WARNING: This chapter contains content that some may find disturbing. Readers please be advised.
[2019, May 4th | Saturday, 22:03 PM]
[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]
[Ghost Story Points: 195]
[Causality Rate: 19%]
“Excuse me.”
When I came to my senses and raised my head, a neatly dressed and beautiful attendant was calling me.
“I’m checking everyone’s tickets, would you mind showing your train ticket for a moment?”
“……..”
I blankly stared at the attendant’s face for a moment.
Then I slowly took out my train ticket from my pocket and handed it to her.
The attendant gently took the ticket with her hand painted in soft pink nail polish.
She quickly checked the machine terminal in her hand and my ticket alternately, then furrowed her brows slightly, as if she was a bit troubled.
“I’m sorry, but it seems like this seat is for another passenger……”
“…….”
“It seems one of our staff made a mistake and issued the ticket twice. I’m sorry, but would it be okay if I showed you to a different seat?”
“……..”
When I stood up, the attendant gestured for me to follow her with a neat and orderly movement.
“This way please……”
But instead of following her, I slowly looked around the cabin while standing.
Outside the window of the night train, I could only see the dark mountains zooming past.
Under the pale orange lights, the passengers in the quiet compartment were sitting silently, each either dozing off or reading a magazine.
“Passenger?”
The attendant called me again when I didn’t follow her.
“You need to follow me.”
“Just a moment.”
I slowly began thinking about what had happened just now.
Memories of going crazy and causing a scene due to a ghost story were still vivid in my mind.
“This way-”
“I’ll make a quick phone call and be right with you.”
“Ah, yes……”
The attendant nodded with a hesitant expression.
I quickly took out my phone and called Gyeongwon.
A short beep sounded as he picked up the phone.
[Hello? Prez?]
“Oh, Gyeongwon. I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
[No, I was on the computer. What happened?]
“I got caught up in the wiggle wiggle ghost story.”
Gyeongwon gasping in shock was transmitted through the phone.
At the same time, the attendant still standing in front of me also stiffened.
“The most original version of the story and related materials. Summarize it and send it to me via KakaoTalk right away.”
[Ah, I got it. Anything else–]
“This is enough. Please do it as quickly as possible.”
Dud-
Before he could reply, I hung up the call.
Of course, I could have looked it up on the internet by myself, but I was in an urgent situation where every minute and second counts.
I decided to leave the knowledge-based part of the ghost story to Gyeongwon and focus on what I had to do.
Which was to explore this train.
‘This crew member in front of me is also just an infected person.’
The compartment I was in right now is cabin 12. And this KTX has about 18 cabins in total.
If we assume that the infection started in the cabins behind this one, the goal for this time slot was to reach the very back of the train and investigate the source of the infection.
I put the bag of money I was holding down on my seat.
They were all just possessed by a ghost story, and they hadn’t come to steal my money.
It would be easier to navigate through the crowd here empty-handed without carrying anything.
“Excuse me, passenger!”
Pushing the shoulder of the attendant who was blocking the passageway, I went into the aisle, but the attendant grabbed my arm.
“Where are you going! Passenger!”
“I have something to check in the back.”
I pushed her away strongly and stepped forward.
Then I walked briskly and opened the door leading to the next compartment.
[Cabin 13]
Rattle, rattle.
‘Damn……’
Although not as intense as the previous time slot, the infection was already quietly and steadily spreading in the back part of the train.
From a female student who was wildly twisting her fingers as if hypnotizing her friend in front of her, to the couple kissing passionately in the seat right in front of me.
They must be wiggling their tongues and licking each other’s lips intensely.
Still, some passengers were seen as normal, as they were quietly fiddling with their phones or doing other things.
‘So in the beginning..… this thing infects people secretly.’
Like the attendant who dragged me to the restroom.
If I hadn’t generously thrown money away in the previous time, it would have taken longer than expected for the infection to spread.
I tried to avoid looking at the few passengers who were wiggling and squirming as much as possible and passed by them, heading toward the next compartment.
[Cabin 14]
The situation was a bit more serious here.
A few people were tangled up, quietly giggling and wiggling, while the infected passengers were trying to convince the others who were trying their best not to look at the vulgar display.
“Honey, look at this. Isn’t it really amazing?”
“Stop it, please. I told you my head hurts when I look at it.”
In contrast to the way I used money to attract everyone’s attention, there were many passengers who felt strangely uncomfortable by the chaotic spread of infection here, complained of dizziness and often turned their gazes away.
