I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game.

Which meant...

The agency didn’t see her as just another dangerous creature or a prisoner.

They were treating her with a certain level of courtesy.

That alone made it fascinating.

Her designation was D-888.

Her nickname? Black Alice, Our Friend.

"Friend," huh...?

What kind of existence was she, exactly?

I could only pray she wasn’t some unknown nightmare of special containment procedures waiting to devour me alive.

Hiding my fear beneath a layer of professional curiosity, I stepped into the containment cell.

And there—

I saw her.

A grotesque, writhing mass of shifting limbs—

A monstrous thing with multiple arms and legs—

And yet, at the same time, an unsettlingly captivating figure with soft, pale skin and golden hair that caught the light.

She was, without a doubt—

A girl.

“Mumble... mumblemumblemumble... mumble...”

She was completely lost in her own world, murmuring incoherently, as if she were performing some kind of black magic ritual.

She muttered strange snippets from an unknown fairy tale.

At times, she lamented—I should have died back then.

But nothing was clear.

Gulp.

I should have suspected something the moment I saw the “D” in her designation.

Anyone with that classification was bound to be dangerous.

Calming my pounding heart, I extended my hand, offering her the candy I had been instructed to bring.

But she didn’t even seem to register my presence.

So, I quietly placed it beside her.

And then—

A long, inhuman arm shot out from the writhing mass and snatched it away.

“...”

Chills.

“Mumble... mumblemumblemumble...”

She moved so fast that I hadn’t even processed what had happened.

For a brief moment, I froze.

But I quickly gathered myself and proceeded with my next task.

“Excuse me? Can you hear me?”

I carefully chose my words, trying not to provoke her.

“Mumble... mumblemumble... mumble...”

Then—

A sharp, piercing sensation struck me.

Mom, Dad, I didn’t mean to— I just wanted to say I was sorry for scaring you all this time, even after death—

But I was forced to return, robbed of my humanity, trapped in this state of agonizing suffering—

Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it—

There will never be another damn, damn, damn, damn—

A peaceful, natural, and beautiful ending for me—

“Ugh—!”

A splitting headache.

Mental contamination?

No—my equipment wasn’t detecting anything.

It wasn’t contamination.

Her mental waves were just so strong that they sent a shock through me.

But I could still continue.

“Alice...! My name is Emma! My codename is ‘Weed’! Nice to mee—”

[Cease contact immediately. That’s enough, Emma.]

The lab director’s voice cut through the static in my earpiece.

I followed orders without hesitation.

Retreating, I left the containment cell.

Even as I walked away, a lingering paranoia gnawed at me—was that thing watching my back?

But nothing happened.

Once the door sealed shut, I went through a full decontamination and mental stability check.

Only after that was I allowed to rest.

“Hah... She doesn’t seem like the aggressive type. But still, her classification...”

Unchained.

The designation given to beings that cannot be contained.

But that didn’t necessarily mean they could escape at will or defy all physical laws.

Even something as harmless as a randomly appearing basket of sweets—

Or an anomaly that only manifested once in a lifetime for a single person—

Could be labeled as Unchained, simply because standard containment wasn’t possible.

But Alice?

She was nothing like a basket of sweets.

“...There’s barely any information.”

For all the talk about management, I barely had any data to work with.

Being new to the job, I hadn’t been given full clearance yet, and even the lab director hadn’t finished analyzing her.

The documents in my hands?

Just the most basic containment protocols.

“...If I mess up, I’m dead.”

I didn’t like the idea of using death-row inmates as test subjects.

But unless we ran meaningful experiments, we’d never get the data we needed.

Still... why me?

Was this some kind of hazing ritual for new employees?

“...Hah. This isn’t any different from before.”

For now, I had survived.

That was enough.

After all—

My job was to obey orders.

And that meant facing threats head-on.

“I’m exhausted.”

I closed my eyes for just a moment.

And then—

WIIIIIIIIIIING!

ALERT. A-245 ENTITY DETECTED. ENGAGING DEFENSE PROTOCOLS. A-GUARD DEPLOYMENT INITIATED.

“What?!”

My eyes snapped open.

A containment breach?

No—since it was labeled as an "entity," this could be an external attack.

I instinctively reached for my sidearm.

Then, after a moment’s hesitation, I put it down.

“...I’m in management now. I’m not a combatant anymore.”

Instead, I grabbed the direct emergency line and attempted to contact another administrator.

“.....”

Shhhhhhhhhh...

Squawk. Squawk. Squawk.

Seagulls?

And ocean waves?

No response.

It had to be the entity’s doing.

I immediately accessed the security cameras and began relaying orders to the guards.

“Seal all corridors connected to A-245. Deploy B-Guard through D-Tunnel. Evacuate non-combatants and injured personnel through E-Tunnel.”

First, contain the breach.

Then, contact the director—

“This is B-Guard Leader Framm. The entity was hit by gunfire and... disappeared into foam.”

“...Foam?”

Bubbling... bubbling...

From behind me, a mass of foamy bubbles rose up—

And shaped itself into a monstrous form.

Without hesitation, I ran.

