“But even Team 5, the trainee team, is investigating like that…”
“If we’re going by when you joined, you’re the newest recruit, so it means you don’t need to step forward.”
Sim Seowoo looked at Cheon Yijae in bewilderment. His tone was indifferent as usual, but the content sounded exactly like he was worrying about him. He’d only been standing at the entrance taking deep breaths for a very brief moment—had he noticed something was wrong with his condition? Though it could be seen as just being surprised by the change in space.
But in Cheon Yijae’s eyes, there was even faintly a desire to send him out of this place. However, since it would also be inappropriate to send him alone into a space full of ghosts, he ultimately chose to accompany him here, but insisted there was no need to deliberately look at the burned ruins.
“You said you’re insensitive to danger, but that doesn’t mean you have to be okay with watching things you dislike.”
“…”
“You don’t need to force yourself to look.”
Cheon Yijae moved the veil to completely wrap around Sim Seowoo’s face. Even covered by the veil, the scenery beyond was slightly visible, but it was much better than before. And above all, he was grateful that the acrid burnt smell was blocked.
Sim Seowoo blinked his eyes slowly. Had Cheon Yijae even noticed that he’d reacted sensitively to the burnt smell? He’d thought his perceptiveness was sharp originally, but…
It was unexpected. He’d thought if he showed a disheveled appearance in such a place, he’d be scolded to leave since he wasn’t suited for Heun after all, but was he being considerate of sensitive areas since he knew it was trauma?
“…”
At the unexpectedly meticulous action, Sim Seowoo touched the brim of the hat with an awkward feeling. The situation of being looked after by someone younger than him felt unfamiliar and also slightly embarrassing.
The robe he was currently wearing also had a hood, but it wouldn’t block the burnt smell like the veil. Wrapping his whole body in the robe and covering even his face with the veil—thinking his bundled-up state must look ridiculous, Sim Seowoo walked following behind Cheon Yijae.
Just then, the spirit cradled in his arms was also gradually getting closer to the key and seemed focused on finding its location, continuously making groaning sounds like “grrr,” “ngh,” before suddenly pointing somewhere.
[That place, it seems to be over there!]
Everyone moved in the direction the spirit gestured. As they carefully stepped into the completely burned ruins, the spirit’s urging fell.
Before they knew it, the spirit’s whole body was trembling like an aspen tree.
[We must hurry. Quickly! Somehow it feels ominous, too ominous!]
Earlier, the spirit had said that because the key’s ‘rank’ was high, it couldn’t easily leave the village. But it had said the connection with the key seemed about to be severed soon, and judging by the spirit’s current attitude, that time seemed to have drawn near.
And that would directly correspond to completely losing the key to the Hyeong Akgui. Everyone’s steps quickened.
The members who’d run until their breath rose to their chins finally lamented at the scene they discovered.
“There really was a tree…”
“Is it possible to survive in this place without dying?”
A tree so large they had to tilt their heads back to see its top existed in the ruins. In the path they’d run all this way, everything had burned and perished, and trees had also broken and collapsed as if swept by a firestorm, but only that giant zelkova tree maintained its intact form.
Though green leaves couldn’t be found and the bark was also blackened as if scorched by fire, the very fact that the tree’s form still remained whole was wondrous. The branches also spread luxuriantly, their presence looming in the sky reassuring. It truly was an appearance befitting being called a ‘Dangmok.’
“Wow, was it enduring in ultra-power-saving mode…”
Jin Gwangmin marveled, but to simply feel relieved, a black energy was gradually spreading from the tips of the branches. Beyond simply the expression of rotting, the tree’s color faded as if being contaminated.
Do Seonhwa quickly looked around and shouted.
“Those talismans seem to be the culprit!”
The giant Dangmok had spread roots as large as its size. Black paper was stuck all over the thick roots that had partially risen above ground, and the red characters inscribed in a dizzying manner looked exactly as if written in blood.
The Hyeong Akgui seemed to have been trying to curse the Dangmok to dim its sanctity and smuggle the key outside. Since just cutting down the tree might damage the key, it was instead using sorcery to create a gap.
The members of Team 5 examined the talismans with surprised eyes.
“Ghosts can use talismans too?”
“This is, what on earth…”
It was something they’d never heard or seen before. Though they’d occasionally encountered cases where evil spirits devised brilliant schemes to torment humans, this was the first time witnessing behavior using talismans—that is, Jugu that sorcerers use.
The dead sometimes envied the living and occasionally imitated the living’s actions exactly… but weren’t such Jugu tools of the sorcerers they regarded as ‘enemies’?
“First, remove the talismans.”
While everyone exchanged confused looks, Cheon Yijae commanded decisively. Since they’d clearly seen with their own eyes that the Dangmok existed, the situation proved that everything the spirit had said until now was all true.
