"Glad you all made it."
In the kitchen of the fifth shop, other flight attendants were already hiding.
Our code had been perfectly understood.
"My heart was pounding so hard on the way here, I thought I'd die...."
"Haah.... It's not like we could keep hiding forever."
FLICK.
Gam Doyeong tapped my forehead with his finger.
"Clever. Real clever. Are you insane?"
"Senior Gam Doyeong, what happened with the masks...."
"I was about to tell you, so barricade the door first."
Everyone latched the shop's windows and blocked the door with a large gourd jar and a wooden cabinet.
Gam Doyeong checked outside the window, then spoke in a low voice.
"The place I lured the masks to was a washing area at the end of the street. It's right below a high bridge, so I planned to dump them all in at once and bolt. That's when I found something interesting."
"Something interesting?"
"When they all fell in the water together, they started howling like they had rabies and thrashed around in every direction. Then they started bubbling and just... disappeared."
Everyone's eyes went wide at Gam Doyeong's words.
"Disappeared completely? Those disgusting things, without a trace?"
Jeong Siun asked, disbelieving.
"The white masks from their faces just floated away on the water. I watched just in case, but they didn't regenerate."
When we'd first encountered the masked figure, Jeong Siun had thrown a vase at it.
The mask had screamed even louder after being hit, but come to think of it, the water inside the vase could have been the real cause!
On top of that, we'd already discovered that cinnabar ink was a critical weakness for the jiangshi.
Given that both the jiangshi and the masks had the same Chinese character on them, their weaknesses might be the same too.
"Then if we mix those two together...!"
"We can take it out in one shot."
Gam Doyeong said with a grin.
"Finally found the answer. It's already been three hours since we entered this ghost story."
"Right, I've been wondering about this for a while. I haven't experienced it myself yet, but what happens if the time limit runs out?"
Everyone perked up at Jeong Siun's question.
'I've been curious about that too.'
Previously, during the Duty-Free Luxury Hall Ghost Story, it was stated that once the Type 1 time limit expires, the ghost story ends immediately.
So does the same apply to Type 2?
"You get kicked out. Ejected from the ghost story back to reality."
Gam Doyeong said, as if it were the most obvious thing.
"Hm? Then isn't that an automatic escape?"
"Instead, the failed ghost story can only be re-entered by the same people who got kicked out, and they have to keep going in until they clear it—no other assignments until it's resolved. Same as dying in a game and respawning."
So in other words, if we fail this one, flights get postponed indefinitely until it's cleared...
"Let's finish this in two hours."
At my words, Jeong Siun and the other flight attendants nodded.
The simplest, cleanest plan was to lure the jiangshi to the same washing area and dump all the cinnabar ink on it the moment it fell in.
We'd seen its body melt, so it should work.
"Then two people pour the cinnabar ink at the right timing, and the rest handle the luring."
"Just in case, let's set a trap. If the lure doesn't work, it'll all be for nothing."
I looked around the shop and carefully detached something hanging from the ceiling.
We slipped out the back door and headed toward the end of the street where the washing area was, using the alley behind the shops.
Before long, there was a single long stone bridge roughly ten meters high.
And directly below it was the washing area and river Gam Doyeong had described.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH.
We climbed carefully down the hillside path next to the bridge and surveyed the area.
Sure enough, several formless masks were draped around the washing area.
I pulled out the object I'd taken from the shop earlier. It was a round, red lantern.
I folded the bottom tightly to prevent any gaps, then poured river water and half the cinnabar ink inside and mixed them.
"Basically a water bomb."
"Even a makeshift one is reassuring to have."
Since pouring the cinnabar ink directly into the river would obviously carry it away with the current, Jeong Siun and another female flight attendant agreed to stay hidden by the water.
I picked up one of the masks floating in the river and held it to my face.
"Why are you putting that on?"
When another male flight attendant asked, I tied the mask's strap firmly around my head and answered.
"Every time a mask got hurt, the jiangshi ground its teeth. If I wear this, it'll be so furious it'll chase me for sure."
"Certified lunatic."
Gam Doyeong shook his head with a laugh, then picked up a mask himself.
The three of us designated as lures—me, Gam Doyeong, and the male flight attendant—each cradled a cinnabar ink lantern and headed for the plaza.
TING— DING.
Festive music still flowed merrily, and people danced beautifully.
Of course, the phones Jeong Siun and I had left behind were still playing music on full blast.
I took slow, deep breaths, steadying my heart so I wouldn't panic.
THUD,
THUD THUD,
THUD THUD THUD,
THUD,
THUD.
As though asking if we'd finally shown ourselves, the jiangshi's hopping echoed from the distance without anyone needing to call it.
