Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 079
Chapter Title: I Need You (3)
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I’ve never experienced a curse tangle myself, so I don’t know just how rough it can get… but ‘Going back empty-handed leaves a bad taste in my mouth…’ What kind of lowlife scum targets kids with a curse? There are unwritten rules in this world, after all. ‘Might as well have cursed the man himself.’ Kids are innocent, no matter what. Besides. ‘…I’m curious what the new usable function even is.’ Might as well kill two birds with one stone. Yeonwoo finished rationalizing it perfectly.
“Anyway, let’s head out right away.”
“Right away? You mean now?”
“Yes. These sorts of things just evolve into bigger headaches the longer you put them off.”
“Faster the better. Good. Let’s go.”
Woo Do-gyeom pulled out his phone and started giving orders to someone.
“I’m coming too. I can’t just send Yeonwoo-ssi off alone—it makes me too uneasy.”
Kwon Sung-hyun hurriedly grabbed Yeonwoo’s arm as he spoke.
Hmm. You might be better off staying behind. ‘They won’t end up fighting the whole way there, right?’ It was the first time Yeonwoo had seen Kwon Sung-hyun—who seemed to carry around a hundred yellow cards—baring his teeth like this. He looked ready to cling to Yeonwoo’s pant leg if refused, so Yeonwoo just nodded vaguely. Woo Do-gyeom didn’t react much to the sight.
“Let’s go. The car’s ready.”
And so the trio’s odd outing began.
***
Woo Do-gyeom’s house, located in the heart of Seoul, sat in an incredibly serene spot. Downtown and serene might sound contradictory, but unfortunately, it was true. Surrounded by tall walls that blocked any view inside, the standalone home revealed an unexpected sight once the gates opened.
Of course, the biggest exception was the kids who came barreling out like tumbling balls.
“Daddy!”
“Daddy!”
The two children charged at top speed, slamming their heads hard into Woo Do-gyeom’s waist. Yeonwoo could’ve sworn he heard a loud drum-like thwack, but Woo Do-gyeom didn’t budge an inch.
“...?”
It looked like clumps of pitch-black tangles were rushing in… ‘Where does this look like a case of insomnia, wasting away, and plummeting health?!’ No matter how you sliced it, they just looked like a pair of beagles. Or rather—if that was truly their “weakened” state… what must they be like normally? The odd part was the sticky curse tangles plastered viscously all over their bodies, coiled tight.
“Is it really a problem?”
“Yes. You saw it yourself just now, didn’t you? These kids are so drained they can’t even cling properly.”
“...?”
No. That was a full-on body slam if I’ve ever seen one…
The two kids peeked out from behind Woo Do-gyeom’s waist, where they’d latched on tight.
“Daddy, who’s that?”
“Who is it, Daddy?”
One was a girl, the other a boy—and strangely, they looked strikingly similar.
“Woo Sae-rim. Woo Sae-hyeon. What did Daddy tell you? You have to greet guests properly.”
Surprisingly, Woo Do-gyeom came off like a perfectly ordinary father.
Even with Woo Do-gyeom’s prodding, the kids only peeked out further, staring hard at Yeonwoo. Then, instead of the greeting they were supposed to give, they muttered something bizarre.
“So pretty.”
“Right, right? I thought the same.”
“...?”
Yeonwoo nearly suffered a stroke on the spot. What the hell had he just heard? Even more absurd was Woo Do-gyeom’s reaction.
“How intriguing.”
“...?”
“Any beauty I’ve ever brought home, they’ve never once taken a liking to. Hmm…?”
That’s not the only intriguing part! Regardless of Yeonwoo’s bewilderment, Woo Do-gyeom calmly introduced the children.
“This is Woo Sae-rim, my daughter. This is Woo Sae-hyeon, my son. Twins. They’re seven.”
The kids flinched at the sound of their names.
“They’re terribly fragile and pitiful children. I’d be grateful if you could help them.”
“...I’ll do what I can.”
Fragile and pitiful… It felt pretty far from the image Yeonwoo had pictured after hearing Woo Do-gyeom’s story. Any visions overlapping with his own past self faded away into nothing.
“Um… wanna live with us?”
The girl’s sudden remark. But the boy next to her picked it up.
“Yeah, it’d be so nice if you really lived with us…”
Sparkling.
Glittering.
If he had to describe their gazes, that’s what it felt like.
“Daddy, can the pretty oppa live with us?”
“I wanna live with the pretty oppa. Let’s live together!”
“...It’s nice they like me, but what’s with those nicknames…? More importantly, inviting someone to live in your family home like that…”
Woo Do-gyeom was the one who answered.
“Ah. It’s just the three of us. Their mother passed five years ago. Tragic accident.”
“That’s… regrettable.”
“Not trying to kill the mood. Up till now, no matter what woman I brought home, my kids despised them. They hated the idea of anyone coming into our house at all. So I’m shocked they’re the ones suggesting you move in.”
The twins nodded at Woo Do-gyeom’s words.
“But he really is pretty.”
“Yeah. That sparkling gold is so pretty!”
“We turned all black like this.”
What’s this? It felt strangely familiar. Why was Kwon Sung-hyun’s story coming to mind?
[There’s a golden haze like an angel around him.]
At their first meeting, he’d even called him ‘angel’ or something. ‘...Do all spirit-sighted people I meet for the first time get some kick out of gold colors and weird nicknames?’ But Lady Kang and the other shamans who frequented her shrine never said stuff like that. Suspicious, but not important right now.
“You two… can you see what’s wrapped around me right now?”
