Reborn as a Prophet in a Horror Movie

#048Reader Mode

#048

Bobby’s face crumpled like a discarded tissue, and the dam of his emotions burst. Tears gushed down his cheeks in torrents, and his shrill cries shattered the silence like a shrieking banshee. Bobby worked himself into a frenzy, making sure every molecule of air in the vicinity knew that he was very much alive and kicking. Thanks to that, the somber mood that had been building up vanished in an instant.

“Wahhhh, aaack, sniffle…”

Bobby’s face was a mess, drenched in a mixture of tears, snot, and saliva, with a trickle of blood from a nosebleed. His mouth gaped open so wide that his uvula was visible even in the darkness, swaying back and forth. He seemed ready to unleash another ear-piercing wail at any moment.

“Haaaa….” Johan sighed dramatically as he carefully lowered Seojun to his feet. Without Johan’s sturdy chest and shoulders for support, Seojun felt unsteady on his own. Johan then bent down to pick up a crumpled sock near Bobby’s feet. The worn area near the little toe made it obvious who it belonged to.

In the entire neighborhood of Wraithwood, Bobby was the only one who would wear the complimentary pair of socks given as a free gift with a Pound Milk purchase. Seojun watched in confusion as Johan picked up the dirty sock.

“Ugh!”

With a quick motion, Johan balled up and shoved the sock into Bobby’s gaping mouth, silencing him effectively. Then, as if nothing had happened, he turned back to Seojun, his brows creased with concern.

“This place is quite the mess, huh?” Johan said, brushing off Seojun’s clothes from his fall.

Seojun nodded slowly, his eyes still dazed as he shifted his gaze from Johan’s focused expression while he tidied his clothes to Bobby. As his vision cleared, the once blurry surroundings came into sharp focus.

Bobby, now gagged with his own sock and tied up, looked almost pitiful. Bound to a chair, he squirmed helplessly, his toes twitching and ankles wriggling against the unforgiving rope. Since standing up was out of the question, he resorted to wriggling his shoulders like a caterpillar, his ragged breaths escaping through his nostrils in rough bursts.

The Bobby they’d found at the Hamon Production Workshop was like something straight out of a twisted dream or a surreal John Keane painting. But, true to form, Bobby reminded them all of his very real, very tangible existence.

For instance, his crotch was soaked, and the musty smell that emanated from it was as real as it could get. His rapid breathing eventually slowed, replaced by a crimson tint of embarrassment creeping up his cheeks.

Bobby was just being Bobby – shifty-eyed, but not maliciously so. Seojun couldn’t help but shake his head in disgust, then pinching his nose to ward off the unbearable smell.

“Bobby, really,” Seojun scolded, his voice dripping with exasperation. “You’re a grown man, for crying out loud! Can’t you control your bladder any better?” He shook his head, his eyebrows knitted together in a scowl. “What happened to virtues like patience and perseverance? I expected more from you.”

Despite having lived in the small town of Wraithwood his entire life, Seojun’s personality was as rough as any city slicker’s. Even though Bobby wet himself, he received no sympathy for his predicament, just a barrage of harsh words.

Seojun’s voice, muffled only slightly by his hand, which was firmly pressed against his nose to block the unpleasant odor, continued to spout out harsh criticisms. Bobby, his mouth stuffed with a sock, could only look on feeling wronged. His whole body trembled, but the sturdy chair he was bound to didn’t budge an inch.

“Ugh!”

“Well, your little pecker isn’t exactly equipped to hold much back, but hey, if you sliced off your nuts, I bet you’d have some room to spare. Sounds like a great idea, right Bobby? Yeah, I think so too.”

Bobby’s face flushed red as he struggled to protest, but the sock in his mouth muffled any retort. Seojun’s eyes twinkled with mischief as he started frisking Bobby with a click of his tongue.

“Johan, I’ll check this punk’s top half, so check his pants pockets.”

“Huh? Oh… Jun, let’s just untie Bobby and tell him to do it himself.”

Johan, who usually remained unfazed even when knee-deep in alien guts or rotting corpses, couldn’t help but grimace at the idea of rummaging through Bobby’s soiled pants. Seojun raised an eyebrow and shot him a frosty look.

It had only been an hour since Johan confessed his undying love, but he’s already acting arrogantly like this? Seojun, who had received a confession for the first time in his life, failed to realize that he was the one acting arrogantly.

Yielding under Seojun’s withering stare, Johan reluctantly went through Bobby’s pockets. Lucky for them, the car keys were right there.

At least they weren’t soaked.

Seojun’s patience was stretched thinner than a sheet of paper, and he couldn’t take it any longer. Gripping the icy key in his hand, a surge of fury welled up inside him. In a split second, he acted on impulse and walloped Bobby on the head, the impact echoing with a resounding “THWACK!”

“Ack! Ow!” Bobby yelped, his expression a mix of shock and betrayal, as if he were the one who had been wronged again. Seojun’s response, however, was as cold as the key in his hand, his expression as stern as a judge passing sentence.

