All the lights in the inn went out simultaneously.
For reference, the inn Seo Yeon came to wasn't a proper inn to begin with.
Specifically, it used to be an inn, but after closing down, it was repurposed as a film set.
Of course, there was no problem with accommodation and meals, and the facilities remained intact.
However, as it was remodeled into a set, there were many more things that could be done.
"Alright, all the lights are out."
The actors mobilized for this operation nodded as they watched the Korean actors looking around in the darkness.
Most of them appeared panicked on the night vision cameras.
For reference, two of them already showed strong signs of having caught on.
One was someone quick to notice, and the other was the manager who had already heard the story.
But that was fine.
The target of their hidden camera was Seo Yeon, who was now staring blankly into the darkness.
"Her face doesn't look as scared as I expected?"
"Ehh~, that's not good~."
From the perspective of the actors who had worked hard on their makeup, it felt a bit deflating.
They exist occasionally.
Especially in horror hidden cameras, people who act tough.
Even if that's their actual personality and they genuinely aren't scared, they need to play along to some extent for broadcast footage.
The problem was that since this was a hidden camera, if she didn't act scared right away, it would be obvious it was an act.
"Let's focus on operating the devices first and guide her to the location."
Nanjo PD, who had been listening to the actors' conversation, said in a small voice.
Currently, they were on the upper floor where Seo Yeon was.
It was an empty space created when the building was remodeled into a set.
"If she's not scared, we have to make her scared."
Nanjo PD said that and looked at Seo Yeon on the camera.
She was leading the others and beginning to walk through the darkness.
To turn on the lights in the darkened hallway.
***
'I'm not scared.'
Seo Yeon thought as she walked down the hallway.
Muttering to herself, Seo Yeon suddenly remembered the horror game she had played before.
At the time, she thought she was terrified because the controlled character was weak.
If she could enter the game, creature or whatever — eh? She would have just ground them down whether they swung a chainsaw or not.
That kind of bravado-filled thought still remained.
No, she was serious at the time.
……Now, somehow, maybe that really was just bravado.
Such doubt began to slowly form in her mind.
Thud.
"Se, Seo Yeon? Why did you suddenly stop?"
Manager Park Eunha was terrified by Seo Yeon's sudden halt.
'Ah, I really can't handle this atmosphere.'
Even though she had already heard the story, Park Eunha was terrified.
She couldn't watch horror movies and had never played horror games.
The most she had enjoyed of that genre was an escape room she went to with friends.
It was a famous horror escape room in Gangnam, but when she tried it once, she thought she was going to pass out.
'Th, that time it was also a Japanese-style horror concept escape room.'
It was exactly like this feeling.
Where something drops from here, exactly like that……
Clang!!
"Kyaaaaah!!!"
Park Eunha screamed loudly.
Suddenly the ceiling opened and something round fell.
Thwack!!
At that moment, Seo Yeon reflexively reached out her hand.
It was truly a reflexive action.
And, Seo Yeon's hand precisely pierced through the round object.
"Eh!?"
Narumi Sora let out an exclamation that sounded truly Japanese for the first time in a while.
Seo Yeon, with her hand open rather than a fist, had pierced through the mannequin's head with her hand.
'Not a fist, what was it called again? Palm strike? She pierced it with her fingertips??'
How does that even work?
That was scarier than a mannequin head resembling a human head suddenly falling from thin air.
Not swatting it away, not breaking it, but piercing through it with her hand.
"……."
Seo Yeon saw the thing buried up to her wrist.
It was a bit dark, but Seo Yeon's sparkling red eyes weren't greatly hindered by such things.
So even in the darkness, the elaborately crafted mannequin head caught her eye.
Actually, Seo Yeon didn't even think this was a mannequin.
The red liquid filled inside was dripping, and it was hard to pay attention to the sensation felt in her hand.
Human senses depend surprisingly much on vision.
Even knowing it was a mannequin head, its overly realistic form gave her an indescribable feeling.
"Se, Seo Yeon-ssi?"
Sora asked instead of the already trembling Park Eunha.
Because Seo Yeon's reaction seemed strange somehow.
"Pu, pu-pu-please pull it out."
'Huh?'
She could feel Seo Yeon's voice trembling.
Only when Sora went closer did she realize that what was impaled on Seo Yeon's hand was a mannequin head resembling a human head.
'Ugh, it looks grotesque.'
Because it had been pierced while crushing the mannequin's mouth, the eyeballs also seemed to be slightly popping out.
