I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game Chapter 89

Pinocchio opened his eyes in a dark space.

If his mories weren't tampered with, it would have been right after falling victim to the strange abilities of Alice, another fairy-tale devil.

"This is..."

It was dark.

He couldn't see even an inch ahead, but at least he knew that the surrounding area was empty.

He needed to analyze what had happened.

In Pinocchio's head, the gears creaked as he thought.

But they didn't move properly, as if rusty.

Instead, a part of his heart ached.

Was his heart hindering his thoughts?

Surely he was a being that didn't even have a heart.

It was clear that Alice had done sothing.

"..."

Pinocchio walked away.

His body creaked loudly as if it were damaged in several places.

After wandering aimlessly in the dark for quite so ti, a faint scent of cherry blossoms brushed past his olfactory sensors.

"Cherry blossoms..."

Pinocchio followed the scent as if he was possessed.

After walking for so ti, he finally arrived at the source of the scent.

There, a cherry blossom tree in full bloom was welcoming Pinocchio.

"Alice. What are you trying to show ?"

He approached the cherry blossom tree.

That's when it happened.

He stepped on sothing.

...It was a human hand.

Usually, when you see a human hand, you shudder, saying it is scary.

However, Pinocchio knew this rough hand better than anyone else, so he was more surprised than afraid.

"...My hand."

It was the hand he had when he was human, before becoming a devil called Pinocchio.

Even though it was crude, it was still a human hand.

A soft and weak hand.

Pinocchio's gaze followed the hand to the tree's roots.

The hand was sticking out from under the tree's roots, so it was obvious what was under this cherry blossom tree.

Pinocchio bent down to check.

There was his own corpse.

The corpse's expression was full of sorrow and anger.

"...Why do I look like that?"

Pinocchio reached out toward the corpse.

Sohow, he felt that if he did, he might find the answer he was looking for.

As the hand made of wood and iron and the hand made of flesh overlapped, a story unfolded in Pinocchio's mind.

It played like a movie, and Pinocchio sat back quietly, watching.

...

POV Switch - Pinocchio

I was a factory worker.

I quit school at a young age and started working part-ti to earn money for dicine for a relative I could call my father.

The repetitive work was dull and boring.

Anyone unsuited to such work would have quit quickly.

But I was okay.

I had long since learned how to empty my mind and perform without making mistakes.

The people at the factory called a machine.

Machine.

I liked that nickna.

Because machines are helpful.

Working hours passed and break ti ca.

I sat on my chair blankly to catch my breath.

Then another factory worker ca up to .

I had never seen him before.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, your tone's a bit stiff. Did I offend you?"

"No. Just asking."

He suddenly giggled.

I just stared blankly at him.

He looked over slowly and then muttered that I didn't seem the type to be Alice.

I tilted my head at the incomprehensible words.

"Oh, sorry. Just that you talk so differently from how you look."

"I picked up my relative's manner of speaking. I was raised by him since I was young. If you need to use honorifics... I can do that."

"Hahaha! No, it's fine. Anyway, I noticed you looked blank even while working. Isn't it boring to sit idly even during your break?"

"...Not really."

When you work, your thoughts and emotions beco lighter.

That's why I didn't feel bored at all.

"Is that so? But at least try this. It might be fun."

"..."

I downloaded a ga on my phone as he said.

I couldn't rember why I followed his advice.

I downloaded the ga naturally, as if I was possessed by sothing.

The ga was about a blacksmith crafting and selling various weapons.

It was awkward because I usually lived a life far from gas, but I got into it smoothly.

I wasn't addicted.

It was just a little fun, but it was similar in that it was about making things.

Plus, I liked the fact that I could enjoy myself without spending any money.

The money I received from the factory wasn't that much.

One day, while I was working and playing gas at the sa ti.

When I ca ho, I saw soone I could call my father... Collapsed.

I panicked.

Did I panic?

...I'm not sure.

In the video, my face was obscured, like I was wearing a mask.

I dropped all the eggs I had bought at the market.

Without even collecting the broken eggs, I took him to the hospital.

I looked at him unconscious in the hospital.

He was my relative.

My only relative.

Since my parents left when I was a baby, I never knew their faces, and I didn't particularly miss them.

But this person is different.

He took in and raised despite his illness.

Well, maybe because we were both quiet, we barely talked, but the bond called family continued.

I asked the doctor about his condition.

...Incurable.

The doctor said he had an incurable disease.

He'd been holding on with dication, but he was close to his limit...

I knew he was sick, but I didn't know it was incurable.

I just thought he was putting off the surgery because he didn't have enough money.

So I was under the illusion that if I earned money from the factory, it would sohow work out.

No, I wasn't under the illusion.

He was the one who said he'd get better if he took his dicine.

I was deceived.

"...Why did you lie?"

"..."

He didn't answer.

I waited for his answer and then went out the door.

At that mont, I heard a sob.

"Useless... Useless..."

"..."

Was he talking about ?

I couldn't be sure.

But I thought he was referring to .

