NOVEL NEXT – Chapter 34
After hanging up the phone and returning to my desk, Kang Hana spoke to me.
“Sorry, I think I missed your answer earlier. Jeong Woo, would you like to have dinner with me tonight…?”
There was an unusual warmth in Kang Hana’s voice. Unfortunately, I already had prior plans.
“Sorry, I have a prior commitment.”
For a moment, her eyes wavered. I could see her smile falter slightly.
“Oh, really?”
Her voice carried a hint of disappointment. A part of me felt guilty, but there was nothing I could do. My appointment with Park Chan-hee was more urgent.
“Let’s have dinner together next time when you’re free, Manager.”
“Sure…”
Kang Hana forced a smile and returned to her seat. Watching her retreating figure, I checked my phone. There was still some time before my meeting with Park Chan-hee.
‘First, I need to stop by home and grab the Golden Branch Brooch.’
The Golden Branch Brooch was essential if I wanted to avoid being ensnared by horror stories like the Max Speed incident.
“I’ll head out first.”
The sound of employees leaving filled the office. Outside the window, the nightscape of Seoul was visible.
The subway heading home was packed with commuters. Holding onto the handrail, I checked my phone and saw a message from Park Chan-hee.
[Seoul, Gangbuk-gu, XX-dong, XXX]
[Let’s talk in detail when we meet.]
The message contained an address and a note saying we’d discuss the details in person.
All I knew from our earlier call was that his younger sibling had been possessed by a ghost. I hadn’t heard the full story yet.
Lost in thought, I arrived at my studio apartment. As soon as I entered, I headed straight to my desk. Carefully, I pinned the Golden Branch Brooch, which I had set aside for dry cleaning, to the lapel of my suit.
‘Now I’m ready…’
I headed straight to the meeting spot. A samgyeopsal restaurant near Mia Station. Even though it was a weekday evening, the place was bustling. As I opened the door, the familiar smell of grilled meat greeted me, along with a familiar face.
The sight of my senior sitting in the corner was shocking. The always-smiling, generous figure who used to treat his juniors to meals during college was nowhere to be seen.
Dark circles hung heavily under his eyes, and his unshaven beard looked messy. His skin was pale, and his eyes stared vacantly into space.
“Long time no see, Senior.”
As I sat down, he raised his head. A bitter smile spread across his face.
“Jeong Woo… I’m sorry for contacting you out of the blue like this…”
His voice sounded hollow, like someone drunk or dazed.
“It’s fine. But what happened to your sibling…?”
His expression hardened. Through the rising smoke from the grill, I could see his face contort. A brief silence followed, filled only by the noisy chatter around us.
“Let’s have a drink first.”
Park Chan-hee poured soju. His hands trembled slightly. He downed the shot in one go and then began to speak.
“It started last summer.”
His voice shook.
“My sibling went to a haunted spot with high school friends to celebrate graduation. It was an abandoned house in Gyeonggi-do…”
The samgyeopsal sizzled on the grill. The sound of cooking meat filled the momentary silence.
“After coming back, they did something they shouldn’t have in front of a mirror, or so I heard from an acquaintance.”
“What do you mean by ‘something they shouldn’t have’…?”
Just as I was about to ask, Park Chan-hee shook his head.
“I don’t know the details. My sibling wouldn’t talk about it either. They just said they did something they shouldn’t have.”
He emptied another soju glass. Beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead.
“After that, my sibling started acting strange. The smell of sewage started coming from their studio apartment, and they began seeing things…”
He paused, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
“At first, I thought it was nothing serious. But…”
His eyes wavered.
“It got worse. They took a leave of absence from college and have been holed up in their room for six months now. Recently, they even fell into a coma…”
I flipped the meat and asked.
“Have you tried asking others for help?”
“I’ve tried everything. Psychiatrists, medication, even religion.”
His voice trembled.
“Even famous psychiatrists and all sorts of medications didn’t help. I visited monks, pastors, even renowned exorcists.”
His voice was filled with despair.
“They all said it was beyond their abilities. Jeong Woo, you’re the only one left who can help me.”
Sewage smell, mirror, haunted spot.
As soon as I heard these keywords, the serum’s effect kicked in. Information about the horror story surfaced in my mind.
‘Real…’
It was a horror story created in a Japanese online community.
After visiting a haunted spot, someone did something they shouldn’t have in front of a mirror, and a sinister, terrifying entity appeared to torment them.
Like Iengami and Max Speed, this horror story originated from Japan, and like those, there was no ultimate solution.
“I…”
I hesitated before speaking. Normally, I would never touch such a horror story.
But the Dalant I could gain from solving it flickered before my eyes. Real, being a high-level horror story with no ultimate solution, would surely yield a significant amount of Dalant if cleared.
A faint memory flashed through my mind. A voice calling someone, a pale face… For a moment, my chest felt heavy, but I pushed the feeling aside and redirected my thoughts.
‘This is purely for the Dalant.’
I convinced myself that I was helping solely for the Dalant. There was no other reason. There couldn’t be.
