Chapter 7
I froze in my tracks.
“You’re saying the elevator urban legend actually happened?”
She hesitated for a moment.
Perhaps a breeze blew by.
After a brief pause, she continued.
“It was a nightmare experienced by an elementary school child. Remember that woman? She was actually that child's mother.”
“The mother?”
“Yes.”
She went on.
“The grandfather, the man, the female student, the woman, and the child. That’s who was originally in the dream.”
“Aren’t the other people in the dream imaginary?”
“No, they were all real. Because this urban legend invited multiple people.”
I went silent for a moment. To think this dream was an urban legend that actually occurred.
“I reproduced it in your dream using this.”
< Chronicles of Ghostly Tales >
The phrase was written on what looked like an old, worn-out book she pulled out.
“It looks like an ordinary book, but it’s actually a relic. If you record something here and read it to someone while they sleep, it makes them dream exactly according to the contents.”
So, it's not a fairy tale book, but she reads an urban legend and makes someone dream it? I really hate that.
“I read the elevator urban legend to you while you were asleep. This book reproduced the incident in your dream similarly.”
“Is that even possible? There are all sorts of strange books out there.”
“Nothing is impossible in a dream. Not for humans, and not for ghosts.”
Come to think of it, she was right. Infinite imagination is possible in dreams.
If an evil spirit is the designer of an urban legend, a medium is the solver who dismantles it. In a way, it was an obvious statement, but from another perspective, it was terrifying.
Because it meant that within infinite imagination, a ghost's malice was also close to infinite, just like a dream.
“If an evil spirit creates a dream...”
“I am a medium who dismantles those dreams, weakens them, and devours the nightmares.”
She muttered in a low voice. She spoke with a sharp, piercing gaze.
“Those people, including the child, had nightmares. Just like the elevator urban legend you saw...”
“So what I saw was a past urban legend recorded in that book?”
“Yes.”
I was at a loss for words. It was disconcerting that I had to accept the situation she was describing.
“Then that child must have believed the woman was their mother? Even though she was actually a ghost.”
“Exactly. Although you figured out the answer and escaped.”
She nodded.
“Then the people who were originally in that urban legend... what happened to them?”
“……”
She remained silent. I felt a shock as if I had been struck by a hammer.
“No way...”
A heavy silence followed.
Was what she was saying a cruel lie? Or was it an uncomfortable truth?
I became curious about her intention behind bringing up such enigmatic words.
However, that question became a curiosity that pulled at me strongly, binding my body like a heavy shackle.
“Do you want to know? The real story of the elevator urban legend.”
What happened to the child in the legend in that elevator? Did they survive? Or...
“……”
I was curious. As I hesitated for a moment, she spoke to me.
“That elevator urban legend was the work of an evil spirit disguised as the woman. It was a murderous spirit.”
Her breathing slowed for a moment. Then, as if letting out a breath, she continued.
“It was cruel yet clever. First, it deceived the child by pretending to be the mother, and then it toyed with the people. It watched from the closest distance as everyone was shocked and terrified, and it humiliated them one by one.”
Heh-heh-heh.
The murderous spirit must have looked at the trembling people from behind and sneered. Because it was an evil spirit that created cruel urban legends, devouring people and enjoying it.
‘Did it kill everyone in that dream?’
‘Or is there a survivor?’
I knew that moment of terror well, having seen it firsthand.
The agony and the misery.
Did the people inside that urban legend survive?
“I know the real end of that urban legend.”
The medium trailed off for a moment and then continued.
“No one knows the killer's true identity. But it keeps creating terrifying urban legends in the world. That killer always mutters like this.”
It was her, dressed in a white hanbok.
The woman who called herself a dream-eating medium muttered the killer's words.
“Naksha….”
Goosebumps broke out over my body.
Because it was the same word I had heard when I was leaving the elevator.
Naksha.
The unidentified designer of urban legends.
The killer’s name was Naksha.
Whoosh.
A strong wind blew.
Her long straight hair swayed, and her eyes, which had been hidden by her hair, were clearly revealed.
Sparkling eyes.
They held a confident and unwavering gaze.
“I’m chasing those evil spirits. I search for terrifying urban legends. That’s my job.”
