Dungeon (1)
The next day arrived. I'd spent the entire evening mopping up the water in the living room, and I'd tossed the yokai corpses to the deep-sea entities as feed. I moved the grimoire that had been stuck to the ceiling to a spot with good light and airflow. As for that cheeky stone slab, I hammered it into the storage closet or whatever. But when I woke up in the morning, there it was by my bedside.
"I'm heading to work."
[....]
"Next time a yokai shows up, just leave it be. Or smack it down with tentacles."
Anyway, after finishing my morning routine, I stepped out of the house. And wouldn't you know it, my luck was shit right from the start. The moment I opened the stairwell door, I ran smack into a ghost.
"And what the hell are you?"
"Hee hee hee!"
A ghost standing stock-still on the stairs, clutching a kitchen knife. It stared at me for a moment, then pointed at the elevator.
"You want me to take it?"
"Kee hee heek!"
When I asked, the damn thing just kept laughing. I had no idea what its game was, but every time I tried to head down the stairs, it blocked my path and herded me toward the elevator.
"You little shit."
"Kiek?"
After it pulled that stunt a few times, I felt my temper flare. Some of us are busy rushing to work. Who the hell did this jobless yokai think it was, messing with my commute? And shoving me toward the elevator of all things? That really pissed me off.
"Die. Go on, die."
"Kiyaaak!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
I grabbed it by the scruff, hoisted it up, slammed it to the floor, and stomped on it a few times. With that, the ghost bid farewell to the living world and slunk back to the afterlife. Only then could I calmly descend the stairs and make it to work on time without being late.
"Mr. Kim, are you okay?"
"...What do you mean?"
I'd arrived at the office and was deep in the middle of work when suddenly Yeon Dae-ri called out to me. I flinched, wondering if I should bolt, but it didn't seem like she was bringing up that incident, so I decided to hear her out.
"Didn't you run into anything weird on the way in?"
"Weird guys?"
Weird? What was she talking about? I made a puzzled face for a second, then it hit me—the ghost from earlier—and I let out an involuntary "Ah."
"Eung~ So you ran into it too, huh, Section Chief?"
"Wh-what are you talking about? I have no idea."
"It's fine~ As long as you're safe."
Yeon Dae-ri flashed a cryptic smile and headed back to her desk. I couldn't even begin to guess what her question had been getting at or what was going through her head.
She wasn't that kind of character.
Wasn't she supposed to be more innocent, with her thoughts written all over her face? Lately, she'd gotten way more sly and seductive.
It's scary.
I'd been avoiding her all this time, and the backlash that might come later terrified me.
"Better just focus on work."
But that was that, and work was work. With Yeon Dae-ri's humming as background noise, I dove into my tasks.
"....."
"Uwaaa..."
"Fuck my commute home."
The workload was insane. Our partner company had gone bust recently, doubling our tasks. Sure, my pay had gone up accordingly, but the constant overtime wasn't doing me any favors.
"Everyone, take a quick break."
"Groooan~"
"......Guhk."
It was past quitting time—8 p.m. now—and we were still grinding away. Groans echoed from every corner, and Kim Gwa-jang face-planted right onto his desk the moment break time hit. My mental strain was mounting too, so I told Nam Bu-jang I was stepping out for a walk.
"I'll go take a stroll."
"Go ahead."
Bu-jang waved me off with a massage device buzzing against his neck, and I shuffled out of the office. Maybe grab some coffee for the team on the way back. That was the plan—until a voice piped up from behind.
"I'll go for a walk too!"
"Sure."
Shit. I hadn't seen that coming. I bolted down the hallway to escape, but...
"Mr. Kim, where are you off to?"
"Damn it."
Yeon Dae-ri's freakish athleticism let her catch up in no time. If only I'd reached the stair door...
"Let's take the elevator."
"I have trauma from that..."
"You haven't forgotten, have you?"
"Ah."
She dangled the bait, and like a dumb fish, I bit every time. What the hell was happening?
"Eungk."
"Come this way, sunbae."
I got dragged into the elevator. Yeon Dae-ri hit the rooftop button, then shoved me into the corner and pulled off a classic wall slam.
"You know you can't run anymore, right?"
"Yes..."
"Then you know what to say next, don't you?"
