Imaginary Space (3)
I ran into someone completely unexpected in the imaginary space. Who would've thought I'd encounter Gong-gi here. Of course, it wasn't impossible. Shin-nim had mentioned that she was fused with Yu-hwa in some way, and since this was an imaginary space, there weren't really any restrictions. But I never imagined she'd be playing the role of little sister.
"...."
"...."
Gong-gi and I stared at each other, both speechless. The two of us frozen solid. Though the reasons we were frozen differed slightly.
'Kill her right now.' I was debating whether to just off Gong-gi on the spot. Gong-gi, meanwhile, was rolling her eyes frantically, searching for an escape route.
In that tense atmosphere, taut as a drawn bowstring, Yu-hwa—who knew nothing of the situation—bustled in.
"This is Jin-seok, the new friend I made recently!"
"R-Really?"
Yu-hwa slapped me on the back while introducing me to Gong-gi, then promptly turned to introduce her to me.
"This is my twin sister, Yeon Yu-ri."
"Twins, huh... Neat."
Twins—on the surface, sure, they looked identical. Though in reality, it was more like a doppelganger than actual twins.
"I'll go grab some snacks from the kitchen. You two chat for a bit!"
"Wait just a sec!"
With that, Yu-hwa introduced us and headed straight to the kitchen, leaving the two of us alone.
"You get three seconds. Make your excuse."
"…. Fuckin' barber."
I sat in a chair inside the lodging and asked. Gong-gi naturally dropped to her knees in front of me and spat out a curse. The real her would never do this. But after getting smacked down by Shin-nim and falling from grace, she had no choice now. Even my demonic eyes pegged her at Rumor rank at best.
"At least hear me out first."
"Spit it out."
"This has nothing to do with me. If you misunderstand, I'm really in trouble."
With me around, Gong-gi slipped back into her usual speech pattern. She must've been desperate. Anyway, nothing to do with this incident? That was something I couldn't just brush off.
"Wasn't this your doing?"
"No way?! There's no way I could pull this off now!"
"...Yeah, you do look that weak."
A Rumor-rank anomaly was barely worthy of the name. It took them months to kill even one person. In some ways, weaker than humans. No way she could've messed with someone as tough as Yu-hwa with that kind of power.
"Then what happened?"
"Probably some other anomaly got involved."
"Another anomaly? Besides you, someone else was stalking Yu-hwa?"
As far as I knew, Gong-gi was the only one harassing Yu-hwa. Yu-hwa had only mentioned Gong-gi and the Cheon-do Association. Even the shaman from the elevator incident had only brought up Gong-gi, the Saga-rank anomaly. Another anomaly... That was pretty hard to believe right now.
"After I entered Yu-hwa's body, I learned something."
"..."
"Yu-hwa has no memories from when she was twelve. More like they're sealed away?"
Gong-gi explained briefly after that. In summary:
Yu-hwa had no memories from age twelve for some reason. This space was connected to those memories, hiding some secret. And that wasn't all.
"You know I cursed Yu-hwa."
"Three curses, right?"
"I only cast two."
"...What?"
The curses Yu-hwa had told me about numbered three. Gong-gi admitted to only two: severance of relationships and marking as a target. The remaining curse of misfortune? Not hers.
"It's somewhere in this village. The one who cursed Yu-hwa and sealed her memories."
"...."
I pondered whether to believe her. I'd planned to meet Yu-hwa, sort things out, and head back to the real world quick. But it looked like I'd gotten dragged into something more serious than expected.
"Haaah... What am I gonna do with her..."
What the hell was up with the real Yu-hwa? It wasn't like she attracted every misfortune in the world, so why did she keep getting tangled in shit? Gong-gi reacting this gravely meant it wasn't minor. What bastard was involved this time?
"Everyone, snacks!"
"Finally! I've been waiting!"
"Huh? What's with that reaction?"
Just then, Yu-hwa returned to the lodging with snacks. Gong-gi scrambled up and hid behind her. Yu-hwa just petted her head and tilted hers in confusion.
"Jeez..."
