Chapter 10
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 10Anomalies (1)
Every region has at least one urban legend.
School ghost stories are a prime example. At midnight, the statue of Yi Sun-sin and the statue of the principal wake up and sword fight. The statue reading a book turns the page. The anatomical model in the science lab wanders the school every night.
Then there are city urban legends. The Red Mask whose mouth is slit to her ears. The upper-body ghost that crawls quickly on the ground without legs. How to use an elevator to go to the afterlife.
Since ancient times, these urban legends have always frequently emerged as trends among people. When many urban legends come out, another urban legend is derived from them. And from the derived urban legends, new anomalies are born.
Whether that is a creation born from someone's imagination. Or if they categorize what they actually witnessed as an anomaly and create a story. That much is not known, so only countless speculations run rampant.
Click, click.
And there are people who like to uncover those speculations. The commonly referred to name is occult otaku. They are people who make it their profession to wander the city in the dead of night and find anomalies.
A young man taking pictures of the empty, eerie street with his phone. As if hoping something invisible to the human eye would be captured. He examines his photo gallery with eyes full of expectation.
"Tsk. I knew it."
However, his phone only vainly captures the empty street, and there isn't a single alien scene. Feeling despondent, the young man called his acquaintance out of habit.
"Yo, Kim Hyun-soo."
The counterpart over the phone offers a cringeworthy Japanese otaku-style greeting. Kim Hyun-soo let out a deep sigh right from the start.
"Haaaa-." "Do you always sigh as soon as you make a call?" "Nothing is being captured at all." "Isn't that obvious? If it were that easy to capture, why would it be a spirit photo?"
Spirit photos, anomaly photos. Leaving bizarre or alien things as results like photos is indeed the romance of occult otakus. Recording existences that don't exist in reality or haven't been observed yet is Kim Hyun-soo's dream and his path to success.
In fact, the occult group he joined operates a website that separately collects the spirit photos they've taken. If he gains massive attention on this site, rising to stardom overnight wouldn't be a problem.
"If everything got captured just by taking a picture, would my entire photo gallery be spirit photos?" "Spirit photos are overflowing on the internet, so why can't I be the only one to take one?" "That's because more than half of them are fake." "Should I try making a fake too?" "Don't do it, everything gets caught these days."
The 21st-century modern era, where AI and compositing technology have developed, is now different from the past. There are no more videos with crappy quality, and sloppy compositing doesn't work because people have higher standards. In reality, now that the average resolution has generally increased, the commonly seen spirit photos and videos have noticeably decreased.
"Now that the era of AI finding AI has also arrived, we have no choice but to work diligently without resorting to tricks." "Isn't there an AI that tricks the AI finding AI?" "Then an AI finding the AI tricking the AI finding AI will come out, won't it?" "Then the AI tricking the AI finding the AI tricking the AI………." "Stop dragging it out!"
Kim Hyun-soo, who was joking around and laughing with his friend in the dead of night, suddenly cast his gaze across the street. Is it an illusion? It felt like bizarre air flowed for a moment.
"Anyway, it's still cold, you're working hard." "I have no choice if I want to enter the contest." "Why does our group hold contests so often? It's not like spirit photos get captured just because you want to capture them. We're not even a university, yet constantly giving assignments is like inciting us to fabricate them." "That's up to the person holding the contest. If the site is to prosper, consistent updates are basic, after all." "He should do that himself, why are we……!"
Across the street that had become a parking lot due to illegally parked vehicles. Where only a single street lamp was left turned on, a blue light was gradually shining through.
"Why is it so blue?" "What is?" "Someone is coming, but their light is blue." "Blue? …Uh, why is it blue? Aren't they usually yellow or white?" "That's what I mean."
Perhaps it's not a type like a flashlight, as the range of the light is spread quite widely. What can be deduced is that only something like a carried lantern would have that shape.
"Is it a lantern?" "In this day and age, who carries a lantern around. They turn on their phone flashlight." "That's exactly my point. There are all kinds of weird people." "There are rumors that there are a lot of anomalies lately. You be careful too. There are quite a few people going missing." "That's an urban legend." "I heard the actual number of missing persons is high too? Don't you know police patrols have increased lately?" "I haven't heard anything."
