Chapter 29
As I was experiencing the overwhelming fear of Kim Ha-eun approaching with an already half-crazed look in her eyes.
“…….”
Step step step step!
Kim Ha-eun began running toward me.
Heek!
“I, I was wrong! Please spare my life!”
Thud!
Suddenly, Kim Ha-eun jumped into my arms.
My heart pounded as if it would burst.
With the strong pressure I felt against my chest, I thought I was going to die right there.
But.
……huh?
It didn’t… hurt.
Far from hurting, it just felt a little suffocating.
Despite having fallen into my arms, Kim Ha-eun didn’t launch any attack. I couldn’t even feel her moving at all.
What is this?
What could it be?
…Ex, excuse me?
Is this some new method of torture or something?
I grabbed both of her drooping shoulders and checked her face.
…This woman.
She had fainted.
Perhaps even climbing onto the bus and walking here had been a miracle for her.
But for now.
“………I survived.”
I survived.
My heart, which felt like it was about to burst, gradually calmed down.
Fortunately having saved my life, I let out a sigh of relief and.
I was planning to lay Kim Ha-eun down on a nearby bench once we reached the next stop and quietly return home by myself.
You’re just going to leave a woman on the street and go?
-You irresponsible man!
-Your have no morals!
-This is truly the worst.
…Think whatever you want.
Those who say such things are just hypocrites spouting empty words who haven’t personally experienced what kind of woman Kim Ha-eun is.
In my eyes, this woman called Kim Ha-eun is.
Not a woman.
Just a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment.
And if anyone approaches our unconscious time bomb with impure intentions.
That person will be the protagonist decorating the front page of tomorrow’s news.
Congratulations.
You too can become a protagonist!
Though you won’t be alive to receive that attention.
And in the first place, anyone who touches an unconscious woman’s body is in the wrong.
It’s all self-inflicted.
Park Yeon-jeong immediately looked for the stop button to get off at another station.
He wanted to be away from this troublesome woman as soon as possible.
But.
……what is this?
It’s not there.
The stop button that should obviously be on the bus doesn’t come into view.
Has the bus policy changed without my knowledge?
And it’s been too foggy outside the window. As if we’re moving through mist, I can’t see outside properly.
As inexplicable questions continued to pile up.
【The next stop is ‘Greed’.】
【Passengers, please check the register you are holding in advance. Please do not confuse the location of the stop where you need to get off.】
………What?
A registry?
Is it a trend these days to do unusual collaborations with bus companies?
And the name of the next stop just now was strange.
‘Greed’?
While I was looking at the current situation with a bewildered gaze.
Screech.
The bus stopped.
The rear door of the bus opened, and I, who was about to get off at this stop.
Did not get off.
Somehow, I just had a bad feeling.
I felt like if I got off here, I would encounter something unimaginable.
I hurriedly hung the employee ID that I had put in my pants pocket around my neck.
And immediately wore my top of the class glasses.
Honestly, I hoped it was just a groundless fear.
I hoped this chilling sensation I felt was just a groundless fear… just my simple overreaction.
Soon after, when no one got off at this stop, the bus driver.
Screech.
The rear door closes.
I hoped this bus was a normal bus without any problems.
But.
The bus that doesn’t immediately depart again.
My gaze soon turned to the front door that opened belatedly.
……Was there someone in front who wanted to get on.
I continued to watch the situation while holding my breath, and soon a shadow of someone extending into the bus.
Thud.
!!
A man climbing the bus steps with difficulty.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry. I’m a bit slow in walking. I apologize to everyone!”
With a hearty laugh, a man who boarded the bus belatedly came into view.
At the man’s words saying he took a long time to run here because his walking was slow, my gaze blankly looked at the lower part of the man’s body.
Were his pants unusual?
Was there something on his pants?
Could he be a pervert who wasn’t wearing pants!
……All wrong.
That man.
Has no legs.
In the place that should be called the lower body, nothing existed.
A miserable state as if the lower body had been cleanly cut off by someone.
But the man boarded the bus so nonchalantly. And apologized to me.
“Sorry, young man!”
Thud!
With a dragging sound, the man crawled toward Park Yeon-jeong.
“Did you wait long?”
“……No, sir.”
“…………Really?”
There was no trembling in my voice.
There was also no change in facial expression.
