GSC: Chapter 153-Seventeenth Ghost Story – The Apocalypse (2)

[2019, May 13th | Monday, 15:04 PM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]

[Ghost Story Points: 301]

[Causality Rate: 23%]

[Maha Prajna Paramita-]

A giant Maitreya Buddha flew over the buildings from the sky while reciting sutras.¹[T/N: Maitreya Buddha is a future Buddha prophesied in Buddhist tradition to appear on Earth, achieve full enlightenment, and teach the pure Dharma after the teachings of Gautama Buddha have been forgotten.]

Wherever the Maitreya Buddha passed by, the buildings twisted grotesquely and transformed into all sorts of bizarre shapes.

On the streets, a four-faced angel laughed gleefully as it tore through the cars.

People whose limbs have been severed by religious monsters bounced and danced on the streets, suddenly bursting into hymns of worship to God.

A giant snake descended from the sky, bit the people who were running away, and dragged them up into the clouds.

And the absolute being, reborn in the form of a ghost story, watched all this unfolding from beyond the space, seated in a lotus position.

“P, Prez, Prez……”

The club members, who were watching from the clubroom, were too stunned to say anything.

Only Gyeongwon hurriedly tapped my arm in a panic.

“Go, go back, quickly… go back……”

“……”

“Go back, President… Hurry up……”

I nodded in a daze.

If I just go back to yesterday, I could ask the Detective to prevent the terrorist attack in advance.

Then, there wouldn’t be an explosion of gas that covered the sky, nor would everything turn dark and the moon become blood-red, and we can stop this disaster from happening.

There must have been some mistake for which I returned to a strange timeline.

Let’s try it once more.

Then, we should be able to go back.

‘Go back to yesterday… destroy the anatomy model, and warn the Detective about the bomb attack.’

Then it can be stopped.

The current disaster can be prevented.

So, let’s go.

It was just a small mistake.

“… I’m going to the rooftop.”

“Uh, yeah……”

The club members, frozen in shock, watched the city being reduced to ashes.

I left the members behind and quietly left the clubroom.

“-The judgment of humanity has come, everything will be burned and destroyed-”

The teacher, still bleeding from the nose in front of the door, was mumbling ominous prophecies.

Passing even her, I fumbled my way down the hallway.

Let’s go back, let’s go back……

“Haa, haa……”

But when I walked about halfway down the hallway.

I suddenly collapsed to the floor.

“Hey, hey guys. Guys……”

The anxiety that washed over me.

The overwhelming despair that this couldn’t possibly be happening.

At that moment, I lost the strength to walk and collapsed to the floor, weakly extending my hand and trying to gesture toward the clubroom visible in the distance.

“Something, something seems wrong. It doesn’t seem right, just a little help… guys, guys…..?”

The members were so absorbed in the scenery outside the window that they didn’t look out to me.

I sat down alone in the empty hallway and exhaled quickly.

This can’t be… this can’t be happening.

I knew what the result would be, but… isn’t this wrong?

“There was just a small mistake… just a small, small mistake……”

Clenching my fist, I tried to stand up once more with trembling legs.

[Hohoho, hohohoho……]

Suddenly, from beyond the hallway window I was leaning against, a fairy in a hanbok flew past.

The fairy, her loose robes fluttering, started dancing strangely in midair while waving a fan. Then, a few students who were hiding in the Study Room burst through the wooden door and rushed out, hurling themselves out the hallway window.

Clang—!

[Hohoho, hohohoho…….]

Students who were bewitched by the fairy in the sky rushed out and leaped from the hallway windows one after another.

Amidst the falling students, one boy desperately clutched the fairy’s robe, but in an instant, she carried him upward and vanished into the sky.

[Hoho, hohoho……]

At the same time, lightning split the clouds as a dragon descended from the distant black sky, clutching a flaming pearl in its jaws. Along with it, every church in ShinLim Neighborhood was ripped from the ground and raptured into the sky.

Crack— Rumble, rumble—

“Haa, haa……”

The wooden floor shook.

Screams erupted from all directions, and the ground shook from the earthquake.

