Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: [Side Story: The Afterlife]
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" Sohee-ya! Aren't you coming?"
"Ah, got it! I'm on my way!"
BJ Tteolttae-i's manager, Lee Ye-seul, urged her employer on.
BJ Tteolttae-i, Lee So-hee, who came running earnestly on her short legs, stood in front of the iron gate.
"Is it really okay to go in here?"
"Yeah! It recently disappeared from the private property list, and no one knows why—there's no entry restriction either!"
The place they were trying to enter was a certain mountain in Dangjin, Chungnam Province.
More precisely, it was a vast expanse where mountains connected to plains, once private land that had now become ownerless forest. They planned to film a Chuseok horror special YouTube video here.
"Should we have done it live?"
"Videos like this work better on YouTube. Things can get dangerous if you're not careful. There are even cases where people find bodies while doing ghost hunts."
The two cautiously opened the iron gate.
As Lee So-hee followed the mountain path inside, delivering her broadcast lines, Lee Ye-seul gave her a signal.
"Cut! Keep filming, so recognize the camera."
"Got it."
"But is it really okay to change the concept? The Tteolttae thing was popular."
"It wasn't a concept! Now that I can speak normally, I will!"
After playing the VR game [World's Center], her speech had opened up.
She suspected the game had fixed some mental block, but the exact mechanism was unknown.
"It was so frustrating all that time! I'm never saying Tteolttae again!"
"Do whatever you want. You'll slip up when you're flustered anyway."
Of course, it wasn't a full cure.
When flustered or excited, Tteolttae-speak still popped out, so viewers just thought, 'She toned down the concept a bit.'
"But is there some story to this place? How'd you even find it?"
"How I found it...?"
It started with a post on an internet community.
[I'm a survivor from Dangjin, and some crazy shit happened.]
My whole family lives overseas in Geomui, right? Our clan, the Dangjin Lee family, is huge, and the main house summoned everyone this time.
When I went there, they said there's this grand house? Location is ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ here.
But it was full of old folks and boring, so I slept in a side room, and when I woke up, everyone was gone. My parents too.
Suddenly an orphan lololol But hey, tons of inheritance—jackpot!
└Is this sane?
└Parents missing and inheritance jackpot?
└Just bait.
"At first, I thought it was bait too. But a few minutes later, the post got deleted out of nowhere? You know how in urban legends, secrets that shouldn't get out get wiped instantly. So I asked viewers and checked the address—it led here."
"So that's why you wanted to film the horror special here?"
"Yeah, and we got permission, so no problem, right?"
Would they get some good footage here?
After hiking deep in, the two spotted a massive hanok faintly visible in the moonlight.
"The vibe is insane."
"Whoa... A ghost could pop out right now and it wouldn't be weird at all."
As they prepared to enter amid the eerie atmosphere—
...?
As a TS girl with sharper senses than most, her TS radar picked something up.
"What's wrong?"
"Something's over there."
"...You're joking, right?"
Lee Ye-seul turned the camera toward where Lee So-hee was looking.
Regardless of her fear, it was the mark of a pro editor.
"I hear a voice too!"
"Whoa! Me too!"
The sound grew clearer, and the presence in the darkness revealed itself.
A ghost in the form of an old man screamed, shedding bloody tears.
Spotting the two, the old man gaped wide and charged.
"Eeeeeek!"
"Kyaaaaak!"
At that moment, something fell from the sky.
"Blood Flame Barrage—Gold!"
The ghost vanished into smoke from the attacker's strike.
The smoke didn't dissipate but got sucked into a gourd held by someone.
"Whew, what are you all doing without entry control?"
A ghost in a suit appeared next.
"Everyone's dispatched worldwide to fix the climate crisis or whatever, right? Short-staffed, so it's unavoidable."
An old man in a suit just like it appeared too.
"So we sent an official request to city hall for cooperation. What were they doing?"
"Ah, but first, something to handle?"
"Right."
The two humans and one ghost donned sunglasses and pulled out metal rods.
"Look here."
"Huh? That's a man-in-bl......"
"Cheese—!"
'Ugh......'
Her mind was hazy.
Lee So-hee fought waves of drowsiness as voices drifted to her ears.
"How are we supposed to recover all this and get them to pass on?!"
"Didn't you hear? Sephirot says 1,975 humans had their souls shredded, each into 4,444 pieces."
"Why so ominously 4,444 pieces?"
"Probably 'cause it was a family into sorcery. They got what was coming karmically."
"Then just leave 'em as their own karma and skip the passing on."
Sleep kept coming.
But she didn't want to sleep.
"They're conscious and suffering like this right now? Well, they did their deeds—deserve it!"
"Like that piece earlier, strong soul fragments can become evil spirits on their own and cause harm, so we recover them. Anyway, we just grab the fragments that fell here! The rest scattered worldwide—other agents'll handle it."
"How long to recover it all?"
"Sephirot estimates a thousand years?"
"Won't finish in our lifetime."
If she slept, she'd forget this moment.
"Hell, probably. Top-secret, so I don't know details, but rumor is there're multiples."
"Hope they go to the most painful one."
Ah, can't take it.
Don't wanna sleep......
"Tteolttae!?"
Lee So-hee woke from sleep and looked around.
Rising from bed, she drank some water and wiped cold sweat.
"Ugh, hot."
Must've woken from the heat.
But hadn't she gone somewhere?
'Weren't we filming a horror special?'
Hallucination?
Still 3 a.m., so she lowered the AC and went back to bed.
'Ugh, can't sleep.'
Might watch YouTube.
Better put on news.
'Helps me sleep.'
