I quickly dialed my mother's number, the phone ringing several times before someone answered the call.
Hello?
"...Candy? It's me. Can you pass the phone to Mom? Quickly."
Yeah, sure. But where are you working?
"I said quickly."
Fine... Mom!
After a few seconds, Candy managed to bring Mom to the call. While Mom was coming to the phone, I took off toward the forest, retracing the path I had chosen before my untimely demise.
Ray? What's going on? You don't usually call me during work hours or anything...
"Mom, I need you to answer quickly. Do you remember that old ghost story you used to tell me before bed?"
Ah, yes. The story of Jangsan beom? You were so young back then, so innocent and gullible... Ah, those were good times...
"I won't blame you for telling a 5-year-old some traumatizing ghost stories before bedtime. Just tell me, was there any way to defeat that thing? Any kind of clue?"
My mother seemed surprised by this unexpected question. She didn't answer right away, as if she needed some time to process my words.
"...Mom? Are you there? I really need you to tell me."
...Okay, I need to understand why you suddenly want to know about that story. Are you focused on your work? You're not slacking off, are you?
I took a few minutes to explain and reassure her that I was indeed taking a break. Even so, I ran through the dense forest, pushing my body to the limit to save time. My muscles ached from the sudden exertion, and I was huffing heavily. Sweat drenched my hair, and it was a struggle to keep talking.
So why do you need to know how to defeat a...ghost? I mean, you can't just suddenly become curious about it.
"Huff... Huff... Mom, just..."
Okay, okay. Well, I heard this story from your grandmother a long time ago, so I don't remember all the details... But... Okay, Ray. To be honest, there really isn't a specific way to defeat Jangsan beom. It's just a horror story where the protagonist ends up dead!
"...Seriously...? O... Okay, then. Isn't there any version of the story where the protagonist survives?"
Please, Mom. Please... If this doesn't work, I... really have no idea.
Hmm... Okay, let me think. The story usually goes like this: The protagonist goes into the forest to find some people they know. When the protagonist calls out their names, Jangsan beom copies the voices of the people the protagonist is trying to find and lures them. The protagonist gets tricked, and Jangsan beom gets its meal... Hmm... I'm sorry, son. That's pretty much it. It's a ghost story, and that's how it goes.
"...Thanks..I'll..I'll...call you later."
Okay, Ray. Love you!
-Beeeep-
Alright, back to business. What should I do? Salt? Exorcism? Cross? No, you know it's not that kind of entity, Ray. It has a physical form!
I reached the heart of the forest, the same spot where Dipper and Mabel's golf cart had crashed. The broken cart lay there, and... huh. A shovel? That's new. I hadn't noticed it before. There was also a small lighter near the small cabinet in the golf cart...Which still worked. Great.
"Well, it's better than nothing."
After packing the Lighter into my pocket, I picked up the shovel, my fingers naturally curling around its handle. I turned on my flashlight that I used to carry around with a click, casting light on the misty expanse of the forest – the domain of the 'Echo' entity. Desperation had driven me here; now I needed a plan.
So, the 'Echo' and the 'Jangsan beom' share striking similarities. But why? Why would this sort of strange, mysterious ghost be incorporated into 'Gravity Falls,' an American kids' show?
...Okay, no time to mull that over now. 'Why' can wait. I must concentrate on 'How.' How do I deal with this? I can't reach the kids before they enter the forest, and rewinding time won't help. I wake up too late.
It's either escape with the kids or confront the entity head-on... but how? How do I handle something that can conjure up dense fog, forcing us to rely solely on our sense of hearing, and mimic voices?
...Mimic voices...
...Ha!
"Ha! Haha... Ah, it wasn't that tough after all. It was..."
...If this concept pans out, I might be able to lead the kids back home safely...
"Alright, let's go..."
Calm down, Ray. Remember, even if you fail, you can always attempt again. But enduring that pain and stress again...
I cut through the fog with my flashlight, venturing deeper into the Echo's domain. Even in the haze, some trees looked familiar from my past encounter.
Using the shovel, I marked the path every 15 steps. In this thick mist, losing my sense of direction was a real threat. This was vital for my rapid retreat strategy.
