I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 120: Lewis Carol – Snark Hunt

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Time was almost up.

The gate blocking Alice had drawn dangerously near.

Lewis Carol felt it without a doubt.

And as she watched Alice’s journey, she realized she could delay the offer no longer.

With the pen that had absorbed fragments of the Dominators’ power, she had something to propose to Alice.

Hoping Alice would share her conviction, she steeled her heart and stood up from her chair.

---------

For some reason, nothing had happened this past week—no Dominator incidents, no anomalous monsters, no demons. Everything had been eerily quiet.

I assumed today would be the same as usual.

With all the Story’s Demons having calmed down, unless the remaining Dominators started rampaging, there wasn’t much reason for me to step in.

It was disappointing not to have gotten the information I wanted... but it’s not like that’s the first time.

I was lazily rolling around in bed when I accidentally fell off the edge. That’s when Carol called me.

There was something subtly different about her today.

She said she had something to tell me and invited me to her personal office.

It felt like she was about to share some major secret.

The kind even the heads of the Organization hadn’t been told—something only Carol knew.

Carol had a way of revealing everything while still keeping a hundred things hidden.

She sat me down not at some sterile office desk but at an elegant, antique table, absurdly ornate for the space.

Then she brought out a ridiculous spread of black tea and fancy desserts.

No, wait—these weren’t just expensive. They were weirdly hard to find. And not even delicious enough to be worth the effort it’d take to get them.

These were the kind of sweets you’d only get to eat now or never.

So I dove in immediately.

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Tastes great.

As I stuffed my face, Carol casually tossed out a light question after a dramatic pause.

“Hm! So, how has life been treating you?”

What kind of formal-ass question is that?

“What's with that? You’re acting all nervous. That’s not like you.”

“Sorry. I thought a light chat might help me calm down.”

“Well then... I guess I’ve been doing pretty well.”

I’d gone on plenty of adventure missions with the kids. Nobody got hurt. We made it through each one.

The Dominators with the power to kill us in an instant were taken care of by me and the Story’s Demons.

Now that there aren’t any troublemakers left among the demons, I figured maybe we'd finally get a stretch of boring peace.

“Is that so... Then I’m relieved.”

Carol smiled along with me.

She really is pretty when you look at her like this.

“...Have you met all of the Story’s Demons now?”

“Huh, I thought you’d know that already. Kind of surprised you’re asking directly. Anyway, the answer’s no. I haven’t met them all yet.”

Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Ariel, Jack, Red Riding Hood.

The last one left is the elusive ‘Oz’—and the girl who must be connected to it: Dorothy.

“It’s understandable. But... you’ll be meeting her soon.”

“So you do know something about her.”

“...But I don’t want you to «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» meet her.”

“?”

Carol suddenly said something strange, then clapped her hands and shifted the mood.

Looks like she had no intention of answering that.

Why doesn’t she want me to meet Dorothy? Is it like Peter Pan again? Mentally unstable?

Honestly, I think every single Story’s Demon should be sent straight to a psych ward.

...Including me.

“Well then. That’s not the story I called you here for today.”

“Then what is? You’re really going all out with the dramatic buildup.”

I set the dessert down and sipped my tea, signaling her to get on with it.

I thought it’d taste like green tea, but it’s totally different.

“Alice, you have friends, don’t you?”

“Of course?”

“How have your adventures with them been?”

“Like I’m in a dream I don’t want to wake up from. Every day is fun when I’m with them.”

“I thought so.”

Carol seemed genuinely delighted to hear that answer.

Just like how I wanted the kids to be happy, she probably wanted me to be happy too.

That kind of relationship... isn’t so bad. Even if it’s a little embarrassing to say.

“Do you have friends too, Carol?”

“...Huh?”

“That Jack O’ Lantern guy. Isn’t he your friend?”

“...No, he’s—”

She looked flustered, clearly not expecting the question to be flipped on her.

Don’t tell me he’s not a friend but a lover or something.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen her this rattled.

After an awkwardly long silence, she finally answered.

“Fine. You could call him a friend. But my story isn’t important. What matters is whether Alice is enjoying her journey.”

“...Why does that matter so much?”

“Don’t you want your adventure to continue?”

“What?”

Keep going?

We are still going.

Sure, it’ll end someday.

But the ‘end’ Carol was talking about didn’t feel that simple.

“Alice. This world has an ending. Whether you want it to or not, it’s coming. Like the end of a fairy tale. And it’s quite close.”

Wow. She’s really going for something big.

An end to the world? Like the end of a game? The last page of a book?

Everything ending?

Hard to believe.

“Is this about the parallel world stuff you mentioned before?”

“That’s right. We can’t go upward, but we can move sideways... or downward. That’s what I can offer you, Alice.”

Carol pulled out a strange-looking pen from her coat, a pen that seemed to hum with overlapping sounds.

“This pen will let your story keep going. It will lead you into a world where things never end.”

That’s her role.

She whispered it like it was some sacred vow.

Why would that be your role?

“This is all so sudden... I can’t even process it. You’re saying this world will end soon, and you want to move me into a parallel one that’s almost the same?”

“Yes. When that world ends, I’ll take you to the next. And then another. I’ll make sure your adventure continues forever.”

At first glance, it sounds kind of amazing.

An endless, happy adventure. Like something straight out of a dream.

Carol, as if reading my thoughts, said firmly:

“Alice. You don’t need to wake up from this dream.”

“...Wait. What about the kids here?”

Even if the new world is similar, they wouldn’t be my kids.

Can’t I bring them with me?

Even if I didn’t plan to leave right away, I asked if bringing them along was an option.

