Stella had declined an appearance offer from a Japanese variety show just a few days prior.
And for good reason.
‘Doesn’t take much to see they’re trying to pair me with that actress, right?’
Such obvious matchmaking was absolutely out of the question. Stella politely refused the producer’s suggestion with a faint smile.
After all, entanglements with that actress would irritate not only herself but also Asher Baldwin.
Stella still didn’t understand why Asher had come to Japan in the first place.
“Still, wouldn’t it be worth doing just once?”
“Hmm? Why, it’s fine.”
“Didn’t you get close with those actors?”
“Not really.”
Truthfully, that actress had never shown any real interest in becoming close.
Seoyeon still felt a connection with her.
Perhaps because they were fundamentally quite similar. However, since staying at Seoyeon’s house, she’d begun to wonder if that was all just an illusion.
“Today, the producer called again.”
“Why? Another variety show invitation?”
“Actress Sooyeon Joo is looking for you.”
“…Hmm.”
A variety show? Looking for her? Stella looked perplexed at Asher, but Asher merely shrugged, offering no answer.
“Still, don’t you feel any interest?”
Stella responded, “Not really,” then turned away.
But as she walked off, her light steps betrayed a lack of honesty, causing Asher to chuckle involuntarily.
She wasn’t candid at the beginning, which was no small nuisance, but now, Asher knew how Stella would behave when she gave that sort of answer.
*
“There’s no one to cook.”
Seoyeon grew serious.
Jo Seohui, Jiyeon Lee, and Japanese actress Reika.
None of them could cook.
It was even said that, among them, Seoyeon was the best at cooking.
Initially, Seo-hyeon acted as a leader, but when the topic of cooking came up, she quickly lost her stature.
Why Reika, though?
‘Is she just here because her “lady” concept was mentioned?’
A visibly anxious Jo Seo-hyeun was using a fan to cool herself, and in turn, Reika followed suit.
‘Still, she doesn’t measure up to a genuine villainous lady.’
Jo Seo-hyeun, a natural villainess, looked like a graceful noblewoman whenever she held a fan, but Reika? She was clearly an aspiring villainess.
Though she managed to look the part to some degree, she just couldn’t measure up to the real thing.
‘Anyway, that’s irrelevant.’
The real issue was food.
Seoyeon, to be honest, wasn’t completely incapable of cooking. She just couldn’t do it because Joo Young-bin would panic and stop her.
She could get the seasoning roughly right, but what Seoyeon could cook was limited to food she herself could eat.
Moreover, the ingredients available were restricted.
Seoyeon was usually incapable of cooking without ham or eggs.
‘That’s why I said no…’
Seoyeon quietly observed the group of young ladies gathered close.
“Seoyeon found a gas burner, right?”
“What’s a gas burner?”
“Isn’t that something that runs on butane gas? Am I right?”
“I don’t know, ask me again.”
Jiyeon Lee and Jo Seohui were having this kind of conversation.
How could they be so meticulous about a mere gas burner?
“Does Reika know how to use it?”
“No, because at our house, we use induction.”
“What’s induction?”
Seoyeon had never once considered Jo Seohui to be a real lady.
In fact, at this point, it seemed as if she lacked common sense altogether?
Of course, even Seoyeon had never used a gas burner.
Isn’t that something usually used by men?
No matter how much this life was recalled, Seoyeon herself had never been close to fire in her previous life.
After all, someone with a mental health condition wouldn’t be placed close to fire, would they?
And no matter how she argued that she wasn’t that kind of patient, people around her would still consider her a potential arsonist.
“…First, I’ll go collect some ingredients.”
“Not just ingredients, but we also need to find the tent.”
Upon reflection, they had all been abandoned in the middle of Aokigahara forest.
The only company was the cameramen.
Of course, there were CCTV cameras installed throughout for safety and recording purposes, so there wasn’t much danger involved.
However, the forest was dense, and wandering off could easily lead to getting lost.
“Going out together seems like we might all get lost.”
“I could go myself.”
Given how quiet the forest was, it was easy to hear the footsteps of people wandering around.
Judging from the radius, they could find everything.
“…I don’t know if this is a joke.”
Jo Seohui looked at Seoyeon with an exasperated face. The statement about encountering bears didn’t seem entirely false.
The more she worried, the more it became apparent that bear sightings during camping in Japan were, indeed, not uncommon.
“Serious question, Seoyeon, do you think you could fight a bear?”
“Hey, Jo Seohui. What’s with the serious questions? We need to find food! I’m hungry!”
The tent, provisions, and various other tools were all scattered throughout this forest.
Naturally, no other tools were allowed.
At least, they were allowed to use their smartphones.
‘…I should’ve gotten Stella’s number.’
