The Sea of the Unconscious
We stared at each other across the Sea of the Unconscious. […….]
"Can't you just let her go?"
[Absolutely not! This is the perfect chance to earn my King's recognition!]
The director's stance was unyielding. There was no room for negotiation. How was I supposed to handle this?
'Hmm…'
I had an idea, but I wasn't sure the director would go for it.
"Does it have to be this girl's body?"
[What do you mean by that?]
"I'm asking if someone else's body won't work."
[……!]
The director fell silent. After what felt like ten minutes but was probably only one, he finally spoke.
[…It's just a personal grudge. It doesn't have to be this child specifically.]
"Heh~"
So that's how it is. Looks like he has a different real goal.
"If it doesn't matter, how about coming into my body instead?"
[……!]
My answer seemed to shock the director. [Are you serious?]
"Yeah."
It's not like anyone would lie about something like this.
[Why? What kind of relationship do you have that you'd go this far to protect her?]
"W-well…"
The director glared at me with suspicion. Calling the kid who'd fainted at the sight of a ghost "family" felt embarrassing. I picked one of the more believable excuses.
"Because even if you enter my body, I think I can still win?"
[Ha!]
The director laughed in disbelief. [How dare you spout such nonsense…! Are you prepared for the consequences?]
"More or less?"
I wouldn't have made the offer if I wasn't ready in the first place.
[Fine. Let's see how it goes. Don't regret losing your body to me.]
"I already said I get it. Why do you talk so much?"
[…….]
The director's face twisted in displeasure, but taking the body came first. In an instant, he turned into smoke and vanished, slipping into my body.
***
Splash!
[Is this the core of the soul?]
The soul's core was divided into three parts: the Sea of Information, the Sea of the Inner Self, and the Sea of the Unconscious. The director was currently in the Sea of Information, the part humans used when searching for various pieces of data. To steal a body, he needed to reach the Sea of the Unconscious. He kept swimming and entered the Sea of the Inner Self.
The Sea of the Inner Self was where one's sense of self and identity were established. Unlike the Sea of Information, it contained many childhood memories. Normally, he would have gradually altered the personality here to make it his own.
[There's no time for that now…!]
He had to offer a sacrifice to the "Great King" immediately. Only then could he earn recognition and rise higher. Originally, he'd targeted Ha-im, who had stolen evidence of his embezzlement, but this wasn't bad either. They seemed close, so he was curious what kind of expression this person would make when their body was taken.
[Almost there.]
Deep in the sea, the Sea of the Unconscious came into view. Of course, the massive, heavy iron gate had to open before he could enter. The director pressed his palm against the cold iron.
[Doesn't look like it'll open easily….]
The Sea of the Unconscious was special compared to the others. Unlike the Sea of the Inner Self that shaped personality, this sea was the soul itself. It held the purest crystal before personality formed, humanity's most primal desires—everything was there. Naturally, not just anyone could enter. The gate only opened for those the soul permitted.
But this time was an exception.
[Now I can use the power He lent me.]
When the "Great Soul King" resurrected him as a ghost, he had given him a mission as a ghost-type monster.
-[Steal a human body and hide among human society.]
Until now, he'd been stuck as a bound spirit because no humans came, but now he could repay that grace. Red smoke rose around the director like a haze and seeped through the gap in the gate.
Creaaak!
The massive, heavy iron gate slowly opened under the smoke, as if reluctant to reveal its secrets.
[Finally…!]
Hiding his impatience, the director slowly entered the Sea of the Unconscious. From here on, it was unknown territory even to him. He looked around. Everything was darkness, and the ground was like a wasteland where nothing could grow.
[Is the Sea of the Unconscious always like this?]
Bang!
……!
The gate that had opened slowly slammed shut with a thunderous noise. The water had vanished at some point, and countless skeletons beneath the bridge formed a vast plain.
[What the—!]
There was no time to be surprised. Even though no clouds had gathered in the sky, red blood rained down, and long bones grabbed his feet.
[Hehe, it's been a while since we had a guest.]
[How long has it been since we saw a person?]
[Stay with us.]
[Let's stay together forever. It'll be more fun here.]
[……!]
The skulls flashed red light and tried to drag him toward their corpses. It was extremely unpleasant.
