I Opened My Spirit Eyes by Self-Studying on the Internet

I hate mornings.

The moment I open my eyes, a triple whammy comes crashing down on me.

Low blood pressure, hitting the instant I open my eyes and try to get up! Heartburn, from shoving food into a body that hasn't fully woken yet! And last but not least, a stiff neck that greets you if your sleeping position is even slightly off!

That's why I've never understood the idiom "a refreshing morning."

But today was different.

I got out of bed and my head didn't spin. My stomach felt fine even after eating breakfast. My neck, far from being stiff, swung around smoothly like it had just received a full-course massage.

"Did the sun rise in the west?"

I checked outside the window, but no—it was rising right where it should be, in the east.

"So what was different about yesterday?"

The answer was obvious.

There was only one thing: the Seven Animals Frolics I'd read about and tried from a website called Dongbin's Dao Study Room.

"...It actually works?"

But my astonishment lasted only a moment before I scrambled to grab my clothes and headed out. My shift was starting soon.

I worked part-time on weekdays and weekends alike. Not because I was a money-crazed miser, but because of debt.

"That son of a bitch of a father."

My father—may he rot—had gotten blackout drunk during his mandatory military service, taken a wrong step, and gone straight to the afterlife. What he left behind was a small scar on my forehead from the ashtray he'd hurled at me in a drunken rage, and a pile of debt from a business venture he'd started without the slightest clue what he was doing.

"I shouldn't have fallen for that 'this time it's for real' bullshit and lent him my name..."

Wasting the best years of my youth paying off debts left by a father who never helped me once in my life. Normally I'd have sighed and sunk into depression, but today was different.

"The debt can go to hell, but hey—Dad's already dead, so at least he can't drag me down anymore. Silver linings!"

Back when I was sick, even the smallest negative thought would leave me floundering in gloom for ages. But now that my body was healthy, the depression shook off easily.

"Ahh, with a healthy body, even this cramped little one-room looks beautiful!"

Skitter skitter

A cockroach crawled out from under the bed.

Crunch!

"Not that part, though."

Anyway, today was the best day of my life.

The convenience store I worked at was one subway stop away—about a twenty-minute walk. Normally I'd take the train because I couldn't be bothered, but today was different. I decided to leave early and walk, so I could savor this wonderful feeling a little longer.

"Hm?"

As I strolled down the street with a spring in my step, I noticed something strange.

Here and there on the street, people were carrying a faint, whitish haze clinging to their shoulders.

"What... is that?"

A bizarre sight I'd never seen in my life.

Is this because of the Seven Animals Frolics? Some kind of side effect?

I hurriedly pulled up Dongbin's Dao Study Room.

"Hold on... so you're telling me that means I can see ghosts!?"

I was dumbfounded.

I did some breathing exercises and now I can see ghosts?

Does that make any sense at all?

No, wait—more importantly, didn't it say "when you reach a certain level"?

I did the Seven Animals Frolics for the first time yesterday.

...What am I supposed to do about this?

Would they stop being visible if I quit the exercises now?

No idea. But even if quitting would work, I had no intention of quitting.

Gotcha!

In a little over twenty years of living, this was the first time being alive had actually felt enjoyable.

You want me to give up this joy over a few ghosts?

Absolutely not.

Then again, how would I even know if I'm really seeing ghosts, or if my brain's just broken?

Maybe I got brainwashed by some cult, developed trauma, and now I'm hallucinating.

Yes, that theory is more convincing. No—forget convincing, it's certain. So I'll keep doing the Seven Animals Frolics. As for those weird things, I'll just pretend I don't see them.

With my thoughts settled, I picked up my pace again. There was one small fly in the ointment, but this was still the best day of my life.

"Hello."

When I arrived at the convenience store, I quickly got the handover and prepared to start my shift.

"...Hey."

"You're late again. Try to watch the clock, will you?"

That was when Choi Eun-ha, who worked the same shifts as me, showed up for work.

The store was big and located in the heart of downtown, so it got heavy traffic and always needed two part-timers on at once.