The police don't even enforce curfews. Of course, maybe his fear is dulled compared to others because he likes the occult. Kim Hyun-soo, thinking nothing of it, blankly watched the light and focused on chatting with his friend. He should have done that.
Flicker.
The old street lamp flickered. And for a moment, the owner of the light appeared in his field of vision.
"…Hmm?" "What is it now?" "No… wait a minute. Let me just wipe my glasses."
Am I seeing it wrong? Kim Hyun-soo, who took off his glasses and wiped them vigorously, looked under the street lamp again.
"Hmm?" "Stop going 'Hmm~?' to yourself, what is it?" "N-no. Wait a minute."
Am I seeing this right currently? Kim Hyun-soo, who kept doubting his own eyes, leaned against a parked vehicle and frowned. It is indeed exactly as it looks. That is a blue flame.
"What is that. It's not even a torch relay in the dead of night." "Olympics?" "No, not the Olympics. Ugh, just be quiet for a bit. You're distracting me with your nonsense." "You called me and now you're telling me to be quiet……."
As expected, looking again, it's a flame. What kind of crazy bastard shows up holding a torch on the street at this hour?
"He must have used chemicals. It's a blue flame." "I can't see it, so switch to a video call." "Ah, right. Hold on."
He switched to a video call as his friend wished. After a slight delay, the area under the street lamp straight ahead appeared on the screen.
"It's real? It's a real flame." "Right? Anyway, there are a lot of weird, crazy bastards." "What do you have to do to make a flame that blue? Hey. Go closer." "No. What if he hits me because he's a crazy bastard?" "Video call quality is garbage. Go a bit closer."
Like Kim Hyun-soo, his friend also tends to have a lack of safety awareness. Because they are guys who like the same occult stuff, he is the type to approach first if there's something scary. Kim Hyun-soo, who had been grumbling, moved. He approached the man holding the torch under the street lamp, holding out his camera.
"Try talking to him." "Are you crazy? I really hate that." "Ask him why he's carrying something like that around. It's fascinating……." "Are you going to pay my hospital bills if he hits me with the torch? What's wrong with your expression?"
His friend's face visible on the screen is suspicious. His friend, looking serious, pressed his face as if shoving his nose into the screen.
"Hyun-soo-yah. Is that really a torch?" "If it's not a torch, what is it. A head? Like an Object Head?" "I think it is a head?" "Huh?"
He lowered his phone and examined the man. It's still blurry because the distance is far, but it doesn't seem like he's wrong. It's not a torch. That is a head.
"…Uh-uh?" "H-Hyun-soo-yah? That's not makeup, right?" "W-wait, wait a minute. P-p-p-photo. Photo."
As expected of an occult otaku, the first thing that came to mind as soon as he discovered something alien was filming. Kim Hyun-soo, who immediately swiped the screen and switched to the camera, zoomed in with trembling hands.
"F-fuck. I'm not seeing things wrong, right? Do you remember that? The video uploaded by the Hunting Ghost channel. People said it was fake, but there are a lot of suspicions. …Why no answer, ah shit! What kind of phone can't film and be on a call at the same time?"
Kim Hyun-soo, who started talking to himself more perhaps because he was excited, hastily took cover behind a vehicle and mounted his phone on the hood like a sniper. His heart has been beating too loudly since earlier. He even had the funny thought that he might get caught because of the sound of his heartbeat at this rate.
"F-filming…. Filming…."
Carefully. Without getting caught. It's over if he just presses the phone's record button. This is a jackpot. Beyond the contest, he just blatantly hit the jackpot!
Click!
The phone's camera shutter sound ringing out in the quiet street. Kim Hyun-soo's face turned pale.
"F-fuck. Was the sound always this loud?"
He hastily put the camera away and hid even his head behind the vehicle. Did I get caught? Would he have heard it in the first place? Because he hid without even looking properly, he couldn't check. He couldn't even poke his head out from the vehicle because he was too scared.
"Ugh… Uuugh."
Still, seen fear is better than unseen fear. Trembling, he looked under the street lamp with the blue flame again.
He's there. He's still there.
But. He turned his body towards Kim Hyun-soo's direction.
"Heo… Heo-eop."
