Necromancer Survival

Chapter 415

Screaach–! Boom–!

I whirled around a corner; the room marked on the map was in the immediate vicinity. I made a mad dash for the room and barely managed to slip through the half-closed door.

Bang Bang Bang–!

The monster attacked the door as if it was going to smash it down, but fortunately the door held steady and firm.

"Haah, haah…" I exhaled and took a moment to catch my breath. Then, belatedly, I looked around at my surroundings.

"…Dolls?" I discovered numerous shelves filled with dolls.

The dolls in this room felt different from those in Bang Eunji's [Vengeful Ghost Memory]. The dolls I saw back then were beautiful, porcelain humanoid figures, all the dolls in this room were made of cloth and stuffed. In addition, the dolls were all animals.

‘Am I supposed to find something here?'

Instead of touching the stuffed animals carelessly, I carefully scrutinized them. However, I couldn't find anything strange with my undiscerning eyes.

‘…Are these perhaps… Shikigami?'

I suddenly recalled the stuffed pony Dawon had been hugging. I turned my gaze to a small monkey doll on the nearest shelf. After staring into its round button eyes for a moment, I abruptly clapped my hands…

Clap–!

However, my applause only echoed hollowly in the big room; nothing reacted. At that moment, I sighed; my nervous shoulders drooped down as I exhaled.

"Haaaah…. Honestly, what am I supposed to do?"

I then picked up the monkey doll. I inspected it thoroughly, even checking its bottom, but nothing stood out. Therefore, I placed the monkey back on the shelf.

[Screech Screeeeech!]

"Argh!" But, as soon as my hand retreated, the stuffed monkey suddenly jumped as if it were alive. I was so startled that I stumbled back and fell onto my bottom; the monkey, which had been a doll until just recently, sat on top of another book shelf and stared down at me.

"W-What is it?"

[Ook. Oo-kkee-kee.]

And the monkey doll… started throwing other dolls at me.

Thud–!

I glared at the stuffed monkey while holding the rabbit that hit my head. The monkey stared at me, as if waiting for my reaction.

Angered by that provocative, taunting gaze I gave it a stern warning, "I-Is throwing all you can do? That doesn't hurt at all!"

[Screee! Screeech!]

"Arrghhh! This crazy monkey!"

Then, as if it had understood what I said, the monkey began wildly lobbing dolls at me. I tried to stop it, but I couldn't beat the tremendous speed at which it threw the dolls–its machine-like mannerisms were hard to endure. Furthemore, I couldn't reach it since it nimbly ran across shelves that were high on the wall.

Frustrated, I shouted at the monkey that kept taunting me; it kept hovering around me and throwing dolls whenever our eyes met.

“If I catch you, I won’t let you off easy!”

Cling–!

At that moment, I felt something soft underfoot, causing me to lose my balance and fall. "Ack!"

I slipped, but, fortunately, I wasn't hurt…thanks to the countless animal dolls on the floor. However, more importantly, a doll had tripped me.

I hurriedly looked down at my feet.

Hop–!

"A r…. Rabbit?"

To my surprise, the rabbit doll I had touched earlier was rubbing its face with its front paws.

"…What?"

As I stared at the rabbit in disbelief, I realized the puppy doll I had touched while falling was also moving. The puppy vigorously licked my palm with its fabric tongue.

"Wait a minute…" As I tried to determine why these dolls in particular were moving–and not the others–I gazed at my palm.

‘No way.'

After swallowing a big gulp of air, I looked around at the nearby dolls. Then, I found a pony that was smaller than the one Dawon had brought me. I carefully stroked its fur.

[Neiighh.]

The horse snorted, promptly stood up, and began trotting around me. Although it didn’t seem to follow me with any specific purpose, all the stuffed animals I had touched circled around me. They each repeated some designated behavior, much like… Shikigami.

‘Then, that monkey as well…?'

I frowned at the monkey on the shelf, which had now wrapped its tail around another doll. Is ‘throwing' the monkey's designated behavioral pattern? Then, what on earth could I do to stop it?

I clapped–a bit dubious that this idea would work.

Clap–!

Then, the monkey, unable to balance itself on the shelf, tumbled to the floor. The rabbit stiffened and fell; the pony stopped in place.

"…Seriously?" I mumbled to myself–the room was now tranquil and still.

"Then, to get them moving again… do I need to just hold them?"

Clap–! Clap–!

I abruptly stood up and clapped in that position. However, the dolls didn't move.

"I guess I need to touch them with my hands to make them move," I absently mumbled as I approached the monkey doll. Then, I held the doll tightly and lifted it up.

The monkey doll wriggled in my palms as it screeched. It rubbed what would be its mouth into my hands, as if it had a lot of complaints with the way I was treating it. I suppose if the doll were real, it would have bitten me.

"Stay still for a moment," I patted the angry monkey's head to soothe it. Fortunately, its agitation slowly calmed down; the monkey gripped my fingers tightly and stared up at me. Even if I gently took away my hands, it didn't run away.

I stared at the monkey and asked, "By any chance, do you know Jo Chan-young?"

[Ookee?]

"…Haah. Don't worry about it." I asked that question just in case, but, as expected, the doll was unable to do anything but perform monkey-like antics.

From that moment on, I held the monkey around my neck as I tried to search for something other than the dolls. However, I couldn't see anything except for dolls on the shelves.

"Mmm… Then, what can I do with these dolls here?"

When it heard my complaint, the monkey suddenly jumped out of my arms.

"Hey! Where are you going?!"

[OoKee Kee Kee!]

As I instinctively tried to catch it, the monkey made chattering sounds again, drawing my attention. It continued to evade my grasp and slowly guided me somewhere.

At first, I thought it was merely playing around again, so I tried to ignore the monkey…But then it started throwing dolls at me again. After being beaten and hit by dolls a few times, I realized what the monkey wanted and walked with it.

"You want me to go in here?"

Before long, I discovered a hidden door at the very end of the shelf. The monkey jumped onto my shoulder after I stood in front of the door.

[Screech!]

Judging by its excited attitude, I didn't think there was anything horrible behind that door. Also, the map didn’t show any [monster] indicators. I slowly pushed open the dusty door and entered.

"This is…"

Inside the room, there was nothing more than a mundane desk and bookshelves; my tension until that point felt unnecessary.

"Cough…"

The sheer dustiness of the space made me cough, but nothing else seemed particularly strange. I looked through the room and glanced at the books left open on the desk. Although the text was unfamiliar, I could surprisingly read it.

"[Insert spell paper inside the doll's mouth]…? What does this mean?"

I flinched when I saw a drawing next to the open page. The illustration resembled the crumpled paper I had taken from the attendant’s mouth when I received the map.

"……" Then, I turned over the cover of the book to see its title.

[Introduction to crafting Shikigami]

The straightforward title caught my eye.

And, simultaneously–

–[Are you Choi Lee-kyung?]

"Hargh!"

When I heard a man's cold voice, the space around me began to rumble and distort.

I looked straight ahead, eyes wide open.

Soon afterwards, Jo Chanyoung appeared before me.

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TL: This is like simultaneously my dream and my nightmare. I used to have enough stuffed animals to be able to make a literal nest that I could sleep inside of. Chucky, the horror movie, made it so I couldn't sleep inside my room for like two months. Moving stuffies would be great….and also traumatizing for me lmao.