Chapter 52: Ch 52: The Imposter
Caught up in this serial killer ghost story, three minutes had passed since we
arrived in front of the mountain lodge in the middle of the forest.
The secondhand market buyer, who had gotten off their bike after us,
approached the cabin’s door.
He paused briefly when he noticed Baek Saheon and me standing there
first.
’...Looks like he recognized me.’
The secondhand market buyer seemed to recognize me, but I stayed silent,
pretending not to notice who he was.
Baek Saheon, ever eager, immediately began speaking in a friendly tone.
"Excuse me, are you the owner of this house? Sorry, but it seems we got on
the wrong bus. With this forest around us, there’s no signal. Would it be
okay if we made a quick call?"
"I also got lost and came here to ask for help."
"Oh... I see."
At that point, I turned to the buyer and pretended to be surprised.
"...!"
I widened my eyes slightly and gave a polite nod.
The buyer, already aware of who I was, didn’t seem particularly startled and
returned the gesture with a small nod of his own.
Meanwhile, Baek Saheon subtly started prying for more information about
him.
Clearly, he was trying to assess whether this person was weaker than him.
"Were you out here trekking for the weekend? This seems like a remote
place—are you a local?"
"...No. I’m not sure how I even got here. I definitely started in Seoul."
"Oh, really? Same with us! But there’s no signal here. Do you happen to
know how to get out of here or where we are?"
"...I’m not sure. Let’s go inside and ask."
"...Ah, right."
Baek Saheon, clearly disappointed with the lack of useful information,
clicked his tongue softly and glanced at the bike the buyer had arrived on.
And then he seemed to notice something.
The mark printed on the handlebars.
[Seoul Metropolitan Government #2153]
Obviously an official government-issued bike.
Having found an opening, Baek Saheon brightened and began to speak
again.
"Excuse me, are you perh—"
I lightly nudged his side.
He froze, clamped his mouth shut, and turned to look at me.
I slowly mouthed the words:
’Disaster Management Bureau.’
"...!"
’He must’ve heard at least once at work how terrible the relationship is
between the company and the Bureau.’
If this person found out who we were...
I subtly drew a finger across my throat.
Baek Saheon’s complexion turned pale.
From that moment on, he avoided speaking to the government employee
directly. Good. A wise choice.
"I’ll open the door."
I nodded to the civil servant, who had already reached for the door handle,
and he lightly opened the wooden door.
Creeeeak.
"Anyone here?"
The midday sunlight spilled into the slightly dim interior of the lodge.
And then—
"Ohhh, hey? More people are here!"
"Are you the owner of this place?"
People who had already arrived began to emerge.
A married couple who looked to be in their forties.
Three young adults in their twenties.
And a middle-aged man.
Six people in total.
Including the three of us, that made... nine.
’It’s starting.’
Suppressing the urge to groan, I stepped inside the cabin.
* * *
Everything proceeded as predictably as a cliché could.
The married couple claimed their GPS led them here.
"I mean, the GPS sent us to the wrong place, the car broke down, and our
phones don’t have any signal... It’s driving me crazy!"
"Huu. Honey, I told you so, didn’t I? We should’ve gone to Sapporo instead
of Sokcho!"
Three university students from a hiking club, who claimed to have gotten
lost.
"We parked right below the trail, though."
"Yeah, but... Ugh, this is so annoying."
And finally, a middle-aged man who’d been trying to catch the nearest bus
stop after finishing a shift as a designated driver.
"Aigoo. Still, seeing people around is such a relief. If we wait, the owner
should come, right?"
– And once the lodge owner shows up, the bloodbath begins?
Something like that.
I glanced around with the dead eyes of someone who had already given up.
I hadn’t even brought any decent items.
Living is hard, seriously...
’Focus only on myself. Just myself!’
We were soon asked questions by the others.
"What about you folks? What brings you here?"
"Oh, we’re just office workers. We must’ve gotten on the wrong bus while
heading out for fieldwork. This here is my supervisor, and I’m just an
employee."
Look at Baek Saheon subtly shifting responsibility onto me.
I took out my notepad.
Luckily, since I was still in my outdoor clothes, it was in my pocket,
making it easy to maintain my usual demeanor.
[Hello.]
