After-School Cleanup [2]

"Mr. Kim Dosa!"

Yu Min-seo came hurrying into the hotel restaurant, her face flushed red.

"...Please don't use that name somewhere this crowded."

"Oh, I'm sorry... then what should I call you?"

"Just call me Kim Yi-yeon."

"Yes, Yi-yeon."

While we ordered our meal and waited, I asked her a question.

"Can you see what's behind me?"

"Huh? You mean... the tiger-man who saved me, right...?"

Yu Min-seo gave a small, polite bow — thank you for back then — the way one might thank an elder.

So her spirit sight really is open...

Wang Lingguan had manifested, but he kept his form hidden from ordinary people. Which meant that without spirit sight, he was invisible.

So she genuinely has talent...

I'd already suspected as much. Lee Min-hee had shown no trace of psychic ability whatsoever. Which meant that summoning a high-ranking demon like Seire had been entirely Yu Min-seo's doing — and judging by Seire's reaction in the moments before his banishment, the summoner had been her beyond any doubt.

And then there was this.

Salomon was the Latin rendering; the name we all knew was Solomon. The Sorcerer-King who had tamed seventy-two demons. This was what the site bearing his name had written about Seire:

...Even a fool could tell who "that child" was supposed to be.

So, fine. Yu Min-seo had a gift for summoning magic. Okay. That deserved a congratulations.

The problem was...

Then why did this thing get sent to me?

Salomon's Anomaly Encyclopedia was divided into two broad categories. The first was the Summoning Compendium, built around Solomon's 72 Demons — a section covering how to call upon demons, spirits, and angels to borrow their power. A summoning grimoire, in other words. The other was the Anomaly Compendium — and for some reason, every anomaly I had encountered so far was registered in it.

Yes, fine, both categories are wonderful — a summoning grimoire, an anomaly bestiary. But why hand this to me? I'm not a mage. I'm a Daoist priest.

"Minseo, can you see this?"

"Huh? Forty... four H..."

"No, never mind."

Like Dongbin's Dao Study Room, Salomon's Anomaly Encyclopedia was invisible to everyone but me.

Is it telling me to learn summoning magic? Or is it telling me to teach it to Yu Min-seo?

Or... maybe both?

"Hmmmm..."

"Um... Yi-yeon? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Oh, our order's here — let's eat first."

Everything we ate, wore, or drank during our hotel stay was billed to the Paranormal Administration Bureau. So I ordered a full spread of the premium dishes I could never bring myself to pay for in daily life. Then I cut into a medium-rare steak — the first of my entire existence — and stared aghast at the barely-cooked cross-section.

"...Am I seriously allowed to eat this?"

"Hehehe, it's so red it's scary."

"By the way, the state's footing the whole bill here — don't the other Seonhwa High students come to eat?"

"...Everyone's still in shock."

"Fair... *chew* — oh, this is better than I expected — no, wait, this is insanely delicious!?"

How did I live twenty-two years without knowing something this delicious existed? I've been shortchanged on half my life~!

...And so, having finished the meal with that silent scream, and then...

"Minseo, what are you planning to do from here on out?"

"From here on out...?"

"You know — future plans. Transferring to a new high school, or, since it was such a traumatic event, taking a year off. Something like that."

"...I don't want to go back to school."

"Is that so?"

Yu Min-seo was currently a second-year in high school. Her grades were excellent, so rather than suffer through the pointless ordeal of adjusting to a brand-new school, it would be far more efficient for her to take the qualification exam and prepare for university entrance.

"To be honest... college feels out of reach anyway. It's just my mother and me at home — she's a widow. Since I won't be attending high school anymore regardless, I figure I'll work while studying for the qualification exam... and think about the rest later..."

Crunch, crunch.

I chewed the ice left in my glass as I listened to her story. Then I made my decision.

"If you're going to work anyway, want to work under me?"

"Huh?"

"The channel's grown enough that I've been thinking of hiring someone soon. If you're willing, want to give it a shot?"

"B-but I don't know the first thing about that field..."