This day had been as long as a nightmare.
She officially introduced herself.
“I am a person who eats dreams. Because I am a medium who eats urban legends.”
……
Today was a long day.
I entered the apartment again with a tired and exhausted body.
“It feels like I’m coming here for the second time.”
I was on my way back home again.
Once was the urban legend.
Now was reality.
Ding.
[1F]
The elevator came down.
[The doors are opening.]
Other people got on the elevator, but I hesitated.
I went silent for a moment and faltered.
[The doors are closing.]
“…….”
For some reason.
I don’t think I’ll be able to ride the elevator for a while.
Walking up the stairs will be good exercise anyway.
Regardless, I dragged my tired body up the stairs to the 21st floor and arrived home.
Being so exhausted, I lay down on the bed immediately.
“Haah.”
I stared at the ceiling.
“Because I am a medium who eats dreams and urban legends.”
The words she said came to mind.
“Of course, I don't just eat anything. I only seek out scary urban legends. Evil spirits that are clever and sharp are always aiming for my back. I need an assistant to be my eyes behind my head. That’s why I need a partner to help me.”
The dream-eating medium.
She had introduced herself that way.
“Go into urban legends with me?”
An urban legend made by an evil spirit.
The task of saving people from that nightmare-like legend.
She is a medium who exterminates urban legends, and she wanted a partner to assist her.
“…….”
Entering an urban legend like the elevator?
The sight of the person who was with me dying and becoming a zombie.
Even that worst feeling of walking a tightrope on the line between life and death.
It was a horrific nightmare I never want to experience again.
“The man died on the 3rd floor, just as you saw,” she had said calmly.
“The grandfather was the same.”
“You said it was something that happened in a child's dream? Then weren't those people just imaginations?”
“I wish that were the case.”
She shook her head. It was a calm gesture, yet one that carried a sense of elegance.
“There was only one dream, but they all dreamed the same dream. A ghost can bring anyone into an urban legend. Without limit.”
I didn't understand right away. Seeing my expression, she explained again.
“You know how to play games, right?”
“Pardon?”
“It's similar to a game. The urban legend itself is a room created by a ghost. It created an urban legend room, and other people were invited in.”
In game terms, it seemed to be this concept:
[Welcome to the Elevator Urban Legend.]
It was an urban legend created by a ghost. A cruel world spawned from an evil spirit's imagination. People were the players challenging that game.
[You have become the Room Lead.]
The child became the owner of the urban legend room.
[4 participants have entered.]
Other people were invited to the urban legend. Thus, the elevator urban legend began with five people. Of course, since one of them was the ghost disguised as the woman, there were actually four human participants.
It was an invitation to an urban legend. A spine-chilling invitation of terror.
“Then?”
“By the time I arrived to purify that urban legend, it was already too late.”
I remembered. After everything ended, the elevator finally opened at the very end. I remembered the sight of someone standing within the white light. It was her.
It was after the grandfather, the man, the female student, and finally even the child had all been struck down.
“When I arrived, the urban legend was already over. It was by a hair's breadth.”
“Then?”
“That ghost had already vanished. I couldn't catch it.”
The elevator urban legend ended in tragedy. Reality was even more cruel.
“I am still chasing that ghost even now. Because it was an evil spirit that claimed four victims in a single night. Most evil spirits only target one person per urban legend. But this ghost is in a different league. To target four people at once in a single legend means that, in the worst-case scenario, it's an evil spirit capable of a massacre of hundreds.”
I understood. I could only imagine the despair she must have felt, arriving at this urban legend too late.
“The evil spirit vanished without a trace, but the urban legend remained. I have been examining that nightmare-like legend over and over again.”
She was clutching the “Chronicles of Ghostly Tales” in one hand.
“This urban legend? In a dream?”
“Yes.”
She answered as if it were nothing. She was the one who called herself a dream-eating medium. The power she possessed was a great ability.
[A medium can enter other people's dreams.]
[They can change others' dreams or solve urban legends.]
[They can invite others into dreams.]
Perhaps. She was clearly a dream-eating medium, just as she had said.
“I watched the elevator repeatedly. Naksha slaughtered people in a bizarre and horrific way, as if toying with them, and enjoyed it.”
