The Day the Village Died

One glance was enough to tell that these buildings had been abandoned by the living. And yet between them, dark figures were scurrying about, busy with some frantic purpose.

[Master, look over there.]

In front of the general store Spirit No. 1 pointed to with his front paw, a display of paper newspapers caught my eye. It had been well over fifteen years since paper newspapers vanished from stores and newsstands, yet there they were, lined up in a rack.

When I narrowed my eyes, the date came into focus.

So time in this space is frozen in 1989?

Once that thought settled, everything made sense — the tacky old shop signs, the storefronts that seemed to defy the passage of time itself. I suppose this is what the village looked like before it was submerged.

I raised my spiritual awareness and searched for Seo Jinwoo.

What Gyeongsoon's Mom had said echoed in my mind.

[She said today is the day they died. What could that mean, if not that they're ghosts?]

I didn't know why, but the people of this village had all died together. Souls whose fates had been cut short — wronged spirits turned earthbound. And on the anniversary of their own deaths, they were pulling outsiders in.

You have to hear the music and be on a phone call — some condition has to be met. When those conditions lined up just right, some barrier-like thing dissolved, and anyone passing through the tunnel got dragged in here.

[She didn't call them ghosts, though. She said they can only leave if they drag a person to the spot where they died on this very day.]

Gyeongsoon's Mom had tried to run in shock at those words, but something else suddenly seemed to slip into her body. After that, the man driving the truck had rammed Seo Jinwoo's car head-on.

The earthbound spirits that possessed Gyeongsoon's Mom and the man must have died somewhere near that spot. That was why they'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠caused an accident there.

I lifted my head and surveyed the village. Something was moving fast — whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! — and the atmosphere bleeding off those movements was savage and desperate.

They're running out of time.

They had to deliver someone to the place they died within a fixed window, and that window was closing.

Wait. When I'd been lured in here through the tunnel into the past, I remembered the date.

It was May 20th, wasn't it.

Today's date was May 20th too.

The hazy fog that had obscured everything began, little by little, to sharpen into clarity.

"The people of this village all died together on May 20th in a sudden accident. And to escape this place, they've been looking for people who could become earthbound spirits in their stead."

I finished speaking and turned my head. I wanted to hear from Gyeongsoon's Mom and the man whether my theory was correct — but —

[They're both out cold, like they fainted. The earthbound spirits must have drained their energy.]

Spirit No. 1 explained, his tongue lolling out.

"I see."

Still, just in case, I reached out and checked the man's pulse. I could feel it beating in a steady, regular rhythm.

"Anyway, if Seo Jinwoo's here, the spirits must be fighting among themselves right now. There's only one person and far too many ghosts to go around."

[Right — look over there!]

Whirrrr!

An earthbound spirit in the form of black smoke was swinging a chainsaw at another spirit. Tat-tat-tat-tat! The finely shredded spirit scattered across the ground, then curled up into smoke again and re-formed. The black figure, restored to its original shape, swung an axe this time. Crack! The chainsaw-wielding spirit's head went flying — whereupon it dropped the chainsaw, picked up its own head, and jammed it back where it belonged.

It's horrifying, the way they fight even in death.

Just then, one of the smoke-wrapped earthbound spirits turned its head toward me. Bloodshot, crimson eyes locked dead onto mine.

"It saw me."

[Whoa — looks like all the others saw you too, Master.]

The Chinese restaurant atop the two-story building. The general store and shoe shop on the floor below it. From the gas station, the diner, and the alley behind them, sooty figures squirmed and crawled out one after another.

There were far too many. Forty at the very least, I'd say.

Whirrr! Some clutched chainsaws, others axes and hammers — one spirit was even brandishing a butcher's knife from the meat shop.

If all of them attacked me at once, could I send every last one to the afterlife without so much as a scratch on my fingertip?

If it were just my own body? Yes. That I might manage.

But what about Gyeongsoon's Mom and the man sitting in the back of the car? And I couldn't drive out of here, either. I had to find Seo Jinwoo, who was hiding somewhere.

No. 1, I'll lure every one of those earthbound spirits to me. You go find Seo Jinwoo.

[And when I find him?]

Possess him and stay hidden somewhere. Once the sun rises, this whole mess will be over.

Going by my own experience, I'd only been able to escape this place after sunrise.

I rolled down the window and jerked my chin at Spirit No. 1, telling him to jump.

The plan was simple: once he was out, I'd drive slowly and draw the spirits toward me, then send them to the afterlife one at a time.

Right at that moment —

"Over here! Come at me instead!"

From the rooftop of the Chinese restaurant, Seo Jinwoo bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"Seo Jinwoo!"

[What's he doing?]

"I think he's trying to save me by making himself the bait."

Was Seo Jinwoo really that kind of person?

He was an actor with a stratospheric market value. He'd grown up controlled and micromanaged from childhood, so I'd assumed he'd be at least somewhat self-absorbed.

But I'd been wrong.

"I'm closer to all of you, so hurry up and claim me first!"

Seo Jinwoo spread his arms wide, luring the earthbound spirits.

[Oh man, our Master is one tough act to follow.]

Spirit No. 1 dragged a paw down his own face.

The spirits were in a competition now, and it didn't matter to them who won. What mattered was claiming a human body and being carried to the spot where they'd died.

"Uuuooooh."

"Aaaaagh."

Several spirits wheeled toward Seo Jinwoo and charged. They were terrifyingly fast.

"No. 1, hurry — go save Seo Jinwoo!"