So he instructed them to quickly stop the curse, and just as everyone nodded and tried to follow—
[Oh my, mediums have gotten tangled up.]
Swoosh! Something flew over like a shot arrow and stood before the tree. As if it had been leisurely waiting nearby, it straightened its clothing with quite a relaxed gesture—it was definitely an evil spirit.
The spirit in Sim Seowoo’s arms also pointed at it and shouted.
[That’s right, that’s the one! That very one stole my key!]
However, the members froze for a moment, only moving their lips. Seeing the pitch-black sclera and blood-red pupils, and the dark Ghost Energy rippling around it, it was certainly an evil spirit… but that’s why they became confused instead.
“…An evil spirit looks that much like a human?”
The evil spirit that appeared before the Dangmok looked very human-like. Except for the fact that its skin was a cool gray and the color of its eyes was unusual, everything else had the appearance of an ordinary male. It had even neatly dressed in suit-style hanbok and wore its Hyungok like a necklace.
Sim Seowoo was also bewildered. Though ghosts encountered on the street also commonly took human form, traces usually remained suggesting how they died. A crushed head, a dangling neck, missing limbs on one side, etc. They maintained their original form because they still had something to convey to beings who would recognize them in this world.
But when that feeling surpassed simple lingering attachment and became grudge and resentment, they gradually lost their original form and transformed into ‘evil spirits’ solidly bound only by malice. They recklessly killed the living and spewed out Ghost Energy that dimmed the world’s goodness. There were also cases where ghosts became evil spirits by devouring other ghosts and bulking up.
Therefore, all the evil spirits encountered until now looked bizarre and disgusting. Jin Gwangmin had commented that ‘evil’ (惡) was attached because they were harmful to the eyes.
But the evil spirit before their eyes looked too human-like, which was eerie. The evil spirit encountered at the movie theater in the past had also taken the form of a young boy without a single wound, but that had been wearing a shell. But this evil spirit now seemed to have refined its very body itself to be human-like.
Just like facing the uncanny valley, as everyone became wary, the evil spirit chuckled.
[It seems you’re seeing a high-ranked evil spirit like me for the first time. We who gathered under the god’s will pursued a bit of change for the new world to come.]
“…?”
[Soon we’ll live sharing the same world as humans, so we’ve given the consideration of not being too frightening, huhu. Only evil spirits with that level of intelligence can refine their form, so could I express it as ‘evolution’?]
That tone was quite gentle. As if to consider it an honor to meet someone who’d achieved evolution that only outstanding beings among numerous evil spirits could do, it explained very magnanimously.
“Evil spirits also have ‘ranks’…?”
“Do they really form a society too…”
Do Seonhwa and Jin Gwangmin displayed confusion in turn. Normally, evil spirits would display hostility and charge as soon as they saw spiritual ability users, but that evil spirit was conversing leisurely, so they definitely had the intuition it wasn’t an ordinary one.
Meanwhile, Sim Seowoo materialized the multi-level organization chart in his head. From when he first heard about Hyungsin and Hyeong Akgui, and the horde of lesser ghosts following them, he’d understood the enemies as a multi-level organization. Now the Hyeong Akgui rank had been subdivided, and the human-looking ones had risen to executive positions.
No, thinking again, it seemed closer to a cult than multi-level marketing. Especially since there was Hyungsin as a central point that everyone revered on that side.
While peculiar modifications occurred in his head, the members examined the Hyeong Akgui with tense eyes. But Cheon Yijae snorted mockingly and tilted his head.
“What kind of crazy bastard has appeared now.”
He showed no signs of surprise at all. Even from his slightly furrowed eyes, only annoyance at being bothered could be read.
The Hyeong Akgui stroked its chin with long gray fingers and said.
[Hooh, Heun’s dog has come—]
“Yeah, so if you know I’ve come, hand over the key.”
Bang! A red Jaegui flew fiercely from Cheon Yijae’s fingertips. As if to cut off useless conversation, he poured out attacks first.
Currently, Cheon Yijae had only removed the rings among the accessories he wore. His restraints were made by the Doga, and he wouldn’t receive punishment hall only if he removed them after obtaining permission from higher-ups to unlock them in advance. This decision was judged by higher-ups based on Ghost Energy measured in the field before sorties.
But since such procedures were impossible in the current situation, Do Seonhwa had arbitrarily unlocked only the rings. She said she could exploit a gap to release up to the rings since they were items imbued with Doga’s spiritual power.
Cheon Yijae, who removed all rings from his hands, could only summon about ten small Jaegui in total, but as if that alone was sufficient, he attacked the Hyeong Akgui.
