The Fake Gods and the Real Deal
"Gallery Master, let's take a photo."
Click.
There I was, standing side-by-side with one of Korea's top idols. Beside me, Siwoo was flashing a bright smile while making a V-sign with his fingers.
'Damn, he's annoyingly handsome.'
I checked the photo, and I guess celebrities really are built differently. We’d taken it haphazardly in a hallway without any proper lighting, but it looked like a professional photoshoot.
"It came out great. Hold on, let me send this to my younger sister. She told me she’s a fan of yours."
I sent the photo I’d just taken to Jina.
But no sooner had the "Sent" notification appeared than my phone started vibrating, not even a second later.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
I hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to answer the sudden call, but I didn't have the confidence to endure the dolphin-pitch ultrasonic waves that would surely come through the receiver.
"Is that your sister? I don't mind if you take it!"
"It's a spam call."
I shoved my phone back into my pocket, stared at him intently, and asked, "But tell me something."
"Yes! Ask me anything, Gallery Master!"
"...Could you stop using that title when we're outside?"
"Ah, my apologies. It’s become such a habit, I didn't even realize."
He hurriedly clamped his mouth shut, scanned his surroundings, and then continued, "Then, should I call you 'Hyung-nim'?"
"...Just call me by my name."
Regardless, seeing him treat me with such favor, he didn't seem like a bad guy.
"I have something I'm genuinely curious about."
"Ask away."
"Why does a guy who looks as normal as you like that kind of stuff? Occult, haunted houses, and all that."
Honestly, I couldn't understand it. He had money, he was handsome, and he was popular. Why would someone who had everything to be envious of in the world insist on being active in a community full of weirdos and go hunting for ghosts?
At my question, Siwoo seemed to fall into thought for a moment before offering a bitter smile.
"It might sound like I'm just complaining about having it too easy, but maybe it's because my life is too comfortable."
"Comfortable?"
"Yes. It’s been like that since I was young. Whether it was studying, sports, or singing—things that others had to kill themselves trying to achieve, I could do with just a little effort. My face, well... thanks to my parents, I wasn't born looking too bad, either."
That was a pretty infuriating statement to call a "reason." But Siwoo seemed serious, staring up at the ceiling and letting out a long sigh.
"So, living was a bit boring. Everything was easy to succeed at, so there was no tension. It felt like I was only walking down a path where success was guaranteed. Others say I'm blessed, but I always felt like something was missing. Should I say it felt empty, like a void in the corner of my heart?"
"If you spent just one week rolling around in the Otherworld, you wouldn't be saying that."
"Pardon?"
"Never mind. You're just spoiled."
"Haha, you're right. I am spoiled."
He didn't deny my words and just laughed.
"But then, I happened to watch a horror movie, and for the first time, my heart started racing. The unknown world I didn't know about, phenomena that couldn't be explained by logic. Every time I saw things like that, I felt like I was truly alive."
The look in his eyes as he stared at me was identical to the Admin's.
"That's when I got hooked. I started looking for occult books, searching for videos of haunted houses. And that’s how I ended up in the Ghost Experience Gallery."
"And that’s how you ended up watching my stream?"
"Yes! Because the Gallery Master's streams were the real deal. You proved that the unknown I was searching for actually exists right in front of our eyes."
After finishing his sentence, he looked at me again with a look of overwhelming emotion.
"That's why I watch the Gallery Master's streams no matter what, even while moving between schedules. You're the vitality of my life."
"Hmm."
Hearing his story, I found myself nodding. Boredom born from having everything be perfect. So, he was filling that void with the realm of the unknown.
"...That sounds plausible, doesn't it?"
It was an unexpectedly convincing reason. However.
"No, wait. I shouldn't try to understand a weirdo."
Whatever his circumstances, this guy was still a weirdo.
"Anyway, you’re quite the unique guy."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Siwoo smiled brightly at my words, then glanced at his wristwatch. He made an "oops" expression.
"It's time for rehearsal. I have to get going."
"Is that so? I was told to come to the waiting room, should I follow you?"
"No, I have to go separately."
That was when it happened.
"Um, Hyung-nim..."
Siwoo, who had been about to walk away, turned back, approached me, and lowered his voice.
"Be careful."
"Of what?"
"I secretly asked the production crew. It seems like they intend to use you for 'aggro'."
"Aggro?"
At my words, his expression turned quite serious.
"Yes. They plan to use you to build up the other cast members and create provocative scenes. You’re basically playing the role of a 'combat power measuring stick' or an 'aggro tank.' From what I heard from the staff, it seems they’ve made up their minds to humiliate you."
So that was why they’d raised my appearance fee so easily.
Well, it didn't matter. If something bothered me, I could just clear it away.
"They’re trying to do that to me?"
"...As expected of the Gallery Master."
As I answered confidently, Siwoo nodded.
"I'll be rooting for you. Oh, and you know you have to pretend you don't know me on the broadcast, right?"
"I have enough sense for that much."
"Yes! Then I'll see you at the recording!"
With that crisp salute, Siwoo disappeared. Actually, there was something else I wanted to ask him, but I decided not to.
'I wonder if there’s a shaman as capable as that grandmother I saw on Taebaeksan.'
Even if I asked, a normal person wouldn't know anyway.
"Well, I can just check for myself."
I headed toward the waiting room I’d been directed to via text. Once I arrived, I took out my phone again to reply to the piled-up messages.
"...I wonder if she'll ever be able to get married."
Anyway, just as I was exchanging messages with Jina, Knock, knock!
With the sound of knocking, a man who looked like an assistant director opened the door and entered.
"Mr. Kang Jinwoo? The set is a bit far, so we need to move by car. We have a vehicle waiting in the underground parking lot, so please follow me."
