Chapter 32: Gonjiam + Grave Encounters + Dead End - One of the Seven Scariest Forbidden Places in the World
After getting out of the car, Danny immediately rented a room at a nearby upscale hotel, then opened his laptop and logged onto the Horror Forum website.
People had already started posting photos of their arrival.
The most famous among them was Lance Preston, who had a very popular online show dedicated to finding ghosts and other supernatural phenomena.
Some admired him and became his audience, while others thought he was just faking it.
Danny had seen the found-footage horror film Grave Encounters, which was a mockumentary in every sense.
The beginning was indeed a bit staged, but the latter part was very real, just like the show's name, "Grave Encounters."
Ultimately, the entire team died in that Canadian asylum.
Another well-known figure was a Korean named Ha-joon, who, in a sense, was a colleague of Lance Preston.
He also created a show about finding ghosts and spirits, but the location was one of the world's seven most terrifying forbidden places, Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital.
It was also a long-abandoned but infamous mental hospital in South Korea.
However, it seemed they hadn't yet explored those places for paranormal activity, otherwise they probably wouldn't be here now.
Danny was somewhat wary of such places because mental hospitals like that might be similar to haunted locations with dimensional properties.
There was also a user named Bill who seemed like an ordinary member.
But Danny knew Bill was one of the few who survived It back in Derry.
The experiences of the others were not explicitly stated.
However, one could glean a bit from their veiled accounts.
After some thought, Danny also prepared to post a picture, but his picture had a bit of dark humor.
With Danny himself as the main subject, the alpha crawler was hidden in the darkness behind him, revealing only a pair of glowing eyes.
This wasn't deceiving people—it was creating a shared sense of immersion.
Most of those who came to Professor Goodman's lecture had encountered indescribable horror.
Danny was doing this to create similar experiences and then find suitable opportunities among this group.
The website was very active.
As soon as the photo was posted, it attracted many comments.
"Wow, dude, you're not photoshopping this, are you?"
"No, this isn't Photoshop. From the eyes and the integration with the picture, there's definitely something following him."
"Holy crap, man, are you okay now?"
"I feel like this guy might be in grave danger, even scarier than Japanese horror legends."
"The eyes look a bit like a creature from Southeast Asia. Best to find a demonologist, or it'll be terrible."
"Compared to this, I feel like the ghost harassing me is quite kind."
"Can he make it out alive?"
"I suggest turning into a vampire; maybe then he can survive. Salem's Lot."
...
Danny found their comments very interesting.
Finally, there was even a survival suggestion: to become a vampire, with an address provided.
Salem's Lot?
Never heard of it.
Wrong Turn would be more interesting.
Without replying to anyone, Danny continued browsing posts.
Some people were sharing their experiences of investigating the paranormal.
There were also those seeking help because they'd encountered terrifying entities.
Among them was a post titled "Dead End," posted by a woman who called herself Shaye.
She recounted that her family's night journey was tiresome and boring, and they'd almost had an accident.
Feeling drowsy, Shaye decided to abandon the interstate highway they'd driven for decades and instead take a shortcut onto a never-before-traveled back road.
But this was a terrible decision, because of the woman in white and the black vintage car that appeared on the road.
No matter how long they drove, they would always encounter the woman in white and the black vintage car.
The back road was also endless, just like a dead end with no escape.
There was also a video below.
Danny clicked play.
The video was filmed by Shaye.
In the bottom right corner, a small boy could be seen, and then a woman in white flashed by on the side of the pitch-black road.
Subsequently, a black vintage car slowly emerged from the darkness ahead.
Its windows were completely black, and no people or objects could be seen inside.
Then, the video made two buzzing sounds and abruptly cut off.
Just from this video, nothing conclusive could be determined.
Danny glanced at Shaye's account. Her last post was several months ago.
But because many people kept bumping the thread, its popularity remained high and it stayed pinned at the top.
The exact address of that road was not provided, but the interstate highway was real.
This post, titled "Dead End," was considered an unsolved mystery on the forum.
Danny looked at the comments.
"OP most likely encountered a supernatural loop. Judging from the time of the post, they might have already been harmed."
"I went to that interstate. There's no back road at all."
"Are there any church demonologists in the forum?"
"Don't count on exorcists; they often end up dead too."
"I currently work at a church, and I can confirm that the death rate for demonologists and priests is indeed very high, and supply doesn't meet demand across various states."
"Black vintage car—it's possible that Death himself is inside, folks."
...
If demonologists were high-risk jobs, Danny felt he could create an unofficial identity as a priest or investigator to facilitate his actions.
However, this dead end did seem very eerie.
Putting himself in that situation, if he accidentally stepped onto this road, he would most likely feel uneasy and fearful.
After reading the last comment, Danny closed the forum and went to inquire about how to register for an unofficial identity with the Church.
The next day, at UCLA, in the lecture hall for Professor Goodman's presentation.
Lectures were the most common form of teaching at universities, especially for special courses related to the supernatural.
When Danny arrived, the classroom was already filled with many people—men and women, of various backgrounds.
Many people looked surprised when they saw Danny.
Clearly, the photo Danny posted yesterday was very popular, with over ten thousand views.
"Yesterday, I saw that post and thought this guy was done for, but I didn't expect him to still be alive."
"Someone who encountered something like that and didn't die must have some skills."
"Stay away from him—be careful that thing doesn't target you."
"I think that picture is completely CGI."
"Hello, my name is Lance Preston. Are you interested in an interview?"
Some were scared, some didn't believe, and some proactively approached him to talk.
Danny shook hands with Lance Preston.
"Hello, I'm not interested in an interview at the moment."
"That's fine, you can sit next to me, and we can chat about your photo," Lance showed great interest in Danny.
His fundamental reason for attending Professor Goodman's lecture was to boost the ratings of his show, "Grave Encounters."
The photo Danny posted had high engagement, and he thought he could use it as material for a special episode.
As for whether it was real, he'd been to so many places and never seen such a thing, so he naturally didn't believe it.
Lance even offered money.
Danny was there for the Warren couple and an unofficial identity, so he naturally couldn't agree.
However, he offered to sponsor Lance's show.
This was a way to prepare for Grave Encounters in advance.
On the other side, Ha-joon, who had been observing the two for a while, also had similar interest, hoping to create content based on Danny's photo.
Danny accepted the sponsorship without hesitation. He was somewhat interested in Gonjiam.
After all, it was rumored to be one of the world's seven most terrifying forbidden places.
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