The world is filled with stories.
Casual chatter between friends, a teacher’s tale of first love, parents’ love stories, and so on.
“Of course, since I don’t even know what my parents look like, I never heard so much as the ‘L’ in ‘love story.’”
A twenty-seven-year-old man who had never been in a relationship, having grown up without parents and somehow clawed his way to adulthood.
Yun Sihyeon. That’s me.
With no friends and even less hope of a girlfriend, the only joy in my life was reading “interesting stories.”
“And among them, scary stories are the best.”
I loved novels based on ghost stories and the occult.
Even in an era overflowing with run-of-the-mill fantasy romance and regression, possession, and reincarnation novels, I’d made a habit of reading nothing but ghost stories.
Isn’t it great? There’s nothing that grips a person as deeply as the emotion of terror!
“I said this during college O.T. and lived as a total outcast all the way until graduation, but… Yun Sihyeon has no regrets!”
…That’s what I say, but I might actually regret it a little.
A lot happened besides the O.T. incident, but I still love ghost stories.
‘I should hurry home and read the novels getting updated today.’
To the point that I always made sure to read them after work.
After spending an ordinary day as usual.
I bought a can of beer and shuffled home.
* * *
A few hours later.
In the dark room, only the blue light of the monitor flickered faintly.
“Wait… you’re kidding, right?”
Whirr. Whirr.
No matter how much I spun the mouse wheel in disbelief, the scroll only hit the end of the screen.
“This can’t be… this can’t be!!”
My favorite novel, which I thought was just getting to the good part…!
“It’s finished…? It ends like this? It’s way too ambiguous!!!”
My own little novel that had updated diligently for two years without a single late chapter or a single hiatus!
There was no way it could end so emptily!
“Did the platform pressure them? It was seriously unpopular, but… honestly, it was legendary that I was the only one reading it from start to finish.”
The novel’s view count was “1” for every chapter from the first to the last.
I truly felt nothing but respect for the author who had consistently serialized it to completion despite such miserable numbers.
This web novel I had stumbled upon two years ago was neither famous nor had any other readers.
In that empty space devoid of a single comment, I had read this novel alone, waiting every day for the next chapter.
I had started reading because I liked scary stories, but more than that, I had fallen for the unique setting that only this novel possessed.
In the novel, stories created by those who had fallen into irrationality and degenerated because they couldn’t endure it were called “ghost stories.”
Because of that, each ghost story had an interesting background story.
“But how could you just end it so suddenly like this!”
If you start a story, it’s the author’s duty to end it properly!
They deserved to have their wrists bound and be caned right this instant.
“Sigh, it’s not like I can capture the author alive… I’m not the type to leave comments, but I should be able to say at least one thing, right?”
I clicked on the comment box for the final chapter and started typing a quick message.
ㄴ■■■■■ : Author, thanks for your hard work serializing all this time lol. Still, it’s a shame the ending wasn’t proper. I’m sure you had your reasons, but as a reader, I can’t help but feel disappointed lol.
The moment I got up to sleep after leaving the comment.
Ding.
A reply notification rang immediately.
“Huh, did the author reply?”
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : Thank you. Thank you for reading all the way through for two years! ■■■■■-nim.
The author’s reply expressing genuine gratitude for my reading until now.
If I’d known they’d be this happy, I would have left comments more often.
“I feel unnecessarily sorry.”
Clack, clack—
I habitually pressed the reply button and left a comment reply to the author.
ㄴ■■■■■ : If you include some more familiar elements for people in your next work, I think it’ll get popular. Yeah, your writing skills were good.
I also wanted the author to keep writing, and seeing them grateful for just one comment of mine made me feel bad and meddle more than necessary.
Honestly, it was unpopular, but each chapter had vivid descriptions and immersion that felt like actually experiencing events, so the author’s skill was truly a waste.
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : I’m sorry I couldn’t properly finish the story. With the power I have, I can no longer save the ghost stories. I’m truly sorry… for not being able to end the story.
“You don’t need to apologize that much.”
Seeing the author offer such a sincere apology even to me, who had lashed out with disappointment, made me feel even more sorry.
ㄴ■■■■■ : No no lol. I’m sure you had unavoidable circumstances. Still, remember that I liked your novel lol. Though I am bothered that there are still many ghost stories that haven’t been saved.
Ding.
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : Especially “them”—it’s unfortunate they couldn’t be saved, right?
“Huh? How did they know??”
There were countless ghost stories that passed by without concluding, yet they had pinpointed exactly what I was concerned about.
As expected of an author? They really know the reader’s heart.
ㄴ■■■■■ : How’d you know? lol. They were oddly on my mind lol.
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : Because I thought you would definitely feel that way.
ㄴ■■■■■ : You know the reader’s heart, huh? lol. Honestly, I even felt like personally sponsoring you just to see it finished lol.
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : I’m glad you feel that way! Actually, I’ve become able to cross over now!
“Cross over? What do they mean?”
Ah, they must mean they’re ready to move to a different platform and continue serializing.
Thrilled that my favorite novel would continue, I excitedly kept the conversation going.
ㄴ■■■■■ : Ah, what the heck!! If you were going to serialize elsewhere, you should’ve announced it. I was totally shocked today lol. Still, thank goodness. Honestly, if it had ended here, I was seriously going to write 5,700 characters lol.
ㄴ■■■■■ : So where are you moving to?? I don’t care if it’s a minor place lol.
ㄴ■■■■■ : I’ll be a loyal reader wherever lol. I bought every chapter here, so I can do the same elsewhere no problem. Yeah.
