WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

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◈ How to Rewrite Ghost Stories ◈

Episode 14: Hana Galleria Mall Pop-Up (4)

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My phone’s light washed my face pale. Under its blue glow, my fingers moved busily as I searched for ghost-story keywords.

A ghost story was carefully constructed fiction with no proof, yet a collection of convincing tales. It needed plausible evidence people could believe in, while still lacking enough proof for them to truly believe it.

A ghost story was both a fixed framework and raw material that could be endlessly varied. A single passage could inspire thousands of ideas, and even stories with the same shape could hold entirely different power and narratives.

So I could not simply mix any stories together and expect a rewritten ghost story to work. I had to blend ghost stories in a way that felt as believable as possible. I had to mix things that had happened in reality with things that had been made up.

Just as the Pebbles Mart Night-Shift Rules and the One Galleria episode of The Mirror of the Otherworld had intertwined into something new within the broad category of ghost stories set in department stores after closing.

This was what I was good at. I could do this.

I had to understand every element of ghost stories. I had to find the most perfect logic and make an exquisite loophole in it.

"What strategy will my partner come up with, I wonder?"

Hertz’s voice drifted softly from my earphone.

"The four shared premises of this ghost story are: a particular space expands infinitely, it is a space that sells goods, it is nighttime, and something that is neither customer nor employee pretends to be one."

I pulled out several sheets of scrap paper and began writing down where the two episodes overlapped.

"But the parts that do not overlap still retain each ghost story’s original rules."

The Pebbles Mart rules had nothing to do with mirrors. Every mirror followed the rules from The Mirror of the Otherworld exactly.

Conversely, The Mirror of the Otherworld had nothing about store management. It was about running from animate inorganic monsters. Because of that, every monster had come to repeat set actions, just like those in Pebbles Mart.

"But there was one ghost story I had experienced that did not appear in its original form in either episode."

It was the ghost call I received right after leaving Mangnyang Tunnel. The voice that screamed it would kill me if I came before I entered Yeosan City. I could not be certain, but it had been a child.

"There is a lost-child announcement in the rules, right? That must mean a child ghost appears."

"Was there a child in The Mirror of the Otherworld too?"

"No. But the original story says it is always a child’s voice when the Fox, Fox song is heard. The drama made it unclear by adding an echo effect."

The radio gave off a bright, interested little tone.

"Both child ghosts only appear through sound, and you cannot meet either of them. Both are recognized through announcements, so the monsters here should be able to recognize announcements too."

I picked up the rules sheet and began adding a rule.

「If you hear the Fox, Fox song, stop what you are doing and ensure the song ends correctly. The song repeats at random, and it is impossible to know when it will end.」

「The following have been confirmed to sing the song: newly stocked fixtures, mannequins, mirrors, and electronic devices. There are no records of it being found in anything related to food, and changes are usually detected in items newly delivered to the mart.」

"So you intend to have all the mannequins, mirrors, and everything that appeared today taken to the basement."

"That’s right. I only need to go down to the basement myself. This space is set up so that all inventory management and cleaning-supply storage are in the basement."

"And how will you get out?"

"The supply-storage door on basement level one. If I stand the mirrors brought down there together and make them reflect one another, the inverted world should appear."

"But it seems that your logic is missing its most important part. Who will sing the song?"

"Thaaat’s why there is one thing I would like you to help with..."

I watched the radio’s reaction for a moment, then carefully laid out my plan.

Canned applause and a quiet chuckle came from the communicator. I felt the shared excitement, closeness, and thrill of plotting a prank together.

"Ah, of course, partner. If that is what you want, I will try as much as you wish."

"Thank you so much. You solved the hardest part for me."

"It is my pleasure."

The plan was in place. Now it was time to fit it into the ghost story and prepare to set it in motion. I stood and stretched once.

"Do you think the story will change however you wish?"

"Yeah. I did it with Bloodwater Valley and Mangnyang Tunnel too. Basically, people in ghost stories end up with bad endings, right?"

"Indeed. And one feature of such stories is that even survivors rarely fare well."

"That means if there are living people here, the ghost story itself will react to my awareness and move to catch them."

"And then?"

"If I believe this ghost story will work a certain way and build the logic around it, the awareness of this space can change in that direction."

Of course, it would not last long. Even the valley had realized it was being fooled after only a few meters. But I only needed to hold out until I reached the basement. This time, I had a collaborator helping me.

My preparations were complete. I stuffed the rest of the donut and cola into my mouth, then stepped outside the safe zone again.

❖ ❖ ❖

'First, I need to count the mannequins.'

I shone my flashlight at an angle toward the store. Mannequins standing in various poses swayed in the light.

'They react to light, but they do not seem to recognize people.'

Keeping as quiet as possible, I counted the clothes visible in the wavering beam. They would not have split people in half to display tops and bottoms separately, so I should be able to estimate the total without counting every mannequin if I roughly counted only the ones dressed like visitors.

'One, two, three... eight, nine...'

"Customer, are you looking for a particular outfit?"

"!"

I held my breath and turned around. When had it gotten behind me? In the darkened store, a faceless clerk was looking down at me.

Below hair perched like an ill-fitting wig, the mannequin’s painted-red lips curled up.

'The name tag is... black.'

At least it was the kind I could speak to. When I remained silent for a moment, an unnaturally soft, flat voice flowed from the mannequin.

"Would you like a recommendation? How abouuut a cooat? You do know winter coats need to be prepared in suuummer, riiight? I can help youuu with the fitting, custo-mer."

