A Hell Called School

Even after creating the guardian deity Wang Lingguan, my sorcery training continued for a while.

After all, they say nothing in life is wasted on learning — whatever you pick up, there'll be a use for it someday.

And it turned out the chance to see the fruits of that training arrived sooner than I expected.

"What is it, Momo?"

These days, Tsukumo Momo handled the management of my channel.

I'd originally planned to hire an actual manager, but Tsukumo Momo—

I can't believe this...! Does Mr. Kim Dosa not trust me!?

—had tearfully pleaded her case like that, so I'd left it to her.

"Thank you. I know you're busy showing your relatives around, so feel free to take it easy — I can manage my own channel."

After hanging up, I followed the link she'd sent.

It was the most recently posted video.

This was one of the viewers who'd been watching my videos since back when I explored abandoned houses with Tsukumo Momo.

She'd thrown donations at my very first stream and regularly typed chat claiming I was her big brother, her friend, whatever she could think of.

"Seonhwa High School..."

The name was familiar.

It was one of the names that had come up in the recent anomaly cases I'd asked Lee Ha-ram to investigate.

The case where, one day, all 300 students and staff at a school simply vanished without a trace.

The world had been told that an infectious disease outbreak at the school had put the children in the hospital — but according to Ha-ram's investigation, not a single hospital in the area had admitted a mass influx of students that day.

And now SIGISIGI was claiming to be one of the students who had vanished from that very school.

I went over SIGISIGI's post again, carefully this time.

"Trapped in the school... and monsters eating people..."

It wasn't hard to piece together what had happened.

They've been dragged into an Inner Space — every single person who was in that school.

"Hah...!"

A hollow laugh escaped me before I knew it.

I'd encountered two anomalies that used Inner Spaces so far. One was the Corner Man; the other was the main body of Solitude.

But the number of people those things could drag inside their domains was, at most, one or two.

Granted, "number of people who can be pulled into an Inner Space" doesn't equal "strength." Still, there was no denying that the anomaly that had swallowed Seonhwa High School was among the largest in scale of anything I'd ever faced.

Maritime Sea upper grade... or maybe even a full Spiritual Calamity?

A spiritual catastrophe. I hadn't experienced one yet, but the name alone told you how dangerous it would be.

First, let's gather more information on Seonhwa High.

I asked Ha-ram to dig up everything he could, and he delivered — in this area, the kid was remarkably capable. Student rosters, staff directories, assorted records; he'd assembled the whole pile in a few hours.

"What the hell even are you?"

"Hehe, gathering information is just a hobby of mine."

The collected data was substantial, but unfortunately, none of it related to the anomaly. Well, that just meant the Paranormal Administration Bureau wasn't as sloppy as all that.

Which left exactly one avenue.

Swoosh.

I pulled out the business card Shin Han-hee had given me. A QR code was printed on it — go through there, and I'd find more detailed information.

Until now I'd avoided it out of some vague distaste, but with things as they were, I had no other options. That said, I fully intended to lay down a few minimal safety nets first.

"Ha-ram, can you get me a burner phone?"

"What's this about, Master?"

"Well, it's..."

The moment he heard my explanation, Ha-ram had a burner ready in no time. And then—

"I've also handled the security on it. Short of something extreme, you won't be traced."

"Thanks, Ha-ramon!"

And so, with maximum risk mitigation courtesy of Ha-ramon's efforts, I accessed Deva's site.

Apparently this was already old news in the industry, because there were quite a few posts about Seonhwa High School.

Browsing through the other posts filled in the broad picture of the Seonhwa High School situation.

More than a week had already passed since the school fell into the Inner Space — to be precise, it happened only a few days after I'd wrapped up my very first stream.

The grade of the anomaly that had swallowed Seonhwa High was unknown. I suspected they were worried that once an anomaly crossed into Spiritual Calamity territory, even the pocket-money crowd would stop showing up.

And the current clearing operation was in serious trouble. As of right now, the Bureau reportedly hadn't even managed to enter the Inner Space that had swallowed the school.

Once I'd compiled all the information, I made my decision.

I suppose I'll have to go see it for myself.

The anomaly at Seonhwa High School was currently the largest anomalous phenomenon in all of Korea. Naturally, the eyes of every faction in the country would be fixed on it. Which meant Seonhwa High was, at this moment, a microcosm of the entire Korean psychic industry.

Seeing the power map of Korea's psychics with my own two eyes while I was at it wouldn't be a bad deal.

And—

If there's time, I'll save SIGISIGI too.

As it happened, SIGISIGI had been the very first viewer to donate to my stream.

Typical of a viewer who'd come in through the Momo Tomo stream — it was a thank-you for saving Momo.

I've said this so often lately that it's practically worn into my mouth, but let me say it once more:

"I'm a man who delivers value for the money."

Fan service has to be rock solid. And I'd get to check the results of my level-up while I was at it.

"I have to go myself."

"You will not."

"We've already wasted enough time. Shouldn't we at least save the children who are still alive?"

In the Director's office at the Paranormal Administration Bureau headquarters, a middle-aged man and an old woman were locked in conversation.

