The Forbidden Tunnel and the Invisible Driver

Tap, tap.

A popup window appeared in the center of the monitor with the click of a mouse.

"Whew..."

A long sigh echoed through Editing Room B at the DCN building in Sangam-dong.

"Thank goodness. We finished just in time."

The head editor rubbed his stiff neck and sank deep into his chair. After a grueling 72 hours without sleep, episodes 3 and 4 of War of the Gods were finally complete. With only four hours left until broadcast, it had been a literal blood-draining race against the deadline.

It wasn't supposed to be this tight. Since War of the Gods was a project backed by corporate capital, the schedule had been meticulously planned. But this episode had been a disaster from the start. They had scrapped a perfectly good 2-billion-won set overnight. Naturally, the field schedule had spiraled into chaos, forcing the editing team to grind their bones and flesh to make up for it.

The empty energy drink cans scattered across the desks were proof enough, and the air purifier was practically screaming for mercy as it struggled to scrub the thick scent of sweat and stale coffee from the room. They looked less like human beings and more like corpses.

"We did it, though. Send it to the main control room right now. We're tight on ingest time."

The team leader rubbed his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bloodshot eyes and let out a hollow laugh. Usually, this would be the moment for someone to say, "Good work, let's get some sleep." But no one in the editing room spoke. They just stared at their monitors with vacant expressions.

"...Team leader."

The silence was broken by the youngest editor, who had been with the company for two years. He gulped and asked in a trembling voice, "But... can we really air this?"

The team leader didn't answer, only glared at the monitor. The video, which they had watched dozens, hundreds of times, was frozen on the screen.

"Haa."

The team leader ran a hand roughly through his hair. With 15 years of broadcasting experience, he had seen every kind of accident and handled every provocative subject imaginable. But this was on a different level.

"The KCSC is going to send us a warning letter, aren't they?"

"A warning? If we're lucky! We could get the whole program pulled for violating censorship regulations. I mean... traffic law violations, allegations of staged footage—it's a total gift set of disasters."

The youngest editor wasn't wrong. The driver's seat was empty. There was no one there. Yet, the car was moving. And at over 100 km/h, at that. But that wasn't even the main problem. The people in this editing room knew one thing for certain: there wasn't a single frame of CG in this footage. What were they supposed to do when the raw files they were handed looked like this?

"We could add a mosaic, or just cut the scene entirely..."

"Hey."

The team leader cut him off. He slowly scanned the team members sitting in the room with his bloodshot eyes. "You know as well as I do. How are we supposed to cut this out? Huh?"

"..."

"If we take this out, there's nothing left to air."

Silence returned to the editing room. The team leader was right. The moment they removed the scene the youngest was pointing out, War of the Gods would be finished. But if they aired it, the consequences were obvious. It was a true catch-22.

'This is madness.'

The team leader looked back at the screen. This was footage that could end his career. Yet, strangely, his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hands were trembling. What would happen if this went on air? His instincts as an editor were screaming: This will work. It will absolutely work. People will watch it while cursing, and they'll be obsessed even while not believing it.

'It's a guaranteed success.'

Having finished his calculation, the team leader grabbed the mouse with a shaking hand. He moved the cursor over the 'Send' button.

"I'll be the one writing the apology letter."

Click.

With the sound of the click, the file transfer gauge began to fill.

Staring blankly at the four characters on the screen, he muttered with a hollow expression, "...So that's why they scrapped the 2-billion-won set."

War of the Gods, which had appeared like a comet last week and dominated the real-time search rankings ever since. The ending of episode 2 had been pure shock. A man who blew away a set with a single wave of a folding fan. And then, the screen cut to black.

The problem was what came next. Normally, a preview for the next episode should have followed. But DCN was ruthless.

Just one line of text. No preview, not even a post-credits scene. Because of this, the internet had been burning with all sorts of speculation for the entire week.

And finally, today.

After the ads, the War of the Gods logo filled the screen. But what appeared when the logo faded wasn't the magnificent set they had seen before. It was an unpaved road through a dense forest. At the end of it, a pitch-black tunnel filled the screen.

Just as the viewers were flooding the chat with confusion, MC Kim Sanghoon walked into the frame. Dressed in a thick padded jacket, he blew into his hands to warm them and stared into the camera.

"Viewers, you must be very confused looking at the screen right now. You're probably wondering where that flashy set from last week went, and why we're in some spooky mountain valley, right?"

"Ahead of today's third episode, the production team has made a decision that is unprecedented in broadcasting history—a truly insane one."

He held up two fingers. "2 billion won in production costs! We have decided to completely scrap the set that took eight months of hard work to build!"

Naturally, the chat was covered in question marks. Unless the broadcasting station staff had all gone insane together, there was no way they would throw away such an expensive set after only two episodes. Then, Kim Sanghoon grinned at the camera.

"I'm sure everyone in front of their TVs or monitors is thinking the same thing right now: the broadcasting station guys have all lost their minds."

"I won't make any long-winded excuses. Seeing is believing, isn't it? This is the land of taboo, erased even from maps."

He stepped aside and pointed to the dark tunnel entrance behind him. "This is Jangryeong Tunnel in Jeongseon, Gangwon-do."

"How much of this is truth, and how much is a lie? Tonight, our War of the Gods will uncover the reality. Today's mission is simple. Two people per team will board a vehicle, drive to the end of the tunnel—the collapse point—and return."

A structural diagram of the tunnel was displayed on the screen. The collapse ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠point, marked in red, was 1km from the entrance, showing it was a dead end.

