The smiles faded from the faces of the villagers who remained. They silently gathered up the broken cucumbers and carefully cleaned up.
As they brushed the dirt off the cucumbers, they kept muttering something.
"OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks…"
That same prayer-like phrase from before.
"..."
I managed to tear my gaze away and kept walking.
"…This way."
But do you know what the problem was?
Baek Saheon was also heading toward that very tiled-roof house.
'Wait a sec.'
No matter how I looked at it, was it really safe to go in there?
But since Agent Bronze was walking forward without hesitation, I didn't try to escape.
'…Agent Choi wouldn't have lied in the tips section, would he?'
We approached the tiled-roof house.
"…Come in."
The entrance was wide, and the wooden floor acting as a front hall was also broad.
But Baek Saheon, as if he disliked even stepping inside, carefully and quietly slipped off to the side and opened a side door.
But there was already someone standing there.
The middle-aged man with the megaphone from earlier.
"These guests will be staying here tonight."
"Ah, come in, come in. Haha! Saheon-ah, take good care of them. No funny business."
"..."
"May the fortune of Jisan be with you!"
Baek Saheon slowly nodded and led us inside.
The house was strangely large, with a repeating structure and paper sliding doors along the way…
A hallway lined with old wooden doors appeared.
Creak.
Baek Saheon opened one of them.
Inside was a small, lived-in single room.
There was one neatly folded bedding set and another set that looked hastily pulled out, covered in dust.
"Please sleep here."
"Isn't this your room? Where are you going to sleep?"
"..."
With an expression that said, 'What a useless question,' Baek Saheon turned sharply and opened another door for Assistant Manager Eun Haje. Then he disappeared down the hallway.
"He's not even giving us what we paid for, huh."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje shrugged and spoke to me in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Well then, have a good night. Let's see each other tomorrow if we get the chance."
"…Yes. Thank you."
I watched Assistant Manager Eun Haje enter the next room.
...Without a doubt, she must have recognized Baek Saheon. But she didn't acknowledge him. She knew she wouldn't be recognized herself.
'She knows a lot about this ghost story.'
It meant she had come here with a clear purpose as well.
And Assistant Manager Eun Haje... is part of Director Ho's project team.
'…What exactly is happening here?'
Given what Director Ho was demanding, which was an annihilation-sanctioned supernatural disaster, I couldn't help but form a few guesses. No, if it were still from before, I certainly would have, but…
"..."
I'm tired.
Of everything.
I should just focus on the Wish Ticket…
"Agent Grapes."
"..."
"Do you remember what you have to do?"
"Yes."
This 'Jisan-so Offering Ritual.'
When a rescue request comes in, the branch uses the supernatural phenomenon auto-responder to give the rescuee a location and time to meet.
So, go to the place we were given by the branch first.
"This is it."
Agent Bronze showed me a note.
1AM
Village well
* * *
After midnight, the tile-roofed house fell completely silent.
Agent Bronze and I slipped quietly out of our rooms and walked softly.
– As long as you're not at the village guardian shrine after midnight, you're relatively safe to move around.
– Still, don't make loud noises on purpose!
"The well is to the east."
We crossed the dark rural village, where only a few streetlights glimmered here and there, until we reached a place that looked like abandoned houses, as if everyone had left.
In the center was the well.
There, standing in front of the stone-covered well as if keeping watch, was… Baek Saheon.
"…!!"
His single eye turned to us and he spoke quietly.
"Are you really agents?"
In the next instant.
Agent Bronze lunged and restrained Baek Saheon.
– If you get caught by a villager late at night, hide as quickly and quietly as possible.
If that's not possible, you ask?
Subdue them and hide them in an abandoned house!
And just as Agent Bronze was about to drag Baek Saheon roughly into an abandoned house—
"Hey! Isn't it wrong for government employees to treat an informant like this?!"
"...!"
Agent Bronze's arm paused.
"You're the informant?"
"Yes! I'm the one who reported this!"
As Baek Saheon tried and failed to shake off Agent Bronze's hold, he glanced at us and hurriedly lowered his voice.
"Please get me out of this village. …Tonight."
"This sounds like a trap."
Agent Bronze immediately said this to me in front of him.
"Villagers can leave at any time after the festival ends. There's no reason they'd need help—"
"I can't leave!"
Baek Saheon panted.
He searched our faces desperately, then swallowed hard and said,
"…Check my pocket."
"..."
I reached into Baek Saheon's pants pocket.
What I found inside was…
A lottery stick, the tip gilded in gold.
The special prize.
"I-I drew it on the first day…"
– Unfortunately, there's never been a case where a villager was successfully rescued from the supernatural influence during the festival period.
If it were the rookie agent I'd picked for my team, he'd probably want to try rescuing that person at least once, so let me say this in advance.
– Hoobae-nim. Your sunbaes will be the ones to try that, so you don't do it. If an agent tries to leave Jisan Village with a villager during the festival period…
"Get me out of here, please!"
– The agent will disappear too.
"Please!"
Baek Saheon looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Yet at the same time, he kept his voice as low as possible, as if he just wanted to escape the strangling supernatural disaster without being noticed.
But Agent Bronze did not release him from his restraints.
He just glanced at the golden stick I was holding, which I'd taken from Baek Saheon's pocket, and asked a question.
The special prize.
"What does drawing that mean?"
"What do you mean, what does it mean? It means I'm absolutely fucked! That's why I have to get out before the last day of the festival. Right now, from here…"
"Will you die?"
Baek Saheon froze.
I asked, cutting in.
"But earlier, I saw the person who drew that stick being congratulated. And I heard that at next year's event, they're given an important role…"
"..."
Baek Saheon's lips parted but he couldn't say anything.
Still, his eyes were filled with fear and anger.
'A binding?'
I met Agent Bronze's eyes.
He gave a slight nod, then asked in a calm tone,
"If that's the case, then explain how you got HQ's direct rescue number."
"Ha! Isn't that one of the numbers you people hid all around the village?"
"...!"
"Everyone here knows about them. The whole village knows. They just leave them alone. But how do you think anyone calls that number?"
Baek Saheon spit out his words sarcastically.
"Wait a minute. You noticed the Bureau's instructions, but you just leave them lying around?"
"That's right! Whether outsiders drink shinsanju, reach enlightenment and hang themselves, drown themselves in the river, or rot at the bottom of the well, whether they all forget and go back to living their lives, nobody cares. It doesn't matter if a few manage to escape. The only thing they care about is not getting contaminated by misfortune, so they just manage things for that!"
"'Contaminated by misfortune'? What kind of misfortune?"
Baek Saheon clamped his mouth shut again.
Sweat dripped down his jaw.
'Another binding.'
Watching him suffer under supernatural fear and pressure left me with a strange feeling of gloom.
'…Is it because it reminds me of myself?'
But that was just my perspective.
"Looks like you can't answer."
Agent Bronze clearly felt no sympathy for Baek Saheon.
At the end of the day, he was the one who, as part of his job, killed those who possessed the tapes at the mountain lodge.
And this other guy was selected as a villain by the Disaster Management Bureau.
Baek Saheon had the tape.
"If you know so much, walk out on your own."
"I said I can't!"
At Agent Bronze's cold words, Baek Saheon seemed to assess the situation, glancing around.
But in the next moment, his voice turned calm.
"Look, you know that thing, right? I know it too. The pile of stones in front of the village pine tree. If you put a stone on top, pray, and the agents walk with their arms linked on either side, you can leave the village safely, right?"
"...!!"
He was exactly right.
If you walk ninety-nine steps east from the well, there's a withered pine tree. You have to place a small stone on the stone pile in front of it.
Then you recite 'Turn back and grant us your protection' three times, and as long as everyone links arms, with the agents on the ends and the rescuee in the center, you can all return safely to the real world… That's the current rule.
You always need at least three people for this, which is why two agents are dispatched.
So, don't forget. Agents on the left and right, link arms with the rescuee in the center!
"E-Everything's been discovered. They've been discovered for decades. That's the rescue method, right? Please, do it for me! I'm the one who reported this! That's how it's supposed to work!"
Baek Saheon's voice was desperate and resentful.
But…
"That doesn't work for villagers."
Baek Saheon stopped.
"...What?"
"I mean, for someone who lives in this village, it won't work."
