Reborn as a Prophet in a Horror Movie

#053Reader Mode

T/N: Sorry I’m late! Enjoy~ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

#053

10. Not Episode One

Christina skidded to a stop before Seojun, gasping for air, her complexion deathly pale and her skin slick with sweat—a clear reflection of Seojun’s own bone-deep fatigue. Her hands twitched at her sides, as if she was resisting the urge to cover her mouth, while she gazed at the motionless figure on the ground.

There, lying in the space between them, was Fred—his body not as brutally disfigured as his victims, but the sight was still stomach-churning. Dark blood pooled near his neck, stemming from a deep gash that split his skull open and a hole in his neck.

Seojun was reluctant to unload his troubles onto Christina, his miraculous savior, yet Christina, driven by her inherent kindness and unable to look away from the terrible scene, moved closer to him. She swallowed hard several times, struggling to keep down the bile rising in her throat, her voice barely a whisper as she turned to Seojun, “Oh, Seojun…Wh-what do we do now?…your eye…”

Drained to his very core, Seojun found it nearly impossible to respond. He slumped down, the rough bark of the tree trunk offering some comfort. The truth hit him hard again; Christina was no invincible ‘Final Girl’ or the protagonist of this world, just a regular person caught in an unimaginable nightmare. But acknowledging the truth didn’t mean he could dismiss her worry. With what little energy he had left, he managed to say, “Ye-yeah… I’ve lost an eye.”

His thoughts were muddled, and his own words sounded strange to him, most likely a side effect of having his brain nearly pierced. As he leaned back, his body going limp, Johan tossed the alien tentacle he’d been holding, hurried over and plopped down beside him with a solid thud.

“We’ve got to move, Jun. We don’t have much time. We’ve found the car keys, so let’s go to the hospital quickly.” Johan urged, his voice cracking with emotion.

His blue eyes, usually so lively, now held a sorrow so deep it made Seojun feel unsteady. Was it the intensity in Johan’s gaze, or his own sense of loss that made everything spin? Wrestling with his feelings of inadequacy from no longer having two eyes now, Seojun gave a shaky nod, “Alright, alright. Just… keep it down. My head’s spinning, and I feel sick.”

Though his complaint sounded like he was having the worst hangover ever, Seojun really did look like a barely alive rag doll.

While Johan was tending to Seojun, Christina was nearby, comforting a hysterical Bobby, who was making a scene that would put a screeching chicken to shame, complete with a mini ocean of tears, snot and other suspicious bodily fluids on the ground.

Under normal circumstances, Seojun would be rolling his eyes at Bobby’s shrill sobbing and the mess he was causing, but his pain was too much. Every bit of energy he had conjured up through sheer willpower seemed to dissolve away like salt in water.

Pushing himself to the limit like a maniac, running on fumes until he was gasping for air, was a nightmare for Seojun. The night had robbed him of everything—his strength, his safety, and now, a piece of himself… His head leaned onto Johan’s shoulder, his hair, dark and soaked, sticking to his forehead like strands of seaweed caught in the tide.

Johan gently stroked Seojun’s nape and the back of his head, careful not to touch any wounds. His touch was soothing and warm.

Seojun was swamped by waves of pain that threatened to drag him under, and the rest he’d been craving all day was finally within reach. But just before he slipped away, an odd sensation jolted him back to alertness.

It was a rhythmic beat, like the sound of drums played by a marching band… No, it wasn’t music. It was a vibration! Seojun lurched upright, his head accidentally crashing into Johan’s jaw, eliciting a stifled groan.

With his one good eye, Seojun scanned the area toward the source of the noise. He didn’t believe Johan was hurt that badly; after all, this was the guy renowned for his prowess on the football field, now wincing in pain. What mattered now wasn’t coddling Johan, but rather the footsteps drawing closer—not just one person, but several.

As the morning sun broke through, they appeared—a group of at least twenty, all but one dressed in foreboding black, decked out in bulletproof vests, goggles, and masks that hid their eyes and mouths, making it impossible to read their expressions.

Johan instinctively positioned Seojun protectively behind him, his gaze fixed on the newcomers. In his grip, he still held the axe, its blade dripping with Fred’s brain matter, despite his own injuries. However, the approaching group was heavily armed, holding submachine guns that made their presence even more intimidating. The sound of their combat boots crushing the grass underfoot echoed like an earthquake.

Seojun slowly realized who they were. They were the military. The cold that seeped into his bones wasn’t just from the morning air but from the memory of the deranged soldier’s words about sacrificing for their country, making goosebumps appear across his skin.

Just as Bobby was on the verge of wetting his pants again, a disheveled man with a wild tangle of hair and sunken eyes broke away from the group of heavily armed, faceless figures. His complexion was haggard as if he hadn’t slept properly in days. The man in the stark white lab coat raised a bony hand and roared at the top of his lungs.

“Survivors found!”

Found, found, fouuund! The booming declaration echoed across the entire campsite, sending a jolt through the already spooked group. Then, with a sickly sweet smile that didn’t quite reach his haunted eyes, he tried to reassure them.

“You’re safe now. Don’t worry.”

But his words, rather than comforting, felt off. The man’s strained smile and the uneasy swallow only added to the unease, but Seojun was too exhausted to question anything. Casting a final look at the soldier by Christina’s side, he nestled closer into Johan’s back.

