Chapter 21: Hana of the Toilet

Sia and I stood in the middle of the bathroom and looked around.

This space felt completely different from the maze we had been through so far.

It was somehow familiar, yet a sense of ominousness lingered.

“What exactly is the escape condition here?”

Sia muttered with a sigh.

Instead of answering, I examined the bathroom stalls.

“Maybe we have to do something here to satisfy the escape condition. But I have no idea what it is.”

Then Sia hesitated and opened her mouth.

“Maybe… like other ghost stories, we have to do something specific in the bathroom? Go in alone and wait, or something?”

I looked at Sia and tilted my head.

“Alone? So, you want me to go into one stall, close the door, and stay alone?”

Sia nodded and added.

“It could be that, or it could be that we each go into a stall and wait until some condition is met. This isn’t a normal place.”

Honestly, I didn’t really want to.

But there was nothing else we could do in this space.

After a moment of hesitation, I finally nodded.

“Okay, then let’s each choose a stall and wait. But if we hear any strange sounds or signs, we get out right away.”

“Okay, I understand.”

We each chose a bathroom stall and went in.

Closing the door and sitting on the toilet, an eerie silence lingered.

The silence, where no sound could be heard, felt more unsettling.

How many minutes had passed? A small whisper-like sound was heard from somewhere.

“Red toilet paper, or… blue toilet paper…?”

The voice sounded high and eerie.

I was startled and raised my head, my whole body covered in goosebumps.

“Sia, did you hear that?”

I whispered, but Sia’s answer couldn’t be heard.

Instead, the voice came again.

“Red toilet paper, or… blue toilet paper…?”

Before I could move, footsteps could be heard coming from outside the stall.

Something was getting closer.

As the footsteps got closer, I turned my head and watched outside the stall. The voice was still audible.

I flinched for a moment and tried not to make a sound.

But then, suddenly, a thought came to me.

My eyes went to the toilet installed inside the bathroom stall.

‘No, this is a bidet?’

Realizing that toilet paper wasn’t necessarily needed, I suppressed my fear and answered in a low voice.

“Excuse me, this is a bidet?”

Suddenly, the air around changed strangely.

The voice from outside the door stopped for a while.

And soon, a high but somewhat tender voice was heard.

“Bi, bidet… ? A bidet?!”

The voice was clearly perplexed.

There was also a feeling of trying hard to be composed.

“Indeed, nowadays, bidets are enough for bathrooms…! Ah, but toilet paper isn’t necessa, ah…?”

I was a little taken aback by the reaction and answered.

“No, since there’s a bidet, we don’t really need toilet paper. It’s really fine.”

Silence followed for a moment.

The voice that followed was even more embarrassed.

“Ah, what… I failed again, ugh…”

And at that moment, something suddenly appeared from beyond the stall.

A presence wearing a white T-shirt, with long white hair fluttering in the air.

The body was not touching the ground and was floating in the air.

I was surprised by the sight, but a friendly atmosphere was felt, so I relaxed.

It looked like a ghost, but rather than fear, it was a presence that evoked a strangely cute feeling.

“Who are you?”

I asked cautiously.

She scratched her cheek and said.

“I am… I was originally going to scare you, but I failed. Everything went wrong.”

“…?”

“So… uh, my name is Hana. I’m a ghost who lives here.”

She pouted and crossed her arms, then looked at us slowly, floating in the air.

At that moment, Sia’s voice was heard from the next stall.

“What, what’s going on? You’re not having fun by yourself, are you?”

I opened the door and shouted at Sia.

“Open the door. There’s a cute ghost here.”

Sia opened the door and looked at me with a puzzled expression, but as soon as she saw her, her eyes sparkled.

“What, is she a ghost? She’s really cute!”

Hana was rather embarrassed by the reaction and waved her hands.

“I’m not a ghost, I’m a spirit!”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“It’s totally different!”

We burst out laughing at the sight.

It was an unexpected situation, but at this moment, the tension was released, and a warm feeling was felt.

Hana looked at us with an awkward smile and spun in the air, saying.

“Actually, I’m a kind of resident spirit here. I originally get energy from scaring people, you know? But these days, there aren’t many people who are scared, so I’m a bit worried.”

Sia and I looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

Sia asked.

