The Ghost's Grudge
Whoosh…!
At the foot of the mountain where water poured down like cannon fire, I kept the Ink Journey floating like a canopy while checking the mana preservation data from the CCTV.
The spell-recorded footage played in the air.
I scanned through it in detail, fast-forwarding, and then—tap.
I tapped my finger on a specific moment.
“…Found you.”
A woman in a red blouse climbed the mountain with a man, but when they came back down, only the man was alone.
Then, that same man, now wearing a red padded jacket, climbed the mountain with a man in a coat, but when they descended, only the man in the coat remained.
It had eaten them.
The hypothesis was now all but confirmed.
The red clothing was the entity's constraint.
[1. In order to consume an opponent, the entity itself must be wearing red clothing.]
I memorized the face of the man in the coat.
As I fast-forwarded through the CCTV footage, he returned to this mountain area again with several other people.
“…A filming crew?”
It was the procession leading to the abandoned hospital. Likely the very crew that had gone missing.
The problem was that the padded jackets they were all wearing were red. Red and black were popular colors, sure, but…
Did they get them as a group gift or something?
I looked up. The abandoned hospital was right ahead, just down from the hillside.
Might as well go.
Wheeeee—
I leaned on my cane amidst the wind and rain.
Wolryeong Hospital
NO ENTRY
DO NOT ENTER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
There was a "No Entry" sign in front of the abandoned hospital. I checked my mental strength.
It was maxed out. It wouldn't drop.
“Shall we go in…?”
I stepped inside the abandoned hospital.
The interior itself was ordinary, but a strange, heavy silence soon pressed in on me.
Waiting chairs were scattered chaotically in the lobby, and non-functional computers and charts were strewn across the counter.
The wallpaper had peeled away in places, revealing the gray, bare walls, and there were stains that looked like handprints.
Just then.
Whoosh!
The door behind me slammed shut by some supernatural force.
…Actually, I caught it with telekinesis just before it could close.
Kreeeeak…!
The edge of the door shook. It was a power struggle between the hospital's ghost energy and my mana.
I stared at it and projected my mana.
CRACK-BOOM—!
The entire door was ripped off its hinges. Splinters flew into the hospital lobby.
“…Trying to act tough, are we?”
If they wanted to pick a fight first, I should probably give them a punishment to match.
I unleashed my telekinesis in all directions.
Bang! I grabbed the chairs in the lobby and swung them around like baseball bats.
CRASH! CRUNCH!
I smashed everything to pieces. CRACK! I shattered the windows and punched holes in the ceiling.
Whoosh! I personally set fire to the counter.
“I’ll even stick a talisman on for you.”
I drew a talisman on the wall with mana. The ‘Exorcism Talisman’ I’d seen at the used bookstore.
BANG! THUD! CRASH-BOOM! CRACK! CLINK!
I personally swung my cane to smash the fluorescent lights. Clink. Clink. Clink. Like playing Whac-A-Mole.
In the middle of my rampage, a wheelchair came rolling down from the other side of the hallway. I could smell the ghost.
I struck with pinpoint accuracy. A single point of explosion erupted right beneath the wheelchair.
—!
The wheelchair melted into liquid.
“…Hmm.”
Was that too much?
I came to find clues, not to wreck the place, but…
“That’s why you shouldn't have picked a fight.”
I blamed the ghosts and walked through the hospital. On the first-floor hallway, near the stairs, a camera was lying on the ground.
As soon as I picked it up and opened the viewfinder, the video played.
[Ah, damn. Meat’s stuck in my teeth.]
[Do you want some dental floss?]
[No, wait. Tsk. Tsk, tsk, tsk… Okay. How’s the camera?]
It seemed to be footage left behind by that filming crew.
There were five of them.
[Okay. Should we go right away?]
[Yeah. Let’s go.]
[Yes.]
[…This is the abandoned hospital in Wolryeong Village, where a series of disappearances have been occurring recently. In the last three months, four residents have vanished without a trace in this area alone.]
[According to reports from residents, all of the missing persons were last seen near this abandoned hospital. The police have ignored these testimonies and have not taken any special measures.]
[So, our reporting team has visited the scene ourselves. This hospital, which was closed four or five years ago, is currently a restricted area, but…]
Ding-!
A different system notification popped up.
“Guess it’s the live broadcast.”
Judging by my biological clock, it was exactly the prime time for the Labyrinth Exploration broadcast.
[The interior is completely ruined, but traces of someone having visited recently can be found in various places. Especially on the stairs leading to the basement… Aaaah! What is that!]
At the screaming sound, I looked at the camera viewfinder.
“What the…”
My eyes widened.
“Why is that there?”
For the first time since coming here, I was surprised.
The live broadcast firepower was insane.
Posts were flooding not just the live chat, but various online communities as well. The Seol Ha-woon and Kate fandoms were in an absolute frenzy.
For Lee Si-ah, it was just surreal.
“…You’ve really grown a lot.”
Seol Ha-woon, aka Je-Mal-Olh, who had seized the real-time search trends alongside Kate. He was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Halefords, who were famous for their massive, global fandom even before the show aired.
