Exorcism Broadcast (1)
She closed her eyes and focused her mind. The room was shrouded in a murky darkness. Two people knelt on the floor, desperately looking up and clasping their hands in prayer.
Uwaaaaaah!!
"Please... just stop now... I turned myself in! I've been punished!!"
Hic! Sniff, uwaaaaaah!!
"I was wrong! It was all my fault!! So please, just stop!!"
The director's mouth stretched wide in a grin. But the sound that emerged wasn't laughter—it was the wail of a child.
After confirming the scene with her own eyes, she severed the connection with the director.
'Looks like it's going well.'
If someone saw her actions, they might mistake it for righteous justice against villains who lived too comfortably. What nonsense. She had no qualification to judge the wicked. The world was inherently unfair, and turning a blind eye to injustice was just human nature, wasn't it? Even in the fantasy world, aside from freak exceptions like hero parties, most people averted their eyes from death right in front of them if it meant protecting their own safety and desires.
Still, the reason she'd sent that curse to the couple was simple: one.
The director's lingering grudge—the vengeful spirit she'd devoured—kept thrashing around, becoming a nuisance.
'I planned to slowly digest even the residual thoughts.'
But it kept begging her to kill those beastly humans. What could she do? She had to pass it on. They wouldn't die right away, but they'd suffer for about a year.
"Hm..."
She examined the state of her soul within her body. It was still a tattered mess, unchanged. Where legs should be, arms protruded; where arms should be, two heads each sprouted instead. At the head's position, a right hand wriggled, its palm bearing an eye and mouth. Dozens of tiny arms grew like bristles from its fingers. Four eyes and noses clung to the torso, with small faces clustered like hives—grotesquely nightmarish.
She opened her eyes and looked at her reflection: the ordinary body of high school girl Baek Seorin.
'At least ten years... I wonder if it'll hold out that long?'
There was a saying in the fantasy world: A healthy body and sound mind house a healthy soul. Conversely, an unhealthy soul could corrupt both body and mind.
"Sigh, I need to recover my soul quickly..."
To restore her soul, she needed to devour as many spirits as possible—especially those steeped in deep malice—to reclaim even 1% of her peak power.
In that regard, the director ghost had been the worst efficiency. The original kind soul had ascended to paradise, so she'd only extracted and eaten the malice-soaked part. But the grudge was so pure she ended up spitting it back out.
No matter how hungry you were, you wouldn't chew raw crawling bugs, right? That was the feeling.
Ahh... isn't there some really evil, trash-personality spirit that perfectly suits my taste~? She smacked her lips, thinking 'Of course, convenient plot developments like that don't happen,' as she headed to school—
"...And that's how it went."
"Huh?"
"Seorin, please! Let's do just one more big score!"
"..."
—Surprisingly, that convenient development unfolded right before her eyes.
"So, what you're saying is... the hype got too hot?"
"Yeah! Even so, going to abandoned houses twice feels too risky... and I didn't want to bother you anymore, so I was gonna stop?"
Was the timing good or bad? News broke about the director ghost from the abandoned kindergarten they'd visited, snowballing into a viewer surge for Mirinae's stream.
She couldn't handle it alone anymore, so she pleaded they needed at least one more episode.
"Please! I'll give you all the sponsorship money this time! Just this once, I beg you...!"
"Hm..."
She stroked her chin, pretending to mull it over.
Go to another abandoned house...? Hell yes! Of course she had to go!
She'd planned to scour the nation's ruins for evil spirits to devour right after high school graduation. This was perfect! The only hassle was researching, organizing, and analyzing each site.
If they did it for free, she couldn't ask for more.
"...Fine. You don't have to give me all the sponsorships—just half is okay, or a cut of the content revenue like last time. But I have conditions."
"What, what is it? If I can do it, I'll do anything! Want me to dress as a guy and propose in a fancy restaurant?"
"No, skip that."
What the hell was she on about?
"First, I'll just tag along. You handle the research. I'll deal with any evil spirits we find."
"Yep yep! That's the plan anyway!"
"Second, no complaining if it's boring. I don't know streaming, so don't expect reactions."
"Mm... Got it! I can live with that!"
And so, the deal was struck.
Lee Ha-eun for Mirinae's skyrocketing channel! Baek Seorin to devour evil spirits and restore her soul!
※ After the deal, time passed—
A lazy Saturday afternoon at 6 PM. Lee Ha-eun went live as streamer Mirinae.
Viewer Count: 0
"Huh? No one's here??"
"Come on, Seorin. You think people flood in the second we go live?"
Mirinae pinched her cheek like a veteran teasing a newbie, finding it adorable.
"Viewers don't monitor streamers 24/7. They'll come once word spreads... Look, they're trickling in already!"
About ten minutes of waiting, and they hit 1,000 viewers instantly.
"Hi everyone~ Annyeong~"
"Hehe, yep! Today we're special—up in the mountains! Look!"
She panned the phone camera around, ending with the sky overhead. The once-blue heavens were slowly dyeing orange in the dusk.
"We're staying here all night!"
"Aigoo, everyone's so impatient... As announced, today's the horror stream you all wanted! See? I even brought my friend Seorin!"
"Hello."
Ha-eun turned the phone to her. She waved casually.
"Hey! That's too much! Mirinae viewers should love Mirinae more!!"
"Hing, Seoriiiin! The viewers are bullying me!"
"There there, yeah. Viewers are mean."
She patted Mirinae's back as the girl hugged her, chuckling despite herself. It was childish for a high schooler, but she knew it was all part of the streaming strategy. Something she'd never pull off. Acting like this... streaming was tough work.
Chatting loosened the mood as time passed, the sky quickly turning pitch black.
Then a viewer asked why Mirinae and Baek Seorin were camping. As if waiting for it, Mirinae beamed.
"Actually, we were gonna do abandoned house part 2 today? But then I had this idea."
"Ghosts don't only haunt abandoned houses, so why limit ourselves to 'ruins'?"
"So, we're rebranding the content!"
Mirinae aimed the camera at her.
"New title: 'Seorin's Exorcism Broadcast'! Please watch a lot from now on!"
"Heh. Good question. We debated the first spot for Seorin's glorious exorcism broadcast debut... then one viewer recommended this!"
Mirinae grinned and pointed.
"Our first exorcism target... Gwiam Reservoir, featured on that horror variety show!!"
At the end of her pointing finger loomed a reservoir exuding ominous gloom.
The chat exploded.
Among Mirinae's viewers were core fans, but also horror enthusiasts drawn in. They knew exactly how dangerous Gwiam Reservoir was.
"Mirinae."
"Huh?"
As Mirinae's face paled reading the chat, Seorin—staring at the reservoir—quietly called her.
"...I think we came to the wrong place."