Baek Gong-ju, and Yu Dong-cheol, the Bureau's Director. In truth, what passed between them was less a conversation than a tug-of-war.

Baek Gong-ju insisting on going to the Seonhwa High site, and Yu Dong-cheol holding her back.

"If you leave, Madam Baek, who will handle the duties you've been carrying? Is there anyone in the Bureau who can stand in for you? And above all — if something were to happen to you there, what then?"

"Has your brain calcified to the point you can't do arithmetic anymore? How do you not understand that a bunch of fresh young lives matters a damn sight more than this old woman's?"

Baek Gong-ju tried desperately to persuade him, but he wouldn't budge an inch.

"Continue to carry out your appointed responsibilities, Madam Baek. Each of us has our own duty."

Duty, my ass!

Baek Gong-ju ground her teeth inwardly. More than half of that precious "duty" entrusted to her was building magical defenses for high-ranking government officials — protections so that foreign psychics or anti-government psychics couldn't assassinate them. Important work, granted, but it was the kind of thing you did around the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠edges, and having them pull this card in a genuine emergency made her blood boil.

Besides, the defensive framework was already built. Maintaining it was something anyone could do in her place.

And yet they dug in their heels like this — because, in the end, the top brass had decided they'd rather see every one of those children die than risk a speck of dust landing on themselves.

Urajin bastards...!

She'd accepted a certain amount of absurdity and filth when she joined the Bureau. But never in her wildest years had she imagined it ran this deep.

"...You know the Bureau's current position as well as I do... It was a necessary choice for the sake of social order."

"Order? Hehehehe. Whose order is this 'order,' exactly? The order of the privileged few who already have theirs, isn't it? And you can't even keep up that puny little order of yours. Another tragedy like the Jinhyeon-gun incident — are you confident you could stop it next time?"

The conversation she'd had with her son not long ago dug into her chest like a stiletto.

She kept trying to move Yu Dong-cheol even after that, but his mind never bent. No — he had no authority to bend it in the first place; he was nothing but a mouthpiece for the people above him.

Having failed to get her way, Baek Gong-ju walked out of the Director's office, thinking of two people.

Soo-ah... and Team Leader Kang of Team 3. You two are the only ones I can trust now.

Meanwhile, things weren't going well for Yoon Soo-ah and Team 3's Kang In-hyuk either — the very people Baek Gong-ju had pinned her hopes on.

"Team Leader, the anomalous phenomenon is spreading toward the areas around the school."

"Mobilize the contracted psychics and hold the line! Reinforce the barriers too!"

"Team Leader, the major media outlets are starting to take an interest in this. YouTube channels covering it are popping up, and the conspiracy channels have latched on."

"Apply pressure on the media through government channels! Manipulate the algorithm and bury the YouTube stuff — if that doesn't work, file a formal request to headquarters in the name of the Masquerade Alliance!"

"Related ghost stories are spreading on social media."

"Push a celebrity scandal to flood the cycle! Spreading ghost stories can spawn derivative anomalies — move fast on this!"

In the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠twenty-first century, every student and staff member of a famous private high school had vanished — a massive incident. The Jinhyeon-gun case had been larger in raw scale, but thanks to the changing times, this one was far harder to bury.

"Um... Team Leader? An executive from Deva has requested a meeting."

It was then that Yoon Soo-ah entered the tent HQ erected on the Seonhwa High School athletic field and spoke.

"Deva? An executive, no less? What would they want..."

The Bureau, which controlled psychics, and Deva, which fought for their freedom, were natural enemies. To be fair, the Bureau didn't openly discriminate against known Deva members. It merely adjusted their management risk rating slightly upward. But at the executive level, it was another story entirely.

Deva's executives weren't just capable — every last one of them was dead serious about liberating psychics.

Why would one of them be here? And why would they want to meet a Bureau team leader — practically the enemy?

Before Kang In-hyuk could even grant permission, the Deva people walked straight into the temporary HQ.

"My, my. How confident, a criminal walking around with her chin up."

"A criminal? And whom would you mean?"

Smiling, a woman with sun-bronzed skin and an intellectual air, platinum-blonde bob framing her face, answered him. In the psychic world, she was a name that carried real weight.

Her name was Faye Merlion.

A top-tier sorceress of Singapore who had killed the nation's defense minister with sorcery and fled.

I thought she'd be holed up in some tourist resort somewhere — never imagined she'd joined Deva...

Gulp.

Kang In-hyuk swallowed without meaning to. That was how dangerous the woman before him was.

"So what business does a man on a public wanted list have here?"

"A public wanted list? Hardly — that's an exaggeration. There was merely a small misunderstanding."

Faye Merlion defended her situation in flawlessly fluent Korean. But she seemed entirely unbothered by whether he regarded her as a criminal or not, and cut straight to business.

"Hand command of this site over to us, Deva."

"...Have you lost your mind?"

"That's a question you should be hearing from us — you're the ones who failed to resolve this until it reached this point, aren't you?"

Kang In-hyuk bit his tongue inwardly at her retort. Because he had no argument to make.

"And above all — you haven't even found a way into the Inner Space yet, have you?"

"That's..."

