He regretted having unnecessarily chattered before departure that this mission would be easy, that they could just comfortably go and return as if touring a sightseeing spot. His face looked extremely gloomy as he muttered about overlooking the laws of the world, so Sim Seowoo clumsily tried to comfort him.
“Still, thanks to Gwangmin-ssi’s bag, everyone has protective gear.”
Jin Gwangmin had brought the same large bag as usual on this expedition too. Even when moving around inside Heun, he carried a bag of considerable size, but when going outside, he brought a bag as big as his own body. Like a turtle’s shell.
And inside it were not only items he’d personally invented, but also various Jugu made by the Jin family packed full. Thanks to this, even though they suddenly faced the problem of having to fight Hyeong Akgui, they’d fully secured all protective gear and also grabbed other small helpful Jugu.
Though their weapons were only small daggers, in an emergency situation even that was enough to be grateful for. Although all the sorcerers declined the savory red bean tea spray that Jin Gwangmin had subtly recommended…
At Sim Seowoo’s words, Jin Gwangmin’s eyes sparkled brightly. As if deeply moved, he even pressed both hands to his chest as he spoke.
“With this memory, from now on I’ll sleep wearing my bag too!”
“…Hm?”
At the solemn declaration to live as a peddler for life, Sim Seowoo was bewildered. He didn’t know what reasoning led to that conclusion, but anyway, it was fortunate that he seemed to have regained his spirits.
Right now, Heun’s members were preparing to fight evil spirits even if simply, and were all advancing together in the direction the spirit indicated. And that spirit was currently detecting the key’s energy while cradled in Sim Seowoo’s arms.
Seeming to quite like Sim Seowoo’s warmth, it refused to leave his embrace, so he said he’d just carry it as they moved. Cheon Yijae sent a very displeased look at this, but followed the spirit’s instructions anyway.
[Grrrr, we should get closer if we go left!]
“Didn’t you say right just a moment ago?”
[Not at all, this time it’s really left!]
Though those instructions were frequently reversed, making Cheon Yijae’s gaze grow increasingly fierce, the more they moved, the clearer the light in the spirit’s eyes gradually became. It sparkled as if resonating with the key.
That phenomenon seemed to support the spirit’s claims, and a serious tension gradually spread across the members’ faces. Because if they really continued advancing like this, they would face the Hyeong Akgui.
Do Seonhwa muttered in a worried tone.
“This Hyeong Akgui seems like it’ll be quite formidable. To even deploy a diversionary tactic while targeting the spirit’s key, are evil spirits capable of ‘thinking’ that much? And how did it even know there was a spirit here…”
Recently, the Hyeong Akgui’s offensive had been unusual, so Heun was also focusing only on hunting them. Accordingly, the frequency of investigating Gwiraechon had relatively decreased, so if the Hyeong Akgui had intentionally created such gaps, it would be quite surprising.
Didn’t that mean those Hyeong Akgui were ‘cooperating’?
“Don’t tell me Hyungsin gave such orders…”
Kim Myeongyeon also agreed with a serious expression. Until now, the Hyeong Akgui that Heun encountered in the field had always been singular. Though they’d seen cases where ghosts gathered around them, the Hyeong Akgui themselves always moved individually. Originally, evil spirits’ pride was quite high anyway, so those with Hyungok acted even more as if they were the strongest.
So they hadn’t expected cooperation, but no matter how much those creatures acted superior, they would all bow their heads and obey before Hyungsin, so perhaps that’s why they deployed such tactics.
“I thought Hyungsin was just a destruction king…”
“Mmm. Actually, in the past, records show that Hyungsin always moved alone while turning entire villages into ruins, but even then ghosts followed behind. Though it wasn’t this organized, anyway, this time there really are many differences from the past. We’ll need the spirit’s memories too.”
Do Seonhwa steeled her resolve. She felt the need to prepare for other contingencies beyond simply collecting Hyungok to pave the way to approach Hyungsin. Perhaps they might obtain very valuable information from this village.
While the members exchanged a series of conversations, Cheon Yijae didn’t say a single word. He just silently advanced in the direction the spirit indicated, then soon frowned and turned to look at the spirit.
“Are you sure about this direction? There’s no more road here.”
After obediently following the spirit’s instructions all this way, what unfolded at the end was a dead end. Moreover, large rocks completely blocked the path. Cheon Yijae’s gaze turned fierce at how the place they’d reached after winding round and round through the ghosts’ festival grounds was like this.
Sim Seowoo also puzzledly examined the rocks before his eyes. Surely they didn’t mean they had to break through those, he thought, looking down at the spirit to see its green eyes rolling around.
As if avoiding his gaze, Cheon Yijae’s voice sank coldly.
