The Names on the Bridge

What echoed repeatedly through the receiver was Minhye's tearful cheer.

It felt like riding a roller coaster or a pirate ship.

The sensation of my heart plunging to the floor, then soaring back up.

Letting out a quiet cheer of triumph in my head, I gasped for breath, forcing my mind to focus on what to do next.

Meanwhile, her ecstatic cries continued.

"I got it. Minhye, first... the most important thing is to stay in the safest place you can find. Do not move on your own under any circumstances."

Barely managing to squeeze the words out, I hung up.

I felt the strength completely drain from my body.

My entire back was drenched in cold sweat.

'It worked.'

I had temporarily halted the disaster looming over this city.

I was the protagonist.

"Um... just now... what was all that? How did you know how to solve it?"

Seyeon, who had watched the entire scene unfold beside me, asked in a trembling voice. Her face was still a mask of confusion and terror. And why wouldn't it be? Leaning deeply back into my chair, I spoke slowly.

"This is only a temporary fix."

"What?"

"We've only temporarily blocked the spread of the curse. It's useless unless we destroy the source. The moment the baby's crying stops, everything will start all over again."

"W-what... do you mean? Again?"

Seyeon's face drained of color once more. I checked the broadcast transmission program on the main console. Fortunately, it was set to loop. As long as the playback continued, the campus, at least, would remain safe. But we couldn't just hold out like this forever.

I stood up.

It was time to move on to the next step.

"Pungwol Bridge. We have to go there."

"Pungwol Bridge?"

At the mention of the name, Seyeon quickly pulled out her phone.

She began frantically searching for information.

As she scrolled through the results, her eyes widened in sheer horror.

"There are strange rumors about that place. Ghost stories and stuff... But why there, all of a sudden? Why go there of all times?"

"Because it's where everything began. The source of the curse. Unless we appease the grudges of the people who died on that bridge, this disaster will never end."

I opened my laptop.

Then, I pulled up the file I had compiled, titled 'The Urban Legend of the Whispering Pungwol Bridge'. The paragraph I had labeled 'Ultimate Solution' stood out clearly.

"We have to comfort their spirits. That's the only way to end this."

"How?"

"The workers who died in the accident. We have to remember them and soothe their souls. We need to find their names and call them out on that bridge."

My explanation must have sounded like the prophecy of a cultist. Yet, Seyeon couldn't refute it. No, she probably didn't even have the will to argue. She had already experienced the horrific sensation of her body being controlled against her will.

In this surreal situation, my words were the only explanation that carried any semblance of logic.

"Then how do we find out their names? Looking at this, it happened decades ago."

"That's the problem. Sigh..."

I clutched my head. The materials I had gathered were merely ghost stories floating around ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the internet and records from a few blogs. I didn't have any concrete data like a list of the victims.

But I couldn't just sit here and sigh.

"There might be some records... among the things I gathered while writing the script. Like the school library database, or old newspaper articles..."

I began ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠digging through the urban legends folder once more. I opened every single file related to 'Pungwol Bridge'. I had to sift through a mountain of unrefined information—low-resolution black-and-white photos, screenshots of defunct local newspaper websites, and eyewitness accounts left by members of ghost story forums—to find a diamond in the rough.

Just then, the door to the main control room opened cautiously, and Minhye walked in.

"Senior."

"Minhye, are you okay?"

"Yes. It's quiet outside for now. Aside from the police and paramedics running around in a frenzy. The media will probably swarm the place soon, too."

As she spoke, Minhye glanced at my laptop screen. Seeming to grasp the situation, she quietly stepped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up beside me.

"Is there anything I can do to help with what you're looking for?"

"The list of victims. We have to find it, no matter what."

"A list of victims..."

We put our heads together and stared at the laptop screen.

Tick, tack.

Anxiety began to claw at me.

"Wait a minute, Senior. What's this file?"

Minhye pointed at a file. The filename was simple: Pungwol_Bridge_References_1978.pdf. I couldn't even remember when I had saved it.

I hurriedly opened the file.

What appeared on the screen was a scan of an old, yellowed document. It looked like a research paper from a local university. The title was 'A Study on the Dark Side of Regional Development and Human Rights Issues During the Industrialization Era'.

I quickly scanned the text.

Bridge construction, civil engineering, regional economic development...

Then, my eyes stopped on a certain paragraph.

"Wow! I found it."

With trembling hands, I scrolled all the way to the bottom. And there, on the very last page under the heading 'Appendix', I found what I had been searching for so desperately.

Typed names. They were just letters on a screen, but to my eyes, they looked as if they were bleeding. It felt like they had been typed in smears of fresh blood.

The conclusion was clear: they were the source of the curse.

Their sorrow was swallowing the entire city whole.

I immediately copied their names into the notepad app on my smartphone.

And then—

"We have to go. Right now."

I bolted upright from my seat. Seyeon and Minhye stared at me.

"I'm coming too. I need to know why I did what I did. And I don't think I can stay here like this anyway."

"I'm going too, Senior."

A fierce determination burned in both of their eyes.

"You don't have a car, right? My car is in the underground parking lot. I'll drive."

Seyeon pointed toward the parking lot outside the window.

What a relief.

Without a moment to lose, we flung open the door of the main control room. The sound of the baby crying was still echoing across the entire campus through the speakers.

"Let's move, fast!"

On our way to the underground parking lot.

Looking around, the place was a living hell.

