I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 41: Shattering Angel

Hyesung and Hyeyeon’s faces stiffened.

Of course Hyesung would, but even Hyeyeon—who wasn’t incapable of feeling fear—seemed closer to being overwhelmed by curiosity.

On top of that, what lay before their eyes wasn’t something occult.

It was merely the horrific fate of what had once been beasts.

Even if they weren’t scared, it was natural for their expressions to freeze.

Even in the moment of shock, Hyesung recovered like a pro and quickly lifted the smartphone in Hyeyeon’s hand up high.

It wasn’t exactly the kind of scene they should keep broadcasting.

But something was off about Ayun.

The laughter that had filled her face just moments ago was completely gone, replaced with a cold expression.

‘...Huh, what kind of person looks like that?’

It felt, somehow, even more chilling than the dead beasts they’d seen earlier.

Then Ayun turned toward them and urgently opened her mouth.

“Behind you.”

At Ayun’s shout, the two of them turned around and stepped back.

There was a statue.

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Its posture was so dynamic, it looked like it had just been moving moments ago.

Both arms stretched out, as if it were about to embrace someone standing in front of it.

The statue’s face... it was oddly familiar, like it had been modeled after some random middle-aged man they’d seen somewhere—

CRACK!

Before either Hyesung or Hyeyeon could even react to the sudden appearance of the statue—

With a flashlight spinning through the air and scattering light everywhere—

Ayun’s baseball bat smashed into the statue’s face.

Chunks of shattered stone fell away in a cascade.

Hyesung and Hyeyeon still hadn’t fully processed what was happening.

But Ayun didn’t stop at smashing the face. She kicked the statue down to the ground.

Thud!

The statue fell with a heavy crash.

Ayun’s skirt fluttered as she moved.

Even then, she didn’t seem satisfied. She raised the baseball bat again.

“W-Wait a second.”

Only then did Hyesung snap out of it and call out to her.

Ayun pressed the bat against the statue and responded.

“What?”

“Uh, shouldn’t we... like, explain what’s going on...?”

At Hyesung’s words, Ayun glanced around.

Then, seeing the smartphone in Hyeyeon’s hand, her face changed as if realizing something.

Ahem.

Clearing her throat, she turned to the camera and spoke.

“Not sure if you caught it, but up ahead there were the corpses of some animals, yeah? And one of them looked like it had died pretty recently. But... there were no signs of it being eaten or anything.”

Hyesung gulped and picked up the flashlight from the floor.

“That means there’s something out there hunting them. And then, just now, the statue appeared behind you... so, as you can see, I dealt with it right away.”

“Then that thing...”

Ayun nodded and brought the bat down again on the statue.

“It’s probably the ‘moving statue’ the assistant mentioned... but there’s one problem.”

“What kind...?”

“There’s no blood on this statue. Which means there’s something else out there doing all that insane shit.”

As the two others blinked in shock and scrambled toward her, Ayun scanned her surroundings.

‘We should probably get out of here.’

She’d heard a sound of movement, but she hadn’t actually seen it happen.

She’d just turned toward the sound and then saw the statue.

‘If it was really trying to attack...’

Then it would have had no reason to stop. It must’ve halted for a different reason.

‘Does it react to being looked at?’

In the meantime, Hyeyeon had approached and was capturing footage of both Ayun and the statue.

What the hell is going on...?

Are you sure there’s only three of them in there?

Where the fuck did that statue come from?

The viewers were just as confused.

For a brief moment, the camera had shown something grotesque—and then out of nowhere, a statue had popped up in a place that had been empty.

Wait, has our girl crushed a human head before or what?

fr mess around and you’re catching the next life real quick lol

rewind to 1:38 and the fan—(message deleted)

The way the statue’s head had crumpled like tofu felt unreal.

Especially with Ayun’s expression on the screen—it made it even more so.

As Hyesung and Hyeyeon approached, Ayun turned to Hyeyeon.

“Hey... I mean, assistant—do you know of any stories like this?”

“Like what, exactly? The statue?”

“Yeah. Like... something that stops when it’s being looked at, or something like that.”

Hyeyeon seemed to think for a moment, then glanced at the chat and opened her mouth like she’d realized something.

“Oh! There’s something kinda similar. Not a ghost, more like... a drama or an urban legend type of thing.”