“The scope of the village investigated by Heun only goes this far anyway. We’ve already circled the village once and reached its end, but not only is your key invisible, even the tree can’t be seen. Which means everything you said is a lie—”
[Hmm? Who says that. That this village only goes this far.]
“…What?”
At the spirit’s words, not only Cheon Yijae but all the other members showed surprised expressions.
Actually, they too had thought they’d toured all of Gwiraechon, and since no proper tree that looked like a Dangmok had been discovered despite that, suspicions were gradually rising. They’d even formulated the hypothesis that perhaps a Dangmok spirit from another region had gotten lost and been swept into this village.
But in front of the wall made of rocks at the village’s end, the spirit casually shrugged its shoulders.
[You all haven’t entered the depths of this village yet, it seems. Well, I understand. Humans instinctively won’t want to go there and will avoid it.]
Eventually, the spirit pointed with its tiny hand at the crevice between the rocks. As if there was actually a way to enter a place everyone saw as blocked, it spoke very calmly.
[If you put your hand into that rock’s crevice, you’ll be able to approach ‘that place.’ Ah, but that side is full of very ominous energy, so your hand might rot, so be careful—]
Before the spirit’s warning could even finish, Cheon Yijae thrust his hand in. His face hardened as if he’d really found some kind of suspicious energy in the direction the spirit indicated.
Crrrrack…
The rock’s crevice began to open like a giant beast opening its mouth. As if recognizing the fissure was the method to create a path to the other side, the pitch-black hole widened, and beyond that hole, the shape of some village faintly appeared. It looked like it was covered by a black curtain.
[Y-your hand will rot if you’re a medium though…?]
Whether the spirit was shocked or not, Cheon Yijae immediately moved his steps there. The other sorcerers also followed one by one, and Sim Seowoo joined that procession.
They’d also passed through a peculiar entrance when entering the ghosts’ festival grounds, but there was another door inside it. He marveled at experiencing so many new things in this field mission, encountering scenery novel enough to amaze even him who’d grown numb to most things.
“…”
Eventually, Sim Seowoo’s mouth closed tight at the scene they faced.
Fssssss— Ruins completely burned by fire spread before their eyes. The thatched houses and walls were collapsing as if they’d been blazing until just moments ago, and red embers flew in all directions.
Long ago, this must have been exactly what the village landscape looked like when Hyungsin arrived in the mortal world and it burned. Though several hundred years had passed, it seemed like only this space still hadn’t escaped from the shock of that day.
“H-how could this happen…”
“Is this a pocket dimension created by Hyungsin’s energy pooling…?”
Do Seonhwa lamented, and Jin Gwangmin immediately analyzed the space as a search-type sorcerer. Spaces full of evil energy (邪氣) needed to be cleansed with purification, but when Hyungsin awakened such purification was impossible, and also for a while no one could come to the village, so this place alone must have been separated to create a pocket dimension.
A space that the world dropped from the mortal realm to maintain balance. A contaminated land that shouldn’t originally exist on this earth. Soon the members of Team 5 also looked around with completely hardened faces at this domain created by the world’s will.
The atmosphere had completely flipped from the festival grounds.
Sim Seowoo was equally surprised by this change, but this scenery approached him a bit more regrettably. His brow narrowed slightly in the space filled with hot fiery energy.
‘Hot, hot, hot!’
‘Oppaaaa…!’
The memories of that day rise up as if churning through his head.
Sim Seowoo’s breathing became slightly disrupted. Though flames weren’t soaring around him, just the acrid smoke filling the surroundings alone reminded him of that day, bringing a headache.
“Huuu…”
Sim Seowoo tried to calm his condition with a quiet deep breath. It was truly strange. He’d accepted that he had some degree of trauma regarding fires, but he hadn’t known he’d react this sensitively. Moreover, this place was already completely burned, so why?
The evil spirit he first met at the movie theater had also churned through his head to ignite the flames of that day, but he hadn’t been shaken like this. Back then, perhaps it was because friends were around him, so the goal of immediately rescuing them and escaping took priority.
Or perhaps it was because what lay here was Hyungsin’s energy. The background of the mass fire he’d experienced in the past happened as Hyungsin resurrected, so maybe that day was more strongly recalled because it was the same flames.
Beeeeee—
As even a ringing in his ears that seemed to split his head resounded, Sim Seowoo bit his lips tight. He tried to straighten his posture while repeating that the past had all passed. Just as he thought he should quickly follow the other members who were all exploring the space, plop— something was placed on his head.
“…?”
Confirming the translucent veil draping over his vision, Sim Seowoo looked up puzzledly. It was the gat that Cheon Yijae had worn when wandering around the festival grounds.
Cheon Yijae, who had approached right in front of him before he knew it, said.
“You don’t need to search that way, so just stay quietly in the back.”