“What’s with that look, Bobby? Maybe if you hadn’t screwed up in the first place, you wouldn’t be here. You’re lucky we’re even here. Remember when that ‘serial killer’ ambushed you in the forest with an axe? You spilled your guts like you had nothing left to lose!”

Bobby’s panicked thrashing intensified, as if he were desperate to escape. He looked genuinely terrified that they might really leave him behind. His flailing was so over-the-top that it seemed more like a comical performance than an attempt to escape. With Monster X and Gas Mask both dead, Seojun and Johan could only exchange baffled glances at Bobby’s dramatic display.

“Ah.”

Right, Bobby doesn’t know Gas Mask died.

There was a clear information gap between them. While Christina and the others had gone through unimaginable hardships, Bobby had been locked away, completely unaware of the tragic events that had unfolded outside.

Seojun’s gaze drifted to Johan’s blood-soaked fingers, his temper flaring up like a parched rice paddy field during a drought. He clenched his fists, taking a decade’s worth of self-restraint to keep his anger in check.

“Yeah, unlike some people, we don’t just throw our friends to the wolves. So, we’re bringing Bobby with us.”

Johan grinned, admiration in his eyes. “Jun, I always think this, but you’re really kind-hearted.”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Seojun shot back, a tiniest hint of pride in his voice.

Johan continued to praise Seojun’s upright character while Bobby, who had much to say but no way to speak, could only blink helplessly at this ridiculous exchange.

In any case, they found the car keys, so there was no reason to leave Bobby behind. However, if space got tight in the car, guess who’d be riding in the trunk? Johan, with as little contact as possible, grabbed Bobby’s cheeks and yanked the sock back out.

Bobby groaned, and Seojun cringed at the weird sound. The sock made a disgusting squelch as it hit the floor, and the combination of that noise and Bobby’s nasal sniffling left Seojun unsure of which was more off-putting.

“I knew you’d… huff… come for me, Johan,” Bobby said, his eyes welling with tears and snot streaming down his face. Bobby then had the nerve to try and lean into Johan’s chest, as if forgetting that it was him who had gagged him in the first place. Seojun bit his tongue, barely resisting the urge to remind Bobby of that little detail.

“This is just like something out of a classic thriller, isn’t it?”

Johan easily dodged Bobby’s attempt at a hug and moved behind the chair to untie him. Bobby’s wrists and ankles were bound with rough rope, but the knots were easy enough to loosen. Seojun nodded in agreement.

“Considering all this stuff lying around, it’s pretty obvious what he’s into.”

The collection of hand-modified gas masks in the cabin spoke volumes about a seriously twisted hobby. As Johan grabbed a grimy knife from the workbench, Seojun turned to Bobby.

“So Bobby, are your wrists hurting?”

“Of course they are! They’re tied too tight! Just cut me loose already, alright? And stop chit-chatting! That psycho could show up any minute. Why are you two so calm as if it’s no big deal?!”

“Ah, about that killer…he’s dead now. You know, that monster you were so close with. Gobbled him up.”

“I was never friends with that thing!”

“Bobby, relax. I’m not here to judge your… kinda creepy hobbies, alright?”

Bobby’s pasty complexion regained some color thanks to Seojun’s reassurances that the killer was dead. Seojun pretended to fiddle with the ropes binding Bobby’s upper body, as if adjusting a nonexistent knot. Bobby’s pouty duck lips were on the verge of unleashing another tirade, but then he froze, gulping hard.

Bobby’s heart pounded in his chest, his imagination running wild with the unnerving sounds coming from behind him. He squirmed in his chair, desperate to see what was happening.

“Hey, Jo-Johan, what’s going on back there?”

“What do you mean ‘what’s going on’, Bobby? I’m untying you.”

“Thanks, but that noise… it’s just… it doesn’t sound right. It sounds like… scraping…”

Johan’s cheerful reply did little to ease Bobby’s anxiety. His dark eyes darting around the cabin, scared.

Seojun, seeing an opportunity, joined in, his voice filled with mock concern. “Bobby, Johan’s working so hard for you, even while missing his fingernails, and all you do is complain? Seriously, have you ever thought about how thick-skinned you are? Ever wonder how you come across to others?”

Bobby’s face flushed, caught between fear and embarrassment. “Shh, shut up! Ahh! Johan, something cold just touched me!”

“Oops, I made a little mistake. It’s cool, Bobby. You’re fine. Just trust me. But, uh, you’re up to date on your tetanus shots, right? Just asking.”

Bobby sat there, tears running down his cheeks, as he resigned himself to his fate. Thankfully, the less he squirmed, the more skilled Johan became with the knife, working his way nimbly around the ropes and he was free in no time.

Bobby stood, his legs shaking like those of a newborn chick taking its first steps. With a shaky hand, he dabbed at his eyes, not quite willing to believe what had just happened. His trembling steps carried him towards Johan, who, despite almost losing his wrists to him, seemed like the lesser of two evils compared to Seojun.

“I thought I was a goner! Like, dead for real! Like-like Brass!”

