Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Ghost Bridge Society 3
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Nati gazed at Ibi with impassive eyes. The late summer sun beat down fiercely, naturally narrowing them into thin slits. They faced each other like that for a moment before Nati abruptly stood up.
"Let's move somewhere else."
It had taken nearly twenty minutes to walk from the Flower Mugwort Tea House to here. Having endured the scorching August heat all the way, Ibi raised her eyebrows slightly.
"Can't we just talk here? The breeze feels nice."
The sun was intense, but autumn was creeping in, making the air pleasantly cool. Under the shade of the octagonal pavilion, the blowing wind felt quite refreshing.
But Nati shook his head.
"Too many eyes watching."
At those words, Ibi looked around in bewilderment. There was hardly a soul nearby—just a few kids playing along the riverbank.
But Nati offered no further explanation, merely glancing briefly at the river water. Even that didn't last long. He trudged over to Ibi and beckoned her to follow as he headed down the stairs.
Ibi started to protest but held her tongue. She didn't know the full story, but he was the one who'd exorcised that Guest, after all. And that's exactly why she was here—to hear the details.
Trailing behind him, though, she realized they were mostly retracing her steps. If that was the case, why had he called her all the way out to the pavilion?
She even suspected they might be heading back to the tea house, but thankfully, that wasn't it. Nati led her into a modest little bar.
"Isn't it closed?"
It wasn't even early evening yet. What bar opens at this hour?
But Nati calmly pulled a key from his back pocket and unlocked the door. He stepped inside and flicked on the air conditioner as if it were the most natural thing.
"Is this your place?"
Nati shook his head at Ibi's question.
"Just a regular."
With that, he ducked behind the counter, grabbed a bottle of liquor, and asked Ibi,
"You like sake?"
"I like pretty much anything that goes in my mouth."
Truth be told, Ibi was pretty irritated from trudging back and forth in the heat for no good reason, but that question instantly softened her mood. Free drinks were great, and booze was great. Together? Even better.
Nati unhesitatingly pulled out a bottle that looked expensive and poured her a glass. She took a sip without hesitation, and the crisp sensation shot straight to her skull with a delightful zing. Humanity's history began with alcohol, after all.
As Nati rummaged through the fridge and even brought out frozen karaage, Ibi tilted her head.
Well, it wasn't really her business, but...
"You're just a regular—sure it's okay to use all that?"
"I've got a huge tab. It's fine."
How does that make it fine? Ibi found it absurd but let it slide. She wasn't here to quibble over that.
"I'm Kang Ibi."
"Call me Nati."
They already knew each other, but they exchanged names anyway. Nati—what an unusual name.
"Right. You've gotta have a ton of questions."
For once, the vibe suggested he'd actually answer them willingly. When he held out his glass, Ibi clinked hers against it and took the opening.
"I have so many I wanna ask... I don't even know where to start."
"Take your time. You're in luck today."
He didn't say it outright, but the implication was clear: Days when I'm this nice don't come often, so be grateful.
Handsome face doesn't make up for everything. Ibi thought he was a jerk but swallowed her irritation.
But Nati felt a surge of bafflement at Ibi's very first question.
"Your family name wouldn't happen to be Na, would it?"
"...What?"
"Nati—what kind of weird name is that? Did your parents have some quirky taste for naming you 'Ti' if your surname was Na? Or do you have a different family name? Kim Nati? Jeong Nati? Those sound pretty odd too."
Nati stared at her blankly. She'd gone from mocking his name to insulting his parents in seconds, all while looking at him innocently.
"...You wanna play joke tag or something?"
"Huh? I'm serious. How do you have a conversation when you know nothing about the other person?"
Her eyes said she meant it. Nati let out a hollow chuckle and scratched the back of his head.
"You're no picture of normal yourself."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"A compliment."
Nati shrugged. Ibi looked distinctly displeased, but to him, it seemed like genuine sincerity.
"No family name, no real given name either. Just something I picked. No point calling me by my birth name anyway—you don't need to know it. Hell, even I've half-forgotten it by now."
