Chapter 33: You’ve Already Been Here

We barely managed to put an end to the absurd commotion in the fitting room and took a breather.

Sia was still teasing me about my reaction and giggling, but I tried to ignore her words and looked around.

That’s when I noticed the photo studio located in one corner.

The camera was set up on a tripod, and there was a sign on the wall that said ‘Don’t forget to take a commemorative photo!’.

I looked back at Sia and said.

“Well, there must be something about that camera too, right?”

“Maybe. It’s a bit unsettling to just leave it, so shall we go take a look?”

We cautiously approached the camera.

But, at that moment.

Click!

Suddenly, the flash went off and a photo was taken.

“Wh-What?!”

“We didn’t press the shutter! Why did it suddenly take a picture…?”

There was no time to be surprised.

Click! Click! Click!

The camera, as if operating automatically, kept taking pictures.

We hurriedly stepped back, but the camera didn’t stop.

The flash went off continuously, taking pictures.

I hurriedly approached the camera and pressed the shutter button.

Then the camera, which had been continuously taking pictures, stopped.

“Wh-What was that…?”

“Yeah, the camera suddenly went into overdrive…”

“Maybe it’s because it’s an old camera.”

We exchanged a few light jokes, and picked up the printed photos on the table under the camera.

For some reason, as soon as the photos touched my hand, I felt a cold sweat run down my back.

“What’s this…?”

“Does it usually develop this fast?”

“I don’t think so?”

Usually, these cameras take a considerable amount of time for the photos to appear.

For some reason, this photo clearly showed our 모습.

“But let’s check it out, there might be a clue to escape here.”

“Okay.”

I tilted my head, but carefully checked the first photo.

The first photo.

The first photo showed the two of us looking at the photo with surprised expressions. Our expressions were just flustered, there was nothing particularly strange.

I flipped to the next one.

The second photo.

It still showed the two of us.

But, I could see a faint black figure behind us.

The moment I saw that suspicious something, I felt my heart drop.

Sia, who was looking at the photo with me, also had a stiff face.

“There’s.. something behind us.”

“Maybe it’s just a mistake?”

Even though I said this, I knew.

In this space, there’s no such thing as ‘a mistake’.

But if I didn’t say this, I couldn’t shake off this anxiety.

I tried to suppress my trembling hands and flipped the photo.

The third photo.

The black figure got closer.

The fourth photo.

The shadow became clearer.

Now it looked not like a simple shape, but like a human silhouette.

I felt my heart beat faster and faster as I flipped through the photos.

The fifth photo.

The being was right behind us.

Sia swallowed her breath anxiously and muttered softly.

“Is it… okay to keep flipping?”

“Shh.”

I flipped to the next photo.

The sixth photo.

Now it was clearly visible.

It was in the shape of a ‘person’.

But the face was not visible.

It looked like a shadow without substance, with only the shape remaining.

The seventh photo.

The black figure was reaching out its hand right behind us.

I got goosebumps.

My fingers started to tremble again.

But I couldn’t stop.

I had a gut feeling that something bad would happen if I didn’t flip the photo.

The eighth photo.

The corners of the shadow’s mouth were faintly raised.

It was smiling.

The ninth photo.

The photo showed me reaching out to press the shutter.

But behind me, the black figure was holding something huge.

I couldn’t see what it was, but it looked like something round and hard.

And finally.

The tenth photo.

I was still reaching out to block the shutter.

But, behind me, the black figure had completely revealed itself.

It was holding something huge in its hand.

And, with that huge something brought to my butt… my lower body, it had a faint smile.

“…Could it be.”

I couldn’t continue speaking while holding the photo.

Sia’s face was also pale.

At that moment, from behind

Click.

The camera took another picture.

We both turned our heads at the same time.

Nobody was there.

We were frozen.

We couldn’t do anything but look down at the photo.

The black figure in the last photo was definitely holding something behind me.

I couldn’t tell what it was, but a very clear, ominous premonition washed over me.

“Hey.”

Sia whispered softly.

Her voice was slightly trembling with tension.

I bit my lip and slowly looked at her.

“We… didn’t have anyone behind us until just now, right?”

I immediately nodded.

There was definitely no one.

Nothing.

That’s when it happened.

Suddenly, a heavy sensation was felt from behind.

It felt like someone was holding my butt.

Uh.

“Hngh…!!”

My body froze.

This is not an illusion.

Definitely, something was crawling down my waist and grabbing my butt.

A soft yet heavy touch.

But, a very clearly felt, foreign energy.

I tried to pull my body away in an instant, but for some reason, I couldn’t move.

I couldn’t even put strength in my fingertips.

“Sia.”

I barely managed to open my mouth.

My voice didn’t come out properly.

It felt like I was suffocated.

“Wh-What’s wrong…?”

Sia looked at me and showed signs of anxiety.

I desperately tried to turn my body back with all my strength.

At that moment.

A cold sensation brushed my fingertips.

No, to be precise—

I felt an invisible hand crawling down my waist, slowly moving downwards.

Before I knew it, the hand was wrapping around my butt as if stroking it.

I swallowed hard.

Cold…

Cold, soft, but strangely foreign touch.

It was like a human hand, yet not a human hand, a sensation that I instinctively had to reject.

I gritted my teeth, desperately trying to move my trembling body.

But.

The hand gripped my butt even tighter.

And.

A low, strange voice heard in my ear.

“Got you.”

In an instant, I screamed and threw my body forward.

February 2nd, 2025.

A day in the clothes room?

I had a bad feeling from the moment I found the camera.

Everything here was strange.

But I never imagined that such a bizarre thing would happen.

At first, I thought it was just a simple prank.

A suddenly operating camera, a continuously firing flash.

I thought it might just be a machine malfunction.

But, the moment I checked the photos, the bad feeling became a reality.

The first photo.

Just a normal picture of the two of us looking surprised.

The second photo.

This one was strange. Something black was captured behind us.

The third, fourth, fifth…

As I flipped through them, the black figure became clearer and clearer.

And before I knew it, it was reaching out its hand right behind us.

And, the last photo.

The moment I reached out to block the shutter.

That black being was holding something huge in its hand.

It brought it to my lower body, and smiled faintly.

I swallowed, looking down at the photo in my hand.

Click.

The camera took another picture.

I looked back, there was nothing.

And I felt it in an instant.

The last photo taken.

The moment I looked at that photo, it would be irreversible.

Monster File: [You’ve Already Been F*cked]

Appearance: I don’t know the exact form.

It seems like a being that can have a form, but doesn’t need to.

But it sometimes appears by mimicking a black shadow-like silhouette or the shape of a person.

Sometimes it feels like a soft touch, sometimes it leaves a cold and hard touch.

It’s essentially a ‘non-existent’ thing, but nevertheless, the victim clearly feels it, it’s a strange being.

The main body is, um, like a camera.

Characteristics: The most terrifying thing is that it is already holding the victim anytime, anywhere.

The victim is already under its influence before they even realize it, and it seems to be too late when they do.

So looking at the photo of me being taken is not being done in real time… uh, sorry.

Danger: You can’t run away.

The moment you see it, the hand will already be outstretched.

You can’t resist.

The moment it touches you, it will already be deeply penetrated.

The scariest thing is that I might already be done for. When the picture was taken, uh, uhh sorry, I can’t write anymore.

Weakness: None.

Because it’s already too late.

Ah, maybe if the victim destroys something before “they” know it, but it was wishful thinking.

The more I flipped through it the clearer the black figure became.