“You get energy from scaring people? How, specifically?”

Hana sighed softly and answered.

“Well, I appear suddenly, or I make my voice to scare people. But these days, people don’t get scared easily. I don’t know why.”

At those words, I chuckled.

Honestly, it looks like a visual that people would take pictures of first, rather than get scared, but I stopped, fearing that Hana might get hurt.

“That could be true. But, is there no other way?”

Hana shook her head and answered.

“I was wondering. So I’m worried. I can’t starve forever here.”

At that moment, Sia snapped her fingers as if something came to mind.

“Okay, I’ll tell you a way.”

Sia gestured to Hana and whispered something in her ear.

Hana’s face turned red at first, as if embarrassed, but soon she shouted excitedly.

“Th, that’s good! Why didn’t I think of that until now?”

Hana did a somersault in the air and was delighted.

“Okay, thank you! Now I can get energy again!”

At that moment, the bathroom door opened smoothly, revealing the path ahead.

I turned to Sia and asked.

“Sia, what exactly did you advise?”

But she turned her head instead of answering and walked towards the door.

Hana waved to us at the doorway and said.

“Thank you both! Goodbye! Escape safely!”

We waved and left the bathroom.

As soon as we passed the door, I looked at Sia and asked again.

“So? Did you give some great advice?”

Sia shrugged her shoulders and answered.

“It’s nothing special. I just told her to set the bidet water pressure to maximum.”

At those words, I paused for a moment, then felt something strange, and asked again.

“What does that have to do with anything? Why the water pressure?”

Sia smiled slightly and muttered.

“Then they’ll be surprised. Orgasm… no, if you touch the settings, they’ll definitely be surprised.”

I burst out laughing, as if I couldn’t believe it, at Sia’s words.

“That’s a really great idea.”

Sia said with a smile.

“Well, the simpler, the better.”

We talked like that and walked towards the next place.

We had only been through dangerous rooms so far, but I felt relieved that there was also a peaceful and cute puzzle room like this.

February 2, 2025.

A day in the bathroom.

I had a really unusual experience today.

The space we entered after escaping the maze was a narrow space that looked like a school bathroom, and there was a ghost with long white hair, a white T-shirt, and floating in the air.

Her name is Hana.

I guess she’s the original of the famous ghost story ‘Hanako-san’? Or maybe the opposite.

Anyway, Hana is a kind of resident spirit who lives by scaring people.

But these days, she said she’s worried because there aren’t many people who get scared.

Hearing it, I felt a little sorry.

But then Sia suddenly called Hana and whispered something, and Hana’s face turned red and she was very happy.

Perhaps thanks to that, the door to the exit opened, and we were able to move on to the next room.

I asked Sia.

“What did you advise?”

She smiled and answered.

“I told her to set the bidet water pressure to maximum.”

Certainly, that’s a surprise.

The person who gets it will have a sore butt.

This room didn’t particularly threaten or anything like that.

Maybe it was a room to rest.

It’s good, but on the other hand, I’m also anxious.

It felt like the next room was so difficult that we wouldn’t be able to clear it if we didn’t rest enough.

Monster File: [Hana of the Bathroom]

Form: Hana is a presence with a white T-shirt and long white hair that reaches her waist.

She floats in the air, and her movements are as soft as feathers fluttering in the wind.

Her face is pale, but her expression is rich, and her cheeks turn red, especially when she is embarrassed.

She has the typical appearance of a ghost, but that appearance feels more friendly.

Features: She gets energy from scaring people.

However, she shows a perplexed or cute reaction to those who are not scared.

She seems to be a ghost related to ‘Hanako-kun of the bathroom’.

Danger: There is a possibility of anger if you don’t answer the scaring question correctly or don’t react appropriately. But that anger is relatively minor, closer to an annoyed protest than threatening.

If you are alone in the bathroom stall, it can create a sense of fear with a sudden appearance.

This is likely to act as psychological pressure.

There’s nothing else, so I don’t know.

She seems like a gentle and indecisive, peaceful ghost story type like [Chii].

Weakness: If you make her embarrassed instead of getting scared, or give an unexpected answer, she will start to get confused.

If you listen to her concerns or suggest a solution, she seems to change to a non-hostile attitude.