Proof of Life

After wrapping up that earth-shattering session with Hwaryeong, I gathered my hazy wits and sank down beside her. The floor of the Abandoned Building was hard beneath me, but in my dazed state, I couldn't have cared less.

My ragged breathing gradually subsided, and a hush settled over the Abandoned Building. Through a crack in the small window, a sliver of light was visible. Morning was breaking.

Hwaryeong looked at me with a gentle smile.

"We're connected now."

She ran her own hand over her belly, right over her womb. The sight of it was so insanely hot that I laid my hand on her stomach and laced my fingers through hers.

When she said we were connected, it wasn't some sentimental metaphor. Something had genuinely bound us together. Whether it was the game's system or some other occult force at work, I could feel it clearly — a red-thread tether of binding, vivid and unmistakable, stretching from the region of my heart. It was the exact same sensation that had pierced deep through my chest when I first broke through Hwaryeong's virginity.

"What... is this, exactly?"

At my dazed question, color rose in Hwaryeong's cheeks as she twined her fingers through mine.

"Our souls have been bound, Husband. I received your essence as your wife, and we completed the union of yin and yang."

She folded her eyes into crescent moons and whispered, as if bashful.

"Now, no matter where you are, no matter what danger you face... I, your wife, can come running to you at once. We will be together forever..."

Uh... her tone's getting a little scary...

Maybe it was her voice, but a chill ran through me and my body gave a fine shiver. Looking at her face — those sunken eyes — it was like a yandere, or some kind of menhera, had just come online.

Hwaryeong pressed a little more force into her fingertips, pushing my hand even more firmly against her lower belly.

"Your seed has settled inside me quite nicely, too."

She seemed to be trying to redirect my thoughts with more of that filthy talk. And I was a very easy man when it came to Hwaryeong.

If it's a ghost like Hwaryeong... forever together wouldn't be so bad, would it...?

Rational alarm bells kept going off in my head, but they were useless against the warmth of her belly traveling up through my fingertips, and those moist eyes looking only at me. And if she could come running the moment I was in danger, wasn't that actually a good thing? This was a world where anomalies actually existed. And the body of Kim Mumyeong that I'd possessed didn't feel like it held any particularly strong power.

"You can really come right away if I'm in danger?"

At that thoroughly pathetic question, Hwaryeong let out a small puff of laughter, then pulled the hand she was holding and buried it between her breasts.

"Of course, Husband. What kind of wife would sit still while her husband is under threat? No matter how powerful the anomaly... anyone who so much as touches a hair on your head, I'll tear them all to shreds."

For a fleeting instant, a ghost's cold, bone-chilling obsession flickered through that soft, languid, seductive voice. And yet, strangely, instead of fear, a peculiar sense of relief and security surged up in me. Because it meant that in this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠vicious, grotesque horror-game world, I now had the strongest ghost bride imaginable — one who would look only at me and lay down her life to protect me.

"Alright... then being together forever doesn't sound so bad."

Hwaryeong's eyes lit up in an instant at my mutter. She broke into a beaming smile with those red lips, wrapped her arms tight around my neck, and buried herself against my chest.

Morning had come.

I gathered my clothes and got dressed, preparing to leave the Abandoned Building. Then I looked at Hwaryeong.

Ghosts are supposed to hate the light... is she going to be okay?

When I looked at her with that concern in my eyes, Hwaryeong smiled sweetly.

"Now that I'm bound to you, Husband, I've become something like a familiar. So I can enter your soul."

"My soul...?"

I guess in a game world, souls actually exist.

"One moment."

Hwaryeong asked me to wait and closed her eyes. Then — poof — she vanished. And not long after, she reappeared.

"Husband!! I've never seen a soul this vast in my life! How is this even possible...? It really is destiny, isn't it?"

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"You have talent, Husband!"

"Talent...?"

"The talent of a Spiritualist!"

At that unfamiliar name — which somehow sounded like a special class from a game — my eyes went round despite ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠myself.

"A Spiritualist...?"

"Yes! A Spiritualist!"

Hwaryeong spun a delighted circle around me, then slithered back in, pressing herself against my chest.

