Seeing Patrick in such a pitiful condition, Claire understood that he himself was a victim of this deadly postcard game, and she wanted him to tell the Ghost Mentors team everything he knew about it—without fear and without hiding anything."Sophia, I think we must somehow get Patrick safely to my house, because maybe Stephanie can keep him protected there. And then Patrick will be able to tell us everything he knows about the postcard game," Claire said, looking toward Sophia.
"But the way Patrick is behaving right now, I don't think his mental state is stable. In such a condition, is it really right to take him to your house? I feel like I should call the backup force and medical team and have him sent to a mental hospital so he can be treated," Sophia replied, looking at Patrick's condition.
But seeing the way Patrick had protected his house with those enchanted paper strips, Claire understood that Patrick's life might be in danger—and that if he were sent to a hospital, the curse might end up taking his life as well.
"Sophia, trust me. Right now there is only one place where Patrick can stay safe, and that is the Ghost Mentors' house-cum-headquarters. So let me handle this situation. I'll convince Patrick to come with us to my home," Claire said as she stepped toward Patrick, hoping to persuade him to leave with them.
Meanwhile, Micheal and Mercy were sitting in a restaurant, enjoying their meals."Mercy, I don't know why, but I have this feeling that something unpleasant is about to happen on Earth very soon," Micheal said, taking a bite of his burger.
"You're saying that because you encountered the spirit of that police chief, who was extremely powerful, right?" Mercy asked, watching Micheal closely.
"I don't know. But my heart keeps telling me that something is about to happen. The kind of silence I'm feeling all around me right now… it's the same silence that comes before a storm," Micheal said, his face filled with confused unease.
How true Micheal's feelings were would be revealed later in the story. But for now, as he sat in the restaurant enjoying his meal, he suddenly saw the spirit of a waiter wandering around the place—disturbing people at their tables. Sometimes he made customers drop their spoons, sometimes he pulled back someone's chair and made them fall, and sometimes, when other waiters carried orders to the customers, he stole a little food from the plate. Watching the spirit's antics, Micheal began to smile.
Seeing him smile like that, Mercy was baffled. "You're unbelievable. Just a minute ago you were talking about some great calamity coming to the world—you were stressing yourself out and stressing me too—and now you're smiling. What happened? Did you suffer some kind of mental trauma while fighting that demon? If yes, then come on, I'll take you to some doctor from hell," Mercy said, also beginning to smile.
"If you saw what I'm seeing right now, you'd laugh too," Micheal said, motioning for Mercy to look behind him.
Understanding Micheal's gesture, Mercy turned around as well—and when she saw the waiter's spirit causing mischief, she too began to laugh. But suddenly, she closed her eyes and began summoning her blades.
Seeing Mercy do that, Micheal was startled and said, "What are you doing, Mercy?"
"There's a wandering spirit right in front of us, so I'm preparing to send it to hell. If my blades are with me, I won't have to go all the way there to kill that spirit," Mercy replied, opening her eyes at the sound of Micheal's voice.
"Oh, come on! That spirit isn't hurting anyone—she's just being mischievous. Do those antics look like something a terrifying ghost or demon would do, that you're planning to kill that poor spirit with your blades? Come on, let's get out of here and rest somewhere for a while," Micheal said as he called the waiter over and asked for the bill.
But Micheal and Mercy failed to notice that the waiter's spirit had realized they could see him too—and upon realizing this, the spirit suddenly began smiling in a strange way.
Meanwhile, in the Ghost Bridge, a full minute of human-world time had already passed, and Stephanie was running around, trying to escape the other spirits while calling out for Harper. But unfortunately, her voice wasn't reaching Harper's spirit—or perhaps Harper's spirit wasn't even there. But because of all her shouting, the spirits nearby had certainly noticed her and were now chasing her, intending to imprison her spirit and take over her body. That was why Stephanie kept running wherever she found space.
But then, she reached a point where the path ahead abruptly ended. Seeing this, Stephanie froze in fear. She felt as though she was about to be trapped here forever.
