Treasure Map - 1
"No. 1, what do you think you're doing?"
No. 1 had possessed Seo Jinwoo's body and was filming what looked like a scene straight out of an action movie, fending off the earthbound spirits' attacks.
"I'm following my master's orders, aren't I?!"
"I told you to grab Seo Jinwoo and run. When did I tell you to go fistfight the earthbound spirits?"
When I stared at him in exasperation, No. 1 shrieked back.
"I can't just eat them or destroy them! They probably wouldn't even taste good, but still. They keep blocking the way no matter what—what am I supposed to do?"
"Of course you can't eat them. These are people who died an unjust death."
The fact that the village residents had all perished at the same time when a tour bus overturned had never even made major news. No one remembered them. No one had ever held a memorial rite in their honor.
I stepped into the corner store, picked up a bottle of soju and some dried pollack, and headed for the rooftop.
The red signboard of the Chinese restaurant hung there, its paint peeling away as rust streaked down beneath it. Caught in the glow of the round bulbs flanking the sign, the earthbound spirits radiated a sinister energy—they were on the verge of turning into vengeful wraiths.
"Please, stop this. All of you."
The spirits flinched and trembled the moment I appeared, cowed by the powerful aura rolling off me.
"I'll get you out of this place. Without harming a single person."
I approached the spirits encircling Seo Jinwoo and began sending them off to the afterlife, one by one. An old man, a young man, a middle-aged woman, and... even a small dog.
The entire village had been wiped out, nearly to the last soul—so the dog left alone at home must have simply starved to death.
It was snapping at everything in sight, swallowing it whole. Stones, twigs, a dog bowl, even the carcass of a rat.
"Grrrrr!"
I scooped up the growling pup, lifted it clean off the ground, and set it behind me.
Then I splashed out the soju, sliced the dried pollack, and scattered the pieces here and there.
Crack!
Once I'd sent every earthbound spirit on the rooftop to the afterlife, the gate to the underworld that had opened at my back quietly swung shut.
Could that have been the little one sending me its thanks from the other side?
The glass marble left in my palm flashed—once, twice—glittering brilliantly.
No. 1, take Seo Jinwoo and wait by the car.
"Whyyy? What are you gonna do, Master?"
I glanced around, then fixed my gaze on the staircase we'd climbed only moments ago.
One of the earthbound spirits in this building had a particularly vicious edge to it. I wanted to take a closer look.
"Evil spirits are supposed to be eaten."
No. 1 pouted, clearly miffed at being denied a meal. In tandem, Seo Jinwoo's mouth twitched along with him.
Move. Now.
"Tch!"
No. 1 shuffled Seo Jinwoo's legs slowly out of the building.
I began with the Chinese restaurant and combed through everything on the first floor down to the market. There were no earthbound spirits left, but this place alone felt as though gravity pressed down at twice its usual weight.
That crushing sensation—of my body being dragged toward the ground—grew even stronger at the entrance to the basement. My breath grew ragged.
A barrier laid in double layers?
A barrier. A ward set in place to bar the passage of stray spirits and intruders alike.
But the barriers here were different in nature altogether. One was a concealing ward, designed to shut out outsiders entirely. The other was an illusion ward, built to trap intruders inside a maze. Both existed at once, stacked upon each other.
Who on earth had woven such barriers in a place like this?
The village residents had died together in a travel accident, becoming earthbound spirits. They had lingered here, and every time the twentieth of May came around, they dragged in anyone who met certain conditions at the tunnel.
And then they took that person to the place where they themselves had died, killed them, and hoped to be set free.
Which meant the villagers hadn't actually died where the tour bus overturned. Someone had taken people who survived the bus crash, moved them elsewhere, and made certain they died.
A hospital, perhaps? Or somewhere along the road to one?
Then there was the other mystery: the barriers. Had whoever murdered the residents under the guise of an accident summoned a shaman and set the wards under the pretense of comforting their souls? Or had an ancient barrier, laid down long ago, simply warped with the shifting of the land?
I started down toward the basement, then stopped dead. It was too dark—step inside, and there'd be no telling what waited in there. The only thing I could sense for certain was an unfamiliar energy smoldering up through the cracks of the warped barrier.
"I'll need to come prepared if I'm coming back here."
May 20th. Ugok Tunnel, music, a phone call. Even without fulfilling those conditions, I had to find another way into this place.
Because I needed to know what lay down there—and whether it was what drew people in and destroyed them.
And because I had to find whoever had killed these people and make absolutely certain they paid for it.
"Ugh, my head."
The moment No. 1 slipped out of his body, Seo Jinwoo slowly came back to himself.
I climbed into the driver's seat and looked over at him.
"You okay?"
"Hyung-nim? You made it out safely."
