Chapter 27: Closet
A girl sat in the middle of the darkness, lit only by the glaring screen before her, her hands trembling as she saw the familiar bit.
"No... it can’t be," her weak voice filled the empty space.
She struggled to delete the app for who knows how long.
Am I still dreaming?
The question came to her once again. What was this nightmare she was stuck in?
Her eyes unconsciously strayed towards her left hand, the three skulls still sitting tightly on them. Suddenly, she could hear whispers of something unseen as her eyes stared into the dark abyss. Yet there was nothing—only the cold night air and a heavy atmosphere filling the area.
She only breathed in a huge breath before she exhaled a long sigh. Then she stood up.
In her mind, she had already tried every way to escape this torment, yet that ghost kept repeating this cycle. She was tired of waking up more than twenty times just to face another fake-out.
She looked at her phone’s screen once again, the cold light reflecting off her sunken face as the Skeletons in the Closet app sat tightly in her app tray.
She scrolled past that and opened up her favourite social media app, one that her friends and schoolmates regularly used. She then positioned her camera before she began recording.
"This is Yoo Bo Na, and I am recording this to make a confession."
The girl began.
"First of all, I would like to apologize for all the actions I have done to my very friends, especially Nam Da Reum. I haven’t really been a good friend, and my actions must have been what pushed her to her limits. For that, I would like to ask for forgiveness from my teachers, my friends, and especially her parents.
"I am truly sorry for all the pain I brought upon my friend. I am greatly distressed by her death, and the guilt of it has been haunting my conscience. I truly regret the actions I had done, both circulating such damaging rumors and forcing other students to distance themselves from her."
The girl then took a long, deep bow in front of the camera before sharing the video to social media.
As she did this, she felt something that had been strangling her, hovering viciously over her, suddenly disappear as the feeling of dread and eeriness dissipated.
She could finally get her relief.
Her eyes suddenly fluttered open once again as she looked towards the familiar room, her hands still trembling. She quickly looked at her left hand. The tattoos were gone. She then turned to her phone. The dreadful app was also gone.
Was all that she dreamt a nightmare? It must have been... otherwise.
She stood up from her bed, ready to walk away, before the sudden sound of a notification bling turned her back to her phone.
It was a comment, one that was quite harsh. As she turned to look at what the comment was for, she realized it was for the video she had just recorded.
Her fingers began to tremble as she struggled to search for the delete button, yet her screen suddenly became unresponsive as the video went viral, especially among her schoolmates.
The video was posted and reposted several times as people turned back to the explicit video supposedly shared among the students, coupled with all the horrible rumors about her friend.
Yoo Bo Na finally managed to delete the video, but unfortunately, the video of her confession to making explicit videos of her friend and spreading malicious rumors that pushed her friend to take her own life had already spread far too widely.
Cha Hwa Rim watched this unfold before she turned to leave.
A skeleton had been released from its closet.
She had already done this for more than ten people. When would she actually reach her true target?
As the Ghost of Retribution, she had a mission to punish all wrongdoers. But what about her own wrongdoers? When would she receive that justice?
No. She needed to calm down.
She turned back toward the still-churning grey fog.
She now had an idea of what she was to do.
She had to embody the Ghost of Retribution, hunting down all the guilty and passing down the judgment demanded by her scales of justice. If only she could afford those scoundrels that same justice, that would be enough.
But it didn’t matter whether it was the dream world or not.
Then suddenly, she could feel something pulling at her chains as the flaming sword became fiercer than anything it had shown before.
Cha Hwa Rim followed the pull, ready to deliver another dose of justice and judgment, releasing the hidden skeletons in their closets. She couldn’t help but chuckle. How the Skeletons in the Closet game had now been flipped on its head. Initially, it had been used to protect secrets, but now...
Another crimson star began to bloat and grow exponentially as it twinkled erratically. Before long, it burst forth, and as it did, the familiar mist started to take form.
Then a familiar sight hit Cha Hwa Rim like a freight train.
The familiar face.
The one from her nightmares.
The one she had been hunting the whole time.
She could feel dark emotions that had seemed buried erupt all at once. Tonight, she had faced killers, corrupt leaders, and bullies, but none of that had done anything to stir her the way the face forming right before her did.
But just before Cha Hwa Rim could enter, the vague form already taking shape began to collapse once again.
"No!"
The moment Cha Hwa Rim saw this happen, she directed the chain connecting her to her victims toward the figure, hoping to plant even a seed.
It barely worked, connecting for only a brief moment before the whole thing collapsed, and she found herself back at the school.
"Oh, you finally made it. I assume you have gotten a Story Point?" a modulated voice spoke.
Cha Hwa Rim turned to see the butterfly figure.
"Where are they?"
"Easy. No need to get hostile. I have kept them warm for you," the masked figure said as he levitated Cha Ha Rin and Im Na Ri toward Cha Hwa Rim.
She quickly ran to check on them, making sure they were okay. After a quick confirmation that they were alive and nothing bad had happened, she turned back to the masked, cloaked figure.
"You really are an interesting star," the voice said, its tone carrying unmistakable intrigue even through all the modulation. "I really wish I had more time to spend with you, but unfortunately I have to go. As congratulations for learning Actualization and getting a Story Point... have my gift."
The masked figure pointed in a certain direction.
Cha Hwa Rim unconsciously followed where it pointed, only to see many people clothed in black suits fitted with various pieces of tactical gear running toward them.
She turned to look back at the masked figure, only to see that it had already turned back into a butterfly, disappearing into the night.
"Nobody move! Everyone on your knees!" one of the figures shouted.
These must be members of the Anomaly Bureau, Cha Hwa Rim thought.
How was she supposed to join them now
"Fuck"