But then, a miracle happened—a hand emerged from the wall beside her, reaching toward her, and she heard a voice:"Take my hand. I'll get you out of here, otherwise these spirits will hunt you down right here today."
Stephanie had no idea who that hand belonged to, but she had no other option, so she grabbed it—and the moment she did, it pulled her through the wall it had come from.
A moment later, once Stephanie regained her balance, she realized she was standing in a part of the Ghost Bridge she had never seen before. And then she noticed a boy standing there.
"What is this place, and who are you?" Stephanie asked, looking at the boy's spirit.
"Whoa! Really? I just pulled you out of a swarm of hungry spirits, and instead of thanking me, you're interrogating me like you're from the FBI. They were right—good deeds don't get appreciated these days. Sure, I'm a ghost, but just like humans, ghosts also like to hear a little praise," the boy's spirit said, pouting at her.
Hearing him, Stephanie realized her mistake and apologized. "Oh—sorry, please forgive me. And thank you. If you hadn't helped me at the right time, I probably would've been wandering in some corner of this Ghost Bridge like the others. By the way, my name is Stephanie, and I came here from the human world looking for Harper's spirit. Do you know Harper?" she said as she shook the boy's spirit-hand.
"Now that's better—now I'm getting that superhero feeling Iron Man gets every time he saves a beautiful girl in a movie. By the way, Stephanie, nice to meet you. And my name is Aaron. By the way, you said you came from the human world just now, which means you're still alive… so how did you end up here in the Ghost Bridge?" Aaron's spirit asked in shock.
"Aaron… Aaron Fisher? You're Detective Sophia's son?" Stephanie asked, her voice bubbling with excitement.
"Yes, but how do you know me—and my mom?" Aaron's spirit asked, stepping back in surprise.
"Aaron, don't be scared of me. Actually, I came here to meet you and Harper. My friends and I help ghosts cross over to the afterlife, and your mom, Sophia, met me because of one such case. I belong to a shaman family, so I have certain god-gifted abilities. Through them, I can not only communicate with supernatural beings but also enter supernatural realms," Stephanie said, moving closer to Aaron's spirit.
"Oh, so you came here to learn about that postcard game. Fine—I'll tell you everything I know about it. But first, tell me… how is my mom? Does she miss me?" Aaron's spirit asked emotionally.
Seeing the tears in Aaron's spirit, Stephanie, too, grew emotional. She gently took his hand in hers and said, "Yes, Aaron… your mom misses you every single day. She talks about you all the time. She even wears the bracelet you gifted her—she keeps it on all the time and kisses it every moment she gets."
Hearing this, the restlessness in Aaron's spirit faded, and he smiled at Stephanie. "Fine, then I'll help you. Ask whatever you want to know about the game," Aaron's spirit said.
"How did you get trapped in this curse, and how is this game played?" Stephanie asked, sitting down beside him.
"Look, I don't know much about this postcard game… but I'll tell you everything that happened to me from the start." Aaron looked around once, then continued, "Once, my college friends and I had gone to California for a trip. While we were roaming around a local market in California, we came across a local guide who told us he had a postcard— and if we read the story written on it and answered his two questions correctly, he would give us twenty thousand dollars right there on the spot.
"The man looked pretty rich, but his eyes made it seem like he hadn't slept in days. And he had arrived there in an expensive sports car. Hearing the mention of money, my friends and I became greedy, and we took the postcard from him and started reading the story written on it. After reading it, when we asked him for the money, he started laughing… and then he began to walk away. Seeing him do that, my friends and I got furious and grabbed his collar to threaten him—but the next moment, his bodyguards beat us up instead.
As the man began to walk away, he said, "If you people are still alive after thirty days, come meet me at the address written on my card, and I'll give you a cash reward. But the story you just read on that postcard… after reading it, all of you have been cursed. This curse will take your lives within a month."Saying this, Aaron's spirit suddenly fell silent.
"What happened, Aaron? Tell us the rest," Stephnie asked, listening carefully to the spirit's story.