"Sorry."

Choi Eun-ha always said that and never made any effort to change—an infuriating person.

But I didn't press the point.

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Not because she was a college student fresh out of high school, but because she was the type people would call a delinquent—a genuine iljin thug.

Yellow-dyed hair, the smell of cigarettes clinging to her. Not the kind of person I wanted anything to do with.

Thanks to that, even though we'd worked together for over a month, I knew almost nothing about Choi Eun-ha as a person. I'd never cared to find out.

And why had I started caring now? Because right now, I had a reason to.

On Choi Eun-ha's shoulders.

That faint, whitish something I'd seen on the street was clinging there.

"......"

The people wearing that faint haze—which I still refused to acknowledge as ghosts—all had one thing in common.

Without exception, they looked pale and gave off a gloomy, downtrodden air.

"Haa..."

Choi Eun-ha was no exception.

She'd always radiated a brusque, combative energy befitting a delinquent, but I'd never seen her this deflated.

Still, I couldn't exactly come out and ask, "Hey, you've got a ghost stuck to your back? Been exploring some abandoned houses lately?"

And so, unable to say anything either way, my shift began.

"Excuse me, you gave me the wrong change."

"Oh, sorry about that."

"Not that—the other thing! The promotion!"

"Sorry..."

During her shift, Choi Eun-ha made mistake after mistake, looking like she was about to drop dead at any moment.

And me, on the other hand...

"Right this way, I'll ring you up here!"

"Oh, that's part of our promotion! It's one-plus-one, so grab another one!"

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"Packages go out this way, please~!"

When you feel good, even work is fun.

Work is fun. Dear God, the apocalypse is upon us...

Even by my own assessment, that was a horrifying sentence.

"Oh, the toothbrushes are over here!"

But it really was enjoyable.

The rush hour passed, and a lull settled in.

"...You're different today."

"Hm?"

Choi Eun-ha, who normally buried herself in her phone without a word, had actually struck up a conversation—rare for her.

"Usually you look like you're about to die and do everything you can to work less, but today..."

Apparently she was curious about my sudden transformation. And while she was at it, taking another jab at how useless I usually am.

The jab stung a little, but it was a perfect opening, as it happened.

"Well, Choi Eun-ha, you're looking pretty rough yourself today. Something happen during the week?"

Unlike me, who worked all seven days, Choi Eun-ha only worked Friday through Sunday.

"...Is it that obvious?"

Preens

She seemed reluctant to talk, opening and closing her mouth over and over.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. But sometimes just getting it off your chest makes things easier."

"...You're better with words than I expected. Why do you never talk normally, then?"

Because you never talk to me.

I swallowed the words that had climbed all the way up my throat and just smiled. For the sake of smooth communication, some things are better left unsaid.

"Actually... I recently watched someone die. Right in front of me."

"What?"

"A woman killed herself in my apartment complex... I was coming out for a smoke one night, and I saw her fall right in front of me. Ever since then, my body's felt kind of... off."

Whoa. Heavy stuff, way heavier than I expected.

And that was a problem for me.

Because if what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Choi Eun-ha said was true, the theory that the whitish haze was ghosts just gained a lot of weight.

My gaze drifted absently toward the faint haze on her shoulders, and a thought occurred to me.

Could you just brush that thing off by hand?

If Choi Eun-ha stayed like this, my workload would only grow. As much as I was enjoying work, I had zero interest in cleaning up someone else's mess.

For a moment I reached out my hand—then pulled it back.

In this day and age, an unsolicited touch could end your whole life. Weighing my options, I finally spoke up.

"Want me to massage your shoulders, at least?"

"...Huh?"

"You look like you went through something rough and your whole body's wound up tight. Loosening you up should help you feel better."

"...Is this flirting?"

What is this girl even saying...

"Suit yourself, then."

"Hmm. Well, are you actually any good at massages? I'm picky about this stuff."

Figures. Delinquents love ordering the pushy, meek kids around to rub their shoulders and whatnot.

And if my acupressure technique turned out to be garbage, then...

