I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 25: Down with Sl-Fuck

I Want to Fuck Slenderman.

In short, Sl-Fuck.

Not long ago, she had won a flame war, and she was in a good mood.

To be precise, the other person didn’t respond—but in internet culture, not responding was practically a declaration of defeat.

The other side's opinion had been interesting in its own way, but...

Sl-Fuck—real name Yoo Arin.

She had one secret she hadn’t told anyone around her.

And what was there to hide?

She had, just slightly... a “sensitive constitution.” That is, she possessed a faint degree of clairvoyance.

Though “clairvoyance” sounded grand, it was barely distinguishable from having none at all.

She didn’t go around constantly seeing ghosts to the point it disrupted her daily life.

Just every now and then, she’d catch a faint glimpse of some thick presence.

Honestly, it happened so rarely it felt embarrassing to even bring it up.

And Yoo Arin... had once seen a white tiger.

A hazy shape in the distance.

A silhouette of long, snow-white fur and a pale pink face.

She hadn’t seen it up close, but she had seen it.

Because she was generally interested in that sort of thing, Yoo Arin had immediately recognized the silhouette of the white tiger.

But she didn’t have the courage to go find it.

The stories online were so full of ominous rumors that she’d been satisfied just confirming the small silhouette.

Still, she couldn’t help but think—subtly—that she was different from all the nobodies who’d never seen it at all.

Was that why?

Yoo Arin didn’t like the user ‘wjsrn,’ who had posted something claiming it was the white tiger's true identity.

It was... a rather interesting theory, she thought. But she didn’t believe it was true.

Because she’d actually seen it with her own two eyes! Even if it was from far away!

“You didn’t even see it for yourself.”

And so, she started picking a fight with ‘wjsrn’ on the forum, scraping up info from all over the internet to argue her side.

Right when things started getting emotional and the argument seemed like it would devolve into a flame war—

‘wjsrn’ went silent.

That day, Yoo Arin basked in the joy of victory and enjoyed the sweetest sleep.

And just like that, she returned to her usual, ordinary routine—

When an email arrived.

“Huh?”

The sender looked vaguely familiar.

“Hyesung? Oh!”

A name she remembered.

A streamer she’d recently become aware of.

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.

He’d gotten pretty popular lately on a different forum from the one where she’d fought ‘wjsrn.’

Why would someone like that contact me?

Yoo Arin hurried to check the email.

She had no idea what it might be about, but the streamer was currently the subject of controversy.

Which meant—this could be something worth posting about.

But...

Yoo Arin couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

It wasn’t something she could upload to the forum just yet.

“Hmm...”

The content, in short, was simple.

—Let’s meet up and find out who’s right.

Whoever ‘wjsrn’ was, it seemed they hadn’t just run away.

“Wait, if this is also meant to be a clarification stream, is that ghost hunter chick coming too?”

Now that was interesting.

The real reason the forums were on fire had more to do with that so-called ghost hunter woman no one had ever heard of before.

Her half-assed attitude, sloppy verification process—

It was obvious she’d only gotten popular because of her masked face.

Yoo Arin had been startled ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) when the woman bit her own finger and did something with it, but if you assumed it was staged, it was just another act.

“This could be fun.”

Even if it didn’t end in a clear explanation or proper proof, Yoo Arin figured she had nothing to lose.

“Maybe I could use this chance to start streaming myself...?”

Didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Compared to the fakes, she was the real deal!

Even if they managed to prove everything, it wouldn’t be bad for Yoo Arin.

She just had to keep the secret until the live or the video went up, and she’d still get attention and recommendations.

It was a proposal with zero downsides for Yoo Arin.

In fact, she figured there wasn’t a single thing she could lose.

With a light heart, she sent back a reply saying she’d do it.

Apparently, they were in a hurry on the other end, because a response came quickly.

It said they’d choose a location and get back to her soon.

Yoo Arin waited for that day with a cheerful heart.

***

The day of the promised meeting with Hyeseong.

Since morning, Hye-yeon had been blowing up my phone saying she was coming over.

I was sitting there in a daze, nodding off after reading her texts, when my smartphone buzzed again.

Unni, I’m at your door.

“...Hold on.”

Why the hell is she causing a ruckus this early in the morning?

Aren’t we filming at night anyway?

Still, I couldn’t exactly leave Hye-yeon standing outside, so I dragged my stiff body to the front door.

Click.

As the lock disengaged with a click, the door immediately swung open.

Hye-yeon slipped inside quickly and locked it behind her.

What’s up with her?

Only after that did she sigh in relief and speak.

“Unni... You’ve been living in a place like this?”

“You were here last time.”

“I was waiting in the car....”

“Yeah?”