Hearing her voice, Aaron continued, "At first, my friends and I thought that man was lying just to scare us. But suddenly, after six days, one of my friends—Lora—died. After her death, the rest of us were terrified. When we contacted the number written on that man's business card, he told us that if we wanted to survive the curse, each one of us had to handwrite three copies of that postcard and send them to other people within a month. And the people who received those postcards must read the story. If they didn't, everyone carrying the curse would start dying one by one. And if someone who's cursed tries to tell the truth about the curse or the postcard to anyone who isn't cursed, they'll die immediately. That's why Lora died—because she told her mom about the curse and the postcard. Some of my friends made copies and sent them to others. One of them was Patricia. But Patricia told her brother about the curse… and even though she had already made and sent her copies, she still died."
Finished speaking, Aaron's spirit grew quiet and glanced at the antique clock beside him.
Hearing Aaron's words, Stephnie felt a sudden jolt of realization. She whispered softly, "Oh… so that's why Harper died—because she told Sophia about the curse."
"Oh? So the Harper whose spirit you came here to meet… she died because of this same curse?" Aaron's spirit asked after hearing Stephnie's whisper.
Stephnie nodded and replied, then asked, "Aaron, how do you play this game?"
"But why would you want to? It's deadly," Aaron's spirit warned gently.
"Aaron, unless I learn how this game works, I won't be able to find a way to stop it. So please tell me," Stephnie requested.
"Look… the postcard contains a short story written by a girl named Naomi. She wrote about herself—how her stepfather used to physically harass her and mentally torture her, and how she begged for help through that postcard. Now the curse tied to this postcard game says: once you read that postcard story, whether by mistake or knowingly, you must make three handwritten copies and pass them on. Otherwise, you'll die within a month. That's all I know," Aaron's spirit answered.
"And how will I receive this postcard?" Stephnie asked.
But before Aaron could respond, Lily—still in the human world—began tugging the rope tied around Stephnie's waist, pulling her back. The five minutes allowed in the human world were almost over, and before Aaron could answer her final question, Lily yanked Stephnie back into the human world.
Meanwhile, at Patrick's house, Claire was trying every possible way to convince him to come with her to the Ghost Mentors' team house, but Patrick was so terrified that he refused to listen to anything at all.
"Alright, Patrick, if you don't want to come with us, that's fine. But… do you know anything about a postcard game?" Claire asked, looking toward Patrick, who was still hiding under the bed.
Hearing her question, Patrick shook his head and then fell silent again, mumbling something under his breath.
"Please, Patrick, tell us what you know about that postcard game," Claire asked in a soft tone.
At her request, Patrick pointed toward a cupboard and said, "Inside that cupboard… the postcard kept there. Everything is written on it."
Hearing this, Claire opened the cupboard and began reading whatever was written on the postcard. Watching Claire read it, Sophia walked over to her and stood beside her, reading the postcard along with her.
But just then, Patrick crawled out from under the bed and suddenly burst out shouting that he was safe… he was safe. Shouting this over and over, Patrick ran out of the house.
Claire and Sophia were both startled by Patrick's sudden behavior. Claire turned to Sophia and said, "What happened to him? Just a moment ago he wouldn't even come out from under the bed and was crying… and now he's laughing and running outside."
But Sophia had no answer for Claire's question. And now that Patrick had run away from there, Claire and Stephnie picked up the postcard and started heading back to Claire's house.
Meanwhile, Michael had already paid the restaurant bill and left a tip for the waiter on the table before getting up.
"Wow! Mr. Demon Hunter, you hunt demons but never forget to tip like a perfect gentleman. Living among humans, I think you've caught the human-virus too," Mercy said with a laugh. Her words made Michael flush with embarrassment. After that, the two of them began walking out, but the very next moment, someone called out to them from behind.
"I thought you two were pretending not to notice me, so I came here myself to meet you."
Hearing that voice, Michael and Mercy turned around—and froze in shock when they saw the man standing behind them.