The Shadow That Followed Her
Kang Min-hee had no father. She said she had an accident when she was very young. Fortunately, because she had taken out a lot of insurance, she and her mother had not lived in poverty. However, her mother became deeply immersed in shamanism. When Kang Min-hee was seven years old. Kang Min-hee had a severe fever that day. She did not remember the incident, but her mother said that for seven days and nights she had lain in bed tormented by nightmares. Even now, in the diary notebook she had written at seven, the nightmare from that time remained. A giant in a black robe sat on a lotus flower, overlooking her house from above. Kang Min-hee's mother took her to the shaman, General Seonnyeo, who often visited their home, after she recovered from the fever. Kang Min-hee still remembered the first time she went to a shaman. ―Ghost! A big ghost has appeared! I've never seen such a big ghost. The spirit is very yin-strong from birth. The powerful yin energy is summoning ghosts. After driving away the ghost, you must receive a spirit possession! The shaman jumped up in shock like he had been struck by lightning, and Kang Min-hee's mother answered with tears in her eyes. Kang Min-hee's opinion did not matter. Because of the influence of the ghost that had possessed her or the aftereffects of the fever, she had always been weak. She suffered from minor illnesses often and was not good at exercise. Because of that, she went to the shaman more often. Precisely, it was her mother who dragged her there. Every time they went to the shaman, he would ride a long staff to drive out the ghost that had lodged in Kang Min-hee during the strange ritual. But when she entered elementary school and became a high school student, until she became a middle school student, the shaman continued to perform rituals, but he could not drive out the ghost that had possessed her. ―What's wrong!? The ghost's power grows stronger as time passes! Today I'll borrow General-nim's power directly to drive it away! Tell the manager over there to calculate the cost. ―That's impossible! A ghost that big!? Today I'll receive General-nim myself and manifest in this world to drive it away! Manager, calculate the cost of today's ritual! ―I will stake my life as your shaman and drive out that evil spirit! Manager! Gather all the gods including General-nim and the Heavenly Dragon and Earthly Dragon! Prepare a schedule! Also tell Kang Min-hee's mother the cost of the ritual…. When the shaman, who called himself General-nim, began treating her as his own, his attitude changed when Kang Min-hee entered her first year of high school. ―Hee, heeik! Ah, I see. Yeah. It wasn't a ghost. It wasn't a big ghost attached to me! You! You yourself were the shadow I saw! From the beginning, it was a ghost that was born in a human body! Hee, hehehe…! Wait, a moment. If the shadow was not a ghost but your true self, then what was clinging to you? The fortune-telling clearly said something was attached…! That, that, that, that, that…! Wait, General-nim, where have you gone! General-nim!!!!! Don't leave me here alone…krrruuk…!? The shaman who had said a big ghost had possessed Kang Min-hee suddenly foamed at the mouth and collapsed unconscious. The ambulance took him to the emergency room, but after he regained consciousness, he lost all his memories and became an idiot. It seemed he had only retained the intelligence from when he was three years old. Kang Min-hee's mother, who had been suspicious of the shaman's ability to fail to drive out even the ghost that had possessed her, finally cut off her interest in shamanism after this incident. Instead, she became a Christian and started going to church, but Kang Min-hee did not go to church. Instead, she began studying martial arts. It did not matter that her body was weak. She believed that being born weak was not like a ghost. She wanted to become strong even if she was weak. But the shaman's words about the ghost possessing her were not just empty talk. Since she stopped going to the shaman, she began seeing something like a shadow that followed her. She did not tell her mother. If she told her, the church would be dragged along with them. Kang Min-hee instead trained diligently and focused on her studies. She firmly believed the black shadow was due to psychological and mental problems and never doubted it, and she developed an interest in psychology and neuroscience. But with anything, she could not shake off the black shadow. At some point, the shadow gradually became more distinct in form. Sometimes it took her mother's shape, sometimes a friend's, sometimes the shaman's, and sometimes the appearance of a father she had never met. And as her school years progressed and her grades rose, the shadow became so distinct that it was difficult to compare to people. And one day. The shadow spoke to her. ―Hello? Kang Min-hee ignored it. And from that day on, strange things began happening around Kang Min-hee. It was not a big event. She would often be hit with bird droppings, an umbrella would disappear on rainy days, or she would almost get into an accident. Her luck became oddly unlucky. Especially those she was close with suffered even greater misfortune. Soon rumors spread at school, and people around her began disappearing. The shadow told her, ―Hold a knife in your mouth and look in the mirror at noon to know your future husband. Let's try it. You'll succeed. You have talent. Kang Min-hee ignored it. ―Follow the amulet the shaman wrote and draw it. I'll draw it with you. My amulet will have effect. I'll guarantee it. Don't you have any interest in the magic potion witches use? I'll tell you the recipe. Don't you wonder what power and wisdom the Yin-Yang Star has? Strangely, the shadow that had whispered occult and seemingly evil knowledge and curses to Kang Min-hee began at some point to use that power itself. ―I tried it for you. When I held a knife in my mouth and looked in the mirror at noon, I saw the husband. Surprisingly, you couldn't get married? You don't have a man, do you? It arbitrarily predicted her fate. ―I drew the amulet for you. Give it as a gift to someone you don't like. It will have effect. I guarantee it. One day, when she woke up, A4-sized amulets were stuck all over the room. ―There was a guy who said he liked you? I got that guy's hair and put it in a doll and stabbed it. You probably won't be able