I expected an immediate reply after posting, but strangely, there was no response for several minutes.
“What, they suddenly went quiet.”
I was about to brush it off, thinking the author had gone to the bathroom or something, when—
Ding.
The screen flickered once more.
“Legendary timing.”
I immediately straightened my posture and opened the comment window.
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : I’ve been waiting. For you.
“What.”
Before I could even be surprised, another notification rang.
Ding.
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : Where there is a beginning, there must be an end. But I could no longer bring it to an end “here.”
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : Still, I’m truly relieved! Because you, who will bring the story to its end, remain.
‘No, I asked which platform, what kind of nonsense is this?’
Sentences of incomprehensible meaning suddenly poured out.
I tried to tell them to calm down, thinking it was a newbie author rambling, but the replies didn’t stop.
Ding.
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : I’ve been waiting for only this moment. The moment when the one who will end the story appears.
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : Oh my, I should have answered your question first, but I got too excited… I’m sorry.
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : Please end the ghost stories.
‘Ghost stories…?’
An ominous sensation crept up the back of my neck.
Ding.
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : You asked where the story continues, right? The place where the next story continues is—
The next sentence slowly rose on the monitor.
ㄴPleaseReadㅠㅠ : The world where Sihyeon-nim lives.
“…What?”
My heart instantly plummeted.
The author knew my name… how?
I had never revealed any information besides my username.
This site had strict anonymity, so there was no way the author could know my real name.
No, more than that, what did they mean by the world I live in?
Tremble, tremble, tremble.
My fingers shook on their own.
‘…Hahaha, they’re just joking, right? I heard there are people who trace IPs with programs these days!’
I tried to think positively and placed my hand on the mouse to close the page.
And then.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Notifications began ringing like mad.
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding.
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding.
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding.
“What, what…!”
Along with the deafening notifications, black letters filled the white screen.
ㄴ▞▟▝▜▚ : Found you.
ㄴ▞▟▝▜▚ : Found you.
ㄴ▞▟▝▜▚ : Found you.
ㄴ▞▟▝▜▚ : Found you.
ㄴ▞▟▝▜▚ : Found you.
ㄴ▞▟▝▜▚ : I’m coming to meet you.
ㄴ▞▟▝▜▚ : I’m coming to meet you.
ㄴ▞▟▝▜▚ : I’m coming to meet you.
ㄴ▞▟▝▜▚ : I’m coming to meet you.
ㄴ▞▟▝▜▚ : I’m coming to meet you.
The moment countless letters filled the monitor, the screen went black on its own.
A chill.
“What the hell…?”
I broke out in goosebumps for the first time in a while at this incomprehensible madness.
At first I thought the author was just rambling from excitement, but the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
‘I can cross over.’
‘World.’
‘Story.’
Sentences I couldn’t understand at all.
Most of all, it made no sense for the author to mention my name.
“…H, hahaha…! W-well, the author must be setting the mood since I like ghost stories!”
Yeah, yeah. That must be it.
It’s not like some third-rate web novel introduction—nothing could actually hap—
KRA-ZZZT!
As if it had read my mind, an enormous vibration began to shake the surroundings from every direction, accompanied by an unidentifiable monstrous sound.
“Ugh, why are my bad premonitions never wrong!”
Without even time to collect my thoughts, sirens suddenly blared from everywhere, along with people’s screams and the sound of things shattering.
“Kyaaah! Wh… what is that?!”
“Hey, hey, film it!! This is gonna hit a million views!!”
“Wh… what is that? I’m scared…! M… Mommy!!”
A chaotic situation unfolded outside the window.
Slide!
“What on earth is happening?!”
What I slowly saw upon looking outside at this sudden development was… literally pandemonium.
In the reddish sky that didn’t suit the post-sunset commute hour, looking up—
CRACK. CRACKLE. SHREEEEAR—!!
The sky was tearing in real time.
“Could I be seeing things from one can of beer…?”
No, to be more precise, a gigantic hand was forcibly tearing the sky and widening the gap.
The sky above the city twisted abnormally, as if some being was forcing its way through.
“Th… this is a dream… a dream… a dream…”
“It’s the end! The end has come!! To this damned world!!”
“A, aaah…! What on earth is this?!”
Even as people panicked and chaos reigned, I let out a hollow laugh instead.
Because that hand in the sky was one of the scenes I had seen to the point of exhaustion.
“I’m sure that was in the novel’s first chapter….”
A phenomenon from the novel I had read every day for two years.
A gigantic hand that made the sky look like nothing more than a canvas, and a bizarre eye with a vertically slit pupil looking down.
That was the very phenomenon announcing the “story’s” beginning.
Not a specific being, but merely a harbinger announcing the beginning.
“Could what the author said earlier be…?”
SHWOOOOSH!
Between the torn sky, something poured down from the pitch-black gap. Glowing like meteors.
However, they were definitely not meteors.
Not beings that sparkled like stars, but rather their opposites—dark, cold, and horrific existences.
“After this phenomenon, surely….”
And soon, exactly as I expected.
Between the gaps of the split sky, dark red sentences slowly began to rise.
『The boundary of stories has collapsed. Soon, “they” will arrive.』
* * *
The unpopular web novel, Please Listen to Our Stories.
A novel with a title that suggested a school or youth story, but which serialized tales of ghost stories instead.
From the novel that only I read until the very end.
The ghost stories that were not saved have searched for the one who would bring their story to an end.
And crossed over to this place.