[How dare these mere vengeful spirits try to pull me in…!]
The director tried to shake them off with the power he'd received from "Him," but there were far more skeletons than he'd imagined. To think there were so many corpses in the Sea of the Unconscious—he had to escape quickly. But before he could act on that will, a massive wave of blood crashed over him.
[……!]
The enormous wave felt like divine punishment. Splash! The wave hit the ground and subsided, forming a sea of blood wider than the surface itself. At least the wave had shaken off the skeletons.
[Kuh, what the hell is going on…!]
Countless skeletal corpses formed the land, and waves of blood crashed over him to create a sea. This nameless woman's inner world was more dangerous than others. The director kept swimming. Until he reached the surface. He swam and swam like that for about an hour before he felt something was wrong.
[Just how wide is this sea surface?]
No matter how far he swam, the distance to the surface never closed. But he couldn't give up here. The director swam for dozens of hours without giving up.
1 day [A little more…!]
3 days [Just a bit further…!]
30 days [Almost there…!]
150 days [Still not…?]
275 days
…
…
…
3706 days […….]
Subjectively, he'd been swimming for over ten years. As the saying went, even mountains and rivers change in ten years—the director, with his iron will, had finally reached his limit.
[Just how long…]
The surface and the bright sun rising above it shone down on him. The sun was so close it seemed touchable, yet he could never reach it. Just as the director's mind was gradually eroding from exhaustion, a familiar voice came from below his feet.
[Kikiki, look at that one. Still hasn't given up, kekeke.]
[Pfft, got some persistence.]
[Gehgeh, that's not persistence, that's stupidity.]
[……!]
Below, hundreds, thousands, millions of skulls had stacked into a tower reaching his feet. Since when?
[Watching is getting annoying, so let's just pull him down now.]
[Shall we? Playing with him isn't fun anymore.]
[Agreed~]
[It's been a while since we had some good medicine.]
At the peak of the mountain of skulls, a single slender, long sword popped out. Death energy radiated strongly from that one blade. Just how much karma had it accumulated? To emit that much death energy, it must have killed at least a million people.
Grab!
[……!]
A hand warning of death seized his ankle. The moment he was dragged down, it would be over.
Splash! Splash!
He flailed, reaching desperately for the surface, but it was useless.
[Damn it! I can't give up here!]
The King had promised that if he completed the tasks given, he would resurrect him as a human again. He'd become a ghost believing only in that promise. He couldn't give up here. But that cry reached no one.
[Keke, let's become one together.]
[Wow, so much flesh. Looks delicious.]
[Kikik, no cutting in line, okay?]
[We'll eat you up nicely.]
The director kept resisting, but unfortunately, he was pulled into the mountain of skulls. What happened after that, I'll leave to your imagination.
***
"…pa!"
"……."
"Oppa!"
"……!"
My eyes flew open at the voice calling me. Ha-im was in front of me, gripping my shoulders with strong force.
"You finally came to your senses. You scared me for a second there."
Ha-im suddenly let out a sigh of relief for some reason. I tilted my head.
"Did something happen?"
"That's what I want to ask you. You were just standing there with dead-fish eyes. What happened while I was passed out?"
"…No, I just remembered something unpleasant."
I didn't know why that memory had surfaced. I thought I'd gotten used to it…
"An unpleasant memory? I thought you lived without thinking."
"You really have no filter when talking to your oppa, huh?"
Smack!
Annoyed, I gave her back a solid slap. She made a frustrated face as if she didn't understand what she'd done wrong.
"Don't ever ask me to do something like this again."
"B-but ghosts are scary…"
"Fuck, then don't take the request in the first place. Do this shit one more time and I'll rip your hair out, got it?"
"……."
She hadn't even done anything and fainted just because of a ghost. She was nothing but dead weight.
"S-sorry…"
"……."
Ha-im lowered her head and apologized. I hadn't meant for her to apologize, but my heart softened a little. I needed to change the mood quickly.
"Ahem, what time is it now?"
"Oh, it's 11 o'clock."
"……!"
Startled, I checked my phone and saw we both had 36 missed calls. All from Mrs. Kim. We looked at each other.
"Uh… we're screwed, right?"
"Probably?"
We headed home and received a full three hours of scolding as punishment for breaking curfew.