to come to school for half a year. As she watched the shadow grow stronger and clearer, finally able to speak like a person. Kang Min-hee could no longer deny it. She had a ghost following her. And this ghost was… ―No one can be with you. It doesn't match your level. You don't even know how great you are. Don't worry. I'll drive out everyone who doesn't match your level. I'll keep them from approaching you. She scattered misfortune around her so that no one could approach her freely. Kang Min-hee could not make friends. After realizing that, she kept others at a distance so they could not get close. She always smiled in front but discarded all her emotions behind. Those she kept at a distance did not become so unlucky. Instead, she lived immersed in dramas and movies. Those virtual characters never suffered misfortune even if they loved them. She dreamed of secret office love while watching dramas for that reason. Kang Min-hee's attitude was maintained until she got a job at a bath products company. ‘… Where did it go?’ At some point, the shadow disappeared. She felt like she could fly. The shadow that had always recited ominous prophecies beside her had been washed away in the bath soap the company made. ‘I should stay here.’ She felt like she could fly. She felt liberated. Her first job. The supervisors who took care of the new hires. And the colleague who quietly took care of her at the first company dinner. Her commute was the same, and her heart that dreamed of secret office love was the same. The afterwork drink, everything aligned, and she started dating Seo Eun-hyun. At first, it felt like she could fly. And all those thoughts reversed when Seo Eun-hyun spilled coffee. It was not coffee that would spill. However, when Kang Min-hee saw, someone pushed Seo Eun-hyun's back. Seo Eun-hyun bumped into Oh Hyun-seok's documents and spilled the coffee. Oh Hyun-seok, who was kind, was strangely furious that day. As if possessed by something, he lectured her for ninety minutes after work, and during that time Kang Min-hee sweated. It was not gone. It was not liberated. It was just that it had temporarily become invisible. The next day Seo Eun-hyun caught a cold after giving her an umbrella. Kang Min-hee decided. Before Seo Eun-hyun entered her heart even more. To drive it out beforehand. After that, Kang Min-hee threw everything into trying to break up with Seo Eun-hyun. She deliberately drove him around in a car and smoked cigarettes inside. When Seo Eun-hyun was about to eat, she rolled her eyes and overturned him. When Seo Eun-hyun ordered seasoning, she always ordered fried chicken. She forced mint chocolate on him. In the end, the two broke up. According to Kang Min-hee's memory, she had been the one to say she wanted to break up first. In reality, she did not remember the breakup well. They had talked sideways and somehow broke up. However, Seo Eun-hyun's misfortune continued. Jeon Myeong-hoon continued to scold Seo Eun-hyun, and Seo Eun-hyun just wasted away saying something was wrong with him. So he tried to resign. She went to Seo Eun-hyun, made excuses that were not excuses, and said she was going to resign. Even then, she talked sideways and did not think about what was wrong. However, when the CEO saw her proposal, he raised her grade. And once again, she saw the shadow beside the CEO. ―It's here. I had the fortune-teller check, and if it's here, there's a fortune-telling that says an infinite future is coming. She tried to ignore the shadow's words, but the shadow had already crawled up to Seo Eun-hyun's neck and grabbed his neck and told her, ―It's here. The fortune-telling is good, right? … Kang Min-hee had no choice but to admit it. In the company, she was always praised and promoted quickly. But she had never felt at ease for even a moment. Because the shadow was always following her, the thought that she could never escape it made her feel like she was suffocating. And. One day. A landslide occurred, and she fell into Deungsunhyang. When she arrived in Deungsunhyang, she noticed the abnormality first of all. Because the shadow that had followed her all her life had disappeared. It was no longer visible. And after being kidnapped to Black Ghost Valley, she learned the Ghost Dao technique. She suspected that her own shadow was a kind of Ghost King. A very powerful Ghost King. Even if she caught it minimally, it would be at least Nascent Soul level. Because of that, she worked hard to raise her realm so that she could suppress it again when she met it someday. She really worked hard. In that way, she could become a Black Elder. The day she reached the Sachuk realm. She felt anticipation with ‘maybe’. Maybe she would never see that Ghost King again. However. Her disciple Seo Lip came. Seeing Seo Lip she had never seen before, Kang Min-hee felt a strong sense of deja vu. She had definitely seen him somewhere. Definitely. Because she had never been wrong about such a sense of deja vu, she thought she had definitely seen that person before. No, she had thought he was a person. The strange thick death lodged in Seo Lip. It was not something a human could have. It was something a ghost could have, even. Moreover, Seo Lip would sometimes do the combing and massage that Seo Eun-hyun had taught her. It was not Seo Eun-hyun's clone either. So there was only one possibility. The shadow. The being that had followed her. It had finally appeared again. This time, as the identity of a Black Ghost Valley disciple. It seemed it was visible to other people's eyes. Because of that, she could not carelessly conclude. Since the shadow was visible to others, she did not know if it was her shadow or not. Because of that, Kang Min-hee wanted to see it directly with her own eyes. And only after seeing it with her own eyes did she become able to make a judgment. It was that shadow. That shadow, or even more dense darkness beyond that shadow. The form of death like it had crawled up from the bottom of the underworld! And. An aura subtly emanating like Seo Eun-hyun. In the end, she could understand. The Seo Lip in front of her was that damned shadow that had followed her terribly. No, at least it was related to that shadow. After feeling the touch of Seo Eun-hyun that the shadow gave her for a while, Kang Min-hee decided. Then. ‘I will kill you and find out your true identity.’ The time had come to remove the shadow that had tormented her. ---