HH Chapter 1

Have you ever imagined possessing a character in a game you used to enjoy? Be prepared, because it can happen. When I came to my senses, I was already inside a horror game I used to play in middle school.

‘How did this happen?’

To begin this story, I have to go back a few years ago, to the day I first died.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

‘Ah, so cold.’

I huddled, burying my cheek in my scarf as I watched my breath freeze white in the air.

The weather had been mild all along, but the temperature suddenly plummeted on the very day of the CSAT¹. The main page of every portal site was filled with news about the CSAT.

[CSAT Real-time Estimated Grade Cut-offs]
[Different from the September Mock Exam. One mistake changes your grade…]

I kicked the pebble that was on the ground. It seemed like I would barely scrape by the cut-off for the department I thought I could comfortably get into.

“…….”

I didn’t want to go home, so I wandered outside until the sun had already set. I pulled down the notification bar and peeked at the text messages that were showing up in preview.

Older Sister Baek Seoyeon
[Are you done?]
[Bring pr*gles when you come home]

First, my sister’s errand….

Older Brother Baek Seomin
[You idiot, why aren’t you crawling back home yet?]
[You don’t even have friends, where did you go?]

‘That bastard. Whose fault is it that I don’t have friends?’

I sniffled. It wasn’t because I was sad, absolutely not. It was because I was so cold and my nose was about to run.

A few years ago, after my parents died in an accident, I ended up living with my great-uncle’s family, whom I had only known they exist but never contacted.

My great-aunt and uncle were workaholics, so they were rarely at home. They were so indifferent to me that I wondered why they even took me in, a complete stranger. Their children, my cousins, constantly made me feel unwelcome.

‘Chahyun-ah. Run some errands for noona²from now on. That much is okay, right?’

‘Yes, I will.’

‘Here’s my card. Just buy what I tell you to from the convenience store on your way home from school. Grab something you want while you’re at it.’

My older cousin, already a working adult, would give me her card and make me buy things from the convenience store every day, taking advantage of me.

‘Transfer student. We’re friends, right?’
‘Y-Yeah.’
‘Just go into the mart and do one thing we ask. It’s not that hard to do a favor for a classmate, is it?’
‘Who the hell are these bastards? Why are they cursing at you? Baek Chahyun, are you close to them?’
‘They’re classmates I made friends with today….’
‘……Transfer student, you’re with Baek Seomin…?’
‘These bastards are calling their senior’s name so casually. Do you know me? Are we close?’

The friends I first made, …or rather, almost made, at the school I transferred to stopped talking to me for three years straight after they ran into my cousin, who was a year older than me, in front of the mart.

‘Don’t hang out with those bastards.’

And for some reason, my cousin made sure I didn’t have a single friend throughout my three years of high school.

He would constantly come to my classroom and spout lines like, “Who’s the boss of this class?” something you’d only hear in an old-fashioned movie. If there wasn’t a class president, he’d tell them to make me one….

Even during lunch, I was forced to eat with his friends instead of my classmates. And when we played soccer, it was always my job to fetch the ball.

Our school was known as the delinquent school in the area, and I think his friends were a bit scary.

Thanks to them, my classmates, who heard rumors that I was his lackey, wouldn’t even talk to me. For three whole years! That’s why I was never able to make any proper friends.

One day, I made up my mind.

‘Let’s go to college.’

I can’t rely on others forever. Let’s get out of this house and gain the strength to stand on my own.

‘I’ll get a part-time job, …and make friends again.’

My homeroom teacher said that girlfriends come automatically in college, so I don’t have to worry about that.

“…Haah.”

But I never dreamed I’d trip and fall over the only escape route, the CSAT.

The teachers said that the CSAT isn’t everything in life, but at least that was the case for me.

I didn’t really have anything I wanted to do or wanted to become; I just wanted to do well on the CSAT so I could become independent right away.

‘I don’t want to go home.’

Was it because of that thought?

Honk! 

A loud noise came from the left. As soon as I turned my head, a bright white flash blinded my eyes. My feet were frozen, unable to move.

It seems like I got hit by a huge truck and died.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

When I opened my eyes again, I was in an unfamiliar environment.

‘A hospital… doesn’t seem like it?’

