Chapter 14: Kimino nama?

“……Gone again?”

Dojin was in a meeting room with guild executives, discussing the recently occurring [Consecutive High School Student Disappearance Case].

Several photos of missing persons floated on the wall screen,

and the expressions of everyone looking at them were unusually grim.

This was because the victims of this incident were teenagers.

“This case…… isn’t something strange about it?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“If it were just a simple disappearance case, it wouldn’t have come to us.”

“Kids have gone missing, but no one remembers their existence. Even with photos right here.”

If it was certain that students were disappearing,

it would be natural for their families, friends, or teachers to remember them.

However, when they asked the school, ‘Who disappeared?’ and showed photos of the missing students, the answers they received were strange.

–”I don’t know. Was there such a student?”

Everyone had only a vague awareness of their existence. As if those students had never existed in the first place.

A bizarre situation where they only knew that the number of students was simply decreasing.

“Were there no reports of a Netherworld appearing?”

One of the executives nodded at Dojin’s question.

“No. As far as we’ve confirmed, a Netherworld has not formed.”

“Then it’s not Calamity-grade or higher. That’s a relief, at least.”

‘No Netherworld means it’s at least not Calamity-grade or higher.’

It’s highly likely an Illusion-grade or Disaster-grade urban legend.

Illusion-grade urban legends often induce psychological fear but don’t cause direct harm, while Disaster-grade ones often affect people within a certain area.

‘If no one remembers the disappeared students…… then it’s probably a Disaster-grade.’

This isn’t a simple disappearance but a phenomenon where their very existence fades.

“Han Gaeun will take on this case.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Your urban legend’s power, the Fox Gentleman, sharpens senses and is excellent at finding hidden presences.”

“Okay, Dad!”

“…I told you to call me Master at the guild—”

“But at home, you make me call you ‘Daaaad—’.”

“Th-that kind of talk here…”

At that moment, laughter erupted simultaneously from the guild executives.

“Puhahaha! Master! Are you trying to act dignified just because it’s the guild?”

“Everyone already knows the Master is a doting father, so what’s there to be embarrassed about?”

“Hmph. Quiet down, you lot.”

The slightly heavy atmosphere in the meeting room seemed to lighten because of Gaeun.

“Anyway, don’t let your guard down. Even if Awakened Ones gain the power of urban legends, we are different from urban legends themselves. You know that, right?”

Gaeun pushed her chair back and made a sullen face.

“I know. The research results say so, and you tell us every time, don’t you? That the urban legend powers we gain don’t match the danger rating the urban legend itself possessed. Of course, that makes sense, considering the user is different.”

One of the guild agents chuckled and interjected into the conversation.

“Master. Aren’t you doting on your daughter too much? Haha.”

“Ahem. I told you it’s not like that.”

Dojin cleared his throat to cut off the flow and immediately began forming a team.

“Kang Dohyeok and Im Suyeon will go as support.”

“Both of them have abilities suitable for investigation, so it would be good for them to work together.”

Dojin organized the documents and stood up from his seat.

“For this mission, move with the utmost caution.”

Gaeun, Dohyeok, and Suyeon nodded with serious expressions.

****

While quietly organizing documents in the office, I suddenly felt someone’s gaze.

‘What is it? Why the sudden chill?’

I turned my head to see Gaeun standing by the office door, arms crossed, staring intently at me.

“Oppa. Is guild life manageable?”

“It’s been a few weeks now, so I’ve adapted well enough. But why are you here again?”

“Again…? Do you not like me coming…?”

Gaeun subtly clenched her fists.

“Hahaha. What I meant was, ‘You came again!’ That kind of meaning.”

‘Damn it. I couldn’t beat Gaeun before, but now that she’s even Awakened, I feel like I’d die if she hit me even once!’

At home, I have to watch Luna’s mood, and at work, I have to watch Gaeun’s mood—what a pathetic life!

Luna, at least, has been well-behaved and quiet lately.

But this human bulldozer in front of me has been difficult to handle ever since she was a child.

“Hmph… Hmph! Do you think I’d fall for that again!”

It’s just empty words, but it’s so obvious you like it, Gaeun.

“So, what’s up?”

