Chapter 1
"Ghosts aren't visible." I haven't always been a bad adult like this. I certainly wasn't a bad kid. Even I had a childhood full of dreams and hopes.
"Oh! Moon-soo, a patient's guardian is desperately waiting for you."
"This is the one hospital I didn't want to come to..."
"Hey! Is that something you say in front of the hospital director who's giving you work?"
"Yes."
"You little punk... You were so sweet when you carried that backpack."
"I was naive back then."
That's when my humanity and my life started to go off the rails.
* * *
"Moon-soo. I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"Still, I'm sorry. For not being good parents."
"......"
I was speechless at my father's sincere apology as he lay weakly in the university hospital's ICU. Where had things gone wrong? A meaningless question.
"The doctor said your blood alcohol level was extremely high at the time of the accident."
It wasn't drunk driving. The car that held our fond memories had long been sold on the used market.
"It was tough."
"Yeah."
He was saying it was so tough he'd started chugging booze the moment he opened his eyes in the morning. A child can't lecture their parent not to make excuses, so I just listened quietly. It was true that things were tough.
"If I hadn't been so stubborn..."
"You didn't know it'd turn out like this."
My father had tried to change his life and failed spectacularly—enough to wreck his body and mind.
"I wanted to make a lot of money and become rich."
"Yeah."
Dissatisfied with his low-paying job, my father had always been obsessed with stocks and real estate. This was the result.
"I was arrogant."
"It's not your fault, Dad. The problem was all those people hyping you up with success stories."
It wouldn't comfort him, but I wanted to say something.
"I thought I was different."
"It went well at first."
I could still clearly picture my father, convinced he'd strike it rich any day now. It wasn't that long ago.
"But you can't beat innate talent. I wasn't even competing—I was just dancing in the palm of their hands."
"......"
Listening to him lament like he was imparting some profound life lesson made my blood boil.
'Do you have to go through it yourself to get it?'
This world isn't easy enough for an ordinary guy to outshine geniuses through hard work alone. Not every genius is like the arrogant, lazy rabbit in Aesop's fable. Hilariously, the real rabbits are too busy racing each other to even notice the turtle.
"I wanted to be a great husband and father."
"I know."
"So I tried."
"I know that too."
But there were too many people better than him in the world, so he failed. That's all there was to it.
"I—"
"Stop it."
"What...?"
"Just stop! My head's about to explode because of you too! We can't even afford textbooks, let alone figure out how to pay these insane hospital bills!"
My pent-up frustration finally boiled over, raising my voice. What money does an average high school kid have? I was going crazy.
"Don't worry about that."
"How can I not? We don't even have money for today's admission fees."
"I won't be here long. I know my own body."
"Ha..."
The moment I heard my father had been loaded into an ambulance, I'd dropped everything—important classes included—and rushed to the hospital. And the cause? Damn booze.
"Moon-soo."
"Yes."
"Don't live like me. Don't ignore your Aptitude Test results."
"Okay."
My father's suddenly serious advice was utterly useless. Live according to your aptitude. In other words, do what you're good at for a living. Common sense anyone knows.
"I'm sorry."
"Rest. I'll come right after my part-time shift."
"Don't come."
"I'll decide that. I'll handle your surgery and hospital bills too."
"...I'm sorry."
I had no idea then. That this would be our last conversation.
* * *
Everyone probably had dreams as a kid—some cool job they wanted to do once they entered society. My friends were no different.
"Come on! I wanna be an astronaut."
"Ha? If you're an astronaut, I could be president, no problem."
"What's with the beef this early? It's what I wanna do."
"Sure, dreams are free. Oh! There's a dreamless one over there."
"Tch. Life's so unfair."
Their eyes naturally turned to me amid the heated debate over this pointless topic.
"What? Something on my face?"
"Look at you, all smug."
"I know."
Not many high schoolers could hold a funeral for their parents and keep soldiering on like me. And without leaning on relatives? That's worth praising.
"......"
"......"
My classmates were speechless at my confident attitude. Then, a few seconds later—
"The guy with everything just rubs it in!"
"Boo! Get lost, Kang Moon-soo!"
"You wanna hog all the good life? Ptooey!"
Jeers rained down. Why?
"You can't play around all year then cry unfair. Where's your conscience?"
