Grateful that the mood had been interrupted by the simultaneous phone call, Sim Seowoo checked the screen and soon tilted his head in confusion. A name he hadn’t expected at all was displayed.
[Landlord’s Granddaughter]
It was a call from the granddaughter he’d met about an hour or two ago. Right after running into Cheon Yijae in front of his house, the landlord grandfather had hurried off, taking his granddaughter with him…
What could this be about?
About a year ago, they’d exchanged numbers when there was a matter about bringing in new furniture, but since then, they’d never contacted each other separately. So this call from her now was quite bewildering, but Seowoo pressed the answer button anyway.
“You’ve reached—”
— T-Tenant-nim! Please help me!
“…Yes? What’s wrong?”
At the urgent plea for rescue, Seowoo grew flustered and leaned in closer to listen. The signal seemed unstable, as the sound kept cutting out.
— I came into the mountains with Grandfather right now, and suddenly the way down got blocked!
“Are you saying you got lost in the mountains?”
— No, that’s not it! We keep going in circles in the same space!
At the granddaughter’s cry, Seowoo was puzzled. Isn’t that the most common mistake people who are lost make? He thought, but sighed at the explanation that followed.
— There’s no way down at all! It’s like we’re trapped in a prison!
He recalled being captured by an evil spirit at the movie theater a few days ago. No matter how much he’d run to escape the ghosts, he couldn’t find an exit—it was similar to the granddaughter’s current situation of seeming to be trapped halfway up a mountain densely surrounded by trees.
— We kept wandering around and it just wouldn’t work, so I called 119, but there’s no word from the rescue team at all, and Grandfather suddenly said we had to contact Student Seowoo and then collapsed! Or should I say fell asleep? What on earth is this…
“What? Is Grandfather okay?”
— This is really absurd, but he’s snoring right now. Very loudly too. Haaah, in this situation, what could Tenant-nim possibly do that he’d tell me to call… It’s not like I wanted to receive thanks this way…
Her rambling voice was thick with confusion. Seowoo guessed that the reason for Grandfather’s sleep also had a quite unrealistic background, and just then, a familiar voice came from Cheon Yijae’s phone as well.
Even though he was quite a distance away, the other party shouted loudly enough to ring out clearly.
— Sojunim, we’ve detected a Hyeong Akgui’s energy! We need to deploy immediately!
It was Do Seonhwa’s voice.
Seowoo guessed that the place she was saying they needed to deploy to might be where the landlord grandfather and granddaughter were trapped. No, it was almost a certainty.
It seemed the opportunity to repay his debt had come quite quickly.
# Chapter 4. Schoolmate
An emergency request had come to Heun.
Naturally, requests that came to Heun—an organization that balanced the world of the living and the world of the dead—took the form of disturbances related to ghosts or reports of cursed objects being discovered. Among them, cases where people were taken hostage were classified as ’emergencies,’ and all shamans who could be dispatched from Heun were deployed immediately.
“About forty people who entered the mountain can’t be located. The rescue team went to the place the missing people indicated they were at just before contact was lost, but they couldn’t find anyone. They clearly said they were at some shelter, but they weren’t visible.”
“Could it be that people moved to a different location after contact was lost?”
“No, they contacted one person when they were right at that location, but still couldn’t meet them. In other words, even though they were in the same location, they couldn’t see each other. This is exactly a ghost’s mischief!”
Listening to Jin Gwangmin’s explanation, Seowoo nodded.
A few hours ago, while Seowoo was on the phone with the granddaughter at his studio apartment, contact had suddenly been lost. And at that time, the Heun driver who had brought him all the way home knocked on the door and said they needed to go to the scene, taking him and Cheon Yijae together to this place.
At the entrance to the mountain, a sign reading ‘Entry Blocked’ along with police lines were set up, and police officers were densely stationed. However, after checking the Heun business card the driver presented, they quietly cleared the way.
That’s how they joined up with Do Seonhwa and Jin Gwangmin at the foot of the mountain. Already about fifteen Heun shamans were gathered there, and the two welcomed Seowoo and Cheon Yijae as they quickly approached. Do Seonhwa stuck to Cheon Yijae, while Jin Gwangmin stood beside Seowoo, delivering the situation in detail.
Particularly, Jin Gwangmin explained the incident in as much detail as possible, being considerate of Seowoo, who was at a scene for the first time.
“It’s similar to the situation where Seowoo-nim was trapped at the movie theater before. People are caught in a ‘Guiyeok.'”
