Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Journey with the Evil Ghost and Demon (3)
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As the sun set, darkness enveloped the surroundings.
Just as the impatient Dong-su was about to take action, the magpie blocked his way.
"Hey, friend! Wait just a little longer. Lights out at ten, so hold on till then. So, you came here for revenge too?"
"I'm not here for revenge. I came to find out who ordered my death. I have no intention of harming the underlings. But how did you end up stuck here? And what's in this place anyway?"
When Dong-su asked about him, the magpie got excited and started chattering away.
"I'm Aim! A demon who listens to humans' troubles and solves them."
Dong-su, puzzled by the idea of a demon solving humans' troubles, asked back.
"What kind of demon solves humans' problems? Aren't you supposed to be an angel for that?"
As Dong-su grew curious, the magpie chattered even more enthusiastically.
"It's true! I've been solving humans' troubles since ancient times. Good humans or evil ones, I don't discriminate."
Only then did Dong-su start to understand what the magpie meant.
'If it solves evil humans' troubles, nothing good can come of it for humanity. This guy's probably a demon who mainly listens to villains' woes.'
Even as Dong-su thought this, the magpie kept babbling nonstop.
"I used to live with an old shaman woman in Mia-ri, but one day I listened to a human trafficker's trouble. That's when this little virgin ghost named Yi-hwa burst in and attacked me. I barely escaped with my life, hid in this magpie's body, and ended up here."
Solving a human trafficker's troubles? No wonder Yi-hwa gave it a beating.
"You're one weak demon. Almost killed by a virgin ghost? Who'd trust you with their troubles?"
At Dong-su's jab, the magpie bristled, flapping its wings and lunging at him.
Dong-su barely calmed it down and urged it to continue the story. The magpie picked up where it left off.
"I'm not some brawling demon—I'm one who solves troubles! And that Yi-hwa virgin ghost is really strong!"
"Got it. Keep going with the story."
Dong-su cut off the magpie's attempt to boast about being a great demon and pressed for the original tale.
"The reason I came here is that a detention center like this is full of sinful villains, so I figured there'd be tons of vengeful ghosts like you showing up to settle scores."
"I told you I'm not here for revenge."
"Anyway! I thought I'd solve those vengeful ghosts' troubles and get them to help free me from this magpie body. But surprise—there was already another demon here before me."
"Hey..."
Even though Dong-su interrupted again, the magpie didn't stop.
"The demon already here was none other than Werinom, the medal-winning top demon of the infamous Fly Order! Impressive, right?"
Dong-su had no idea what Werinom was or what the Fly Order did, so he could only ask back.
"Hey, magpie. What's the Fly Order? You mean Paris, France?"
"You ignorant little ghost! Now that you're a ghost, you need to know the demons' hierarchy and factions! Don't you know you'll end up in hell?"
Dong-su felt embarrassed at being scolded by the magpie.
"Do I need to know demon politics? Just explain it anyway."
Seeing Dong-su deflated, the magpie smugly began its explanation.
"The Fly Order is a group of demons created by the Lord of Flies, Beelzebub. It's the strongest faction among all demon groups."
"Flies?"
"Not the city in France—flying insects. Flesh flies! Hell's flesh flies. Werinom is the top fighter under Beelzebub, but it got attacked by lycans and was hiding here recovering."
The only word Dong-su recognized in the story was "demon," so he interrupted to ask.
"What's lycans?"
"You really know nothing? How do you expect to ghost properly? Lycans are humans who transform into beasts—the classic example is werewolves. Werinom got mauled by wolves, torn to shreds."
"We don't have wolves in our country."
Dong-su interrupted again, and the magpie, frustrated, pecked at his shoe with its beak.
"No wolves, but plenty of werewolves! The lycan boss from the continent came here. Chinese wolves! Not knockoffs, real deal. Anyway, don't interrupt—listen quietly."
At the magpie's scolding, Dong-su nodded silently.
"That sneaky bastard Werinom set up base here, eating any vengeful ghosts that came in to recover its strength. Lycans and Beelzebub are sworn enemies, so it was hiding out, afraid of getting jumped again before fully healed."
Humans turned into beasts by demonic curses.
Lycans had submitted to or fought demons since ancient times.
"Unsuspecting vengeful ghosts that wandered in all became its snacks. I don't know how you got ghoul powers, but you can't take on Werinom! The moment you step in that building, you're its prey. You should thank me!"
Dong-su cut off the magpie's bragging and asked.
"You and this Werinom demon aren't in the same faction, huh? You'd be its snack too if you went in?"