Oh that one

Yeah but wasn’t that an angel tho?

Bro it’s all about the peanuts wtf

Why is it some random dude tho

What are you nerds even talking about

Prompted by the chat, Hyeyeon explained the story she knew to Ayun and Hyesung.

Their reactions were as different as light and shadow.

“...It comes after you and breaks your neck or hunts you if you’re not looking at it?”

“W-Why the hell would something like that be here?!”

Ayun nodded, as if it matched her own theory, while beside her, Hyesung had gone pale and was sweating cold.

The contrast between them couldn’t have been starker.

“Let’s just get out of here. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t seem to go outside.”

“It’s a shame, but I guess ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) we don’t have a choice.”

“L-Let’s go. Now.”

Just as Hyesung looked ready to bolt, Ayun held him back.

“We all have to go together. If it reacts to eye contact like the assistant said... it’s better to stay in a group than go solo.”

“...Y-Yeah, you’re right.”

Ayun patted Hyesung’s tense shoulder, then reached her hand out to Hyeyeon.

“Give me the phone.”

“What for?”

“I... can you switch it to the front-facing camera?”

“Yes. One sec.”

Ayun took the adjusted smartphone and lifted it like she was taking a selfie.

Her face now appeared in close-up on the livestream.

Close-up of noona... hnnng

Her skin’s so pale...

She looks skinnier than I thought?

I wanna send a donation but it’s turned off, dammit...

Ayun’s cheeks flushed slightly at the oddly concerned tone in the chat.

lolol she’s so cute

Streamer, open the donations~!!!!

Screenshot saved

“Ahem, I haven’t set up donations yet, but I’ll do it next time, so... give a lot then, okay? I’ll end the stream here for today.”

...Maybe she was just a little disappointed she didn’t earn anything.

At any rate, Ayun’s sudden stream shutdown announcement shocked the chat.

What the hell?? It was just getting good!

bro

bruh

The cozy vibe instantly shattered, and the chat descended into chaos.

“Did you not hear what I said earlier? Unless you want to see us in tomorrow’s news, we need to stop the broadcast now.”

One comment in particular caught Ayun’s eye.

Are you ending the stream cuz it’s fake?

Ayun frowned in irritation and snapped back.

Hyesung tried to stop her, but Ayun ignored him.

This was what Ayun had been worried about when deciding whether to start streaming.

She didn’t take well to this kind of bait.

“You really think the three of us could move that huge statue in real time?”

Who knows, maybe someone’s hiding out of view

“I left the mic on, so you would’ve heard them. Stop talking nonsense... and if you still don’t believe it, come watch next time.”

Ayun looked back at the chat for a reply, but instead of an answer, the comments were blowing up with messages telling her to look behind her.

On the screen, a statue with arms outstretched and a middle-aged woman’s face carved into it had appeared behind Ayun’s shoulder.

Cold sweat trickled down Ayun’s back.

‘Didn’t feel a thing again.’

Why were such dangerous things still left behind in this abandoned school?

Maybe the reason it remained abandoned... was because things like this were still here.

Ayun handed the camera back to Hyeyeon and raised her baseball bat high.

And then—

CRACK!

She smashed the face of the statue that had crept up behind her.

Stone shards clattered to the ground.

Ayun brushed the dust from her clothes and kicked the statue over.

“As you just saw, take your eyes off it for a second and it might be gone forever—so we’re ending the stream here.”

As Ayun spoke, Hyeyeon ended the broadcast.

If they weren’t filming with a smartphone, they might’ve kept the camera rolling—but the risk was too high.

‘It’s a shame, but nothing we can do. It’s not like I was gonna get paid right away anyway.’

To Hyesung and Hyeyeon, who were scanning the surroundings with caution, Ayun said,

“Stay alert while we walk. We’re heading out of the building slowly. Don’t drop your guard, and if you see anything weird, tell me right away.”

“Got it.”

“Y-Yes...”

Satisfied with their answers, Ayun looked down at the shattered statue.

‘...No blood on this one either.’

It seemed there might be more of them than she’d expected.

But first, getting out of here came first.

Relying on their flashlights and smartphones for light, Ayun and the others carefully moved forward.

[Regretfully, we are unable to assist you.]

[We’re sorry.]

Aslan and Ignis’s voices echoed in Ayun’s ears.