“Johan, I’m counting on you,” he slurred, his words barely forming, “Do whatever you can…”

With that, Seojun gave in to the overwhelming urge to escape into sleep, letting go of his fears and sinking into a desperately needed, although irresponsible, rest. It was the most welcome respite he’d ever known.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

In addition to this incident—the copycat murders of “Black Lake’s Surprising Truth and Lies and the Murderer and the Beauty” that took place at Hamon Campground and the rampage of the alien Monster X—one more shocking revelation came to light that had little to do with the case.

Seojun had always believed his inability to escape Wraithwood was due to the twisted rules of this horror movie world or, deep down, some dark crime committed by his parents. However, after killing Fred Frank and waking up in the hospital room, he heard some surprising news from them.

“What? I had a stalker, and that stalker fell off a cliff with his car just before he was caught and died?”

Seojun was stunned to learn that his stalker – someone he hadn’t even known existed – had died in a tragic accident. Seojun lay half-reclined on the hospital bed, processing this new information. His mother blew her nose, and his father wiped away tears as they shared the story with him.

Seojun’s life had been marked by a chilling event from his childhood – a case of child abduction in New York that he had heard about through the grapevine. Although he wasn’t the one who was abducted, he received disturbing letters from the perpetrator, which were made from cut-out newspaper letters and sent to his home.

These letters were enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine, let alone those of his parents who were left terrified that their son was a target. The situation escalated when more than five children went missing.

It was later revealed that two of them were abducted by copycats and returned home safely. However, the other three remained missing, leaving their families in a state of dread and uncertainty. The identity of the real perpetrator remained unknown for a long time.

In an attempt to protect their son, Seojun’s parents decided to flee to Wraithwood in the middle of the night. The stress of not knowing when their child would be taken from them weighed heavily on their minds, but they hoped that hiding would keep him safe. They maintained discreet contact with the outside world through the Humblebee family to get updates and exchange information.

Eventually, the federal police caught up with the kidnapper, who turned out to be a couple who had lost their own child in an accident. They fell off a cliff while trying to escape the police, leaving behind a trail of heartbreak and confusion.

As Seojun heard this story, he felt a surreal disconnect, as if he were listening to someone else’s experiences. After all, this had happened when he was just a young boy with a snotty nose, his memories vague and immature. It was only when he regained his memories from his previous life that he fully understood difficult words and phrases. Reality can be stranger than fiction, he thought, clicking his tongue in acknowledgment of the irony.

Bobby wasn’t petty because of his role; he was just naturally narrow-minded.

This realization didn’t surprise Seojun.

“Wait a minute. Mom, Dad. So, yesterday… was it really just yesterday?”

“Yesterday was always yesterday, but you woke up after a whole week, honey.”

Seojun gave his parents a blank look. Questions bubbled up inside him, making him feel like he was about to explode. Yet, he could only voice one.

“So, the day I ended up at the campground running for my life, was the dinner at the Bumblebee’s place actually a cover for some secret intel exchange?”

While he had been obsessing over being in a horror movie, his folks seemed to be in their own real-life spy thriller. Life was just one surprise after another. As Seojun’s jaw dropped, his mom just waved off the idea.

“Honey, why would you think of your parents as such calculating people? We did go to dinner that night to help out, especially since Mr. Humblebee was having trouble with his leg. But then Mrs. Humblebee fainted… We were the only ones who could drive, so off to the hospital we went. And then, there you were being rushed in. You can imagine how devastated we were.”

His mom attempted a brave smile, but tears welled up in her eyes. His dad, teary-eyed himself, passed her a handkerchief already damp with his own tears. Seeing Seojun in such a bad state must have been quite a shock.

Fidgeting with his hands on the bed, Seojun leaned forward to comfort them, only to be hit by pain that coursed through his body. His muscles screamed in protest.

“Ow…”

He bit back a groan, and his parents gently pushed him back down, their touch filled with a mix of pity and love. It wasn’t some supernatural force trying to make him stay put or some villain at work, just the caring hands of his parents who loved their child.

Guilt pricked at Seojun’s heart. For a moment, the family just held each other in silence. But this peaceful moment couldn’t last.

A man looking like he’d just survived an accident with his wardrobe burst into the quiet hospital room. He stretched his neck, scanning the room in an almost comical manner. His hair was a wild tangle, his socks were a mismatched pair, and his shirt shoved into his pants in a hurry, hung out awkwardly. Seojun, with one eye unbandaged, squinted at him. Even by Seojun’s standards, who was far from fussy about looks, this was a bit much for a hospital visit.

But then Seojun’s irritation flipped to curiosity. Who was this guy? For a second, he wondered if the man was a doctor, but that thought was quickly tossed aside. No way a doctor would show up looking like a hot mess.

His parents, on the other hand, seemed unfazed by the stranger’s sudden appearance. They caught their son’s confused expression, but they greeted the man with a casualness that suggested everything was perfectly normal. As the man hurried over, his voice too low for Seojun to eavesdrop, he had to stifle the jolt that went through him. The stranger reminded him of someone else. Someone whose name escaped his foggy memory for a moment.

In an instant, memories came flooding back like a tidal wave – horrific images of blood and violence flashed before his eyes, vivid and undeniable. Recalling a voice, deep and soothing, even in the face of unimaginable brutality and a gaping hole in a hand. The name finally surfaced: Johan. Seojun struggled to contain his escalating sense of urgency, his palms becoming slick with sweat and his toes curling with tension. Anxiety gripped him like a clawed beast, its talons digging deep into his gut.