『 捉迷藏。』
Hide-and-seek.
Its face half-melted, I met those murderous eyes head-on.
'I can't let it see me shaking.'
I barely managed to hide my trembling hands behind my back.
CRACK CRACK CRACK.
Seeing the stark white masks on my and Gam Doyeong's faces, the jiangshi bared its nails to razor points.
Its face, twisted with rage, was more fearsome than the King of Hell himself, and so furious that the blood vessels in its eyes had burst, sending bloody tears streaming down.
One wrong move and I might get torn limb from limb.
THUUUD—!
Then the jiangshi leaped without even its usual stationary wind-up.
Its jump was aimed at the male flight attendant, the closest one.
"AAAAAAHH!"
Startled, the male attendant hurled his lantern skyward.
Still airborne, the jiangshi twisted its body. The lantern sailed wide, and the jiangshi seized the attendant by the throat and took him down.
『我会让你付出代价。』
I'll make you pay.
"Ghhk!"
The jiangshi grabbed the thrashing attendant's leg, ripped the bell from his ankle, and crushed it in its grip.
CRUNCH—!
The silver bell shattered completely.
"Guh, ghhhk! Cough, no, ghhk!"
Blue spots began spreading from the captured attendant's throat, slowly creeping down to his arms and legs.
Like mold growing on food—white and blue, blooming everywhere.
The attendant kept spewing tears, snot, and saliva, coughing without pause.
"Can't, ghk, breathe, cough!"
He retched against the ground, his complexion gradually turning blue. Then his thrashing legs went limp.
'D-don't tell me...'
"Hey, it's not what you're thinking, so get a grip."
I checked—the attendant had only lost consciousness. His chest was still moving ever so slightly.
GRIIIND—
The jiangshi ground its pointed teeth, then turned to look at the remaining two—Gam Doyeong and me.
"Run!"
At Gam Doyeong's signal, we both sprinted toward the washing area.
SPLASH—!
Gam Doyeong hurled his lantern at the jiangshi barreling toward us.
The lantern struck a shop wall and exploded, red liquid bursting out like a bomb.
A bit of the burst liquid splashed onto the charging jiangshi's arm, and smoke immediately billowed up.
The jiangshi howled like a beast and locked its eyes on Gam Doyeong.
CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER.
We ran until our soles could have worn through, racing toward the target: the washing area.
The bridge leading to the washing area was almost within reach now.
"Pour it now!"
The moment the bridge came into view, I shouted so the two people waiting below at the washing area could hear.
Just as a faint relief began to rise, a massive THUD came from beside me.
"Senior!"
The jiangshi's arm had stretched grotesquely, finally grabbing Gam Doyeong's leg.
THUD—!
"Ghrrk......"
The jiangshi slammed its palm down onto the fallen Gam Doyeong's back.
『 抓住了。』
Caught you.
The jiangshi spoke, its red eyes curving into crescent moons.
Then its fingers, joints twisted and warped, seized a fistful of Gam Doyeong's hair.
"Ggk......"
Gam Doyeong grimaced, cold sweat running down his face.
The jiangshi wasn't simply trying to destroy the bell and eliminate him—it seemed intent on outright annihilating him, tearing its mouth open impossibly wide.
Its countless shark-like teeth were about to sink into the back of Gam Doyeong's skull.
'No...!'
Through this ordeal, I learned something about myself: when my mind makes a decision, my body moves first.
SPLAAASH—!
I dumped the lantern I was carrying directly over my own head.
The moment my hair and shirt were soaked through, I dove at the jiangshi.
"You!?"
I heard Gam Doyeong's bewildered shout.
Wrapping my arms tightly around the jiangshi's torso,
WHOOOOOOOOSH.
I leaped off the bridge, taking the jiangshi with me.
HISSSSSSSS—!
As we plummeted at terrifying speed, a massive cloud of smoke erupted around the jiangshi along with the sound of searing.
『啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊!』
AAAAAAAAAHHHH!
I pressed my body even tighter against the jiangshi.
Because I was drenched in water mixed with cinnabar ink, the jiangshi writhed in excruciating agony, thrashing nonstop.
As if it refused to die like this, the jiangshi still flailed its grotesquely transformed arms, trying to grab my throat.
GRIP.
With the resolve that even if I left this world, I was taking it with me, I squeezed my arms even harder around the jiangshi.
WHOOOOSH.
SPLASH!
"Cheongho!"
I thought I faintly heard Jeong Siun's panicked shout.
'Urrgh!'
The impact of hitting the water nearly knocked me unconscious on the spot.
The drop from the bridge was a good ten meters.
The river was deep enough that the fall didn't kill me.
But the impact of striking the surface was staggering.