"Huh? Why are you writing instead of speaking...?"
[My throat’s a bit sore.]
"Ahh."
The three university students turned away, looking unimpressed.
The married couple glanced at me and took a step back.
"Jeez, these colds going around lately must be really bad, huh?"
"You should at least wear a mask. What if you spread it to someone else?"
[I’m sorry. I’ll avoid speaking as much as possible and be careful.]
Baek Saheon shot me a disgusted look, as if I had become something
revolting. He’d been reacting like this all along, taking over the responses I
might have given.
"By the way, is that young man from your company too?"
"No, we met at the door, but... um."
The secondhand market buyer, a tall man with sharp eyes that gave him an
intimidating presence, replied politely.
"I’m a public servant from the Seoul City Hall."
Oh. He actually admitted it.
He briefly explained that he was a public servant and had gotten lost while
riding his bike.
And that was the end of it.
He conveniently left out the part where he worked for the Disaster
Management Bureau, and that we were all stuck in a ghost story where a
serial killer would soon be picking us off one by one, like a deadly game of
Russian roulette.
Still, people aren’t fools. They began to sense something was off.
"So all these people just happened to lose their way in broad daylight and
end up at this countryside lodge?"
"Maybe we’ve been bewitched or something."
"Hey! Don’t say such unlucky things."
The more people there are, the braver they get.
Even while bringing up ghosts, the group began glancing around the room
like it was some kind of curiosity show.
"Come to think of it, this place..."
"Looks pretty fancy, doesn’t it? Like one of those mansions rich families
had in every neighborhood back when we were kids."
They weren’t wrong.
The wooden lodge, built in a style popular a few decades ago, was a mix of
quaint charm, rustic wealth, and understated elegance.
"Oh, look over there! That’s a gold frame, isn’t it?"
On one side of the living room was a large framed picture, its frame
seemingly made of real gold.
But what caught my attention wasn’t the frame—it was what was inside.
+++
Joyful Mealtime
The rabbit bakes in the kitchen
The deer is caught in the backyard
The pigeon is fattened in the bedroom
The lamb is sliced in the living room
Boing, boing, the sound of hopping with laughter
The wooden floors beneath go bam, bam
The table, full
Humming, in the air
The family gathers round
Bon appétit
+++
"..."
No way.
’That’s blatant foreshadowing.’
– Hooh, could it be a metaphor for the upcoming murders?
It sure looks that way.
Yet no one here seemed to be particularly interested in horror or mystery
genres.
The university students claiming to be part of a hiking club chuckled
amongst themselves and even pocketed an ivory trinket from the side table
near the sofa.
’Oh.’
If one of them ends up being the first body tomorrow, I wouldn’t be
surprised.
Just as I thought that—
Clunk.
"...!!"
There was a sound from the kitchen at the back.
The shadow of the back door swinging open fell across the room.
And then, a figure slowly stepped through the open door.
The person, cloaked in an old, tattered hoodie with their face hidden and
body hunched, greeted us.
"Good afternoon, visitors of the lodge."
"...?!"
"I am the caretaker of this mountain lodge, here to serve you during your
stay."
Their voice was deep and formal, and they bowed politely, speaking in an
old-fashioned Seoul accent.
– Oh, a suspicious staff member!
Exactly. This is the classic ’butler of the murder mansion’.
Unlike my deadpan expression, the others seemed caught off guard by the
dissonance between the caretaker’s shabby appearance and refined speech.
"E-Excuse me, we’re not really guests. We just got lost and were hoping to
use a phone..."
"That’s not true. You’ve come to the right place."
"What?"
"You’re here to exchange the cassette tapes, aren’t you?"
Everyone froze.
"The ones in your pockets."
"...!"
As if hypnotized, they all reached into their pockets and pulled out objects.
They were all holding old ivory-colored cassette tapes, with the titles
scrawled out—just like Baek Saheon’s.
"That...!"
"How does everyone have those...?"
"The master of this lodge was a very wealthy man. During his lifetime, he
distributed those cassette tapes far and wide."
The group flinched.
"And he made a promise."
"W-What kind of promise?"
"’If you visit my lodge with one of these cassette tapes, I shall trade it for
anything I possess.’ That was his promise."
"...!"
"And even in death, that promise remains valid."
