Chapter 9: And Then There Were None

Han Yerim, a 19-year-old student preparing for her exams.

After studying late at the reading room, she packed her bag to go home at 1 AM.

She had to return home at this late hour every day while preparing for the university entrance exams.

School classes were already overwhelming, and she had to juggle them with cram school and the reading room, so she was always short on sleep and suffering from chronic fatigue.

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Han Yerim wondered if she was pushing herself too hard lately.

The repetitive daily routine was slowly eating away at her. She couldn’t rest even on holidays and only studied, so her motivation for the college entrance exam was gradually fading.

“Hey Yerim!”

“Huh? Oh, it’s Seeun.”

As she was packing her bag, her mind went blank and she was staring at the textbooks on her desk, when her friend Kim Seeun approached her with a smile and handed her a vitamin drink.

Kim Seeun, a study mate from the reading room whom she often talked to, and a top student from the neighboring school. She always had a bright smile, told funny jokes, and was a good friend who gave her energy.

“Yerim, you listen to music often when you study, right?”

“Huh? Yeah, I do. I mostly listen to instrumental music. I can’t concentrate if there are lyrics. But why?”

“Well, I found a really awesome app. Have you heard of SubSound?”

“SubSound…? I’ve never heard of it. Is it a music streaming platform?”

“Yeah! I think it’s a new app that launched this month. They’re having a two-month free event for students, so I wanted to tell you about it. I tried it today, and the sound quality is good, and they have a lot of songs.”

“Really? Free is always good.”

Han Yerim downloaded SubSound on Seeun’s recommendation. These days, most music streaming sites cost nearly 10,000 won a month, so this kind of event product was the best for teenagers like Han Yerim who were short on allowance.

“Oh, and they have themed playlists here.”

“Yeah. There’s also a collection of music for concentration?”

“Yeah, yeah. That one! It’s really good. I’ve never seen the song titles before, but I think it’s better for concentration than the Lo-fi compilations on YouTube.”

“Oh. This is pretty good.”

Han Yerim bobbed her head to the music coming from her earphones and tapped her foot to the rhythm. A moderate beat and a moderate rhythm. They were perfect songs for concentrating.

As expected of a recommendation from Kim Seeun, who had a similar taste in music, they were all good songs.

“Thanks. I’ll let you know if I find something good next time.”

“Yeah! You worked hard today too! Get home safe and see you tomorrow!”

“Yeah, you too. See you tomorrow.”

Han Yerim, whose house was in the opposite direction from Kim Seeun who was waiting for her parents’ car, started walking home alone.

It was a path she often took, so she didn’t feel any particular fear. It was a familiar scene and a familiar path, so familiar that she could walk it with her eyes closed.

“Wow, they have this song too.”

Han Yerim checked the song list on SubSound and made her own playlist. Even songs from very niche genres were all included in SubSound.

Han Yerim felt a strange pleasure from the nostalgic music she hadn’t heard in a long time and headed home with wireless earphones in both ears.

From the perspective of a student who stayed up all night studying, it wasn’t that late yet, and there were quite a few people walking around. With so many people on the street, what could possibly happen? Han Yerim felt relieved.

“Hmph~”

Humming along to the song flowing from her wireless earphones, Han Yerim entered the alley leading to her house.

The streetlights were out today, so the alley was a little darker than usual. Han Yerim felt a little creeped out, but it would take longer to go around, so she decided to just go through the alley.

Thump. Thump.

About 2 minutes after entering the alley, she heard someone’s footsteps in her ear. Footsteps that seemed to be following her pace. Han Yerim got goosebumps and felt an unpleasant discomfort.

‘Who is it…’

Was it because so many bad things had happened recently? All sorts of imaginations popped up in Han Yerim’s head. Maybe it’s a stalker. Or it could be someone who holds a grudge against her.

The footsteps gradually got closer, and Han Yerim’s heart began to beat wildly in sync.

Thump, thump, thump, thump…

In the end, Han Yerim started running in fear, but the footsteps didn’t fade. She was definitely being followed. No, she was being chased. As soon as she realized someone was following her, Han Yerim ran with all her might to get out of the alley faster.

Maybe it’s not just a stalker, but a human trafficker for the purpose of kidnapping. Han Yerim, who had recently heard news about women who had suffered this kind of damage, assumed the worst-case scenario.

“Hah. Hah. Hah.”

Han Yerim ran and ran. Even if she screamed for help, no one helped her. Like that, Han Yerim, avoiding the assailant chasing her, finally reached the exit of the alley.

After running for a while and reaching the exit of the alley, the footsteps that had been chasing her gradually faded, and Han Yerim, who had finally shaken off her pursuer, grabbed the wall and gasped for breath.

“Hah… H-hello. Help me. Someone is chasing me…”

Han Yerim immediately took out her phone and called the police. She told them her location and that someone was chasing her. Just then, she heard footsteps behind her again.

“Ah, ah…”

Han Yerim had no energy left to run away, and she slowly turned around to face the owner of the footsteps.

“Huh…?”

There was no one behind her. The footsteps were still audible, but there was no one following her, an ironic situation. Then Han Yerim suddenly realized.

She was still wearing her earphones. And she belatedly realized that the music had stopped playing at some point. Yes, she had been hearing the footsteps coming from her earphones from the beginning. There was no one behind her in the first place.

-Caught you.

Soon, the man from the earphones whispered to her in an unpleasant and creepy voice. And just like that, Han Yerim disappeared from the alley.

Even after checking the CCTV, they couldn’t find where she had disappeared. The only clue was the mobile phone she had dropped.

