The Scent of Souls
Do souls have a scent? I can say with certainty that they do. You can see them with your eyes and hear them with your ears, so of course you can smell them with your nose too. However, ordinary people generally can't detect ghost smells because souls are tightly sealed within the shell of the body. Why, even the most pungent food waste is hard to smell if it's sealed tightly, right? It's similar to that. But in cases like mine or Wolhwa's, it's not perfectly sealed... More like a box that's covered but slightly open? That kind of feeling makes it easier to clearly smell the ghost scent.
"It's awful..." Wolhwa pinched her nose and clicked her tongue. She quickly called over a staff member who had been carrying her bag, pulled out an incense burner from inside, placed it on the desk, inserted a stick of incense, and lit it.
Whoosh—the scent of incense spread throughout the classroom, gradually suppressing the nauseating stench.
"Phew..."
"Now I can breathe again."
"So you both sensed the ghost smell?"
Yoo Jin-woo, who had roughly grasped the situation, asked as Wolhwa and I released our noses and took deep breaths.
"Yes, it was an incredibly foul smell... I've only encountered something this terrible a handful of times. This definitely isn't an ordinary ghost."
"I agree."
I didn't want to agree with Wolhwa under normal circumstances, but this time I had to. The smell was that horrific.
"H-huh? Now that you mention it, I think I can smell it too...?"
I ignored Lee Ha-neul, who belatedly tried to fake having spiritual senses, and scanned the surroundings.
At that moment, someone donated on my personal stream and asked for a detailed explanation about ghost smells.
"Ahem, I'll explain."
Wolhwa turned her gaze toward my camera, put on a gentle broadcast-appropriate expression, and spoke.
"Ghost smell is exactly what it sounds like—the scent that comes from ghosts. As you saw earlier, it's very difficult to detect unless you have spiritual senses."
"Also, each ghost has a different body odor. For example, a ghost that smells like a sewer is one that drowned, while a ghost that smells sweet died in a traffic accident. That's how we roughly guess a ghost's story through its ghost smell."
At a viewer's question, Wolhwa closed her mouth for a moment before speaking heavily.
"...I'm sorry, but I can't be certain yet. I'll tell you after we gather more information."
Wolhwa greeted the viewers, then turned and began searching the classroom interior. She didn't forget to give instructions to the other team members either.
"Ha-neul, Jin-woo. Please search the classroom thoroughly. If you see anything strange, report it to me immediately. And Seorin..."
"I'll search outside."
"What?"
"There's no need for four people to search one small classroom, right?"
When I shrugged, Wolhwa's eyebrows twitched slightly. She seemed annoyed that a teammate was acting on her own, but was holding it in because of the camera.
"...You didn't sense anything outside. So wouldn't it be better to search inside the classroom rather than outside? If all four of us search, we can find it faster."
"There's a saying: too much is as bad as too little. Even if it takes a bit longer, I think it's better to prepare for any situation."
Why was it? We were just having a normal conversation, yet Yoo Jin-woo, Lee Ha-neul, and the other staff members all shuddered.
After staring at each other for a long time, Wolhwa was the first to back down.
"...Then I'll leave it to you."
"Yes, leave it to me."
I opened the door and quickly stepped out of the classroom. Only then did I take a deep breath.
"Whew, now I can live... I don't know why everything has to be so inconvenient, whether it's ghost smells or incense."
"It's true that I came out because I didn't want to smell it, but I didn't refuse the order just for that one reason."
Quickly said that, thinking some viewers' favorability toward me might drop. It might sound like an excuse, but it's true.
"I just don't like feeling stuffy."
When I tapped my chest, Lee Da-som's soul, which had been sleeping inside mine, woke up.
Hmm... What's the matter?
'Help me out a bit.'
Since I'd left Lee Seol-ah with Ha-eun, I might as well use Lee Da-som.
Since I'm indebted to you, I should help if I can! How can I assist?
'Find out if there are any ghosts around here. I'll leave the means and methods entirely up to you.'
Yes! Leave it to me!
