Ghost Story #3: The Spirit Vein
“What do you want me to do?” Jeong Seok seemed to believe me. I hurried to speak before he could change his mind. “We need to find books about our school’s history. Anything that mentions past incidents or shamans would be ideal. This school was supposedly built on a graveyard, which is why the ghosts feel so real.”
In horror movies, ghosts killed people because of their lingering grudges. If we could gather information about the shaman ghost and resolve whatever grudge it held, maybe we could end this incident too.
“But Ha Yeong-won, the library will be locked. How are we supposed to get in?”
“Don’t worry. I’m the library committee member for Class D. I know the lock combination. You think I’d call you without a plan?”
We started walking. After picking the library lock and stepping inside, the dark, cold, and empty space felt enormous. The faint jingling of bells from behind us grew slightly more distant.
“Jeong Seok, you’re my comrade now. Even if you run, the ghost will chase you. So we have to give this everything we’ve got. Everything. Our lives depend on it.”
“……”
Jeong Seok wordlessly pulled a book from the shelf and handed it to me. The title was The Father of Geryong, Jeong Do-san.
“It’s my grandfather’s autobiography. We have plenty of copies at home. It should mention something about Yeongji High. Take a look. I’ll find another book.”
Perfect! I flipped the book open quickly and found exactly what I needed.
“During the construction of Yeongji High School, a series of unfortunate accidents occurred. The landowner and founder of the educational foundation, the Cheon family, suggested summoning shamans to perform a suppression ritual.”
“We requested the ritual from a local shaman. She was renowned for her skill, yet she remained skeptical about building a school on a spiritual water vein.”
“In the end, the local shaman refused. The Cheon family brought in a young shaman from outside the region. She was strikingly beautiful and introduced herself as the head shaman of the shrine.”
“After that, the accidents stopped and construction proceeded without further incident.”
Was that all? Nothing else? While I was still flipping through the pages, Jeong Seok approached me again.
“I couldn’t find any books specifically about Geryong City’s shamans. Did you find anything?”
Thud-thud. Thud-thud-thud. Something was pounding against the floor.
“…Hey, Ha Yeong-won. I think there’s more than one ghost.”
“If you tell ghost stories in a graveyard, ghosts will come. If you tell ghost stories in a graveyard, ghosts will come. If you tell ghost stories in a graveyard, ghosts will come.”
“Hey, you can hear that too, right? Right now? Or am I losing my mind? There’s definitely something outside the library, isn’t there?”
Jeong Seok pressed me for an answer, visibly tense. But as I continued scanning the book, I finally felt like I had grasped the key to this phenomenon.
“By the mayor’s authority, the head shaman of the shrine was asked to perform the suppression ritual. Renowned for her skill, she had been skeptical about constructing a school building atop a spiritual water vein.”
That was the part that caught my attention.
“A spiritual water vein… Didn’t our English teacher say this school sits on one? That’s why people have nightmares or see things that aren’t there?”
A lightbulb went off in my head. I grabbed the book Easy Feng Shui and flipped straight to the section on spiritual water veins. My intuition told me Yu Da-hee’s feng shui book would help right now.
“This is bullshit! This wasn’t a graveyard! You bastards! It’s a spiritual water vein, isn’t it? Who the hell builds a graveyard on a spiritual water vein?”
Never build a graveyard on a spiritual water vein. That was common knowledge for any Korean; you didn’t even need a feng shui book to know it. Every event had its proper cause and effect.
“If you tell ghost stories in a graveyard, ghosts will come. If you tell ghost stories in a graveyard, ghosts will come. If you tell ghost stories in a graveyard, ghosts will come.”
The cause-and-effect was simple: we told ghost stories in a graveyard, so real ghosts appeared. But this school wasn’t a graveyard, so telling ghost stories shouldn’t have summoned anything.
“Get lost! Get out of here! You bastards! This isn’t a graveyard! We didn’t tell ghost stories in a graveyard! All of you, disappear!”
Anger, fear, and frustration boiled over, and I spat out every bizarre emotion I felt. After shouting for a while, Jeong Seok returned with an old map.
