ULAS 10

Chapter 10

“Why… I didn’t even make a wish!”

“Even if you didn’t make one yourself, you could still be connected to someone else’s wish. Like in the first case.”

“The first case… you mean Jang Hyunwoo?”

“Yeah.”

For something involving a classmate’s falling accident, his tone was incredibly calm. Dan Seohyeok nodded casually and continued.

“I don’t think a wish to improve grades would be enough to make someone fall. You said someone else got hurt because of him, right?”

“Ah, that girl I saw earlier. She’s normally first in our class, but this time the teacher said Hyunwoo scored higher than her in English.”

“Then she’s the culprit.”

Dan Seohyeok said it as if he suspected Chaesong.

But no matter how sensitive Chaesong was about grades, she wasn’t the type to hurt someone else.

When I firmly shook my head, Dan Seohyeok crossed his arms and asked,

“Did she seem different from usual? The first one got injured, right?”

“Chaesong was fine! She wasn’t hurt at all, she just stayed face-down on her desk. Though she did have a nosebleed… but…”

Could that be the “misfortune” she received in exchange?

Worry suddenly clenched my chest, and I looked up at Dan Seohyeok.

He shrugged.

“Unless we ask the people involved, we won’t know. Let’s leave it at that.”

“This? So there’s another way?”

“Usually, when you get tangled up with an object possessed by a malicious spirit, there isn’t a clear solution.”

Dan Seohyeok said calmly,

“Some people say they burned the object, or left it where it originally was, and that solved it. Others say they handed it off to someone else and were fine afterward.”

“But the second solution isn’t really a solution.”

“‘As long as it’s not me.’ That’s the kind of thought someone backed into a corner usually has.”

Suddenly, Dan Seohyeok’s voice turned cold.

What’s wrong with the protagonist, talking like that?

I’d thought he was kinder than in the original story. But maybe he really had regressed several times—after going through all sorts of things, he must’ve become deeply distrustful of people.

Still, judging by the fact that he came looking for me again this time, he had clearly still worried about me.

I didn’t want to say anything rude to someone who came to help me, so I swallowed the words that nearly came out.

“Let’s figure out how to send it back to where it came from.”

See? He still had some humanity left.

That was the direction I wanted, so I hurriedly nodded.

“How?”

“We should ask the person involved directly. I’m going to the hospital to see that keychain myself while I’m at it.”

“But the teacher said only family can visit patients right now.”

“I’ll handle that. You should rest.”

Dan Seohyeok said that and stood up.

I grabbed the hem of his school jacket without thinking.

A questioning look followed.

“Why?”

S-so cold.

Slowly, very slowly, I let go and said,

“It’s nothing.”

How could I tell him I was scared of being left alone? He acted like he would do anything to find my brother.

Dan Seohyeok stared at me for a while, but in the end, he left the infirmary without saying anything else.

The infirmary, left to me alone, was filled with silence. The stillness made it feel strangely chilly, so I shrank into myself and rubbed my arms.

“How can you leave right after checking whether I woke up…?”

Of course, given the circumstances, it seemed like Dan Seohyeok was the one who had carried me here to the infirmary. So once again, I had gotten his help.

‘I didn’t even thank him properly. No, wait, he left too fast for me to say it.’

I tried to shake off my fear by thinking petty thoughts for no reason.

It didn’t work.

I was afraid that the terrifying ghost might attach itself to me too, but I was also worried about Chaesong.

‘Should I have gone with them?’

I hadn’t followed because I was afraid of seeing that keychain ghost again.

‘At this rate I can’t even use a spirit summoning ritual. Why are there so many scary things in the world?!’

They should just fill it with cute and pretty things instead!

I muttered irritably.

“Spirit summoning, spirit summoning. You rotten ghost, please just keep me safe.”

I didn’t have a red pen, nor a notebook to spin around. It was just an upset mutter to myself.

And then—

Flash!

I never expected the infirmary lights to suddenly go out because of that!

“Ahh!”

Startled, I yanked the blanket over myself and looked around.