Of course, it didn't look like an actual human head.
Just a well-decorated mannequin head.
But the surroundings were dark, and with it being ambiguously similar, it gave off a strange sense of unpleasantness.
"O, okay."
"……."
Seo Yeon couldn't even bear to look at her own hand despite Sora's words.
With her eyes squeezed shut, it seemed she was definitely scared.
'So Seo Yeon-ssi does have things she's afraid of?'
Sora felt a strange sensation at Seo Yeon's appearance.
She thought she was like a person of iron, but was that not the case?
"I, I'll stay here for a moment, so could you two turn on the lights first?"
"Huh?"
A line from the person falling behind in a horror movie, of all times?
"Y, yes I will."
Normally, she would have waited without knowing the reason.
But right now, they were in the middle of a broadcast shoot.
So it would be better to leave Seo Yeon alone here.
Originally, the target was Seo Yeon rather than themselves, so that would make for a better scene.
"I'll go turn on the hallway lights!"
The place to turn on the hallway lights was located if you walked straight, turned right, and walked for quite a while further.
So the distance was considerable.
It wasn't a small inn.
'What do I do.'
After sending Sora off like that, Seo Yeon stood still for a moment.
'M, my legs won't move?'
How could this be.
Unbelievable.
Seo Yeon couldn't comprehend this situation.
To be honest, Seo Yeon still didn't even think this situation was a hidden camera or a shoot.
In the first place, Seo Yeon had never even watched broadcasts like hidden cameras, and her generation was somewhat disconnected from such things. She didn't even have the awareness that she could be subjected to a hidden camera while abroad.
……The moment she pierced through the head, the confusion in her thoughts was the biggest reason.
'I, I shouldn't have ever felt fear.'
Except when playing games.
Could it be that she was vulnerable to this kind of horror?
She clearly wasn't very scared when she played a ghost role at school.
Seo Yeon thought.
When she felt various emotions, there were sometimes emotions she felt more strongly.
Those were mainly joy rather than bad things.
Or the sense of achievement when hearing praise.
Such things were emotions that had a great effect on Seo Yeon.
But she didn't think fear was one of them.
No, she had truly never experienced such a thing before.
'B, but why am I scared.'
It felt like there was no strength in her legs.
She couldn't move forward.
With the fear slowly creeping up, she became unable to even sense the presence of her surroundings.
Thud.
With a dull sound, she sensed a presence behind Seo Yeon's back.
***
"Now, now!!"
Seo Yeon was suddenly left alone.
Seeing that, the actors in ghost makeup, full of enthusiasm, all headed to their positions.
First, they planned to guide her to the hallway, and then use other devices there to separate Seo Yeon from the others.
But, for her to be left alone like this, how could it be this good!
'Is she weak to horror? She's completely frozen!'
The actress known for various horror houses and theme park ghost story roles smiled faintly and stepped out first.
'Activating the devices too.'
In the hallway, suddenly thud, thud, thud.
Such faint vibrations began to be heard along with sounds.
'Good atmosphere.'
The actress came out through a temporary wall via a secret passage prepared inside the building.
To others, it would look like she suddenly appeared in the middle of the hallway.
Standing at a position about 3 meters away from Seo Yeon.
"Heh, hehehehe."
She let out a sinister laugh.
A mad laughter filled with grudged spirits.
A laughter that had terrified audiences in countless ghost story themes.
At that sound, Seo Yeon's head creaked and turned around.
'Yes, that reaction…….'
The actress who was smiling at that satisfying reaction suddenly froze.
In the darkness.
Two eyes glowing bright red were staring at her.
'Huh, why are her eyes glowing red?'
Did she put light bulbs in her eyes?
The moment she thought that, Seo Yeon collapsed in place as if her legs gave out.
'Huh?'
Putting the eyes aside, the actress was momentarily flustered by Seo Yeon's appearance.
Why did she sit down?
Did her legs give out?
Then, how should she guide her to the location now?
'No, wait. Maybe something happened to her body.'
The moment she thought that and approached Seo Yeon.
Seo Yeon, flinching, began to crawl backwards with both arms, avoiding the ghost actress.
Seeing her like that, the ghost actress moved her steps a bit faster, but.
"Huh?"
Forgetting that she was a ghost, she let out such an exclamation.
Seo Yeon, whose legs had given out, was crawling down the hallway with both arms, and she was fast.
'No, wait a minute.'