I'd been too busy with part-time jobs to hang out, but whatever the reason, I'd achieved real results. High scores in math, science, social studies, music, PE... almost every subject. And today, with high school graduation ceremony two weeks away, the fruits of that effort were revealed.
And I wasn't the only one.
"Ugh... I'm so nervous."
"You too? Me too!"
"Hope it turns out good."
"I'm shaking so bad..."
Every student in the classroom was on edge, faces tense like they were about to get exam scores. No, that would've been easier.
"Gasp!"
"She's here!"
"Everyone, sit down!"
Friends who'd been peeking down the hallway like spies shouted noisily. A dozen seconds later, the classroom door slid open with a rattle. In came the woman we'd been waiting for, arms full of pristine white envelopes. Our homeroom teacher, who'd spent the year with us, eyed her soon-to-graduate students with affection and worry.
"Have you all been waiting long?"
Thud. She set the white envelopes on the podium and spoke.
"......"
"......"
But with our eyes glued to the tower of envelopes on the desk, we weren't in the mood to reply. With a wry smile, she continued.
"I get it. More tense than exams. Your seniors were the same."
She carefully picked up the top envelope and went on in a calm tone.
"As announced, these are the results from the Ministry of Education's Aptitude Test. They're inside these envelopes."
"Ah!"
"Aah!"
The suffocating silence shattered as groans erupted from all around. The Aptitude Test. The test that reveals your talent for a job. Like compulsory education, every person born in this country must take it without exception.
"Teacher."
One brave girl raised her hand.
"A question?"
"Yes. Did you take the test too, Teacher?"
"Of course. I took it around your age. And it came out as high school math teacher."
That's why she stood at this podium, guiding high school math. No need to say the rest—every student in this room waiting for their results knew it.
'Aptitude Test...'
If only my father had accepted his results like the teacher... My mind grew complicated.
Clap clap! Breaking the tension, our teacher clapped and declared brightly.
"Alright! When I call your name, come up and get your Aptitude Test results."
"Finally!"
"Argh!"
"Number 1, Kang Moon-soo."
"Yes."
"Number 2, Kang Seung-ho."
"Yes!"
We took our envelopes and returned to our seats, cautiously unfolding the results.
Swish—
"Oh yeah! Doctor...!"
"No way! That klutz who hurts himself all the time—a doctor?!"
"For real? Jealous."
"Even a vet! I love pets!"
"Whoa! Congrats!"
Students whose results matched their dreams—or exceeded them—cheered wildly.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"I figured sports... but not soccer."
"What then?"
"Volleyball player."
Those slightly off their guesses tilted their heads.
"What's this...?"
"Hm? What job?"
"Gourmet critic."
"...The job where you eat and rate food, right?"
"Yeah. But dieting's my daily life..."
Some were baffled by the odd results.
"What the heck is this...?"
"Huh? What's yours?"
"President."
"Crazy! For real?!"
"Real! So how do I plan my career? Business? Politics? Or join protests and volunteer work...?"
Others were thrown into confusion by results too grand. That one was even my friend.
By the time the rowdy classroom quieted down—
"Kang Moon-soo?"
"Yeah, where's Moon-soo?"
"What's your job?"
Eyes from students who'd checked theirs turned to me.
"I'm curious too."
Our homeroom teacher, unable to see personal info, showed thick curiosity.
"......"
I slowly pulled the results sheet from the white envelope.
'Please.'
My father had craved wealth in life, but his Aptitude Test fell short. What about me? I didn't care much. Any job that let me earn money right after high school graduation would do.
"Moon-soo president material?"
"Likes science—maybe engineer or researcher."
"Now I'm hyped too!"
"Could be astronaut..."
Amid the wild guesses, I flipped over the sheet face-down on my desk and checked.
"Huh?"
I doubted my eyes. So I rubbed them with both hands, then carefully looked again—
"This can't be real!"
You can't retake the Aptitude Test. Same result no matter how many times you look.
"Moon-soo, tell us."
"What's Moon-soo's aptitude?"
"Dude, open it already."
Now the whole class stared at me.
"My job is..."
No point hiding it. The Ministry of Education had my full records. Our teacher would find out soon for career counseling anyway.
'Dad...'
The image of the man who'd defied his results flashed in my mind.
"Hard to say?"
"...No."
Snapping to at the teacher's words, I read it out with a sigh. Exactly as written on the results:
"Shaman."
I was destined to work with ghosts I'd never even seen.