I looked out the window.
…Fog was rolling in.
The clean, four-lane streets of Seoul we had been traveling on were shifting into winding, unpaved roads.
“……!”
I stood up from my seat.
The passengers in the front rows had disappeared.
The only other person still present was the bus driver.
“……”
The driver was now wearing a worn, old-fashioned cap.
The kind that might’ve been used when buses operated with a more formal air decades ago.
With gloved hands, the driver casually hummed as they reached for the radio.
Click.
And what came through the speakers was…
Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
The same humming from the cassette tape.
“……!”
Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
The humming filled the bus.
The modern low-floor bus that had been driving through Seoul had transformed into an old, rickety bus with rows of single-file seats.
Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
“Don’t look back.”
It was already too late.
Baek Saheon, his face pale, gripped the handrail and stared straight ahead.
I tried not to focus too closely on the fog clearing outside and fixed my gaze forward.
The narrow trail was becoming an aged, paved road.
The rickety old bus that had been rattling down a rough country path began to slow.
[This stop is ‘Horizon Mountain Lodge’.]
“……”
The destination came into view.
Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
The humming now flowed through the radio with an unmistakable melody.
It was a minor-key, upbeat pop tune from the 1980s or ’90s.
As the bus doors opened, I looked outside.
[Horizon Mountain Lodge]
A grand mountain villa with a sign in elegant, antique lettering stood before us.
“……”
Ha.
“…You’re getting off?”
Yeah.
As much as I wanted to curse out loud, I held back.
I stood up and stepped toward the open door.
From behind, I could hear Baek Saheon muttering something that sounded suspiciously like cussing as he hurriedly followed me off the bus.
The bus doors closed behind us and drove away, carrying the humming melody with it.
“……”
“……”
Baek Saheon mumbled, sounding slightly relieved.
“At least the song’s gone, and the tape isn’t here, so the situation’s better than befo—”
“Check your pocket.”
“What?”
“Put your hand in your pocket and check.”
“……”
Baek Saheon looked at me with a dazed expression, then quickly shoved his hand into his coat pocket.
What he pulled out was…
The old cassette tape he claimed to have thrown away earlier.
“……!!”
Baek Saheon moved to toss the cassette again, but I grabbed his arm and stopped him.
“It’s too late. You might as well get ready to go in.”
“Go in whe—”
“Over there.”
I pointed toward Horizon Mountain Lodge.
Now that we’d come this far, running away was useless.
All it would do was waste energy and leave us crawling back to this ‘story’s focal location’ after a series of needless struggles.
‘We might as well go in and try to figure out the situation early.’
– Mr. Roe Deer, you move as if you already know what’s going to happen! Could it be that you recognize this story?
Braun, picking up on how much I knew about paranormal phenomena, prattled on.
And… he was right.
‘…Yeah.’
The keywords were all there.
Serial killer.
A lure involving a mode of transportation.
An object cursed to return to its owner’s pocket no matter what.
And…
I lifted my head to look at the destination.
‘…Horizon Mountain Lodge.’
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
[And Then There Was One]
: A ghost story featured in <Dark Exploration Records>
: Disaster Management Bureau identification code – 1489PSYA.1991.라84
A tale of individuals being murdered one by one by a serial killer in an isolated, suspicious location. A variation of the classic closed-circle mystery novel and B-grade slasher movie.
It is a Crutch-sanctioned disaster, which can be sealed with the presence of nine people.
Every four years, the Disaster Management Bureau recruits or drafts participants to contain it.
========================
This ghost story’s identity was something I inferred through the same process I’d used countless times in my recent work experience.
But this time, there was a critical difference.
‘The affiliation…!’
This wasn’t a Darkness from Daydream Inc.
It was a ghost story isolated by the government—or one to be isolated in the future.
A so-called ‘disaster’!
What’s the difference, you ask?
Unlike the corporation’s Darknesses, which were exploited as raw materials for profit, the government operated under a completely different set of rules.
The Disaster Management Bureau existed solely to prevent loss of life or significant property damage.
At least, that was the official justification.
Thus, the Bureau prioritized isolating anything that absolutely should not exist in the civilian world.
In other words… frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Someone had to die.
Whether it was cleared, someone got trapped, or the attempt ended in failure or success—
Every outcome involved a guaranteed casualty.
‘Once you’re involved, it’s a confirmed kill.’
Cold sweat ran down my spine.
This was something the government had deemed impossible to resolve without at least one death.
And now I was about to walk straight into the middle of it.
I won’t even get any points from this!
‘Baek Saheon, this hopeless little shit!’
I wanted to curse him out and punch his last remaining eye, but…
‘It’d just waste time.’
“Excuse me, Supervisor!”
Ignoring Baek Saheon, I sighed and walked toward the lodge’s front door.
Just as I took a deep breath and prepared to knock—
Drring—
The sound of a bicycle bell came from behind me.
Turning around, I saw a bicycle pulling up to this secluded house in the woods, with someone riding it.
– Oh, look, another arrival! Someone else who picked up the item!
No kidding.
Another poor soul caught in this cursed ghost story.
I held back a sigh and looked over, only to freeze in shock.
“……!”
I recognized the figure getting off the bike.
More precisely, I didn’t know his face, but his outfit was unmistakable.
Dark clothes, a hat pulled low, and a mask covering his face.
‘…Salmon Market!’
It was the same person I had sold cursed food to earlier today near Gwanghwamun Station.