There was a quiet commotion here and there, and some normal people were complaining, asking why everyone was making such a noise.
I briskly passed through that area and headed for the next compartment.
[Cabin 15]
If the infection was still spreading quietly but steadily in cabin 13 and 14, the situation became a bit serious starting from cabin 15.
“Okay, everyone, look here.”
“Wow… Woah……”
A few middle-aged men, completely naked, were wildly drawing people’s attention while performing strip dances, and the passengers were watching it blankly with ecstatic expressions.
‘Damn.’
I kept my eyes fixed on the floor and walked quickly, pushing past the naked men in silence and headed toward the next compartment.
[Cabin 16]
“From the toes to the knees, from the hips to the shoulder joints. Doesn’t it feel good when you wiggle them one by one?”
“Wow… Uhh…”
Finally.
From here on, there were almost no normal people, and the madness began slowly.
“How is it? Isn’t wiggling the best thing in the world?”
“Uh, wo… ah, whoa.”
Four people were lying on the floor, their limbs entangled as they wiggled and twisted each other’s joints until their bones broke with a cracking noise.
There was also a boy who couldn’t control his happiness and was squirming his body wildly at the touch of his mother’s hand, who was twisting her fingers under his armpits as if tickling him.
‘Damn.’
I skipped over the four men and women blocking the passage on the floor.
Crack. Crack.
The man, who was twisting his joints and bending them into a gourd shape, had a joyful face, even drooling.
As I was quietly walking with my eyes fixed on the floor, a boy who looked to be around elementary school age suddenly blocked my way with a confident smile.
“Mister, do you want me to show you something amazing that would make you feel good when you watch it? It feels so dizzying, as if I’m being sucked into another world.”
“Get out of the way, F**k!”
“Aaak!”
I immediately pushed him away with my elbow and ran forward.
Then I opened the passenger door and went into the next cabin.
[Cabin 17]
There was more.
People who threw off their clothes recklessly to somehow attract people’s attention and make others see their swaying movements.
Some of them were dancing in front of others, swaying their hips in front of their faces and forcing them to watch.
‘This next cabin is probably the last compartment on this train……’
It would be great if I could find some hints there.
Just as I was about to walk past again, looking at the floor.
“Hey, student.”
Someone grabbed my hand from the side.
“I’m sorry, but can you please watch this old man swaying for a moment……? I don’t have the strength……”
The tone of voice was pleading, as if he was asking me to help him with his heavy luggage.
I immediately shook him off and ran out, but someone from the seats on both sides stretched out their legs and clasped my waist tightly.
“Got him!”
“……!”
Two college girls wearing shorts giggled as they grabbed onto me from either side.
Four smooth legs wrapped around my thighs in an instant, and pressed against my belly button. Their slender hands wrapped around my neck and shoulders, preventing me from moving.
Just then, the woman on the left with a more mischievous expression stretched out her left leg and wiggled her toes wildly in front of my face.
“Do you want to see this? Don’t my toes move so strangely?”
“F*ck, let go of me……!”
“Hmm? Hurry up. This is what you’ve been searching for your whole life.”
The woman, pressing her heel against my cheek, seductively wiggled her toes in front of my eyes.
On the other side, the other girl who was holding my chest tightly, laughed out loud as if she found it funny.
“Look at this carefully, the truth of life is contained in it!”
The sole of her foot pressed tightly against my lips.
A dizzying smell wafted through.
And the toes moved dazzlingly in front of me, as if wanting to deceive me.
For a moment, I almost screamed as I was about to once again plunge into the ecstasy that drives a person crazy from the wriggling.
I barely overcame the temptation and immediately lowered my eyes and opened the system’s main screen.
‘Status Window. Main Screen.’
Pop-
The Status Window appeared above the woman’s toes wiggling in front of me.
《MAIN SCREEN》
[2019, May 4th | Saturday, 22:16 PM]
[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]
[Ghost Story Points: 195]
[Causality Rate: 19%]
① Status Window
② Manage Club
③ Statistics
④ Settings
“How is it? How is it?”
The woman laughed wildly and wiggled her toes as if showing off.
“Look, look~!”
She pressed her pretty feet hard in front of my eyes.
I was tangled up with my legs squeezed between the woman, so I silently clicked Settings on option 4 with a nod.
‘Option 4. Settings.’
Pop-
《SETTINGS》
[Graphics Options]
[Audio Options]
[Control Options]
Perhaps as I go further, the temptation of wanting to wiggle would only become stronger.