The end of the world was near.

“Th, this… why is this……”

Muttering to myself at the bizarre scenes, I trembled and raised my knees again, walking toward the stairs to go to the rooftop with staggering steps.

‘I’m sure it’s just a mistake.’

Reset again. To yesterday.

If I go back, this hell will no longer exist.

Let’s go quickly, let’s go quickly.

“Haa, haa.”

Soon, I entered the rooftop door that was still open because I rushed out earlier.

I took a step into the hellish scene unfolding beneath the black sky of ShinLim Neighborhood.

“Huu, huu……”

Thump, thump, thump, thump. I weakly staggered like that and stood at the edge of the rooftop, looking around at the surroundings for a moment.

In the playground, dozens of insane teachers were lying on the ground, bowing to the god created by the ghost story who was sitting with the blood-red moon at his back.

In the parking lot, dozens of naked students were entangled together, forming a giant sphere of human bodies and rolling toward the main gate.

“Hoo, hoo.”

Let’s try.

Let’s try again.

I bit my lips tightly and jumped up into the empty space in front of me.

Whooooosshh—

“Eugh, ugh…….”

Thud–

[You’re dead.[

[Restarting from the previous checkpoint.]

[Loading……]

[2019, May 13th | Monday, 15:04 PM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]

[Ghost Story Points: 301]

[Causality Rate: 23%]

“Huuu, huu……”

Thud, thud, thud, thud-

The black sky of ShinLim Neighborhood.

Beyond that, from the universe, a towering god was looking down at us with the moon at his back.

Winged disasters were pouring down from the sky.

We were trying to jump into that scene.

“This isn’t it, this isn’t it… this isn’t the right time……”

I lost all strength and stopped running, my body weakly collapsing to the ground.

Unaware that I stopped running, Sunah leapt into the air with all her might.

“Kyaaaaak……”

Crack–

Soon, the gruesome sound of Sunah’s skull cracking against the concrete floor echoed in my ears.

I was kneeling, collapsed on the floor, staring blankly.

“This isn’t the right timeline, so why do I keep coming back here……”

I told you this isn’t the right timeline……

Why won’t you listen to me……

I said this isn’t the right place……

Back to yesterday……

No, even this morning, it won’t be too late…

Just go there, right now… not like this……

I shut my eyes tightly, stood up again, and took a step forward.

Whooooosshh—

Craaaaaack-

[You’re dead.[

[Restarting from the previous checkpoint.]

[Loading……]

[2019, May 13th | Monday, 15:04 PM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]

[Ghost Story Points: 301]

[Causality Rate: 23%]

‘This kind of thing… I should’ve prepared for something like this in advance……’

Sunah jumped into the air again, not knowing that I wasn’t beside her.

“Kyaaaaah……”

What should I do, Sunah?

What should I do now?

“……”

Sunah, whose skull was cracked on the floor, couldn’t give a response.

I had been too careless.

I should’ve been prepared for situations like this beforehand.

Of course, it’s not like I never considered it at all.

The system saving at the point where the checkpoint was incorrectly set, causing the situation to spiral out of control.

It was something I had been wary of as well, but honestly, even if I had thought about it, there was no solution.

I should’ve prevented it in advance, or figured out a way to rewind the tangled checkpoint somehow.

But it’s impossible now.

‘… That, then that……’

I trembled and raised my head, staring at the absolute being who was looking down on us from the universe.

The one sitting cross-legged, with the moon at his back.

‘… That, if I kill that thing……’

Of course, if there was no way out, then the only option is to charge forward.

To be honest, it was insane.

‘How… How do you deal with something like that?’

A gigantic, religious being the size of the moon, floating in space.

Leaving aside whether it can be defeated or not, just getting close is an impossible task.

The checkpoint was messed up.

I had been worried, but since I thought there was no other solution than prevention anyway, I let it go.

The Demon King actually dug into that part and attacked me.

Sending two completely different ghost stories at the same time, to make sure that I would kill myself to clear them.

The checkpoint was set after the world had fallen apart, at a point where it was impossible to turn back.

