Dae-baek-gong
It was a Saturday with shortened classes. Jong-hyuk had stopped by the hospital with his father, who was undergoing outpatient treatment, along with the rest of his family, and they'd gone ahead for some dinner out after school. Now, he was heading with Kyung-soo to pick up Joo-shin.
"An encyclopedia?"
"Yeah, there's something I'm curious about and want to look it up. I tried searching online, but we don't have a computer at home."
"Makes sense. Our school still hasn't set up PCs for students to use. I heard they do in high school, though..."
"That's why I thought I'd check the encyclopedia..."
"Why not just search at the library instead? You can look it up online there, and if nothing comes up, you can check related books on their PCs right away."
"Oh, I didn't think of that. Can I bring Joo-shin to the library too?"
"They have a separate kids' reading room, so he might even make some friends. It'd be better for him."
"They have that?"
"You've never been to the library, have you? That's why Jong-hyuk and I go so often. People come from other areas to An-nam City Library."
"I had no idea..."
Whether before the regression or now, I've never even been near a library... Nothing to say to that.
"Now you know. Wanna go today? We usually head there after short days like this."
"Sounds good to me. Oh, there's Joo-shin."
As he chatted with Kyung-soo at the elementary school entrance, Joo-shin came running out. Beside him, a small girl with long hair tied down on both sides walked slowly out the school gate. There was no sign of the lively laughter typical of kids her age, which naturally drew his gaze. But when Joo-shin tugged at his hand, he turned to see his little brother pushing him toward the tteokbokki stand in front of the school.
Pretending to give in, he headed to the stand. And in that instant, as the somber-looking little girl passed by his side—
His vision went pitch black.
Terror. Dread. Images flickered like moving photos, then shattered like torn fragments from a broken film, spewing out disjointed scenes. Paralyzed by the horror of a body that wouldn't obey, he could only stare, malfunctioning. Even pain was beyond him, as the fear devoured him whole.
Thud.
Crash.
Screech.
A headache unlike any before hit with brutal force. He thought he was rolling on the street, clutching his head—but when he came to, he was standing in front of the tteokbokki stand, watching Joo-shin pick out menu items.
What the hell?
It was completely different from the photo-like visions and voices he'd seen before. Dark, enveloped in fear and terror—groans of agony, sounds of violence?
"What're you doing? Holding a ritual in front of the tteokbokki?"
"Nah, go ahead and eat. Joo-shin, have some of mine too. Not hungry today."
"For real?"
"Hey, kiddo... Eat slower or you'll get a stomachache. Have some oden broth with it."
Watching Kyung-soo and Joo-shin dig into the tteokbokki in front of him helped shake off the heavy dread that had settled in his chest.
"Joo-shin, that girl you came out with at the gate—she in your class?"
"Huh? No, next class over, I think? Name's... Eunsu, maybe?"
"Damn, kid knows the girls in the next class already?"
"Eunsu's famous, so everyone in school knows her, not just me..."
"Why?"
"She's cute and all, but not that famous."
"Nah, it's not that. She doesn't come to school much. But Eunsu seems to like school and the teachers, which is weird."
"How do you know she likes school and teachers?"
"I stay for the rest of class every day. Mom used to pick me up, but now it's you—anyway, they call her in specially when the other classes are on so she can join. She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to, but on days she comes, she always stays till the end."
He wiped tteokbokki sauce from Joo-shin's mouth with a napkin and asked,
"So she attends all the classes till late on the days she shows up?"
"Yeah."
Sensing something in his expression, Kyung-soo stayed quiet until they reached the library. After dropping Joo-shin off in the kids' room, he asked right away,
"You figured something out, huh?"
"What?"
"Jong-hyuk said you have good instincts."
He hadn't explained the supernatural stuff in detail when saving Jong-hyuk's parents, so they probably thought he just had sharp intuition. If anything, it was a relief not to struggle through an impossible explanation.
"Looks like that girl... gets beaten at home."
"Knew it..."
"You sensed something too?"
"Yeah, back in school, there was this friend who always had a dark look. She had the same expression."
"How'd you tell just from her face?"
"Gae was a heavy sleeper in the mornings... Got on Hakju's bad side early semester. Started with tardies, then he'd beat him for no reason—just seeing him. Class thought Hakju was nuts. Kid was bright and like me at first, but one day he just got super dark. Then he transferred, and we lost touch."
"His parents knew and did nothing?"
"What could they do? Hakju's a big deal at school. Might even be vice principal someday. Our school wasn't public—run by some foundation with pull..."
"Can't ignore it. Let's report it to the station nearby."
"What? We didn't see it ourselves—they'll just say we're pranking."
"Better than letting it eat at me. I'll tell Joo-shin and come back... Wait here at the library, Kyung-soo."
Kyung-soo grabbed his arm as he turned to go.
"Might as well check out the station while we're at it. And two of us reporting sounds more credible than one, right?"
He'd never dealt with police even before the regression, so his heart raced a bit as he steadied himself and opened the station door.
A young patrol officer at the public window looked puzzled at the two middle schoolers entering the quiet interior.
"Kids?"
He stood slowly and asked again,
"What brings you here?"
A snoring sound from when they opened the door got drowned in the noise of our entrance, then turned into a clatter. Hearing a red-faced middle-aged cop cursing from the back, the young officer looked flustered and led them outside.
"Ah, the chief's on edge right now... So, what's up?"
"My brother's at Baek-sin Elementary. He says a girl in the next class skips school a lot."
"Name...?"
"Don't know the family name, but first name's Eunsu."
"Ah... Sim Eunsu..."
"You know her?"
"Can't say much. But thanks for reporting it."
"If you already know, why not go grab them?"
"Adult stuff gets in the way. Anyway, it's small, but good job observing and reporting. Piles up, and we can act stronger."
"It was bothering me."
"Not much, but take these drinks as thanks. For your brother too."
The young officer kindly logged the report, handed them drinks, and went back inside. Snoring leaked through the closing door, then cut off as it shut.
"That cop uncle's nice. Seems like a good guy."
"Yeah, a thousand times better than the snoring one."
Back at the library, he and Kyung-soo gave the drinks from the cop to Joo-shin and tried their original goal: searching the internet.
Dae-baek-gong... Dae-baek-gong...?
"Nothing."
"Dae-baek-gong?"
"No hits at all. Can't get a clue."
"Feels familiar..."
"Really?"
Kyung-soo was sharp despite spacing out around him sometimes—he was a top student who'd pass the judicial exam and become a prosecutor despite tough family finances. If he vaguely remembered, it was probably real.
"Where'd you see it?"
"Not library or school. I'm a bit of a print addict—read everything. Think it was on some signboard, really old... Not a shrine, but... Oh, yeah—during that local nature history tour."
"What? We did a local guide thing?"
"School trip to the local museum—probably gone now. Back when it was national school, now elementary? Anyway, during the intro talk, they plaster everything on the walls. Pretty sure that's it. Dae-baek-gong."
"So what's it mean?"
"Not exact, but An-nam City's earth god."
"What? Earth god?"
"Yeah, local deity—names vary by area. An-nam calls it Dae-baek-gong. Basically, the sealed name for the land spirit of that spot, given by the gods."
"If memory serves."
"So it is an earth god..."
That's why buying land unlocked new spells beyond the first ones. Better reflexes, more energy.
Did that mean buying more land would grant new powers? Instantly on purchase?
Learning Dae-baek-gong was an earth god sparked a flood of new questions, but it explained the beneficial changes, easing his mind on one front.
At least it's not some body glitch.