If he hadn't covered his mouth with his hand, he might have screamed. I got caught, didn't I? I definitely got caught, right? In the first place, there's no way he wouldn't notice a Click sound ringing out in such a quiet street. However, he only turned his body in this direction and there was no other movement.
"Hoo, hoo-oo……. I-I guess he doesn't know yet."
Even though he sighs in relief, his voice trembles from his chest.
Anyway, to think it's an Object Head. There were rumors circulating that anomalies were frequently witnessed in this city recently, though. He never imagined an Object Head would be wandering the streets so openly like this.
At that moment, the Object Head's flame head gradually shrinks. As the flame weakened, it looked like the head had gotten smaller. Kim Hyun-soo has no way of knowing the cause of it.
"What is it? Why is the flame getting smaller? Ah shit, I should have looked up the urban legend in more detail."
It was when he was lamenting the past.
Riiiiiiiiing-
The phone ringtone breaking the silence. His energy drains as if the soul inside his body is flowing out. The strength also left his jaw. Kim Hyun-soo, whose mouth dropped open as if screaming, hastily pressed the reject call button.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck. You useless bastard…! Having no tact…!"
He looked under the street lamp again.
Fwoooosh-
I'm screwed. The Object Head increases the size of the flame. Exactly as if it's angry.
"U, uwaaa…! Uwaaaaaa!"
Hiding became meaningless. Kim Hyun-soo, who jumped up, ran away with legs trembling as if they would lose strength. The watching Object Head also moves. It shivered its body bizarrely, then began approaching at a speed beyond human perception.
"Uwaaaaaaak!"
Kim Hyun-soo, who was running, dashed into an alleyway even as he fell flat on his back. It's an alleyway covered in trash and filth, but that's not what's important right now. It's a matter of life and death.
"S-save me! Someone save me! Somebody help me!"
A person paralyzed by fear urgently seeks help. If one's own strength is insufficient, it is human instinct to seek the help of fellow humans.
But it was quite late in the early morning hours. Even the commercial district was deserted due to recent rumors of danger. And because it wasn't a residential area, there was no one to help Kim Hyun-soo.
Only Kim Hyun-soo and the Object Head. It felt like a bizarre street with exactly just the two of them left.
"Heo-eok…!"
A dead end encountered. Kim Hyun-soo, who didn't even have the courage to look back, had his judgment shattered in an instant and stopped like a paused person.
"Where… where to? Where? Which way?"
Kim Hyun-soo, who was muttering gibberish, hurriedly climbed the nearest building. An old, low building without an elevator. It's a building covered in dust with narrow stairs, but Kim Hyun-soo couldn't make any normal judgments.
He just climbs. In order to run away.
Kim Hyun-soo, who hurriedly climbed up to the rooftop, quickly looked down over the railing. There is no one in the narrow alleyway.
"Hoo-oo… I-I guess he didn't chase me."
His thought lasted only a moment. Beyond the alleyway, a bizarre movement is approaching.
Object Head. As if creating an atmosphere of fear, it approached belatedly and leaned its upper body back. Perhaps the place its gaze landed was the rooftop where Kim Hyun-soo was.
"Heo-eop…!"
It knows everything. Where he hid, where he went. As if seeing through every single one of Kim Hyun-soo's actions, the Object Head knows everything.
The reason why it was so fast yet purposely gave him a head start without catching him. Because it can catch him no matter how far he runs away.
"Please… I was wrong. I-I won't do it again. I'll delete the photo too."
As his judgment clouded, his intelligence seemed to return to that of a child's as well. Kim Hyun-soo, whimpering and shedding tears, began to beg like a terrified child.
The Object Head enters the building where Kim Hyun-soo is. It climbs the stairs. Click-clack, the sound of dress shoes is heard through the stairwell.
"Ahhh… Ahhhh!"
He hurriedly closed the door, but he didn't feel reassured that this single thin iron door would protect him.
What should I do? Should I jump over to the rooftop of the other building? He hurriedly approached the railing attached to the building next door, but the building next door was 3 stories higher than the current building.
"Sh-should I jump down?"
Kim Hyun-soo, who was afraid to face the terror, even thought of throwing himself off, but he didn't quite have the courage to die. Ultimately, thinking he was hiding, he hid his body in the corner of the rooftop, but getting caught is a matter of time anyway. Kim Hyun-soo, who crouched down and wrapped his arms around his head, shrinking his body, squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't quite have the courage to face the approaching anomaly.