If I hadn’t detected this danger and hadn’t worn the top of the class glasses, I would have screamed as soon as I saw this man.
I would have definitely dry heaved.
And if I had shown such a reaction to this man.
Probably.
My two legs would have been torn off by that man.
Splash……Splash.
He moved forward slowly, placing both hands on the floor.
Red traces spread wherever hand marks passed, and the bus floor was instantly covered in blood.
After hearing my answer, the man nonchalantly sat in the very back seat of the bus. And shouted loudly.
“I always like this very back seat! It’s like everyone is under my feet!”
“……….”
In a situation that would have normally been uploaded to the troublemaker gallery, I envied Kim Ha-eun who was calmly passed out next to me at this moment.
Out of all the many buses, to end up riding this hell bus.
Who would have known!
=======
/Ghost story journal.
[Destination is hell, it’s hell.]
Identification code Cd-F-4444
【We are delivering an announcement to passengers. Our bus operates one-way, not round-trip. Please note this and be careful when boarding.】
<Preferred Passengers>
-Suicide (including voluntary/involuntary).
-Accidental death (including traffic accidents/natural disasters).
-Solitary death.
-Murder victims (no age restriction.)
【If a passenger who is not included in the preferred passenger category has boarded.】
【Please check your personal registry and safely disembark at the corresponding stop.】
【We always prioritize the safety of our passengers.】
Physical restraint limited.
Mental damage very high.
Additional note.
It is said that some of those who returned from this ghost story suffered from different symptoms for a while.
The same symptoms occurred only in employees with high resistance to mental damage.
=======
Sweat moistens the corners of Park Yeon-jeong’s eyes, who has been hit with work even on weekends.
Of all things, the bus he boarded turned out to be another one of those ghost stories.
It was a mistake not to check the bus number because I was distracted by the thought of escaping from Kim Ha-eun.
I immediately rolled up my right sleeve to check the number that had appeared on my wrist.
【7】
Damn it!
Of all times, the situation reaches its worst at moments like this.
……Then Kim Ha-eun.
I also checked the wrist of Kim Ha-eun, who could already be considered half-dead.
【4】
…That’s just like him.
This number corresponds to what was referred to as each person’s register in the announcement earlier.
If you disembark at a station that doesn’t match your register.
=======
/The destination is hell, it is hell.
Some employees who ignored their assigned registers disembarked at random stations out of fear.
‘…Huh, was the sky always this red?’
According to what was later revealed, that place was hell, the final destination.
=======
It’s hell.
And it’s likely the hell as we imagine it. Even in the exploration records, they described it as ‘hell itself,’ so that says it all.
From now on, the order of stations this hell bus will stop at is as follows.
-Greed Station.
-Wrath Station.
-Envy Station.
-Lust Station.
-Gluttony Station.
-Sloth Station.
-Pride Station.
The number of passengers boarding at each station is random.
Passengers corresponding to each theme board in order from 1-7 above, and station 7, Pride Station, is where I will disembark.
In Kim Ha-eun’s case, Lust Station is where she will get off.
The station we just passed was the first one, ‘Greed Station’.
Passengers boarding at Greed Station are all alike in that they have some part of their body missing when they board the bus.
If you are surprised upon seeing them or.
If you utter a question that identifies which body part is missing.
-You’re the one standing upside down!
With those words.
The passenger will make the target the same as their missing body part.
At this Greed Station, there was a passenger who had lost their lower body, and fortunately, we passed that station well.
“Higher is always the best! Hahahahaha!!”
“…….”
If only it weren’t for that loud voice that hasn’t stopped its boisterous laughter from the back seats.
【This station is ‘Wrath’.】
【Passengers disembarking, please check your register and exit at the appropriate station.】
Screeeeech.
We’ve already arrived at the second station.
When the back door closed and the front door opened again.
Click.
Click.
Click.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
A total of 3 people boarded at this Wrath Station.
Unlike the man who boarded at Greed Station, they were quiet.
……No. They had to be quiet.
These 3 had nothing but emptiness where their heads should have been as humans.
They were clearly different from those hollow pastry-like beings in the conductor’s space.
Unlike those empty ones.
Apart from where their heads should be, all other body parts existed intact.
From the moment these 3 climbed the steps of the bus, I lowered my head to the floor.
The strategy for this station is as follows.
Keep your eyes down.