Because a hospital wouldn’t be this dirty. I looked around as soon as I opened my eyes. There were old clothes scattered messily on the chair, and the blanket I was covering myself with smelled musty.

‘Where is this?’

Feeling a tightness in my chest, I sat up, pushing myself up with my palms on the bed. A heavy book fell onto my lap. Only then could I breathe properly.

[Guidebook]

Who put this on top of me?

Grumbling inwardly, I picked up the book whose owner I didn’t know and flipped through the pages. As I opened it, my name was written on the very first page.

[Subject: Baek Chahyun]

‘……Is this a medical chart?’

I panicked but quickly calmed down and turned the pages. But the following pages were all blank.

I flipped the book back to the first page, and letters began to be inscribed below my name with a rustling sound, as if they were being written at that very moment….

[Subject: Baek Chahyun, 18-year-old male]

‘Amazing.’

I almost fainted at the sight I’d only seen in movies about wizards under the stairs, but I didn’t throw the book away. Honestly, it was incredibly fascinating.

[Cause of Accident: Reincarnation Truck Targeting Error]

‘Reincarnation Truck?’

What’s that? 

As I tried to grasp the situation, the letters continued to appear.

[We sincerely apologize. This book is a guidebook for those who died early.]

My vision blurred for a moment as I read the following content. The system error and mistake parts were fine, but after that, it was filled with Chinese characters and difficult terms, making me feel like I was reading a non-fiction passage in a Korean language exam. Choose the inappropriate understanding of ⓐ after reading the following….

I didn’t understand everything else, but simply put, the gist was this:

‘They’re saying I didn’t have to die?’

This meant they killed me by mistake, even though I had plenty of life left!

[…In order to use up your remaining lifespan, you will be possessed by a character in a place that needs you.
Possession Location: <Haunted House>]

And below the words <Haunted House>, the developer’s name, year of production, and other information were listed in a row. Staring blankly at it, I realized at something at some point.

‘Is it a game?’

There was a time in middle school when I tried out every famous horror game. I remember playing <Haunted House> briefly. As I recalled my memories, I started to remember vividly what the game was about.

Just then, the closed door burst open. The un-oiled hinges screeched with a ghostly creeeaaak sound.

And I locked eyes with a man who looked to be in his early thirties, who had just opened the door and entered.

“…….”

“…….”

We stared at each other for a while. 

Who are you? 

And who are you…? 

In the awkward silence, as we just opened and closed our mouths, the man was the first to react.

The man’s eyes, nose, and mouth widened as if he had seen a ghost, and he dropped the water bowl he was carrying somewhere, spun around, and bolted. The clatter of the bowl hitting the floor echoed loudly.

“M-Maasster³!” 

Soybean paste? What’s he saying…? 

I buried my head back in the book.

[The Guidebook assigns a role to the subject of early death!]

[Role: An ordinary mercenary in the <Haunted House> world.]

“……?”

I waited for a while, wondering if something would change, but nothing happened immediately. I stared blankly and then frowned at the following sentence.

[As a transmigrator, you are destined to die, swept away by the original storyline a few years later!]

Excuse me, is this some kind of a role-playing game?

[Approximately two years later, the main storyline of <Haunted House> will begin.]

‘But why that game of all things? I haven’t even looked at it since I quit playing it ages ago.’

I frowned, racking my brain for everything I could remember. As far as I recalled, <Haunted House> was an escape-type horror game with cute, charming graphics.

The overall plot of the game was roughly this: The player accepts a request and enters a dilapidated mansion, which unfortunately, happens to be inhabited by an immortal vampire. The player, caught by the mansion owner’s eye, is cursed and unable to leave the mansion, and the story unfolds as they try to uncover the secrets of the mansion in order to escape.

However….

‘I never saw a single proper ending.’

Not only did I not remember every little detail, but I also gave up on the game after seeing dozens of bad endings!

This game was notorious for its extreme difficulty despite its cute graphics. The endings varied drastically depending on dialogue choices and small clues, so there was no proper walkthrough. And above all….

‘Isn’t it a game where everyone dies in the end anyway?’

Even if I managed to drag the game to the end by constantly loading save files, the player, as well as all the other characters, would die at the hands of the main NPC.

The ending was always a total annihilation.