"To command an anomaly as a subordinate, or to keep one as a familiar, you need to understand its nature, of course — but first, the vessel that holds it, your soul, has to be large. And a soul is almost always innate. The only way to expand it is with some kind of treasure."

She poked my chest with a finger. A faint vibration hummed from the region of my heart, where the red thread was connected.

"Your soul, Husband, didn't need any treasure. It was like a vast, endless ocean! You've just been asleep all this time, never knowing your own gift..."

Hwaryeong narrowed her eyes seductively and brought her lips right up against my ear.

"By greedily devouring my virginity, you perfectly awakened your Soul Vessel."

Even after her explanation, it didn't fully sink in. But seeing Hwaryeong so excitedly delighted, it was clear this was an incredibly good talent.

"Is that so...? Then I guess I should be thanking my Hwaryeong..."

Ugh. I'd tried the possessive "my" because I figured she'd like it, but the moment it left my mouth I was so cringed out I felt nauseous.

At that painfully cheesy delivery, Hwaryeong's eyes went wide for a second — then she broke into a grin like she'd just been given the entire world.

"Hehe... hearing you call me 'my Hwaryeong'... I could attain enlightenment and pass on right this second and it'd still be a good death..."

She likes even this? Hwaryeong, are you a bodhisattva? Calling a ghost a bodhisattva is a bit much...

Anyway, seeing that she liked even this kind of greasy talk, I decided to just go with it.

"Enlightenment, my ass... I just made you my wife and you're talking about checking out?"

"You're right, aren't you? I can't! From now on, for the rest of my life — no, even after I die — I'll stay glued right to your side."

Hwaryeong, who was already dead and a ghost, planted a kiss on my cheek so wet it made a loud smooch. Which is why I couldn't exactly call her on the "after I die" part.

She pulled her face away.

"This time, I probably won't vanish the way I did a moment ago."

She was right.

Swoooosh—

Hwaryeong's form shimmered like a heat haze, dissolving into smoke as she melted into my chest. For an instant I felt a sensation like ripples spreading from around my heart.

Hwaryeong's ticklish voice rang directly inside my head. When I pressed a hand to my chest, her presence was vividly there.

That bone-chilling obsession, wrapped in a soft, gentle voice. But in this insane game world overflowing with anomalies that wanted me dead, what better insurance could there possibly be?

I straightened my clothes and headed downstairs. Coming down the stairs, I found the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠door. It was closed.

If Kim Mumyeong came in, shouldn't it have been open? Or did he close it behind him as he entered.

Seeing it shut, it seemed the advice I'd gotten from the Ghost Community had been valid after all. I opened the old door, and a thought suddenly struck me.

Creeeak—

Oh right. I should post a proof of life.

Maybe nobody even cared, but it was only polite to let the people who'd helped me know I was still kicking.

Outside, the clear morning sunlight poured down, dazzlingly bright. I let it wash over me once, then turned on my heel and went back inside the Abandoned Building.

"Hwaryeong, come out for a second."

At my words, she appeared at once.

"What is it, Husband?"

"You know the community, right?"

If it was Hwaryeong, who'd been so eager to pass herself off as a Gen Z girl, she probably knew.

"Yes, I know it!"

Just as I thought.

"It's nothing major. Someone on the community helped me out, so I figured I'd post a proof of life and take a picture together to upload. Oh, I'll mosaic our faces, of course."

"I don't mind if you don't mosaic mine..."

"No. Your pretty face is for my eyes only."

The truth was, I had a fairly strong possessive streak. At my words, Hwaryeong beamed even brighter, as if she liked that better. She seemed simply happy that I wanted to possess her and hold her precious.

I raised my smartphone.

"Alright, cheese."

I didn't actually mean for her to shout cheese — just to get ready. Hwaryeong pressed herself right up against my side and looked into the phone camera.

Click—

"Thanks."

I checked the photo.

Hmm, came out well.

I immediately worked the phone, slapping mosaics over both my face and Hwaryeong's. Technology these days was good enough that even mosaic work took no time at all.

"Hwaryeong, head back in now."

"Okaaay~"

She answered cheerfully and seeped back into my soul.

I opened the Ghost Community app and started writing a post.

I looked over the contents one more time, then hit the post button.