Hye-yeon looked at me with concern.

Then she lowered her voice into a whisper, like she was afraid someone might hear.

“It’s too... dangerous for a woman to live here alone.”

“Hm...”

Is it?

Honestly, I wasn’t sure.

I thought this place was okay, but I guess not in Hye-yeon’s eyes.

Well, considering the place I visited last time—Hye-yeon’s home—it was a pretty stark contrast.

This apartment barely had any furniture. Just a refrigerator that looked like the previous tenant had abandoned it.

And even that... seemed to be on its last legs these days.

Anyway.

“So what’s with the early morning ambush?”

Still rubbing my dry, crusty eyes, I asked, and Hye-yeon clenched her fists, her expression turning determined.

“Today’s the day that ‘IWantToFuckSlenderman’ bitch shows up!”

...Who?

As I scratched my head in silence, Hye-yeon shook her arms in frustration, clearly pissed.

Chunks of fat on her arms wobbled wildly with the motion.

...Doesn’t that hurt?

“She’s the one who fought with me last time!”

“...Ah.”

Her, huh?

So that’s why she’s all fired up.

I nodded, and Hye-yeon nodded back, as if we had an understanding.

Then she grabbed my hand and opened the bathroom door.

She looked around inside.

“...You’ve been using the stuff I gave you, right?”

“...Whenever I remember.”

[“Ms. Hye-yeon~ Your unni’s lying to you!”]

“Well, good.”

Tch... like she can even hear that.

She’s really mastered the art of getting on my nerves.

Or maybe she just knows I won’t bite back, so she pushes her luck.

...What can I do. The one who needs help has to play nice.

“Wanna shower first? We’ll handle the rest after.”

“...Yeah, alright.”

Giving in to Hye-yeon’s nagging, I ended up showering at this godawful hour.

It wasn’t cold enough yet, so I started with cold water. Then Hye-yeon barged in and insisted I rinse with warm water instead.

“Okay, okay, now close the damn door!”

“...?”

With a baffled look on her face, she tilted her head, as if to say “We’re both girls, who cares?”

I couldn’t come up with a good retort to that.

...I couldn’t exactly explain it. Not that she’d believe me if I did.

Still, I have to admit—the hot shower felt amazing.

I’d been avoiding using the boiler since I couldn’t throw Ignis in there, but... this was heaven.

So much so that I wanted to chuck Ignis into the boiler right then and there.

...It’s going to get cold eventually anyway. I might have to come up with a workaround.

After scrubbing down thoroughly with the stuff Hye-yeon gave me, I stepped out—and she started handling everything.

I may have washed myself, but she dried my hair, sat me in front of the mirror, and kept fiddling with my hair nonstop.

...How pissed does she have to be at ‘IWantToFuckSlenderman’ to go this far?

If I’d let her go to blows last time, someone probably would've ended up in the ER. That’s the kind of vibe she was giving off.

Once she finally settled on a hairstyle, she pulled out a makeup pouch from her bag.

“...Like I said last time, is makeup really necessary? I’m not even gonna be on camera.”

[AHAHAHA!]

As Ignis burst out laughing, Hye-yeon looked at my face in the mirror and murmured quietly.

“Honestly, your skin doesn’t need much. Just a bit of color maybe?”

“...Which, again, isn’t gonna show because of the mask.”

“But you’ll be seen when we’re not filming!”

“Could you... maybe not say her nickname out loud? Or better yet, not at all? These walls aren’t exactly soundproof...”

How can she say a name like that without flinching?

If this were Enthera, yelling out “That bastard’s nickname is IWantToFuckAManticore!” at a tavern would be suicide.

If I were sitting next to her, I’d have buried my face in shame.

Anyway, once I brought it up, Hye-yeon nodded in understanding.

Her eyes, always so murky and brooding, now burned like fire.

...With this level of fighting spirit, she could’ve made a name for herself in Enthera.

Not that I’d recommend it, but still.

So, with a bit of makeup and the clothes she’d brought for me, we went about prepping for the takedown of Sl-Fuck.

Then Hye-yeon looked at me with steely determination.

“Unni! You’re confident, right?”

“...Yeah, of course I am.”

When I answered, she took both my hands and whispered.

“I’m counting on you. Please... crush that bitch’s pride.”

“...”

...Pretty sure that’s not what Hyeseong had in mind.

“Unni. Promise me. Now.”

With all that overflowing intensity, I couldn’t help but nod and say I would.

After being dragged through all that, I finally got into the car where Hyeseong was waiting.

Catching my gaze in the rearview mirror, he blinked and said,

“...Noona, you look kinda drained already.”

“...Just drive.”

Sensing the mood, Hyeseong wisely started the car in silence.