I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game

"Thanks to you, Little Red Riding Hood also gets to join the Tea Party."

Ariel sat at the center of the tea party, snatching and eating the snacks the kids had brought.

Jack, sitting next to her, was practically inhaling the snacks.

Looks like they are really short on money.

At this point, it's almost pitiful.

Hmm, I'm not really in a position to say much, given that I'm living off an allowance from Carol...

"I'm sorry about what happened back then. I was out of my mind."

Little Red Riding Hood apologized to Ariel before even taking a sip of the tea in front of her.

Ariel and Jack said that when they went to meet her, she blew them away with her punches because of her seizures.

It was understandable, given that she had lost her senses, but apologizing was still the right thing to do.

Ariel, who had been greedily munching on snacks, tossed her hair back haughtily and spoke.

"It's fine. It didn't even hurt that much. Like being hit with a cotton swab."

"Sorry, you look like you were in a lot of pain."

"Are you saying I'm weak now?!"

"N-No, that's not what I meant."

Ariel seemed to have a complex about being weak.

When I faced the Machine God, she had said she was too weak to help, and during the fight with the priests, she had taken a lot of damage. So it wasn't a lie.

Was she weaker than Jack?

Even though Jack couldn't even use his abilities properly at the time.

Hmm... When Ariel got angry at Little Red Riding Hood, Suho, who was next to me, stepped in to mediate.

"Don't push her too hard. She just genuinely wants to apologize."

"Mind your own business. And why are you guys even here so naturally? This is a place only for Tale Devils."

It feels a bit late to be saying that now.

And after eating most of the snacks we brought, isn't it a bit shameless to say that?

"You're eating the snacks we brought!"

When Eun-jeong snapped at Ariel for stealing the snacks, she pretended not to hear and instead pulled out a crystal.

"If you buy a crystal with my song in it, you can stay here. It's ten-thousand won each. Oh, and if you pay in dollars, I'll give you a discount."¹

"You're shameless..."

As Suho muttered in exasperation, Ariel huffed as she spoke, "Fine, I won't sell it then!" and put the crystal away.

Little Red Riding Hood thanked Suho for defending her.

Suho smiled... Hmph, men!

"Is Peter Pan not coming again this time? I thought he'd come since he helped out when Freeman went berserk."

What's that guy thinking now?

If he's planning to open Neverland Season 2, I'm ready to beat him up again, but I don't think he'll do that.

"That guy seems to be wandering. He still has questions."

Pinocchio, who had become less sharp and harmful since we first met, answered my muttering.

Recently, she's been doing well, as evidenced by the flowers blooming on her wooden horns.

It seems she's been living peacefully with a girl named Cassie, making weapons and useful tools as a subcontractor for the Institution.

I thought she might get caught by them for what she's been doing, but it seems they've only been keeping an eye on her.

Mysterious guys.

Anyway, Peter Pan is wandering...

I hope he resolves the contradictions and questions he's grappling with someday.

"Ooh, Alice! Forget that, look at this! Little Red Riding Hood's wings are so cool!"

While we were discussing Peter Pan's news, Jack, who had been circling around our new member Little Red Riding Hood, grabbed her wings and exclaimed.

Little Red Riding Hood's wings were bat-shaped, but they had crescent, half-moon, and full moon patterns, making them look beautiful.

Hmm, after accepting her devilhood, wings that she didn't originally have, or that were incomplete, had appeared.

What does this mean?

I also grew wings during my battle with Peter Pan.

When Jack started fiddling with her wings too much, she escaped his grasp.

"Th-that's sexual harassment..."

"What?!"

Even though Jack's mental age is low, he was stunned by the accusation of sexual harassment.

Eun-jeong tapped Jack on the back and asked.

"Jack, do you have wings?"

"I didn't originally, but now I can summon them. They look like plant stems, though, so they're not very cool."

"If we're going by that, I'm just a block of wood."

Jack and Pinocchio each summoned their wings.

Looking at them like this, my wings seem so shabby.

I flapped my wings once.

Flap flap.

My transparent wings flapped pathetically.

Haa...

"Peter Pan's wings were more like a cape, though..."

"Were they even wings to begin with?"

Come to think of it, Peter Pan's wings were kind of ambiguous.

Looking at the paths Jack, Pinocchio, and Little Red Riding Hood have taken, it seems Peter Pan hasn't resolved some kind of inner conflict.

It seems related to that.

"There seems to be a condition for growing wings..."

Ha-rim and Kyeong-min started discussing the conditions for growing wings.

For these kids, devils are a pretty interesting topic.

Look, their eyes are shining.

They've really embraced their role as a mystery club.

Huhuhu...

I laughed inwardly as I listened to their discussion.

"Well. The conditions seem to vary. It could be something they lack or whatever."

"...Lack. Conflict. In many ways... Is it a problem of the mind?"

"Maybe the reason Peter Pan doesn't have wings is because he hasn't found the answer yet."

The kids shared their opinions and then realized they had missed something.

Isn't there someone here who doesn't have wings?

Their gaze naturally turned to one person.

"Wait, why are you looking at me?"

It was Ariel, who had been munching on snacks.

She had never once summoned her wings.

The kids swarmed around her.

"Since you don't have wings, there must be something lacking!"

"You're jumping to conclusions! If something's bothering you, just say it!"

The kids tried to force Ariel into a counseling session.

Have you been feeling depressed lately? Do you know more than 1,000 types of grasshoppers? Do you have a lot of extreme thoughts?

Under the barrage of questions, Ariel looked horrified and shouted at me.

"Why are these brats like this?! Alice, do something about them!"

"...So, any recent heartaches or unspeakable pasts?"

Ariel was dumbfounded by my response.

Honestly, most of the Tale Devils seem to have some psychological issues.

At this point, it's reasonable to suspect that Ariel might have something like that too.

Well, even if she has wings, it's hard to say she has a sound mind like Pinocchio.

"Urgh. Fine, fine. I'll show you my wings, okay?"

Ariel, who had spoken boldly, shyly revealed her water-formed wings.

They didn't have a proper shape, just floating blobs of water like in zero gravity.

"There, satisfied? They're not grand or unique, just water wings."

"Hmm, maybe we misunderstood. Here, have some more snacks."

"Just this once."

Ariel went back to eating snacks with Jack.

Since devils' wings are all different, even ambiguous water wings aren't that strange.

While the kids lost interest in the wings, I quietly approached Ariel and whispered,

"...So, any troubling or terrifying pasts?"

"You still can't let go of your suspicions. What past? The Tale Devils all fell into games, faced hardships, awakened as devils, and came out, but I didn't suffer any hardships."

"Huh? No hardships?"

"Of course not, Alice from the horror game. There's no way I, an aspiring professional singer, could lose in a rhythm game. I won, gained my powers, and became a devil. Huhu. I'm just that amazing."

Ariel boasted about her singing skills and held out a crystal.

I'm not buying it.

I slowly looked into Ariel's eyes.

It didn't seem like she was lying.

"Alright. I'll drop my suspicions."

"But why are you whispering? Is it about the games? Or those kids?"

The Tale Devils each entered a game, cleared it, and came out into the world.

But I didn't want the kids to hear about that.

It was related to my fears.

It's not time to face that yet.

"Please. Don't tell the kids about that."

I looked into Ariel's eyes and spoke sincerely.

She sensed my seriousness and nodded.

"...Alright."

Hearing Ariel's confirmation, I sat back down.

"So... Everyone's here except Peter Pan, who's absent."

Ariel denied my statement.

I looked at her, unable to hide my confusion.

"No. No. You're missing one."

"Who... Oh, right."

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