‘D-don’t tell me the keychain ghost came looking for me? Did something already happen to Chaesong?’

Shaking, I scanned my surroundings. Even though the lights were off, it was still daytime outside, so it wasn’t completely dark.

Just as I was debating whether to run out of the infirmary—

Bright red letters began appearing on the white wall opposite me.

Should I help you?

The sentence looked as though someone were speaking to me, written in sticky blood.

An abnormal phenomenon that anyone could see would be enough to make me faint.

‘But this seems like a different ghost from the one I saw before.’

For some reason, it didn’t feel eerie so much as strange and unfamiliar.

That didn’t mean it wasn’t scary, though. I kept my mouth shut and stared at the wall when the writing disappeared and new words appeared.

No payment needed

Was this another trick to make me trust it?

I narrowed my eyes.

‘Red also asked me to help find his mom if I wanted information about Chohye.’

But some unfamiliar ghost with no connection to me was offering to help for free?

Even without Dan Seohyeok warning me, I’d know something was suspicious. Honestly, if it had mentioned a payment, I probably would have accepted it.

“I-I don’t need it.”

Of course, I did feel like grabbing onto a ghost’s pant leg if necessary. I wanted my brother’s safety and location, or at least for the ghost attached to Chaesong to be removed!

I just couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.

Maybe because I refused it, the writing on the wall didn’t respond for a while. I was hoping it had given up and disappeared when new words appeared.

Don’t put it back

A creepy message, as if it already knew Dan Seohyeok was planning to return the keychain doll to where it had originally been.

Do not burn it

“Then what exactly am I supposed to do….”

If I can’t burn it and I can’t return it, am I just supposed to sit here and let the ghost keep messing with me?!

A bitter laugh escaped me.

Right. Ghosts would never tell humans something useful.

I pressed hard against the tears stinging my eyes, and the writing on the wall vanished.

The lights that had gone out flickered back on.

Thunk.

Something fell in front of the bed I had been lying on.

“……A dagger?”

It looked old, but it was a proper dagger, complete with a sheath.

I reflexively picked it up and drew the blade.

A clean blade appeared, without even a trace of rust or blood.

‘Why did this suddenly…?’

Judging by the situation, it seemed like the ghost speaking through the wall had given it to me.

I turned the dagger over in my hands. It didn’t feel strange or scary at all…

‘Oh, right! I saw a keychain ghost and then touched something without even realizing it.’

I looked around to see if anything else was coming, then carefully placed it back on the bed.

You really shouldn’t touch things like this carelessly. If you’re unlucky, a new ghost might attach itself to you.

I hoped the infirmary teacher would just notice it and put it away.

‘I saw nothing!!’

When I left the infirmary, the quiet hallway showed that class was still in session.

It was still afternoon, so it was bright outside too.

The playground was empty.

I was loitering by the window, not wanting to go back to class, when I noticed something reflected in the glass.

‘Huh…?’

It wasn’t the keychain ghost.

The figure reflected in the window behind me was large, like an adult man—probably even bigger than Dan Seohyeok.

He was dressed in a strange military uniform that looked like something old soldiers might wear, and he had a long sword at his waist, making him look entirely out of place at a school. Maybe he would have fit in at a foreign movie set or a cosplay event.

He was wearing a military cap and had his head bowed low, so I couldn’t see his face. But beneath the brim, I could see neatly arranged blond hair and tightly closed lips.

Even that alone gave the impression that he was quite handsome.

“Wh-who are you…?”

I reflexively tried to start a conversation.

Even though everything about him screamed that he was not human.

My body was rigid with tension, but strangely enough, I didn’t feel the same eerie dread I had felt with the keychain ghost.

‘Why don’t I feel scared of this ghost?’

It was such a strange sensation. A ghost that made me nervous, but not afraid!

The man slowly raised a hand and pointed at me.

More precisely, he pointed toward the window I was looking at.

Take it

After saying that, the ghostlike man disappeared.

When I turned around, the dagger I’d left in the infirmary was lying on the hallway floor.