That's right.
– I'll say it again, this doesn't work on villagers during the festival, so don't try it recklessly. If you try without being prepared, you might get lost between the village and reality.
"Villagers can't leave safely by that method."
"…I don't live here anymore. I live in Seoul."
Agent Bronze didn't answer.
Baek Saheon's voice grew desperate, almost pleading.
"I-I only come here once a month, no, just every two or three months for a few days, that's all. I don't live here! I'm not one of these crazy shitheads!"
"The standard is whether you're wearing a feather during the festival."
"…!"
Baek Saheon's gaze dropped to his own chest, where he was still wearing a rooster feather.
"~!!"
He twitched, as if trying to tear it off, but then stopped, as if realizing it was impossible.
And then he muttered,
"It won't come off?"
"..."
"No, that can't be. I'm an adult and I don't live here, so I'm an outsider. Then… then there must be another way. You're supposed to save civilians, right? You're supposed to help the person who reported it."
Agent Bronze declared in a cold voice,
"At present, it is impossible."
...
...
"Then die."
...
What?
"Then you'll all die too."
Baek Saheon opened his mouth.
"OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks! OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks! OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks! OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountle—mmph!"
I hurriedly covered Baek Saheon's mouth.
A sharp pain shot through my hand as the flesh was torn.
"…!"
He bit me.
"Agent Grapes!"
"These people are stealing the Chosen One! They're stealing the Chosen One! They're bringing misfortune!"
Agent Bronze quickly pulled my hand away, and the instant the pressure on Baek Saheon's mouth loosened, his voice burst out again.
And then—
"OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks…"
Figures appeared behind the abandoned house.
No, several figures.
And then.
Heeyaaaaaah!
Outside, the festival music and noise gradually grew louder and reached a peak, but we couldn't leave the room.
'They're not leaving.'
Even after the festival started, someone would occasionally come to our room to bring heated food and drinks.
And there were always at least two people standing right outside the door.
Persuasion or coaxing had no effect.
They were friendly, but it was clear they had no intention of actually talking to us.
'They're going this far?'
It was unsettling.
'Just how far did Baek Saheon snitch on us to the villagers?'
Something was seriously off.
At this rate, we really would have no choice but to use the sneaker laces and leave.
I could tell Agent Bronze was leaning more and more toward that decision as well.
But just then.
We heard a commotion outside.
'There were people making a fuss over there… Should I tell them here?'
'Yeah, they were fighting. Threw food around… huh?'
We heard the sounds of people chatting and then the noise of a crowd rushing off somewhere.
A few moments later—
Drrrk.
The sliding door opened, and a familiar face appeared.
"Knew there'd be people in here."
"…!!"
It was Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
Agent Bronze's eyes widened.
"You…"
"Shh."
She put a finger to her lips.
Then, frowning, she muttered,
"What is this, some kind of human trafficking hub? They're trying to lock up every family member and problematic outsider. Anyway. You want to get out of this room too, right?"
"Yes!"
"Then let's go."
Assistant Manager Eun started leading us skillfully out of the tile-roofed house.
For some reason, there were barely any people left in the house.
"Why did everyone suddenly disappear?"
"They were already short-handed because of the festival preparations, and then a fight broke out between the villagers outside, so everyone rushed out to break it up."
"…Did someone incite that fight on purpose?"
"Who knows?"
Then Assistant Manager Eun winked at me.
'It was her doing.'
I felt a surge of emotions. On one hand, I wanted to yell at her to stop doing dangerous things, but on the other, I felt immensely grateful.
"Anyway, you should get going. This isn't an ordinary village."
"...Thank you."
"For what?"
And then, following the back door Assistant Manager Eun Haje seemed to have scouted, we stepped out into a scene no different from yesterday.
[May the fortune of Jisan be with you!]
The village, with a festival in full swing.
Hiyahhh!
"It's still total chaos."
Assistant Manager Eun scratched the back of her head and looked back at us.
"Don't get caught and dragged back to that room again for no reason. In this mess, you should be able to quietly slip out through the entrance without being noticed…"
"Wait a minute."
Agent Bronze frowned, then said firmly to Assistant Manager Eun,
"Let's go out together."
Of course, Assistant Manager Eun looked baffled.
"Hey, I have other business to take care of. I have to work if I want to eat, yeah?"
"It's dangerous."
"I'm the one who just saved you from danger though?"
Agent Bronze sighed, frustrated by the wasted time but still trying to convince her. It was obvious he was worried that someone who'd helped them this much might go missing here, and wanted to bring her out if possible.
But for me…
'I am worried, but I can't be sure which is actually more dangerous.'
If I dragged Assistant Manager Eun out just because this village seemed dangerous, Director Ho might retaliate, saying I neglected my duties.
It was something I'd just gone through not very long ago.
'Huu.'
My head was a mess.
And one more thing was bothering me.
'Is it really okay to just leave Baek Saheon behind like this?'
Of course, Baek Saheon would survive and keep getting promoted all the way to section chief. If this is his hometown, my presence as a variable doesn't change what was meant to happen, so according to the wiki, he won't die here.
'But… that fear he showed was real.'
Is it really okay to leave like this?
I looked around on instinct, and then I saw him.
Baek Saheon.
"…!"
He was still helping out with village chores, carrying food and guiding people.
His eyes were hollow, but his face looked surprisingly calm.
And at that moment.
DENG DENG DENG DENG DENG!!
[Everyone! It's time for the raffle! Come get your prizes and enjoy the fortune of Jisan!]
It was time for the raffle draw again.
The villagers began moving quickly with the raffle boxes, just as before.
"We need to go."
"No, I mean…"
Agent Bronze's urgent words and Assistant Manager Eun's reply overlapped.
[May the fortune of Jisan be with you!]
Villagers scattered among the outsiders.
'…At this pace, even if we'd run straight for the entrance, we probably would've been caught.'
There was no way to avoid it.
One of them approached us.
And naturally, our turn came quickly.
[May the fortune of Jisan be with you!]
A raffle box was offered to us.
"…"
Wouldn't it look more suspicious not to draw?
There were too many villagers.
'I don't think it'd be good to make a scene.'
If we wanted to get out without being noticed by the people from the tile-roofed house, we couldn't refuse or draw attention by raising our voices.
'Even if I win, I just won't take the prize with me when I leave.'
After much anxious deliberation, I finally reached out and grabbed the nearest stick in the box…
But then—
I saw the golden tip.
"…!!"
A stick with a golden end.
The same one I had pulled out of Baek Saheon's pants pocket yesterday.
The special prize.
"...."
Suddenly, everything went eerily silent.
Even without looking, I could feel everyone's gaze on me.
And then.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
"Aaaaah!"
[He's here! He's here! the fortune of Jisan has arrived!]
OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks
OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks
OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks
OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks
The chanting echoed.
I tore my eyes away from the stick and looked up.
And I saw.
On the other side.
With the lottery box in his hands, Baek Saheon smiled, his face filled with ecstatic delight.
The villagers gathered around me.
[He's here, the fortune of Jisan!]
The man with the megaphone shouted louder and louder, and before I knew it, the singing and the sound of gongs grew wild again.
A vortex of people.
"This way!"
I followed Agent Bronze, ducking through the crowd to hide from the villagers, but it wasn't enough.
"Whoa, daebak."
"Is that person really going to get the golden rooster?"
People who still didn't understand the situation were murmuring, while the villagers all rushed toward me, leaving everything else behind, some bowing to the ground and praying toward the mountain, and Baek Saheon had disappeared into the crowd.
And then…
"Please escape."
I pushed Agent Bronze and Assistant Manager Eun behind me, trying to shield them from the villagers, but Agent Bronze stepped forward as if to face them.
"Calm down. At this point, the chances are high that I won't be able to 'safely' leave anyway."
"…!"
"And it was clearly written in the manual."
I met his eyes.
"What to do in this kind of situation."
It sometimes happens during rescue operations that one of the agents gets captured by the villagers.
But unless it's the last day of the festival, don't charge in recklessly or go up against the whole village.
You can always re-enter the village during the festival. What that means is, you can come back with proper preparation.
Don't let emotions get the better of you and waste a precious chance by causing a commotion. Act wisely and decisively.