Broadcasting station people live such busy lives. Moving again as soon as I arrived?
Following the assistant director to the underground parking lot, a black van was waiting for me with its engine running.
Slide.
"Mr. Kang Jinwoo! You’re here?"
"Who are you?"
"...Um, I'm PD Lee Ayeong, who handled your contract, Mr. Kang Jinwoo."
"Ah."
The person who had opened the car door and spoken to me was PD Lee Ayeong, who had handled my contract yesterday.
"Are you driving yourself, PD-nim?"
"I have some things to explain on the way to the site."
"I see."
As I climbed into the passenger seat, the car smoothly exited the parking lot and began to speed along the road.
"Have you eaten?"
"Just barely."
"Are you not nervous? It is a terrestrial broadcast, after all."
"Not really."
"Is that so? You have nerves of steel."
PD Lee Ayeong kept glancing at me and making small talk throughout the drive. I knew she was trying to help me relax, but...
I’d felt it during the contract, but this person was exceptionally favorable toward me.
'Is she interested in me, by any chance?'
As I thought that and turned my head slightly, our eyes met.
"Is there anything you need?"
But looking at her eyes, why did I think of the Admin and Siwoo, whom I’d just seen?
I naturally turned my head, pretended to look out the window, and casually brought it up.
"PD-nim."
"Yes?"
"You aren't, are you?"
"Yes? What do you mean?"
"A Ghost-Knight."
For a moment, PD Lee Ayeong's hands on the steering wheel twitched minutely.
"...Pardon?"
0.5 seconds? No, a subtle pause of about 1 second. Normally, if you hear a word you don't know, it's normal to immediately ask, "What is that?" But she hadn't just hesitated; her response was slow.
Was this a coincidence? No, it had to be a coincidence. Siwoo and the Admin were just special cases; there was no way the world was crawling with Ghost-Knights.
"...Don't tell me you're a Ghost-Knight too? You aren't, right?"
"......Gallery Master!"
"Our country is doomed."
It seemed that while I was in the Otherworld, not only my house but all of South Korea had gone to hell along with it.
"Gallery Master! We've arrived!"
As we reached our destination, PD Lee Ayeong, who had already stepped out, swung the passenger door wide open and bowed at a 90-degree angle.
"Take it easy. This is your workplace, after all."
"I'm sorry. I couldn't control my fan-heart."
I left her behind and stepped out of the car. A magnificent outdoor set came into view at once.
"They must have spent a lot of money on this, huh?"
"We spent 2 billion won just on the set."
"Crazy."
Indeed, the giant traditional house set and the five-colored fabrics fluttering in the wind were worth the money. Still, 2 billion won...
'Money must be rotting away.'
It was while I was looking around the set. A man holding a walkie-talkie approached us and signaled to PD Lee Ayeong.
"Senior, is this the guy? The 'Hidden'?"
"Yeah, that's right. Mr. Kang Jinwoo."
"Hello, I'm Kang Jinwoo."
When I introduced myself, the assistant director just nodded perfunctorily. It was a starkly different attitude from PD Lee Ayeong, who had been treating me like a god just a moment ago.
'He looks annoyed just by looking at me.'
Well, I suppose that’s the normal reaction.
"Follow me. I'll show you to the waiting room."
"Gallery Master, please understand."
"It's fine."
The assistant director didn't even wait for an answer and marched off, and I followed him after giving PD Lee Ayeong a nod of farewell.
"Here it is."
A moment later, the place where the assistant director stopped was a tent in a corner, far away from the main set.
"The other cast members are in the main waiting room, but since you're the 'Hidden,' you're being isolated separately. You know, for the concept."
The words sounded plausible, but the inside of the tent was too shabby to be called a waiting room. Without a hint of exaggeration, it was basically an abandoned warehouse. Inside, there was nothing but a single plastic chair and a bottle of water.
"We'll call you when it's your turn, so don't go anywhere and just wait. And don't cause any trouble."
With that final remark, the assistant director left me alone and disappeared.
"The treatment is certainly consistent."
Thorough indifference. I hadn't come here expecting to be treated like royalty, but if they were going to be like this, I couldn't just sit still.
"Let's see, shall we take a look at the faces of those 'great' people?"
I poked my head through a gap in the tent and looked toward the main set. In the distance, I could see people gathered under bright lights. In the center of the set, a middle-aged woman wearing a hanbok embroidered with glittering gold thread was holding a fan and smiling elegantly. Beside her, an elderly gentleman in a hanbok stood with his hands behind his back, nodding gently, and a young male shaman with sharp eyes was fiddling with some bells.
'So those are the most famous shamans in Korea.'
If a normal person had seen them, they might have been filled with admiration. But what came out of my mouth wasn't admiration, but a dry laugh.
"They're just normal people, aren't they?"
They were dressed in flashy clothes and accessories, but there was no substance. Of course, it wasn't that there was nothing. I could feel a tiny bit of energy, like an ant's tear. But that was closer to intuition honed by experience and reading people than actual divine power.
Compared to the brass-bowl grandmother I’d seen on Taebaeksan, this was kindergarten-level talent show stuff.
"Is this what they call 'the spirits have arrived' or 'the general has descended'?"
I was dumbfounded. The real deal was hiding in the mountains casting curses, yet these nobodies were busy doing this kind of nonsense.
That was when it happened.
"5 minutes to recording! Cast members, please stand by!"
With the staff's shouting, the set became busy. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the red fan.
"Let's go, Chief Choi."
Spirit Possession: Chief Choi
[Yes, Jinwoo-nim.]
Since the title was "War of the Gods," it was only proper for a working man to show them a thing or two that lived up to the name.