…Huu.

I clenched my fists tightly while kneeling.

W, what do I do now?

Mom, I……

What do I do here?

Krung— Krurung—

A half-human, half-beast giant monster, with the head of an elephant, laughed maniacally as it sucked all the people on the ground with its trunk.²[T/N: The half-human, half-beast creature with an elephant head is believed to be a deity among Hindu believers.]

Lightning flashed endlessly between the clouds, and with each strike, all kinds of gods who would judge humanity in the end times leaped from the sky and rained down upon the earth.

[o? § ri gane? ya nama]

“Ahhh… Aahhh….”

[The Celestial King Myōshōgon-gen receives the command and, through the observation of tranquil Dharma, enters the gate of liberation that extinguishes all congealed darkness.]³[T/N: Excerpt from Buddhist scripture.]

“Aaaahh! Aaaahh!”

I quietly listened to the screams of chaos unfolding from the school rooftop, and just lowered my head.

“……”

While I was momentarily in a daze like that, I suddenly felt something slowly descending in front of me.

Thud–

[Don’t be afraid.]

“……?”

Sensing a presence, I lifted my head, and there stood a monstrous being with six wings, smiling at me.

A grotesque creature with wings covered in strange mucus, adorned with thousands of blinking, creepy eyes.

Soon, the part that seemed to be its face slowly leaned toward me, then twisted its neck to look at me upside down.

“Ramalworyeodu.”

Then, the winged creature began to cackle, pointing its finger at me.

“Keke, Kekeke……”

”……”

“Keke, Kekeke……”

“……”

What the hell?

Since it had wings, I guessed it was an angel.

Does that mean everything after being created by ghost stories inevitably becomes a being filled with malice?

Kneeling, I listened to the angel’s crackling laughter, feeling the slow rise of anger within me.

“…What the hell are you cackling for, you f*cking b*stard…..!!”

Just as I stood up, ready to punch the winged monster.

Smack-!

The angel slapped my swinging arm and grabbed me, then soared into the air.

“What, what the……!!!”

The six-winged creature cackled frivolously, holding me in its arms as it flew in the sky.

Below me, the school rooftop where I had been kneeling quickly grew distant.

“L-Let go of me, f*ck…!!”

I struggled to get away from the angel’s arms that were holding me, but all it did was worsen the horrific sensation of its slimy, mucous-covered eyes clinging to my body.

Whoosh- Whoosh-

I rose high enough that I could see the increasingly messy ShinLim Neighborhood at a glance.

Climbing to an altitude where only airplanes might pass, I soared even higher into the sky.

“Cough! C, cough……”

Soon, the altitude became so high that breathing became difficult, and a cough escaped from my lungs.

From above the clouds, I could see countless gods and monsters pouring down onto the earth.

Unlike all the gods descending below, the angel and I continued to soar endlessly upward.

At last, after rising above the black cloud of chemical gas that caused this entire incident, the creature finally set me down.

Thud—!

“Cough, cough……”

Coughing, I staggered to my feet and steadied myself, but surprisingly, I was able to stand there.

A foreboding space, filled with black clouds.

Suddenly, a blinding red light poured down on me from the front.

I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the pouring crimson light.

[The end has come, and the judgment of the living has begun. Sinner Lee Joon, raise your head.]

Suddenly, a dignified voice rang out, and I lowered my hand to look ahead.

Finally, I faced the god of the universe.

Even though I knew well enough that it was a being created by the Demon King, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the immense aura exuded by the religious monster.

‘Haa, haa, haa……’

I took a step back, gasping for breath.

Soon, the majestic god raised his hand from far in the universe and gestured, and in an instant, transparent figures began to gather in front of me from a distance.

[These are the souls who had a connection with Sinner Lee Joon in this lifetime.]

The souls of the dead slowly lined up in front of me.

They looked just like the transparent spirits you would typically see in movies.

“…W, what the hell is this?”

I staggered backwards, stumbling on the clouds.

Then, the absolute being sitting in a cross-legged posture commanded me to kneel with a dignified voice.