That way, the person who gets captured, those left behind, and those to be rescued can all escape the disaster alive.
"Go."
"..."
"Go, and quickly figure out a way to rescue me, then come back. That's the only way I'll survive."
I could see the struggle in Agent Bronze's eyes, a tug-of-war between emotion and rational judgment.
But soon, rationality won.
"Tomorrow."
"..."
"I'll come back for you. No matter what."
Agent Bronze quickly handed me a five-colored shoelace, which I stored in my inventory tattoo.
In the worst-case scenario, if I risked disappearance or suicide, it would be my last resort to escape.
Then Agent Bronze pushed his way through the crowd at frightening speed and ran for the entrance.
"He's here! The fortune of Jisan!"
At the same time, the villagers swarmed over me.
* * *
I blinked.
It seemed I'd lost consciousness for a moment.
And when I came to… I was lying on the wide, old-fashioned wooden floor of a house.
Sliding doors on both sides of the square room.
"..."
I saw a similar layout recently.
'It's that tile-roofed house.'
Assistant Manager Eun was nowhere to be seen. …It seemed she hadn't been captured with me.
That was a relief.
'...'
I looked down at my legs.
Both my legs were tied with a gold rope.
The gold rope ran out through a hole in one of the sliding doors.
When I gave it a little tug, I felt some elasticity. It seemed fixed in place.
'So it begins.'
At that moment.
Drrrk.
The sliding door opened, and people came in.
No, only two.
One brought in a tray with festival food, the other carried a bottle of alcohol. The two bowed deeply, set down the neat food and drink.
Then faint music began to play.
It seemed that outside the building, a wild and frenzied festival was still going on, all night long.
"..."
The two brought out a small raffle box and drew lots. Eventually, the one who pulled out a stick with a rooster's feather stayed behind, while the other lowered his head and left.
The one left was the person who had brought the alcohol.
"Saheon-ssi."
"..."
The villager who had brought the drink, Baek Saheon, looked at me.
I could guess who had set things up so I would draw the special prize.
"Last night, did you make me draw the 'special prize' stick from your pocket on purpose?"
– …Check my pocket.
He'd definitely prompted me like that.
That was the only unusual action that might explain why I, who'd drawn a blank yesterday, got the special prize today.
"Was it to make me into someone who had already drawn the special prize, to make me 'qualified'?"
"..."
"So that I would be guided to draw the special prize today?"
A deep satisfaction flickered in Baek Saheon's eyes.
And in a hoarse voice, he spoke.
"If that's what you think, so what?"
"So you've been planning this for a long time."
"..."
"You must have thought hard about whether this would work, and what to do if the agents failed to rescue you."
An ecstatic smile spread across Baek Saheon's lips.
"That's right."
Liberation.
Madness.
"I thought about it every day. What would I do if I ever got chosen. I never wanted to end up like that. Every time I slept in this shitty house, every time someone died, even when my older sister died!"
He spat out the words like he was vomiting.
"I always thought, I never want to end up like that. Fuck, if I die, god or whatever…"
"God?"
Baek Saheon swallowed. There was a sense of unease and thrill in speaking a taboo.
"This festival is for worshipping a god, then."
"Worship? No!!"
Baek Saheon practically screamed.
"This is a ritual to make a god!"
"...!"
"They pick an auspicious day, make it a festival, and whoever's chosen is enshrined in the village shrine to become the god, the fortune of Jisan, who will free us from the 'truth of the world'. They actually believe that crazy bullshit!"
"Is that really possible?"
"I don't know! But…"
He panted.
"There's really something here."
"..."
"On the festival days, if no outsider wins the special prize, the villagers gather up the remaining sticks and draw them among ourselves. And if someone gets picked…"
Baek Saheon's face stiffened.
"When the last day of the festival ends, they put a bag over your head like livestock and drag you to the village deity's shrine."
"..."
"They take you there and do something."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. I don't know. But, but there's something…"
His face turned pale.
"When the ones who were dragged out come back in the morning, their faces are different. They can't speak. They start preparing for next year's festival together…"
"..."
"And when the festival they've prepared for is over, they hang themselves in the shrine."
…!
"But then, every festival, they appear again. Even though they died, they come back. They walk out of the shrine."
He howled.
"They play in the traditional band!!" [1]
"…!"
"They're doing it now. Outside!"
Heeyaaaaaah!
"I'm not going to end up like that. I'm not going to die. No way."
Baek Saheon's eyes flashed with fear, anger, survival instinct, and a sense of relief that he'd made it… then settled down into rational calculation.
"Now that you've been chosen, the festival and the raffle are over. I don't have to come back here anymore. Being trapped in this godforsaken Jisan village, being held here, it's all over now."
Note/s:
[1] Traditional band / Pungmul-nori – Korean folk music tradition that includes drumming, dancing and singing, with dozens of players all in constant motion.
-x-X-x-
...
"I understand."
I nodded.
Baek Saheon muttered.
"So now you're an insider and I can talk about it? Haha. …I used to think anyone who started talking about this stuff first was just an idiot, but this… this is how it feels, huh?"
The feeling of being in a situation no one else knows, having to swallow information you can't share.
It's almost funny, but I think I understand better than anyone how Baek Saheon feels right now.
'...'
Honestly, I should be angry or anxious right now.
This crazy bastard Baek Saheon, just to save himself, pushed a civil servant who had only come to rescue him and said there was no way to help, into his place as the scapegoat.
I should be angry, disgusted, anxious, and desperate to find a way out.
That would be natural.
But strangely, I'm not.
Instead, there's this odd… sense of peace.
The feeling that the complicated tomorrow and the near future have become a little hazier.
'Now that I'm trapped here, I don't have to think about anything else.'
No more wishing for a favor, no more worrying about Director Ho's binding, no more scrambling for information in a month, no more thinking about what to do with an agent after my cover's been blown.
'Is this just escapism?'
It's almost laughable, even absurd, that the threat of death makes me feel at ease.
But it's true.
So I could speak calmly.
Without sympathy or anger.
"I see. I understand."
"Understand?"
Vigilance returned to Baek Saheon's eyes.
"Are you going to say 'I feel sorry for you, I understand' and then ask me to let you go, saying this isn't right?"
"Maybe. But… I know what it's like to go through daily life in constant fear, unable to relax, always feeling like I might die at any moment."
"..."
He looked at me with a subdued expression.
"Still, it's fortunate how you chose between the two agents."
"Why, do you want to die?"
...
"A little?"
I'm not sure right now.
"Haven't you ever wanted to die? Not even once?"
"..."
"So you have."
"That's not true."
Baek Saheon suddenly replied.
"I don't want to die. If you wanted to die, good for you. You can just stay here, then."
"..."
Weird.
There was no sign that he was trying to mock me, nor any indication that he was relishing in the fact that I'd been tricked by him. Even though he could easily make fun of me, it didn't seem to amuse him much.
All I could sense was a selfish desperation for survival.
He didn't seem to feel any guilt either. Rather, it looked like he had no room left in him for guilt.
'Come to think of it, it's always been that way.'
He's only ever desperately clung to whatever would benefit him, whatever would keep him alive.
But at least, if he doesn't take pleasure in watching others suffer because of him, or find fun in tormenting people… there might be a different approach.
I could use that.
'…Still, there's no way I'm going to just escape into reality until I die like this.'
In the end, I spoke up.
"Saheon-ssi. If there was a way for both you and me to survive, would you help?"
"…What?"
"You'd just have to go through more trouble than now, and take the risk of being found out."
"You're seriously asking if I'd do it? Crazy bastard."
At that moment.
– Heavens, enough! Even from a narrative perspective, there's a limit. How can anyone be so rude!
– Ah, Friend. Why are there so many people these days who repay your kindness with betrayal? This Braun's heart aches as well.
…The plushie started talking again.
– Allow me to help you. First, let's get out of here.
– Then let's show them what karma really means. Wouldn't that be thrilling and satisfying?
...
'Ah. It's fine.'
The plushie fell silent.
'I'll do it myself. Wouldn't that be more entertaining for you?'
– Well… I suppose it would be best for things to flow with the right support!
'It's fine.'
I finished my conversation with the plushie and looked at Baek Saheon again.
Since I didn't expect anything from him in the first place, I spoke with complete indifference.