***
Fsssh—
The paper in his palm burned away silently. It was the Eye-Opening Talisman, meant to sharpen his sight. The twins’ eyes went wide as they watched the paper blacken and crumble without a single flame.
“Wow! The paper’s burning!”
“But no fire?!”
“Daddy! Did you see, Daddy?!”
“Yeah. Pretty amazing, huh.”
The kids weren’t the only ones stunned—Woo Do-gyeom looked shocked too. The only one keeping cool was Kwon Sung-hyun, who shrugged smugly, shoulders squared. Though he soon deflated when the three of them didn’t spare him a glance.
“Gasp! He rubbed the ash in his eyes!”
“That’s gotta hurt. Stuff in my eyes hurts.”
“...”
Everything Yeonwoo did seemed wondrous to them; they chattered like town criers every time he made a move. It was a bit burdensome, but Yeonwoo silently rubbed the ash over his closed eyes.
Shhh—
The black ash vanished, absorbed without a trace.
When he opened his eyes again.
‘Worse than I thought.’
The Eye-Opening Talisman maximized his Spirit Eyes. In his sharpened vision, where the other side of reality stood out clearer, the children’s forms came into view. They were undeniably covered head to toe in black tangles thick as yarn. It’d been bad even before the talisman, but now it was worse.
‘The tangles have even crept onto their relatively fine faces…’
Good call using the Eye-Opening Talisman right away, no hesitation.
‘Any later, and they’d have been completely devoured by the curse.’
A normal person would’ve been long dead by this stage. How these young kids had held out relatively intact this long… maybe thanks to their spirit sight.
“If it’s not too much trouble, mind telling me what you’re doing?”
Woo Do-gyeom asked. Yeonwoo had burned a random scrap of paper in some mystical way, smeared the ash on his eyes, then just stood there scanning the surroundings wordlessly. Now he was staring intently at the kids, brows heavy with concern—who wouldn’t be curious?
“Or is something wrong with my children?”
“If ‘worse than expected’ counts as a problem, then yes.”
“Worse?”
“Yes.”
Just once. The curse target who’d been kicked out of Lady Kang’s shrine and showered with coarse salt. If this was worse than that guy, that said it all.
“Pardon me for a moment. Don’t talk to me while I’m doing this. It scatters my focus.”
“Got it.”
Yeonwoo quietly focused his spiritual power into his eyes. Things sharpened even further. The tangled mass resolved into distinct individual strands. Yeonwoo began tracing them to their source.
‘They’ve got to connect somewhere.’
No special training. Pure instinct.
Simple, if you thought about it.
‘To cast a curse, there has to be a connection.’
The caster and target were inevitably linked. A conduit was needed to channel the malicious spell. These thin, spindly tangles were the curse itself—the medium.
Lady Kang had given him a hint, actually.
[That jerk bought himself a ton of grudges.]
When the salt-covered guy yelled, ‘Damn it! This place is filthy—I’m outta here!’ and peeled out with a screech of tires. Lady Kang had muttered it.
Yeonwoo, seeing proper cursework for the first time, hadn’t missed the chance to ask.
[Why?]
[Why? Curses aren’t child’s play. The caster carves away at their own lifespan to do it! That’s how much they want to torment the target. Bonus if they die.]
Lady Kang had answered matter-of-factly.
[So that guy’s a real piece of work, huh? Desperate enough to carve into his own flesh for a curse like that.]
True enough.
[Anyway, don’t go buying grudges yourself. Never curse anyone. If the spell backfires, the rebound’s massive. You could die instead.]
Hearing that, Yeonwoo had thought:
[Yeah. Better steer clear of that mess.]
But the world doesn’t always go your way.
‘If only I could just snap it.’
That it was impossible left the bitter taste. That level of malice meant the backlash from cutting it midway would be enormous.
‘Dying helping someone? What a pointless death.’
Some might call it noble sacrifice. Not Yeonwoo. Sure, he had no good answer if asked why bother seeking out the trouble. But if this self-imposed hardship saved someone? Worth it. Just like the young Yeonwoo who’d desperately awaited a helping hand.
Shhh—
Almost touching. Yeonwoo’s fingertips traced the tangles.
Nothing in the world is free. Even horrors meant to kill come with a price. So all Yeonwoo had to do was gently unravel the jumbled mess, follow the end. He’d reach the source eventually.
But.
[What’s wrong? Something not working?]
The Child Spirit peeked out from under the hood and asked.
“Nothing’s visible. Too tangled up?”
Does this even have an end?
“...Are you talking to me?”
“Not talking to you, so don’t disturb Yeonwoo-ssi and stay quiet. This is why background checks are useless.”
Kwon Sung-hyun’s low chastisement. Woo Do-gyeom shut his mouth, apparently at a loss, but he couldn’t stop the kids’ sudden outburst.
“Whoa! A chickadee!”
“A colorful chickadee!”
Thankfully, Yeonwoo’s focus stayed elsewhere regardless.
“Is tracing these supposed to be this tricky?”
[Yeah. If it were easy, who’d bother with curses? One slip, and the backlash kills you.]
“The direction’s all over the place. No tricks? Something from Lady Kang?”
Lady Kang—his mother? A small mutter, then a quiet scolding not to reveal illegal snooping. But Yeonwoo didn’t hear.
[Hmm. Well. As you know, Yeonhwa-ssi wasn’t big on that stuff.]
True.
[Memory’s fuzzy… Ah. But I do remember hearing one thing.]
“What?”
[Curse casters prepare countermeasures for the backlash.]
In other words, they might have sacrificial pawns in place.