“There used to be a house here before the school was built. A big one. It wasn’t a graveyard at all. Yeongji High was built after they tore down the original mansion.”
Maybe our combined barrage of facts had worked. The library, which had been filled with noise, suddenly fell silent. Jeong Seok let out a shaky breath.
“Is it over…?”
Hey! You’re not supposed to say that!
A silhouette appeared at the library window, as if confirming my worst fears. It was the shadow of someone with long legs and pronounced curves.
“…The shaman ghost!?”
The library door clicked open.
“Hey. What now? Why’d you call me at this hour? Did you think Ha Yeong-won was the kind of guy who comes when I say come and leaves when I say leave?”
It was Yang Ju-hui. The silhouette belonged to Yang Ju-hui! She had come after getting my message. My legs gave out and I collapsed onto the floor.
Congratulations! You have defeated “Even Ghosts Come When You Call Them”!
Settlement for 2 survivors has begun.
You have acquired 200P.
Go to hell!
# # #
We left the library and headed to a nearby café. I bought three drinks and a carrot cake, paying for everything myself.
“Explain what’s going on.”
Vice class president Jeong Seok demanded an explanation. It was only natural. The real reason I had brought them to the café was to explain everything anyway.
“You saw it earlier. I keep getting tormented by ghosts and other horrible things. The problem is that sometimes they only target me, but other times they drag everyone else into it too.”
There was a silver lining. Both Yang Ju-hui and Jeong Seok had already experienced the supernatural with me during the “Copied Mom” and “Feng Shui Ghost” incidents. That was both a misfortune and a stroke of luck. Experiences like these had a way of expanding a person’s rigid common sense and worldview.
“Why?”
Jeong Seok asked simply, stabbing a straw into his iced americano. Why. What did he mean by that?
“Why are the ghosts coming after you? There has to be a reason, right?”
Whether it was because of the recent “Feng Shui Ghost” incident or just his personality, Jeong Seok seemed determined to find the root cause of everything I was going through. If I traced it back, the timing matched perfectly with when I opened the shop and bought “Old School Building Access”…
“The reason is… I don’t really know either. That’s what I want to find out.”
It wasn’t a lie. Strictly speaking, the fundamental cause was the strange Status Window that had appeared for me. I still didn’t know why it had manifested in the first place.
“……”
Jeong Seok frowned. He was probably terrified at the thought of continuing to face things like this.
“I get it. I get it. I’m not asking you to help for free. If you help me, I can pay you. Don’t you need money?”
“Money?”
Yang Ju-hui’s eyes sparkled at my offer. Who didn’t need money?
Just then, Jeong Seok asked, “It was you, wasn’t it? The one who handed out thirty thousand won to everyone in class yesterday.”
Jeong Seok, this guy. He was sharper than I thought.
“Is yesterday’s group chat incident connected to what happened today?”
“Yeah. If it weren’t for me, you all would’ve died. Since we’re being honest now, I’ll just say it. I saved your lives. I saved all of you.”
Honestly, I hadn’t planned on bragging. But I wanted to convince these friends who had shared the same experience. This wasn’t the time to be picky about methods.
About a minute passed. Jeong Seok downed his entire iced americano in one go. Then he set the empty cup down with a clack.
“So what you’re saying, Ha Yeong-won, is that there are situations where my life could be in danger without me even knowing. Rather than dying or getting hurt without understanding why, it’d be better to cooperate.”
“Oh. Yeah. You’re right.”
“But why me, specifically?”
Jeong Seok asked. I decided to be honest.
“You wrote that note about the bullying in Class D, remember? It was a bit clumsy as far as whistleblowing goes. If it were me, I would’ve written it with my left hand. Still, I figured you at least had some sense of altruism.”
“Altruism…”
“While we’re on the subject, why did you suddenly write that note?”
I was curious about the person called “Jeong Seok,” the vice class president. If we were going to be comrades in the same boat, it wouldn’t hurt to know each other better.
Jeong Seok spoke after a moment.
“It wasn’t really because of altruism. My dad’s in election season, so I was trying to avoid any trouble by staying quiet in class. Then… my thoughts just changed a little.”