Okay, I think I'm here. This tree is where I called out to Dipper and Mabel and found them... this is pivotal.
Well, it's a kind of plan. The Echo's main ability is voice mimicry. So, if I remain silent, it won't have any sounds to imitate... right?
It's not just voices it can copy; it needs a sample to replicate. It's more akin to a creature than a ghost, so it should adhere to some logical rules.
But how do I locate Dipper and Mabel without invoking their names? And what about them? They're unaware of this creature. They'd have conversed a lot... the Echo could easily duplicate their voices.
Alright, I can manage this. Just don't utter a word. Keep quiet, focus on finding them. Just... guide them back without speech... let's bring the kids here.
Dipper's sharp. He might decipher Morse code. Luckily, I know Morse code. Good. Problem? This fog blocks my flashlight's range. Oops, I dropped my shovel.
-Clang!
"Who's there?" Suddenly, a shout sliced through the silence, startled by my noise... it's Dipper! Dipper's voice...
"Ray? Is that you? Answer me!"
I couldn't reply. Any sound would spoil the plan. Well, this could be a blessing in disguise. I don't need unconventional tactics to find Dipper...
-Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
...Something's off. More than a feeling. This sensation... it always precedes my... death. Every single time.
-Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Memento Mori is also ticking insistently in my mind. But why? Why... if I just approach Dipper and Mabel and make a dash to the shack, everything would be... fine...
"Ray! Help!" Dipper's voice again... Wait. It... it's strange. How... how did... Dipper...
Know I was coming for them...?
"RAy."
That thing isn't Dipper. It... it's the Echo...!
"Ray! RAY!"
I began retreating slowly from Dipper's... no, the Echo's voice. Carefully, quietly, one step at a time. That thing shouldn't realize I'm backing off...
...What... what's happening? In my previous life, I encountered the Echo much later after wandering the forest with Dipper and Mabel. Why is it here now?
"...Ray...?"
...Damn it. It senses something's wrong. Damn it. Damn it. Think, Ray. Think. Think fast... you can't be killed by that thing again! I... I won't let it rip my head off!
Alright. Calm... down now. According to the stories, the Jangsan beom attacks those who... 'search' for someone. And the Echo probably behaves similarly...
Act naturally. Pretend to be an ordinary person strolling through the forest, searching for...
"Grrr..."
...To find... some... mushrooms... Seriously, please don't let that looming, tiger-like shadow in the fog be staring at me... Okay, it's growling at me... Why?... And how am I supposed to act naturally here?
-THump!
Good news is, the Echo isn't attacking me. My act of not searching for anyone and just acting like normal... it's working. That thing only targets those who are searching for something within its territory... for some reason.
...Slowly... let's move... Don't make a sound... Yeah, I can feel the thing's gaze on my back. Trembles are racing through me...
The Echo drew nearer. Its fur, shimmering like snow, came into view, and its... face with a dark void for a mouth.
-CoME, Ray, comeARfgrrIamDEadWithAhhhAquliwnonplaclindormonlyakfunulleplinaHHHHHHHHH!
...Yeah, I don't want to decipher the sounds coming from that thing's mouth... Man. Ignore that. Just, Ignore, that. Since I never made a voice, and I'm not trying to find anybody right now, that thing doesn't have any reason to hurt me. If the resemblance of Echo and the Jangsan beom isn't a coincidence, that thing wouldn't attack me.
"..."
I just looked away from the Echo, and pretended to look around for some mushrooms. Yeah, mushrooms! I'm here to find some mushrooms! That's it. I'm not searching for any lost person!
...So would you please go, buddy?
"Grr."
Okay, just make yourself home.
After what felt like an eternity but was actually just ten minutes, the Echo sat down. It didn't seem to intend to attack me, but... Yeah. I could see its sharp claws still extended from its furry paw. One wrong move, and I'd be dead...
By the way, why is this thing waiting for me to make a mistake? I never heard Jangsan beoms acting like this in any of the stories I heard before...
"Mabel! Come here and be our queen!"
"...gR...?...Ma...BEl..."
Then, all of sudden, someone loudly shouted Mabel's name. That was... Jeff! That weird, annoying gnome! The Echo listened to the gnome's voice and immediately started mimicking it. It was so uncanny it gave me chills, but the upside was that it lost interest in me.
