I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 51: I Say What Needs to Be Said

It wasn’t Hyeyeon’s smartphone, which they were using for the stream due to its performance.

'That’s mine, isn’t it?'

Realizing the vibration was coming from her own pocket, Ayun reached in.

The phone buzzed as if it were grieving. Maybe it was from the impact earlier—there was a small crack on the screen.

'Ah...'

She frowned and lifted her eyebrows as she checked the screen.

[That Bastard Hyesung]

The caller’s name appeared.

“...What the hell, why’s he calling all of a sudden?”

It was sudden, but Hyesung was a pro when it came to streaming.

Ayun figured he wouldn’t be calling without a reason, so she picked up.

Right away—

"Noona!!! You’re not about to turn off the stream, right?!"

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

Hyesung’s voice blasted through the speaker, loud and urgent, making Ayun frown and pull the phone away from her ear.

"What the hell...?"

She could hear him clearing his throat on the other end.

Ayun held the phone back up to her ear and spoke in a low voice.

"Why are you calling?"

"You were about to shut the stream off, weren’t you?"

"Uh? Uh..."

How did he know?

At Ayun’s vague reply, Hyesung banged something hard and shouted.

"You can’t do that!"

"Uh... why? It’s noisy out there because of us... Shouldn’t I turn it off?"

"It’s not like the police showed up, right?"

"Well... true?"

While Ayun was still dazed, Hyeyeon, catching on to something, borrowed Hyeonseo’s phone and started checking something.

"No one showed up, and it’ll all blow over once it’s quiet again. Even if someone had shown up, the informant can just step up and clarify everything."

Hyesung paused briefly, then started rapid-firing again.

"I try not to meddle, but seriously, this is getting dangerous. You need to tell the viewers what happened, show them the room, prove it’s not fake—if you just turn off the stream now, you’re going to create a controversy that wasn’t even there to begin with!"

Ayun blinked as she listened.

“Respect for speaking facts, Hyesung-Cola.”

“That hit the spot, lolol.”

“Man's saying all this like she can’t hear him, but he’s right about everything.”

“Didn’t realize he was the limiter until he left.”

“Normally I’d say not to talk about other streamers but... I’ve got nothing. Lmao.”

Glancing at the chat while on the call, Ayun realized something was off.

"You heard what I said, right, noona?"

"Yeah... yeah."

"First thing when the call ends, apologize!"

"Okay..."

After ending the call with a blank expression, Ayun shoved the phone back in her pocket. Hyeyeon approached and gave her a slight nod.

Whatever she’d seen on the borrowed phone, it looked serious.

Ayun sighed internally and handed her the phone.

Then, she began tidying up the trashed floor.

"Unnie?"

"He said to start with an apology."

Ayun recalled a post she had seen while browsing online.

‘I can do this.’

Confirming the camera was aimed at her, Ayun placed both hands on the floor.

Then planted them, pushed off—

And stuck her legs straight up into the air in a handstand.

"I’m sorry!"

"U-Unnie?"

"Heh?"

Ayun’s sudden, impulsive move.

Her baggy clothes started slipping down, revealing her pale white body.

Snapping out of it, Hyeyeon hurriedly spoke up.

"U-Unnie, that’s enough—stand up properly now!"

“LOOOOL She’s really trying to escape a ban with a stunt like this instead of ending stream.”

“What the hell do you have to eat to think of something like that?”

(Message deleted.)

“Respect... if you’re gonna apologize, do a grand bow. Noonah gets it.”

“Go on, maybe a bit more?”

At Hyeyeon’s shout, Ayun shifted her posture with ease, spreading her arms to balance herself.

‘Guess I’m not that rusty.’

Ayun’s face wore a smug little grin.

“She clearly doesn’t even know what she did wrong, lol.”

“Why’d you expect anything? She just did what we told her to, haha.”

Ayun dusted off her wrinkled clothes, took the phone from Hyeyeon again, and scanned the room.

Just as Hyesung said, the noisy outside had gone quiet. No one had shown up.

Only the mess in the room remained.

‘...Still a long way to go.’

Ayun felt she needed to explain everything to the viewers.

Just showing things moving around and being resolved wasn’t enough.

There was still one thing bothering her.

She walked over to Hyeonseo, who was now struggling to hold back laughter, and whispered quietly.

"I’m about to explain everything that happened here... Is that okay?"

She glanced at the fortune pouch as she asked. Hyeonseo hesitated.

"It’s not something bad, right?"

"No."

Ayun gave a calm answer meant to reassure her, and Hyeonseo nodded.

"Thank you."

