I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 2: The Pretty Girl Whose Return Failed ()
Passing by the flickering streetlamp, the girl returned to her worn-down one-room apartment and unlocked the door, which creaked open with a groan.
No sooner had she stepped inside than a deep, weighty voice tickled her ear.
[My master, just now, that was—]
“Don’t even start. It'll cling if we talk about it.”
Climbing up onto the footstool, the girl rummaged through the cupboard.
R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freewebnovёl.ƈom Only.
After groping around for a while, she pulled out a small container of coarse salt.
She wasn’t planning to make kimchi, and it wasn’t even edible—buying it had been a painful waste. But she was lucky to find a use for it.
‘...If it’s about scaring yourself, isn’t the park better than some abandoned hospital?’
The girl scooped a handful of coarse salt into her palm.
...Did she grab too much?
She left a pinch in her hand and dumped the rest back into the container.
“Begone, lingering spirits.”
With that, she sprinkled the salt over her shoulder. At the same time, one of her irises shimmered faintly with an emerald hue.
That sort of delayed aftercare would normally be more than enough to get haunted, but the salt in her hand changed the game.
Originally, the girl didn’t believe in ghosts.
Because she couldn’t see them.
But life in Entera had opened another set of eyes within her. She could choose not to see if she wanted, but just like the shadowy figure in the park, exceptions existed everywhere.
Even so, the thought of wasting money made her grumble.
“Damn, what a waste.”
[It’s not like you’ve got any other use for it anyway, right?]
“That’s... true.”
Stealing ramen broth and now this—when did she get so perceptive?
After returning the coarse salt to ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the cupboard, the girl this time pulled out a container of sugar she hadn’t used even once since she started living here. She was hoping to make the flavorless crust ends of her bread a little more edible.
It wasn’t going to be on par with what the bakery sold, but she figured she could make something like those rusks on display.
I mean, it’s just sugar and toasted bread, right? How hard could it be?
But her grand plan turned out to be just a pipe dream.
She was in no state to attempt even cracking an egg into ramen—of course there was no butter or milk in her fridge. All she could do was suck on her fingers while watching another cooking video on her increasingly familiar smartphone.
Do I really have to live like this? No—at least my body! If I still had my original body, I wouldn’t be in this situation! I could’ve picked up some manual labor jobs!
While pouring out resentment with nowhere to go, the girl’s eyes landed on a video. It was the livestream from that guy she chased off earlier. The time was already 11:30 PM.
She clicked her tongue at the horror of how just one click was enough to make the algorithm recommend him again. Feeling tense for no good reason, she swallowed hard.
‘When I looked earlier, it was definitely...’
The thumbnail showed the guy standing in front of an abandoned hospital. Judging by the viewer count, a lot of people had gathered now that the exploration was about to start.
After a moment of hesitation, the girl clicked on the video.
Because she was curious.
And then, she was appalled.
It wasn’t the ghosts, the frantic speed of the chat, or the guy’s obnoxious voice that shocked her.
[Enter after midnight = 200,000 won]
Unbelievable.
For something as simple as walking into an abandoned hospital late at night, the reward was way too much. If someone gave her 200,000 won, she’d do it hundreds of times without complaint.
Fuck this!
Here she was, sprinkling sugar on bread crusts.
Fuming with rage, the girl hit the subscribe button and opened the chat window. With her tiny, delicate fingers, she angrily tapped out a message.
[You seriously blowing 200,000 won on this crap? You all shitting money or what?]
[Message deleted by moderator]
Gone in 3 seconds.
After that message, she wasn’t allowed to post anymore.
***
Hyesung wasn’t particularly a horror-themed streamer. It was just that the results of a poll done for fun turned out that way. Deep down, he was dying inside, but a promise was a promise.
Sure, he could have ignored it—but thinking about how badly the public sentiment would tank for a while, it was better to just grit his teeth and endure it for a day.
So, after racking his brain, he came up with a desperate workaround: showing up in broad daylight...
[Enter after midnight = 50,000 won]
A mission had been triggered.
He could just press the “forfeit” button. But—
[Enter after midnight = 60,000 won]
The amount kept rising.
Well, it’s not like he came alone—so it should be fine.
Suppressing the corner of his mouth from curling up, Hyesung made a big show of acting scared.
He was a little scared, truth be told, but the abandoned hospital they were going to today was already a well-known haunted spot.
It had been trampled by countless people claiming to test their courage. Some even brought shamans with them, it was that famous.
It had even been used as the setting for a film.
