NIGHTMARE FUEL

AFTER YUJIN ran for her life, she didn't expect to meet a Grim Reaper.

Ah, scratch that.

This was no ordinary Grim Reaper.

[It's the Grim Reaper who tried to fetch my soul when I was a kid…]

"You're hurting my feelings, Stray Soul #93," the Grim Reaper said, feigning hurt. "Have you forgotten my name?"

How could she forget his name?

When Aunt Hayi was teaching her how to smack things with her wooden baseball bat, her aunt created a sandbag with the Grim Reaper's face for her to use with her practice. Well, her aunt wasn't good at drawing, but she got the perm hair and the red eyes correct.

Plus, Aunt Hayi would often call the Grim Reaper's name while hitting the sandbag with a bat (to show her how to do it properly).

"N-Nightmare," Yujin said in a trembling voice. To be honest, she didn't want to talk to the Grim Reaper because she was scared. However, his glowing red eyes seemed to command her to do so. "Y-You're Mr. Nightmare…"

"I'm glad you still remember me," Mr. Nightmare said cheerfully. "I guess your feisty Aunt Hayi still curses at me every chance she gets."

She couldn't confirm or deny it, so she just kept her mouth shut.

[But why is Mr. Nightmare talking like he's close with Aunt Hayi?]

"It looks like Hayi Ahn still curses at me, huh?" Mr. Nightmare asked, taking her silence as a 'yes' to his question earlier. "Anyway, it's nice to see you again after ten years. Lucky for you, we still don't have to Order to fetch your soul."

She was almost relieved by what she heard.

However, she could hear a 'but' at the Grim Reaper's last remark.

"But that might change tonight," Mr. Nightmare said, then his gaze went past her. "If your doppelganger happens to injure you enough to alert the Afterlife, then I'll fetch your soul right here, right now."

She didn't have to turn around to know that her doppelganger had caught up to her.

Her hair stood up on the back of her neck.

She immediately scanned the area until she found Shin Aera unconscious on the floor.

[Geun-wook didn't hit her, right?]

She didn't have to worry about that since she got distracted as soon as she saw her guitar case. Then she ran faster. Unfortunately, she could feel it in her bones that her doppelganger was breathing at the back of her neck.

[Nooo!]

And thus, she dived to the floor in order to reach the guitar case faster.

She wasn't particularly flat-chested, so she had to say that it hurt in the chest area when her front side hit the floor. But she didn't have the time to dwell on the pain. As soon as she got a hold of the guitar case, she opened it and pulled out her wooden baseball bat.

Then she quickly got to her feet and turned around.

As expected, her doppelganger was already suspended in the air after leaping at her while screaming incoherently.

Yujin gripped the bat's handle tight, then she swung it as hard as she could into the ghost's face. Just like a baseball, her doppelganger was sent flying until it hit the ceiling. She heard something similar to bones cracking before the ghost fell to the ground.

The impact of the doppelganger hitting the floor created a crater. After that, her doppelganger didn't move anymore.

[Huh? Did I suddenly get stronger?]

She had never sent her doppelganger flying before. Moreover, she felt powerful suddenly. But she had a nagging feeling that the power didn't belong to her.

[I mean, I'm just an ordinary high school student…]

"Ohh, Yujin Moon," Mr. Nightmare said, calling her name in a Westernized style (given name before the family name) again. "Did you also inherit your maternal family's divine energy? Are you going to be a shaman, too?"

She wanted to deny all of that, but she was shocked when she saw Geun-wook's state.

Why didn't she notice earlier that his stomach was bleeding?!

"Geun…" she said, then she took a step forward.

However, she stopped when Mr. Nightmare landed on his feet, the scythe in his hand slowly vanishing. After that, Geun-wook fell to the floor– still unconscious. And…

… and Geun-wook's doppelganger was standing behind him.

[Oh, no…]

"Is it already Geun's time?" Yujin asked, then she gulped before turning to the Grim Reaper. "I-Is he going to die tonight?"

Mr. Nightmare showed him the Tablet in his hand.

<Name: Wook Sun, Age: 18, Time Left: 9 minutes>

"That Record is wrong," she insisted, hoping to find a loophole in order to save Geun. "Geun already changed his name to 'Geun-wook' legally. What if you're fetching the soul of the wrong guy?"

"You're hurting my feelings, Yujin Moon," the Grim Reaper complained lightly. "I'm already in this industry way before your mother was born. Do you think I'll make the rookie mistake of fetching the wrong soul because of that?"

She bit her bottom lip, frustrated. [It didn't work.]

"Wook Sun has only eight minutes left, dear."

She wasted no more time.

Gripping her wooden baseball tight, she ran towards Geun-wook's doppelganger. Then she swung her bat hard with the intention of smashing it into the doppelganger's stomach. She didn't have the courage to smash the ghost's face.

After all, it looked exactly like Geun-wook.

Moreover, it was looking at her as if it was a puppy that she kicked– argh!

Her thoughts got interrupted when her wooden baseball bat hit an invisible barrier around the doppelganger. A gust of wind pushed her back a little. But thankfully, that didn't hurt her.

[Why is there a barrier around him?!]

<"Why?">

She was distracted once again when Geun-wook's doppelganger talked while looking at her as if she betrayed him.

<"You kill me?">

Was the doppelganger asking her why she wanted to kill him?

She knew she wasn't supposed to be affected, but for some reason, an invisible hand seemed to squeeze her heart painfully.

[No, I must save Geun!]

Thus, she closed her eyes and swung her baseball bat again. She was expecting to hit the barrier again. However, this time, she felt her bat connect to something softer.

Could it be…

She slowly opened her eyes. Then, much to her shock, she realized that she had hit the doppelganger on the side of its head. In fact, the doppelganger's head was tilted to the side.

[Why do I have a feeling that he got hit on purpose?]

<"You,"> the doppelganger said, then it smiled innocently at her. Yes, the creepy grin that it used to give her had already turned into an innocent smile that poked her conscience. <"If killing me will save you, so be it.">

Yujin was surprised when she heard the doppelganger speak coherently for the first time.

[He really sounds like a human now…]

But how?

***

Please add SPOOKY SOULMATE to your library~