I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 19: Raindrops

Rustle, rustle.

Their quiet footsteps continued along the path—

Until a crack shattered the stillness as a branch broke.

“Ah, shit...”

Hyesung barely held back a full curse as he looked around.

Trees there.

Trees here.

Nothing but trees no matter where he looked.

Obvious, of course—they were on a mountain—but still.

There was something off about the atmosphere.

That strange birdcall had been echoing for a while now.

To Hyesung, who only knew owls as the sole nocturnal bird, the unfamiliar chirping felt like something that shouldn’t exist.

Even if he generously accepted that it was just a bird he didn’t recognize—

The fact that the sound came from every direction didn’t feel right at all.

At least, not to Hyesung.

The only comforting thought was that their destination—the rest area—was just ahead.

It was nice not having to speak on stream, under the pretense of staying quiet in the woods.

But he hadn’t realized how much that silence would amplify every other sound.

‘Feels like we already got plenty of footage anyway...’

The Bunshinsaba segment before the hike had been intense. Hyesung figured it should be enough.

But once again, what shackled him was a promise he'd made to his viewers.

The old saying popped into his mind: the root of all evil is the tongue.

...Truly, the ancestors didn’t speak lightly. As that thought crossed his mind, Hyesung adjusted his grip on the smartphone.

And then—behind him—a soft, adorable yawn.

Ayun, clearly tired.

“Ah, sorry.”

“...It’s fine.”

Should I ask if she wants to head back now?

The words sat right on the edge of his tongue.

But instinct told him it would be pointless.

As long as the mission to receive money required reaching the destination—

Ayun would never choose to go back on her own.

And then there was the damn little sister trailing behind.

Absolutely obsessed with this kind of thing. Hell, she loved it. No way she'd want to turn around. Plus, she wasn’t even part of the stream.

...Am I the only one who's scared here?

That thought stirred something in Hyesung.

He had his pride as a man, didn’t he?

He puffed out his chest and threw back his shoulders, declaring boldly:

“Alright! Come out whenever you want!”

“...Weren’t you the one who said we needed to stay quiet?”

“...Y-Yeah. I did say that.”

His proud posture immediately wilted.

As they continued walking toward their destination, the trio suddenly realized—the bird calls had stopped.

Completely.

Considering they’d been echoing from all around, the silence felt far too abrupt.

And it wasn’t just the birds.

The faint buzz of insects.

The rustling leaves brushing in the wind.

All the subtle signs of life in the forest vanished, like someone had turned off a switch.

All that remained was the sound of their own hearts beating—and the breathing of those nearby.

Startled by the change, Hyesung checked the livestream chat.

True to form for a streamer—he tried to keep his composure.

And judging by the chat, he wasn’t the only one who noticed something was off.

Feeling a sliver of reassurance, Hyesung glanced at the screen.

The forest looked even more ominous through the camera.

Maybe it was the poor reception making the already bad image worse, but the woods shown on-screen felt truly haunted.

Even though they were walking along a path clearly shaped by human hands toward the rest stop—

Something told him they shouldn’t go any further.

In his mind, he saw the red pen again—slicing, tearing the paper to shreds.

...Was that a warning, maybe?

A warning from someone who’d been eaten by the White Tiger and turned into a ghost.

Hyesung’s hand trembled slightly.

He had just talked big about pride and all, but—life was precious.

Still, would the viewers—

Would money-hungry Ayun—

Would his occult-addicted sister accept him turning back now?

Thwack.

“GAAHHHH!!!”

A sudden touch made Hyesung scream.

He spun around, panting, and looked toward the source—the one who had tapped his shoulder.

Ayun was staring at him with an odd expression.

Hyesung felt his face flush hot as he snapped,

“Y-You startled me touching me like that out of nowhere...”

“...Sorry about that.”

“Ah... Anyway, what is it all of a sudden...?”

Ayun pointed to his backpack.

...What now?

Was she going to say a ghost was clinging to it?

Hyesung, trembling with a dozen grim scenarios running through his head, heard her speak.

“Looks like it’s gonna pour ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ soon. Get the raincoats out of your bag.”

“...Ah.”

“And... we should head back. It’s dangerous to stay in the mountains when it rains, no matter what.”

It was the descent he’d been praying for.

Hyesung immediately forgot they were still on-air and fumbled to open his backpack.

So that damp feeling in the air wasn’t just me...

Rummaging loudly, he pulled out a folded plastic rain poncho.

