A young girl had but one small wish.
To wander far and wide, marveling at all sorts of wondrous things.
However, her grandfather would never permit the little girl to leave the house.
And so, as if it were her sole refuge, every night she dreamt.
As if it were her only escape.
There were no fewer than three kinds of dreams!
The first was like a reflection of the girl’s heart that could not venture out—a dream of sightseeing in Seoul.
In this dream, though she couldn’t move freely and it felt somewhat stifling, the inconvenience was worth enduring because the dream showed her various landscapes, reflecting her wish.
Through her dreams, she could see and feel every corner of Seoul.
Moreover, the dream was so diverse that there seemed to be no end in sight.
When she woke up, most of the dream’s contents faded from memory, but some scenes lingered faintly in her mind.
“There was a big tower in my dream. That huge tower visible even from Grandfather’s house—I really wanted to go inside once…”
But no matter how much the girl twisted the doorknob in her dream, the tower’s door wouldn’t open.
Click, click, click.
Only the loud sound of the doorknob echoed.
It would never open.
The second dream was of her friends visiting her in her dreams—the only friends the friendless girl had.
Dream-friends who looked exactly like herself.
They showed her memories of indeterminate origin—full of pure joy.
In those memories, the girl wandered various places, laughing and enjoying herself brightly.
The grandfather in these memories was slightly cold, yet unlike the real one, he allowed her freedom to roam wherever she pleased.
To the girl, especially intriguing were the Object Hazard Areas.
Trees that blew soap bubbles,
Lakes emitting intoxicating scents,
Brooks flowing like transparent crystal,
Forests where kittens as large as herself frolicked.
In such marvelous places, the girls smiled happily.
But these memories always abruptly cut off, like an interrupted cartoon.
“I want to see more…”
But no matter how much she pleaded, her lookalike friends only shook their heads.
The third dream was truly unpleasant.
A sticky red liquid clung endlessly to the girl.
A liquid so sticky that she could never shake it off alone.
Moreover, when the liquid adhered to her body, strange voices seemed to echo.
Though voices have no color, these sounded distinctly red.
And just as she felt herself being sucked into the liquid,
Her only friends would desperately pull her out by the hand.
And the moment she escaped the liquid, the girl would forget everything about the dream and wake up.
Always.
In the heart of Seoul stood Oh Muryong’s mansion.
Oh Muryong’s granddaughter sat by the window, mesmerized by the beautiful fireworks erupting from the Doll Exhibition Hall downtown.
As vibrant fireworks decorated the night sky, a thrill arose in the girl’s heart—an urge to visit the festival herself.
“Maybe I can go someday…”
Immersed in her daydream, the kind butler approached her gently.
“Miss, I’m sorry to interrupt, but the master is calling for you.”
The girl nodded.
Setting aside her festival daydreams, curiosity piqued, she made her way to meet her grandfather.
The place she arrived at, following his summons, was unfamiliar.
Strange machines filled the room, with a central tank containing an unsettling liquid.
The girl shivered with an odd chill and foreboding.
By the tank stood her grandfather, smiling softly as he beckoned her closer.
With a mix of curiosity and apprehension, the girl cautiously approached.
“Grandfather?”
The slightly uneasy girl called out, but Oh Muryong merely handed her a blindfold.
Following his instructions, she tied it on and submerged herself in the liquid.
Warm and sticky, yet strangely familiar.
Unfamiliar sensations, yet they felt oddly known.
Then, incessant strange sounds began to reach her ears.
The sound of something being ground in a blender, followed by the sound of it being poured into the liquid.
Grinding… pouring.
Grinding… pouring.
Grinding… pouring.
As more things were added to the liquid, it grew increasingly sticky and clingy.
“What is this sound?”
Though curious, she resisted peeking through the blindfold, hearing whispers telling her not to.
“It’s okay. You mustn’t look.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t stay till the end.”
The voice was unknown, yet familiar like a friend’s.