“Can’t I just come say hi?”

“No. Your expression clearly says, ‘I have something to say.’”

“Heh. Oppa, you’re this perceptive now?”

“I’d be a goner without my wits, you know.”

“I’m going on a mission today.”

“A mission?”

“Yeah, an urban legend investigation. Students are consecutively disappearing at a certain high school.”

‘A case of disappearing students?’

Somehow, it felt familiar. Like something I had read in a novel.

“That case. Is there anything peculiar about it?”

“It’s not just a simple disappearance. People can’t remember the students who vanished.”

“They can’t remember?”

“Students have disappeared, but people only know that the total number of students has decreased; no one knows which specific kids are gone.”

“Hmm…”

A strong sense of déjà vu flashed through my mind.

‘This is exactly like what I saw in the novel.’

But the problem was that I couldn’t remember the subsequent development.

What’s wrong with my memory?

Did I get early-onset dementia or something? I can’t remember anything.

What was the urban legend’s true identity?

I definitely knew, but it felt like a fog was covering my memory.

People disappearing, even their memories fading……

Then—

A single sentence came to mind.

[Don’t forget your name.]

‘I remember now. This urban legend’s specialty was hiding its existence with its ability.’

The urban legend that had crossed into reality was deliberately using its power to hide, which was why it remained only vague in my memory.

“Gaeun.”

“Hmm?”

“If you feel anything strange from the urban legend—”

‘If I tell her this, she might ask later how I knew, but first, I need to save a life.’

I’ll think about the aftermath later!

“Absolutely do not forget your name.”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“You said no one remembers the missing people, right? Even though there are photos.”

“Yeah. So?”

“There’s a saying that names fix a person to the world. Perhaps what’s forgotten in the urban legend is because of names.”

“Oppa sometimes says things that make no sense, you know.”

Still, Gaeun smiled slightly, knowing that he was saying it out of concern for her.

“Okay, I get it. Since Oppa isn’t someone who talks nonsense, I’ll especially remember it!”

“Good. Be sure to remember this Oppa’s earnest advice.”

“Okay, okay. Why are there so many worrying men around me?”

‘As if you’re not a walking troublemaker for no reason.’

I barely managed to swallow the words that rose to my throat.

Gaeun waved her hand, said she’d be back, and left.

“If she just doesn’t forget her name, even if she can’t solve this urban legend, she should be able to get out alive, so it should be fine.”

****

[???-grade Urban Legend – The Forgotten]

You are lost.

No, you can’t even remember where you were going in the first place.

The usual path.

A familiar place somewhere.

The scenery you always saw.

But the moment you suddenly stopped, everything became unfamiliar.

‘……Where is this?’

A corridor that stretches endlessly.

The fluorescent lights flickered, the walls were stained yellow, and outside the windows, it was pitch black.

There is nothing and no one.

As if you are the only one left here.

“……Is anyone there?”

The voice echoed to the end of the corridor, but no answer returned.

You feel an ominous sensation and hastily try to turn back.

But,

“……Huh?”

The way you came was gone.

The corridor continued endlessly, looking exactly the same,

and the class roster on the wall,

and the class name on the classroom door,

had disappeared.

“What the……?”

The sensation of anxiety slowly creeping in.

You feel like you’re forgetting something important.

‘I am……’

My mind is blurring.

I need to remember.

‘I am…… who……’

At that moment.

[Who were you again?]

A whisper heard from somewhere.

Something is watching you from inside the old classroom.

You feel like you should say something, but your mouth won’t move.

In the darkness, an existence whose form cannot be clearly seen.

It slowly rose from its spot and approached you.

[What’s your name?]

What is my name?

I need to remember. Something so obvious.

The most basic thing to prove myself.

But your mind is blank.

If someone called your name, you feel like you’d know.

The approaching entity slowly traced your face with a long, extended finger.

The moment the formless fingertip brushed your skin, you felt ‘something’ disappear from your mind.

Your favorite food from childhood.

The face of your closest friend.

The memory of the first time you cried.

The things that disappear are erased as if they were perfectly natural, and you don’t even know that you ‘forgot’.

The strange entity whispers again.

[What’s your name?]

