I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 31: We Are Departing

There was someone standing beyond the front door whom I’d never seen before.

An elderly woman with a rather stern look about her.

When she saw me, she furrowed one brow.

"Who are you?"

Maybe my question made her angry, because she exploded.

"Who do you think! I’m the landlady here to collect the rent! How can you forget something like that!"

"Ah..."

So it’s finally come, I thought.

I’d just settled into the house I woke up in and started living here... It seemed like there was a legitimate contract in place.

My ID had changed anyway, so of course everything else must have too.

I had no way of knowing what had really happened up until now.

What mattered most was how much the rent was.

"Uh... How much is it? And the account number, too..."

The landlady yelled in bursts of anger, but she still properly told me what I needed to know.

I jotted down her account number and the monthly rent into my smartphone, and even saved the landlady’s number.

"Don’t be late from now on."

"Yes, yes."

The landlady nodded, satisfied.

As I watched her with an awkward smile, I suddenly remembered the squeaky door.

"Um..."

"Hm?"

"The door’s squeaking a bit, I was wondering if maybe... it could be repaired..."

One of her eyebrows shot toward the sky.

"Oh, it’s fine if not..."

My voice trailed off, but what came out of the landlady’s mouth was unexpectedly positive.

"You should’ve said something right away! A young lady living alone—what if something breaks!"

"Ah... yes, ma’am."

To be honest, I didn’t even know who she was or how to contact her, so I hadn’t been able to say anything.

...Her words were rough, but maybe she was actually a decent person.

"I’ll have someone fix it soon, so just know that. Anything else you need to say?"

"Just the door being fixed is enough, I think."

"Alright, then. I’ll be off."

"Yes, take care on your way."

I watched the landlady as she climbed the stairs, then carefully closed the door.

The front door creaked shut with a screech.

If I could just hold out a little longer, that would be solved too.

[She’s kinder than she looks.]

"...Right."

[You’ve just relearned the lesson not to judge people by their appearances.]

"..."

That was something I’d meant to say to Hyesung.

First, I opened my smartphone to check my bank balance and the amount of rent and maintenance fees I needed to pay.

Since the house was old, the rent wasn’t too high, and the maintenance fees weren’t much either—probably because I used Ignis instead of the gas stove.

Still, it was a bit tight... which meant I needed to film more videos.

To get through the cold winter that was fast approaching, I was going to need more money.

Otherwise, I might have to build a bonfire made from Ignis right in the middle of the room.

In the worst case, I might have to put Ignis in the boiler’s water tank.

The spirit of fire becoming the spirit of the boiler.

That... probably wouldn’t be what Ignis wanted.

"So let’s do our best."

[What brought that on all of a sudden?]

"It’s nothing."

Until I finished checking my finances, there was no message from Hyesung.

"Hmm..."

After a moment of hesitation, I called Hyeyeon.

***

"I don’t take any questions about content on my days off..."

Give us back our noona!

Moremoremore!

Hyesung blinked his darkened eyes like a tired little brother and muted the users who’d just posted those messages in chat.

They were potential viewers, so he’d let it slide for now... but it was exhausting in many ways.

The reason things had gotten to this point... was the wildly successful follow-up stream that served as both an explanation and a demonstration.

Ayun had prepared far beyond what Hyesung had expected.

Flashing, burning salt.

A sudden appearance of a white skeleton.

A story that seemed to release the spirit’s resentment.

Back then, he’d been too shocked and overwhelmed to speak, but... Hyesung had started to see Ayun in a different light.

‘Easy for me to complain, huh.’

He couldn’t exactly go online and whine about how his other content was becoming too popular.

He’d be lucky not to get roasted for being arrogant and ungrateful.

With that thought, Hyesung sighed inwardly and continued the stream.

"So, this thing is..."

His eyes, mid-stream, closed and then opened again.

They were bloodshot, like someone seriously sleep-deprived.

What the hell? What’s up with him?

He’s been looking crazy tired for a while now.

His noona drained his life energy (Message deleted)

LMAO you sick freak

"Cross the line and you’ll get more than just a mute... I’ve just been tired lately, that’s all."

But the truth was, Hyesung had a bigger concern.

It was the night not long after the demonstration stream had ended.

After wrapping up the broadcast, Hyesung dragged his exhausted body onto his bed.

He couldn’t fall asleep and tossed and turned for a long time before finally dozing off.