His dad was in election season? Was he a politician? Come to think of it, his grandfather’s autobiography had mentioned something about the mayor.
While I was still thinking, Yang Ju-hui, who had been eating the carrot cake, spoke up.
“Oh, I knew I recognized him. Jeong Man-sik. Geryong Mayor Jeong Man-sik! You look just like him!”
Jeong Man-sik… Wasn’t that the guy on the banner that used to hang in front of our house?
“Whoa, Jeong Seok, you’re loaded. Your dad’s the mayor? I’ve never met a politician’s kid before. Can I touch you?”
“…Wait, didn’t you say you wouldn’t spread it around if you found out?”
“I only knew he used to be a prosecutor. I didn’t know he was the current mayor.”
“……”
Jeong Seok looked like he had been tricked somehow.
“Keep it a secret.”
He seemed reluctant to let people know his father was the mayor. If it were me, I would’ve bragged about it everywhere. If I were the mayor’s son, even the teachers would’ve been bowing and scraping. One word from me and that refined English teacher would’ve fetched water for my desk.
“This year, I really wanted to avoid any trouble. That’s why I pretended not to see you getting bullied, Ha Yeong-won. I thought it was lucky I didn’t get involved.”
Well… I could understand that.
“Hey, you came today though. You didn’t pretend not to see me today. That’s what matters.”
Even I thought that was a pretty cool thing to say. While I was basking in my own words, Jeong Seok looked back and forth between Yang Ju-hui and me.
“…How did you two get so close, anyway?”
The delinquent and her lackey. He must have realized our relationship couldn’t be defined by that alone. While I was trying to figure out how to explain, Jeong Seok calmly added,
“There must have been a lot of incidents. Same for me. After getting marked by Bong Ji-yeon’s group and beaten up, I realized it was harder than I thought. So my mind changed a bit. That’s why I wrote the note too.”
Why would the mayor’s son end up getting beaten by Bong Ji-yeon’s group? There were plenty of questions I wanted to ask, but he probably wouldn’t answer easily. What mattered was that Jeong Seok and I had become comrades today! It really felt like we were forming a pirate crew. Should we come up with a crew name?
While I was thinking that, Jeong Seok spoke again.
“By the way, Ha Yeong-won. Your deduction about me writing the note was only half right. Next time, if you want to hide your handwriting, you should write with your left hand, right?”
“Yeah.”
“That note was written with my left hand from the start. I’m left-handed.”
Oh? He had more backbone than I expected. I also learned the trivial fact that Jeong Seok was left-handed.
“Nice. Nice. Anyway, we’re all in the same boat now.”
Grumble. Maybe because I felt relieved, I was suddenly hungry. Come to think of it, I hadn’t eaten dinner. I was about to ask for some carrot cake when I realized it was gone. Yang Ju-hui had finished it all.
“Yeong-won, buy me another cake. It’s delicious.”
“……”
At this point, we might as well go get a late dinner. With that thought in mind, I bought the cake and stepped out of the café. That was when Jeong Seok asked me in a low voice.
“By the way, Ha Yeong-won. You’re hiding something else, aren’t you?”
“Hiding something?”
“You said you’d pay us if we helped. From what I know, Cheonmun-dong, where you live, is where the lowest-income people in Geryong City live. And you’re from a single-parent household. There’s no way you’re well-off.”
“……”
“But you talked like someone who could pull out money whenever they wanted. There’s something going on, right? Same with handing out thirty thousand won yesterday and offering a hundred thousand today.”
…Oh? This guy’s deductive skills were better than I thought. Well, I had given him plenty of hints. I looked at Yang Ju-hui and Jeong Seok. Would it be okay to tell them about the Status Window?
“Alright. You pass. The truth is, I have a mysterious superpower. Depending on the situation, this power could be incredibly helpful for your lives too. Sounds tempting, right?”
It would be hard to keep it a secret forever anyway. It was better to make it clear that sticking with me would definitely be beneficial. Since things had come to this, I should probably spend some of the 821 points I had saved up today. Let’s get a taste of what this “Capsule Draw” was all about.