Chapter 24- Match Girl (2)
Crack!
The sound of firewood burning.
I faced the match girl once again before my eyes.
【Make a wish. I’ll grant any wish.】
At the match girl’s sudden offer to grant a wish, I instinctively flinched.
This creature.
Why did it come so quickly?
I actually didn’t expect to encounter this creature so soon. So I was startled.
【What wish will you make?】
【I’m excited! Really excited! Aren’t you?】
A vibrant girl’s voice reminiscent of a tomboy. But in reality, the appearance of this creature called a tomboy girl is.
Crack, crack!
Burnt black, truly like a lump of charcoal.
If you briefly glance at the silhouette of that charcoal lump, it has the form of a girl… or, maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, an ambiguous appearance.
Where eyes should be, two embers burning in circular shapes stared at me.
Crack!
Crack, crack!
Crack, crack, crack!
…surprisingly, it’s warm.
While Park Yeon-jeong was briefly warming himself by the living, moving firewood before him.
The match girl seemed to have been waiting for someone’s answer all this time.
Who is that someone, you ask?
【What are you doing! So what’s your wish?!】
【Tell me! Hurryyyyyyyy!!】
Ah, it was me.
I momentarily forgot because of the creature’s warmth.
Now I’ve even witnessed the rare sight of a ghost story throwing a tantrum at a human.
Crack, crack, crack, crack!
Every time the match girl moves impatiently for a wish. The sound of firewood burning with the surrounding air grows louder and louder.
From my position watching this scene with my own eyes, along with the thought that I want to escape this ghost story as quickly as possible.
【Quickly wi…】
“I understand!”
I said I would make a wish as the match girl so desperately wanted.
Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!
And as if excited by my response.
It started jumping around here and there before coming straight to me.
Suddenly!
【What’s your wish?! I’m already curious! I’m going crazy with curiosity!!】
Flinch.
Seeing it up close, its bizarreness and powerful heat begin to scorch my skin even more.
The fact that such heat can be fully felt even in severe cold means.
Right now, it is.
Like a living furnace.
Stay away.
Unless you’re a true masochist wanting to experience the pain of cooking flesh.
【Here, take it!】
It stretched its blackened, burnt arm toward me and handed over a single match.
Is this match fire-resistant MAX?
To maintain its original form without burning in the hands of that living furnace…
When I took the match, the girl’s excitement grew even more.
【Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry…】
To stop hearing that piercing whining voice as soon as possible.
“My wish is…”
【!!!!】
Holding out the match, I made my wish.
“I would like to receive a cute teddy bear keyring as a gift. Of course, it should be light enough for an infant to hold, and even if the keyring flies at me unavoidably, I want to receive a soft cotton doll that won’t cause injury. Additionally, I request it be an inanimate object without consciousness…”
This is my wish.
【……………】
The match girl did not give an immediate response after hearing my wish.
The only thing showing movement here now is.
Whoosh.
The match that started to burn and flame up after hearing my grand wish.
The match, burning faster than expected, soon turned to ash in Park Yeon-jeong’s hand and disappeared with the wind, when.
Thud.
Something small suddenly fell from the sky, lightly hit Park Yeon-jeong’s head, and fell to the floor.
What hit Park Yeon-jeong’s head and fell was.
A small teddy bear keyring.
The weight of the keyring is.
-Not too heavy for an infant to hold.
The material of the teddy bear felt in the palm.
-Even if the keyring flies at someone, made of soft material that absolutely won’t hurt others.
Finally,
-Without consciousness, just an ordinary teddy bear we can see in everyday life.
That teddy bear is currently.
In my hand.
Unlike the man’s quite satisfied face.
The two burning circles that had maintained their shape until just now.
Narrowed into thin ovals, glaring at the man.
【You……are really no fun.】
Crack!!
This time the sound of sparks flying was incomparably stronger than before, making the entire space resonate.
After hearing my boring wish, the match girl soon emitted powerful heat with her entire body, and simultaneously.
Bang!
