Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 023
Chapter Title: Haunted Spot (1)
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One of the outdoor filming locations was a remote mountain village. This was the place where the heroine, So Yeojin, came to purify her energy in order to recall the memories of her body. While riding the wave of budding romance with the male lead, So Yeojin had resolved to somehow fix the situation where the wrong soul had entered her body.
[I've told you. The important thing isn't that shell. What I want is you—no one else.]
[That's why.]
[What?]
[Why won't you understand my feelings? I don't hate you. No, I like you. But that's exactly why I need to figure out who I am first. I don't want to give you incomplete love.]
[So Yeojin.]
[We have to find the reason. This isn't my body. It's mine inside, but... I have no memories, and this isn't even my real body. There's nothing that makes up 'me.' How can I ask you to love me like this?]
[I'm okay with it. I told you I'm okay!]
[I'm not. The way things are... it feels like another woman is touching you and loving you!]
So Yeojin becomes more proactive than before in uncovering her true identity, for a different reason this time. The hint came from the shaman she met on her first visit.
[You need to resolve the grudge of the body's original owner. Only then will your memories return. Your soul got hurt because it's tangled up in that grudge. Fix everything, and it'll all be resolved. That's how you'll evade the Grim Reaper's eyes and survive.]
To Yeonwoo, it seemed like a pretty cultish setup. But for those reasons, the heroine So Yeojin had come all the way to this rural mountain.
'No matter how fictional it is, isn't the shaman setup a total mess?'
He could buy the connection between soul and memory. But having to go into the water again? At dawn, immerse herself in untouched pure spring water and bathe in moonlight?
'I knew it from the waterfall scene...'
Apparently, soaking in the pond would awaken the body's memories and even ward off the Grim Reaper.
'Well, it's a drama.'
Yeonwoo decided to just go with it. For those reasons, as the sun set, they entered the darkening mountains and set up for filming near a small pond.
But this location was downright eerie.
[We only came here because of that guy, but the vibe is spot on. How'd they even find a place like this? Hm-hm-hm-hm.]
The Child Spirit whistled a tune. Yeonwoo had to agree.
"Yeah, how'd they pick a spot like this out of everywhere?"
Even in the warming season, the mountain chill lingered. Lights flickered on and off repeatedly. Microphones picked up static, ruining takes. Staff startled at nothing, glancing around. Equipment malfunctioned left and right.
"It's a total haunted spot. Haunted spot."
The gloomy atmosphere made mishaps inevitable.
"It's worse than the broadcasting station."
If stations were hubs for resentful ghosts and obsessive thoughts, this place was a den of trivial ghosts. It felt more like a haunted house experience than a drama set.
'Three on the lights. Two on the mic. Two on the camera... They all swarmed like they saw something amazing.'
And that wasn't all. In the pond the shaman recommended to "purify body and mind"...
[Water ghosts in a place like this. Wow... How'd that one end up in the mountains and drown in a pond of all places? Not the sea or a valley, but a mountain pond...]
Unfortunately, not a single one had harvestable lifespan. Out of all those, not even one.
Not a single one!
'Guys holed up here probably don't have desperate wishes anyway... Still.'
The yin energy was so thick it messed with electronics. Humanely, shouldn't he give them some lifespan?
[Maybe 'cause they live in the countryside—they seem harmless. No intent to harm people. If any messed with our actor's shoot, I'd give 'em a piece of my mind.]
The little hamster puffed up boastfully. No dignity whatsoever.
"Truth be told, this scene would've had more impact if the Grim Reaper popped out right then, watched, and left. Sigh. That guy..."
"No helping it. With Min Writer's skills, she can pull it off without him. She's already revised it all—why fuss?"
"I'm just bummed. Bummed. Couldn't deliver lines, so they cut them. Couldn't act expressions, so they made him stone-faced, just enough to look okay on screen. And they tossed it anyway. Infuriating."
"Let it go. Don't stress and ruin the shoot."
"Sigh. But Director, doesn't the vibe feel off? Or am I imagining it?"
Director Heo and Min Writer looked uneasy, sensing the same subtle discomfort as the staff.
"Probably just nerves. Come on, looks prepped enough—let's shoot and wrap. I don't wanna linger here either."
No matter how chaotic, filming had to go on. Lee Deokchun had already messed up the schedule, turning leeway into tightness. No delaying for "bad vibes" or "gear issues."
"Min Yerin ready?"
"Yes, Director. Standing by now."
"Then let's roll before time slips away."