"But Saheon-ssi. I'm going to die because of you."
"..."
"I'm only someone who came here to rescue you but couldn't because there was no way to do it. I'm dying because you pushed me into this spot."
"How is this my fault?"
Baek Saheon's face twisted.
"Did I fucking tell anyone to kill someone if they got the special prize? Did I shove someone into the shrine and kill them? Someone else does the killing! So what, am I just supposed to die instead? That…"
Raging and swearing brings misfortune.
"...!!"
At the same time, both Baek Saheon and I turned toward the sliding door.
A muttering could be heard.
Raging and swearing brings misfortune. Raging and swearing brings misfortune. Raging and swearing brings misfortune. Those who forget, disappear. Those who forget, disappear. Those who forget, disappear. OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaksOChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaksOChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks
A ringing sound.
Baek Saheon stared at the door with a face gone white.
There was clearly nothing there, but the sound of the traditional band outside grew louder and louder…
"Baek Saheon-ssi."
"No."
He went over to the opposite side of the door, crouched, and covered his head.
It was hard to believe this was the same person who normally caused all kinds of trouble without hesitation. He was utterly powerless.
'Is this a trauma response?'
Maybe this would work.
After a brief hesitation, I opened my mouth and spoke toward the sliding door.
"I'm sorry. I was so flustered that I swore."
The muttering stopped.
"That wasn't appropriate for the festival. I'll try to speak more politely from now on."
The sliding door stayed perfectly still.
And then…
Heeyaaaaaah!
The sound of the traditional band resumed, gradually growing more distant.
Until it completely faded into the festival noise.
"..."
"..."
"Baek Saheon-ssi."
He got up from the corner by the sliding door, drenched in cold sweat, and looked at me with a confused expression.
"I just helped you not die, again."
"..."
"Don't you feel even a little grateful?"
"…So you're telling me, if I'm grateful, I should die instead?"
"You make it sound like saying thank you would come at an unbearable price."
Baek Saheon looked at me as if to say, 'What are you even talking about?'
Is that so.
"Do as you wish. Seems your life is very precious to you."
Then I looked down at my feet.
"But my life is precious to me, too. Even though I sometimes think about wanting to die."
"..."
"..."
After a long silence, Baek Saheon finally spoke.
"So what exactly is this way for both of us to live?"
"..."
"Answer me."
I slipped my still-free hand into my pocket and rolled a silver badge around in my fingers.
Silver Heart.
"It's simple."
Because, just now, after hearing Baek Saheon's words, I realized what kind of ghost story this is.
I'm going to plant doubt in their faith.
God-making, liberation from the world's truth, rituals shared only by a select few, resurrecting the dead, scapegoats…
All of it pointed to one thing.
This is a ghost story under the Church of the Luminous Unknown.
-x-X-x-
Jisan Village's festival continued all night.
Outsiders could sleep in any of the completely open village homes, enjoying free drinks and meat until morning. In the end, quite a few chose to stay rather than leave.
"What's going on?"
"Oh, there's supposed to be some big event on the last day. Like… some kind of ritual, I guess?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Dunno. But I'm gonna film it and post them as Shorts."
The outsiders muttered idly, either staying up through the night or falling asleep drunk in any random room.
And then, with the sun beating down brightly on the last day.
"Oh."
"I think it's starting now."
[The fortune of Jisan arrives~]
At last, the ritual began.
Doong, doong, doong—
The traditional band pounded their drums, and the villagers lined up on either side as if forming a path, creating a long corridor.
From the tile-roofed house.
To the village shrine.
And from the central tile-roofed house, at the start of this road, something finally emerged.
[OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks]
It was a massive human palanquin.
Four people, rooster feathers pinned to their chests and their heads covered with plain cloth, carried someone upon it.
"Oh."
"Hey, hey, this is for real."
The outsiders chatted idly, only interested in the spectacle, but among them were those whose eyes glimmered, watching in secret.
'This is a mess.'
Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
The one who had been called that by Kim Soleum observed the person atop the palanquin and the movements of the villagers.
At this rate, it looked like her task here on behalf of the project team would proceed smoothly.
Her sharp gaze turned to the outskirts.
Toward the well on the edge of the village, surrounded by abandoned houses.
'The well.'
That was the objective of her assignment.
The agents of the Disaster Management Bureau still hadn't figured out exactly why the villagers left them alone near the well, or why it was relatively safe there. They'd even checked it when it wasn't festival season, only to find it just an ordinary blocked well.
But this 'reporter' knew the exact reason, and what needed to be investigated.
That well had once been a passageway, connected to somewhere else.
And during this strange festival, the entire village itself became a high-level zone of Darkness, and sometimes, the passage would come alive again.
So she had to proceed with the investigation now.
However…
"..."
After glancing once at Kim Soleum who was riding atop the human palanquin, the reporter quietly began to move. Not toward the well between the abandoned houses, but in another direction.
[OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks]
Meanwhile, the palanquin procession continued on.
The traditional band opened the way, and as the palanquin passed, villagers bowed in reverence. Some staggered after it with feverish devotion.
But they always kept a certain distance, as if coming closer was not permitted.
The problem was, there were some for whom that rule didn't matter.
"Wow! Look, this is the first time in decades they've held this event!"
A few outsiders, holding up their smartphones, came right up close.
Those who were drunk or had lost their judgment didn't keep their distance, some even tapping the head-shrouded villagers carrying the palanquin.
These people had only come for the free food and drink at the village festival.
But the villagers didn't stop them.
They only watched with smiling faces, eyes fixed anxiously on the safe progress of the palanquin.
"Ooh, not bad for a countryside festival."
"They're pros. Total pros."
The villagers didn't get upset.
They simply watched with earnest eyes to make sure the palanquin reached its destination unharmed.
"..."
Finally, the human palanquin reached the village shrine without incident and stopped.
Those who'd been carrying it carefully lowered the 'raffle winner' they'd been bearing on their shoulders. Two of them approached the shrine.
Then, they cut the golden rope around the shrine.
Tuk.
The golden rope fell to the ground. The two remaining people untied the golden rope around the feet of the one who'd ridden the palanquin, and hung it up again at the shrine.
Then, the doors of the shrine were opened.
Inside was…
"The doors are opening! Wow! Look at that! Gold!"
A golden rooster.
The golden rooster statue that had been the 'special prize' was enshrined inside the village shrine. And its size was enormous.
"Isn't that just gold-plated though?"
"Crazy."
It sat atop a round wooden pedestal, right in the center of the shrine where the altar should have been. It was, quite literally, the size of a person.
Apart from awe, greed sparkled in the outsiders' eyes.
Most of them hardly noticed that behind the gold, the shrine's original pole had been stuck upside down, just like the sticks in the lottery box.
[OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks]
The one who had ridden atop the palanquin finally moved.
As the figure in white stood in front of the shrine, the villagers stepped forward one by one, covering the white robe with pieces of paper.
The papers were densely inscribed with writing in both Hangul and Hanja.
They were the villagers' names.
And then, after three deep bows, they poured out a bottle of liquor over the top.
Jrrrrrk.
As the sacred liquor washed over it, the ink on the papers began to run and the writing disappeared, seeming to seep into the robe itself.
"MaywebefreedfromthetruthoftheworldOfortuneofJisanOChosenOne."
"MaywebefreedfromthetruthoftheworldOfortuneofJisanOChosenOne."
"MaywebefreedfromthetruthoftheworldOfortuneofJisanOChosenOne."
The villagers bowed, prayed, wept, raising their hands and crying out to the sky, pouring out old, deep terror and desperation.
The intensity and desperation couldn't even be drowned out by the pounding of the traditional band.
"Uh…"
"Hey. This feels kinda off."
Most of the outsiders began to draw back awkwardly, finally sensing something was wrong…
And then.
"Should we get a closer look at that gold statue? But what's this, there's this fragrant… is that the smell of alcohol…?"
Tuk.
It was the moment someone holding up a smartphone stepped into the shrine.
"Huh?"
[OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks]
The golden rooster began to melt.
Bubble, bubble—
As if making that very sound, the rooster melted, gold spreading through the groove in the floor of the shrine…
Soon, it touched the foot of the one who had dared to enter.
Golden liquid.
"..."