People who had been screaming just moments ago were now leaning against the walls, staring blankly into space, while paramedics busily carried away the injured.

Every single bit of this was a scene from the script I had written.

I bit my lip.

"That's it!"

Seyeon's car was a small compact. The moment we piled in, we sped off toward Pungwol Bridge.

"How long will it take?" Minhye asked.

"Don't worry. I did a lot of delivery gigs as a side job. If there's one thing I'm confident in, it's driving."

Seyeon quickly started the engine.

And then—

She began to weave skillfully through the gaps between the police cars and ambulances clogging the road.

In an instant, we broke out of the campus.

"But..."

Seyeon spoke up from the driver's seat.

"If we call out their names on the bridge, will it really end?"

"If it goes according to my script, yes."

I could only give a brief reply. I couldn't be absolutely sure. But right now, we had no other choice. Perhaps because of that, a heavy silence settled over the car.

How long had we been driving?

The cityscape had long since vanished, replaced by a worn-out national highway without a single streetlight. The navigation system announced that our destination was near.

"I think it's over there."

Just as Seyeon said.

Through the darkness, a massive, skeletal iron structure loomed.

It was Pungwol Bridge.

"It feels... eerie. Maybe because I know the ghost story."

"It feels almost oppressive..."

Reddish, rusted iron frames and cracked concrete slabs met our eyes. Below the bridge, dark, turbid river water swirled violently. A chilly river wind rattled the car windows.

Seyeon parked the car near the entrance of the bridge.

Without a word, we all piled out of the car.

"You two stay here. I'll be back."

Minhye and Seyeon said nothing.

In this place steeped in silence, only the howling wind, the ominous rushing of the river, and the occasional roar of a passing vehicle struck our ears.

I pulled my smartphone from my pocket and double-checked the fourteen names I had copied down.

'This all started because of me. I have to be the one to finish it.'

Taking a deep breath, I took my first step onto Pungwol Bridge. The moment the soles of my sneakers touched the weathered concrete, goosebumps erupted across my entire body.

Now, it was time to shoot the final scene of my script.

"Senior, be careful!"

Minhye's worried voice drifted over, but I didn't look back. No, I couldn't. With every step I took toward the center of the bridge, my legs trembled harder. The wind brushing past my ears began to sound like bizarre whispers.

"!!!"

Was it an auditory hallucination? Or was it the actual curse?

'Get a grip!'

Shaking my head repeatedly to dispel the ominous voices, I finally reached the center of the bridge.

'Whew...'

When I pulled my phone out of my pocket, the glow of the screen illuminated the fourteen names. I took a deep breath. Then, facing the darkness and the rushing river, I began to call out their names one by one.

"Mr. Kim Chul-soo."

My trembling voice echoed out. Nothing happened immediately, but I didn't stop and kept calling their names.

"Mr. Park Young-ho."

"Mr. Lee Jung-shik."

It was when I called the third name. The wind suddenly grew violent.

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

Screeech—

An unpleasant sound, like metal pipes scraping together, echoed from somewhere within the bridge's iron framework. The bridge beneath my feet seemed to vibrate like an aftershock, but I couldn't stop.

"Mr. Choi Kyung-hwan."

"Mr. Han Sang-guk."

More and more names spilled from my lips in rapid succession.

"Mr. Jung Jae-geun, Mr. Oh Min-soo, Mr. Yoon Ki-seop..."

With each name, the entire bridge groaned and hummed as if weeping, and a cold mist began to rise from the river. The mist coiled around the piers like serpents, slowly creeping up onto the bridge. Faint, shimmering figures seemed to materialize within the fog—figures of men in tattered work clothes, their faces completely crushed and mangled.

Just then.

"Senior! Are you okay?"

Minhye and Seyeon's panicked screams reached me.

I squeezed my eyes shut and didn't answer.

Every fiber of my being screamed at me to turn around and run.

But if I stopped here, everything would be ruined.

I had to end this with my own hands—this disaster that might very well have been born from my own creation.

I opened my eyes again, staring straight at the figures in the mist, and roared the remaining names as if spitting them out.

"Mr. Kang In-ho! Mr. Jo Tae-sung! Mr. Moon Ji-hoon! Mr. Seo Dong-jin! Mr. Im Hyun-shik!"

The final name.

"And the one recorded as unidentified!"

My voice boomed across the bridge.

"I will remember your unjust deaths, even if it is late. Please, rest in peace."

I meant every word.

This wasn't the self-satisfaction of an arrogant writer.

As a human being standing at the starting point of this entire tragedy, it was a sincere expression of grief for those who had suffered so unjustly.

At that moment—

Whoooosh—

Swoooosh—

Shhh—

Everything stopped.

The howling wind died down. The vibrations of the bridge and the bizarre noises vanished all at once.

The thick mist surrounding me also began to dissipate, as if it had all been an illusion. The faint figures shimmering within the fog quietly melted away, like snow under the warm sun.

'Is it over?'

Silence returned once more.

"Whew..."

My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the bridge. It felt as though every ounce of energy had been drained from my body. My pounding heart was finally settling back into its normal rhythm.

"Senior!"

"Senior!"

Minhye and Seyeon ran over and stood by my side.

"Is it... is it over?"

Minhye asked in a trembling voice. I raised my head to look at her.

Yes.

It was all over.

"Yeah. Now..."

It was then.

The world began to distort once again.