Just looking at the fact that a separate ‘Seol Ha-woon’ tab had been created in various communities, and seeing the speed at which posts were regenerating…
Compared to his 96th-place days, it was like the advancement of civilization.
Back then, there were only three or four people besides herself who would share his posts, so she had spent nearly 20 hours a day making and sharing memes all by herself.
Now, even if she just sat still, an incredible amount of posts and memes would appear on their own.
“…Don’t I deserve an award?”
Lee Si-ah muttered to herself for no reason. 1% of the stake was hers, after all.
Of course, she was joking. Naturally, as a fan, she didn't expect any reward for her affection.
Meanwhile, Seol Ha-woon pulled out the dead chickens from the poultry farm to secure food.
The poultry farm owner was horrified, but Seol Ha-woon put them into some box.
As he put the purple-stained chicken carcasses into the box, they turned into snacks.
“Whoa.”
Amazing.
The villagers ate the snacks and marveled.
Afterward, he went with the village chief to find the herb gatherer.
There were two children in a shabby hut in the mountains. The short Hyeon Dan and the even smaller Hyeon Seon-ah.
As expected, he was systematic. The live chat reacted well, too. Seol Ha-woon’s actions always had a clear basis, and everything fit together perfectly.
The younger sister spread her short arms wide to protect her older sister.
He handed her a ‘Base Teleportation Ticket’.
Seol Ha-woon looked at the two children, then at the herb gatherer, Hyeon Dan.
He seemed cold and businesslike, but his words were entirely different.
Seol Ha-woon didn't seem to have any affection, but surprisingly, he did. However, if a critical moment ever came, he would likely cut ties more coldly than anyone else.
Perhaps that precariousness, like walking on thin ice or standing on the edge of a cliff, was Seol Ha-woon’s unique charm.
Afterward, Seol Ha-woon gathered the village’s food, magic stones, and people.
He finished organizing the civilians and went up to the fortress wall alone to set up scarecrows.
You only grow when you risk your life. Only those who have brushed past death know the value of life. That preciousness accumulates as the foundation of a spellcaster and strengthens their Flame of Cognition…
Is that why Seol Ha-woon grows noticeably stronger with every episode?
Lee Si-ah watched the other teams with interest as well.
Yoon Hwa-rim’s concept was ‘cheer up’. She didn't have any outstanding mercenaries, but she talked a lot to encourage them and used buffs to make the mercenaries’ bodies lighter.
The mercenaries laughed at her encouragement. As a result, they built a fairly sturdy fortress wall.
There was a lot of such sowing of discord. In reality, they were said to get along well, calling each other brother and sister internally.
…Though, of course, I only heard that through rumors.
The path between the mountains. Jo Woon, who had established his base in a natural fortress, had already taken off his shirt. He took the initiative to cut down trees and break rocks to secure raw materials. Then, the spellcaster mercenaries fortified the fortress.
As expected, the continent’s ‘One Pick’, Zhao Yun. He looked like a game illustration, and his personality was truly like Zhao Yun’s.
The mercenaries even called him General.
However, not all defensive teams were doing well.
Ryu Wei was a bit naive.
Ryu Wei’s S-rank mercenary was a short-haired man as thin as a necromancer. He seemed incredibly irresponsible and annoyed, but Ryu Wei kept checking his mood.
It was obvious that Ryu Wei was being controlled by his S-rank mercenary.
Back to Kate’s scene. Contrary to appearances, she was working incredibly hard. She was the elite of the elite, the pinnacle of the status pyramid, a noble princess who had only walked the path of a so-called ‘Heavenly Dragon’, but she was covered in dirt, her hair was a mess, and she was working like an ox.
Suddenly, Kate’s very dissatisfied eyes were shown in a close-up. Where her sharp gaze landed was…
Min Seok-jae was there.
Min Seok-jae opened his eyes. Kate seemed to have expected something, but she turned her gaze away, pretending she hadn't.
Was he going to work now?
Min Seok-jae went straight into the bushes.
A harsh word almost slipped past Kate’s teeth.
[Chicken is always right. Chicken that is always right. Always Right Chicken.]
“…Ugh.”
Another commercial break. It was Always Right Chicken, imitating Je-Mal-Olh. They were probably trying to use Seol Ha-woon as a model, but it was tasty, at least.
Ding-dong-
A package had arrived just in time.
“Ah, finally!”
Lee Si-ah quickly went out to receive it. She placed the package on the table.
Explorer Association Official Trading Card NAN Series
“…Money-grubbers.”
She had barely managed to buy it through a lottery, and it was only five cards for 100,000 won. Even with those damn resellers, the base price was 300,000 to 400,000 won.
Lee Si-ah didn't have high expectations. She had just bought it to apply for the fan signing event.
She tore open the card pack and flipped through them, swish, swish, swish.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, a yellow color pierced her retinas.
No, a golden color so bright it hurt her eyes.
Lee Si-ah’s fingernails trembled. Her eyes, nose, and mouth grew as large as ping-pong balls.
And then.
“…Waaaaah!”
Clutching one of the cards, she jumped high into the air.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”