The outsider, staring blankly down at his foot, opened his mouth.
"I see it now!"
Thud.
The smartphone fell to the floor.
"Theworldis■■!Wearenothingbutone■■inscribedwithinit!"
"Pleasedontlookatmedontlookatmedont■■atme!"
"IhavevalueIminterestingarentI??ImnothereWhatisthis?What?Ireum-nim?"
Madness began to spread like a contagion.
"W-What's going on?"
"What's wrong with those people?"
People on the edge of the crowd recoiled in shock, some even craning their necks to see better.
But it was already too late.
"Aaagh!"
In the end, most people fell into confusion.
Some screamed, others muttered senselessly, or just sat there staring blankly, their eyes emptied out.
A scene where madness and eerie calmness coexisted.
But the villagers paid them no mind.
They'd already seen far too many outsiders fall prey to the truth revealed by the sacred liquor, too many destroyed by that terrifying revelation.
To them, outsiders were nothing but outsiders.
And the families of Jisan Village… Only they could escape such a fate.
Because, at the end of this long Jisan festival, which they had prepared so devotedly for so many years.
[He comes!]
It would be only the chosen, who had devoted themselves to the rite for decades, waiting for Jisan's fortune, who would be delivered.
"A new pole will be erected in the shrine!"
The clamor of gongs drowned out the frenzy.
The chosen one, the raffle winner, walked calmly toward the shrine in the midst of this storm of madness.
With the golden stick, the special prize, in hand.
If they simply planted that small stick in the golden liquid left behind by their predecessor, they would themselves become the fortune of Jisan, dissolving into the shrine.
A sacrifice—or rather, a god—who would bring liberation from the terrifying truth of the world.
The villagers would escape from this monstrous, cruel world, dodging calamity and reaching deliverance!
But then…
...
"Everyone."
It was a civil servant's flat voice.
"This procedure is all wrong."
"…?!"
The chosen one looked at the golden stick in his hand and let out a sigh.
"At this rate, you're all doomed. In your own words, you might say 'misfortune will befall you'."
A deathly silence fell.
Then, a wailing voice cried out.
"The fortune of Jisan is trying to deceive us and run away!"
"Dunno about that."
The figure in white slowly raised both hands toward the sky.
"But I know the truth."
Speaking in their language, he continued.
"I was cleansed with sacred liquor and awakened to the truth of the world. I, who drew the golden stick and will be enshrined as the fortune of Jisan, already know."
The truth.
"You have twisted the teachings. Maybe you read a few pages of an unknown scripture somewhere, or stole bits and pieces of doctrine and misunderstood it."
Confusion.
Moans and muttering from those who couldn't understand.
"What did you think liberation from the truth of the world meant? Escaping from the cruel, painful, and unreasonable reality of this world, evading disaster under the protection of the fortune of Jisan, and living freely as the chosen exceptions?"
The villagers looked up.
Their actions betrayed agreement.
"I thought so. In that case, let's begin here."
Kim Soleum spoke.
The sure knowledge he possessed.
The most important doctrine of the Church of the Luminous Unknown.
Its first teaching.
"There is no freedom in this world."
"This world belongs to Ireum-nim. It holds meaning only when one is chosen by Ireum-nim, and one must recognize this truth and cultivate and sow the seeds of origin in the world, striving to be worthy of that choice.
"Your free will is meaningless. Only the will and the selection of Ireum-nim hold significance."
"Those too weak to accept this truth may seek escape through death, but that is no true salvation."
Thus, he declared.
"There is no escape from Ireum-nim."
...
"These words are liberation."
Deathly silence.
The chosen one, the strange figure in white, looked around at the villagers and asked,
"Do you refuse to accept this?"
No.
No.
Impossible!
"In that case, choose another auspicious day and prepare another form of festival and ritual. Because the fortune of Jisan you summoned by these means—"
He pointed to himself.
"—Was me."
The fate of outsiders' disappearances and deaths, the sacrificial ritual disguised as a lottery.
Cries and moans of "No," "Impossible," "We are tainted, we are impure" broke out from all sides.
But they could not kill the chosen one before them.
If he died in this village, he would become the new god.
That was the procedure.
In the end, they simply had to let him go.
"Aaagh!"
The traditional band staggered, people collapsed everywhere.
The village festival ended in chaos and ruin.
And Kim Soleum, the chosen one who brought about this ending, who succeeded as always with his specialty of informational and psychological warfare...
'As expected.'
…Just watched with heavy eyes.
Bereft of joy.
I knew it would turn out like this.
I looked around at the mad scene.
This was indeed a ghost story under the Church of the Luminous Unknown. But it wasn't a place that had ever taught the true doctrine properly.
Probably on purpose.
'They must have been 'experimenting', making this village perform a clumsy ritual so it would develop its own unique ghost story.'
To understand the process in detail, I needed Baek Saheon's help.
I had to figure out exactly how the ritual worked, and what teachings they served.
And.
It was only possible because Baek Saheon manipulated another villager who had drawn a golden stick, giving me enough time through the night to hear and analyze all of this.
'Did he already pick up another brainwashing item in the meantime?'
I didn't care to take it back anymore.
It was pointless anyway.
At any rate, I was able to clearly identify their errors...
And since all my knowledge of the Church of the Luminous Unknown was real, the villagers were even more easily swayed.
As for me, since I already knew what that so-called 'truth of the world' meant, I wasn't affected at all…
Of course, all of it was information I'd already read on the wiki.
Anyway.
'From now on, the villagers of Jisan will all argue over what's right, each believing what they want, fighting amongst themselves.'
If a split like this occurs, their unity will weaken, and a vulnerability will appear, so the Disaster Management Bureau should be able to take action before next year's festival.
So, before this commotion settles, I should slip away too.
The festival is over.
The village has rejected me as the raffle winner.
So, probably… I'll be safe even if I leave the village.
"..."
I tried to walk out of the shrine.
Splash.
A ripple of golden liquid spread from my step.
This must be the golden rooster.
From the color, it seemed that the round wooden base beneath it hadn't melted, so it was probably still on the floor.
'Only the gold melted…'
Thunk.
"..."
I stopped in my tracks.
Thunk.
The ground was shaking. No.
Thunk.
The floor.
It split open, and the golden liquid poured down below.
"...!"
I threw myself out of the shrine, barely escaping the collapsing floor in time.
And between the cracks in the round wooden base…
A transparent liquid surged up.
Sacred liquor.
...!
I realized.
'The golden rooster statue was a weight stone.'
And the round wooden board wasn't its base at all…
'It was a lid.'
That golden statue had been pressing down something buried beneath the shrine, preventing it from surfacing.
A gigantic jar of liquor.
And inside, something had been sleeping, bound.
It awoke upon hearing my 'true' doctrine.
Chararararak.
The sound of countless legs dragging across the floor.
Aaaaah!
A long body burst out from the transparent liquid.
A thing writhing, covered in countless legs.
A massive centipede that had been inside the liquor jar.
Aaaaah!
But all those legs were human arms.
Praying hands.
Palms pressed together.
The face, with flat features resembling a human's, moved its holes as if mimicking a face.
It resembled the depraved, heretical monks from old folktales.
...These were characteristics I could recognize.
Centipede Sage
A ghost story that transmits the teachings of the Church of the Luminous Unknown. It is said that, upon being recognized by a certain clergy member who was inspired by the power of stories inhabiting lowly creatures, this entity began to foster mutated followers throughout the world.
But now, its body was already half-rotten.
The arms protruding outside the shrine were corroded by liquor, by the liquid.
Its eyes had melted.
There is a folktale that, in a rural village, the teachings of this being were misunderstood, leading to its capture and confinement within a liquor jar, with the villagers using the resulting liquor for their rituals.
So that was it.
This was the entity that had brought the doctrine here.
To appease it, they placed chicken symbols—its favorite prey—around the village.
But apparently, it hadn't done any good.
Aaaaah...
Ireum-nim.
That thing, having fallen deep into the doctrine of the Church of the Luminous Unknown, cannot be reasoned with or communicated with.
It only delivers doctrinal teachings and enlightenment.
Truths that cannot be described, violently.
There is no nirvana, no liberation.
