”

He let out a wheeze like air leaking from a balloon.

Hyesung collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut.

The smartphone crashed to the floor, casting a weak glow.

As the screen dimmed into darkness, the chat surged in confusion and panic.

Through the flood of messages—

Bang!

Something pounded on the closet door.

Bang! BANG! Bang! Clink!

The blows shook the door violently.

It wouldn’t hold much longer.

***

As soon as she returned to where Hyeyeon was, the girl latched onto her.

Soft body fat made the hug feel cozy.

“Unni, what did you do to the stuffed doll?”

...She really was a goal-oriented kid.

But even for Hyeyeon, exceptions weren’t allowed.

A seduction tactic? Not a chance.

“I just filled in a few of the weak points in the One-Man Hide-and-Seek, like the stream said.”

“Exactly. I want to know what more you added.”

“Well...”

When it became clear she wasn’t planning to answer, Hyeyeon suddenly shoved a green can at her.

“What’s this all of a sudden?”

“You worked hard, so have a drink.”

Well, in that case—

Hooking her fingernail under the tab, she popped it open. Tsshh! A sweet, fizzy scent wafted up. The bubbling carbonation made a pleasant sound.

She pulled her mask down and raised the can to her lips.

The fizz already tickled her mouth.

That sweetness—

She couldn’t wait to drink it.

As she tilted the can, the lightly bitter sweetness poured down her throat, slapping against her uvula with a cool, carbonated punch.

The refreshing, sweet taste made her eyes pop open. It wasn’t like beer—it was lighter, cleaner, more addictive.

In the middle of gulping it down, she heard a camera shutter. She looked up and saw Hyeyeon filming her.

She blinked. Hyeyeon gave a sly smile.

“Now that you’ve had a drink, you have to answer.”

“Pffft!”

Wait—was that your plan?

But her sugar-high body had no intention of giving the drink back. Her lips never left the can.

Eventually, she downed the rest with a gulp and muttered,

“...You gave me the drink for this?”

“Kidding.”

“...Thank god.”

Tapping on her phone, Hyeyeon added,

“My brother asked if you were next to me, so I sent him a photo.”

“Oh yeah?”

“But seriously, don’t you think something’s really happening? That TV sound earlier, for one.”

With a flushed face, Hyeyeon stared intently at Hyesung’s stream.

She hadn’t looked away except to cling to her or take the photo.

Following Hyeyeon’s gaze to the screen, she heard the clink-clink of metal growing louder.

She smiled in satisfaction.

This should be good enough.

As long as Hyesung finished the ritual properly, there shouldn’t be a problem.

But just then, Hyeyeon—who had been watching the stream with interest—suddenly froze. Pointing at the screen, she asked,

“Unni, is my dumbass brother okay? He spilled the saltwater and sake...”

“...”

How does he manage to screw up right after we talk about it?

What is this, potty-training a dog?

“...Guess I’ll have to help him.”

Hyeyeon’s eyes sparkled again.

Once she went over, the stream would end anyway. She’d need to pick up that EMF reader or whatever it was.

She opened the fridge, took out the leftover sake, and started to get ready—but then her phone vibrated. With a loud thud, Hyeyeon came running out, breathless, and showed her the livestream.

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

...Yeah, they’d better hurry.

There wouldn’t be much Ignis ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) could do to help with this.