Lee Da-som flew off into the distance, and I quietly moved away from the classroom and descended the stairs. The place I headed to was the girls' bathroom where Wolhwa and I had had our earlier confrontation.
The viewers raised questions, but I said nothing and opened the door, stepping into the bathroom. The cameraman decided to wait outside. Huh? Wasn't I not supposed to film the girls' bathroom either? Nah, how could a broadcasting station camera be the same as a personal stream camera? If it became a problem, the production team would edit it out anyway.
Right after entering.
Bang!
I immediately flung open the door to the first stall.
"Nothing here."
I opened the second stall. Nothing. The third stall. Nothing. Finally, I flung open the door to the fourth stall.
"There it is."
Hiiiiiiiiiik!?!?
A small, fragile soul in a school uniform that looked about my age clung to the wall in shock.
"There's a soul here. Please wait a moment."
When I infused spiritual energy into my middle finger and thumb and flicked them, the wave of energy gave the soul a visible form.
Huh... Huh?
The high school girl soul, suddenly given form, was startled, and so were the viewers. Ignoring them, I immediately asked the high school girl soul.
"You, what's your name?"
Uh, I, I'm...
"No, never mind. I'm not interested in your name or story."
Huh.
When I changed my mind, the high school girl soul looked deeply hurt and teared up. The viewers, feeling sorry for her, all criticized me in unison.
"...Tell me."
Yes!
She smiled brightly, apparently delighted to be allowed to introduce herself.
I-I'm... uh, my name is Kim Ji-hee! I'm 18 years old, and I died in the bathroom three years ago!
"...Died in the bathroom? Three years ago?"
Yes! I didn't want anyone to see me eating alone, so I was eating my lunch in the bathroom... and accidentally choked on some side dish and suffocated...
When the viewers fell silent at the cause of death that was too awkward to comment on, I stared straight at Kim Ji-hee's soul. Weak. A soul so fragile I could barely sense it. If Wolhwa and I hadn't entered the girls' bathroom together, or if Kim Ji-hee hadn't briefly revealed her presence in surprise when she hit the wall, I wouldn't have found her. If she's this weak, it probably means she had little attachment to life. With no attachment, she doesn't cling to the present world, and because she doesn't cling, living humans have a hard time sensing her. Wolhwa, who came to the girls' bathroom with me, probably didn't sense her at all.
"Kim Ji-hee."
Wow, it's been three years since someone called my name... Do you need something?
"Have you seen any evil spirits around here by any chance?"
Evil spirits...?
"Yeah, I heard there have been strange phenomena happening several times at this school in the past month. Have you heard anything?"
Kim Ji-hee stroked her chin in thought, then suddenly lifted her head as if remembering something.
I didn't see it myself. But... I did hear something.
"You heard something?"
Yes! Besides me, there were quite a few other souls staying at the school. Perverted uncle souls who like high school girls, ordinary souls who want to feel their youth again, or even young child souls who approached out of curiosity.
Actually, there are surprisingly many souls around us. However, those souls are generally harmless to people and leave for the afterlife on their own over time, so we usually don't pay attention to them.
But those people suddenly all ran away from the school a month ago. And when they ran... they all said this.
Kim Ji-hee spoke, her already pale complexion turning even paler.
'It's scary.'
"Scary?"
Right at that moment.
"Aaaaaaaaah!!"
Someone's intense scream echoed all the way to the girls' bathroom. I burst through the door and rushed outside.
Tap tap tap tap!
"Hik, save me! Save me!"
Thud!
"Kwaaak!"
Lee Ha-neul, rushing down the stairs in panic, tripped and fell to the floor.
"Lee Ha-neul?"
"Hiiik! ............S-Seorin?"
"Yes, it's me. What's going on? Weren't you searching the classroom with Lady Wolhwa?"
"Ah, right! Seorin, you can perform exorcisms, right!?"
Lee Ha-neul, trembling like an aspen tree, grabbed my leg with both hands and cried out in a tearful voice.
"L-Lady Wolhwa! Lady Wolhwa...!"
My face hardened.