“I’d like to make a request.”

“So, you want me to find the owner of this phone.”

“Yes. It’s already been three days. The police haven’t found any clues. Please. Find my daughter.”

The day after I found all 7 ghost stories in the building and obtained the management authority. A middle-aged man came to the office. His request was to find his missing daughter.

“Missing for three days. You’ve probably assumed the worst-case scenario?”

“…Yes. Any form is fine. My daughter. Please, I hope you will find her.”

The man bowed his head deeply and said he would be fine with just his daughter’s remains, as long as he could get her back. He probably came here knowing full well where to request this kind of case. Yes, this is an anomaly incident.

“I understand, Mr. Han Gangrok. In any form. I will definitely find your daughter.”

“Thank you… I, too, will be looking for her in my own way. I’m counting on you, Fixer.”

I wrote a simple contract and sent Mr. Han Gangrok home. It has already been three days since his daughter disappeared. The father of the missing daughter looked like a living corpse.

He probably hadn’t slept a wink for the past three days while looking for his daughter. And after asking around, he must have heard that there was a Fixer’s office that solved this kind of problem.

In fact, the golden time had already been missed. But since the request was not for a ‘safe return’, I felt it was worth a try.

“The CCTV footage looks exactly like she was sucked into the shadows.”

I checked the CCTV footage that Mr. Han Gangrok had received from a police official. In a dark alley, Han Yerim was being chased by something, and the moment she turned around, she disappeared without a trace. The only thing left in that spot was the mobile phone she had dropped.

[Search for Han Gangrok’s daughter, Han Yerim.]

A quest popped up, but it seemed difficult to find clues about the case from the quest content. The quest didn’t tell me which anomaly had kidnapped her.

It just said to search, as if it was intentionally hiding information. For now, I don’t even know if she’s alive or dead. I opened Han Yerim’s mobile phone. The lock was already undone. It was probably unlocked during the investigation.

“The album only has pictures of scenery. There aren’t many people in her contacts either. Hmm. The chat history is all ads. Was her social circle narrow?”

I could tell for sure that she was an introverted child.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything unusual. Don’t you think so?”

“Yes, husband. I don’t really know.”

“So there’s no problem with the phone.”

The Bride of the White Face, who had come out of the ring at some point, also said there was no problem with the mobile phone. If an anomaly had been dwelling in the phone, the Bride of the White Face would have noticed it right away.

‘There’s no reaction even when I stare at it. I don’t think an anomaly is dwelling in the mobile phone. Then what is it? What did Han Yerim see? What did she see and run away from?’

This is the first request I received after obtaining the management authority of the building. There’s a saying that you have to get the first button right.

Perhaps because of that, I really wanted to succeed in this request. If there are no plausible clues, I have no choice but to ask the people who would know best.

[Title: A kid disappeared, how do I find her?]

A 19-year-old named Han Yerim.
Suddenly got sucked into the shadows in an alley.
They want me to find her. If there’s a guide, please let me know.

====

└What will you do for me if I tell you?
└The head mod is still alive.
└It’s not like there are only one or two cases of high school students going missing.
└You can’t find her with just this. Are there any other clues?
└I can tell you about 365 similar anomalies.
└Han Yerim is probably just a resident of that world. If she’s missing, isn’t it a cult? Is the Doom Meter high?
└It’s not high at all.
└Then it’s probably not a cult. It targeted a high school senior. A woman right before becoming an adult could be an anomaly that targets a specific age group.

Just in case, I posted on the Wall of Doom gallery’s question tab, but it seemed difficult to get a proper answer here either.

There were so many similar anomalies that it seemed the situation would only get more confusing due to information overload.

Still, I got one interesting piece of information. This time, I sent a message to the number I got yesterday.

“Hello, is this Agent Park Jaehyun?”

-Ah, yes. Fixer. What’s the matter? Are you perhaps trying to join the Central Security Management Department…

“No. A kid disappeared. Han Yerim. A 19-year-old high school student. Has there been a series of missing minor incidents recently?”

As the gallery user said that there are anomalies that prefer a specific age group, I emphasized the age and asked. If a 19-year-old high school girl on the verge of becoming an adult was taken, there’s a possibility that other children of a similar age have also gone missing.

-Uh, that. Yes. That’s right. Four missing person cases have been reported recently. And a 19-year-old high school student… Do you happen to have that student’s mobile phone? Or can you get it?

“I have it right now. Her father left it at the office when he made the request.”

-Aha… You received a separate request. Then, on that kid’s mobile phone, by any chance, is there a music app called SubSound installed?

“Uh… It is installed.”

-That app was commonly installed on the mobile phones of the missing people. Except for the default apps, that app is the biggest commonality among the missing people.

According to Agent Park Jaehyun, the Anomaly Management Department also seemed to have sniffed something out. This is the fastest place to respond to anomaly-related cases, so I’m glad I contacted them.

‘The anomaly chooses its abduction target through the app and drags them into the shadows.’

Through the conversation with Agent Park Jaehyun, the possibility that the anomaly I have to deal with this time is a ‘media-type’ anomaly has increased.

It’s different from a normal thought form or possessed object anomaly. I know that media-type anomalies are specialized in modern culture, intelligent, and often have peculiar tastes or preferences.

“I’ll have to recreate the same situation to lure it out.”

The preparations are a young woman and a dark alley. And to use SubSound while wearing earphones.

So far, four victims have been identified. And Han Yerim has been added to that.

If the next victim hadn’t appeared yet, there was a possibility that Han Yerim was still alive.