That night, Hyesung had a dream.

A dream so vivid he could’ve mistaken it for reality.

At first, he thought it was one of those lucid dreams he sometimes had.

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But... something was different from his usual lucid dreams.

Normally, in a lucid dream, you can control everything.

Or, if you realize it’s a dream, you usually wake up.

But for some reason... he couldn’t move the way he wanted, and he couldn’t wake up.

It was... a strange experience.

A sensation that felt like floating but also eerily real.

Eventually, Hyesung gave up and looked around.

It seemed like... he was inside a subway station.

‘Something feels off.’

The atmosphere was strange.

Even if it was a dream, there wasn’t a single person around.

More than that, he couldn’t see the opposite platform.

Or to be more accurate... it was hidden by darkness, as if its very existence couldn’t be confirmed.

Strangely, the lights glowed a pale purple.

Somehow... it reminded him of someone.

‘Weird dream.’

Just as he murmured that he wished he’d wake up already, a strange announcement echoed in his ears.

It wasn’t the crisp voice of a woman—it was a distorted, static-filled male voice.

– The train is arriving. Please be careful not to board the wrong train. If you board the wrong one—

Screech, screeeeech!

The voice was drowned out by the sudden screech of brakes from the approaching train.

The doors opened in front of Hyesung.

The inside of the train was completely empty.

Hyesung hesitated.

Should he get on?

‘What does “wrong train” mean, anyway?’

He thought about it for a moment but didn’t dwell on it.

There were plenty of subway lines where trains heading in different directions stopped at the same platform.

‘It’s just a dream, who cares.’

With that, Hyesung stepped aboard the train and sat in an empty seat.

Once he was sitting, the inside of the train looked even worse.

It was rusted from top to bottom, as if it hadn’t been maintained at all, and every seat except the one he was sitting on was full of holes.

Even the lights above flickered erratically.

They looked like they’d go out any second.

They blinked on and off repeatedly.

‘...I must’ve done too many haunted house shoots.’

Come to think of it, probably so.

Hyesung remembered something he’d read online.

An article about people who had bad things happen after visiting haunted places.

He used to think it was all overblown, but after meeting Ayun, he’d started to wonder if it could actually be true.

Maybe this dream... was something like that too.

While he was thinking, the doors shut.

– The train... is now departing.

With the announcement, the train began to move.

The sound of metal scraping echoed around him.

He wondered when he’d wake up from this strange, incomprehensible dream.

Eyes half-closed, Hyesung eventually realized the train had stopped again.

When he opened his eyes, people were pouring in through the doors.

Men and women of all ages.

Even of different races.

If there was one thing they all had in common—

Not a single one of them looked alive.

They moved like puppets, slowly filling the seats and then crowding the aisle like sardines, as if getting on the train was their one and only mission.

As Hyesung blinked, the now-full train began to move again.

With a loud screech, it departed.

Thankful he’d found a seat, Hyesung let his body sway with the train’s motion and closed his eyes.

...He didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone around him.

Even with so many people on board—

There wasn’t a single sound.

Not even the breathing of the person next to him.

‘...What a weird dream.’

Maybe... it really would be best to take a break for a while.

He felt a little guilty toward Ayun, but if he was having dreams like this, then that was probably the right call.

Just then—

Another strange announcement rang out.

–Next stop: “Oil Cauldron.” Please make sure not to disembark at the wrong station.

‘...What a weird name.’

He’d never heard of a subway station called that.

Even if, by some stretch, a brand called Oil Cauldron had bought the naming rights, it still felt strange.

Soon, the train came to a stop.

Hyesung looked out the window.

What he saw... was bizarre.

On the other side of the platform, where ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) he’d boarded earlier, something was bubbling and boiling furiously.

As he blinked, the train doors opened.

The passengers disembarked slowly onto the platform.

And then—

They began to fall into the boiling vat.

With a loud sizzle—!

Screams echoed.

All that lifelessness vanished, replaced by agony and shrieks more intense than anything he’d ever heard.

People thrashed and tried to escape, only to be shoved back down by dark shadows.

Hyesung’s face turned pale.

He had never experienced a dream like this before.

To block out the horrible screams, he clamped his hands over his ears.

In contrast to the chaos outside the train—

Inside, it was deathly silent.

As Hyesung trembled, the train departed again.

As if nothing had ever happened.