Of course, I didn’t forget to grab my gun this time.

‘It’s targeting administrators directly. Is this an enemy faction’s attack?!’

No time to think.

I could hear the creature chasing me.

“—!!!”

“Damn, it’s fast!”

But—

Up ahead.

The emergency lockdown switch.

If I could just reach it—

“Don’t come any closer!”

BANG!

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“Grrk.”

Emma steadied her gun, keeping the creature at bay as she activated the emergency lockdown sequence.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The creature pounded against the barrier, but Emma simply scoffed.

“You can’t break through that. I’ve never ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) seen anything tear it down, even when I was a combatant.”

So just give up and surrender quietly.

“...”

Bubble, bubble, bubble...

“...Oh.”

Right.

This thing could teleport.

“Shit.”

Emma muttered under her breath as she leveled her gun at the fully formed creature.

The hallway was sealed off behind her, but the only open exit was now blocked by the entity.

Even with her past combat experience, there was no way she could win this fight with just a handgun.

“...”

A creeping fear started to settle into her chest.

But Emma did not lower her gun.

Because that’s just the kind of person she was.

A former foot soldier who had clawed her way up to management.

She had faced countless life-threatening situations before.

And this time—

“I just need to hold out until backup arrives.”

She refused to give in to fear.

She would keep fighting.

And she would survive.

So that later, she could share a drink and laugh about this with whatever colleagues were still alive.

That was the only way she knew how to live.

“Aaaah!”

She fired.

The bullet passed right through the entity.

Not pierced—just phased through, leaving no damage at all.

Emma bit her lip, forcing down her rising panic.

And then she shouted.

“I’m NOT gonna die here!”

“Yeah, you won’t.”

A new voice.

A soft, lilting, playful voice—completely out of place in this tense moment.

“?!”

Emma recognized it immediately.

“You’re having an adventure. Someone like you meeting an end like this? Ah. That’s strange. Very strange.”

And then—

The creature simply vanished.

Emma slowly lowered her gun.

Now she understood.

Now she knew why D-888 had been given the nickname:

"Black Alice, Our Friend."

-----

“The experiment was a success.”

A male agent standing beside the laboratory director gave a slow nod.

“We didn’t expect results to appear this quickly, though.”

The director didn’t look pleased, despite the outcome.

This attack hadn’t been something they orchestrated.

“This isn’t exactly the time to celebrate. But for now, we need to document the immediate findings.”

The director glanced at the report on D-888.

D-888 Observational Report

D-888 was discovered in a dormant state, either muttering incoherently or lying completely still.

Her inactivity was considered unusual enough to warrant observation.

However, everything changed several days ago—

During an unexpected containment breach.

A creature had escaped due to an oversight by a lower-ranked administrator.

It had turned out to be far stronger than anticipated.

An entire combat team had been slaughtered.

All but one survivor.

Saved by D-888.

From that day forward—

D-888 began actively rescuing people in life-threatening situations.

Even leaving containment to save civilians.

But she didn’t save everyone.

Which was why this experiment had been conducted—

To determine what conditions prompted her to intervene.

“Among forty death row inmates used in testing, she only saved one.”

At first, they assumed the low ratio was because she had merely pretended to kill the others.

But looking at the pattern of the people she had saved, a theory began to emerge.

Every single one of them had been on the verge of a tragic fate.

Not deserving of death, but just barely escaping it.

The director still couldn’t understand why.

But one thing was certain—

By saving Emma, a former soldier who had fought through countless horrors,

It confirmed their hypothesis.

"She doesn’t let people who fight for their lives... die tragically.

...Did I take that too far? What is she, God?”

The agent beside him scoffed.

“That’s an exaggeration. Even now, plenty of good people are dying.”

“True. Maybe I just want to believe she’s a force for good.”

After all, there was no way such a convenient savior could exist.

She wasn’t an artificial creation.

“...Is she really a ‘good’ being?”

“Anyone can see she’s a monster. She’s even been outright called a demon.”

The director leaned back with a sigh.

"If only she could actually talk. Then we could just ask her."

“She can now.”

The agent handed over a file containing photos of children.

The director frowned.

“This again? We already failed with that method before.”

The agent simply made a gesture—

Just try again.

He stepped into D-888’s containment cell.

Inside—

She sat motionless.

“...D-888?”

“Mumblemumblemumble...”

No response.

“Ella.”

“...Mumblemumble...”

A slight change.

“Alice.”

“......”

Did she... hear that?

If so—

This was his chance.

Rustle.

“Aren’t you curious about how the children are doing?”

“...”

He slowly held up the document.

Inside—

Photographs of the children she had once protected.

For the first time—

Alice reacted.

“Hm?”

“Finally snapped back to reality, huh?”

Blink. Blink.

“James? What the— Where am I?”

D-888 looked around as if she had no idea where she was.

As if all her past actions had been carried out unconsciously.

She wandered around the containment room, tapping on the walls with increasing intensity.

Then, as if finally realizing something, her golden eyes widened.

“Y-You... You actually locked me up?! You traitors!”

James chuckled at the sheer indignation in her voice.

“Still the same as ever.”