But there was a very good method I once used in a situation like this.
‘Graphics Options.’
I clicked on the Graphics Options and lowered the screen resolution all the way down.
Sliiiid-
In an instant, the view in front of me became blurry, as if covered in mist.
It felt like a person with extremely poor eyesight had taken off their glasses.
“Hurry up, how do you feel? Aren’t you feeling dizzy?”
“… Cut it off.”
Finally, with my vision secured, I opened my eyes and grabbed the legs of the two women who were tightly restraining me.
“Kyaaak.”
With a grunt, I slowly freed each of their legs, and after twisting my waist to break free from the restraints, I stepped forward once again.
In this state, the movements of the wiggling people clearly appeared as nothing more than a blurry spread of light.
Even in the ghost story, it was written that the brother had clearly seen it through a binocular and got entranced.
On the other hand, the main character was not entranced because he only saw it vaguely from a distance as a blurry figure.
‘As long as I can only distinguish the field of vision by lowering the resolution of the screen, it will be fine.’
I passed a pair of man and woman, who were laughing while twisting each other’s necks in front of me and headed to the next compartment.
‘Finally, the last cabin on this train.’
[Cabin 18]
“Whoa… whoa… wow… wow… wow… wow….”
“Crazy! Why didn’t I know this until now!”
“Let’s wiggle more! Please! Please wiggle more! Don’t stop!”
“Ahhhhhhhhh! I feel like I’m losing my mind! I feel like I’m about to realize something! Keep doing that! Keep doing that!”
“Wiggle wiggle~ Wriggle wiggle~”
The last cabin of this train, cabin number 18, has turned completely crazy.
‘As expected, it started from here.’
It seemed like there was not a single person who was sane here, and the madness of the people was at its peak.
The crazy virus that made people wiggling wildly must have started here.
Before entering the cabin, I went into the restroom in the passageway for a moment to restore my vision, and checked the KakaoTalk message that Gyeowon had sent.
[Ahn Gyeongwon: Prez, I’ve roughly summarized it for now. I hope something here will be helpful!]
Kune kune (くねくね)
This ghost story has originated from Japan.
It actually means ‘wiggling shadow’ which is said to appear mainly in paddy fields and or other fields in the countryside.
It is usually referred to as a white figure that is seen wiggling far away in the field, and is said to move in such a strange way that people cannot describe.
If you become curious about the movement and look closely to figure out what it is, you will soon realize its true nature and go crazy.
The process of understanding what the wiggling shadow is occurs as soon as you perceive it, so if you see this twisting white figure in the countryside, it’s best to immediately look away and ignore it, and continue on your way.
– It does not cause any harm if it just comes into your line of sight. Only when you fully recognize and understand its true nature will you go insane.
– Depending on the different versions of the story, there are description of it being white or black, but the common factor is that it displays a strange, wiggling movement.
– The places where it appears are usually paddy fields, but depending on the story, there are versions where it has been seen from the sea and from the rooftop of a city building.
– The ending always involves the idea that once you recognize its true nature and understand it, you can never return to normal.
* * *
‘I guess that’s about it……’
Sitting in the small, cramped bathroom of the KTX, I quietly organized the situation.
‘According to the story, seeing a wiggling shadow drives you insane… But the question is, where did it appear? This is not a paddy field, it’s a moving train.’
In the ghost story, it was written that it appears on paddy fields or the sea.
‘Did someone see it outside the window……?’
I considered the possibility that the passengers, who were looking out at the night scenery, accidentally saw the wiggling shadow and went insane, and spread it inside.
But I soon shook my head.
‘It can’t be outside the window.’
If the wiggling shadow appeared outside the window, all the people on this train would have been infected at the same time.
Whether it was the passengers in Cabin 18 or Cabin 1, all the passengers who looked out at the night scenery should have been affected, regardless of their location. However, based on what I’ve seen while moving toward the back of the train, that was not the case at all.
‘From what I actually saw while moving through the cabins, the intensity of the infection definitely increased the further I moved back. The original source of the infection was clearly here, in Cabin 18.’
That means that the wiggling shadow appeared in Cabin 18, the last cabin of the KTX train.
‘How……?’
It was so sudden.
It wasn’t like in the story, where it faintly appeared from a distance.
‘Why did it suddenly appear in the last cabin of the train I was on……?’
It was too unnatural to be a coincidence.