With a loud explosion.
She burst before my eyes.
Where she had gone, only black ash powder darkened the floor.
The match girl who disappeared in anger.
Conversely, the man who had directly witnessed the match girl’s anger.
Grin.
His smile stretched ear to ear.
Wearing a teddy bear costume that didn’t suit him at all.
A face full of joy at having gotten one over on the ghost story.
The first case of completely figuring out a ghost’s gimmick without any harm.
[Match Girl]
What could be called the peculiarity of this ghost story is that the match girl she just handed to me is the trigger here.
The original ability of the match girl is to reinterpret the wishes of the subject according to her own taste.
The core of the current ghost story is not ‘wish for three wishes you want on the match.’
But ‘don’t wish for something that would kill you.’
The key to this ghost story is to make cute wishes that are furthest from murderous intent, leaving no room for her delusions to intervene when making wishes.
Park Yeon-jeong’s plan going forward is as follows.
-Neutralize the remaining 2 wishes with cute wishes as well.
-Finish with the newly acquired ‘final trigger’ item at the end.
Perfect, right?
It couldn’t be more perfect.
End of simple and clear plan presentation.
Park Yeon-jeong thought that this time, he could really clear the ghost story smoothly.
But
What would have been most curious here.
What if he had honestly expressed his true desires on the match given by the match girl?
=======
Deputy Department head Kim Min-seop whispered his honest desire to the match given by the match girl’s persuasion.
-I want to…[censored] with a beautiful woman.
To his honest and obscene desire, the match girl’s burning eyes sparkled, and the match granted his wish.
Soon after, in front of Deputy Department head Kim Min-seop, a woman wearing not a single piece of cloth despite the severe cold approaches him, folding her thick thighs beside him.
The woman approached Deputy Department head Kim Min-seop and gently caressed his something with her right hand.
Deputy Department head Kim Min-seop released a moan, and the beautiful woman, while firmly grasping his something.
Ripped ‘it’ off in one swift motion.
【Ways of love are all different. And that woman is an ‘S’. She particularly likes hearing men scream.】
Deputy Department head Kim Min-seop / Death by shock.
=======
No matter how much her sexual preference is ‘S’…
This is the fate of someone who gave the match girl an opening.
So, to such a guy,
I shouldn’t give any room.
I shouldn’t give them any opportunity to find fault with me during the wish-making process.
And probably.
The match girl won’t appear before me for a while.
She must have lost interest in me as a person because of the wish I just made.
So now is the chance.
Now is the perfect opportunity to take out the item.
First, to take out the item.
I needed to take off this bear costume I’m wearing.
Ugh!
Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult to take it off.
Whoosh!
As expected, it’s cold!
…Should I put it back on?
As soon as I took off the bear costume, a chill pierced through my skin.
In weather perfect for freezing to death, I hastily pulled out the revolver from inside my ID card with trembling hands.
Got it!
Now, what I have to do next is.
Rustle, rustle.
Quickly put the winter gear back on.
The man’s urgent movements as he voluntarily enters the bear costume’s mouth.
Learning from the experience of being swallowed once before.
Park Yeon-jeong fitted all his body parts into the right positions inside the bear costume more quickly than before.
“…Ah, finally I can survive.”
Now that he had prepared the last item he needed.
He had nothing to fear anymore.
Crackle!
Perfect timing.
Just as all preparations were completed, along with the sound of burning wood.
The match girl appeared before me again.
The match girl staring at me with her characteristic burning gaze and narrowed eyes.
She must have been quite displeased with my wish.
She would have realized that the wish I just made was an obvious attempt to deviate from the direction she had intended.
But no matter how obvious it was, there was nothing she could do.
If I had made a vague wish, she would have gladly tried to kill me.
This is self-defense.
And it was the match girl herself who told me to make any wish I wanted when I entered her space.
That’s the rule she set here.
Since she only moves according to the rules she sets, she won’t intervene as long as I don’t break the rules.
