Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Mountain Lodge on the Dokkaebi Grounds (7)
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Dong-jin had zero desire to touch it, but at Na-rae's urging, he laid his fingertip on the blade.
Unlike Na-rae, he felt no pain at all.
The scabbard and hilt, illuminated by the light, were engraved with talismans without fail.
"Sunbae, take it for now. We'll show it to the team leader and put it back later. This sword seems connected to the talismans here."
"We're coming back here?"
Dong-jin asked incredulously as he slipped the sword into his back pants pocket.
It was small enough that only the hilt stuck out.
Na-rae, who had opened the closet's sliding door and was peering inside, pointed to the floor with her finger.
The closet floor was wooden.
Where she pointed was a metal ring the size of a coin.
This closet, the sword, and the floor ring were things they hadn't heard about from the lodge manager—they were things even the old man didn't know.
"What's this?"
Dong-jin shone the light on the ring and asked.
She wouldn't know either.
Instead of answering, Na-rae grabbed the ring and pulled.
Startled by her sudden action, Dong-jin shouted.
"Reporter Eun! What if you just yank that out of nowhere? We need to discuss and make a plan first. You're so reckless."
"Shut up. Shine the light."
Na-rae ordered Dong-jin to hold the light steady as she pulled harder on the ring.
With a creaking grind, dust billowed as the floor lifted.
A hole about three handspans wide—big enough for a person—opened up.
They shone the light in, but darkness obscured the depth.
* * *
Grooooan, clank, bang.
As Baekho pushed open the gate with force, it flew wide with a racket.
"Hmph, what a noisy door. Excuse us. Coming in for a bit."
Byung-su deliberately shouted loudly as he stepped inside.
"Reporter Kim! Stay behind me."
Baekho grabbed Byung-su's shoulder and pulled him behind his back.
Byung-su could sense Baekho was quite tense.
Scraaape. Scraaape.
In the direction Baekho's gaze was fixed, a monstrous woman sat on the wooden porch, sharpening a blade on a whetstone.
Short bobbed hair, black shorts reaching below her knees, a bright red sleeveless t-shirt, and slippers on her feet. The woman sat with her back to Byung-su and Baekho.
The blade looked over a meter long and as wide as a handspan—a massive sword.
Thud. Thud.
Even as Baekho approached with deliberate heavy steps, the woman didn't turn, focused solely on sharpening her blade.
A sour stench of vomit mixed with the metallic tang of blood emanated from her.
Flies and maggots swarmed around her.
It was an evil spirit.
"What kind of thing are you, still haunting around here?"
Even to Baekho's question, the woman kept sharpening her blade.
From her back, she seemed like a young woman, but it was hard to be sure.
"Pretty classic outfit. Women in the '90s wore those shorts a lot."
At Byung-su's mention of the shorts, the woman reacted.
"Were these shorts in style back in the '90s too?"
A phlegmy, rasping voice echoed in the air.
"Maybe even before the '90s? Trends come and go, after all."
Byung-su had a hunch but didn't show it, stepping out from behind Baekho as he spoke.
One step forward, and the stench of rot and malevolent energy grew stronger.
Maggots crawling around the woman slithered toward them.
White maggots blanketed the yard, intensifying the bloody reek.
"What are you doing in this house?"
"I need to cross the bridge, but some ugly bastard's blocking it, so no choice but to hole up here."
Byung-su asked again as she continued sharpening her blade.
"Was this originally your house?"
"My house isn't in this country. The jibakryeong that lived here, I sent it packing somewhere else."
Clearly a vicious evil spirit that had driven out the earth-bound spirit and taken over.
Irritated that the evil spirit ignored him completely, focusing only on her blade, Baekho straightened his massive frame imposingly and asked.
"So, why are you sharpening that sword?"
"To lop off the head of some scrawny weakling and a big lug."
Baekho's eyebrow twitched at the evil spirit's attitude, still not turning around.
"What? You insolent bitch!"
Enraged, Baekho bellowed and slammed both fists into the ground.
The dharma talismans that subdued spirits unleashed their power.
Fierce flames erupted, incinerating the maggot swarm covering the yard.
"Reporter Kim, get behind me quick!"
Anticipating the evil spirit charging through the flames, Baekho shouted.
Byung-su swiftly ducked behind Baekho.
The yard reeked of plump, sizzling maggots.
Beyond the roaring flames, the evil spirit slowly rose, inspecting the blade in her hand.
Red liquid oozed from her bright red sleeveless tee, staining her black shorts crimson and trickling down her legs.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
A puppy outside the gate barked furiously at the evil spirit.
It was too scared to enter, but its hostility was clear.
The evil spirit turned, raising her blade toward Baekho.
Her face was pallid, eyes bloodshot with madness.
Aside from her face—appearing in her early to mid-twenties—her entire body was drenched in red.
As the evil spirit took a step forward, the red liquid from her body stained the ground.
She glared at Baekho for a moment before swinging her massive sword once.
Red liquid flew from the blade, extinguishing the flames.
"Baekho-nim, the fire's out. Come to me now."
Not the phlegmy rasp, but Byung-su's voice came from the evil spirit's mouth.
"You seductive wench! I'll send you to hell."
Baekho hurled himself forward, swinging both arms.
The evil spirit stood firm, blocking Baekho's massive fists—engraved with dharma talismans—with the flat of her blade, then pursed her lips and blew.