There were tons of rumors—people died there, human experiments used to be done—but actual reports of anything bad happening were rare.
Most of the outrageous experiences were considered fake, edited footage... You could say it was a somewhat safe and famous spot.
In reality, it was just a place left neglected for adult reasons.
“Let’s just grit our teeth and do one lap.”
[Enter after midnight = 80,000 won]
As Hyesung laughed to himself at the climbing reward, a brat—no, a young-sounding voice—interrupted him, causing a brief commotion, but he quickly resolved the situation by slipping away.
With the entry delayed, he had to kill time with something else—but that wasn’t too hard. After chattering for a while, Hyesung took a break and had a meal with the staff and friends who had come along.
A woman quietly eating with them hesitated, then spoke.
"About that kid who yelled at you earlier..."
“Huh?”
“Wasn’t something kind of off about them?”
“What was?”
What kind of random bullshit was this in the middle of eating?
Hyesung put down the side dish he’d just brought to his mouth and looked at the woman. She shivered, as if creeped out, and continued.
“I couldn’t see clearly from a distance, but their skin was super pale... And their hair looked like it’d been chewed on by rats—it was a total mess... Oh, and the color of their hair was weird too.”
“What are you trying to say?”
The woman lowered her voice.
“C-could it have been a ghost...?”
“What are you talking about? There’s no such thing as ghosts. And the sun was out, remember? They were probably just a weird kid.”
“Y-you’re right... right?”
“Yeah, now eat up and get ready for filming. You think a ghost would be lurking around out in the open?”
Scolded by Hyesung, the woman resumed her meal with a sheepish look. The guy sitting next to them nodded in agreement.
Tch, easy for them to talk shit when it didn’t happen to them.
Come to think of it, they did look kind of creepy. If it had been a bit darker, he might’ve honestly believed it was a ghost.
Hyesung shivered a little at the thought.
That minor hiccup aside, time passed—and the hour to enter the abandoned hospital finally drew near.
He didn’t believe in ghosts, but the busted-up building looked gloomy as hell. Like something could pop out at any moment.
“Make sure you only make noise when you’re supposed to. Don’t get us caught.”
“Got it.”
“You don’t trust me or something?”
Hyesung’s team, clearly used to this, gathered their equipment and slipped into the hospital ahead of him. Once he confirmed they were out of sight, Hyesung took a deep breath and resumed streaming.
“Haha, thanks for waiting, everyone! Did you bring your diapers in case you shit yourself? Got your lover’s hand to hold? Oh, you don’t? Then hold your parents’ hand at least... Oh, y-you don’t have...? My bad.”
He joked around and checked the time as he stepped up to the hospital entrance.
“Alright! Mission success—entered after midnight!”
Making a huge fuss, Hyesung documented his step into the abandoned hospital. But the world wouldn’t let him off that easy.
[Trying to scam us by just sticking a foot in, huh?]
[Fr lmao]
[Get in already~]
“Come on now, would I really do that? I’ll be a man and do the full lap before collecting my reward!”
Hyesung kept an eye out in case another mission triggered, but just loitering at the entrance didn’t seem to be enough to stir the chat further.
“Well, this is already more than enough, honestly.”
Looking at the accumulated mission bounty, Hyesung took the smartphone off the selfie stick, held it in his hand, and with upbeat commentary, finally stepped into the hospital.
The camera that had been showing his face now began capturing the interior.
The state of the abandoned hospital resembled a poorly maintained tourist attraction more than a true ruin.
Graffiti and guestbook messages scattered everywhere.
Trash left behind mid-meal.
Piles of mysterious black garbage bags.
A building covered in scribbles, with not a single working light.
Finding an intact window was the harder task.
All the traces of human presence made the place look even creepier, but beyond that, Hyesung felt something... off.
A strange sensation—as if someone was watching him.
“...Is this just my occupational hazard acting up?”
Not long ago he’d been claiming he didn’t believe in ghosts, but faced with this eerie setting, he couldn’t help but swallow nervously.
No point regretting it now.
Yeah, if anything were really here, the crew that went in ahead wouldn’t be this quiet.
Chatters in the stream scolded him for not moving, so finally, Hyesung stepped into the hospital entrance.
“The weather suddenly got chilly. It was unusually muggy for fall, wasn’t it?”
[What are you talking about? It’s hot as hell.]
[Look at that build-up, lolol]
The oddly mismatched reactions gave Hyesung a weird feeling, but his body kept moving deeper inside.
Not just for the mission money—his friends, the crew, were waiting too.
Step, step.
Careful footsteps echoed through the abandoned hospital.