[Sinner, do not step back. Accept your judgment.]

“Go away, go away……”

Then, with a flash, a red light poured down on me from the moon behind him, and I suddenly felt a searing pain as if my entire body was being burned.

“Ah, ahh……!”

[Aum Shinrikyo Aum Shinrikyo Aum Shinrikyo Aum Shinrikyo Aum Shinrikyo.]⁴[T/N: The phrase “オウム真理教” (Aum Shinrikyo) refers to a Japanese cult that became infamous for carrying out the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack in 1995.]

The light that was shining down disappeared only after my skin was burned to the point of peeling off.

I collapsed on the clouds in pain.

[The judgment begins. State your statement.]

Soon, the transparent souls that had been waiting materialized in front of me, who was kneeling, and one of them stepped forward.

“G-Grandpa..…?”

When I looked up wondering who it was, I saw the one who stood in front of me was the soul of my grandfather, whom I had only ever seen in photos during ancestral rites.

[Grandfather of the Sinner Lee Joon, begin your testimony.]

“Lee Joon, you b*stard.”

My grandfather let out a raspy laugh and pointed his finger at me.

“Selling off my name, huh? Go to hell. Just fall straight into hell.”

Bang, bang—

As the testimony ended, the sound of a massive gavel echoed from somewhere.

[One vote for Hell. Next soul, come forward.]

Soon, my grandfather stepped back, and the second to approach was the soul of Yeseul.

Perhaps because her neck had been bitten by the Virgin Mary in the clubroom, she appeared with her dangling neck twisted at a 90-degree angle.

“Joony, I told you that if you kept doing bad things like that, you’d end up in hell.”

With blood-tinged foam bubbling from her neck, she calmly condemned me, her short, permed hair swaying slightly.

“And I know you like me. But someone who’s going to hell isn’t really my type. I still have to finish getting my organs eaten in heaven, you see. I’m sorry, but I think you’d better look for someone else.”

Bang, bang—

As the testimony ended, the sound of the gavel resounded sternly once again above the clouds.

[2 votes for Hell.]

Joo Yeseul stepped back, and the next person to step forward was the old science teacher.

The old science teacher, who died of a heart attack after I turned the tables on him during the midterms. He stared at me, chuckling with an evil expression, his thick, wrinkled skin shaking.

“Joooonnyyy〜!!! Why didn’t you let it slide just once when I asked you to, hmm〜!!! This teacher was trying to get you into heaven, you know, I had no choice〜!! Uh〜 hee hee hee..…”

“……”

“You dare mock an adult like that! Back in my day, we didn’t even dare step on a teacher’s shadow!”

“…Shut up and get lost if you’re dead already!”

“Hell! Hell〜! Heeelll〜!!!!!”

“Get the f*ck away!!”

Souls of all kinds of people laughing in a madness I couldn’t comprehend.

All of them seem clearly determined to brand me a sinner.

Two separate ghost stories, one on the earth and another on the sky, attacked me at the same time.

I was being treated as a criminal below on the ground, and now I’m also branded as a sinner above in the sky.

Before I could even say anything in return, the sound of a massive gavel echoed once again.

Bang, bang–

[3 votes for Hell.]

Next, a man covered in a white sheet, the kind that is used to cover corpses, approached.

Perhaps because half his body had been taken away by the anatomy model ghost story, he was barely able to open his mouth under the sheet.

The real Detective Jang Gihoon.

“…He…ll. He…ll.”

The dignified voice of the absolute being echoed once more, along with the sound of a gravel hitting.

Bang, bang-

[4 votes for Hell.]

One by one, those who had connections with me in this life but had already passed away began approaching me.

“I was a distant relative who died in Busan last week. His parents came to the funeral late into the night, but he didn’t show up. Hell.”

Bang, bang-

“I was a resident living in the building next door in the same apartment complex. When I suddenly died of a heart attack in my sleep, this guy was at home playing games. Hell.”

Bang, bang-

“I was the owner of the stationery store he used to run errands to. I got into a traffic accident on the street, and he didn’t even know about it. Hell.”