If the washing area had been even a little shallower, my body would have been obliterated.
'Wh-where's the jiangshi!?'
I pried open my stinging eyes and looked around.
With only moonlight barely reaching into the water, I couldn't tell what was what.
'I can't breathe......!'
I clawed through the water and had just barely surfaced when—
"GAHK!"
Something long and pointed seized my ankle and dragged me back under in an instant.
'What!?'
『以牙还牙，以眼还眼。』
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
With bloodshot crimson eyes, the jiangshi was gripping my ankle tight.
From its face down to the hand clamped on my ankle, its pallid skin was peeling off in rolls, like apple peel.
The muscles and bones beneath the skin were fully exposed. The sight was so shocking that my mind went blank.
'Mmph, mmrrgh! Mmph!'
I kicked desperately to shake free of the jiangshi's hand.
Then the jiangshi tore the bell tied to my ankle, finally releasing its grip.
I barely managed to crawl out of the water.
"Cough, cough cough, cough!"
Water that had surged mercilessly into my nose and mouth sent me into a fit of violent coughing.
"Are you okay!?"
"Cough, ghk, cough. Not, okay... cough!"
Jeong Siun rushed over and pounded my back over and over.
SPLASH—!
While I was retching and spitting water, the jiangshi burst out of the water in an instant.
『啊…啊……啊…。』
Ah...ah......ah....
Thanks to the river water infused with cinnabar ink, the jiangshi's skin had melted away, and now half its body had dissolved.
Ribs poked through everywhere, and one arm and leg looked ready to fall off at any moment.
Even its sclera had melted, its eyes barely held together by the pupils and skeletal frame alone.
The jiangshi opened its quivering mouth.
CRACK.
Its jaw dislocated on the spot and splashed into the river.
"Ugh, urgh, shit...."
Jeong Siun wore the most horrified expression imaginable and cursed under his breath.
Jingle.
Now reduced to only three fingers, the jiangshi raised its hand and showed us something.
It was the silver bell that, until just moments ago, had been securely fastened to my ankle.
The jiangshi slowly lifted the corners of its mouth and shook the bell, as if to taunt us.
"Cough, my bell...!"
Shoving back the breath surging in my chest, I simply ran.
As though nothing else could be heard, as though nothing else existed.
I dove back into the river, straight toward the jiangshi.
"Why are you going back in there!?"
"Hey! Have you lost your mind!?"
Jeong Siun, eyes wide, and Gam Doyeong, who'd come down the hillside path at some point, both screamed.
I reached out with everything I had.
And as if to flaunt it, the jiangshi—
CRUNCH—!
—crushed the bell to powder, like snapping a biscuit.
"Ghrrk!"
The instant the bell shattered, it felt like a massive wad of cotton had lodged in my esophagus.
My throat was sealed shut. I couldn't breathe at all.
But the bell hadn't been my target.
When the jiangshi had burst out of the water, something had caught my eye before the bell.
In its chest, where the melted body fully exposed the ribcage, a small yellow piece of paper was tied up in a crumpled state.
I steadied my staggering body through sheer willpower alone and snatched the paper.
Then I immediately flung it out of the water.
"This is... a talisman!?"
"That crazy bastard...! You, hurry and fix the strokes!"
Jeong Siun caught the real talisman I'd thrown.
Gam Doyeong tossed the one remaining brush and cinnabar ink to Jeong Siun, then barely managed to catch me as I collapsed forward.
"Hah, hahk, ggk, ghhk!"
Like blue flowers in bloom, blue mold covered half my ceaselessly trembling hands.
'Shit, this hurts way too much......!'
It was far more agonizing than coughing up water.
My nostrils and esophagus felt stuffed full of hot sauce, a searing burn filling everything.
This isn't a gas chamber drill—what the hell is this!?
Now I finally understood why the attendant who'd been caught earlier had kept clawing at her throat.
Tears and drool poured out on their own, and I too kept scratching at my throat.
"No, don't scratch!"
"Cough cough cough, ggk, let, ghhk, let go, cough!"
"I said don't scratch!"
Gam Doyeong pinned both my arms and pushed my head down low.
"Hey, you done!?"
"It's finished!"
Jeong Siun raised the yellow talisman high.
天長地久
From the jiangshi's eyes, now nothing but exposed sockets, jet-black liquid like lacquer trickled out in drops.
『……捉…迷…藏……。』
......Hide...and...seek......
SHLURRR—
The jiangshi's eyeballs popped out, and its entire body melted into a viscous, black mass.
The red river water mixed with the remains and turned foul.
FWOOOOSH.
And in an instant, the suffocating sensation vanished, blown away as if by the wind.
Simultaneously, a familiar and welcome dizziness washed over me.