Chapter 175.3 |
That night—
Knock, knock, knock.
A guest came to Jang Heowoon’s room.
“Uh, who is it…?”
“Oh, it’s me. Ladybug.”
“Ah!”
Recalling several work rules, Jang Heowoon’s tension eased a little as he stepped back.
Luckily, the ghost-guest who could mimic voices had checked out yesterday. He’d handled the check-out himself.
‘G-Good.’
“Uh, hello, Mr. Bison. Sorry, but could I just borrow a…”
“Um, excuse me.”
“Yes?”
Jang Heowoon blocked the way.
“Please don’t come in.”
“……!”
“It’s in the work regulations.”
16- Please refrain from inviting other guests into your room.
It is better not to make exceptions, even for fellow staff. By the time you realize it’s not actually them, it will already be too late.
“……”
“Um, I don’t mean to be rude. It’s just… I think it’s safest to follow the rules as much as possible,”
“Yeah, of course.”
Ladybug stepped back with an awkward laugh.
“I’m just out of bottled water in my room. If you could just lend me a bottle, I’ll leave right away…”
“Ah…! Of course. I should have a spare. Just a moment…”
The color returned to Jang Heowoon’s face beneath the mask, and he quickly went to the mini-fridge inside the room.
“……”
Taking advantage of the moment, the ladybug made a tiny, subtle movement.
Just a little.
Flutter.
“……”
“Ah, here you go.”
“Thank you!”
Ladybug received the water bottle from Jang Heowoon, who had come back from the fridge to the doorway, and left with a smile.
Jang Heowoon bowed his head to him and closed the door.
“Huu.”
He was alone.
Somehow, it felt even scarier to be resting at night like this. Remembering the blood and entrails seen during the day made him feel like throwing up.
‘Still, it’s worth it.’
This resort is truly a wonderful place, and the mascot is really amazing, wonderful, and great.
It felt like his daily life was coming alive again for the first time in ages.
Thinking so, Jang Heowoon went to check the front door one last time before bed…
But.
‘Huh?’
Something had fallen on the floor at the entrance.
A flat yellow square.
‘A post-it?’
It was an ordinary post-it like the kind you use on documents.
It seemed like the cleaning mascot or Ladybug must have dropped it while cleaning.
And since it was yellow, Jang Heowoon smiled unconsciously.
‘So fitting for this place.’
It was closer to yellow than gold, but at any rate, he picked up the note.
The front side of the post-it, which had landed face-down, was revealed…
what to do
so young
what a pity
boohoohoohoohoo
“……”
Jang Heowoon froze.
With trembling hands, he peeled the post-it off.
‘I…tem?’
For someone who’d spent a year professionally entering ghost stories, instincts naturally kicked in.
A sense that something was very wrong.
He realized it.
“……!”
He dropped the post-it on the floor and dashed to the emergency phone in the room, snatching up the receiver.
“P-Please help, Mr. Mascot! Thi—!”
That moment.
Jang Heowoon slipped.
As he grabbed the receiver, his foot caught in the coiled phone cord stretched across the floor.
‘Ah.’
And then.
Thud.
Unluckily, his head struck the nightstand by the bed.
Unluckily, the yellow mascot had recently replaced all the beds and nightstands with sturdy oak to match the luxury bedding.
Unluckily, as his head struck, Jang Heowoon was concussed and crashed hard against the nightstand.
Unluckily, as his hand swept the nightstand, he knocked down the crystal lamp, shattering it to pieces.
Unluckily, one of the jagged shards bounced off the wall and stabbed him straight in the spine.
“…!”
He tried to reach behind him, but it was already over.
Thunk.
He collapsed to the floor.
And did not rise again.
That was how Jang Heowoon died.
Without even a single scream.
Unluckily.
* * *Room 303 was awash in blood.
‘……’
I stared blankly at Jang Heowoon, collapsed on the floor.
With a pale face, his neck and below shredded by crystal shards.