All the people boarding at this station are imitating a certain incident that was frequently mentioned in the news.
Random violence.
They perfectly fit the definition of random violence.
=======
Employee Jeong In-ah boarded the hell bus on her way home after a company dinner.
Despite being drunk, she safely passed the Greed Station with her characteristic shrewdness.
And at the following Wrath Station, the moment she realized she had briefly made eye contact with the 8 headless individuals who boarded.
The 8 headless individuals immediately rushed toward Jeong In-ah.
Jeong In-ah/Beaten to death.
(Found with all bones shattered.)
=======
Originally, one avoids excrement not because it’s dirty, but because it’s frightening.
…Did I get that backward?
Everyone can have different perspectives.
I tend to avoid excrement because I find it frightening.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
I relied solely on my hearing, waiting for them to pass by.
Tap.
Tap.
………….
The sound stopped.
Did they pass by?
But I can’t let my guard down.
As my gaze followed the floor to check if they had passed well.
……!!
One black shoe stopped exactly where Kim Ha-eun and I were located.
Why is it stopping in front of us?
Swoosh.
!!
Even worse, one of them was bending down toward us, pushing its non-existent face closer.
I’m scared, sir!
Vroom.
But with the timely sound of the bus engine.
……Click.
The sound of footsteps moving away from us is heard.
We, we survived.
We passed this one well too.
But… having just passed the second stop.
It’s nerve-wracking.
Unaware of the current situation.
I resent Kim Ha-eun, who is sound asleep in my arms.
If there’s any consolation.
It’s that the next stop is the Envy stop.
While the previous passengers were filled with those who inflict physical damage.
The Envy and Lust stops are different.
They are purely mental damage zones.
For me, they’re practically free-pass zones.
【The next stop is ‘Envy’.】
This Envy stop is a section where various different passengers board.
It’s where resentful souls who lost their lives on this hell bus in their previous life wander in purgatory.
In other words.
It’s a place where you can meet real ghosts.
=======
Employee Kang Na-rae was already afraid of what strange passenger would torment her next.
“…son?”
“…F-Father?”
Kang Na-rae met her deceased father there.
=======
Three-Path River Bus version.
Screech.
Once again, as the bus arrived at its destination and stopped, there was only one passenger who boarded this time.
Step, step.
Wearing snow-white funeral clothes.
A female passenger with exotic long blonde hair flowing.
A foreigner?
That’s what I thought at first.
Zing!
But as soon as the woman in white funeral clothes boarded the bus, our eyes met.
The passenger approaching me with blue eyes that sparkled differently from Kim Ha-eun’s.
Gulp.
Even though I knew the glasses I was wearing would protect me from mental damage, I felt nervous for some reason.
‘This woman in front of me….’
What kind of trouble will she cause me?
Normally, from the moment you meet these ghosts, you would experience splitting headaches.
Hallucinations, visions, delusions, nausea—sometimes it can be just as dangerous as the previous two stops, but.
As I mentioned earlier.
For me, who is immune to mental damage, it’s just dealing with troublesome people who ramble on about their sorrows.
Step, step.
The woman in white funeral clothes had stopped in front of me before I knew it.
Come on, bring it.
For this moment, I’ll be the emotional garbage can for you all.
“……”
“……”
?
“……..”
“……..”
??
Tilt.
The woman in white funeral clothes tilted her head to the side. And I also tilted my head in response.
What, you’re not doing anything?
I had just prepared myself mentally after a long time.
But all I got in return was lukewarm silence.
“If you’re going to do something, please do it quickly.”
“!!”
Passengers at the Envy stop never leave the side of their target until they’ve had all their resentful feelings heard.
This can be annoying in its own way.
So I wanted her to speak quickly and leave me alone.
The ghost looked at me and Kim Ha-eun, who was soundly passed out in my arms.
“No.”
“…Pardon?”
“I said no, I don’t want to talk.”
“……”
???
The ghost sat down on the seat opposite me and Kim Ha-eun.
With her chin resting on her hand, our blonde ghost was staring blankly out the window where nothing could be seen.
With a suspicion in my mind, I stared blankly at the ghost who wouldn’t make eye contact with me.
I chuckled softly because it was so absurd.
“…Don’t tell me you’re sulking, ghost?”
“What! No, I’m not, you jerk!!”
…She is.
This ghost just got upset at my words.
And quite seriously at that.
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