'This punk has no grip at all! One hit for that! No—two! No, three hits, minimum!'

...That's how it goes. She'd beat me black and blue and loosen up in the process.

"Judge for yourself."

"Well then..."

And just like that, I had a legitimate excuse to put my hands on Choi Eun-ha's shoulders.

Now, how do I handle this?

No, wait—am I even allowed to touch this thing?

Doesn't it transfer through contact?

After agonizing over it, I carefully stretched out my hand, and the moment I did—

"Huh?"

The warmth that had formed in my dantian during yesterday's Seven Animals Frolics moved on its own, gathering at my fingertips.

And the instant my warmed hand touched the faint haze—

Aaaaaaaaagh...!

With a scream, the haze melted away like snow in the sun.

"Hm?"

"Wh-what?"

"What did you just do? My body suddenly feels so much lighter?"

"What?"

I stared at my own hand in shock. But the warmth had already returned to my dantian.

What the hell is this, seriously?

"You've got some skills. Now massage my shoulders."

"Wait, you said your body felt lighter?"

"That's that, and this is this. You promised, didn't you?"

"......"

Crazy delinquent... I cursed her inwardly, but massaged her shoulders anyway.

"Ooh, not bad with those hands. You must have given a lot of massages back in school, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's enough for now. I'm gonna go restock the fridge, so watch the register."

As I loaded beer cans into the cooler, I replayed what had just happened in my head.

The moment I erased the haze and heard that scream, a memory that wasn't mine had flooded into me.

It was the memory of a young woman.

A woman whose spirit had been crushed by the debt her parents left behind, who had chosen death. She'd tried to renounce her inheritance, but her parents had named her as a co-signer on their loans, so even that was impossible. In the end, the woman resigned herself to everything and gave up on hope.

At the tail end of the memory were the last feelings the woman embraced as she fell from the rooftop and slammed into the cold pavement—and

"Ugh—f-fuck!"

Choi Eun-ha, frozen in terror at the sight of the dying woman, toppling backward.

"Urk...!"

I retched, remembering the despair the woman had felt, and the excruciating sensation of her body hitting the ground.

"Not something I could ever do twice."

The one mercy was that the instant my hand touched her, I'd felt relief emanating from the woman's spirit. If it hadn't been for that, my mood would've been a whole lot filthier right now.

She felt relieved, so I guess she passed on peacefully?

Seizing the moment, I pulled up Dongbin's Dao Study Room again. I wanted to know why merely touching her with my fingertips had been enough to send the woman's soul to rest.

"Hey, looks like the fridge is full. When are you coming out?"

"Oh—coming now."

Choi Eun-ha had come over to hurry me along mid-article. I hadn't finished reading, but I'd gotten the answers to what I was curious about.

"Do-ryeok, huh..."

According to the explanation, Do-ryeok was an exceptionally powerful form of spiritual energy. But it was also just as hard to accumulate.

It wasn't for nothing that every immortal in the media was portrayed as a doddering old grandfather.

So how did I accumulate Do-ryeok in a single day?

Sure, I'd done a couple months of dantian breathing back when the cult was working me over, but I doubted that had helped much...

"Could it be... that I'm a genius of the Dao?"

"What kind of nonsense is that? I'm stocking the fresh produce, so fix the mess those kids made and fill the shelves."

"Yep."

Swoosh, swoosh.

"If you're gonna eat in here, at least eat clean..."

Wiping buldak sauce off the counter, I solemnly pondered humanity's eternal conundrum: why do kids these days have no manners whatsoever?

Then—

Ding-a-ling.

I'd heard the convenience store door chime tens of thousands of times on the job. But this time, the sound lodged itself strangely deep in my ears.

I turned my head toward the entrance.

There stood a figure, jet-black from head to toe.

Just then, a story about ghosts I'd heard somewhere surfaced in my mind—the kind of tale about how people with opened spirit eyes couldn't distinguish the living from the dead when they were young.

"That was pure bullshit, huh..."

The instant I laid eyes on it, I just knew.

That thing was not human.