It looked like it might stink a bit.

Once they all had their raincoats on, the first raindrops began to fall.

Hyesung was impressed.

“How’d you know it was going to rain?”

“...Experience.”

The answer made her sound... older somehow.

‘...Come to think of it, she is older than me.’

Though just looking at her, anyone would believe she was Hyeyeon’s younger sister.

Anyway.

Now that raindrops were starting to fall from the sky, they had to get moving.

Hyesung quickly spoke to the camera.

“Alright, looks like the rain’s coming in, so we’ll wrap up here for today. I’ll upload the edited version soon, so please look forward to that—”

But just then.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

A voice rang out from somewhere.

It wasn’t frightening, exactly—more like oddly soothing—but hearing it in a forest that had been dead silent?

It didn’t feel normal at all.

Hyesung cut the stream immediately.

He didn’t think they had time to waste.

“...Let’s get down, yeah?”

Though disappointed, Hyeyeon saw the falling rain and let go of her excitement.

It was a thrilling moment—but she wasn’t that reckless.

Then both their eyes turned—

To Ayun, standing still in a daze.

She was staring off into the forest, eyes narrowed, like something about it displeased her.

Afraid she might change her mind, Hyesung quickly spoke up.

Hyeyeon was worried too. Ayun’s expression looked... off.

“Noona. Let’s go down now, yeah? The stream’s already over.”

“Unni?”

At the sound of their voices, Ayun blinked back to herself and said quietly,

“...You guys go on ahead.”

“...What?”

“Excuse me?”

She reached over and plucked the flashlight from Hyesung’s hand.

“...The smartphone flashlight should be enough, right? The trail we took was a human path—it’ll be fine going down.”

“Well, sure, but... why not come with us? There’s no reason to do this now.”

“Exactly. You were the one who suggested going down first.”

But Ayun clearly wasn’t listening.

Her ears twitched slightly, straining toward a sound deep in the woods.

“...I’ll follow soon. Just go before the rain gets worse.”

With that, she stepped off the trail and vanished into the forest.

For someone like Ayun, this kind of thing was normal.

But for Hyesung and Hyeyeon, who lived normal lives, there was no way to stop her.

The rain began to fall harder as Hyeyeon stomped her feet.

“Oppa, what do we do?”

Not that Hyesung had any brilliant ideas either.

The rational move would be to go down and call the police...

...But Ayun had said she’d be right behind them. For now, they had no choice but to trust her.

“...Let’s just go down. She said she’d be right back, so we’ve gotta believe her.”

Hyesung turned on his smartphone flashlight.

Then began retracing their steps down the trail.

Hyeyeon hesitated, looking back and forth between Hyesung and where Ayun had disappeared, before letting out a deep sigh and following him.

It was already too late to chase after Ayun.

‘I just hope she stays safe.’

Just as Ayun had said, the two of them made their way down the mountain.

Behind them, a voice sang in a language neither of them had ever heard.

It sounded like a song—but not in any human tongue.

Hyesung clenched his shaking hand tightly.

Hyeyeon fought the urge to look back.

Step by step, they moved downward.

The singing voice faded gradually—

Until at last, it was swallowed by the rising sound of the rain.

The gentle drip, drip of earlier quickly became a torrential shhhhhhh of falling water.

It didn’t take long for the drizzle to become a downpour.

Once they reached the manmade path, the singing had vanished entirely.

The sound of trees swaying returned.

Insects whimpered in the sudden rainfall.

Hyesung and Hyeyeon carefully descended the muddy slope.

The transparent ponchos didn’t block the rain completely, but the thick canopy helped, so it wasn’t too hard to walk.

Their thoughts were with Ayun.

She had just stood there, dazed, then wandered off into the forest like she was possessed.

...The kind of thing you’d hear in an old ghost story.

Like some fox spirit or mountain ghost had lured her away.

And in the stories they knew, things rarely ended well.

They could only hope it was just Ayun being Ayun.

Thanks to their rushed descent, they managed to get off the mountain before the rain worsened.

Now, there were no birdcalls. No insects. No strange songs.

Only the pounding of rain all around them.

Even then, there was still no sign of Ayun.

For someone who said she’d be right behind them, she was taking far too long.

“...Oppa, do you think Ayun unni’s okay?”

“...I don’t know. Let’s wait a little, then call the police if we have to.”

‘Hopefully it won’t come to that.’

And just like that, night deepened.

Ready when you are for the next section.