– An inheritance exchange! What a tempting bait.
Very obviously bait...
’Or maybe it’s so obvious that it works too well.’
Money has that certain magical power, after all.
Even as they laughed nervously, everyone’s eyes reflexively darted to the
display cases full of gold and celadon treasures.
The middle-aged man let out a booming laugh, half-jokingly grabbing the
golden frame as if testing his luck.
"Hah, so can I just take whatever I want like this?"
The lodge caretaker responded smoothly and politely.
"Of course. However, you will only be able to take it with you after three
days."
"What?"
Hm. As expected.
========================
Entrants are promised significant monetary rewards if they stay within
the Disaster for a designated period.
The ’designated period’ can range from a maximum of one week to a
minimum of 12 hours, tailored to the entrant’s capacity to endure for
the promised reward.
========================
"We give you three days to deliberate so you won’t waste your one and only
opportunity to exchange."
"I don’t need time to think!"
"Then you may leave now. However, the exchange will no longer be
possible."
The married couple clamped their mouths shut. It seemed the thought of
leaving behind free money was too bitter to swallow.
One of the student hikers in the group raised their hand from the back.
"Excuse me, so... can we ask for something outrageous? Like, ’Give me all
the inheritance’?"
"That is possible."
"...!!"
The hiker’s playful tone vanished in an instant.
"Can I ask for ownership of the lodge itself?"
"Yes."
"..."
The group’s expressions shifted.
’Now they want to believe.’
The uneasy chill in the air was gone, replaced with a sense of fortune as if
the kind of monetary windfall they’d only read about on the internet was
suddenly within reach.
Once the caretaker produced documents, including the will, their skepticism
transformed into certainty.
"This... this looks legit."
"Unbelievable..."
Even the cursing married couple’s demeanor changed.
"Forget the weekend trip, let’s tough it out. Worst case, we can call the
police, right?"
"Exactly! Wow, maybe this tape has some kind of charm on it, like from a
shaman’s talisman. It’s crazy how everyone ended up here."
The lodge caretaker even gave everyone time to make phone calls.
After finishing their calls, the group’s mood had turned lively, as if they
were part of some grand event.
The caretaker, observing them, bowed deeply.
"When so many visitors arrive at once, the order of exchange becomes very
important."
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense!"
"Yeah, like if the first person demands all the inheritance, it’s game over for
everyone else!"
"Therefore... priority will be given to those with the most cassette tapes."
"...!"
The group immediately glanced around at one another.
The three university students exchanged quick looks amongst themselves.
If grouped together, they had the most tapes.
"Wait, are we supposed to buy tapes off each other now?"
"I am merely explaining the rules. It is not mandatory. You are free to
negotiate your own exchange conditions as you see fit. The order is
important, after all."
"..."
A tense, meaningful silence passed between them.
"Shall I prepare your rooms, then? There are suitable bedrooms upstairs."
"Ah, yes."
"Sounds good. Let’s get the rooms sorted first..."
"Excuse me, hold on."
Baek Saheon’s voice cut through the group.
"I might have to leave due to urgent matters. Could you tell me the way out
of here?"
"Of course."
But that didn’t happen.
A moment later—
========================
Entrants will inevitably find themselves isolated at the disaster site for
various reasons.
The most common would be due to abnormal weather conditions such
as typhoons, heavy snowfall, or landslides.
========================
"A torrential downpour has caused a landslide outside, burying the roads.
Thankfully, the electricity remains functional, so your stay will be
unaffected."
"..."
Baek Saheon turned to me with an expression that practically screamed
’We’re fucked.’
’Exactly.’
I shrugged.
Now that things had reached this point, no one would be able to leave until
everything that was meant to happen had unfolded.
’Meanwhile, I’m racking my brain trying to figure out how to survive this
without losing my head.’
At least one small comfort was that there wouldn’t be any ghosts...
’...Just a serial killer.’
And wasn’t it obvious?
Every horror movie and mystery novel loves to use this twist, and ghost
stories are no different.
The killer...
One entrant will take on a special role within the narrative, embodying
the predator archetype—
...is among us.
—and this individual is often referred to as the serial killer.
I’ve got to find and avoid the person who would become the killer.