Ayun gave an awkward smile, then picked up the phone and began walking through the room.

"Open your eyes wide and look carefully—there aren’t any strings or wires, right?"

“Wait... why am I crying...?”

“This is exactly what I wanted, goddamn lol”

Ayun carefully demonstrated everything and started shelving books back into the cabinet.

Unable to reach the top, she hopped a few times, eventually needing Hyeyeon’s help.

“Why is the screen hopping lmao”

“LOL”

"...Shit."

Just after finishing the cabinet, Ayun moved to show the wardrobe, but quickly covered the camera.

Unlike the cabinet full of textbooks, the wardrobe was overflowing with Hyeonseo’s personal stuff.

"Let’s skip the wardrobe. Everyone’s entitled to some privacy."

“Hey, filming that would’ve gotten the stream nuked anyway.”

“She almost screwed herself earlier too, did she forget? lol”

"What was that?"

“Nothing~ Please carry on!”

“Real talk lmao”

“Show the fortune pouch!”

"Okay, okay, don’t nag."

Ayun sat down on the now-tidied floor and opened the pouch.

Inside was the yellow talisman she had seen earlier.

‘...The color changed.’

The yellow paper was now scorched black in several places, as if burned.

Ayun quietly offered a prayer for Hyeonseo’s grandfather and gently picked it up.

[It’s just a normal piece of paper now.]

I know.

Aslan’s voice wouldn’t be audible to anyone else. Ayun resisted the urge to reply and instead opened her mouth.

"Actually, the paranormal activity in this house... it was caused by the informant’s grandfather."

"What?"

"M-My grandpa?"

Ayun nodded and continued.

"I think he did it because he wanted you to leave this house."

"Me?"

Hyeonseo stared wide-eyed in disbelief. It wasn’t what she had expected to hear.

She thought it was the work of some nasty ghost—but her loving grandfather?

That was hard to swallow.

"I don’t know the reason, but it seemed like a really foul spirit had attached ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) itself to this place. When I opened the window earlier, it was to lure that thing in and get rid of it. Of course... you guys wouldn’t have seen it."

At Ayun’s words, Hyeonseo stepped closer, picked up the talisman, and asked—

"...Is Grandpa still here?"

"...No."

Ayun hesitated.

She debated whether to tell the truth or a gentle lie.

After a brief pause, she chose the gentle lie.

‘He was just lingering—a leftover echo of someone already gone.’

You can miss someone who passed away, but you shouldn’t be bound by it.

If she told Hyeonseo the truth, it felt like it would weigh down her heart.

That she might lose herself to the invisible.

Ayun spoke carefully.

"A little while ago, he chased off the one targeting you... and went back to where he’s supposed to be."

"...I see."

Hyeonseo stared at the scorched paper in her hands and murmured softly. Her voice was slightly choked.

"Can I keep this?"

"Of course."

Now that it was just a normal piece of paper, it wasn’t dangerous.

Ayun nodded without hesitation.

‘They must’ve been really close.’

Watching Hyeonseo gently place the talisman back into the pouch, Ayun felt strangely wistful.

It was a bond she’d never experienced herself.

After finishing her explanation, Ayun glanced at the chat.

“That... really happened?”

“Isn’t she just making stuff up?”

“Brb calling my grandpa.”

“Is it real though??”

Seeing the chat fill up, Ayun looked into the camera and gave a crooked smile.

"It’s not like asking you to believe it when you can’t see anything means shit, right? But... I didn’t lie. I showed you everything you needed to see."

She fired off the words and then let out a sigh, sounding exhausted.

"We’re good now, right?"

“I’ve got nothing to say lol.”

“I mean... the poltergeist activity was insane.”

“That talisman looked expensive too.”

“We’ll let it slide this time.”

At that moment, the donation alert sound rang out, signaling a contribution.

(Hyesung has donated 50,000 won.)

“You’ve grown, noona... You’re ready to leave the mountain now.”

"...What a clown."

Still—Ayun smiled.

Because it had helped.

“mymymy”

“Kick that bastard!”

“Mentioning T*S is a ban!!!”

(Zinc-Eating-Hard-on has donated 10,000 won.)

“Noonah, you’re not about to end stream now, are you??? Let’s at least have a solid dinner before you do—don’t pull that crap again where you eat alone and end the stream cold.”

"...Still hasn’t changed their username. But thanks for the donation."

Reading out the sudden flood of donations, Ayun added—

"Alright, then. Throw out your dinner recommendations."

In a rare good mood from all the support, Ayun smiled wide.

Even the lingering pain was forgotten in that moment.