"Of course I did."
I gave a wry smile and shook my head slightly.
"You know I have special abilities. Why on earth did you try to make yourself bait? What were you planning to do if the spirits got you?"
"W-well, still... You came all this way to save me. I couldn't just hide and watch from the sidelines."
According to Seo Jinwoo, when the truck barreled head-on toward them, he'd leapt from the car and simply run. The woman driving the truck—Gyeongsoon's mom—and the man with her had looked like they were possessed by something. He'd run for what felt like ages until he spotted lights in the distance and thought he might finally get help, only to discover that every resident of the village was no longer human, but a ghost.
"It felt like walking straight into a scene from an occult film. The floor rose up, the walls moved. I honestly thought I was going to die there..."
Seo Jinwoo's face twisted with raw fear as the memories came flooding back.
"Then the ghosts started fighting each other. They lunged at each other with knives and hammers and axes, all trying to claim me first."
"One day a year. If they bring a person to the place where they died and kill them today, they're allowed to leave this place. That's why."
I told him the truth: the villagers had been murdered unjustly and trapped in this space for a very long time. I explained that even after death, someone had sealed the area with barriers, so they couldn't even escape outside of it.
Seo Jinwoo's face contorted with pain.
"I can't believe something like that could even happen. To be trapped, or controlled by someone, even after you die... that would be unbearable."
"It's all right now. Every one of them has gone somewhere they can finally rest in peace."
"Thank you."
At Seo Jinwoo's abrupt show of gratitude, I blinked at him.
"You came to save me, and on top of that, you sent those poor souls on to their next life. You sent Hella's children to a better place, too."
"I figure whoever gave me these abilities meant for me to do exactly that. And they pay me handsomely for it, so what can I say?"
Meteorites, white porcelain—the profits I'd reaped so far had already climbed past ten billion won.
I shrugged, then went on.
"It's just what I have to do with the power I've been given."
I rolled the glass marble across my palm and smiled faintly.
Seo Jinwoo watched me for a long moment, then lowered his head.
"All this time, I've only ever used my abilities for my own fame and my career... I'm ashamed of myself."
Then, as if he'd just made some enormous decision, he spoke with sudden gravity.
"Then I'd like to start using mine to the fullest, too. And I'd like to start by offering them to you, hyung-nim. Will you allow it?"
Was there any reason to refuse?
I smiled and answered.
"Gladly."
"...Thank you."
The stiffness drained from Seo Jinwoo's face, and he managed a smile. But for reasons I couldn't quite name, that smile carried something like the resolve of a sick person determined to fight their way back to health—and it made my chest ache a little.
"Take care of yourself first. That's what matters most. You can't make anyone else happy when you're not happy yourself."
"Yes, sir."
Outside the window, the pitch-black darkness began shifting into a deep violet.
"Mmmgh."
"Aigoo..."
As dawn broke, Gyeongsoon's mom and her husband, who'd been asleep in the back seat, began to stir.
"J-Jinwoo ssi?"
"Oh my! Jinwoo ssi!"
The moment they recognized Seo Jinwoo, they practically fell over themselves in panic. Possessed or not, they'd smashed a truck into his car—they clearly believed they were in catastrophic trouble.
Seo Jinwoo spoke up.
"You should say the accident happened because of carelessness. I won't ask for any compensation."
"Actor Seo, thank you! When I wrecked a car that expensive, I honestly thought my life was over!"
"In exchange, keep last night to yourselves. Even if you told people you were possessed, no one would believe you anyway."
Seo Jinwoo shot me a quick glance before continuing.
"If word gets around that ghosts haunt Ugok-ri, the people who live there will suffer for it. Please, never breathe a word of it."
"Of course. Not a word, I promise."
Gyeongsoon's mom and her husband swore to keep everything about that night buried, and agreed to handle their own wrecked vehicles through insurance.
"And I'll speak to the director so your food truck can stay for the entire shoot."
"Thank you so much!"
"How can anyone be this generous? Thank you, Actor Seo."
"You're safe, that's all that matters. I thought you'd been kidnapped by a stalker, you know."
Cho Woochul hadn't slept a wink, it seemed—he'd lost contact with Seo Jinwoo the night before. When I pulled up with Seo Jinwoo in the passenger seat, he looked ready to burst into tears, his eyes bloodshot crimson. No doubt the memory of two films destroyed by one disaster after another was haunting him.
"Thank you, Mr. Kim. Truly, thank you for bringing our Jinwoo back in one piece."
Cho Woochul bowed his head over and over, repeating his thanks as if Seo Jinwoo's safe return were entirely my doing.
Before long, morning arrived, and the staff who'd spent the night at the Ugok 3-ri pension began trickling back in, one after another.