Day 4 — Ghost Hunt

I checked the familiar notification window and let out a long sigh. The bone-deep chill that had frozen me solid still seemed to cling to my skin.

To settle my nerves, I reached over and kneaded Yu Semi's breast as she lay beside me. The massive soft flesh shifted and reshaped under my hand.

"Mmmnh…."

Yu Semi let out a soft moan. I kept toying with her while my mind turned to Seol Jiyoung.

At this point in the timeline, Seol Jiyoung had already been completely taken over by the Seolnyeo.

Starting over from the very beginning might be the better play. Swap the heroine conquest order and go after Seol Jiyoung first. But what if even that didn't work?

…Maybe Seol Jiyoung was already under the Seolnyeo's control from the start. The first time I only kissed her and still ended up dead.

Regression.

It sounded nice on paper, but in practice it meant throwing away everything I'd accomplished so far. And there was no guarantee the outcome after regressing would be any better than before.

Plus Seol Jiyoung's power is way beyond what I expected. I exorcised a decent number of ghosts and dropped the Ghost Qi Degree, and she still had enough strength to kill me in a single hit.

I hadn't even been able to resist.

As things stood, running into Seol Jiyoung meant death.

I had to stay alive first before I could conquer her — or do anything else.

Should I wipe out every last ghost in this town and drive the Ghost Qi Degree down to the absolute floor? At least then I wouldn't freeze to death the moment I face her, right?

I ran through the ghosts still left in the area. Five remaining. Would exorcising those five be enough to tank the Ghost Qi Degree hard?

…Five alone won't cut it. I'll have to dig up ghosts that never even appeared in the original and exorcise those too.

So where was I supposed to get intel on ghosts I didn't know about?

Shin Ojeong.

His information-gathering skills were top-tier. Getting his help would cover it.

"Yujin…."

At some point Yu Semi had woken up. I burrowed into her arms like it was the most natural thing in the world. I spread her thighs and pressed my hard cock against her already-slick pussy. My hand slid into the hollow of her armpit. I kissed her neck and started pushing in.

"Aang! Ahn!"

I laid out my plan while listening to Yu Semi's sweet cries.

Seol Jiyoung was hunting for me. Her goal was to freeze me to death. So I had to avoid her at all costs.

She shows up at the motel in the afternoon and freezes me solid. She probably used lesser spirits to track me down.

Lesser spirits had low intelligence. In other words, as long as I didn't stay in one place, they wouldn't be able to follow me.

And any lesser spirit I spot, I kill on sight.

Plan set. Time to put it into action.

After sex, though.

"Haaaaaaang!"

Yu Semi headed to school, and I made for Ji Dahye's house. She was waiting for me obediently, still bound — though the location had changed. Not her room this time, but the living room. Her parents were crumpled in a heap beside the sofa.

"Senior Yujin! You're here! I've been waiting!"

"Ah, Dahye. Just swinging by for a bit. I'd love to stay with you longer, but… things got a little messy."

"It's okay. I can wait for you forever, Senior."

Ji Dahye said something adorably devoted and drew her legs together, pulling them up. Her tightly closed pussy naturally angled toward me. Being tempted like that, there was no way I could just sit still. I grabbed my cock and slammed it down into her.

One round with Ji Dahye, then I got what I'd actually come for.

A car.

The luxury sedan her father drove was the real objective.

With a car, I can move fast.

Mobility secured.

Next I fired off a text to Shin Ojeong. He should have been in class, but the reply came back instantly.

CRASH!

The car slammed into something. Phone in one hand, driving with the other, I glanced sideways. A tall man in a suit was twitching on the ground. I wrenched the wheel and ran him over again and again.

I floored the accelerator.

What I was counting on was something else entirely. I could see and sense ghost qi. Even buried underground, a ghost couldn't hide its presence completely. As long as I had a rough location, I could find the Ghoul.

"I can feel the ghost qi…."

I dug with the shovel I'd brought. The Ghoul was crouched beneath the earth. The pale, corpse-like thing lifted its head. I smashed my exorcism rod into its skull.

CRACK!

I didn't know the proper method for exorcising a Ghoul. But I had the Rod of Justice.

"Ghosts die when you hit them hard enough."

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Hunched in a hole, the Ghoul had no room to maneuver and could only take my beating one-sidedly. Being daytime, its power was weakened too.

I found the phone booth Shin Ojeong had described.

Without hesitation I dialed the number he'd given me — #666-4444. The line rang four times, then clicked, and the ghost picked up.

"You fucking bastard. Laughing like that is seriously unlucky."

"You fucking piece of shit! You in Hell right now? You think I can't go there just because you're in Hell, you motherfucker?! I'll go to Hell and beat the shit out of you! Your mom, your dad — I'll hunt down every last one of them and kill them all! You son of a biiiiitch!!"

BANG! BANG! BANGBANGBANG!

Unable to contain my rage at the cocky little spirit, I smashed the phone booth with my exorcism rod.

"Tell those bastards in Hell loud and clear! The second I get there, I'm tearing every last one of you fuckers apart! You pieces of shit! Pray I arrive in Hell as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠late as possible! You hear me?! Do you fucking hear me, you goddamn bastard?! Why aren't you answering?!!"

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!

I looked at the demolished phone booth and picked up my smartphone.

I kept exorcising every ghost Shin Ojeong fed me until the sun went down. Thirteen in total. Even I was starting to feel the fatigue.

I considered calling it a day, but thinking about Seol Jiyoung's power, this still didn't feel like enough.

There had been zero information about the Hyakki Yagyō in the original work. I dismissed it and kept typing.