Man-Eating Goshiwon Exploration Stream (1)

Right now, every community online was in an absolute frenzy over one massive issue. And why wouldn't it be? School bullying, a hot-button topic, mixed with a boyfriend cursing the perpetrators for his victimized girlfriend, a curse that nearly killed them, and the bullies turning for help to none other than an exorcism streamer? It was like a gift from the heavens for reporters scraping for headlines.

……Naturally.

Thanks to this incident, Mirinae's stream had exploded beyond "huge hit" levels—straight into super territory. The broadcast the day after had peaked at over 30,000 live viewers.

Like the saying "strike while the iron's hot," it made sense to jump right into another exorcism stream. But oddly, Mirinae hadn't breathed a word about it. Not even as viewer numbers plummeted.

The day after chatter like that, the brand-new day-zero newbie streamer's broadcast went live.

※ Crackle—The pitch-black screen flickers with faint noise for a moment. Soon, it shifts to a mundane scene of an old building. And the words on the title.

A title that screamed unmissable.

The chat exploded with activity. Viewer count climbed steeply. With office workers clocking out and students heading home, it hadn't even been 10 minutes and already 3,000 had piled in.

Judging it enough, footsteps thudded, and someone stepped into frame.

Viewers typing away all voiced the same confusion. This wasn't the Seorin or Mirinae they knew.

A plain black mask. A petite woman in a mask with only eye holes.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Revenant, the exorcist joining you today for the exorcism."

Revenant stared blankly at the chat before speaking.

"……Revenant."

A low, flat voice.

"I'm Revenant. Not Reverin."

A brief silence.

"…………Haa."

A short sigh leaks from under the mask.

"Re. Ve. Nant."

"……Haa, for real."

Reverin—no, Revenant—took off the mask. Through the cascading hair, a face all too familiar to viewers appeared.

"There."

Seorin stared blankly at the camera.

"Just call me Seorin. What the hell is Reverin?"

"Ehh, whatever."

She turned away like she couldn't even be bothered to look.

Then, another figure entered from the right.

"Whoa, Revenant! You took off the mask?"

"……Stop calling me that."

"Huh, why? You said ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to call you Revenant during streams."

"Shut. Up."

"Haa……."

"It's fine, Seorin. Teasing like that's nothing for a streamer! At that level, it's average viewer personality—you'll get used to it quick!"

"……Mirinae."

"Yeah?"

"What the hell kind of battles have you been fighting all this time……?"

※ Regret. Should've just started with Seorin. Why fixate on "Revenant"……!

That's average viewer personality? I'd left dealing with them to Mirinae, so I had no idea. Damn, can't just curse them all……!

"Ahem, everyone! Today is the live exorcism stream you've all been waiting for!"

As I showed signs of boiling over, Mirinae smoothly shifted attention from teasing me to the exorcism. She aimed the camera at the rundown building. I turned my gaze there too.

Under an orange twilight sky. The four-story goshiwon apartment looked pristine, as if protesting, "Where does this look like a man-eating room?" The neat white walls gave off a holy vibe that could exorcise ghosts themselves, and the warm yellow lights from each room felt like sunlight.

In other words, it didn't look haunted at all.

"This is the place."

Mirinae stated firmly to the questioning viewers.

"It all started with one email."

"As you all know, emails requesting exorcisms have flooded in since the Ghost Lake Reservoir."

Varied as they were numerous. Some offered money—those were tame. Shameless ones claimed pity and begged for freebies after sharing sob stories. Mirinae ignored them all. She had no control over exorcism streams, so replying was awkward, and there was zero gain anyway.

"And last time was super dangerous, right?"

"But……I couldn't turn down this request."

Mirinae let out a long breath.

"It was from Ha-eun's uncle himself."

"He promised proper compensation too."

Still facing the camera toward the building, she continued.

"This goshiwon used to belong to Ha-eun's uncle. He lived off renting it out……."

She paused.

"……Until a murder happened."

"Heard it was tenants fighting."

Mirinae walked slowly toward the goshiwon.

"But."

Closer.

"Weirdly enough—"

She reached the entrance.

"—the bodies vanished."

"I don't know the details. First witness clearly saw two bodies, but when police arrived, one was gone without a trace."

Mirinae swallowed hard, tension evident.

"That's when the ghost rumors started."

"Weird voices, ghost sightings—sporadic reports. At first, uncle thought murder trauma caused hallucinations. He doesn't believe in ghosts."

But if it'd ended there, no exorcism request.

"Then one day, suddenly—a tenant vanished."

"Yeah. No trace. Tenants freaked. Someone said, 'Ghost took 'em.' Soon it was the 'man-eating goshiwon.' They bailed one by one, too scared. Uncle couldn't stop them."

Result: Vacant, empty shell. Worse than ghosts for a landlord.

"Nah. Still doesn't, but figures a popular streamer's exorcism broadcast might draw tenants back."

"Pfft, no way. Not a famous haunt—nothing like Ghost Lake Reservoir will—"

That instant.

Mirinae reflexively jerked her head forward. I'd already spotted what held her gaze.

"Seorin—"

"Yeah, I see."

I curled my lips.

"Showed up quick, huh?"

In my view.

An empty goshiwon window.

Something stood there.

Hard to describe clearly……but its silhouette looked almost human. The shadow's head.

Tilted.

Cocked to the side.