Because in the end, I was useless.

No matter how much money I earn from the factory, I can't cure an incurable disease.

All I could do was cover the hospital bills to prolong his life for a while.

The next day, I went to work as usual.

I looked at the machines running and thought.

'If only he were a machine...'

There would be no reason for him to get sick.

I watched the machines assembling parts in the factory.

I saw a passerby with a prosthetic leg.

I saw the machines that made life easier for people.

They were full of usefulness, so why am I like this?

I was convinced that even the nickna machine was too much for .

...Why did he lie?

Did lying sohow help his disease?

...In the end, he died.

I see myself falling down and hitting my head on the floor.

I couldn't tell if I was sad.

In the vision, my face was still hidden behind a mask.

I feel a sense of disparity between in the video and watching the video.

If this was a mory from the past, I should rember why I acted like that, but I had no idea.

"..."

I decided to keep watching the video.

And the next day.

I went to work at the factory as usual.

I was like a cog.

A cog that kept endlessly turning without thinking.

I earned money and earned money, and then...

What do I do now?

The purpose of earning money for dicine was over.

In the end, that person is dead.

Was there any aning to my actions?

Objects that are completed through repetitive labor.

What on earth do those objects an to ?

I quickly ca to a conclusion.

They have no aning.

Nothing changes even if I complete objects that no one might use.

Unfinished objects flow along the conveyor belt.

I felt like I was one of them.

But there was no one here to complete .

So I quit the factory.

And the next day.

I was holed up in my room playing gas.

It was my only escape.

That day, I skipped als and just kept playing until I collapsed from exhaustion, drifting into sleep as if I'd passed out.

And then I woke up in the ga.

"Where is this...?"

When I opened my eyes, I was in a foreign town where it was snowing heavily.

People were walking down the street laughing.

In the ga, snow did fall in the background, but I'd never seen the village bustling with people like this.

"Inside the ga?"

It was hard to believe.

I muttered that while standing in my workshop.

The workshop was a place where players made weapons.

It seed to be created along with the player.

The functions of the workshop and the player's unique functions were the sa as in the ga.

The material creation function that would be impossible in reality, and the auxiliary function that allowed even , who had no manufacturing knowledge, to easily make items.

On top of that... There was even a setting that made it impossible to leave the workshop.

Of course, the screen in the ga was fixed to the workshop, so it seed to be an aftereffect of that.

Sighing deeply, I resigned myself to this forced confinent.

For several days, no custors ca to the workshop.

That is, until a man who seed to be the village chief approached .

I recognized him.

An old man with gray hair.

In the ga, he was a pixelated character who didn't look anything like this, but he was so distinctive that I recognized him imdiately.

He was an NPC who gave quests or offered so advice. And now, he was my first custor in this workshop.

He asked to make a new dining table because his was broken.

At that ti, I might have looked a little surprised.

Because this ga was solely about crafting weapons.

Why did I think weapons were necessary in such a peaceful village?

This world is similar to a ga, but a little different.

After thinking that far, I set about crafting a table right away.

A very ordinary table.

After I handed it over to him, I began to wonder.

How could I return to my original world?

If.

If I fulfilled all the requests of the townspeople, wouldn't I be able to leave the ga?

With that thought, I threw myself into crafting things for the villagers.

When assembling things in the factory, I just absentmindedly put the sa things together in the sa way, like cogs turning, but the things people asked for were all different, so I had to think through each task.

And strangely, I didn't mind that feeling.

...

"Make this for !"

"...Okay."

The bakery owner's daughter had recently visited and asked to carve a wooden bear for her.

I've never carved anything, but I think I can do it sohow with the auxiliary function.

"What's your na?"

"Cassie!"

I made it for her without taking any money.

She happily hugged the wooden bear and ran to show off to her friends.

It must be heavy because it's made of wood, yet she carried it easily.

I stared at it blankly.

I couldn't tell what kind of expression I had because I was wearing a mask.

...My heart ached slightly.

"This is sothing we made at our restaurant. Would you like so? I made it with you in mind!"

It was Varian, who ran a restaurant at the street corner.

He handed a sandwich that was decorated so beautifully that it was burdenso.

I don't know what he was thinking, but... I made him a decoration made of iron and wood as a way of showing my gratitude.

He gladly accepted it.

The sandwich was delicious.

"You're the guy who made the doll for Cassie, right? ! Make one too! Sothing cool, not a doll!"

"...Okay."

This guy is Cassie's friend and often fights with the kids.

He usually protects Cassie from bad kids, so he's not really a delinquent.

I think his na was Tom.

A wooden sword should do for him.

I made the boy a wooden sword.

The boy was happy and showed it off to Cassie.

I just stared blankly at it again.

I'm blank, but I definitely seem to be alive in the video.

"Hello. I've been using the watering can you made last ti."

This was Fram.

She had a hobby of growing plants.

A woman who keeps annoyingly suggesting that I make growing plants a hobby.

When I stubbornly refuse, she makes a sullen expression.

