I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 6: Small but Certain Happiness

She looked down at the collapsed woman.

Red marks lingered around her neck as the woman wheezed and coughed.

A face she remembered.

It was definitely the same person who had been fiddling with some bags when the guy shouted earlier.

Cold sweat ran down her back.

At least the phone had landed safely on the bed—that was the one small relief.

She twisted open the salt shaker’s lid, Japanese lyrics blaring obnoxiously in the background.

There must’ve been some stuck salt inside—the harsh grinding sound reminded her painfully of her own future shattering to pieces.

Gulp.

She swallowed hard and scooped up a fistful of coarse salt.

Please, let this not be a human.

With that prayer, she scattered the salt over the woman’s body—generously, to make sure it spread over every part.

"KYAAAAGH!!!"

The woman writhed in agony as the salt touched her. Only then was she finally able to smile in relief.

So it’s a ghost, whatever it is.

Thank god.

Much calmer now, she picked up the guy’s smartphone. On the brightly lit screen, a string of numbers appeared—presumably her own number.

‘...Come to think of it, I don’t even know my own number.’

Since she never had a reason to give it out, she hadn’t even realized she didn’t know it. But whatever.

She hit the answer button and picked up.

"I found your friend. And the phone. We're in Room 117, so come quick."

After she said that and ended the call, a familiar screen popped up.

[WTF? What’s going on right now?]

[Who just spoke??]

[FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE]

The chat was flooding with chaos.

Oh right—this was still being streamed.

Did that part from earlier... get caught on camera?

Judging by the reactions, maybe it didn’t.

"Kh... kuhk."

...Oh right, that was still there too.

Now how the hell do you turn this thing off?

She took another handful of salt and sprinkled it over the woman again while looking for the menu to shut off the stream—but she couldn’t find it.

In the end, she just held down the side button until the phone powered off. If anyone asked, she’d just say it shut off by itself—they could deal with it.

She stuffed the phone into her pocket and turned her gaze back to the woman collapsed on the floor.

Thanks to the earlier sprinkle of salt, the woman was still twitching.

Unless that pale thing had possessed her from the start, she must’ve been overtaken at some point—probably by that entity from earlier.

She could extract it immediately, but that wouldn’t do.

If she wanted to get paid, she had to show it off in front of the guy.

‘I’m sorry. Just hang in there a little longer.’

It was all because he didn’t believe her—so please understand.

Before long, the guy entered the room, drenched in cold sweat. When he saw her, he ran over so fast it was almost like a dog greeting its owner.

"Hey, ma’am, why’d you turn off the phone?"

"I don’t know. It shut off on its own."

"..."

The guy looked at her with suspicion, then glanced at the woman lying on the floor and gasped, rushing over to her.

Of course, she blocked him.

"Wh-what are you doing? Is she hurt?"

"Wait. She’s possessed right now."

"P-possessed? Wait... you mean, like, a ghost’s taken over her?"

She nodded, and he scrunched his brows deeply. Looked like he wanted to say I still don’t believe you.

Well, then—it was time to show proof.

She smirked inwardly and took salt from the shaker.

It felt like a waste not to use it for meat, but whatever—she could always buy more.

‘Almost out,’ she thought.

With that idiot’s money, of course.

The guy looked like he was silently asking, Wait, are you really going to do that?

Yes, yes she was.

She scattered the salt over the woman again, enough to cover her entire body, and the woman immediately began to thrash and scream in pain.

The guy’s eyes went wide.

A satisfying reaction.

Now that she’d shown this much, he had to believe her. She reached for the black stone in her right pocket—Aslan.

[It seems it’s my turn.]

She gave a small nod.

From the woman’s mouth, a pale, misty something began pouring out. It got sucked in like a vacuum and disappeared into her pocket.

Apparently invisible to the guy’s eyes.

[A pitiful soul, indeed.]

At the same time, the woman’s trembling body finally stilled.

"Wh-what did you just do?!"

"What do you think? I exorcised the ghost that was inside her."

"..."

Still dazed, he glanced back and forth between her and the woman. She gave him a pat on the back and told him to wake her.

Reluctantly, he grabbed the woman’s shoulder and shook her.

Unlike the man from earlier, the woman quickly regained consciousness.

"Ugh... what the hell..."