This is the truth of the world. Eternal liberation approaches. At the end of the degenerate era, offer up your pain, loss, and madness, spit out your bones, and you will gain eternal life. That is the true form of the Way, and it is the law with priceless worth.
I must respond.
I know that.
But...
'Do I really have to?'
I let my arms drop.
...I'm tired.
I don't even know how many times this has happened.
How long do I have to keep doing this?
In my head, I tell myself I just have to hold out for one month, just win my wish, but…
As I listen to that centipede's horrific preaching, a part of me is crushed by the thought: does it really matter?
Would it really matter if my body was crushed?
Maybe I...
"Agent Grapes."
A large hand gripped my shoulder.
I turned my head.
A determined face, shining eyes.
Agent Bronze was there.
"I've come back on time, just as promised. …And I told you."
When I return…
"I'll come back with a way to save you."
He squeezed my shoulder.
"According to the rules."
That...
"In this kind of supernatural disaster, two agents are always dispatched to rescue the requester."
Agent Choi's blade drove down through the shrine's roof, and dokkaebi fire erupted ferociously.
Light pours down.
The forged blade flashes and draws its line with conviction.
A dance of blades performed by both hands and the sky.
Aaaaah…!
The blade pierces the body of the centipede, which takes the form of a depraved monk.
It is not the same criminal-subduing blade that once pierced Assistant Manager Jin Nasol in the Ocean Palace, or myself in the dream cultivation chamber.
This blade is at least twice as large, adorned with brilliant pine and intricate bells.
It's a ceremonial blade.
A cleaver designed to confront evil 'entities'.
Uuuuuh…!
Thrashing now was the twisted thing that mimicked a human mouth and planted madness, which had been preaching the so-called truth of the world. Or rather, only muttering its own horrific enlightenment.
Each time, human arms writhing on its body fall to the floor, turning to ash and finding rest.
The procedure of a ritual to appease souls of the dead.
Thud.
The centipede convulses, and the shrine's pillars and rafters collapse.
It looks as if the debris could fall onto people at any moment, but.
"Do not worry."
Agent Bronze's firm voice rang out.
The transparent bullets from his glass handgun embed themselves in the air around the shrine, trapping the centipede inside.
搏[1]
Like a kind of talisman, the bullets engraved with the proper character each activate their precise effect.
"It will be alright now."
"..."
"The most difficult and tricky part of ending these shamanic-ritual-type supernatural disasters is that you must reveal the hidden identity."
I know.
You can only exorcise something if you know what it is.
And this is also the reason why the Disaster Management Bureau was unable to easily identify that strange evangelist of the Church of the Luminous Unknown, who had been buried together with the liquor jar beneath the shrine, granting it an unusual power.
Agent Choi's own hard-won notes come to mind.
– Hmm… Actually, the branch wanted to investigate more thoroughly, but other government agencies kept getting in the way. They were even blocked from dissolving the village itself.
Some said, 'Why not just keep rescuing people every year? The causal relationship with the disappearances and deaths isn't proven.'
However, in reality, it seems there was a government official who was being bribed by Jisan Village.
That's why things were at a standstill.
– If you think of the annual festival as a disaster, it's actually long and repetitive, right? But the investigation periods are always much too short.
Especially with such an old ghost story, where the ritual has been distorted and it's hard to find the original form, it gets even more difficult.
We're always just barely managing to keep the situation stable.
– So it's always a shame. There must be a real culprit… If we could just find it, we could try exorcism or banishment or whatever. The fact we can't is just frustrating.
– Wait, Grapes-ie, don't decide to dig up the village's secret by yourself just because you read this, okay?! We all do it together! You know, right? ^^
But…
I did it.
"You're the one who found its identity."
I lifted my head.
"You drew that thing out of the shrine. And now that its identity has been revealed…"
Agent Bronze was smiling.
"Ending this disaster has become what we do best."
Namely…
The specialty of the Black-Tortoise Team.
"Eliminating evil things in the traditional sense."
"Elder!"
A voice calls from the roof.
Agent Choi throws his cleaver into the air, the dokkaebi flame in his hand burning as bright as the sun.
Flames sweep all the way down to the broken base of the shrine.
Aaaaah!
The dark, damp shade created for the centipede burns away as if it's being erased, and a bright, warm, yang energy arrives.
Aaaa—uuuu—ghhh!
The centipede, having lost many of its human arms, tries to open its mouth again, but now its so-called enlightenment can no longer be properly formed into human speech.
The Black-Tortoise Team's methodical supernatural disaster response steadily pushes it into a corner.
First. Purification of the ritual space.
Driving out the environment suitable for evil to dwell in.
And, second.
Imprisonment.
"Now!"
Agent Bronze's bullets constrict the shrine.
The centipede, robbed of many arms and exposed to dazzling brightness, thrashes and struggles.
But the targeted response, stabbing at its inborn, elemental weaknesses like an awl, severed its connection to unspeakable evil truths and left it vulnerable.
Thus, the end draws near.
Third.
"Seal."
䥗[2]
Agent Bronze's glass handgun fires its final bullet.
Charged with a powerful exorcistic rite, crafted skillfully at the Baridegi Workshop, it fits perfectly into the evil thing's body.
Exactly into its forehead.
Thwack.
And then.
From the hole in the centipede's body where the bullet embedded itself, its innards began to be sucked away.
Inward.
Ooooooh!
The centipede collapsed inward with a strange rending sound, as if it were shrinking down to a single point. No, not just the centipede. Also the shrine, the ground beneath it, the spirits, and all the territory tainted by the Centipede Sage were sucked in.
Into the glass bullet.
Aaaaaaah!
The centipede's voice rang out in a dying scream, and then…
It was cut off.
...
Clink.
The now-blackened glass orb dropped into the hollow left where the shrine once stood.
On the surface of the orb, now about the size of a fist, was the engraved image of a centipede.
The rough, bold carving gleamed gold for a moment like a fragment of a sacred scripture from the Church of the Luminous Unknown, but then, as if blocked by the sealing power, the light faded.
Soon, the surface of the glass orb cooled and turned to solid silver.
"..."
"..."
Agent Bronze walked over to the pit, picked up the silver orb, inspected its surface thoroughly, then put it into his pouch.
And then he declared,
"It's over."
Note/s:
[1] 搏 – a character that means 'to be entangled', 'to bind', 'to tie', etc. ↩
[2] 䥗 – a character that means 'branding iron' or 'to solder' ↩
-x-X-x-
"Huu!"
Agent Choi, still holding the cleaver, sat down on the ground with a sigh.
"Is everyone alright?"
"Yes. They're calming down."
The outsiders and villagers who had experienced the shock were either collapsed and unconscious, staggering around aimlessly, or just standing still, staring blankly into space.
Perhaps, with the disappearance of the centipede that had once revealed to them the truth of violent madness, they had lost their reason to emptiness, at least for a while.
The festival musicians had disappeared, leaving only their instruments and clothes behind.
Occasionally, beneath the collapsed clothing, there were glimpses of bone and earth…
And after surveying all of this, my gaze turned back to Agent Choi's back.
"..."
He was just sitting quietly.
Staring at the hollow left by the vanished shrine.
'…What must he be thinking?'
A spy who will die in a month unless he leaks information from the Disaster Management Bureau.
He himself nearly died, caught up in all of this.
But after preparing everything in a single day and coming down to the countryside to save that spy, staking his life to fight the centipede… What must a man like that be thinking?
"..."
I didn't want to know.
The thoughts that would come to mind after realizing it, the tasks I would have to face, felt too exhausting.
That's how it had been.
But now, for a brief, flickering moment…
I kind of want to hear his answer.
What he's thinking.
"…Grapes-ie."
"...!"
"Want to come over here?"
With no thoughts at all, I walked toward him.
Agent Choi didn't look back at me.
But as I drew closer, he reached a hand behind his back.
Toward me.
"Everything's done. Let's go back."
...
...
I took his hand.
Agent Choi pulled me up effortlessly as he stood.
"Up we go!"
There was the same smile on his face as before when he turned to look at me.
And then he started making a fuss.
"Ugh, my whole body aches. I take one day off, and our kid gets himself abducted. This is why I can't ever rest."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, is it, Grapes-ie? The caller was out of his mind. Unpredictable incidents happen."
"..."
"But don't do anything too reckless next time."