"Which cooolor do you liiike? Our new clooothes were just peeled off, so they are very, very freesh and cleean. If you buy nooow, we can even alter the lining to your meaasurements."

I glanced at the inside of the coat hanging from the mannequin’s arm. The material looked very soft. I quickly looked back up.

「There may be employees who recommend goods even after closing. In that case, never agree to a fitting. All employees who entered fitting rooms have been processed as having resigned.」

With the gentlest smile I could manage, I answered.

"Ah, the coat is nice. But it seems a little different from the style I was looking for."

"Theeen how abouuut paaants? We haave shiiirts too. Or perhaps a haa-at? How abouuut a beelt, or earrriings?"

The red part of the clerk’s mouth began slowly pulling apart sideways. Between the widening gaps, flesh split with a wet rip, rip. I tried not to look at what was crawling inside.

"Do you reaaally not want to try it ooon?"

"...Actually, I only like new stock. Those are newly delivered clothes, right?"

I pointed at the nine mannequins. Without moving its body or wig, the clerk’s neck turned sideways. A creak sounded from its joint.

"Yes, that is right. New today. Very latest. Freeesh and cleean."

"As expected, Jaehyeon. So that is how you avoid it."

Hertz’s soft voice came through the earphone I had left in one ear. Hertz narrated what I did, offering remarks that might have been advice or might have been backseat commentary from a third party.

Perhaps calling themself a radio host had not been a lie. Hertz was a DJ with genuinely excellent patter. How had they managed to hold all that in?

"Will more new stock arrive?"

"New stock, new stock, three outfits, three seeets, are scheduled to arriive! Would you like to try on the new stock?"

"Ah, I already have everything else. When new stock arrives, I’ll come back and buy it."

"The fiitting..."

"I don’t need a fitting. I’m buying all the new stock. Goodbye."

I hurried away. The store clerk did not stop me again.

"Then everyone who got lost will soon become mannequins."

"Yeah. Luckily. Now I only need to find a way down."

The elevator was shut down, and the escalators were running upward so fast that anyone who stepped on one would be flung outside.

No choice. It would be better to make another circuit. With my flashlight off, I began following the corridor by its faint light.

Luckily, no more anomalies stopped me in the clothing store. The third floor should have been adult clothing, and the second floor children’s clothing, but the first-floor food court appeared as soon as I passed the adult section.

The moment I entered the first-floor food court, I scanned the shops. The savory smell of grilling meat filled the air. Several tasting stations were operating in one corner.

"Have a taste before you go."

"This is what is left today. Let’s eat together, staff to staff."

"You don’t like meat?"

"Would you like us to prepare a meal for you?"

"If you’re on night patrol, take a box of donuts."

Hunger washed over me whenever I caught a scent. The thought that I should stop took over my mind.

I had only eaten one donut so far. I had barely managed one roll of gimbap this morning while inspecting the pop-up. Would one thing really hurt? They said they would give it to me for free. I worked here. It should be fine for me to eat something, right?

"Partner, focus only on my voice."

Hertz’s soft voice and jazz music snapped me awake. I quickly stepped back.

"...Thank you. You saved me."

I whispered into my earphone and started walking again. Voices called after me from behind, endlessly repeating in the same tone.

I had not refused the tasting. I simply had not heard it. I repeated the words to myself like a spell. At last, the voices faded away.

I had already circled this bizarre mall three times. From the third floor to the first, then from the first back to the third. But the result was terrible.

No matter how many times I tried, I always ended up at the start of the third-floor store. I sank down near an emergency exit.

"It would be better if they didn’t run tasting stations at all."

The smell changed every time I passed, tempting me until it became hard even to keep moving. On top of that, the space that had been pitch-black on my first circuit grew a little brighter every time I made another round.

"I guess that means it will be opening time once it is fully bright. That thing?"

"It was a rules sheet for night-shift employees, so that would make sense. What do you think opening time will be like inside this story?"

"It won’t welcome me. In a Pebbles Mart ghost story, everything belonging to the ghost story would vanish when morning came. And in The Mirror of the Otherworld... anomalies would be trapped wherever they belonged."

If the sun rose here, I was finished. The back of my neck began to ache.

"You look tired, partner. But you likely already know the right answer. You merely need a little time to think."

"I will give you a brief moment to organize your thoughts alone. Radio shows need commercial breaks too, after all."

The surroundings went quiet in an instant, and soft music began to play. It was an old pop song, as though it came from an antique phonograph. The needle occasionally jumped with a click, click. I did not know the lyrics or the melody, but the song made me feel calm.

Think of a way down.

As I had done until now, establish a premise, then work backward from matching evidence to prove the hypothesis.

This place was Hana Galleria Mall, the Pebbles Mart night store, and at the same time, the Fox Passage of One Galleria Mall from The Mirror of the Otherworld.

The three places had something in common. They were spaces that stretched and expanded endlessly. Spaces that changed through sound.

"Ghosts move from beyond the mirror to this side, and then back again..."

The reason The Mirror of the Otherworld had a mirror in its title was because mirrors isolated anomalies or confirmed them. They reflected what should not be reflected. Left and right were reversed, and what flowed downward rose upward.

"...Up is down, and down is up..."

If I reversed the path leading down, it would become a path leading up. Since it was that kind of mirror, that logic could work too.

I shone a faint light on my phone’s black screen. A dim reflection appeared on the display. Using it, I aligned the reflection’s perspective with the escalator.

In the reflection on my phone, every escalator was moving safely downward.

In the makeshift black mirror, countless things that were not people shambled about, leisurely enjoying their shopping.

"Good. I found it."

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