Bang, bang-

“I was a not-so-close friend from the class next door in kindergarten. When my family went on a water trip and died in a drowning accident, he was comfortably at home by himself. Hell.”

Bang, bang-

“I saw him jaywalking on the street yesterday. Hell.”

“I saw him having a lot of perverted thoughts at home. Hell.”

“He doesn’t seem to truly love his parents. Hell.”

“He swears a lot. Hell.”

Bang, bang-

[… 52 votes for Hell. Next.]

Every single testimony was incredibly twisted, none of them grounded in any proper logic.

Most of them were people whose faces I didn’t even recognize, yet their testimonies were filled with intense malice.

Even this.

Is even this all part of the Demon King’s trick?

Dragging out every apocalyptic vision lurking in human imagination, creating gods born from those very thoughts.

Freely assigning personalities to them, twisting them at will, and turning them into tools for mockery.

Really……

What does he really think of humans?

The earth beneath me had already been destroyed, and I could see the debris of buildings being pulled through the clouds, drawn by the gravity of the cosmic god with his back to the moon.

In front of me, there was a procession full of endless criticism and insults.

‘…What do I do now?’

When I go back, what should I do, and how should I do it?

The time I go back is 3pm, when the disaster has already descended from the sky.

What should I do now……

The moment I clenched my fists and bit my lip.

The next soul quietly walked toward me.

“……”

“……”

Someone stood before me without saying a word.

Without cursing or criticizing, they simply stared at me.

Then, that person lowered their head, gripped my shoulders, and slowly helped me to my feet.

“……?”

Pulled up by the gentle touch, I stood up in a panic.

In front of me stood a girl in a dazzling stage costume, quietly looking at me.

An outfit so glamorous, something only an idol might wear during a performance.

“……”

Soon, someone else hurriedly pushed through the crowd and rushed to my side.

“Mr. Joony!”

“……!”

When I turned my head, it was a soul I had met before.

“It’s a trap, kill yourself quickly!”

“You……”

She spoke urgently, her long neck twisting.

“Usually, in most apocalyptic judgments, only eternal punishment awaits you! If you get judged here and sent to hell, according to the story structure, you won’t even be able to die anymore, and you’ll just keep suffering forever!”

“……”

“It’s a trap, you have to die quickly and return before the judgment ends! We will help you!”

As the long-necked ghost, Byung Chunja, spoke those words, a little ghost girl wearing a baseball uniform playfully poked her head out from behind.

“Ah~ What’s going on here? Our player looks really exhausted. But you know, the moment you think the game is over is when the comeback begins.”

At the same time, a girl wearing a white one-piece dress jumped out of the waiting line and ran next to me, smiling brightly while holding a sashimi knife.

“Tell Jinhee I said hello.”

Eunjung pressed the long knife against my neck.

And then, the god who was judging suddenly let out a thunderous roar.

[Stop them, you scumbags.]

The god, with his back to the moon, solemnly commanded, and soon, the souls rushed toward me in a swarm.

“My son Joon, where are you going, you piece of sh*t!!”

The science teacher quickly rushed to grab me, but the ghost Byung Chunja blocked his way.

“Get away!”

“Ahhh……!!”

She stretched her long neck and bit the back of the science teacher’s neck, while the baseball girl swung the baseball bat in her hands and hit the legs of my grandfather who was also rushing toward us.

“A grandson whose face I don’t even know is selling my name, bringing me alcohol, alcohol… Ugh……!!”

“Stop him! Stop him! Don’t let him commit suicide!”

“Hey, Lee Joon! No matter how much you like me, you’re someone who’s going to hell, and I’m someone who’s going to heaven! God has already decided it! Aaaahh-”

The fifth member of Fourincess grabbed and pulled Joo Yeseul, who was running at me with her dangling neck, and twisted it even more.

Finally, Eunjung, who was holding the sashimi knife and making a swish swish sound effect smiled brightly at me, and it was the last thing I saw before darkness engulfed me.

“Hang in there. There’s definitely a way.”

[You’re dead.]

[Restarting from the previous checkpoint.]

[Loading……]