“That’s not possible. This pen creates.

It writes the future we’ll share, Alice. But it can’t bring the children with you across worlds.”

“...What exactly do you mean by ‘the end’?”

“It’s just like you guessed.

When you read a book, there’s a final page.

That’s a metaphor... but it might not be.

Trust me, Alice. Continuing the story is the only way to avoid the end!”

“Carol, I...”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Too serious.

Carol’s expression was far too serious to pass this off as a ridiculous joke.

The way she spoke—like this world was something out of a novel—gave me overwhelming déjà vu.

And worse, it stirred up a fear buried deep inside me.

Because if I really thought about it, the children of this world were originally just characters in a game.

“You don’t need to overthink it.

It’s all just a matter of perspective.

You’re saying the kids here and the ones in that other world aren’t the same?

Even if they’re just the result of one choosing option A and the other choosing B?”

Confusion. Each word from Carol was a temptation, shaking me at the core.

If this world really is fleeting, like a dream... then wouldn’t I want to keep dreaming, forever...?

“Nod your head, Alice. This is all for your sake!”

Carol was pushing me, but I stood firm and spoke clearly.

“Stop.”

Carol inhaled sharply.

I made it crystal clear that I was refusing.

“Let’s just pretend I didn’t hear any of that. I don’t know exactly what kind of ‘end’ you’re so afraid of, but...

I’m not leaving these kids behind.”

“But—!”

“You should cool your head for a bit.”

I decided to put some distance between me and Carol, who was being a little too persistent.

Her proposal had been unreasonable—shocking, even infuriating—but I knew she meant no harm.

She genuinely believed it was for my sake.

That’s why I didn’t want to press her further.

I left Carol’s office and stepped out into the hallway.

“...I’m sorry, Alice. But I’ll take you with me, even if I have to force you.

If I just stand by and do nothing... Mephistopheles will get exactly what he wants.”

-------

“The end is coming, huh? Carol, seriously...”

I wandered the hallway, trying to clear my head after leaving Carol’s office.

The end... what would it even look like?

Would some holy being awaken in the far reaches of the universe and erase the cosmos like it was all a dream?

Or would an absolute monster—one even I couldn’t defeat—come to destroy us?

Or something else entirely?

“...Hm?”

As I walked with my head down, James spotted me and gave me a pat on the shoulder.

He smelled faintly of coffee—probably had just finished a cup.

“You get into a fight with Director Carol?”

“Yeah. She made a pretty unreasonable suggestion.”

“I see. Carol’s a bit suspicious, sure...

But I doubt she meant any harm. My advice—don’t overthink it.”

“Yeah, I think so too. Hm... Maybe next time I’ll go find her myself and try talking again.”

“Good on you.”

Even just a short conversation with James made me feel a little better.

There’s something reassuring about being around him.

Our personalities click, too.

Except for when he treats me like a kid. That part sucks.

“So... any side effects from turning into a wolf and back into a human?

You get the urge to howl at the moon or anything?”

“Hm. Sometimes I feel like barking when I see a bald guy walking down the street.”

“...Wait, seriously?”

“Just kidding.”

“Ahaha! Geez... huh?”

Ding-ling!

While joking around with James, I felt something.

A sort of... sixth sense.

It kicks in sometimes when something big is about to go down.

“...”

“What’s wrong?”

Ding-ling!

And this feeling?

It’s almost never wrong.

“Something feels off... like something’s about to happen.”

I was just about to open a mirror to check for any anomalies that might have escaped from containment—

BOOM—!

The entire facility shook violently, like something had slammed into it from the outside.

Two seconds later, a loudspeaker blared an emergency warning.

Emergency alert! Emergency alert!

G-type assault alert!

All agents and administrators, prepare for combat!

“...!”

What the hell is this sudden disaster?!

I was still stunned by the unfamiliar alarm when James calmly explained the situation.

“Another group is attacking the Organization’s base.”

“Another group? You mean the Church? I thought they scattered after their leader died.”

“No way to know for sure. First, we identify the enemy.”

James turned to head toward the control room.

Of course—knowing who the enemy is would minimize casualties.

It’s practically a habit for Organization agents—better safe than bleeding.

If we don’t know anything, we don’t go charging in.

I opened a mirror to get there as quickly as possible.

“Just give me the coordinates. I’ll head there right away.”

“Good.”

As soon as I had the coordinates, I summoned the mirror portal and jumped through.

“Mr. James!”

A female agent was already working frantically at a console in a room packed wall-to-wall with monitors.

She noticed us right away.

James asked her:

“Have you run the bioscan per the manual?”

“It just finished... initiating now!”

She pressed a button, and a ripple spread across a digital map of the facility’s layout.

It indicated the number of enemies—and just a quick glance told us it was a lot.

The number was rising, too.

How many were there?! Thousands?!

Next to the blips, data like composition and human-like features were being analyzed.

“Some appear human-like, but others... don’t.

And they don’t match any known organizations in our registry.”

“The ones our agents are fighting—

They walk on two legs, but that’s about the only human thing about them.”

“What about soul scans?”

“We’re waiting on authorization.”

Beep!

“...Authorization just came through from Director Carol!”

Everything was happening so fast.

It shouldn’t be exciting—but somehow, it was.

She hit another button, and this time, I could feel the energy pass through me.

Was that the soul scan?

A strange sensation.

Warning: 50% spiritual energy loss within branch detected.

Caution: depletion imminent.

“Soul scan results...”

The results appeared on the screen—and left us all speechless.

“Most of the intruders match Lewis Carol with 96% similarity.”

Ding-ling—

Somewhere in the distance, a bell rang.