Chapter 91.
[“Alright, I’ll wrap up today’s broadcast here!… Oh, and just so you know, tomorrow I’ll be back with a major large-scale content. Everyone, make sure to come!”]
[“Absolutely!!”]
[-The broadcast has ended.]
The tumultuous broadcast had finally come to an end.
Afterward, without a moment’s hesitation, 404 turned the lens of the digital camera in their hand toward themselves.
Click—
With the crisp sound of the shutter.
A bright light swallowed 404’s body whole.
404 was instantly transported to their content warehouse
A place where a foolish senior brother, still stupidly picking out props, awaited, unaware that they were destined to be trapped in a glass tube.
[“To think I’d finally get my hands on a golden goose like that.”]
Judging by the combat style displayed in the colosseum, they had already figured out that this senior brother possessed considerable strength.
But,
That was all.
Even if they were hiding some unseen power, no matter how strong they were.
There’s no beating a gang-up.
404 planned to unleash the ghost stories stored in their content warehouse to capture the senior brother.
If even that wasn’t enough to subdue them, then they could just leave the senior brother trapped in that space.
Until their strength withered away.
A simple solution.
Thud—
The moment 404 stepped back into their content warehouse, the first thing they encountered was.
A heavy, suffocating silence.
Amid that stillness, the senior brother, who had been waiting for their arrival, came into view.
[“…Senior brother?”]
Staring blankly at the figure before them.
An inexplicable sense of dissonance crept in.
In that eerie space, a deep voice dripped with unpleasant weight, sinking into the air.
[“You’re back! I’ve prepared a little surprise for you.”]
[“…Huh?”]
404 couldn’t immediately comprehend those words.
He couldn’t grasp the meaning behind the senior brother’s ominous tone.
But,
Sooner than expected.
They understood exactly what those words meant.
[“I can confidently say it’ll be a surprise you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”]
Amid the darkness, the senior brother spread his arms, a sinister smile curling on their lips as they continued.
Fzzzt—
With a faint static noise.
[“This is a surprise. 404.”]
***
404 turned on their heel in the current ‘content warehouse.’ The moment the figure vanished from the space.
Snap—!
I raised a quill pen high with one hand and spoke.
[“All ghosts who want to teach that brat from the broadcast a lesson right now, raise your hands!”]
……
……
……
Silence.
The stillness was so deep I almost felt embarrassed standing there.
[“Wha…? Me…? Us…?”]
!
Breaking through the silence, a black figure pressed against the glass tube’s surface spoke toward me.
If that was a question.
I kindly offered a response.
[“Yes. For those who wish it, I’ll pull you out of there.”]
[“Us…? How…?”]
Whoosh—
For some reason, that ghost’s words echoed through the entire space.
And then, the gazes of those who hadn’t been watching me before now fell upon me one after another.
It felt like I was being crushed.
These inexplicable stares probably meant…
‘Show us.’
They wanted proof that I could really pull them out of the glass tubes 404 had trapped them in.
Like they were testing me.
…Thud.
My steps carried me without hesitation toward the black figure.
Every nerve in my body, from my toes to my throat, was on edge.
I intended to make it clear to the one who had questioned me.
Or so I thought.
[“I’ll show you.”]
[“!!”]
[“So there’s no need for doubt.”]
I had only been acting as I always did, playing the role of Little Noise.
But for some reason, at that moment.
—Fzzzt
The strange static that brushed past my ears still lingers in my memory.
[“So… please refrain from speaking as if you doubt me.”]
[“……”]
After my words, the black figure that had been pressed against the wall froze completely.
No further movement.
Looking at them, I couldn’t help but think.
‘…Have my acting skills improved?’
The thought that ‘I’ve gotten good enough to fool even ghosts’ flashed through my mind.
It made me a little happy.
—
However, there’s no more time to dawdle here. There’s no telling when that bastard 404 might finish his broadcast and return.
I immediately stepped closer to the black figure that had just spoken to me.
I extend the fountain pen forward.
And not long after.
Drip—
As a drop of black ink falls from the tip of the pen and hits the floor, a line of black text appears before my eyes.
『Valid ingredient identified.』
It worked!
I knew it would, but seeing it confirmed with my own eyes doubled the joy.
Unlike the past, where I’d drained the stamina of ghosts and captured them inside this pen—
Most of the ghosts trapped in the glass tubes created by that bastard 404 were already in a severely weakened state when caught.
So I thought it would work.
Gloop—
Naturally, the puddle of black ink wobbling on the floor seeps through the glass tube before me.
Gulp—
It immediately swallows the creature inside the tube.
In an instant, the ghost inside the glass tube disappears.
The other ghosts watching this scene unfold also witnessed the current situation firsthand.
But,
Presentation is everything.
‘Since I’ve already done it once.’
I grip the fountain pen tightly in one hand and thrust it forward again.
Drip—
A single drop of ink falls from the pen’s tip. Soon, as it takes shape, a physical form manifests outside the glass tube.
【…What are you talking about ?】
…Success.
I succeeded in summoning the creature I’d stored inside the pen back out.
Thud—!
The other ghosts watching this scene with wide eyes also seemed unable to believe what they were seeing.
Yeah, just a few days ago, I had no way to release a captured creature from the pen.
If it weren’t for this toy ghost bastard…
The timeline goes back to when I had captured this thing’s “Dream of Toys.”
Back when I was still suffering from the aftereffects of ‘Mass-Produced Hero’ and hadn’t fully regained my senses.
Noise had said this while observing the toy ghost that had emerged on its own from the quill pen.
[If you capture them without fully weakening them to the point of being unable to resist, things like this can occasionally happen.]
[So remember this well, Employee Park Yeon-jeong.]
In other words, if you don’t drain the stamina of the ghost you’re trying to capture, even if you succeed in capturing it once, it can still break free from the pen.
I planned to use this to my advantage.
And the effectiveness of the performance I just put on… was, fortunately, a success.
【▒▒▒!!】
【L-Let me out.】
Well then…
‘I should prepare a surprise that’ll really shock that bastard 404.’
*****
“404, I’ve prepared a surprise just for you… This is my gift to you!”
I continued speaking.
“And you know what? In the birthday traditions I know, there’s a saying like this.”
<Birthday punches.>
Soon, countless figures began revealing themselves behind me, making their presence known.
“So… I hope you’ll enjoy my gift with all your heart.”
【…You ungrateful little shits! Is this how you repay my kindness?! All of you! Scrap! You’re all scrap material!】
Click—!
The moment 404 raised the digital camera in his hand toward me and tried to press the shutter—
【The target’s location is—the hand.】
!!
Along with the low, resonating voice of a man echoing throughout the space, the digital camera that 404 had been holding just moments ago—
Vanished.
And that digital camera was now—
“The birthday boy shouldn’t be the one holding the camera, right?”
Clearly, the digital camera that 404 had been holding just moments ago was now in my grasp.
The reason was simple.
One of the three combat-type ghosts that 404 possesses.
The only ghost that hadn’t appeared in this Colosseum.
– Today’s Target.
The power of the ghost named ‘Today’s Target’ is the ability to retrieve any object he designates as his target.
【That bastard ‘Bbangbbangi’! How dare you bare your fangs at me!!】
404’s furious voice reverberated throughout the space.
But in this space, far from being intimidated, an eerily calm voice echoed everywhere.
“Well then, I hope you’ll enjoy the birthday gift I’ve prepared.”
-Click—
Amidst the faint static buzzing through the air, a man’s voice whispered from the depths of the darkness.
“Smile. Like a pro.”
Squirm.
404’s birthday punches—
Thus began.
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