The magpie's pride was hurt by Dong-su's words, but it admitted it readily.
"I'm not with the Fly Order. Like you said, I'd be demon chow if I went in. I'm no fighter, so what can I do? We gotta settle this without going inside! Got it? We're a team now!"
Aim the magpie demon belonged to the Gai forest demons, an ancient group older than the Fly Order.
Dong-su nodded at the magpie's words but cautiously asked again.
He seemed curious about why the magpie was helping him.
"But why are you helping me?"
At Dong-su's question, the magpie flapped its wings in exasperation.
"I'm a trouble-solving demon, remember? Good troubles or bad, doesn't matter to me. I have no morals. And once your trouble's solved, help me out! I need to get back to that Mia-ri old lady."
"How am I supposed to help you?"
Dong-su figured this little magpie wouldn't cause harm, so he wanted to help once things here were done.
"Help me recover my energy to leave this magpie body. You have ghoul powers, so you can do it."
"I don't know how to restore energy."
Dong-su had received ghoul powers from Emel but had never properly used them, nor did he know about resurrection or recovery abilities.
"I don't know either, but I'll find out and teach you. I'm a trouble-solving demon, so don't worry! No clue how you got ghoul powers, but ghouls often share powers with minions then kill them off—nothing surprising. You must've been a ghoul's lackey. Sure thing."
Dong-su was annoyed at the magpie so casually labeling him a ghoul minion and kicked it away with his foot.
"Ow! Ouch..."
Pecked by Dong-su's kick, the furious magpie pecked at his head and chattered.
"You punk, who do you kick? You're just a lowly ghoul minion ghost. Me? I'm a trouble-solving demon!"
* * *
As night fell, bedding for lights-out began to be laid out in Room 8 on the upper floor of Building 3 in the Southern Detention Center.
Eight inmates were housed in Room 8, and Jjang-gu, the latest arrival, ended up as the baby there too.
While President Park, who had arrived just before him, did dinner dishes, Jjang-gu cleaned the bathroom, then miserably watched TV by the bathroom door, and even swept the room before bed.
As Jjang-gu cleaned the room, the veterans took turns entering the freshly scrubbed bathroom for cold showers.
Here, under the guise of group living and hygiene, everyone showered with cold water daily.
President Park had warned that slacking even a bit would earn a brutal beating from the others.
Once the veterans finished showering, Jjang-gu went in too.
The bathroom was so cramped he couldn't even extend one arm fully, and the groundwater they used was so cold the soap bubbles wouldn't even form.
"Argh! Damn prison life. Argh! So cold. My head hurts."
Jjang-gu grumbled as he scooped water from the bucket with a ladle and poured it over his head.
The cold shower felt like his skull was splitting, but he had to do it every day to avoid the veterans' wrath.
"Me, groveling under those bastards. Argh! So frustrating!"
As a first-time inmate from the Gangnam Baldies crew, Jjang-gu had thought his tough talk would carry weight even here.
But he was wrong—only the veterans' word mattered in prison.
The bathroom had walls only a meter high from the floor, with the rest transparent acrylic instead of glass, so you could see right inside.
After Jjang-gu finished showering and came out, bedding started going down in Room 8.
Jjang-gu's spot was right by the bathroom door—a nightmare if someone needed to go during the night.
After ten, lights dimmed.
It wasn't total darkness; the fluorescent lights just got dimmer.
As he tossed and turned trying to sleep, an unpleasant smell wafted from under the bathroom door.
'Ugh... shit smell... for real. Ew.'
Someone must have gotten up to use it.
Mixed with the shit stench was a foul fishy odor.
'Argh, who's shitting mid-sleep? What the hell did they eat? Damn prison's so nasty I can't live.'
The nose-piercing stench made him pull the blanket over his head to block it.
But the foul smell persisted.
'Argh, damn, shitting with the door open? What?'
He threw off the blanket, turned his head, and checked the bathroom door.
It was shut tight, but stink seeped through the cracks.
Lying on the floor, he couldn't see if anyone was inside.
Jjang-gu lifted his head slightly to scan the room.
He was curious who was in there stinking up the place.
Worried that opening his mouth would let the shit smell into his lungs and taint his organs, he kept it shut tight.
'One, two, three, scammer, scammer, thief, pervert.'
He saw seven hateful heads lined up neatly.
'Seven. Hmm, one must be in the bathroom. Who?'
With seven heads visible out of eight inmates, Jjang-gu figured one was missing and counted again.