Click. Creeeeak.
Was it not locked? Hearing the eerie sound of the door opening, extreme terror pollutes Kim Hyun-soo's mind.
Approaching footsteps. He couldn't hold onto his sanity any longer.
"Ahhh… Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhh!"
March 9th, early morning. As soon as I arrived in the city, I caused an accident.
'Ah shit. He fainted.'
I just meant to scare him a little as punishment for secretly taking photos of me as he pleased, but it seems I went overboard. The young man, who shrunk his body into a ball in the corner of the rooftop, fainted with his eyes rolled back.
'I'm screwed. I just meant to scare him a little and then have a conversation with him.'
Was it that scary? All I did was chase him.
'But I can't just ignore the fact that he took a picture. Considering how I managed to sneak all the way here.'
That's why I purposely came in the late early morning when there were no people. Even when I sensed him behind the vehicle, I deliberately ignored him. To think he would take a picture in that meantime.
'He didn't send it to anyone else, did he?'
I searched the fainted guy's body and found his phone. Fortunately, there was no password set. I found the picture taken of me in the photo gallery. Perhaps he has a talent for photography, the composition is quite perfect. After deleting the photo, I thoroughly searched his email inbox and messenger apps, not knowing if there was someone he sent it to separately.
Thank goodness. It seems he didn't have the time to send it in that meantime.
'I'm sorry for making you faint.'
It was the moment I was about to put the phone back.
Riiiiiiiiing-
The same phone ringtone from earlier. Checking it, the name 'Occult Jong-hyun' was written on it. Wondering what to do, I pressed the call button.
"Hey! Kim Hyun-soo! Are you okay?"
An urgent voice. He seems to know the current situation. No wonder he was muttering noisily to himself earlier. He was on a call, huh.
"Are you hurt? Did I make a mistake or something?"
He asks urgently, but since I can't answer, I was just listening. Perhaps the friend named Jong-hyun over the phone was extremely worried, his voice was moist.
"I'm sorry for needlessly telling you to go closer. Wasn't it dangerous? Answer me please."
He seems quite frustrated. I could hear dull thuds, as if he was hitting his own chest or thigh.
"There are a lot of anomalies in the city lately, and the number of missing people has increased too. You should go back home before you needlessly get hurt too. Okay?"
Anomalies? Missing people? I thought the bizarre energy I felt since entering the city was suspicious. Something is lurking somewhere in this place. An anomaly? Or just human traffickers?
"…Hyun-soo-yah. Please answer me! Why are you so quiet!"
Hyun-soo fainted right now. Even if I want to answer, it's impossible because I don't have a throat. Just like I interfered with the speaker, is it possible to interfere with the phone too?
Bzzzzz-.
Perhaps it roughly works, static rings out. I heard the friend named Jong-hyun over the phone catch his breath as if startled.
Zzzz-.
Unfortunately, it can't transmit a voice. It seems that level of interference ability is still lacking.
"Wh-who is this?"
Perhaps only now realizing it wasn't Hyun-soo, his voice is cautious. Trembling as if terrified, a whimpering voice wails.
"Where is Hyun-soo…? Where is Hyun-soo?"
Bzzzzzz- Bzzzzzzzz-.Click.
I tried, but it's useless. Left with no choice, I hung up the call and returned the phone to Hyun-soo.
I leaned against the railing for a moment and expanded my detection range into the city. The air in the city is bizarre. It's not a change that occurred because of me, but bizarre air is thickly laid as if it had been like this from the start.
'It seems there are anomalies like me somewhere here.'
Then I found my way well, just as I predicted. At first, interacting with anomalies was my goal, but the phone call just now changed my mind.
'Anomalies. Missing people.'
If the disappearances are the doing of anomalies, then they are dangerous anomalies. Since they are absolutely not human-friendly anomalies like me, interaction might be entirely impossible.
Rather, there's a high possibility they will be hostile towards me. An inevitable clash is expected.
Can my ability consume anomalies as well? I'll have to check.
Beyond the buildings. A large building looking down at the commercial districts. I see a pure white hospital towering and standing blankly. The strongest anomalous energy is coming from there.