【You, hurry up and make a wish.】
A short, curt response, different from before, and her cold attitude.
But no matter how scary the atmosphere she creates.
The wish I’m going to make won’t change.
Within the framework of the wish I just mentioned.
I again wished for only the appearance to change from a ‘bear doll’ keyring to a ‘rabbit doll’.
Whoosh.
Thud.
Once again, an utterly ordinary rabbit-shaped keyring fell limply in front of Park Yeon-jeong.
【………Tsk.】
Crackle.
Without a word, the match girl granted my boring wish and vanished somewhere suddenly.
Now there was only one wish left.
Just one wish remaining.
Except for the bone-chilling cold I felt as soon as I entered this place, everything was going smoothly.
Let’s keep it this way.
Swing, swing!
Once again, the bear costume’s arms moved as they pleased.
Our first bear costume waved its arms up and down, happy to see me feeling relieved.
……Sigh.
I was hoping the next ghost story would continue in the same vein as this one.
Crackle.
……?
A familiar sound.
At the sound of sparks hitting my ears, Park Yeon-jeong turned his head toward the sound.
Crackle!
A black lump of coal the size of a small child was standing before my eyes.
A burning gaze staring blankly at me.
She was… smiling.
【Oh? There wasn’t just one?】
A smile spread across the match girl’s lips, which until just now had shown no trace of amusement.
It was definitely a smile for anyone to see.
Not just one?
While I couldn’t figure out what the match girl meant by that.
Twitch.
Park Yeon-jeong’s right arm trembled slightly just now.
It wasn’t him who moved it.
Park Yeon-jeong’s gaze fell on the bear costume he was currently wearing.
……!!!
=======
/Ghost story Journal
[Match Girl]
:Identification Code Cd-D-111
.
.
.
Physical restraint possible.
No mental damage.
Exploration limited to 1 person. (Intelligent beings only.)
=======
Grin.
The match girl’s body, covered in black soot, begins to glow red.
【Bad adults who break the rules.】
Crackle.
Along with the distinct sound of sparks near my ears.
【Don’t deserve to make wishes.】
Crackle.
Around the match girl, who started burning red, black ash began to swirl fiercely.
Soon the black ashes began to form individual shapes.
The forms made of ash were behind her, resembling humans.
Crazy!
Park Yeon-jeong immediately started running in the opposite direction. But she wouldn’t just stand by watching that.
【It’s okay! Don’t be scared! It’s only natural that people who break the rules should be punished!】
Her voice afterward was mixed with severe noise.
【Dooon’t yoooou■ thi■■ink sooo?!?!】
Many ash humans made of gray ash began to chase Park Yeon-jeong with a voice that was extremely bizarre.
The running speed of those creatures made of ash was alarming.
Just when he thought he would be caught by those pursuing him at a speed he could never achieve.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!
………Huh?
Somehow my legs feel light.
And unlike until just now when rough breaths were rising to the tip of my chin.
Now it’s not hard at all.
I’m not getting tired.
This moment is like.
The feeling of having the limited physical limiter of being human released.
Could this be.
That so-called… ‘awakening’?
I’ve heard that people exert transcendent power in moments of crisis.
And now.
Park Yeon-jeong was feeling with his whole body that he had become that transcendent being.
At this rate, he could escape.
He could get away from them.
Park Yeon-jeong, who had belatedly forgotten that his body had also been trained while penetrating numerous ghost stories, ran with all his might.
He thought that at this speed, it would be a piece of cake to shake them off.
Up ahead, the road split into two paths.
In such cases, right turns were usually the best bet.
Park Yeon-jeong planned to use that logic and turn right.
Swoosh!
……?
But the direction he turned was.
Left, not right.
This obvious difference in choice, when Park Yeon-jeong raised a question mark over his head.
His gaze fell on the bear costume he was wearing.
………Aha!
I was inside the body of the first bear costume’s body right now.
Awakening?
Transcendent being?
The sudden bout of adolescent delusions that hit Park Yeon-jeong ended sooner than expected.
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