This was the second time she'd brought it up, but her character shift felt way too abrupt. No, weren't you supposed to be like a golden retriever? Where'd my cute pup go, and why's a she-wolf in her place?!
"Let's talk on the rooftop first."
"Okay."
At this point, I had to admit defeat. I'd been planning to come clean soon anyway, so might as well rip the Band-Aid off. Plus, there were things about Yeon Dae-ri nagging at me.
Prophecy and the Cheon-do Association...
As I sorted my thoughts, the elevator dinged at the rooftop.
It arrived without any anomalies—miraculous. The rooftop had a little garden and benches for chatting during breaks.
"Spill it."
"Yay..."
We sat on a bench. I let out a sigh, steadying my complicated feelings. Sharing secrets and getting close with a coworker? It was weird and cringey as hell. I'd wanted to hide as much as possible...
"Truth is, I'm a magician."
"You can use magic?"
"Want me to show you?"
She nodded eagerly. She'd used talismans before, so she wouldn't freak out over a little magic. Or so I thought as I cast a deep-sea spell for her sparkling eyes.
"Deep Sea Tentacle, come forth."
⟨ Deep Sea Tentacle ⟩
"Ooh!"
I pricked my fingertip and drew a tiny magic circle. A plump little tentacle popped out, wiggling playfully as if it knew we weren't in combat.
"What a cute tentacle! Does it have a name?"
"Deep Sea Tentacle."
"It's a real tentacle-chan!"
Yeon Dae-ri stroked it gently. The tentacle clearly hated the touch—it bristled with spines and jabbed at the back of her hand. But she ignored it and kept petting, a satisfied smile on her lips.
"By the way, have we met this guy before? It feels familiar."
"Ahem!"
[Flustered!]
No way... had she figured it out? I didn't want to admit that I was the one who'd whacked her from behind in that cave.
"Ahaha. Must be your imagination?!"
"Nah... something's off..."
I glanced at her warily and changed the subject. The tentacle stopped resisting and let itself be petted. Thankfully, she dropped it and started playing—squishing and tugging at it.
"Phew."
Crisis averted. I leaned back against the bench with a sigh of relief. I'd just wanted a quick walk to clear my head, but somehow I'd gotten snagged by Yeon Dae-ri and spilled my secrets.
"Hey, Yeon Dae-ri."
"Call me by my name from now on. And speak casually."
"Uh... sure, why not?"
I wasn't sure if it felt good, but it wasn't bad. We'd been friendly with each other from the start—Yeon Dae-ri, or rather Yeon Yu-hwa. Sharing our not-so-normal lives brought a little thrill, I guess.
"Alright, Yu-hwa."
"Yes, Ajusshi Jin-seok."
With casual talk established, I went ahead and asked what had been bugging me.
"Are you a shaman?"
"It's complicated."
Her freakish strength, sensing spiritual energy, using talismans for magic—it all pointed to shaman. Or so I'd figured.
But according to her, that was only half right.
"I'm not a shaman. My grandma is."
"But you used a talisman."
"Grandma made it for me."
She explained that shamans need a spirit descent to become full shamans, and she hadn't had one yet. Right now, she was just a tough ordinary person who could sense anomalies, with talismans courtesy of her shaman grandma.
"Why haven't you become one?"
"My parents didn't want me to."
Her folks were both normals and had no desire for their daughter to go that route. Made sense. Becoming a shaman meant cutting ties with the secular world—no normal life, just serving gods forever.
Living with gods isn't so bad.
But from a regular person's view—especially a parent's—it'd never look like a good life.
"Sounds like great parents."
"You could see it that way."
"Hm?"
"Nothing."
Her response felt a bit prickly, but I sensed now wasn't the time to pry. The story was wrapping up anyway, and it was time to get back to work. I stood from the bench.
"Let's head down."
Ruuuumble...
Then came a deep, rumbling vibration. The building shook faintly; flowers and grass on the rooftop swayed. A normal person might chalk it up to an earthquake, but Yu-hwa and I sensed what others couldn't.
"You feel it too?"
"Yeah. Inside the company right now..."
The rooftop seemed outside the range, but something was happening inside the building. Ominous, thick mana prickled my skin. We'd never had anomalies at the office before, but that streak was over.
Protecting daily life is a bitch. Is wanting some peaceful normalcy really that much to ask? I just couldn't figure it out.