A swarm of black flies poured from her mouth, engulfing Baekho.
As his face was covered in black, his vision obscured, Baekho's body swayed.
"Baekho-nim!"
Worried for Baekho, Byung-su rushed out recklessly.
The evil spirit didn't even glance at Byung-su, leaping into the air and swinging her blade at Baekho's head.
Baekho urgently raised both fists above his head to block the whistling blade.
The dharma talismans activated, blue flames flashing.
But the evil spirit's massive sword was no slouch either.
The giant Baekho buckled, one knee hitting the ground under the force.
His leather gloves tore, blood dripping from his palms to the dirt.
Byung-su charged at the evil spirit to save Baekho.
The evil spirit thrust out her left hand, grabbing his wrist.
Byung-su screamed at the crushing grip.
The evil spirit casually flung him against the wall, then pressed harder on the blade pinning Baekho.
The evil spirit's sword descended to cleave Baekho's head.
Baekho barely twisted his head aside to dodge.
The blade slammed into his shoulder, piercing straight through to the bone.
Baekho gritted his teeth, but a groan escaped.
"Urk!"
Byung-su staggered to his feet and charged again, yelling.
"You vicious bitch!"
"Vicious bitch? If I wasn't vicious, you bastards would've gotten rid of me already."
The evil spirit spoke coldly, aiming her blade at Byung-su.
Emel's energy gathered in Byung-su's fist, striking the evil spirit.
The powerful surge hit like a wave, slamming her into the ground without chance to evade.
"You damned human..."
The evil spirit's eyes blazed with fury.
As she slowly rose, Byung-su swung again.
This time, no energy gathered.
At the feeble punch, the evil spirit sneered.
Her blade flashed.
The extended edge sliced effortlessly through Byung-su's left arm.
The searing pain of amputation clouded his mind.
Blood spurted from his severed shoulder as he collapsed.
The puppy from outside the gate—now beside him—barked ferociously.
"That little pup's got some lungs. Sun's about to set—big trouble. Run away quick."
Byung-su muttered as consciousness faded.
Then, in his blurring vision, a middle-aged man stood outside the gate, bellowing.
"Why's this old guy's lying here? Arm's cut off. Must hurt like hell. And you, quit yapping! Tiny thing's so damn noisy. Hey! You mutt! Stop taking it out on the wrong people!"
It was Kim Sebang the dokkaebi, who had scored canned beer from Dong-jin the night before.
* * *
"Oh! It's like a ladder?"
Na-rae, groping the space in the floor, looked up at Dong-jin.
Her eyes signaled for him to go down.
"Reporter Eun, can't we just close this lid?"
His hand trembled on the ring.
"Sunbae, should I go down then?"
Na-rae widened her eyes at Dong-jin.
Her dark pupils gleamed.
Unable to say yes, Dong-jin made a grim face and flung the open cover wide, lowering himself into the hole.
The ladder was wooden.
Aged and rotting in spots.
He descended until his head vanished into the hole, but his feet still hadn't touched bottom.
"Deeper than I thought. This is the second floor—how? Shine the light better! Looks like it goes through the first-floor wall underground. Okay, confirmed. Can I come up now?"
Terrified by the endless darkness below, Dong-jin pleaded.
But Na-rae was firm.
"No, go all the way down."
About four times his height down, he finally touched bottom.
By the depth, it had pierced the first floor and gone underground.
He pulled out his phone, shining around.
It was fairly spacious, like a room or storage.
Floor and walls smoothly packed—clearly man-made with care.
"See anything?"
Na-rae's voice echoed from above.
"Looks like someone made this room. I'm coming up now."
"Obviously someone did. Sunbae, I'm coming down too—shine the light."
Dong-jin, who wanted to climb up, had no choice but to resign as Na-rae descended.
With two phone lights, they could see more clearly.
No signs of habitation, but definitely artificial.
Even a small door on one wall—clear effort put in.
"There's a door?"
Dong-jin called Na-rae upon spotting the wooden door.
"Like a doggy door."
As she said, a small wooden door at waist height.
Crouching to inspect it, they spotted a familiar talisman.
A complex one made of lines, triangles, and squares forming a star.
"Reporter Eun, it's drawn here too. The lodge manager said only 'Ran' drew them in rooms—what's going on?"
Na-rae scraped off a bit of the talisman on the wooden door with her nail.
"This is different from the ones upstairs. Those were carved—this one's painted in blood."
Hearing her, Dong-jin touched it too.
Not carved into the wood.
"You're right... not carved. Why peel it off?"
Na-rae pocketed the fragment of blood-painted talisman from the wood.
"To find out whose blood. Open this door first."
"Reporter Eun, painting talismans in blood means... sealing something away. Isn't it dangerous? Better call the team leader and check together..."
Dong-jin blocked Na-rae from opening it with practical reasons.
She agreed but couldn't suppress her curiosity.
"You're right, sunbae. Go get the team leader. I'll wait here and look around. Doesn't feel like anything too dangerous inside."
He couldn't break her stubbornness to just open it.
"Then I'll go first. You shine from behind, Reporter Eun."
He sounded brave enough.
Truth was, he needed her behind to light the way.
Na-rae, unaware, found him quite reliable.
'Whoa, sunbae's cool!'
Dong-jin bent down and opened the door.
Pure black, pitch darkness where he couldn't even see his own hand.
They crawled in on all fours through the narrow passage.