No matter how omnipotent the Demon King may be, until now, the appearance of the ghost stories always had to match the location in the original tale.
‘For now, I have no choice but to confront it and figure it out.’
The method that immediately came to mind was destroying the source.
In the case of ghost stories that infected people’s minds and passed from one person to another, I had dealt with it once during the incident of Fourincess.
I remember that back then, I was able to resolve it by finding and destroying the source of the infection.
No matter what caused this situation, we were in a moving train, an enclosed space.
The bastard must still be here in Cabin 18.
‘The problem is that even if I open the door and take a quick look inside the cabin, there is nothing particularly suspicious that catches my eyes……’
Of course, since the resolution was low and my vision was blurry, I couldn’t be sure.
Also, the people were wiggling in madness everywhere, blocking my view.
‘But I can’t see anything that looks like a non-human figure.’
However, since I was certain that it was inside there, I could also assume that it might be hiding in a corner, out of my sight.
‘How… how do I find it?’
I bit my lip in frustration.
Inside, more than a dozen people had gone completely insane, spreading madness.
It seems that when people go crazy, their strength increases. I just barely escaped from the grip of two senior college girls who were restraining me.
If I went out and started searching around the cabin, trying to check every suspicious thing, I would be immediately subdued and end up being forced to do the strange thing again.
No matter how much I had my vision blocked… if there’s direct contact, like someone rubbing their body against mine, I might get possessed again.
How do I find it, how?
Knock, knock.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the bathroom door.
[Passenger? Are you inside?]
‘Damn it……’
It was that attendant from earlier.
[Come out quickly. Otherwise, I’ll call people to drag you out.]
“…….”
[Do you want to be beaten by me or by an old man with a huge belly? Come out quickly.]
If she really called people to the bathroom door, the situation would become more difficult for me.
Without thinking anything else, I lowered the resolution of my vision again and kicked the door open.
‘This is a do-or-die situation!’
Bang-!
“Whoa……!”
The attendant staggered backward after bumping into the door.
I charged straight toward the source of the infection, toward the last cabin.
Thud, thud-!
“Catch him! Catch him everyone!”
The attendant screamed from behind. The passengers, each lost in excitement, stopped dancing and wiggling and suddenly turned to look at me.
‘Damn it! Where is it! Where is it……!’
I quickly glanced around everywhere, but my vision was already blurry.
I could only roughly distinguish the floor, ceiling, seats, and people, but I couldn’t see anything in detail.
“Catch him! Catch him and make him wiggle!”
“Hahahaha.”
At the attendant’s sharp, commanding shout, the passengers were about to rush toward me, leaping over their seats. But just at that moment.
I snatched the fire extinguisher placed at the entrance to the aisle.
“Eat this, f*ck!”
I grabbed it tightly and pulled open the hose to spray it at the passengers.
Whiiiiissh-!
“Aahh! What is it!”
“Kyaaaak.”
People covered their eyes and retreated quickly.
I sprayed the fire extinguisher recklessly at the people and pushed them backward as I rushed forward.
Thump- bang.
“Whoa……! Catch him! Catch him!”
“He just passed by me! Over there!”
As soon as I reached the end of the cabin, I immediately increased the resolution of my vision and observed the surroundings.
Inside the cabin, it was difficult to distinguish even 1 meter ahead of me due to the scattered fire extinguisher powder.
Now I could open my eyes wide and search through everything I could find.
“What, I can’t see! You, it’s you! I got you!”
“It’s not me, you! Look at my wiggling thing!”
“Ah, if you’re wiggling, you’ve definitely understood its true nature! Apologies!”
“Where is that guy? Find him quickly, and let’s make him wiggle with us!”
“Back in my day, if someone told me to wiggle, I would wiggle right away without making a sound. But these days, the youngsters are so disobedient… tsk tsk tsk.”
People stumbled as they searched for me, wandering around in the foggy cabin.
I groped my way from the very last seat, grabbing whatever I could find with my hands and bringing them in front of my eyes to inspect.
Newspapers, novels, magazines, someone’s cellphone…
‘That’s not it. That’s not it either……’
As I was frantically searching through the seats while shoving away the people I bumped into.
I found something suspicious on a seat next to the window.
‘A bug……?’
A black and silver colored bug, about the size of a finger.
It was wiggling its limbs and struggling on the seat.
‘What is this…? What kind of insect is this?’
It was an insect with a hard shell, like that of a stag beetle.