Min Yerin emerged from waiting.
"Yerin. You know you gotta go in there and come out. You good?"
"Of course."
The pure, quirky 'So Yeojin' showed no trace of her usual aloof chill.
"Like the script: jump in. It's shallow, no worries. Staff checked it. Tough to redo jumps, so one smooth take. You got this?"
"Don't worry."
Min Yerin smiled brightly and nodded.
"Right. Yerin'll nail it no sweat. Don't forget the 20-second emerge!"
"Scene 37-1! Slate in!"
With the slate clap, Min Yerin approached the pond step by step.
"Just gotta go in here? Eek. Scary... But for me and Taehoon. Let's go, So Yeojin!"
After hesitating, So Yeojin neatly removed her shoes by the pond.
"Hoo, hoo. Clothes too? It'll be cold... What if someone sees? Eh, whatever!"
Still dithering after shoes, Min Yerin finally plunged in with a splash. A scene capturing the heroine's quirky, bubbly personality.
She'd just entered; in ten seconds or so, she'd burst out like a dolphin show. Then Kim Taehoon arrives late, sees it, and snaps.
'Then Kwon Seonghyeon wraps shivering Min Yerin in his jacket, right?'
-This part's gonna kill. Shows Seonghyeon's caring side and killer physique!
His manager had pointed it excitedly in the script.
Kwon Seonghyeon was primed to jump in right after.
But.
"Huh...? Why isn't she surfacing?"
Ten seconds passed, then the planned twenty. The pond surface stayed eerily still.
"Did Yerin miscount?"
"Maybe holding for dramatic gasp?"
"Maybe...?"
Director Heo and Min Writer muttered. But their faces soon paled. Over a minute since she entered.
"Something's wrong."
Director Heo urgently beckoned the assistant director.
"Check it out, quick!"
"Yes, yes!"
A minute in, no Yerin—panic rippled.
"Shine lights here! Too dark—can't see!"
"Pond's shallow—how not see?"
Staff flailed in the unexpected mess. Then—
Pop. Lights out.
"Argh, not now!"
"Grab backups!"
"Power vehicle's dead!"
"Flashlights? Anyone got flashes?"
Pitch-black water. "Shallow," sure, but total dark? Few dared enter.
"Oh god! Yerina! Get our Yerin out!"
Her manager, spotting oddity mid-watch, rushed over, stomping.
"Damn it. Hold on—getting flash..."
"She'll drown meanwhile!"
In haste, phones lit up—but mountain night swallowed the beams.
"Felt off earlier. What the hell...?"
A staffer mumbled blankly. Golden time for drowning: most last under three minutes. Time ticked amid chaos.
Yet no one stepped up. Too weird.
Shallow pond. Silent Yerin. Lights failed too.
Eerily coincidental. Maliciously so. Chills all around weren't odd.
But couldn't let her drown. As some edged toward the pond hesitantly—
"Hold up."
A clean face gleamed in phone light. Unknown arrival. Yeonwoo, jacket off, sleeves rolled.
"You step in now, you'll drown too."
***
[Uh?]
The instant Min Yerin jumped.
Yeonwoo and Child Spirit saw the same thing.
[That... spells trouble?]
"......"
No reply, but Yeonwoo agreed.
As she hit water, the submerged water ghost surfaced its head, flashing a creepy grin.
'Ghosts rarely look happy.'
Yeonwoo's hard-earned truth.
Think: dead ghosts joyful? Wronged deaths, lingering regrets barring afterlife. Obvious joys?
'When others suffer right in front.'
Minor injury to major death.
'Han Grandfather's kid rescue—grudge spirit grinned too.'
Its torn-mouth leer lingered in memory.
And now, similar scene unfolding live.
Splash!
Min Yerin sank with a racket. Amid splashing, Yeonwoo saw it: bloated, elongated hand lunging like it'd waited.
Fizzle! Sparks—all lights out.
'So... all these guys are in cahoots?'
Mistake thinking remote earthbound spirits pure. Ghosts are ghosts.
Bored mountain ghosts thrilled at live human strolling in. Drowning one? Fleeting fun.
"Min Yerin's not surfacing!"
"Power vehicle—fix lights! Hurry!"
Chaos engulfed the set.
'Before that, Yerin's dead.'
Obvious. Water ghost wouldn't release.
No more thought needed. Jacket off, Yeonwoo strode to pond.
[Saving Min Yerin?]
"Have to."
Or this drama won't run right.