She turned on YouTube news on her smartphone and closed her eyes.
[Next up: Earth's CO2 levels dropping sharply. Thanks to special carbon capture devices from the US...]
Oh, global warming solved?
[President Trump calls it proof scientists were full of hot air and cuts science funding.]
No, it was science that fixed it.
Why cut science budget?
Trump, truly unpredictable.
'Getting sleepy......'
Lee So-hee drifted into dreamland.
Unlike usual, a vivid lucid dream—she looked around.
"Where's this......?"
Just my house?
Shouldn't lucid dreams be somewhere special?
'Body feels heavy, can't fly or anything?'
What kinda lucid dream is this!
Then, the doorbell rang.
Wow, such a realistic dream?
She opened the door without checking the intercom. Dream anyway.
"Hello?"
A man in a suit, sweating from the heat, greeted her while wiping his brow.
"Eastern Hell Grade 9 Hell Messenger, Shin Se-hoon."
"So, you're a grim reaper?"
"No, Hell Messenger."
"Isn't that the same?"
"Totally different."
The visitor was something like a Hell grim reaper.
"Grim reapers guide lost souls wandering the nine heavens due to special circumstances after death. I'm the opposite—an sales rep who enters the living's dreams to intro Hell and secure afterlife contracts."
"Who's stronger?"
"Me. Not just anyone can do this. Grade 9, but real power player. Elite track chosen directly by the Kings of Hell. Grim reapers top out at Grade 5 clerk; I can hit Grade 1 with enough skill."
"What's Grade 1?"
"King of Hell."
Wait, Hell?
Hell has bureaucracy?
"I was shocked too at first. I was a detective, atheist. But a buddy's a prospective King of Hell, got me on this elite track."
"Good story. But what's this afterlife contract?"
Shin Se-hoon dove into the explanation.
"Religions describe the afterlife in countless ways. Ever wonder which is real, So-hee-ssi?"
"Yeah, and now Eastern Hell's the truth."
"Right and wrong. Truth is multiple Hells exist—Eastern Hell's one."
"Don't tell me the contract is..."
"To go to Eastern Hell after death."
Like a seasoned salesman, before pulling out the contract, he explained Eastern Hell's system.
"First, it's karma-based. Lots of good deeds in life? Quick judgment, maybe even Paradise. Can't explain Paradise now, but think heaven-like."
"Evil folks wouldn't sign—why tell 'em?"
"Gotta disclose. Evil karma can be offset. And it's mandatory for fair contracts."
He pulled out a flyer next.
"Benefits if you go to Eastern Hell."
"Benefits? In Hell?"
"Special perks from signing, usable even in the living world."
The first flyer screamed [Dream Interpretation! Big Luck! Let's Get Rich!] with vivid pig, snake, and poop drawings.
"Ever doubt dream interpretation, So-hee-ssi? Same pig dream—why one wins lottery, another doesn't?"
"Just superstition... Wait, no way!?"
"Yes, exactly. Sign the Eastern Hell contract, and dream interpretation becomes real."
Who knew dream interp had this secret!
"Pig dreams bring real money luck then. Snake too. Interpret content and flow right, though."
"Dreams prophesying the future..."
"Not the only perk."
Shin Se-hoon pulled the second flyer.
Titled [Pass Down Your Good Karma! To Your Descendants!], it showed elders dancing.
"Ancestors appearing in dreams to help—that's no mere dream. If contracted with us."
"Real ancestors showed up!?"
"Yes. Only if not reincarnated yet. So mostly sons/grandsons' dreams. After that, usually reincarnate. And low evil karma. Folks with enough good karma to wait for rebirth but not Paradise qualify most."
"But that's a post-death perk?"
He shook his head.
"Needs both sides contracted: dream recipient and ancestor sharing futures. If so, fate judges relay good/bad events to the living via dreams."
"Why not everyone use it?"
"Downside: ancestor needs tons of good karma. Meaning lots of good deeds in life."
"How many?"
"Save three in peril? Or one near death. Or lifetime good without evil works too."
Pretty tough.
One more perk.
"Last one's this."
"Red string of fate?"
"Benefit to meet your fated opposite sex match."
Flyer: [Red String of Fate! Find Your Match!] with girl saying [Oh my! Are you my destined one?] and guy [Oh, my fiancée, at last!]
'Isn't red string Japanese superstition?'
Eastern Hell, right?
Japan's East Asia too, mixed in?
"Like the second perk, activates only if both contracted."
"Then it's a loss?"
"When marriage age looms, auto-matches best fit among contracted opposites—no worries."
Do it or not?
Lee So-hee's choice...
"Good decision."
Contract in hand, Shin Se-hoon shook hands and left her dream.
"Oh right! Complimentary gift."
He handed her a plain candy.
"Luck Candy—eat for a tiny luck boost. Like two kelp strips in Nongshim ramen, or bottle flip landing upside down?"
"...Super tiny."
"That's why it's complimentary. See you in the afterlife!"
Just ten more to top this month's Hell Messenger rankings!
Shin Se-hoon clenched his fist, burning with zeal inside.
After he left, Lee So-hee voiced doubt.
"But if real, whole world should know Eastern Hell's truth?"
If not...
"Ah, no way!"
"Tteolttae-i!"
Lee So-hee jolted awake.
"Ugh, Tteolttae......"
Flustered, she clutched her head, squeezing out memories.
'Something, something I must remember?'
What was it?
'No clue.'
Just a dumb dream.
"Time for ramen!"
Nongshim brand.
"Oh!"
Her face lit up.
"Two kelp strips! Jackpot!"