It had no head, only a black, jewel-like body that appeared incredibly solid.
On that jewel-like body that shone under the light, only six legs were sticking out.
And it was stuck on the seat with a single pink pin on its legs.
‘‘……?”
Because the pin pierced through the bug’s legs and was embedded into the seat, the insect couldn’t escape no matter how much it flailed and struggled.
As I watched the bug wiggling its legs, I felt my head gradually getting dizzy.
‘I, is this it?’
Then I should just try killing it first.
I picked up a magazine from another seat and rolled it into a stick. The moment I was about to slam it down on the bug.
“Got you~♡”
The attendant put her fingers in my armpit from behind and started tickling me.
“Pfft, puhahahaha!”
“Wiggle wiggle wiggle~ Wiggle wiggle wiggle~!”
Her slender fingers with pink nail polish dug into my sensitive armpit.
She scratched my armpit flexibly but powerfully, and slowly reached down.
“Like this, like this. Tickle tickle tickle.”
“Ah, puhahahaha… cough, cough.”
“How is it, do you feel something strange?”
Unable to resist the wiggling fingers in my armpit, I crouched down and twisted my body, but in the process, I stumbled and ended up sitting down right where the bug was.
Phoosh-!
‘F*ck, f*ck.’
The nasty feeling of something getting squashed under my butt gave me goosebumps.
I swatted away the attendant’s wiggling fingers trying to tickle me again, then closed my eyes tightly and once again slammed my butt down.
Snap-!
Phooss-
‘Eeeeeww, F*ck!’
A horrible squelching sensation that gave me goosebumps all over my body.
‘Isn’t it still going to die? Not dying at all?’
“Like this, wiggle wiggle. Wiggle wiggle. Do you like it?”
I giggled involuntarily and twisted my whole body as the attendant’s wiggling fingers dug into my neck. Then I squeezed my eyes shut once more and, with one final forceful motion, slammed my hips down.
Phooss-!
‘Eeeee-!’
Finally, the notification window appeared before my eyes.
[You have come across and survived an A-rank ghost story – Wiggling Shadow.]
“Huuu, huu, huuu, huu.”
Thud.
The cabin, which had become hazy with the powder from the fire extinguisher, slowly cleared up as the powder gradually disappeared.
The people who had been stumbling and wiggling around all at once collapsed weakly in their places in confusion, as if they had suddenly lost all strength.
“Huh, what? Eh, ah……”
The attendant in front of me also took her wiggling fingers off of me, clutched her head as if she was dizzy, and collapsed weakly into the seat next to mine.
“Oh my, what… what……”
“Ahhh… my leg……”
The sound of pained groaning was heard everywhere.
I let out a long sigh and got up from my seat.
I could still feel the nasty feeling of a bug getting squashed under my butt.
Trying my best to calm the goosebumps spreading across my body, I wiped it off and looked back.
There was no bug there.
Only a broken bead-like object remained.
A black jade ornament that had split in various fragments.
I slowly began to piece it together.
Then the original pattern was completed.
♠
What I thought was a bug crushed under my butt was actually a black spade-shaped totem.
I confirmed the messages that had appeared before my eyes.
[You have come across and survived an A-rank ghost story – Wiggling Shadow.]
[You have earned 40 Ghost Story Points.]
[You have displayed remarkable wit and succeeded in destroying the source of the wiggling shadow!]
[You have earned 200 Ghost Story Points.]
[You will receive an additional 10% bonus points for each contributing member.]
[Contributing member (1 member): In Hayoon]
[You have received an additional 10% bonus point on the total earned points of 240, 24 points.]
[Current Ghost Story Points: 195+240+24]
Ping〜
[Current Ghost Story Points: 459]
In Hayoon.
“……”
I stared blankly at the totem of the Dogma of Void in my hand, then turned to the couple sitting beside the aisle who were holding their heads, and asked.
“Excuse me, who was sitting in this seat?”
“Uh, uh……? In that, that seat?”
“Yes. This seat.”
“Uh, well……?”
The middle-aged couple tilted their heads.
“I think a female student was sitting there……”
“Did you see where she went?”
“Where she went, let me remember… Oh my, my head……”
Perhaps due to their involvement in the ghost story, the couple was clutching their foreheads.
“I… I think she got off at the previous station……”
I turned my head and stared at the seat where Hayoon had been sitting, now covered in the shattered totem.
Outside the window, only the dark outlines of the mountainside scenery passed by meaninglessly.
Rattle- rattle-