This time, the energy of the Hyeong Akgui had been detected even more clearly, Jin Gwangmin said, shaking his head. The evil spirit at the movie theater would have swallowed the Hyungok later, but speculation followed that this one seemed to have swallowed it first and was using its energy.
“Recently, the Hyeong Akgui’s offensive has become fiercer, but to act this conspicuously…”
It was the first time people had been kidnapped at a time that wasn’t even the middle of the night. That’s why the police report and rescue request had been quick, and Seowoo was inwardly amazed at the news that they had assessed the situation and immediately requested help from Heun. Heun really did cooperate with public institutions.
However, just because they’d judged the problem swiftly didn’t mean the situation could be viewed entirely positively. The very fact that the Hyeong Akgui had acted so openly—that is, it must have been based on confidence that even if their intervention became known, they wouldn’t be easily defeated by shamans.
“…”
Cheon Yijae, who had been receiving reports in the area closest to the mountain, glanced briefly at Seowoo. Do Seonhwa quickly shouted, making it clear that he didn’t seem pleased about the fact that Seowoo had accompanied them to this space.
“The Guiin is just here to observe, observe! Training! It’s a process everyone who joins Heun goes through!”
New members of Heun were obligated to go observe a scene at least once. Studying about evil spirits while only staying within the organization versus being directly deployed to a scene and experiencing it firsthand were worlds apart. It was a dispatch aimed at developing their senses while observing the scene.
So the Elders had ordered Seowoo to accompany them on this request as well, and Do Seonhwa had asked him in advance whether he wanted to accompany them, in case he might be scared of the scene. Seowoo said he wanted to go into the mountain together, since he’d also received the call from the landlord’s granddaughter.
However, Cheon Yijae seemed irritated by the idea of Seowoo entering the Guiyeok, so Do Seonhwa worried that the Sojunim might cause a scene again—no, protest—but he just nodded.
“Make sure to put proper protective gear on him.”
At that remark, not only Do Seonhwa but Jin Gwangmin was also surprised. It was the first time Cheon Yijae had accepted a Purifier without any resistance whatsoever.
Jin Gwangmin opened his eyes wide and looked at Seowoo as he asked,
“What, what kind of conversation did you have at home?”
They were already planning to give Seowoo plenty of protective charms anyway, since there was no more embarrassing accident than a new member who came to observe a scene getting hurt. But seeing Cheon Yijae’s reaction, he became even more conscious of it, so Jin Gwangmin endlessly pulled out prayer beads from his bag.
At the appearance of prayer beads that would require about thirty-six arms to wear, Seowoo declined, saying two would be enough, and glanced at Cheon Yijae. In truth, Seowoo was also surprised that he hadn’t picked any particular fight. He’d thought Yijae would chase him away, asking why a novice was coming to the scene.
He had informed him that his landlord grandfather and granddaughter also seemed to be caught by a Hyeong Akgui, but it didn’t feel like he was allowing his accompaniment simply because an acquaintance was involved. Then…
‘I’m grateful for your concern, but it’s a bit much to cancel an employment contract made just a few days ago. While Sojunim warns about the “scene,” I haven’t experienced it yet, so I think it’s too early to make a judgment. I’m the type who believes in not judging before experiencing something directly.’
Had that persuasion worked?
Just then, their gazes met in midair. From his slightly furrowed eyes, it seemed as if he was thinking that since warning about the dangers of the scene seemed useless, it would be better for Seowoo to come to his senses by experiencing the hardship directly.
Seowoo simply nodded calmly and looked around. Until now, he’d only had experiences of being unilaterally captured by evil spirits, so this was the first time seeing a situation where they were preparing to hunt evil spirits.
The shamans warming up at the foot of the mountain were generally dressed in traditional clothing. He’d heard that Heun didn’t have a separate uniform, but as he looked curiously at them wearing outfits that looked like hanbok suits, Jin Gwangmin slipped in a comment.
“That’s Field Team 1. They’re Heun’s core.”
“Even though the successor is in Team 2, Team 1 is the core?”
“Um, well, Team 1 is overseen by the Vice-Leader-nim, so…”
Jin Gwangmin’s voice was quite cautious as he conveyed that normally the field teams moved separately, but this time they’d deployed together since it was an emergency request. Judging from his reaction and Team 1’s behavior of glancing over here, could there be a subtle competitive structure formed between the Vice-Leader and the Sojunim within the organization?