Yes. That was the single biggest problem. The Bureau still hadn't found a way to breach the Inner Space that had swallowed Seonhwa High.

"And has Deva found a way in?"

"We have experts standing ready. With their power, we will tear down the Inner Space's boundary by force."

"Th-that's insanity!"

Tearing down the boundary of an Inner Space meant releasing the anomalous space — sealed away in a separate world — back into reality itself.

"Who gave you permission to commit such madness?"

"I did."

Just then, one more person entered the temporary HQ.

It was a face quite familiar to Kang In-hyuk — and to every citizen of the Republic of Korea.

"Mister President... it's a relief to see you looking so well."

"Heheh, my health has improved as of late."

"Then what brings Your Excellency to this place...?"

Lee Jin-seok, the sitting President of South Korea, had appeared without warning. A president who had been gravely ill and rarely made public appearances of late had shown up in person — and once he did, the reason he'd thrown his weight behind Deva wasn't hard to guess.

"You already know everything, so I'll be brief. It's to save my granddaughter, Min-hee."

Among the students attending Seonhwa High — now swallowed by the Inner Space — was the President's own granddaughter, Lee Min-hee.

Damn it all...

With the President's authority behind her, Faye Merlion pushed hard for tearing down the Inner Space's boundary. Kang In-hyuk tried every angle to refuse, but once the President had taken their side, he had no chance of winning.

"For now... for now, grant us some time. Even if we truly must tear down the boundary, we should make ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every effort to minimize the casualties, shouldn't we? It's already lunchtime, so let's continue this discussion a little later..."

"Very well. Let it be so."

Wearing the smile of a victor — and chatting familiarly with the President as if to flaunt their connection — Faye Merlion left the temporary HQ. And Kang In-hyuk could do nothing but see her off like a wretched, defeated man.

"Team Leader..."

"Let's... let's eat first. This is all so we can live, after all... Everyone out, let's get lunch first."

"Yes, sir..."

And so, as Kang In-hyuk and the HQ staff made their way toward the catering trucks laid on outside, his eyes caught the crowd of externally hired psychics gathered there.

Half of them were poseurs who could barely be called psychics at all, and half were Deva's people. The remaining half were unmotivated types who'd come for pocket change.

At Baek Gong-ju's suggestion, the budget for external hires had been increased — but there was little to show for it.

"Huh?"

Then Yoon Soo-ah stared at the hired psychics with wide, startled eyes. And suddenly, she bolted toward them.

"Soo-ah!?"

Startled, Kang In-hyuk hurried after her.

Where Yoon Soo-ah had stopped stood a tall, solidly built man with a somewhat gruff, unapproachable look about him.

"Mr. Kim Dosa! It's been so long!"

"Yes... it has."

The man called Kim Dosa answered with an expression that was anything but pleased to see her.

"Team Leader, this is him! The one I told you about before—"

"Ah..."

At those words, Kang In-hyuk understood who stood before him.

Kim Dosa — real name Kim Yi-yeon. A mysterious master who had appeared out of nowhere, and the very man who had resolved the incident at the home of Baek Gong-ju's son, Yoon Chang-sik. The Bureau was currently investigating his background from every angle, with no results whatsoever. He was, quite literally, a man who seemed to have dropped from the sky.

"Um, Team Leader — what if we borrowed Mr. Kim Dosa's wisdom?"

"What?"

"Mr. Kim Dosa isn't just about spiritual power — his deductive reasoning is truly incredible!"

It was true. Judging from Yoon Soo-ah's account, this Kim Yi-yeon's deductive ability was considerable — especially his reasoning about spiritual phenomena, which had been nothing short of astonishing.

If he could pick up even the smallest clue, we might at least prevent Deva from tearing down the Inner Space's boundary in that lunatic scheme of theirs...

"Hey, I never said I'd do anything, so what's with the—"

"Ah, my apologies. I'm Kang In-hyuk, Team Leader of Team 3 at the Paranormal Administration Bureau. First, let me apologize for discussing business over your head like this without warning."

"...Fine."

Kim Yi-yeon shrugged.

"You may already be aware, but the situation on the ground isn't good. The biggest problem, in particular, is that no one's found a way into the Inner Space."

Kang In-hyuk ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠laid everything out honestly — the situation with Deva, and how they intended to tear open the Inner Space's boundary by force with the President's authority behind them.

"So what exactly do you want from me?"

"Nothing extravagant. Only — using that deductive mind of yours — would you consider working with us to find a way into the Inner Space before Deva tears down its boundary? Naturally, you won't be doing it for free."

Kang In-hyuk named the largest figure he could stretch his available budget to cover.

"...Not a bad offer."

And so Kim Yi-yeon followed Kang In-hyuk and Yoon Soo-ah into the temporary HQ.

After spending roughly ten minutes going over the materials they'd assembled, Kim Yi-yeon tossed out his words casually, like flicking away a bit of lint.

"I've figured out the entry conditions for the Inner Space."

"I'm sorry?"

"WHAT!?"

Looking at the stunned faces of Kang In-hyuk and Yoon Soo-ah, Kim Yi-yeon added one more line.

"You spent over a week floundering around, and you couldn't even find this?"