“It seems so.”
It was an urban legend I had experienced firsthand. There would be only one reason for disguising itself among the people.
'To watch those trembling in fear and terror from up close.'
'To enjoy the fun of deceiving them.'
It was a spine-chilling feeling. The killer of this urban legend was by no means an easy opponent.
“That demonic killer was enjoying the act of killing. The elevator urban legend is nothing but a trivial prank to him. Countless victims have already come from his numerous urban legends. He will appear one day with a new urban legend. Because he won't be able to forget the joy of slaughter.”
“…….”
“I want to catch him for sure when that happens.”
The evil spirit is a killer.
She even considered it a serial killer. To think she was determined to catch such a being.
‘It means entering urban legends. And against the worst kind of killer at that.’
I could tell instinctively just how dangerous it was.
“I’m, uh… I’ll pass.”
I refused.
She watched me silently, and eventually left one last remark. It was a meaningful statement.
“No one is safe from urban legends.”
It sounded like a curse. Was it the truth?
As if fleeing from that legend, I escaped from her house. I ran and ran until I arrived at the apartment entrance again.
Whir.
I was back in front of the elevator.
[1F]
It was the first floor again. I blankly watched the elevator arrive and open. There was a mirror inside. I knew it was different from the urban legend, but for some reason, it felt unsettling.
“No riding the elevator for a while.”
Yeah. I didn’t think I could ride it for a bit.
It had been a long day. It was so long that it felt as if I had stayed up for several days straight.
“Whew.”
As soon as I got home, I flopped down on my bed. As I buried my face in the pillow, the tension slowly began to unravel.
Drowsy.
My body felt weary, and I slowly fell asleep. Or, did I fall asleep?
At that time, I didn't know.
I had momentarily neglected the fact that the round object I had picked up without realizing when the elevator legend ended—that round something was still in my pocket.
Why was I the only one who obtained it?
Was it really in my pocket in reality?
By the time I realized what it meant, it was already too late.
“……”
That day, I didn’t have a single dream.
……
When I woke up again, it was broad daylight. I woke up from the glare of the sunlight streaming through the window.
“I’m hungry.”
I felt peckish as soon as I got up. I filled my stomach by boiling a pot of ramen until it was bubbling.
Chewy noodles.
A spicy broth with a smoky flavor.
After finishing a delicious bowl, I thought for a moment.
“So...”
I felt an inexplicable sensation. It was hard enough dealing with narcolepsy, but to think my dream would become a stage for an urban legend.
This was the first time, so it was unfamiliar and bewildering.
“Those people.”
The memories were vivid
The grandfather, the man, and the female student who had been in the elevator together.
Me, and even the middle-aged woman who had been the evil spirit.
“That it was a real urban legend. That everyone was struck down by a ghost...”
A cruel and horrific story of being toyed with by a killer. The miserable conclusion was also atrocious.
In a world full of bizarre urban legends created by dead spirits, she was the only living soul. She was also the one who had opened that terrifying elevator door at the end.
‘The dream-eating medium.’
When that solid door opened and I saw her appearing within the light... only then did I feel relieved that I was alive.
The light was salvation.
What was her expression like?
The light had been too bright for me to remember that far.
“I wonder if she looked chilling.”
Her cynical smile and cold eyes were impressive. She was a beauty with an icy chill.
“Phew.”
I took out my phone. Today’s news was full of incidents and accidents. Among the unfortunate deaths, there were many mysterious ones.
“Could it be?!”
If victims could come from urban legends... Such an ominous thought occurred to me.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang. No one ever visits, but someone was knocking at the front door.
“Who is it?”
When I opened the door, two unfamiliar men were there. They were men with dull yet sharp eyes.
“We’re the police.”
“Pardon?”
Why the police? It was just as that question came to mind.
“Do you happen to know a Ms. Lee Yeon-hwa?”
“Who? That’s a name I’ve never heard before.”
The detective held out a photograph. It was the face of a woman wearing a white sobok.
It was a photo of her, the one who said she was a medium.
“Ah, I know her. I met her for the first time today.”
“She’s deceased.”
“What?”
The detective repeated, as if to confirm.
“Lee Yeon-hwa passed away last night. You were the last person to meet her.”