The Echo leaped out of sight. As the mist shrank considerably – since the fog emanated from that creature – this was my chance! Thanks, Jeff!
-Click! Click! Click!
Morse code. I rapidly flashed the flashlight in Morse code, spelling out "Dipper". The mist receded significantly, so if this failed, I'd have to abandon the Morse code plan...
"Huh? Who's there! Ho... How do you know my name?"
...Yes! Yes! That's Dipper, my boy! You smart little thing!
I had to restrain myself from shouting in joy. And, while practically forging a path to Dipper with the shovel, I approached him.
"AHhhh!"
"AHhhhh!" Both Dipper and Mabel shouted as I drew near. ...Why? Oh, right. I'm holding a shovel. And I'm six feet tall... quite intimidating for these kids...
I hastily raised my hands, letting the shovel drop.
"Ray?! Ray! You're here! Man, you've gotta listen to me. We met gnomes who tried to make Mabel their queen. So I saved her, and they turned into a giant mega gnome, and..."
Yeah, bad call. Too loud! Swiftly, I covered Dipper's mouth with one hand and Mabel's with the other. With them secured on my shoulders, I passed the shovel to Dipper and took off.
"AHhhhhh! Ray? What..."
"Shhh!...Ah, shucks, Dipper! Just stay quiet for a bit! There's a monster in these woods, so zip it!"
..I whispered urgently. Damn it. Now I'm tempting an attack from that thing! At least I have Mabel and Dipper under control... The mist can't stop me from escaping...
I sprinted, ran, and ran some more. My heart threatened to burst from my chest, and sweat drenched me. Dipper seemed to sense something awry; he gave the shovel to Mabel – whom I held with my other hand – and flipped open his journal.
"Ray, are you okay? And Dipper! What are you doing in this situation!"
"I'm... trying... to find a solution here! Let me see... Ah, here! The monster of the misty woods. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. Shouldn't approach. Has the ability to mimic other creatures' voices? Weakness... Burnt hair. What the..?"
"Kids...Can... Ha... ha... you guys...Be... Quiet..? I'm about to pass out here!"
Seriously, I don't want another regression! You guys are practically drawing the Echo's attention! Ugh... if only I could catch my breath...
"AHHHHH! You're not Shmebulock!"
"Hey! That's Jeff's voice!"
...Okay, no resting. Now that Jeff's down, that thing will be on our heels sooner or later...!
The mist seemed to thicken as our surroundings became increasingly difficult to discern. Shadows lurked everywhere, and the air grew icy. Anxiety clung to us like a second skin as we pressed on, propelled by the urgency of the situation.
"AHHHHH! Get away from us, you freak!" Mabel shrieked, her voice trembling with fear and anger.
We ran in the direction that seemed least shrouded in mist, our footsteps echoing in the eerie stillness. My heart raced, each beat reverberating in my chest like a drum signaling impending doom. I tightened my grip on Mabel and Dipper, urging them to keep moving, to not falter.
"Ray! Come here!"
"Dipper?! Where are you!"
"Mabel! Come here! We'll give you jelly beans!
The forest was like a maze, with fog twisting and twining around us, making the path ahead uncertain. And the marks I made with the shovel was meaningless. I couldn't even see the ground I'm standing on! The chilling howl of the wind was punctuated by distant, distorted sounds – the twisted mimicked cries of creatures and people. It was impossible to tell which were real and which were the Echo's macabre imitations.
"We can't outrun it forever!" Dipper gasped between breaths. He was right. The Echo was relentless, and our stamina was waning. Panic clawed at my throat as I tried to come up with a plan.
"We need to find a way to confuse it," I panted, my voice strained. "Keep making noise, but don't let it know where we actually are."
Since I've already gave the creature a reason to attack me, I have no reason to stay quiet anymore. And since that the Echo relies on sound...maybe, more sounds would make it confused.
Mabel nodded, her eyes wide with determination. We staggered on, a cacophony of shouts, footsteps, and random sounds filling the air as we desperately tried to mask our true location. We threw sticks, clashed the shovel against the rock, and did possibily anything to make a loud noise.