You could not answer that question.

‘…What was a name again?’

Not only had you forgotten your name, but you had forgotten what the concept of ‘name’ was.

“……!”

You had to desperately flee, but your body wouldn’t move.

Perhaps you had even forgotten how to move your body.

The cold fingertip touched your forehead once more.

You felt your body sinking heavily, and you realized.

That your existence was crumbling.

A being that forgets its name cannot be fixed to the world.

Having lost the ‘anchor’ that is your name, you are soon swept away.

You fade.

You fade.

You fade.

Eventually, all of you disappeared.

****

Creak——

The school’s main gate opened with an ominous sound.

A closed school with no students, teachers, or even custodians.

Yet, there was ‘a feeling that someone was inside’.

“It’s too clean for a closed school, isn’t it?”

Dohyeok frowned, fiddling with his sword.

It had been days since it was temporarily closed, yet not a speck of dust had accumulated on the windows? It was as if someone had just been cleaning.

“……Something’s strange.”

This time, Suyeon mumbled softly.

“Why?”

“No one’s been here for a while, but the air isn’t stuffy.”

Gaeun only realized the strange point after hearing her words.

Normally, when a building is closed, dust accumulates, and the air becomes stale.

However, there was no sign of that here at all.

“The school feels too clean. As if it’s been continuously maintained.”

It was as if the school itself was a breathing organism, maintaining itself.

Then, a strange noise came from the ceiling.

—Static——

—Staaaaatic——

A bizarre sound began to echo from the broadcast speakers.

[Students. Lunch break is over.]

“What is this?”

[Please return to your classrooms.]

“There’s no way a broadcast like this would be playing, is there?”

The school was temporarily closed due to an urban legend incident, so there shouldn’t be any students or staff.

Yet, the broadcast continued to speak to ‘someone’.

“The report didn’t say the in-school broadcasting system was operational.”

“Did someone play a recording?”

“Or…… it might not be a recording playing, but rather, it could be broadcasting live continuously.”

“What?”

Suddenly, a chill ran down the spines of the three.

“……We should head to the broadcasting room first.”

“There might be some clue there.”

“Let’s go.”

****

In front of the broadcasting room door.

Fortunately, no additional broadcasts came on while they were moving, so they arrived safely.

Gaeun raised her hand and carefully pushed the door open.

Creak——

The broadcasting room was dark inside.

Dusty equipment, a messy desk, and a fallen chair.

But it definitely looked as if someone had been there just moments ago.

——Static.

The broadcasting equipment was still operating.

Suyeon checked, and it wasn’t a microphone, but an audio file saved on a USB that was playing automatically.

“It was a recorded broadcast?”

Gaeun examined the label on the USB.

[Student Guidance Broadcast]

“Should we play this file again?”

“I’m against it—”

Thwack!

“Ah, seriously, Im Yeonsu! I told you not to hit my head!”

“Why are you such a scaredy-cat, you brute! And I told you not to call me Im Yeonsu! Am I a fish?! My name is Suyeon!”

“Ugh. Seriously, why did I end up on this investigation team with her?”

“That’s what I should be saying, hmph!”

“Anyway, you two. Be serious when you’re investigating.”

Gaeun scolded them both, then played the recorded file.

A low, unstable voice flowed from the speakers.

[Students, you must not remain here late.]

[Do not forget your name.]

[If you forget your name, you cannot be a student.]

Only short content, about 10 seconds long, remained.

“Hmm… It’s certainly strange content, but with just this—”

At that moment, the microphone suddenly turned on by itself, and ‘breathing sounds as if someone were speaking directly’ flowed out.

[Who were you again?]

——Static.

Instantly, all the lights flickered, and the broadcasting equipment began playing again ‘on their own’.

[Remember your name.]

[If you remember, you can return home.]

Thud.

The broadcasting room door suddenly closed on its own.

“Ah, seriously! I told you not to play it!”

“We have to investigate, so what else can we do?! Quiet down and grab your weapon!”

At that moment, Gaeun realized there was one more unknown presence.

‘Something is in here with us.’

——Staaaaatic.

A bizarre voice flowed from the speakers once more.

[What’s your name?]