This individual will firmly believe that they are inheriting the
legendary murderer’s legacy and undergo mental and physical
transformation.
’Hmm.’
Unless... I could try a slightly different approach.
As I stroked my chin, I noticed the civil servant quietly leaving the group.
"I’ll step outside to check the weather."
"Go ahead."
I followed the civil servant out to the veranda.
The wind and rain were growing fierce, darkening the surroundings and
splashing enough to dampen our clothes. The downpour seemed loud
enough to mask any conversation.
Carefully shielding my notepad from the rain, I showed him a message.
[Excuse me, are you the person who bought the cookies? I’m
wondering if I might have mistaken you for someone else.]
Fortunately, the civil servant didn’t feign ignorance.
"Yes, that’s correct."
But he looked me up and down, as if assessing me.
Hmm.
I glanced around, pretending to check the area, and ensured no one was
watching us before scribbling another note, this time with a tense
expression.
[I’m sorry, but is this... some kind of strange situation?]
"..."
[It’s just odd that only people carrying cassette tapes got lost and ended
up here.]
[Do you think it’s... a ghost... or something?]
Considering that he already knew I had experience with paranormal
phenomena—after all, I’d sold him food tied to ghost stories—this level of
questioning shouldn’t seem out of place.
’The real issue is whether he thinks I entered this place intentionally.’
I’d much rather be treated as an innocent civilian. Depending on his
response, I’d decide how to position myself moving forward.
’Honestly, he’s most likely to give a safe answer like I’m not sure yet."
"You are correct."
...??
So direct?
The civil servant hesitated briefly before asking me,
"How did you come across the cassette tape?"
[Actually, I don’t have one myself... It’s my colleague who has one. It
gave me a bad feeling, so I told him to throw it away, but we ended up
here anyway after getting on the bus.]
"..."
The civil servant rested a hand on his chin, silent for a moment.
"Do you often find yourself in situations like this?"
I forced a sheepish smile, pretending to be awkward.
[Sometimes?]
"I see."
After another moment of hesitation, he continued,
"I am... well, something like a government agent."
He’s telling me this much?
[Really? Like a ghost-hunting 007?]
"...Yes."
[Wow!]
The expression on his face screamed ’This is not the time to be impressed.’
"At any rate, this is indeed a supernatural phenomenon. Be cautious. As
much as possible, stay close to me, or move in groups of at least three if it
can’t be avoided."
Hold on.
’He’s treating me like an even more harmless civilian than I expected.’
I wasn’t sure why, but this was good. I quickly responded.
[Thank you. But... what about the others?]
The civil servant answered firmly.
"You don’t need to worry about them."
Hmm.
[Would it be okay if I told my colleague—]
"No."
Heck.
Glancing toward the living room, the civil servant lowered his voice and
spoke softly, as if revealing a massive secret.
"Actually."
Actually?
"...There is a killer among us."
Oh.
Yeah.
I already knew, of course... but I couldn’t let that show.
Feigning shock, I hastily scribbled another note.
[A killer? How do you know that, sir??]
"This mountain lodge is no ordinary place. It’s never been publicly
disclosed, but similar incidents have occurred here multiple times. Guests
were murdered by a killer."
– Ah, a storied, legendary site where nightmares of the past are recreated...
Truly a fine preference.
Now’s not the time, Mr. Host.
"No matter how close you may be to someone, don’t trust them. And under
no circumstances should you open your door while alone in your room."
’Usually, isn’t it the person who barricades themselves in a room who ends
up dying first...?’
Regardless, I felt I’d confirmed a few key facts about both the civil servant
and this ghost story.
[Thank you.]
After expressing my gratitude and bidding him good night, I left the
veranda.
I felt a bit more at ease as I headed to my assigned room.
I had made up my mind about what to do.
"Huu."
I began inspecting the room.
I was looking for something specific.
– A weapon, I see.
Opening the wardrobe, I found two reasonably large, one-handed axes
hanging as decorative pieces.
"..."
It was terrifying and exhausting to carry, but there was no choice.
– Ah, this is going to be so very fun!
Now that things had come to this...
’I might as well strike first.’
Gripping one of the axes, I made my decision.
Serial killer? Fine. Let me have a go at it.
T/N: aaaahhhh this makes me want to play among us againnn