But the mist seemed to be closing in, growing thicker, suffocating. The world around us was becoming a nightmare of distorted shapes and shadows, the line between reality and imitation blurring. Every rustle of leaves, every whisper of the wind, felt like a taunting echo.
And then, in the midst of the chaos, came the chilling sound of our own voices, duplicated by the Echo. It was closing in, and panic surged through us like a tidal wave. The sensation of being hunted was overpowering, and we ran faster, stumbling over uneven ground, driven by fear and desperation.
"Over there!" Dipper shouted, pointing to what looked like a clearing ahead. We charged towards it, the Echo's distorted imitations growing louder, more unsettling.
As we burst into the clearing, I scanned our surroundings. There, a twisted figure emerged from the fog, the Echo taking form, its eyes(..something in the holes were glowing. Just calling it eyes..) gleaming with an eerie light. It let out a distorted, echoing laugh that reverberated through the air.
"HaHA...! Come WiTh ..."
"We can't let it corner us," I shouted, my heart pounding in my chest. "Spread out!"
Dipper and Mabel darted in different directions, and I charged forward, my heart racing as the Echo pursued us, its imitations growing louder and more frenzied. The mist seemed to cling to my skin, the air thick with tension.
Every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig, sent shivers down my spine. The forest was a nightmarish labyrinth, and the Echo was the relentless minotaur. I had to keep moving, keep evading, even as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm me.
"Ray! Over here!" Dipper's voice called out, and I changed direction, sprinting towards him. The Echo's imitations grew more frantic, a cacophony of voices that seemed to come from all directions. It was playing with our senses, trying to confuse us, to break our resolve.
We regrouped, our breaths coming in ragged gasps, our faces streaked with sweat and grime. The mist swirled around us, the air heavy with the scent of damp earth and fear.
"We need to fight back," Dipper said, his voice determined. "It can mimic our voices, but it can't mimic our thoughts. We need to outsmart it."
I nodded, my mind racing. "Dipper, Mabel, start talking. Say anything and everything that comes to mind, but keep moving. Keep it guessing."
We did as Dipper suggested, our voices filling the air with a chaotic symphony of words, laughter, and random noises. The Echo's imitations grew more disjointed, its attempts to mimic us becoming a bizarre cacophony that echoed through the mist.
"GAHAHHHAHHAAHHCLAHSKLang!SNAP!RAY!Ahhh!"
Echo, Suddenly jumped over, as if it was tired using traps...And remembering my last life before my death, that thing could easily kill me without me even noticing it..!
And then, in the midst of the confusion, I caught a glimpse of something – a burnt patch of fur on the Echo's shoulder. Of all the white, snowy fur, there it was. Its weakness, according to the journal..
Without hesitation, I grabbed a fallen branch and ignited it using my lighter that I found in the golf cart. The flame flickered to life, casting a warm glow in the midst of the cold mist.
"Over here!" I shouted, waving the makeshift torch. The Echo's eyes fixed on the flame, and for a moment, its imitations completly faltered. It seemed to be startled for a second by the fire...
And in that second, I immediately scorched the thing's burnt fur with the torch. It bursted into flames like it was covered with gasoline...
"■■■■■■■■■■■□□□□◻■■■■■■■■■■ĄĄĄĄĄĄĄÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ⨺⨹⨹⨶⨶⨶⨉⨉⨉!"
"Get ready to run!" I yelled to Dipper and Mabel. With renewed determination to live, we bolted through the fog, the torch casting dancing shadows around us. The Echo screeched, its body being engulfed by flames as we distanced ourselves from it.
As we ran, I could feel the grip of fear slowly loosening. The forest seemed less suffocating, the fog less dense. The Echo's attempts to imitate us became sporadic, its distorted cries growing more distant.
And finally, after what felt like an eternity, the mist began to thin, revealing the familiar shapes of the trees and the clearing ahead. With one final burst of energy, we raced out of the woods, our lungs burning, our hearts pounding.
We collapsed onto the grass, gasping for breath, our bodies shaking with a mixture of exhaustion and relief. The misty woods had released their grip on us, and the Echo's chilling imitations were now nothing but fading echoes in the distance.
...We survived, the first episode.