"Then learn. Besides, this kind of work is always best done by people who love it, skill be damned."

"B-but... but..."

"You don't want to? If not, I suppose there's nothing I can d—"

"I-I'll do it! I will! Please let me work for you!"

"Good. One condition, though."

"Wh-what is it?"

"While you work, you'll be learning something from me."

"Learning? What, exactly..."

"Summoning magic."

I still had no idea who had sent me this site, or for what purpose. But...

They've done right by me, so I'll return the favor for now.

Besides, the channel being understaffed was a plain, stubborn fact.

And so Yu Min-seo was hired as an employee of Channel Kim Dosa.

Then I stayed where I was and waited for my next guest. Before long, the party in question appeared.

Yoon Soo-ah.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"Not at all. I just arrived."

Once seated, Yoon Soo-a hesitated for a moment before getting straight to the point.

"You concealed the fact that Yuminseo was involved in the incident. Why did you do that?"

"You clearly knew about it yourself and chose not to report it — surely you can guess my reasons?"

The single greatest obstacle to hiding Yu Min-seo's involvement had been Jung Seong-ho. He was the only person who had seen her descending from the school rooftop on the night that spilled over into October 12th. I'd gone to gag him as fast as I could, but Yoon Soo-ah had already extracted his statement by the time I got there.

Jung Seong-ho's eyewitness testimony wasn't definitive proof that Yu Min-seo had been involved in the demon summoning, but it was a highly significant lead. Frankly, I'd assumed everything was finished at that point... and yet, unexpectedly, Yoon Soo-ah had never passed the story up the chain.

I could guess why. Kindness on the flattering end of the scale, bleeding-hearted paternalism on the unflattering end — that was Yoon Soo-ah for you. We had spent a week together in the Corner Man's alley, so I knew it well. She'd heard Yu Min-seo's circumstances, pieced together the rough shape of the case, and sealed her lips out of sheer sympathy.

"I'm not sure this is the right thing to do..."

"For that girl, it is."

"...But someone does have to keep watch over her. Having summoned a demon prince of that caliber, she must already be spiritually precarious as it is."

"I've taken responsibility for her, so you can put that worry to rest."

At those words, Yoon Soo-ah's eyes went round.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing... you're more considerate than you appear. You did call me repulsive the moment we met, after all..."

"...The Bureau is held in such open contempt among psychics that I overreacted. If I hurt your feelings over that, I apologize."

Hmm. Yeah, I had probably leaned too hard into the persona that day. Or, to be precise, I'd hammed it up so thoroughly that no one would connect me to Kim Ji-woo.

"So... I'll understand that Yuminseo is Kim Yi-yeon's responsibility. Still — just to be safe — could I possibly get a contact number?"

"...Mine?"

"Yes! Yes! I, um, I didn't report it up the chain, but, well, it is still a situation that requires attention... I-I personally need to monitor Yuminseo's condition, and for that I need the number of her guardian, Mr. Kim Yi-yeon!"

"...Is this flirting?"

"Wh-what are you saying...!"

"Just kidding. I'll give you the number, so stop making that heartbreakingly pathetic face."

"...Mr. Kim Yi-yeon."

"Yes?"

"Did we truly meet for the first time at my uncle's house?"

"Yes. That was the first time."

"...I see."

We exchanged phone numbers, finished the meal, and I sent Yoon Soo-ah on her way first. The hotel server who'd brought out our dishes...

'So he's meeting another woman at the same table?'

...shot me a look absolutely brimming with that sentiment, but explaining would have been more exhausting than it was worth, so I played dumb. And settled in to wait for my third guest at that same seat.

"Ah, aaah, Mr. Kim Dosa!"

The third guest was Faye Merlion.

"Please receive the items."

The reason I'd arranged to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠meet her was to return the ritual implements I'd borrowed from Gong No-sa.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! My master said she'd kill me if I failed to bring them back...!"

Knowing that hag, if I hadn't returned them, she'd have tried to kill me too.

It was a shame to hand them back, but I had no intention of picking a fight with a Special-Grade psychic over it. And honestly, part of me had figured it didn't matter much anyway.