What kind of talk was that? Ibi pressed a finger to her lips and pondered for a moment. Then, as if struck by a thought, she pointed it straight at Nati.
"Ah! Eighth-grader syndrome?"
"...You gonna ask your questions or not?"
Ibi's face soured as she toyed with her empty glass, thinking. Questions—she had plenty. Too many, even; she didn't know where to begin.
"I... don't even know how to put it. What was that thing I went through yesterday? Or was it yesterday? You said almost a month passed. That's the first thing confusing me. What happened to me? Did I really almost die?"
"Crystal clear on that one. Might've been worse than death, even. Be grateful you're here knocking back drinks."
His words sent a chill down Ibi's spine.
It made the horrors inside that box suddenly feel all too real. Maybe because it was so utterly bizarre. She'd escaped less than a day ago, yet it felt like something from a dream.
"...That 'Guest'... what the hell was it? Some kind of evil spirit?"
"Close, but not quite. Not an evil spirit—an Epidemic Ghost. It spreads disease, sure, but that's just one piece of how the world works. Hard to slap 'evil' on it outright."
"Ha, really? From where I was standing, it felt pretty damn different. Look what it did to me—an innocent person. And you're saying that's not evil?"
Nati shifted in his seat, fixing Ibi with a serious stare.
"Exactly. That's the key point. Why was that Guest so obsessively vicious?"
"...You're not expecting me to have the answer."
"Nope. That's my question."
"......"
Ibi fell silent. Her glass was refilled with fresh sake. Nati set the bottle down and pulled out a few crumpled newspapers from behind the bar, spreading them open.
"This is..."
Ibi pulled one closer to read but immediately grimaced. She recognized the articles.
She could guess the contents, so she quickly scanned the headlines. 'Girl A's Body Found Dead,' 'Orphanage Stonewalls Questions,' 'Public Outrage Mounts'... That sort of thing.
Just skimming them made her stomach churn. She pressed a hand to her forehead and shoved the papers away.
"Yeah, I remember this case. I must've been nineteen or so... But why bring it up now? What does it have to do with me? Why would this Girl A try to kill me?"
Nati reached over and flipped through the papers Ibi had pushed aside.
"Not always the case, but people who die from illness often turn into Guests. This girl seems to have died with some serious resentment. Let's see... Day 5: Green Sound Orphanage director found dead. The place where Girl A grew up. According to the article, this director kicked her out—flu-stricken and all—without paying a dime for treatment."
Ibi knew the gist of that much. She nodded for Nati to continue.
"What a piece of trash."
"Right? So Girl A, dying of the flu on the streets, became an Epidemic Ghost and hunted down the director who abandoned her. His cause of death? Flu too, though he showed no symptoms the day before... That clinches it."
"Didn't you say it wasn't a Vengeful Ghost?"
"Freshly dead spirits are different. She probably didn't even know she was dead—or what she'd become."
"......"
Ibi bowed her head. Her stomach felt queasy, so she drained her refilled glass.
"Okay... fine, up to there. But that still doesn't explain why it targeted me."
Nati silently selected another paper.
"Day 3: Eyewitness spots Girl A wandering near the cafe street in Woncheon City's Seongnok District. Sick and aimless, she asked some shop to let her warm up. Problem was, she had no money. The cafe owner callously chased her off."
Ibi's eyes trembled. A heartless, selfish cafe owner... She couldn't help thinking of the place where she'd worked. So the Guest had come there for revenge on the owner, and she'd just gotten caught in the crossfire?
"Still... doesn't add up. She got revenge on the orphanage director right away—why'd this one take three years?"
"She must've been on death's door when she entered that cafe. Delirious, barely clinging to life—probably couldn't remember where it was. Even after dying, same deal."
"And it took three years to find it? Plus, you said Vengeful Ghost behavior only happens right after death. You're saying she didn't know she was dead for three whole years?"
Nati raised his glass with a grim expression.
"Yeah. You nailed it. Too many loose ends. So from here on, we're in speculation territory..."