After pushing aside my deep thoughts, I spoke to Park Chan-hee.
“Senior, I think I need to see your sibling’s condition first.”
“Really…? Can you help?”
Hope tinged his voice. For a moment, another faint vision passed by. A desperate voice calling someone, a hand growing cold… But I consciously erased that memory.
“I’ll do what I can.”
This is for the Dalant. That’s the only reason. I repeated it to myself. It was a perfect opportunity to use my horror story-solving abilities, granted by the serum, to gain Dalant. That was all.
After finishing the samgyeopsal, we got up. The night air was chilly.
Following Hikiko’s advice, I bought 1 kg of coarse salt and bottled water from a nearby mart to ensure my safety.
[If you want to hide your presence from evil spirits, hold a mouthful of saltwater. Don’t spit it out until you’re out of their sight.]
The walk to Park Chan-hee’s house felt heavy. The sky was cloudless, but the moonlight seemed unusually pale.
His house was deep in a residential area in Gangbuk. As I walked down the alley, I felt an eerie energy. Crows were lined up on the rooftops.
Caw—caw—
Their ominous cries cut through the quiet night air. In the deserted street, only the crows’ cries echoed.
“There are a lot of crows.”
“Yeah… It’s gotten worse recently.”
I emptied half the water bottle, poured in the coarse salt, and shook it. Holding a mouthful of salty water, I followed Park Chan-hee into the house.
It was a typical two-story detached house. Nothing special on the outside, but as soon as I opened the front door, a foul energy hit me. It felt like someone was hiding and watching me, an unpleasant sensation.
We climbed the creaky stairs to the second floor. With each step, my spine tingled. His sibling’s room was at the end of the hallway, shrouded in darkness with blackout curtains drawn.
As soon as I opened the door, the stench of decay hit me. I felt nauseous, but the thought of not spitting out the saltwater helped me hold it in.
“Chan-ho… Wake up.”
Park Chan-hee called out in a trembling voice. There was no response.
The room was pitch black. Faint moonlight seeped through the blackout curtains. In that light, I saw a figure hooked up to an IV.
I approached the sibling lying on the bed. Their cheeks were sunken, and their skin was pale.
I gently pried open their eyelids with my fingers. Then, I took out a penlight and shone it.
The whites of their eyes were bloodshot, and their pupils had turned ashen, darting rapidly from side to side.
‘This is…’
It was obvious at a glance. They were thoroughly possessed. According to Hikiko, ashen pupils darting side to side were a classic symptom of spiritual contamination.
“How is it?”
Park Chan-hee’s voice trembled. I shook my head, still holding the saltwater in my mouth. I couldn’t answer yet.
I looked around the room. The stench of sewage rose from every corner. The wallpaper was discolored in places, and black mold grew on the ceiling.
I checked the IV bag. It was a nutrient solution. It seemed they hadn’t been able to eat properly due to their comatose state.
After finishing my inspection, I stepped out, sprinkled coarse salt three times behind me, and spat out the saltwater. The salty taste lingered in my mouth.
“Senior.”
Park Chan-hee’s eyes were desperate. But I didn’t know how to save someone suffering from a horror story, only how to escape or counter them.
I shook my head.
“I think this is beyond my abilities alone.”
“Then what should I do…?”
“I need to find a way first. But don’t worry, I’m not giving up.”
I stepped out the front door and immediately pulled out my phone. I dialed Cheon Seung-soo’s number.
Ring—ring—
After a few rings, his voice came through the receiver.
“Team Leader, do you have a moment?”
-What’s going on?
I hesitated before speaking.
“It’s about Park Chan-hee, a senior I know. It’s about his sibling.”
I explained everything that had happened. The haunted spot, the sibling’s condition, the signs of spiritual contamination. Cheon Seung-soo listened silently.
“So, I was wondering if I could borrow your Palak Sword.”
There was a brief silence.
-I can’t lend you the Palak Sword.
Cheon Seung-soo’s voice was firm. I immediately pressed.
“Why not?”
-This isn’t any different from the ‘Smiling Evil God’ incident. This time, there aren’t multiple victims.
His voice was cold.
-If that one person dies, there won’t be any more victims, right?
The streetlight flickered. In the distance, I heard the cawing of crows.
“But Team Leader, this is about someone’s life…”
-Jeong Woo.
His voice sharply cut me off.
-You seem to be seriously mistaken. Our Catastrophe Foundation isn’t a humanitarian organization. And you’re not exactly a humanitarian either, are you?
“That’s true, Team Leader. But still…”
-Then that’s that. Forget about this and focus on other tasks.
Before I could say more, the call ended. Only the dial tone echoed through the receiver.
Back home, I sank into thought. What should I do now? Should I just drop this and move on, as Cheon Seung-soo said?
Then, my smartphone screen lit up. A notification popped up—a new post on the Horror Story Gallery. Hikiko’s username caught my eye.
‘Right, that guy…’
He was the one who had provided me with all sorts of information about Eastern ghost stories and shamanism. Maybe he knew a solution to this.
After some thought, I immediately commented on Hikiko’s post.