As if, of course, there would be a next time.
That's how he spoke.
"...Yes."
It was strange, but for some reason, I felt a little better about the situation.
Even though nothing was really resolved or progressed.
"..."
My head felt a little clearer.
"Alright. That's how Black-Tortoise Team 1 should be!"
Agent Choi patted me on the back and then headed over to see the orb Agent Bronze had secured.
I took a deep breath in and out.
'Yeah.'
For now, I survived today.
And having watched Disaster Management Bureau agents seal a bizarre entity through traditional exorcism… Maybe it's not such a bad day after all.
'Everyone survived, too.'
…My heart felt noticeably lighter.
The bright dokkaebi flame had disappeared, but the sun was shining in the sky.
'Um.'
Then, as I looked down, I saw the people who had carried my palanquin lying collapsed next to the now-empty shrine area.
But there were only three.
'Baek Saheon.'
I turned my gaze to where the rescue caller had been standing.
Baek Saheon was one of the people carrying the palanquin, and he had originally stood to the left of the shrine…
'Hmm.'
He was gone before I knew it.
He must have run away the moment things started going awry.
'Not that strange, really.'
No, in this case, that was actually the wisest choice.
Still, now that I was feeling a bit better, it did feel a little annoying.
'A certain someone shoved me into the place where he was supposed to die and left me to suffer like a dog…'
Still, it was true that taking the risk of being caught and staying up all night to share what he knew about the village did help.
'Now that guy probably doesn't have to come back here, either.'
– No, I told you already. I have to come back every year. Even if I try to run away, I'll just go mad and hang myself!
According to what Baek Saheon said at dawn, it seemed the villagers had to periodically visit Jisan Village to escape the madness of the 'truth of the world'.
No matter how much they soaked the Centipede Sage in liquor and pressed it down with a stone and enshrined it in the shrine, they'd already had too much contact with it.
But now that the original source, the centipede, was gone, things would probably be better. At least, one could hope.
'Hmm.'
I was about to look away when I noticed something odd.
There was something left in the spot where Baek Saheon had been.
"..."
I shifted slightly and picked up the item.
A note… no, something like a small paper boat, folded out of paper.
'Did he leave this?'
Thinking I'd check it out later, I put it in my pocket.
And when I turned my head, I made eye contact with Agent Choi, who had been watching me.
"..."
"..."
Agent Choi turned his head away with a smile and said casually,
"Lucky I made it on time, right? I really rushed over as soon as I finished getting ready."
"If you hadn't been at Seoraksan, you could have come even sooner. Seriously, why'd you take your day off to go there?"
"Hahaha… To recuperate in a place with good air and clean water, I guess? Anyway, there he is! The real MVP who made sure we got to Grapes-ie in time."
Agent Choi pointed somewhere.
And at the end of his finger… was Assistant Manager Eun Haje!
"Yes. She's the one who told us the location of the shrine right away."
"…!"
Assistant Manager Eun Haje had been waiting at the village entrance and, as soon as she saw them, told them exactly where the shrine was.
Thanks to that, the agents were able to arrive before I could be enthralled by the Centipede Sage and become one of its arms…
'…She must have been busy with her own work, too.'
I was grateful.
I tried not to stare blankly.
"She recognized Bronze-ie right away. Oh, she's waving goodbye."
When she met our eyes, Assistant Manager Eun Haje nodded slightly, then melted into the crowd.
Or at least, that's how she probably thought of it, and that's how I took it, but someone with sharp eyes might not see it that way.
Because even among the dazed, hollow people, she moved with clear purpose.
"Shh."
Agent Choi put a finger to his lips, squinting as he watched.
"She's heading toward the abandoned houses. Hm."
He put away the cleaver and quickly straightened his clothes.
"Let's follow her. Her destination is a little unusual… Did you say she's a reporter?"
"That's right."
"That's a great job for going undercover…"
A chilling deduction.
'The Assistant Manager can't get found out.'
I didn't want to make things harder for her, or drag Agent Choi any deeper into Director Ho's grasp.
That would be a total disaster.
"Um."
After exchanging a few words with Agent Bronze, Agent Choi turned to look at me. He seemed to study me for a moment, then said,
"Grapes… you can go outside and rest if you want."
I can't.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to go with you."
"Sure. Let's go together."
"..."
Did he notice?
Even if he didn't, his kindness made my stomach twist a bit.
Anyway, I hurried after the agents as they moved.
And before long.
We found Assistant Manager Eun Haje half-removed some of the wooden planks covering the well and was looking inside.
"…It's not here."
She muttered.
"Ms. Civilian? Are you looking for something right now?"
Assistant Manager Eun Haje, who had been staring down the well, looked up at us with a slightly exasperated expression.
"Now you're acting like normal public servants… Seriously. Aren't you guys, you know, like in the comics? That sort of thing?"
"Comics…"
"Well if we're going to play the part, why not go for 007? Haha, our dear agent here really likes that comparison, you know!"
"…Ha."
Agent Choi grinned and patted Agent Bronze on the back, then put a finger to his lips.
Agent Bronze closed his eyes tightly. Agent…
Watching this, Assistant Manager Eun Haje just shrugged.
"Anyway, don't worry. I don't plan to tell anyone about this."
"Thank you!"
But I saw the agents exchange covert glances.
Most likely, before long, agents from the Disaster Management Bureau's Vermilion-Bird Unit would sweep into this village to 'clean up'. In the process, they would probably carry out a large-scale, harmless memory erasure on the population…
I could only hope that Assistant Manager Eun Haje got out before then.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
Meanwhile, the agents got down to business.
"So, why were you looking at that well?"
"Well, I heard there's a strange legend about this place. Something about it being connected to somewhere mysterious."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje took out a cigarette from her pocket, but quickly put it back as she spoke.
"I'd heard rumors that weird things happen during this village's festival, so I came to check it out…"
She tapped the well with her finger.
"Well. Doesn't seem like there's anything particularly odd."
"Aha."
Agent Choi nodded, as if he meant to help with her investigation, and pulled out a light source from his coat.
A lantern inhabited by a dokkaebi.
The red, flickering light brightened the shadows of the well for a moment.
"Here, let me shine a light for you!"
"…Do you really have to use that?"
"Yes, yes."
Agent Choi replied with a smile.
"And you know, this lantern can also sense danger!"
"Aha."
"See? The color changes, right? When it flickers this red—"
"And when it flickers?"
"It means there's something non-human nearby."
"..."
"..."
"Who are you?"
Silence.
"The one who guided us earlier was definitely human, but you… You're not human, are you?"
"..."
The thing in the shape of Assistant Manager Eun Haje lifted its head.
That faint, gentle smile on her face.
"You're quick on the uptake."
"...!"
"Hello, agent! We've met before, haven't we?"
"Agent Choi!"
Agent Bronze hastily moved to defend, but Agent Choi held him back with a gesture.
Even so, the being in the shape of Assistant Manager Eun Haje spoke with a gentle, kind expression she would never normally wear.
"Ah. What I asked this person to do was definitely something else, but it seemed like she was heading somewhere strange. So I'm assisting her personally."
Director Ho.
Whether he was disguised or merely controlling her, it was him.
Director Ho, wearing Assistant Manager Eun Haje's appearance, was standing in front of us.
"By any chance, do you have something to say to me?"
No.
'He's trying to provoke us!'
We must not talk to Director Ho any further here. Agent Bronze was present.
'Agent Choi might break the binding right here…!'
Even if not, it could drag in Agent Bronze. Or Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
Again. It was all happening again.
'No.'
I clenched my teeth, searching for a chance to cut in. Just as I was about to force my way into the conversation—
"Well, that's perfect. This'll be even easier. …As long as we know who it is."
Agent Choi raised his cleaver and pointed.
…At me.
"…?!"
"Grapes-ie."
"Agent Choi, what are you—"
Chalang, chalang.
"It's been hard, hasn't it?"
"..."
"It'll be alright now."
Chalang, chalang.
"Your binding."
"...?!"
What was he suddenly saying, and at a time like this...
...
'…Wait.'
I realized.
Right. Agent Choi really couldn't speak of last night's events to anyone, because of the binding.
That I was a spy.
That I planned to leak information from the Disaster Management Bureau.
Even the fact that he himself was bound by a supernatural restriction.