And then, with the final grinding sound,
A sudden pain began.
Sharp cuts, starting from her toes and creeping upward.
“!!!!”
Unable to scream against the unbearable pain, the girl blacked out.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a white space flooded with ankle-deep blood.
The usual place of her three recurring dreams.
Stepping into the dreamspace, forgotten memories returned to their rightful place.
A familiar space.
The only difference was the gripingly warm blood rising to her ankles.
Remembering the friendly voices she’d heard while awake, she began searching for them, running in all directions.
“Where are you?”
But no matter how much she ran through the white space, her friends remained unseen.
Just as she was about to give up,
“Sorry.”
“If only you could be happy…”
A faint voice came from the blood-soaked floor.
Looking down, the blood began bubbling.
And her small hand floated to the surface.
“So you were hiding here!”
Joyfully grabbing the hand, the girl pulled hard—but her friend was too light and fell back into the blood.
All that remained in her grasp was her friend’s severed hand.
“!”
This marked the beginning; countless pieces of flesh began floating to the surface.
Flesh identical to hers.
Yet brutally dismembered corpses.
“Why? Why is this happening?”
At that moment, red light descended from the sky.
A red voice began to echo.
Red, sticky liquid surged toward her, threatening to consume her whole.
But there were no friends left to save her now.
At the Doll Exhibition Hall in Seoul, the Security Doll Gallery.
“!”
Staring at what seemed to be an ‘Agui-grade’ security doll observing me in ghost form, I waved my hand.
Waving right made its eye twitch slightly right; waving left made it twitch slightly left.
It really sees ghosts?
That the association can’t make ghost-detecting cameras but can create ghost-seeing dolls feels a bit odd.
Like making a computer without a calculator or something.
Anyway, that’s how it felt.
After discovering that Agui-grade dolls detect ghosts, I tried waving at other dolls, but none reacted except the Agui-grade ones.
“Meh.”
I entered the <Great Object Security Doll Gallery> with high expectations but quickly lost interest.
They’re just fast and strong dolls—nothing special at all.
Leaving the gallery, the fireworks still dazzled the night sky.
Tump-tump.
Walking along, admiring the fireworks, something caught my attention.
A parade!
Dancing, singing dolls in dazzling outfits marching by.
Their tireless energy and precise performances were impressive indeed.
I perched atop a lamppost in ghost form to watch the parade.
“I should show this to the mini reapers later.”
Especially the Golden Reaper—he’d probably get excited and try to imitate it. I’d love to see a golden reaper parade.
Drum-beating dolls, horn-blowing dolls.
Rhythms that made me want to groove along.
The parade was full of lively vibes but started feeling weird.
The marching dolls froze unnaturally, and ominous sounds filled the air.
The sound of something being blended.
Followed by a girl’s anguished moans.
So loud it drowned out both the exhibition music and the parade soundtrack.
But nobody else seemed to hear it.
The frozen dolls resumed moving awkwardly, jerky and unnatural.
People thought it was part of the performance.
Creepy sounds and bizarre movements from the dolls.
Clearly suspicious, yet no one noticed.
Something’s wrong.
I scanned around for the Harmful Object causing this phenomenon but found no trace.
And when the blending sound and girls’ screams stopped,
Clunk.
The dolls froze again.
Slowly, their eyes emitted a red glow, and a foul smell spread.
“!”
Startled, I jumped up.
The dolls suddenly turned harmful!
Evil parade dolls dispersed among the crowd, pretending to be part of the show.
Without hesitation, I grabbed the space and tore it apart.
As numerous dolls shattered, the atmosphere at the exhibition hall shifted.
When the human-like dolls were ripped apart, people screamed and fled.
Cheerful music turned sinister.
Lantern-like dolls illuminating the venue now emitted eerie red light.
And all the dolls began attacking humans en masse.
“There are too many!”
Worse still, the dolls I’d pulverized with my Spatial Cut were slowly regenerating.