With trembling finger, he pointed to a corner of the cabin. There lay Brass, on his stomach with his back torn open. His lifeless eyes, frozen open, stared vacantly at the ceiling above, making the scene even more chilling. It was instantly clear that his tongue had been mercilessly ripped out and his limbs had been bound. The cause of death, however, was even more disturbing: his neck had been twisted at an unnatural angle.

“How long has he been like this?” Seojun whispered, more to himself than anyone else. He’d figured Brass was caught by Gas Mask, but the gruesome scene and Bobby’s ordeal had momentarily slipped his mind.

“He’s been like that the whole time since you guys got here!” Bobby cried out, his voice teetering on the edge of hysteria. “I’ve been losing it here, and you guys just stroll in spouting nonsense!”

“Well, when you’ve seen as many bodies as we have, one with all its limbs intact doesn’t faze you much.”

“You’re both insane!” Bobby shrieked, his arms flailing in every direction. “Brass was captured before me. That killer dragged me here, and this… this son of a b*tch, I mean, Brass,” he spat the name out like a curse, “he begged him to kill me in his place.”

Bobby’s voice wavered and cracked as he recounted the horrific story, his eyes glassy with the remembered terror. He’d been plunged into a living nightmare when Gas Mask abducted him and dragged him to the cabin, only to discover that Brass was already there, a battered and terrified captive. Brass had tried to bargain for his life, offering to trade another victim to buy some time. Bobby shuddered, remembering the desperate edge in Brass’s voice.

“Take him! Please, Gas Mask! I’ve told you everything I know! I’m your brother now, aren’t I? Call me a fool, but I’ll even help you… I swear…ugh!”

Bobby’s words trailed off, unable to finish the memory. Unfortunately for Brass, Gas Mask didn’t seem to be very pleased with his offer and his pleas had fallen on deaf ears. The outcome was pretty obvious. Seojun moved closer to Bobby, trying to ignore Brass’s vacant stare.

“Bobby, what happened after that?”

“Then…”

Bobby’s unfocused gaze drifted over Seojun’s pale face, as if he was still lost in the memory. He sounded almost like he was talking to himself, his voice trembling with fear.

“Gas Mask tied me up, demanding to know more about us. I had to tell him everything I knew. This place is really crazy! But he… he didn’t believe me. He thought I was high or something, making it all up. Then, a bell rang, and he left. Next thing I knew, you guys showed up. I was so scared, it was pitch-black in here, and Brass was right next to me… dead.”

Bobby clutched his chest, on the verge of a breakdown. Seojun’s eyes swept over the cabin, a space haunted by Brass’s lifeless body, Bobby’s stench, and the weight of countless lives lost. His mind was racing with too many thoughts and emotions.

Seojun felt a wave of revulsion washing over him. He was sick of it all, not just the pathetic end of Brass, but the whole loathsome situation. The very place itself now disgusted him. And he knew exactly who to blame—a name he’d heard once but couldn’t forget.

“Fucking Tom George….” he growled through gritted teeth. He rubbed his irritated eyes, trying to hold back his anger. Bobby, still reeling from the shock, suddenly snapped.

“Don’t you dare trash the great director! It’s those who can’t tell reality from fiction, who are the problem! This is why outsiders like you will never fit in here. You have no respect for Wraithwood’s finest!”

“What?”

Seojun stared at Bobby incredulously. Bobby’s cheeks flushed bright red as his chest rose and fell rapidly. Even Johan looked stunned at Bobby. The guy seemed ready to explode at any moment.

“Bobby, I get you like the guy, but come on. After everything we’ve been through today, how can we not be annoyed?”

“But that’s different! It’s unfair! Tom George, I mean, Rompelschtizen, he’s a genius! People only gossiped about him because of his connection to Hannah O’Lantern. Sure, he was from her hometown and drew inspiration from her story, which is why his details were so historically accurate. He even had to use the dorm as a set because of all the rumors, but you should understand. Johan, even you – you’re a Rompelschtizen fan too!”

“Well, my parents were fans of his movies, but honestly, other than the ones he filmed here, he messed up everything else, right? That’s just how talent works. What you’re doing right now is like having ‘a bean pod in your eyes,’ as they say in Korea, right?”

Seojun was lost in their conversation. Their words floated meaninglessly past him, and he could only stare at them, his lips twitching in confusion. “Wait, what are you guys talking about?”

“Obviously, we’re talking about ‘The Surprising Truth and Lies of Black Lake, and the Murderer and the Beauty’!” Bobby blurted out, catching his breath. “You know, the one with Christina’s grandma in it!”

Seojun hadn’t heard of it before, but then the realization dawned on him.

The Korean video adaptation, ⟨The Murderer of the Bloody Lake⟩, was changed to ⟨The Surprising Truth and Lies of Black Lake, and the Murderer and the Beauty⟩ for the international release. It’s pretty common for obscure film titles to be changed in translation.

The Independence Day Seojun spent at the Hamon campsite was nothing like the black and white version depicted in the movie. His life was never scripted, and he wasn’t playing a role.

He had simply been reborn.

T/N Translation Correction Update: Rumpelstiltskin —–> Rompelschtizen. Bobby was talking about this director, not the fairy tale. Changes have been made to previous chapters.