'All of that is forbidden.'
But.
"I thought about it… and realized there's something I can do."
The restriction on talking about me was an exception.
The fact that 'one of our agents is under a supernatural binding imposed by a supernatural being' is not one of the prohibited topics.
He could attempt to break that binding for me as much as he wanted.
"…!"
"I had a hell of a time finding the right person at Seoraksan."
Agent Choi looked up at the sky.
"Welcome."
So it's you
Fox spirit
You accursed thing
The back of my hand began to burn.
[goblin note]
Short background on the fox spirit 호귀(狐鬼):
There are many animal spirits that appear in East Asian folklore, and the fox spirit is a recurring image in many stories. Among the many tales that it appears in, it is acknowledged as a beast with high intelligence and is an antagonist to hunters and farmers with its cunning intellect. But on the flipside, it is also recognized as a helpful spirit (and a god of abundance in some regions) for eating mice that cause harm to agriculture and harvests.
Apart from this, the fox spirit is also depicted as a shape-shifting entity, taking on various forms with different meanings, powers and characteristics. (Sources: en.namu.wiki/w/여우%20설화, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_spirit)
Additionally, the Gumiho 구미호 or nine-tailed fox is one of the most known iterations of the fox spirit in ancient folklore. (Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumiho)
[p.s.]
Arguably, however, 호귀 could also be interpreted as a tiger spirit/demon (虎鬼) from the Joseon era. The author didn't provide any hanja, so take what you will.
Both 호귀 (fox/tiger) and 호랑 (tiger) have 'Ho' as the first syllable so… ¯_(ツ)_/¯
[p.p.s.]
Damn I've been reading on the web version of KKP all this time and only recently realized that author-nim used different fonts here and there… I'll do my best to adopt those features in my translation moving forward, and I'll also try to review past chapters and tweak them too. But we're at chapter 200 now so it may take a bit of time ^^;;
-x-X-x-
"…!!"
Baek Saheon's head jerked up.
Just now, a tremendous crash had sounded behind him. Maybe something even worse was happening in the village…
'Fuck, is this the time to be thinking about that?'
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to keep moving.
He had to get as far away as possible, as quickly as possible.
"Huuhk."
On Baek Saheon's back as he ran down the mountain path was a huge backpack, packed with water, food, and survival gear he'd agonized over selecting.
It was all stuff he'd collected and hidden in a secret place, planning to use it one day if he ever had to make a desperate escape from the village. He could hardly believe he was finally getting to use it.
But now, in the empty space that had once been left in the backpack…
There were remains.
The bones left behind after the traditional band had collapsed and vanished.
Among them, the bones that had once been his older sister.
"..."
He should have left them behind. They were too heavy to carry.
He knew it was a stupid thing to do, but he just couldn't bring himself to abandon them on the ground now.
That was the only thing that occupied his mind.
'I wish everyone would just die.'
It would almost be better this way.
The villagers, the outsiders who'd come to the village, even the agents who failed to rescue him.
He wished they would all die, and this damned village would disappear without a trace.
Just imagining it sent a tingling thrill up his spine.
But.
'Still, that agent…'
The young agent with glasses who he had maneuvered into drawing the 'special prize'.
Surprisingly calm, never mocking or getting angry at him even once. Someone who, even after helping him, never demanded anything in return.
And, in the end, kept his promise.
The promise that both of them would survive.
That he wouldn't betray him.
'...'
A strange feeling stirred inside him.
It was probably a sensation he was experiencing for the first time in his life.
That peculiar feeling you get when you do something good—something you normally would never do—and succeed, purely by chance.
People called it a sense of fulfillment.
'...'
That must have been why, on impulse, he left behind the 'paper boat'.
Of course, it would only matter if that agent survived to the end and found it.
'…I'll think about it if he picks it up.'
Considering all the chaos earlier with the centipede, the ceremonial blade, all that madness, that guy could very well be dead by now…
Just then.
"...!"
A bizarre, hair-raising pressure gripped the back of his neck, sending chills down his spine.
Something was behind him.
There was no doubt that something even stranger was happening in the village.
'…Fuck.'
In the end, Baek Saheon couldn't resist. He glanced back.
And.
"...!!"
His face went pale as a sheet, and he broke into a run along the mountain path once more.
He never looked back again.
'Fucking hell.'
The scene he'd just glimpsed.
Crimson blood was pouring down from the sky.
* * *
I collapsed to the ground.
It happened automatically. I fell forward, both hands pressed to the earth.
As if bowing.
LetmeseeLetmesee
Let me see
Thud, thud.
Red blood poured onto my head and the backs of my hands.
Wretched beast, plague, ancient fox spirit
A pain hot enough to make me scream suddenly flared in one hand. My left hand, the one that hadn't been severed.
I feel like I'm going to die!
It reeks of rot
I clawed at the ground with my hand.
"Agent Grapes!"
I could hear Agent Bronze and Agent Choi bickering.
"Isn't that the Great Tiger General of Daecheongbong[1]? Are you crazy?! Summoning a supernatural entity that's not even friendly to humans…!"
"Later! Just be quiet for now!"
I stifled my groans and hastily turned my head to the side.
Director Ho, in the shape of Assistant Manager Eun Haje…
Filthy, base creature
Let's see your true form
…was smiling in the rain of blood.
"These people are my acquaintances. Elder, you need not concern yourself. Please, go on your way."
Blisters bubbled up on the back of one of my hands.
Your tail, I see
"These people are my acquaintances. Elder, please shout your greetings from beyond the threshold."
The blisters burst and pus oozed out, marks of contagion.
Your tail has been cut
"These people are my acquaintances. Elder, why don't you sit on the porch and have a meal?"
The pus burst and trickled down.
Sly-tongued fiend
Assistant Manager Eun Haje's body floated into the air.
"...!"
Her limbs twisted and contorted, as if bound by brute force, but her gentle smile did not change.
"N—"
"Shh."
Agent Choi pressed down on my shoulder.
Die
Lightning strikes.
Burn to ashes
Leave only your hide behind
"I don't want to though?"
Through the flashes of lightning, Director Ho's face appeared.
"Leaving only your hide after death, huh. That's what tigers do. I really don't know what you're talking about."
He was still smiling.
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, how frightening. But I'm no fox spirit. Is there any proof that I'm a fox? Or a ghost? How about this: 'Begone, evil spirit! Namu Amita Bul Kwanseum Bosal, Geupgeupyeoureong, Thy kingdom come, Father God.' I'll even sprinkle salt and red beans."
Lightning struck again.
"But it's not working."
A tearing sound.
"What a shame. It seems you've made a mistake… How unfortunate…"
A calm voice came from the one suspended in midair.
"You can't burn me."
A giant eye appeared amid the blood raining down from the sky.
Noisy thing
Director Ho's limbs twisted.
Festering for so long
Oh, how foul you are
Begone at once
"My, my."
Grasp your tail
And flee
"How vicious of you. Forcibly tearing me and my acquaintance apart like this."
That smiling face turned to look at me.
"What a pity, Soleum-nim."
"…!"
And in the next moment.
He's gone.
The body of Assistant Manager Eun Haje, twisted unnaturally and suspended in midair, vanished as if it had never existed.
And with it, Director Ho, who had possessed her.
"..."
"..."
Did he… run away?
I started to speculate in confusion, just how was he controlling Assistant Manager Eun Haje, what kind of binding had been placed on her, was she alright now…
At the same time, I looked up at the sky.
The falling blood had stopped.
I looked down at the back of my hand again.
The blisters and pus had all disappeared, as if they'd been washed away by the blood.
I have torn away
The filth
As promised
"..."
"No, General! Didn't you say you'd make him grovel and pay his respects? But he ran off so easily!"
Noisy brat
Agent Choi's throat was seized and he was lifted into the air.
"Agent!"
"Ugh, haha…"
I hastily looked up at the sky and shouted,
"I'm sorry! And thank you!"
...
A child who knows manners
From the sky.
Something looked down at me.
Good
It inspected me.
And proclaimed one thing.
Serve me
Wait.
Note/s:
[1] Daecheongbong – the main peak of Seoraksan, which is located in Gangwon-do and about 3 hours away from Seoul ↩
(More details on the Tiger General in Chapter 201.2)