'Kukuku, that one has already tasted my X, you know? Do you really think you can satisfy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it? Soon enough it will be tormented by unfulfilled desire and have no choice but come crawling back to me! Kukukukuku!'

X, for the record, means the hand. Just so nobody gets the wrong idea...

That was a long digression, but the point was this: even having left the hand, the things still recognized themselves as my possessions. The kind of possession that would come running the instant you called.

Amid all that, there was also an unexpected windfall.

"My master said only the Fire-Tipped Spear needs to come back! The rest are fine for you to keep, Mr. Yi-yeon!"

The Black Lotus Vajra Pestle and the Stone Soul Bell. Both inferior to the Fire-Tipped Spear, but genuinely useful implements all the same.

"Since I've returned the goods, may I ask you one thing?"

"Yes! Ask me anything! For reference, my three measurements are—"

"I couldn't care less about any of that. What exactly was the concession Deva tried to extract from the Paranormal Administration Bureau?"

"Ah... that..."

Faye hesitated. But she soon seemed to steel herself and laid out the specific terms of the concession.

"...And what would you even use something like that for? It wouldn't reproduce properly anyway..."

"I don't know the details either. I just do as my master tells me..."

The concession Deva had intended to request from the Bureau: custody of every piece of psychic-related footage the Paranormal Administration Bureau had collected to date. What did they plan to do with a pile of glitch-cursed recordings like that?

I was curious, but I decided not to dig too deep. I hadn't meant to get entangled this thoroughly in the first place, and I had no intention of cozying up to either the Bureau or Deva. Moderation is the golden rule of everything.

With that, I finished my meal with Faye Merlion as well.

"Phew... well, that wrings this free-ride well dry."

As I left the restaurant cradling my distended belly, the staff's chatter drifted up from behind me.

"That guy... met three different women at the same table?"

"Not two legs but three, huh..."

"He's the enemy of womankind, that one!"

"And one of them looked like a minor, too..."

I hurried out of the restaurant, leaving the murmuring behind.

'Three legs my ass! I've never so much as dated anyone!'

Too convoluted to explain, so I swallowed my tears along with the words.

The Seonhwa High mass disappearance. And the President's bizarre death.

The chaos those two incidents inflicted on South Korea was far smaller than anyone might have expected. The Paranormal Administration Bureau, of course, along with every sector of society, had come forward and desperately buried the whole affair. As a result, the deaths of the Seonhwa High students were recast as casualties of a virus that had spread through the school, and the President's death was doctored into a car accident during an overseas trip. Both were enormous news stories — but each a hundred times milder than the truth.

However, the real chaos began in an unexpected place.

The story of Kim Yi-yeon exorcising the high-ranking demon Seire had spread overseas.

"A Demon Slayer... so a new sword of the Lord has been born."

"The birth of a new Special-Grade?"

The Rose Cross, a secret society in Germany.

"A spear of flame with the power to slay a high-ranking demon... could it be — the Fire-Tipped Spear?"

Even China's Kunlun Sect.

The attention of psychics across the globe converged on the first Demon Slayer to emerge in decades.

Since the twentieth century, incidents of a high-ranking demon descending upon the present world numbered fewer than five — even counting the two most famous: the Tunguska explosion of 1908, and the great ritual of a hundred thousand sacrifices conducted by the Nazis. And of those, cases in which the demon was defeated head-on and exorcised numbered exactly two. That the eyes of the world would fixate on this was simply the natural order of things.

But no matter how scorching an issue this was within the psychic community, the number of psychics in existence was so fundamentally small that, in sheer scale, it remained a tempest in a teacup.

Then, as though intent on planting a spike of tension into the Paranormal Administration Bureau's lax state of mind, a genuine typhoon came roaring in.

"Wha—! What the hell is this insane video, and who on earth leaked it!?"

The screen before Baek Gong-ju showed Kim Dosa exorcising anomalies at Seonhwa High. And at the end, the scene of the high-ranking demon Seire being skewered unfolded before her eyes.