…Dead.
“Looks like he broke a work rule.”
“Tsk.”
A few employees, summoned suddenly at dawn, murmured in the background.
These people were accustomed to death.
After that first time witnessing a scream, they’d gotten used to it. Now it was like nothing to them.
Like a true alumni of the round-off team, he was dismissed with a simple ‘Guess he just messed up, huh.’
‘……’
But I had already found something at the entrance.
In my hand was a crumpled item that had lost all effect.
A post-it note.
…I know this item.
It’s a horrible, classic curse item listed in the Delusion Home Shopping Network.
Unlucky Post-it
: Got someone you really resent? Here is a cursed talisman, an old superstition that comes to life! Now, with a simple trap, you can mourn their tragic accident yourself!
Tip) The more your target believes in superstitions, the faster and stronger the effect!
(Note : The target must be someone the user knows personally. The target must discover and read the talisman directly. The target must be flustered. The effect of hemothorax is only guaranteed if ALL precautions are followed.)
If you didn’t know, you might have missed it. But I know.
And the one who knocked on Jang Heowoon’s door a few hours ago.
The mascot knows.
“……!”
Ladybug froze.
I looked at him.
You thought you wouldn’t get caught?
“U-Uuuuh ……”
He doesn’t understand. Why?
This isn’t a ghost story where you kill someone and only you can escape. Why your teammate?
I stared at him.
“No, I just… I thought only people who did their jobs well would be allowed to survive! Hic!”
“Strange… Oh, right! The better you do, the more you might just be told to keep working at the resort and never go home, so I don’t know why I believed it had to be that way. Ah!”
Ladybug suddenly grinned and started clapping.
“Maybe it’s because I came to love the resort! Mr. Mascot! I’ll be a really outstanding employee here! The best employee—”
Thunk.
“……”
Supervisor Lee Seonghae withdrew the hand that had struck the ladybug mask’s neck.
“What a lunatic. Right?”
But I couldn’t answer.
I just kept staring at Jang Heowoon’s corpse.
It wasn’t even my first time seeing someone die anymore, but it felt too strange……
My stomach churned.
‘……’
Just then.
“Um, can’t you revive him?”
What kind of crazy talk is that?
‘It’s not like I have a Wish Ticket…’
But Supervisor Lee Seonghae pointed to her arms and legs.
The parts were now adorned with resort staff accessories and knick-knacks instead of wounds.
“You fixed me too, didn’t you?”
……!
“A mascot can do anything in their own zone, right? And staff are part of that zone…?”
It flashed through my mind, reflexively.
The thought I’d had a few days ago, when I’d seen the corpses Lee Seonghae had dragged in.
– It feels like even the corpses naturally became my subordinates.
“Can’t you fix the staff too? Like resort facilities.”
Could it be.
‘……’
The yellow mascot opened its mouth.
The dead Jang Heowoon’s body began to rise from the head up.
“…!”
His pale face, dripping blood and entrails, remained unchanged.
“Hiiek!”
Ignoring the scream, I stared at Jang Heowoon’s corpse.
For that, I had to make him presentable for work.
“……!”
The sharp shard embedded in Jang Heowoon’s punctured spine was pulled out, and the blood pooled on the floor was drawn back into the gaping wound. The wound closed, covered over by a stylish uniform vest.
The sharp crystal fragment became a mascot-printed handkerchief tucked into his pocket.
With that, Jang Heowoon’s corpse twisted and shook in midair…
Thunk.
…and stood on its own strength on the floor.
Then, he opened his eyes.
“……”
The room was filled with nothing but breathing and silence.
And finally…
The bison mask transformed grotesquely.
Jang Heowoon was now wearing a strange, feline golden mask with horns.
A yellow mascot mask.
And he smiled as he spoke.
“Mr. Mascot! Then should I go back to my post now?”
“AAAAGH!”
From that day on, the real ghost story began.
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