"E-Eunbyul! You—are you okay?"

"...Hyesung?"

Maybe suspicious this was all staged, he asked the woman—Eunbyul—if she knew her.

"Y-you, you, g-ghost!!!"

"..."

Judging from that reaction, he must’ve realized something really had happened. Though his expression remained unsettled, he turned to her and gave thanks.

She shook her head.

"Let’s talk after we find the last guy."

Not like she didn’t already know where he was.

The three of them headed to where the man had collapsed. She was a bit worried he might’ve vanished, but thankfully, he was still there.

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Guess the salt worked.

She stomped lightly with her foot to make the salt visible and nudged the man awake.

Unlike earlier, when he seemed practically dead, this time he came to right away.

He’d probably been taken over too.

After getting everyone back on their feet and out of the hospital—

The police were waiting.

Apparently, someone watching the stream had called them.

They gave them a long scolding, told them to be more careful, and fortunately didn’t take anyone down to the station.

...Well, it was late at night, after all.

The group trudged out with dazed expressions.

The two who’d been possessed kept asking Hyesung—yeah, that was his name, Hyesung—question after question, clearly struggling to believe what had happened.

Hyesung answered them all with a reluctant face.

She walked over, handed him his phone, and said,

"Starting to believe me now?"

"...Ah, yes... Thank you. For saving my friends..."

He still looked like he couldn’t fully process it, but at least he thanked her sincerely.

...If it ended here, it might’ve made a heartwarming tale.

But that wasn’t what she wanted.

"So? Don’t you think you owe me something?"

"...Huh?"

"I’m not a volunteer, you know."

"Uh... so, what do you want?"

She pointed at the convenience store still open nearby.

His face twisted in a strange expression.

***

Hyesung watched the girl filling up the basket, humming to herself.

When she suddenly asked for compensation, it had caught him off guard—but in hindsight, this was a pretty cheap deal.

He had a fleeting thought that this might be the kind of scam cults pull, but after what he’d seen with his own eyes, it didn’t feel fair to call it fake.

Unless she had planned it all with his friends...

He shook his head, thinking of them still sitting in the car outside.

‘No way. What would they possibly gain from pulling something like that?’

While he was spacing out, the basket had filled with snacks—chips, pastries, and other munchies. The girl dashed back and forth across the convenience store, grinning from ear to ear.

Hyesung studied her face.

Up on the roof, or back at the hospital, he’d seriously thought she was a ghost. Her ragged hair looked like it had been chewed on by mice, and her limbs were ridiculously skinny, like she hadn’t eaten properly.

But now that he looked closer, the face underneath was actually kind of cute.

‘She looks older than me? No way.’

At best she looked like a high schooler.

Honestly, with how kids look these days, they should be the ones calling her “unnie” or “noona.”

If the girl had heard that thought, she would’ve exploded.

Unaware of his musings, the girl now stood in front of the fridge.

‘Damn, why are there so many kinds of beer?’

The fridge was packed with beer from all over the world. She gulped.

Alcohol was ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) a luxury among luxuries for her.

It didn’t fill her stomach. It didn’t have any nutrients.

Which made it all the more valuable.

She looked over her shoulder at Hyesung.

"Can I get this?"

"Huh? Sure, go ahead. You’re older than me anyway—no need to ask, right?"

"Huh?"

The part-timer’s voice caught both their attention. Realizing his slip, the employee awkwardly looked away. Hyesung nodded as if to say he understood.

The girl glanced at him for a moment, then quickly lost interest and turned back to the fridge.

"If you’re gonna get beer, buy the four-pack. It’s cheaper."

"Oh. You’re not as dumb as you look."

"Ahaha..."

The fact that her opinion of him improved over something like that made Hyesung think—

She might be easier to deal with than he thought.

Felt like he could make content out of this.

‘...Well, first I’ll have to see how today’s footage shakes out.’

He hadn’t faked it, so Hyesung felt pretty confident. Never mind the fact that he had planned to fake it in the first place.

By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, the girl had already gone up to the register. Hyesung followed right after.

"That’ll be 50,000 won total. Do you need a bag?"

When the cashier asked, the girl turned to Hyesung.

He nodded reflexively—and she beamed at him.

It left Hyesung feeling... strangely unsettled.