[On it!]

Spirit No. 1 shed his possessed form and began swelling in size. Once he'd grown as big as a single-story house, he crouched low, then sprang — and the instant his body stretched out in midair, he was flung forward. In just three colossal leaps he reached the Chinese restaurant, and then he was sucked straight into Seo Jinwoo's body.

The whole sequence happened in the blink of an eye.

When an earthbound spirit arrived a hair too late and tried to force its way into Seo Jinwoo's body, No. 1 unsheathed his claws and shredded it without mercy. Hook-like talons burst from Seo Jinwoo's hand and ripped the spirit clean down the middle.

"Uuuooooh."

"Aaaaagh."

The earthbound spirits that had marked me as their target threw themselves at the car as one.

"Yes, come on."

Click. I opened the car door, stepped out, and squared my chest. Behind me, I felt a door to the afterlife swing open. A cold, damp wind came howling through as light poured out.

I spread both arms and charged straight at the earthbound spirits. It had to be me moving behind them if I was going to send every last one of them to the other side.

And then —

Oh, good Lord.

Among the spirits closing in on me, there was a small child. An earthbound spirit in the shape of a pregnant woman held the child in her arms.

"What on earth happened to all of you? Why did you die on the very same day, at the very same hour?"

Bam-bam-bam! A spirit that had been running toward me stopped short and flung itself at my body. It seemed they were all trying to possess me — but every single one of them passed straight through my body and was sucked away to the afterlife.

And each time one passed through, its living memories were read into me.

The things they had endured before death began to unspool through my mind like a panorama.

"Heejin, you excited to go on the trip?"

"Yeah! Super excited. But are you allowed to close the shop?"

"It's a free trip, so we can go."

Just then a man, apparently the shop owner's husband, scooped the girl up into his arms and said, "Free trip, my foot. Once they finish the civil works up there and the inland expressway goes through, our village will be a dead one. Building the dam isn't even the real problem."

"The road isn't really going to disappear. Our district's National Assembly member told us not to worry, remember?"

"The whole thing's rigged. It's a fixed game of go-stop."

With a grim expression, the man stopped in front of the tour bus and looked back at the village one last time.

"Honestly, I don't want to go..."

"They told us not to split up. We live together, and we die together — that's what we agreed."

At the shop owner's words, the man sighed and climbed aboard.

"Alright, I'll do a head count now. Check if anyone's missing."

"Everyone's here except our Yellow, looks like!"

"Hahaha. Then we're off! How about a big round of applause for the president of Mirae Construction, who sent the whole village on this tour, and Assemblyman Joo Chang-nam?"

"Applause, my ass."

"Hahahaha!"

The passengers on the bus chattered noisily, cursing the construction company president and the assemblyman who had rammed the civil works through. But there were those who applauded too, saying you couldn't get what you wanted by opposing everything unconditionally.

"And we're off!"

The tour bus pulled away.

"Mom! Look over there. The trees are running backward!"

"The trees aren't moving, sweetie. We're the ones moving forward."

"Hey, driver! Put on something lively — some trot music!"

Trot music rang out cheerfully through the tour bus.

Just then the village head, seated in the front row, answered the bus's phone.

"Yes, hello? Oh! Assemblyman. We're just about to enter Ugok Tunnel right now, and— AAAAAAGH!"

"What is that? What's that thing?"

"Why is a bulldozer just sitting there—"

Crunch! Amid the screams, the tour bus slammed into the tunnel wall and bounced upward. Then came the roar of the explosion.

BOOOOM!

Inside the vehicle, swallowed by smoke and flame, the little girl shook her mother awake.

"Mommy. Mommy... Mommy..."

Fwp!

Every last earthbound spirit passed through my body and departed for the afterlife, and the child alone remained.

I'm sorry, little one.

The girl probably didn't even know why she had died. She was far too young to understand anything about new-town developments or civil engineering projects.

Her mother ran the shoe shop along the national highway, and her father ran a general store next door... Maybe she'd thought that if life just went on like this, that would be enough.

But then expressways began carving through every corner of Gangwon Province, and the villages that lined the old national highways became ghost towns. The gas station, the diner, the butcher shop, the Chinese restaurant, the shoe shop — no one came anymore, never knowing such places had ever existed.

The villagers, terrified of exactly that fate, had opposed the civil works to the very end. And then, on a group outing, they had all died together in a single accident.

Could that really have been a coincidence?

It had happened so long ago. The accident would have been forgotten quickly enough — news of dredging sand from the sea to build new-town apartments would have made far bigger headlines.

But the victims of that accident had become earthbound spirits, and even now they couldn't leave the village.

"Were you scared? It must have hurt so much. The grown-ups... I'm sorry. Forgive us."

I walked over and held the child tight.

"Go on to the afterlife now and rest easy. Who knows? Maybe over there, the trees really will run backward for you."

At some point, the child's face had returned to its true form — no longer sooty smoke, but the face she'd worn in life. Round eyes, an adorable little nose, cute lips, and chubby cheeks. She was impossibly cute.

"Thank you. Because of you, mister, I get to go on a real trip with my mom now, right?"

"Yes, you do."

"Hehe! Yay! This is for you — a present."

The girl pressed what she'd been clutching tightly in her fist into my palm.

It was a glass marble — a child's toy.

How strange. Even though an earthbound spirit had been holding it all this time, it's warm to the touch.

Once the child departed for the afterlife, I straightened up and lifted my head toward Seo Jinwoo, still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the rooftop of the Chinese restaurant.