It was impossible. Anomalies and the mystical never manifest on photographs or video. Even on the rare occasions something was caught, the footage warped and degraded, never leaving behind a usable image. This was the foundational premise upon which the Masquerade Alliance had been able to keep its masquerade going all these years.

And the video playing before her now declared, unmistakably, that that premise had collapsed.

"T-Team Lead! The Director is calling for—!"

"Madam Director, but the prepared distractions have already all been spent on Seonhwa High and the President—!"

"Then start making new ones right now! Dig enough and you'll find something! If you intend to sit on your hands through this, then move!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

'Who in the world? ...And how?'

Baek Gong-ju replayed the video over and over, her face a mask of confusion. Of all the machines humanity had ever built, only a single one had ever succeeded in interfacing with the world of anomalies and mystery: the ectophone, that masterpiece of madness Thomas Edison — father of the lightbulb — had wrought in his final years, and the copies made of it.

But even that had never captured anomalies and the mystical this crisply on video.

'Who else in this world... what organization could possibly have done this...'

One company's name surfaced in Baek Gong-ju's mind, unbidden.

'Cosmos.'

A global corporation wielding the finest technology on the planet. The company where her son, Yoon Chang-sik, had made his home. And the single greatest sponsor of Deva.

'Don't tell me those bastards finally—!'

Baek Gong-ju grit her teeth.

The Bureau fought desperately to stop the video from spreading, but the nature of the internet imposed its limits. In the end, the footage spread far and wide among the public, until it finally reached the desks of broadcasting professionals.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"PD, did you see this video?"

"What? Oh, that thing? It's AI, obviously."

"The experts are saying it's not AI, though."

Park Moo-ho, a young new hire at MBB, showed the Seonhwa High footage to PD Choi Ji-hoon.

"So what, you're actually trying to tell me you think it's real? Weak."

"No, it's not that... but there have been a lot of strange incidents in Korea lately, haven't there?"

"That's..."

The Seonhwa High mass disappearance. The man-eating tiger on Bukhansan that lured hikers by mimicking human voices. The subway station that didn't exist and ate the people who boarded there.

Park Moo-ho's point wasn't entirely baseless.

"Still, this is a step too far. Occult or paranormal is one thing — this is just straight-up high fantasy?"

"Well... kyaa, I'll say this though — the video quality is killer~ When exactly did AI get this good?"

Park Moo-ho burst into open admiration at the shot of the blue-flamed spear piercing Seire's chest. Watching him, PD Choi Ji-hoon gave him an earful.

"If you've got time to waste gawking at that, come up with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some planning ideas of your own!"

"Ehehe, sorry! I'm not exactly gifted in that department..."

"Oh, for crying out loud..."

Choi Ji-hoon sighed. Thanks to the string of anomaly incidents of late, the broadcasting world was in the grip of a paranormal-and-horror-occult programming boom. MBB had lagged behind the trend and was scrambling to prepare its own supernatural show — but...

'Every usable format and every famous name in the industry has already been snapped up by the other stations. Nothing feels fresh anymore...'

Just as PD Choi Ji-hoon was wracking his brain over the new program,

"Oh."

"What? Did you finally think of a good idea?"

"No, it's not that... it's hard to say since the face never gets captured clearly, but... the man in this video, doesn't he look kind of like Kim Dosa...?"

"Kim Dosa?"

"A YouTube channel I watch."

"Tell me more."

Intrigued by the ridiculous name, PD Choi Ji-hoon dug in. Park Moo-ho hesitated at first, but soon warmed to the subject and rambled on and on about Channel Kim Dosa. And the more he heard, the more distinctive — the more genuinely entertaining — the character sounded.

'There's a subtle con-artist vibe to him, but in a way that's oddly likable...'

Every broadcaster who looked credible had already been used up by rival stations. So then — why not build the show around someone a little con-artist-ish instead, and give it a light, breezy tone?

'Might actually work.'

"Moo-ho, can you get that guy's broadcast contact info?"

Twenty years in the broadcasting industry. PD Choi Ji-hoon's instincts were whispering to him.

This one will hit.