Wait.
I said wait.
Thinking that, she walked faster, but Seo Yeon's crawling speed became even faster.
No, incredibly fast.
How can she crawl that fast with just two arms?
Wait, if she goes that way…….
The moment she thought that.
"Kyaaaaaaaaa!!!"
A truly terrified scream began to echo through the inn.
***
"Let's stay here for now and then go back to the room."
"W, what about Seo Yeon?"
"That side…… the filming team will probably do something, right?"
As soon as Sora, thinking she had moved an appropriate distance from Seo Yeon, turned right, she stopped.
She wasn't supposed to turn on the lights anyway, and she didn't want to move more in the eerie atmosphere.
If she stayed here appropriately, the filming team would do something with Seo Yeon.
Thinking that, she let out a sigh.
"?"
As she thought that and raised her head, a monster had appeared behind Park Eunha.
Strictly speaking, it was an actor dressed as a monster.
It held a hand axe in one hand, and wore a mask that looked grotesquely decayed, like a zombie.
Its size was also considerable, adding to the intimidation.
An appearance that became horrifying just by looking at it.
"Hiiek!!"
Park Eunha, who realized it late, was also terrified.
Seeing the monster walking slowly toward them, Park Eunha grabbed Sora's collar and shook it.
"W, we weren't supposed to be targeted, right? Sw, swing the nunchaku from that time!!
"I, I can't swing it. I, I couldn't bring it in the first place."
You couldn't even bring it on the plane.
It's clearly a weapon.
Perhaps finding their reactions amusing, the monster holding the hand axe slowly approached.
Then, it suddenly stopped.
As if its gaze had fixed on something.
"Hm?"
Sora and Park Eunha, who had been terrified, showed puzzled reactions at that strange behavior.
Why is it acting like that all of a sudden?
What was even stranger came next.
It wasn't just stopping, but it began to back away hesitantly.
What is it? Why is it acting like that?
As if, there was something behind us…….
Thinking that, Sora and Park Eunha inadvertently turned around.
And, they saw.
Something crawling toward them at an incredible speed.
"………!!!"
From Sora's mouth, she realized for the first time in her life what the fear of having her breath taken away was.
Suddenly, a certain indie game that was popular for a while came to mind.
Was it called The Witch's House?
There, a witch, a lower-bodyless witch chasing the protagonist appears.
Crawling with both arms and chasing the protagonist.
The current scene was exactly like that.
Long pitch-black hair, between it two glowing red eyes.
And a woman crawling with both arms at a speed hard to believe was human.
The lower body was barely visible.
It was dark in the first place.
What was important was that the woman was crawling down the hallway at an incredible speed.
Along with something ghost-like chasing after her.
"R, r-r-r-run away!!"
The first to run away at Sora's words was the actor playing the monster.
He even dropped the hand axe he was holding, and began to back away hesitantly.
Following that, Sora and Park Eunha also started running away, chasing after the monster.
They figured an actor working here would know the way well.
Thud!!
Wondering what that sound was, Sora looked back while running.
The woman who had been crawling was now crawling while holding the hand axe the monster had dropped.
Thud, thud, striking the floor.
No, why is she striking the floor.
It's scary.
No, seriously, why is she doing that.
On top of that, her speed became even faster.
"Kraaah!! ……Kkeuaaah!!!"
The actors waiting to jump out from various directions targeting the leg-weakened Seo Yeon.
They had shouted loudly to startle the suddenly running Sora and Eunha, but upon seeing what was chasing from behind, they joined their colleagues and started running away.
"There's a partition wall next to you. Partition wall!!"
The ghosts also forgot their concept and hurriedly knocked on the wall to open the door.
"H, hurry and close it, close it!!"
If they escaped through the partition wall passage, it wouldn't be able to follow.
The three ghosts they met while running away said urgently.
Like that, they tried to close the partition wall.
Clang, clang!
"I, it won't close!!"
Sora screamed.
Then she happened to look down and saw an axe wedged in the gap of the partition wall.
Since when?
H, wait a minute.
Everyone's gaze turned downward.
Click.
Through the opened gap, a pure white hand appeared and grabbed the edge of the partition wall gap.
Black hair flowing down smoothly.
Twisting the axe, red eyes looking up through the widening gap of the partition wall caught everyone's gaze.
The partition wall that everyone was pushing with all their might to block was being twisted open.
The moment they saw that.
'N, no.'
Sora fainted.