A strange woman who wants to make azaleas bloom in this cold place should get out of my workshop right away.

I didn't show even a hint of sympathy.

Fram pretended to leave, then suddenly tossed a flowerpot, so fertilizer, and several seeds at before running off.

"The black seeds were given to by so strange person who told to pass them to you~ If sothing strange sprouts, don't bla ~!"

In the video, I imdiately put the seeds and flowerpot in the black hole (trash can).

I continued to receive requests after that.

Baro, who runs the shop next door.

Belle, who sells fish from afar.

Carl, a playful street magician.

Friedel, who rarely left his house, making him hard to see.

...And then, the village chief, Geppetto, once again.

He looked at with a satisfied face.

"You look better."

"Do I?"

"Of course. When I first saw you, you had an expression that wouldn't have been strange if you suddenly died. On top of that, when I tried to have a few words of conversation, you kept cutting off and kicking out, which honestly hurt."

"...Is that so."

Honestly, I don't rember, but I think I did.

"The villagers were surprised when they saw your expression... But you seem to have changed quite a bit."

"I don't know."

But it's believable.

That might be the reason why they didn't talk to until the village chief spoke to first.

"Hmm... I'm bored, how about a quiz?"

He said out of the blue.

Before I could answer, the village chief asked a question.

"Who is that person over there?"

He pointed at a person walking down the street with his finger.

I knew him.

"Hypno. He's a rival of Varian."

"Then that person?"

"Erin. She breaks things often and cos here quite a lot."

"And that person?"

"Pekka. That kid is a delinquent. To be honest, I don't like him."

The quiz continued until I got sick of it.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

When I asked that, the village chief smiled broadly.

"Do you know what I said to you when I first t you?"

"You asked to make you a dining table..."

"There was more than that."

"..."

When I shrugged my shoulders as if I couldn't rember, the village chief sighed.

"I suggested that you try talking to the villagers. If they're good people, connecting with them could be a kind of therapy."

"..."

"You ignored back then, saying you weren't ntally unstable and didn't need it, and yet here you are, familiar with so many people. Looks like it worked after all."

I shook my head.

"We aren't particularly close."

When I tried to deny it, Cassie appeared from sowhere and waved at .

I couldn't ignore her, so I waved back.

The village chief looked at happily.

"Hmph."

He then said that it was already getting dark, so he had to go.

Recently, there'd been ominous rumors circulating in the village, which might be the reason.

The village chief turned around and started to head ho.

At that mont, I noticed sothing strange about him.

"Hey, your leg."

The village chief was limping.

"Oh, I fell last ti. There was a bloody sll and sothing suddenly jumped out of the forest. I couldn't see it well, but it must have been a wild animal."

"Wait."

I called him back and quickly made a crutch for him on the spot.

"Don't overwork yourself, you're old."

"How much is it?"

"This is a thank you, so no charge."

"A thank you?"

"I heard everything... Tom told you've been praising my skills to everyone... Why, Geppetto? Why do you care about so much?"

The village chief laughed again.

His eyes were warm.

It was as if he was looking at his own child.

...My heart ached again.

"I said you were good because you were good. Hehe. Of course, you looked lonely, so that's part of it. You're young, don't act like an old man who's lost everyone dear to him."

His words felt like they were a reflection of himself.

It seems that there was a hole that could not be filled in the heart of the village chief who lost precious people.

Perhaps he saw the sa emptiness in and wanted to help fill it.

The hole created by losing precious people can only be filled with precious people.

Even if the hole doesn't fill completely, the will to try is what matters.

Admitting it felt a bit embarrassing, but his kindness had helped fill my emptiness too.

"It's just pointless ddling... But let's say it wasn't entirely useless."

"Hehehe..."

After the village chief left, I started cleaning up.

I had to throw away the useless wood that was left over.

Usually, I throw these useless wood and scrap tals into the black hole.

This was a system that was also used when I played the ga, and it was a trash can for discarding unnecessary or incorrectly made items.

The black hole only accepts objects.

People can't enter, so it seems quite safe.

"..."

It's been quite so ti since I settled in this village, but I still can't see a way to go back.

I thought that if I fulfilled all the villagers' requests, like in the ga, an exit would appear.

...Or maybe.

Did I need to receive a request to make weapons, like in the ga?

Countless recipes for weapons were rotting in my head.

The village was peaceful.

There was nothing dangerous.

Why did the ga need so many weapons?

A fleeting question.

...I shouldn't have overlooked this question.

"Kyaaaa-! Belle, Belle's dead!"

It happened without warning.

The children of the sea, crawling out from the deep, attacked the village with their fishy sll and disgusting tentacles.

Screams echoed through the peaceful village.

Unard people were torn apart by the spears of the fishern, and the town's guards were struggling and sohow protecting others.

From afar, the village chief is seen running towards them with a shabby farm tool as a weapon.

"I'm sorry to ask this of soone who has only been in this village for a short ti! Would you stay here and make a weapon for ? Please! The people are in danger!"

'No... why is this happening...'