I sighed again at the sight. No matter how you sliced it, she was my precious junior and little sister figure. What could I do but step up?
Anyway, after wrapping up my talk with Gong-gi and munching on the snacks Yu-hwa brought, we killed some time.
"Zzz... Phew..."
"Twitch twitch."
"...."
Yu-hwa, worn out from moving furniture earlier, had passed out right there. Gong-gi huddled in the corner reading comics, occasionally glancing at me and trembling. I just spaced out eating snacks, replaying what Gong-gi had said and planning ahead. But my thoughts wouldn't settle, so I decided to take a stroll around the shrine grounds.
"Be back in a bit."
"See ya! Take your time if you can!"
Gong-gi's face lit up at my words. This place must've been hell for her. Not that I cared. Why should I worry about some anomaly bitch? If she hated it, she could just drop dead.
"...."
Anyway, I left the lodging and wandered the shrine grounds. A short walk led to a small garden. A few flowers dotted the area, and a tiny veggie patch had some crops.
"Wonder if she can cook."
I'm no good at cooking. I knew Yu-hwa was decent now, but as a kid? No clue. Gong-gi... No expectations there. What would an anomaly know?
"Hmm..."
A bit farther, I reached the prayer hall. A hanging scroll depicted an unknown deity, and a finely carved wooden statue caught my eye. Both pulsed with mana—transformed into guardian spirits after long worship by humans.
"Pardon the intrusion."
I gazed at the statue briefly, then checked the altar below. No real reason—just a hunch something was here.
"Fruit, coins, and..."
The offerings were ordinary: fruit for the god, coins for blessings. Nothing special? Then, in a drawer, I found something odd.
"A book?"
Tucked deep in the drawer was an old, tattered book with no title on the cover. Definitely not a grimoire—no magic or mana at all.
"...."
Opening it revealed strange characters I'd never seen. They resembled hanja but felt off. Ancient hanja? Or a cipher?
"Oh."
But I could read them without any prior knowledge, thanks to Shin-nim's demonic eyes. I focused mana into my eyes, activating them, and the book's knowledge flowed into my brain.
"Hmm..."
The content was mundane: village happenings, legends passed down. Like messy notes. Fun to read, but no useful info.
Until the end.
"Hold on. This is..."
The last page held a drawing—a landscape, maybe. But deeply alien. Trees withered and twisted, sky filled with dozens of eyes. Most ominous: a small circle in the center. Whatever it represented, it was inked over repeatedly, no white showing.
"The end, huh."
No more pages, despite blanks left. The writer stopped here and vanished.
"What is this?"
Something was up with that drawing, but I couldn't grasp it. No mana, so not a phenomenon. Probably info beyond my current level.
"..."
I felt stumped and sat staring at it for a while. What had the writer meant? Figuring the intent might reveal it.
Black circle. Black circle... Like a hole in the ground—?
"Jin-seok, whatcha doing?"
"Gah!"
Lost in thought, a voice startled me from behind. Whirling around, I saw Yu-hwa's face.
"Weren't you sleeping?"
"Look over there."
She pointed outside with her index finger. Through the fog, a faint moon glowed. I'd lost track of time reading.
"Time to prep to head out."
"But the fog?"
Yu-hwa pulled me up. Fog outside—safe to go? The doubt hit, but she cleared it.
"The fog thins at night. Only time to gather supplies or explore."
"Ah."
Didn't know why, but night thinned the fog. To stock up for the day and find a way to dispel it, we'd use nighttime. No choice, then.
I set the book down, stood, and followed her back to the lodging.
Gong-gi was already geared up, waiting.
"Here."
"What's this?"
"Weapon. Homemade, but usable."
She tossed me something—a long spear plastered with talismans. Looked like her handiwork. A Saga-rank anomaly's exorcism gear. Felt weird.
"Everyone ready?"
"Yup."
"No issues."
Yu-hwa held a flashlight in one hand, club in the other. Gong-gi oddly wielded a scythe. I swung the spear a few times to get the feel, and we were set.
"Let's go."
"...."
Time to explore the fog-shrouded village.