"However, there is one condition. You cannot turn on any lights inside the tunnel. You must rely solely on the vehicle's headlights."

As concerns from viewers poured in, Kim Sanghoon in the video continued, as if he had anticipated the reaction.

"Of course, the safety of our participants is our top priority. To prepare for any emergencies, our production team has established strict safety protocols."

The screen showed a black SUV waiting with its hazard lights on.

Only then did the viewers seem to relax. With safety measures in place, all that was left was to enjoy the broadcast. The first team departed amidst tension.

[Team 1: Yeonhwa-assi & Actor Kim Minjung]

"M-Master, I think there's something there!"

"Shh. Don't look. You mustn't make eye contact."

The screen captured Kim Minjung trembling and Yeonhwa-assi pointing her fan at the empty air while chanting spells. However...

To the viewers' eyes, it was just an old concrete wall illuminated by headlights. Yeonhwa-assi made a huge fuss about "strong energy" and "resentful spirits blocking the path," but all the camera caught was dust. In the end, Team 1 returned empty-handed after just screaming.

[Team 2: Cheongwang Dosa & Physics Professor Park Cheolsu]

The second team was a combination of Cheongwang Dosa and a physics professor who considered the occult unscientific.

"Heh, the chill of resentful spirits who died unjustly is lingering here. Can you feel the temperature dropping rapidly?" Cheongwang Dosa tried to set the mood. But the professor in the passenger seat calmly checked a thermometer.

"Well. Dosa-nim, this isn't a chill, it's due to convection currents and humidity inside the tunnel. Given the geographical characteristics, it's a basic law of physics that the temperature is lower inside than at the entrance."

"...Is this gentleman ignoring the words of the spirits right now?"

"It's not ignoring, it's a fact. And do you see that condensation on the wall over there?"

Thanks to the professor's rebuttal, War of the Gods instantly turned into an educational broadcast.

In the end, the second team also returned without seeing a single ghost, let alone a rat.

[Team 3: Jaeun & Science YouTuber Lee Junhyeok]

Team 3 was no different from the previous two. Jaeun opened the window and shook his bells like a madman, but the only thing that happened was the needle on Lee Junhyeok's EMF meter flickering for a moment.

Just as expectations turned to disappointment and the viewer count began to drop, the screen switched to the final team: Kang Jinwoo and Siwoo.

[Team 4: Kang Jinwoo & Siwoo]

With the failure of the first three teams, viewer expectations were at rock bottom. But strangely, this team's driver's seat was empty.

Then, Kang Jinwoo opened his mouth. "Siwoo-ssi."

"Yes, Master."

"Do you know why people can't see ghosts?"

Siwoo blinked at the sudden question and replied, "Isn't it because their spiritual eyes aren't opened?"

"Then what about cameras? Cameras capture objects exactly as they are, so why are all ghost photos or videos blurry or faked?"

When Siwoo was left speechless, Kang Jinwoo chuckled and looked out the window. "It's simple. Because tools made by humans cannot capture beings that exist outside of time."

"Time?"

"Have you ever heard of a ghost dying of old age?"

"...No."

"Of course not. Because ghosts don't age. A ghost from 100 years ago looks exactly the same as a ghost today. Ghosts are beings that have been bounced out of the flow of time. They are trapped in a frozen moment."

Kang Jinwoo tapped the camera lens installed inside the vehicle. "On the other hand, a camera is a tool for recording time. It splits and captures time as it flows, 30 or 60 frames per second. How could a being that doesn't experience time be captured in a flow of time?"

Just as viewers began to listen intently to his convincing words, Kang Jinwoo smiled mysteriously and looked at the empty driver's seat.

"But it's not impossible. It just won't be captured on video."

"A method?"

Kang Jinwoo pointed to the ceiling with his finger. "It's simple. You just have to look down from a higher place. And I have the right to do that."

"What does that..."

"Let's go, Driver Choi. Show them."

That single sentence was the signal. The steering wheel in the empty driver's seat suddenly turned.

"Huh? A-ah, who are you, sir?"

Vroom!

At the same time, the accelerator pedal was pressed down, and the car shot forward like an arrow.

"Waaaaaah!"

Unlike the terrified Siwoo, Kang Jinwoo leaned back comfortably and grinned at the camera. "Siwoo-ssi, you'd better close your eyes."

"What? What do you mean..."

That was when it happened.

Thud!

A dull sound echoed from the roof of the car.

"Waaaaah!"

Slap!

This time, it was the passenger window.

Without giving the viewers a moment to wonder, the sounds continued. Slap! Slap! Thud! Slap!

Something began to pound on the car from all sides—the windshield, the rear window, the side windows, everywhere.

"G-Gallery Master! The, the sounds!"

"I told you to close your eyes."

And the next moment, the mouths of the viewers watching the broadcast dropped open. The transparent windows that had been empty a moment ago began to show hazy marks, as if white frost were forming on them. No, it wasn't frost.

Press. Press. Press.

They were handprints. Handprints of all different sizes and shapes began to cover the windows.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The inside of the car instantly turned into chaos.

"Waaaaaaaah!"

Then, Kang Jinwoo opened his mouth with a calm face. "Siwoo-ssi, do you know something?"

"What? W-what! Save me!"

Kang Jinwoo tapped the handprints on the window with his finger. Specifically, the inside of the glass.

"These aren't sounds coming from the outside. They're sounds coming from the inside."

"...Yes?"

The moment Siwoo's face turned deathly pale, the broadcast ended.

As soon as the broadcast ended, a riot broke out across every community.