Seoyeon seriously thought.
Because, upon researching Stella, it appeared she was quite skilled in cooking since she had posted her homemade dishes on Instagram.
‘Just in case, I did mention this to the staff.’
Seoyeon was that desperate.
She needed to summon the bothersome Stella.
If only she had asked for the number knowing this would happen.
The problem was, even if Stella came, it’d just add another troublesome “young lady” into the mix.
“First, we need to find tools, but we don’t know about getting lost. What shall we do? Only Sooyeon Joo won’t suffice.”
“We can mark the trees as we go.”
“Good thought?”
Jiyeon and Jo Seohui were discussing who should go first.
‘Me? I don’t know what’s going on, but me too!’
‘Ah, you’re coming too, Reika?’
At that moment, Reika seemed surprised when Jo Seohui suddenly called her by name but quickly nodded in agreement.
Without Stella around, sitting idly would surely lead to their cut scenes.
“Hmm, I’ll find everything, and other people can handle the rest, right?”
Seoyeon seriously suggested.
Honestly, Seoyeon found this situation a little unfamiliar.
Most variety shows treated Seoyeon as the star, and it was rare for someone else to be treated that way.
‘Seriously, I miss Hyunwoo Jung-woo.’
If Park Jung-woo was here, he would have effortlessly handled everything. He was that perfect. Seoyeon had never seen him fail.
Even in gaming and camping, he was better than Seoyeon. In deserted island survival scenarios, he could even cook well and build houses from trees.
‘What did he learn from his dad, anyway?’
Anyhow, it was time to end the escapism.
“I’ll stay here first, so why don’t you all go scout?”
“Huh? Why aren’t you going together?”
“Because I need to know where you’re going to find you, right?”
“Ah, got it.”
Real or not, Jo Seohui took Seoyeon’s suggestion seriously, grabbing safety gear and a lantern before disappearing into the forest.
With so many trees, it didn’t take long for her to be out of sight.
“Seoyeon, do you think you can find me?”
“Alright.”
“Do I really need to be found?”
“…Then would you rather stay here?”
“I don’t want to.”
Stubborn Jiyeon seemed to dislike staying alone. Though this was another annoying quality, Seoyeon nodded.
‘Then, I guess I’ll go too.’
Reika awkwardly disappeared as well. Poor Reika had lost her purpose for being on the show and vanished into the forest.
‘This would’ve been fun if we had done this with the cameras.’
Seoyeon thought. Suddenly, she considered: Wasn’t this similar to a joint broadcast between Ramiel and Alice?
No, Ramiel and Jiyeon were different people, so it wasn’t.
Nevertheless, Seoyeon pondered, wouldn’t it still count if she just wore an eye filter?
Thinking thus, Seoyeon quietly waited in their base for the three missing young ladies to return.
“….”
A chilling wind breezed through the trees.
That latent fear, momentarily forgotten amid thoughts of survival, began to trickle in.
With the sky cloudy, sunlight barely reached the forest, and an ominous silence enveloped the surroundings.
Seoyeon looked at the cameraman.
Dressed as he was in black makeup, signaling not to worry, he just made it even scarier.
Thinking back now, had the Japanese staff deliberately dressed him in such a bizarre outfit?
It was fitting for a weird special feature.
‘Japanese staff are really unique.’
While Seoyeon struggled to think positively and crossed her arms, a sense of fear still crept in.
The fearless-overcoming Seoyeon was aiming to be, wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
“…Why isn’t anyone coming back?”
About 30 minutes had passed.
Shivering in solitude while waiting brought no one back.
Huh, how far did they even go?
Is the broadcast footage okay?
When Seoyeon glanced at the cameraman, he gave a thumbs-up, indicating it was fine.
Were the scattered young ladies generating some content?
“Maybe I should go look?”
It took less than five minutes for Seoyeon to find a gas burner and butane gas.
Meanwhile, the others had been missing for 30 minutes.
‘Maybe, isn’t setting fire in the woods allowed?’
Surely they’d brought a fire extinguisher, though.
While having that somewhat meaningless thought, Seoyeon walked in the direction Reika had gone, carefully listening.
The others seemed relatively strong. But Reika?
And…
“Ugh, I can’t move because it’s too scary…”
Surprisingly, Seoyeon soon met Reika.
‘I don’t know what it means, but it’s probably because it’s scary.’
Seoyeon could somewhat relate to that. Note that Reika was trembling, holding a bread kn*fe in her hand—a situation ripe for misunderstandings depending on circumstances.
“Why are you doing that?”
“My legs gave out….”
Apparently, Reika couldn’t understand what Seoyeon said, but pointing to her legs indicated her legs gave out.
Having lost direction after wandering and circling back, she had presumably started crying here.
‘Maybe I should carry her?’
With the weak Reika roughly hoisted, Seoyeon began her journey to find the next person, Jiyeon.
As the cameraman filmed, he was satisfied beyond measure, and Seoyeon felt like hitting him.
‘Hic, hic.’
“Please don’t cry into my ear because it’s scary.”
“Seriously, I thought I was going to d*e. That’s how scared I was.”
“Speaking Japanese softly is also scary, please stop that.”
“Clearly, it’s a kind and consoling statement. Thank you.”
“Ugh.”
The chilling atmosphere.
Coupled with the sound of Reika sobbing softly in her ear—had she understood it, it might’ve been better, but lacking comprehension made the situation even more terrifying.
From Seoyeon’s perspective, it felt as if she’d stepped into a Japanese horror film.
While Seoyeon usually had her tension raised just by participating in variety shows, today, she couldn’t manage it.
“I can’t get down…”
“…?”
Why is this person up in a tree?
Jiyeon was shaking, gripping meat in her hand atop a tree.
Setting aside her trembling, what was she doing up there?
“I… this is my first time on a variety show actually.”
“You were on ‘Past Memories’ before, right?”
“But my face didn’t show up! You had me dressed up!”
“R—really?”
Anyhow, it seemed Jiyeon, not particularly well-known, was new to variety shows.
Upon finding the meat hanging from a tree, she’d seemingly got a bit overenthusiastic.
“You can throw the bag with the meat down by using that tool over there, right?”
“I did see it, but I thought the show would be more fun this way.”
“…Hmm, guess that’s how it goes.”
From the variety show’s perspective, perhaps that was the correct approach.
Seoyeon spread her arms.
“Jump down, and I’ll catch you.”
“Really? You aren’t joking around because it’s a variety show?”
“…What do you think of me?”
If you drop it, it’s not just a joke anymore.
After locking eyes seriously, Jiyeon carefully jumped down.
Seoyeon caught her in a princess hold, then remembered past occurrences and smiled faintly at Jiyeon.
“It’s been a long time since we did this since we were kids, huh?”
“…Stop teasing me.”
Anyhow, Jiyeon was rescued. Meanwhile, Seoyeon carried Reika on her back and Jiyeon in her arms as she moved forward.
‘Why can’t both of them walk?’
Jiyeon’s legs had given out after jumping off the tree.
Reika had simply been paralyzed by fear.
In truth, Seoyeon was scared too, but she was just pretending not to be.
She was scared.
Wasn’t this forest scary?
Of course, Seoyeon had checked many internet posts about Aokigahara Forest before coming here.
After all, Google searches mostly yielded horrifying stories.
And from community forums:
– When you actually go, it’s pretty much nothing.
– Really, ㄹㅇ?
– Yup, just lots of trees.
Having felt reassured by those words before coming, the atmosphere of the forest was still quite intimidating.
Definitely, something ghostly might pop out at any moment.
‘Seohui must have gone this way.’
As Seoyeon was moving along, the clouds hid the sunlight, darkening the forest.
Her pace naturally slowed.
“Alright, don’t you both think it’s time to walk?”
“Over there, there’s something! Over there, over there!”
Just as she was about to speak, Reika, from her perch on Seoyeon’s back, pointed her finger somewhere.
Involuntarily turning her gaze, Seoyeon could only freeze in place.
“Found it….”
Over and over, she muttered under her breath.
The figure of a woman slowly shuffled out from the gloom.
At the moment, both Seoyeon and the brash Jiyeon,
And even Reika, who had been talking nonstop until now, froze.
With her back slightly bent, moving at a sluggish pace, this woman was the very essence of a ghost.
So spooky it made even a real ghost want to flee.
The chilly wind blowing from her direction completely overwhelmed Seoyeon.
Moreover, the sudden memory that flashed through Seoyeon’s mind.
When Seoyeon had been drunk, Toriko’s Jo Seohui had been imprinted like an indelible mark.
And now, this scene overlapped with the previous memory.
“Aaaahhh!!!”
For the first time, a scream erupted from Seoyeon’s lips.
“Hey?! Wait! Don’t go!!”
Seoyeon turned around abruptly and ran away.
The woman calling out “Don’t go, don’t go!” from behind sounded like a scream, making it even more terrifying.
If you’re a Japanese ghost, speak in Japanese!
And like that, Seoyeon bolted all the way back to base.
She had completely forgotten about not finding Seohui.
And roughly one hour later…
“…Too much.”
“Please, raise your hair and then speak.”
“It was scary.”
“I’m scared now.”
Confronting Jo Seohui, whose hair was full of leaves and was looking disheveled, Seoyeon spoke from a distance.
She felt guilty for running away, but seeing her like this was even scarier.
